Chapter Four:

 

“Yeah,” Enya says. “You’re not going to do that.”

“What?!” I exclaim. “How could you not want to do that? You’re magical for crying out loud!”

“Maybe I like being magical.”

How does she like being magical?!, I think to myself, trying not to let the words come out. It’s outlandish! It’s going to get her hurt!

Out of anger and frustration, I grab Phoenix’s sword from his scabbard and slice it up against where the gem is sewn into her shirt. Everyone in the room gasps, I open my eyes. I see…that it’s perfect. Nothing happened to the gem. Not a single scratch. In fact, the turquoise color of the gem seemed to be brighter than before. 

Enya glares at me angrily. “Why the heck did you do that?!” She yells. 

“You’re going to get hurt by it!”

“How do you know that for sure, Liam?! Are you some kind of palm reader?!”

Hebe cuts her arm in between our bickering. “I…have a question. For Ares, actually.” She says awkwardly. 

“What, Hebe?” Ares asks. 

“How come when Koshin crashed into Erinyes last year, it broke the pendant he wore. But when Liam tried to break the gem Enya has with the sword, nothing happened to it?”

Ares looks at her, confused. “That…is a very good question, Hebe. But, to tell you the truth, I have no idea. I might have to research it.”

“Sorry to interrupt, you two,” Enya impedes. “But, I want to know why Liam here tried to destroy the gem?!”

“Why are you still asking?!” I argue. “I have told you a million times, you’re going to get hurt!”

“I can take care of myself!” She protests. “It’s about time you’ve noticed that!”

Enya storms out of the library and rushes up the grand staircase to her chambers. From all the floors up, I still hear the slam of her door echo. 

Hebe turns to the group. “I…uh, think I should follow her. You know, since I’m her…maid in waiting.”

She then bustles out of the room and quickly climbs up the companionway. We all hear the slam of Hebe’s sandals up about three stories. 

“Care to explain?” Ares asks, impatiently while interrupting my train of thought. 

“Explain what?” I tell her. “All I’m trying to do is protect the person I love most in this world.”

I begin to walk away from her, but speaks up during my small eruption. 

“You may think you’re protecting her,” She says. “But all you’re going to do is make it worse.”

Ares then motions Koshin and Phoenix to come with her. The three of them exit the library, leaving me by myself. I hear them muttering to themselves – probably about me – but the muttering wasn’t quiet because everything here seems to echo for some uncanny reason. 

I sit down in the chair Enya was originally sitting in and bury my face in my hands. “What have I done?” I moan. “I just made everything a disaster.”

I place my hands at my sides now and find myself gazing over to the book of gods and goddesses. My legs scoot the chair over to the table where the book is placed. The book was still open, and still to the page of the two gems. Underneath the picture of Enya’s gem, it says: ‘According to the rumor made by Scarlett Vallians, the gem supposedly of Lucina, the Roman Goddess of Light, cannot be broken until the suitor has passed…’

The gem wouldn’t be broken until…Enya’s dead?

“That…is not good,” I say aloud, forgetting that I’m by myself. 

What if someone gets their hands on both of the gems? They could purposely try to kill Enya for it. If they had both of the gems…I can’t imagine what kind of power they would have.

But what about the part that says the gem falls from the sky when the rightful successor is born? Does that imply with the fact that when Enya dies, the gem is broken?

I couldn’t wrap my head around this. Everything in my life had changed in a matter of at least three hours, maybe more. The love of my life is now part goddess, I tried to take the powers away from her, she gets mad, everyone else gets mad. And, now, I’m alone. What cards do I have left?

I get up out of the chair and scoot it inwards toward the table. I walk out of the library quietly, but each footstep making a subtle echo. No one seems to be in the palace anymore, though I do know there is. It felt like Scarlett Valley about a year ago, except it also felt like it was deserted. 

My legs solemnly climb the staircase up to where my chambers are. I would have to talk to Enya at some point but now wasn’t the time. I had angered her enough already, I don’t think she would be in the best mood to speak with me. Maybe later once she has cooled down, I could talk to her about our predicament.

At last, after walking up at least four flights of stairs, I make it to my chambers. I open the door, only to see Phoenix, my roommate in this palace, not in the room. He must have been irritated with me as well. It’s not surprising though, he usually always takes Ares’ side. 

I lay down in my bed and gaze up at the ceiling. It was bare, as always, but from the floors above, I heard magical noises. Noises that sounded familiar. 

Enya can’t control it. Just like she said. 

Maybe now might be the right time to talk to her. 

I sigh. “I don’t know…” I mutter to myself.

Oh, forget it! I’m going to talk to her and I am not going to stop myself from doing so! I need to apologize to Enya. I need to make things right.

I roll off the side of my bed and walk out of my room. I then run up the next three flights of stairs to reach Enya’s chambers. The sound of my boots echoing with every step I take. Finally, I get to the door of Enya’s room. I open the door, to see her gazing out her window. By herself. No Hebe as her maid in waiting. My eyes look around the room, I find much destruction, but it’s minimal. 

