The very next day, Queen Feu immediately sent Blaze and a few guardias to come and fetch Ignis and me at Hailec's house.
"The Queen is worried about Princess Fhyra's safety, since your home is quite near in the Kabisera. I hope the punong baylan won't take it negatively if we ask the Princess and her muranda to come back to the palace?" Blaze respectfully told Hailec who was seated on the couch on the receiving area of his house.
It's a good thing that his house was huge. We were quite startled to see Blaze and the guardias early this morning.
Seeing Cool here would be a little understandable but seeing a mundane like Sassy here?
So we needed to mask her presence in case the others would notice and Hailec hid her somewhere inside the house.
Ignis, on the other hand finally gained consciousness this morning as well and Hailec assured me that she was fine.
So here we are, facing Blaze and the five guardias sent by Queen Feu.
"It's not that I held it against the Queen, since I do understand her worries. But it would still depend on the Princess' decision, whether she would go back or stay here for a little longer. I promise that I can guarantee her safety." Hailec said with a face devoid of any expression.
Blaze nodded and turned his head towards me, as if asking for my final decision.
"Please do tell the Queen that I'll be staying here for a few more days. I would be safe here around the punong baylan." I told him, sounding a little less hostile than I did before.
Cool said, Blaze is an ally. I better start treating him a little better. As long as he stops making his moves on me, we can be friends.
"Well then, I'll send your messages to the queen. We'll be taking our leave now. Thank you for giving us your grace, Punong Baylan, your Highness." Blaze said as he performed a curt bow among the guardias behind him.
The guardias were the first ones to turn around and left through the door while Blaze's stares lingered on me for a while.
"He's here?" he asked after all the guardias got out.
"He is," I answered, pertaining to Cool who was watching us in the conference-like room by the hologram-like device courtesy of Hailec's power.
"Great." He said and shifted his gaze on Hailec who was keenly observing him.
"Please, help the commandant in keeping the Princess safe."
"You don't need to ask. It's our duty as her guardians." Hailec answered confidently.
Blaze nodded on agreement.
"Have you found the last guardian? I've been looking everywhere but got no news about him." Hailec's eyes dilated upon hearing Blaze mention the last guardian.
"The guardian would appear at the right time. You don't need to search for him." Hailec played along.
Ignis and I exchanged meaningful looks as we silently watched the men staring at each other in front of us.
"Count, we have to go." Their stare-off was interrupted with one of the guardias.
"I shall take my leave, then." Blaze said without taking his eyes on Hailec who does the same.
When Blaze finally left his house, Hailec immediately locked down all the doors and other possible ways to come in and out.
Cool went down from upstairs and gave me a meaningful look.
"What's wrong?" he asked the baylan.
"Do you trust the count?" Hailec asked back instead.
I stared at them confused.
"Why?" Cool asked, confusion written all over his face.
"I repeat, do you trust the count?" Cool stared at him for a while before he shook his head.
His answer stunned me. I thought he trusted him?
'I thought you trust him?!'
'When did I told you that I trust him?' he answered calmly.
I looked at him incredulously.
'You're unbelievable!'
"Good, because he was effortlessly replicated," Hailec said and all of our eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" I asked, bothered by his words.
"That wasn't the Count. That was a darkess imitating him." I was so startled, I almost lost my balance. Good thing that Ignis was beside me, she helped me regain myself again.
"That's why I've been asking you if you trust the Count. Because if you do, it might cause trouble for us in the future. He was easily replicated. Even I almost missed it." Hailec said and started to walk upstairs.
We followed him inside his conference room.
"How did you know he was a darkess?" Ignis asked with curiosity.
"He made a mistake of saying he was looking for the last guardian."
"What's wrong with that?" I asked in confusion.
"Guardians were raised as an independent individual. We were taught not to depend on the other guardians in protecting you. Damn! I didn't notice that." Cool responded with an enlightened expression.
"That's right. If he was truly the count, he wouldn't search for the other guardians. He must only think of how he can protect you."
"Wow. You are really smart." I said, giving him a thumbs up in my mind.
"Where's Sassy anyway? Where did you hide her?" I asked when I realized that she's still not around.
Hailec evaded my eyes and told me she's asleep in her room. But I don't buy that. I checked her room earlier before I followed him and Ignis in facing Blaze and the guardias.
I didn't probe any longer since I knew he wouldn't do anything to harm my friend.
I can at least see that he cares about Sassy even though he keeps on saying otherwise. He just wouldn't accept it to himself that he cares about Sassy more than he does on everyone.
"Ignis, you rest a little more, so that you can fully recover and you," Hailec said and pointed at me with his last word.
"You start training with Cool. We need you to be able to control that energy-consuming ability of yours." He instructed and gave Cool a nod before he left the room.
Ignis bowed down a little and excused herself as well.
"Now what?" I asked Cool when we were left alone in the room.
"Let's head to the training room." He said and led the way out of the room.
