《The Gemstone Color》


 Chapter 1

    When the bell of the schoolhouse rang, children ran out. One girl ran up to another girl who was in front of her.


    ¡§Trinity! The selection is tomorrow!¡§ she said once she caught up with her friend.


    ¡§I know that, it''s all over the news!¡§ Trinity said.


    ¡§Don''t worry! I know you''re nervous about what you''re gonna get! I know I''ll be a knight, I want to learn how to fight!¡§


    ¡§Well if you''re going to be a knight, you have to be more mature, Chloe, you have to follow orders and that kind of stuff.¡§


    ¡§Well even if you''re a royal, I''ll make sure no one hurts you, especially the overlords, I don''t care how scary they are!¡§


    ¡§Chloe, you''re 14, please grow up. The overlords are terrifying, they obviously killed the past royals, no matter the excuses they come up with. They don''t have fingerprints, and they always fly, so they don''t have footprints. I don''t think they''re human, either, so they can''t wear off any DNA.¡§


    ¡§Trinity, why don''t you understand what i''m trying to say? Im saying that i would protect you no matter what!¡§


    ¡§I appreciate that, i guess¡§


    ¡§To be honest, i''m scared, too. But we have to deal with it, its ordered by the overlords, and they are scary, like you said.¡§


    Trinity remembered a few years ago, when the last royal had been killed. It was all over the newspapers.


    ¡§Of course, the overlords come up with annoying excuses on how they did not kill them. But its obvious, and we are done with their stupid excuses!¡§ she heard her mother say, who was crumbling the paper and throwing it in the trash. Back then Trinity didn''t understand, but Chloe did.


    ¡§If you ever get a royal, I''ll be your knight in shining armor! I''ll protect you! It will be my life''s worth to protect you, Royal Aohina!¡§ was what Trinity heard Chloe say that day and until now.


    ¡§Are you okay? I know you''re scared but like i said, i''ll protect you, i promise!¡§


    ¡§Im okay, and i don''t need your protection, Chloe, i''m not going to get a royal.¡§


    ¡§Alright, i guess. I hope i''ll see you at the castle tomorrow.¡§


    ¡§Bye.¡§


    Trinity soon walked home, and in the front yard was a newspaper about the soon selection, along with the history of Pantaleone.


    Trinity already knew everything about it. There was a big war in a world just like this one, with magic and happiness, but without the castle. The 3 immortal overlords were just 3 normal people, and wanted to stop the war, like almost everyone. They all met up with Hefin, the god of the planet, who gave them immortality, and created the selection system to keep internal peace, along with building a castle to rule the country. Trinity was tired of re-reading the same old history about it, she had read about it countless times. She ripped the section out of the newspaper and threw it. Everyone she knew was tired of reading it, even happy and confident Chloe.


    Chloe meant the world to Trinity, but she just wanted her to shut up and be quiet about defending her if she became a royal. Besides that, Trinity loved Chloe very much. They both meant the world to each other after meeting for the first time when they were 7. They both couldn''t imagine a world without each other.


    Trinity looked at the other articles. One of them was about finding more proof that technology existed in the past, but the overlords were denying it again. About ? of the country believed them, but Trinity and her mother were a part of the last ?. They both knew the overlords were hiding something.


    She was constantly tired of seeing the same 3 people on the front page of the newspaper. All 3 of them looked exactly the same, the same dress, eye shape, hairstyle, etc. The only thing different about them were their eye color, hair color, and dress color. One of them had red eyes, hair, and dress, the other had yellow eyes, hair and dress, same thing with the other one, they were just blue. Trinity just wanted to do something horrible to them, even though they were immortal and would be around forever.


    Trinity turned the page and read about the selection. Every 50 years, new people are chosen to serve the castle and rule the country. Your role is chosen by the color of your ring. Grey is maiden/butler, purple is a knight who learn archery and sword fighting, White is learning your current skill better, such as magic, sword making, armor making, farming, herbalism, etc, black is not chosen, and green is a royal. Royals have died constantly and mysteriously, but the 3 immortal overlords have given enough proof it wasn''t them, but everyone suspects them. Trinity and her mother, along with some of the country, were tired of their excuses, and that it was obvious they killed the royals.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Trinity looked at the black ring (also meaning the wearer hadn''t been chosen yet) on her ring finger, and imagined it being the bright green she had seen in the newspaper. It scared her, because if she was chosen as a royal, the overlords would kill her, and the overlords would deny it was them, and she was scared of dying, something she would never actually admit to.