“Are you doing okay…?” I ask awkwardly. 

Enya whips around, startled by my voice. “Oh,” She says. “It’s you.”

She crosses her arms and sits down on the stool next to her vanity. She glares at me, still angered from our argument earlier. She stares directly into my eyes, probably trying to distract me from seeing all of the damage she’s caused. 

“Enya,” I tell her. “I know you’re upset with me.”

“You’re finding that out now?”

“Please, let me finish.”

She motions her hand for me to continue speaking. 

“I shouldn’t have tried to break the gem. I was just wanting to protect you. All of a sudden, you find this magical object and, on the same day, you find out that you’re part goddess too! It was very nerve-wracking for me. But, I should have cared about what you wanted too. So, I’m sorry.”

She smiles. “You’re…forgiven.” 

“I promise, I will always ask what you want from now on.”

Her smile fades. “Actually, can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure,” I tell her. “What is it?”

“I want to break the gem.”

My jaw drops. “What? Why?”

That’s when she cracked.

“It’s…it’s causing so much trouble already! I’ve only had it for a single day and it’s destroying everything I touch! I don’t even think I can sleep without a beam of light coming from my hand or exploding something!”

Enya then starts bawling with her hands buried in her face. I walk over and comfort her, patting her on the back. “It will be okay, Enya.”

“How do you know that?” She asks through a muffled sob. 

“One: You don’t know how to control these powers. Yet. Two: The only way you can break the gem is if you die.”

She looks at me, her eyes widened. “Where did you read that?”

“The book in the library of gods and goddesses. It was according to the rumor made by Scarlett Vallians.”

Enya sniffles, she then rubs her hand across her face to wipe away the tears. “So, I have to learn to control these powers….or die?”

I nod my head. 

“Well, I think you already know what my answer is going to be.” 

“Hopefully, I know the right one.” I tease her. 

Enya chuckles lightly. “I’m going to learn to control these powers of the gem.”

“How do you think you’re going to do that?” I ask. 

She sighs. “I’m not too sure. Maybe there are records or something in the library?”

“Maybe,” I say. “But, I don’t know if we can do this ourselves. We might need some help from other people.”

“Let me guess,” She tells me. “Ares, Phoenix, Hebe, and Koshin?”

“You got it!” I congratulate. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

Enya gets up from the stool and drags me behind her by holding onto the collar of my shirt. She sprints quickly down the stairs to Ares’ room. We were there in about five seconds, Enya’s always a fast runner. She knocks on the door quickly, it opens to a tired Ares with circles under her eyes. I see Hebe in the background of Ares, just behind the doorway. 

“You’re up late,” Ares tells us not too cheerfully. 

“I need to figure out how to control these powers,” Enya says, ignoring her moodiness. 

She rubs her eyes. “Why right now?”

“But late than never!” Enya replies. 

Ares yawns. “I have never heard that saying in my whole life.”

“Well, it’s time you started learning it! Come on, let’s go!”

Enya then grabs Ares by the sleeve of her shirt and Hebe by hers as well, leaving me to walk myself. The four of us hurry down the stairway, down to go find Phoenix and Koshin. Our shoes hit the stairway like little pitter-patters. 

“Phoenix and Koshin are probably in the kitchen having late-night snacks,” I tell them.

“How do you know that?” Enya questions. 

I’m not going to lie, I have been in on their late-night snack routines before. Almost five complete hours of non-stop eating until the rest of the chefs get up to cook breakfast in the morning. Of course, I’m stuffed by the end of it and feel like throwing up every second, but it’s a guy thing. The girls don’t understand.

Instead of explaining it all to her, I say this: “They’ve…told me things about it.”

“Hm,” She says. “Interesting.”

At last, we reach the doorway to the kitchen, after running down almost every single stair in the whole palace. I peek through the door, only to find Phoenix sitting on top of a tabletop eating a turkey leg. He looks like he’s about to fall over because he looks so overstuffed. I then glance over and find Koshin gnawing on a cob of corn while lying on his stomach on the floor. He looks he could pass out at any moment. Koshin has always had a weak stomach. He usually gets through only two hours of the five. 

Enya opens the door, almost scaring me a little. “Drop the corn and the turkey. It’s time for research.”

“Didn’t we research enough already?” Phoenix whines. 

“Yeah,” Koshin joins, wailing as well. “Can we do it in the morning?”

Ares and Hebe walk over to them. Ares in front of Phoenix, Hebe in front of Koshin. 

“Look,” Ares begins. “You think I’m wanting to do this at almost 12:00? No, no I don’t.”

“So,” Hebe follows. “You two are going to man up or we’re going to take all of your food from you. Got it?”

Phoenix and Koshin nod, shook by the thought of their snacks being taken away. “Yes, ma’am’s.” They both say at the same time. 

“Move it, move it!” Ares yells, immediately in general mode. 

They get off the floor and scramble down the hallway into the library, looking on every shelf for a book. Even though they don’t know what we’re even looking for this time. The rest of us follow them in, checking shelves as well. I see Enya sitting in a chair, staring at everyone else scanning the books.