"No! I'll be draining you if I do. No, I wouldn't do it." I said in a firm and determined voice."No, you won't. You won't let yourself drain me. You can do it." Cool said encouraging me.I tried to focus once again but every time I started to feel his energy creeping into my body, I immediately
I don't know if a one week stay at the punong baylan's house was too long, but stepping inside the Flamis Palace once again feels foreign now."Good morning, Princess Fhyra!" The murandas that lined up by the gate of the palace greeted in unison.I throw a glance at Ignis who was standing behind me and gave her a meaningful look. She suddenly nodded, curtly bowed, and left the place in a hurry to do what I ask her to do before we left Hailec's home.I faced the people confidently and made my way towards the Queen's quarters to give my greetings and let her know about my return.Although we're not in good terms she's still the queen and my grandmother, just like what Cool said.'Cool?' I called out in mind.It took him a few more minutes to respond.'I'm here.' I almost sigh in relief when I heard him talkback on my mind.'Just go to my room. He'll be there soon.' I told him pertaining to Blaze.Before we left Hailec's house, I asked Ignis to immediately find the count and told him to g
"Cool!" I called out in irritation. He just couldn't take that smirk off on his face."Stop it!" I hissed and the lava flowing inside the fountain suddenly overflowed."Shit! Okay! Okay! I'll stop!" He said when he saw what happened.I willed myself to relax, a few moments later the lava stopped boiling and Cool's anxious face faded.I heard him gave out a sigh of relief before I felt the other side of my bed move a little."You know, we should do something about that temper of yours." He said as he lies beside me.I snorted and scolded him for teasing me about the count."Maybe he genuinely likes you?" I creased my head with his words."I don't think so. Maybe he just likes the idea of having a princess as his future wife.""But what if he really likes you?" I rolled my eyes with his persistence."That would be impossible. We barely knew each other, I've been nothing but rude to him so, no. Impossible."I thought he will have another set of his witty comebacks but I receive silence in
"We need to divert the attention of the whole kingdom." Cool answered with a very serious expression on his face."And how are we supposed to do that?" I asked eagerly."Kidnap the princess." He said nonchalantly.I was rendered speechless, I had to blink a lot of times to check if I heard him right.I was still in dazed when my eyes landed on Ignis' stunned expression.She cleared her throat for a while before she faced Cool with a serious face as well."You can't do that. The whole palace would be in chaos." She said."And that's the result we're actually aiming for. If the princess is missing all the trials at court would be halted. This would give the punong baylan enough time to look for more evidence." Cool explained.Ignis still looked hesitant about the plan. But I trust Cool, I know he wouldn't have this risky plan unless there is no other choice.I grasped Ignis' hands to assure her."I would be alright. If this would be the only way to save Sassy. We must do it." I said dete
"That's it. You're doing great!" Cool cheered while I was undergoing my training.Hailec lends us this device that releases energy, he said I should take this time and use this device to learn how to control this ability.So I'm here inside the training room of his invisible house.Cool was with me and he was cheering every time the scale of the device portrays a lower amount of energy released. It would mean that I was consuming less and less of energy from it.Both of our eyes widened when the scale showed zero.I looked up at him and jumped on him because of joy."I did it! I did it!" I cheered as we both fell on the ground.We were both giggling but was stopped when we realized how close our faces were.We were both panting from laughing as we silently stared at each other's eyes.I didn't realize how pretty his eyes were until now. It was cold. His eyes were cold but it somehow gives me warmth the longer I stared at it.I felt his fingers brushed off the strands of my hair that ha
"We can do something to get Sassy out of prison but it would be difficult to find her mom if she was really taken by the darkess." Hailec confided as we planned out what our next move would be after finishing our dinner."But we can't let a mundane stay within the grasp of the darkess. We don't know what they are thinking." Cool interjected.I was just silently watching them as I was trying to analyze and put my self on the situation of a Darkess.What would be my move if I were them?'Fhyra?' I was pulled away from my thoughts when I heard Cool called me.I easily found his and Hailec's eyes staring at me."What were you thinking about?" Hailec asked.I stood up from the wooden tall-chair where I was seated. I can feel their stares as I walked towards the middle of the room where a crystal board was placed.I used the first glaciers technique that Cool had taught me.Figures.I used the crystal board as the base and I produced water from my hand."Listen. We won't look for Tita Sally.
Cool and I were following Ignis and Hailec as we cautiously entered the Flamis prison.We were looking for Sassy's cell so that we can brief her a little before we start our plans.Cool immediately pulled me to hide beside a thick wall when a group of guardias, probably checking the vicinity came around.We accidentally lost track where Hailec and Ignis hid.So when the troop was gone Cool and I started our own search for Sassy's prison cell.'Stay here for a while.' Cool instructed.I suddenly found this telepathy between us quite useful.He hid me behind a huge torch and went ahead to check for any guardias around.I was waiting for him to come back when I suddenly felt Blaze's presence around.He was not aware of this plan and we're not planning to let him in on this.He hasn't gain everyonr's trust yet. So for now, we just left him out in the dark.I immediately hid myself and warned Cool about the latter's presence.'Be careful, Blaze is roaming around.' I warned him but I receive
"P-princess?" he called out stuttering while staring at me flabbergasted.I stared back at him, trying to see what he was thinking. But his face remained to be filled with astonishment as he stared at me. And I think he even forgot that his sword was still inches away from me. He was just reminded about that when his sword came flying away because of someone.I suddenly saw Cool together with Hailec and Ignis with their Darkess identity. Blaze was immediately alerted and moved to put me behind his back, as if protecting me."Stay back, Princess. This darkess are rather too dangerous." He said while having an intent stare-off with Cool who was now with the identity of General Bleak.I rolled my eyes because of his actions.Does he take me as a weakling?!I didn't bother looking back at him when I heard him gasp after I walk passed by him and went directly towards the trio in front of us."Princess!" he called out urgently.My eyes immediately scanned the vicinity if there was anyone who