    ¡°Trinity? How long have you been reading that?¡±


    Her mother was standing right above her. They both looked very similar, brown skin, green eyes, only her mother had long straight hair and was taller compared to Trinity''s shorter curly hair.


    ¡°I was just zoning out.¡±


    ¡°I know you''re scared about being a royal, but the whole Aohina bloodline has hardly gotten a royal. The last one was 6 selections ago. But even if you are, I know that Chloe girl will do an amazing job serving you and the castle. The Nakano bloodline are some of the best knights in this whole country. Thanks to them the royals lived longer. But I highly doubt you''ll be a royal.¡± Her mother then looked at the article about technology. ¡°What are they trying to hide from us, and why do they not want anyone to find out so badly?¡± she muttered angrily though her teeth.


    ¡°I''m tired of their lies, Mom.¡± Trinity said. She started to rip out the article out of the paper, crumbled it, and threw it as far away as she could. ¡°Why are they killing these innocent people? They didn''t do anything, why are they doing this? Why?¡± She continued to repeat that same word, getting angrier every time.


    ¡°Calm down, honey. I know you''re mad, I''m tired of their lies, too. I question why they kill all those royals, too, but we cant do anything about it.¡± her mother put her arms around her daughter.


    Trinity started to calm down. She looked up at her mother. She had always looked up to her. They may have looked similar, but personality-wise they were opposite. Her mother was nice, hardly got angry, and could easily get along with everyone, like she had something radiating of her and whoever felt it would like her. When she got married, everyone was happy for both of them, but jealous of the groom for having such an amazing wife. When she was pregnant, everyone thought that the baby was lucky to have an amazing mother. While Trinity easily got angry and got mad at others when they were trying to be nice to her. She tried her best, but at the end, she was rude to others. Everyone was disappointed that such an amazing person could give birth to such a rude girl. Her mother still loved her a lot, despite how angry she was and how rude she was to others, but Trinity hated that about herself. Anger was the only emotion she was comfortable showing. The only person who understood that was Chloe, who tried their best to convince everyone that Trinity was nice on the inside. Everyone thought she was crazy, but Chloe continued to stay friends with Trinity. They were comfortable enough to come out as genderfluid to only her. Trinity never understood why Chloe wanted to be friends with her, but she was glad she had a friend who understood.


    Trinity looked down at her mom¡¯s hand, which had a dark black ring on it. She had not been selected yet, but she was probably going to be a white, and do something like herbalism, since she was too old to be anything else. Her mother was already good with herbs, so she probably would do it.


    Trinity wouldn''t mind any color other than green. She could follow orders if she got a grey or a purple, and could learn easily if she got a white. She just wanted anything but green.


    ¡°Go inside, I''ll make something for dinner, we might need to get more bread, so you might need to go to the market, if you''re okay with that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s okay. I can go now, if you want.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Trinity put down her stuff and went outside again. She knew the way to the market, so she followed the stone sidewalk with the directions she remembered until she was there.


    She walked to the bread area. ¡°Hello.¡± she said to the man at the stand.


    ¡°Hello, Trinity! Usual order?¡± he said, not wanting to deal with her.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    He told the chef, who then got a big piece of dough. It was about 4 inches wide and a foot long. He put it in an even bigger oven, and Trinity watched as the dough heated up into bread, a few feet away from her. He took the bread out and gave it to her after she gave him the money. She thanked him and walked back to her house. She got an extra piece, since she usually ate a lot of it, so she always got another piece of bread in case she was hungry when she went to the market.


    She finally arrived home, and went inside, the extra piece of bread already finished. On the kitchen table was a piece of lighvan cheese.


    ¡°I know it''s your favorite.¡± Her mother¡¯s voice said. ¡°I know you''re anxious about the selection, so I thought it''ll help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but i don''t think it will.¡± Trinity replied. She sat down, took a knife, and cut the cheese. She broke a piece off the bread and spread the cheese on it, and took a bite. She calmed down a little bit, but she was still anxious, but she was still grateful for it.