“Why are you sitting?” I ask. 

“I’ll just destroy anything if I touch it,” She says. “Go ahead without me. When you find the book, I’ll be sure to read it and figure out how to manage this magic.”

I smile at her. “You don’t have to sit there doing nothing.”

She scoots her chair over to me, the legs squeaking with every movement. “This is what I have to do right now to keep myself safe.” Enya then reaches her head up and kisses my forehead.

“Okay then,” I say to her. 

I climb up the ladder I used earlier today and scan through the opposite shelf I looked at. Nothing really helpful to the situation we’re dealing with. The books are mostly fairy tales for little ones or books about the founding of Scarlett Valley. Everyone knows that story though, whether they were born in this village or not. I know it, a girl named Scarlett and her husband traveled far and wide, in the hope of finding new land that they could make habitable.

After almost nine months of building houses for the arriving villagers, from the village soon to be Orrinshire, Scarlett’s husband comes down with influenza. He died after surviving the illness for about two weeks. Scarlett was devastated over the loss of her love, but, she decided to keep building up a reputation for the soon to be Scarlett Valley. In five months, after the death of her husband, Scarlett’s brother was the first Lord of Scarlett Valley, while she served him as a maid. Scarlett had no intention of becoming a royal. So, she let her brother, Farhan, do it instead. 

Scarlett decided to name the villages as a play on words. People would always think that her name was spelled Scarlet, like the color. But instead, it was spelled with an extra T. She had grown very fond of the name, and hence, Scarlett Valley was born.

“Liam!” Ares calls, interrupting my story inside my head. “Did you find anything yet?”

“No,” I tell her. “Have you?”

“Nothing, not a single book in this whole library is relevant to what we’re looking for.”
I turn my head around. “Has anyone else found anything?”

“I did!’ Hebe exclaims.

“Great!” I say. “What did you find? Will it help Enya control her powers?”

Hebe’s smile turns upside down. “Oh, that’s what we were looking for? I thought we were looking for a book to read by ourselves.”

I facepalm and sigh deeply. “No, Hebe. That is not what we were looking for.”
“But, I did find a book on Scarlett Valley fashions,” She tells me, trying to lighten my mood. 

“Just…just keep searching everyone,” Is all I can say right now. 

My head turns back to the direction of the shelf I was looking at. My eyes scan the spines of each book I pass. Again, nothing relevant. Now the books were all about The Bloodlust War or The Battle of Alnwick. Everyone has heard of those too. 

I glance behind me to look at Enya. She looked so bored, so unconfident in herself. Was she losing hope that she could do things? Even simple ones? It pained me to see her like this. I wanted to tell her she could help us look for this, but I knew already what she would say to me. 

“I found something!” Koshin yells. 

All of us come together to the table again. He places the book he found on the stand. It was titled: Rumored Magical Possessions of the Scarlett Valley – Their Powers. Koshin then flips to a page after reading the table of contents. The page he stops at has the picture of Enya’s gem once more. Below the illustration was a list of powers the gem has. 

Koshin read the words aloud. “Beam of Light, which eradicates someone or something with a single ray of illumination from the hand.”

“That sounds like the same beam I have shot before,” Enya says. 

He continues through the list. “Illumine Explosion, which, explicitly, explodes something with magic from the palm of a hand.”

“I’ve done that too,” She says once more. “But none of this is going to teach me how to control it.”

“Wait,” Koshin tells her. “Let me read this last one.”

She motions for him to go on. 

“Lightness Elimination, which takes down your foe with fists of magical light.”

“Does it say how I can do these?” Enya asks, not interested in what Koshin read.

He rubs the back of his head shyly. “Um…well, no, not really. But I thought it would beneficial to learn what kind of powers you have.”

She groans in frustration. “Now what am I going to do?”

No one says anything to her. They know as much about this as she does. 

I speak up. “You could try to control it on your own.”

“How would I do that?”

I pause for a moment. “I don’t know exactly,” I tell her, finding the words. “But, I will be there with you every step of the way.”

She smiles slightly. “I guess I could try…”

“Can we go back to eating now?” Phoenix moans. 

“And can I go back to sleep?” Ares asks, joining in. 

Enya scoots out of her chair. “Yes, you all can go back to what you were doing before.”

As if almost immediately, everyone left the room to go back to what they were doing before. No sound of there footsteps, no ‘good nights’ or ‘sleep tight’. Nothing of the sort, all except for the sound of a whoosh when they all exited. 

I turn to Enya. “I’m going to turn in for the night. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll try to sleep. But who knows if the moment I lay down I’ll cast Beam of Light or not?”

“Good point.”

She comes over to me. “Good night,”

She then kisses my cheek and walks out of the library and up the stairs. I hear her walk slowly though, not in a hurry to sleep. She must be worried about what she might encounter tonight with this new magic. She might want me there to help her…

No. I didn’t ask her if I could help. I promised her I would ask what she wants before acting.

But, I can still worry about her tonight.