    Once she finished, she went into her room. She laid down on her bed and just stayed there. She thought about the possibilities about anything she was chosen. If she was grey, or a maiden, she would have to clean and do stuff for the royals. If she was a white, she would have to choose something and learn to do it for the rest of her life. If she was purple, or a knight, she would have to learn to use a weapon and fight battles for the castle. If she was green or a royal, she would be controlled to do things by the overlords and be killed by them a few years later, everyone doing everything for her. She was terrified of that. She got up and looked in her small closet. She obviously had to look nice for the selection, so she picked out her fanciest clothes with matching shoes. She soon started to zone out, imagining the dress she picked out as those expensive and fancy dresses the royals always wore. They always had a hoopskirt and a long train on them. She remembered how she used to always want to wear something like it, it was so pretty. It was once a dream for her, but now it was a nightmare. She zoned back in again and realized she had to go to sleep earlier than usual for it. Trinity put on her night clothes, brushed her teeth, and went underneath her sheets.

 Chapter 2

    Trinity woke up, and immediately realized that the selection was today. The adrenaline started to pump through her veins, and she felt like throwing up. She ran to the bathroom and started throwing up because of how scared she was. She tried to calm herself down, but soon she heard her mom¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°Trinity? Are you okay? May I come in?¡±


    Trinity didn''t answer, but she wanted her to come in. Her mother got the memo and came in.


    ¡°Honey, calm down, please.¡± She said, holding Trinity¡¯s shaking hands.


    ¡°I can''t. What if I get a royal? I don''t want to die. I don''t want my business all over the news. These past royals died never seeing their friends or families, I don''t want that either.¡±


    Trinity continued crying, her mother comforting her. She soon calmed down and tried to get ready. When she put on the dress she picked out last night, which was a bright yellow spaghetti strap dress that was slightly puffy with the amount of lace under it, she imagined it once again as those dresses she saw the royals wear, with a hoopskirt, jewels, lace, a corset, and a long flowy train. Just the thought about it made Trinity start to stress again, but she tried her best to remember her mom¡¯s words.


    Her mother had to force her to eat and drink, she was so stressed. She could hardly move her feet when she tried to walk. She slowly walked out of her house, moving as slow as a snail, her legs shaking. She only started moving quicker when she saw someone.


    ¡°Trinity! Come on, let''s go together!¡±


    It was Chloe. They were walking by themselves, hardly struggling as bad as Trinity was, who started to feel a little comfort seeing her. She soon walked to walk quicker, soon catching up with Chloe, who was wearing a strapless black dress that went down slightly below her knees, and a high ponytail pulling her hair back, a few strands falling out. Trinity had never realized how pretty her best friend was.


    ¡°Aren''t you nervous?¡± Trinity asked Chloe.


    ¡°I kind of am, but not as bad as you, I saw that you couldn''t even walk!¡±


    ¡°Don''t talk about it, airhead.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Both you and I know I''m not gonna get anything other than a knight, my energetic younger self wouldn''t shut up about my bloodline to you.¡±


    Normally, Trinity would get worried and not be able to walk again talking about the selection, but with Chloe she felt safe. Not just because she was a knight, it was something else, Trinity didn''t know what it was.


    ¡°I don''t want a green.¡± she said.


    ¡°Me neither, but don''t say that, you''ll jinx it.¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°Okay, okay, I won''t, I just really don''t want it.¡±


    ¡°Me neither.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to die.¡±


    ¡°Are you scared of death?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I know thats stupid, but everyone has to be scared of something, dont they?¡±


    ¡°Alright, I''ll tell you my surprising fear. I''m scared of heights.¡±


    ¡°Heights?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, i bet you think thats stupid.¡±


    ¡°No it''s not, everyone has something they''re afraid of, even the bravest people.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡±


    They continued to walk down the street, soon meeting a cobblestone path, and a few minutes later meeting cobblestone that looked like it was made of weared-out silver, which made people who walked over it know they were a few minutes walk away from the castle, which you could already see from where Trinity and Chloe were.


    The castle was a tower of rock that was arranged in a way that made it look like it was conjured from a modern child¡¯s storybook. Trinity got worse anxiety just by looking at it, but Chloe being there made her feel better.


    They both soon started to walk towards one of the entrances of the castle. It was a high arch with knights behind and in front of it, standing on sturdy silver cobblestone. There were lots of other people, of different ages, heights, races, hair types, genders, etc.


    They walked through the archway. There were lower arches with signs for age groups, one was 6-12, another was 13-17, then 18-24, 25-36, then lastly there was 37-50.


    Since both of them were 14, Trinity and Chloe walked through the 13-17 arch. It was so busy with so many people you could hardly see the stone brick walls.


    Before they realized it, the two best friends were holding hands, their fingers intertwined. Even when they realized, they didn''t let go of each other. They were both scared, they didn''t want to let go of each other¡¯s hands. It felt like the whole world was inside of them. But soon they had to. They walked farther in, and soon they had to separate and go into another room.


    Soon Trinity was in a big white room, hardly as big as the room she and Chloe were just in, but it was still pretty big. Trinity couldn''t see her own shadow, or a shadow of the random chair that came out of nowhere. She heard a door open, and a person came in, who wore a pair of black jeans, a white button up, and a suit jacket, with their long and straight dark brown hair in a low ponytail and did not have a shadow either.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Sit down.¡± the person said to Trinity, who obedintly sat in the chair.


    Once she was in the seat, the person took out a large diamond from one of the pockets of her suit jacket and put the pointy end on Trinity¡¯s black gemstone.


    Trinity watched as a sparkly cloud of color started to form inside of the diamond. It was a cloud of green, purple, grey, black, and white, the possible colors of gemstones on the ring you could get. The cloud started to change shape inside the diamond and swirled around, mixing the colors.


    Soon one color out of the cloud was chosen, and the full diamond turned into the color. Soon, it was like the color started to bleed out of the diamond, and the black gem soaked up the color. Trinity, who was not able to move or even breathe, stared in horror at her new green ring.


    ~


    Trinity was soon escorted out of the room. She saw that the people who were selected were going to another hallway, but she was taken to another one. She saw that in the room, there were two other anxious looking people with green rings that looked exactly like Trinitys. One was more masculine, and had dark blue eyes with short black hair. The other one was more feminine, with lighter blue eyes and longer wavy light brown hair.


    Soon the people who escorted her in said, ¡°You have all been chosen as a royal. You will get to know each other better for a few minutes¡± and then left.


    ¡°I''ll go first,¡± the feminine person said. ¡°I''m Apurva Christensin, I''m 15 and I go by they/them.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± the masculine person said. ¡°I''m Arkanos Lordano, I''m also 15,¡±


    ¡°It''s your turn now.¡± Apurva said to Trinity.


    ¡°Um¡­ I''m Trinity Aohina, and I''m 14.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ what do we do now? I don''t think any of us can start a conversation.¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°I know!¡± Apurva said. ¡°Who are your parents and how did they meet? Arkanos, you go first!¡±


    Weirded out by the question, he replied with, ¡°Well, my parents were just normal people, my mom had Aiolfi blood in her-¡±


    ¡°Aiolfi? Aren''t they the third best bloodline of knights?¡± Trinity piped up.


    ¡°Yeah, they are. My dad is just a normal guy. And then they met, just had the usual love story. About you, Apurva?¡±


    ¡°Well, my dad had Iraklis blood in him, and they are a really royal bloodline, so I expected this.¡±


    Trinity remembered once when her mother mentioned the Iraklis bloodline. One of them was the person who Trinity¡¯s mother had read about that day.


    ¡°Wasn''t one of them the last royal killed a few years ago?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was my second cousin, so we have the same grandparents. Well, my dad fell in love with a child of two knights. Their non-binary, so i refer to them as a parent.¡±


    ¡°Well, that was a lot to process. What about you Trinity?¡±


    ¡°Well, my dad was a normal guy, his parents was an herbalist and an archer, so he was talented, my mom is Seher Aohina-¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°I know, one of your parents had a crush on her and loved her-¡±


    ¡°What? No, she was all over the newspaper 17 years ago, my parents always told me about it.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, it was about how she got another person to fall for her? That something happened to her and there were riots from guys who need something better to do with their lives?¡±


    ¡°No, what are you talking about? She was on the newspaper because of attempted murder.¡±


    ¡°What? She never told me about that! Who did she try to kill?¡±


    ¡°One of the overlords. She knew that they were immortal, but she still tried. She even went to jail, her mugshot was in the newspaper. There were riots, people saying she should be released, she was tired of their excuses, she wanted the overlords to stop killing innocent people. These protesters, they weren''t just secret admirers, they were also tired of the overlords¡¯ excuses, and glad someone did something. All that did was just shorten her jail time to only one year. After that, she fell in love, got married, and by the time she had you, the drama had died down.¡±


    Trinity was so shocked. Her mother had never told her any of this, and never hinted about it.


    Soon the same people from before came in.


    ¡°You may now see your families.¡±


    Trinity now had a chance to talk to her mother about it.


    A few minutes later, her mother came in with Chloe.


    ¡°Trinity! I got a knight!¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°Good for you. Mom, why did you hide what you did 17 years ago from me?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°One of the other chosen royals said you tried to kill one of the overlords before I was born. Why did you hide that from me?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t want you to take after me, okay? I didn''t want you to think that you could do something like that because I did it. Im truly sorry.¡±


    Trinity was still mad at her mom, but something inside her made her not able to stay mad.


    She turned to Chloe and said, ¡°I''m glad for you, show me the ring.¡±


    Chloe brought up their hand and put it in Trinity¡¯s. Her ring now had a purple gemstone on it. It was a smooth, shiny gem that was slightly bioluminescent, despite the color itself being dark. Trinity¡¯s was exactly like that, but a brighter green.


    Chloe put down her hand, but Trinity immediately grabbed it again, interlocking fingers once again.


    ¡°I know that because of your bloodline, we might see each other again, but that''s just a guess. If not, I''ll miss you.¡±


    ¡°I''ll miss you too,¡± Chloe said back to Trinity, ¡°but I know we¡¯ll see each other again.¡±


    Trinity soon let go of their hand a few seconds later, and went to hug her mom.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, mom.¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, too.¡± her mother said back to her.


    A minute later, the room was empty with only Trinity inside of it. Soon the people who brought her to the room where she met the other royals came inside with Arkanos and Apurva.


    ¡°Let''s take you all to the overlords, now.¡± they said.

 Chapter 3

    Trinity had tried everything she could to get her legs to move, one step at a time. Her legs felt like they were gonna give away at any moment, but she had to continue.


    ¡°Hey, I know you''re scared, but calm down,¡± Apurva said to Trinity. ¡°It''ll be over soon.¡±


    Trinity started to calm down a little when the people in front of them said, ¡°Alright, the three lords will be here soon. They know where you are, so just stay here.¡±


    They left a few seconds later. All three of them were just left in a random room with paintings, swords, armor, and lots of weapons.


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be here.¡± Apurva said quietly to themselves.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Arkanos asked them.


    ¡°Something that the newspapers never said is that the royals are allowed to see their families. My aunts, uncles, and cousin would tell me all about it Just for holidays. The newspapers are accurate, but sometimes hide stuff.¡±


    ¡°Well thats-¡±


    Arkanos was cut off by the sound of doors opening, and the sound of footsteps.


    ` 3 people came in. They had the same dress, same eye shape, same body type, the same hairstyle, which was a high ponytail that went down to their waist. Only difference was the dress color, hair color, and eye color. One was red, another was yellow, and the last one was blue. They were about 8 and a half feet tall. The 3 royals knew exactly who they were.


    ¡°Welcome, new royals!¡± the red one said. ¡°I can tell you all are nervous, but you don''t need to be!¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, Apurva Christensin.¡± the yellow one said. ¡°Second cousin of the last royal, we all liked him, pity he died.¡± They bent down and put a pale finger on Apurva¡¯s wrist, making them flinch.


    ¡°Oh, wow. 7% Iraklis blood. The majority of the Iraklis bloodline were royals, not surprising you''ve been chosen.¡±


    ¡°You should take a look at this one.¡± the blue one said, who was inspecting Arkanos. ¡°13% Aiolfi blood, pity he wasn''t a knight, what an amazing one he would be.¡±


    The red one went behind Trinity and put their hands on her shoulders. Trinity winced at how cold their hands were, they were as cold as ice. She flinched when they touched her wrist.


    ¡°Oh, my, this ones the daughter of Seher Aohina. She tried to kill us once, did that woman? Oh, and she''s friends with a pure Nakano, who will be an amazing knight. Well, nothing special about her blood.¡±


    Trinity was too scared to say a word or even move. She was having trouble breathing, and her body was as stiff as a rock. The only thing moving was her eyes. She hated to admit it, but they were beautiful, and she couldn''t take her eyes off of them.


    ¡°Oh yes, I remember her.¡± the blue one said. ¡°If it wasn''t for all those protests, she would still be in jail. We just wanted to not start a war.¡±


    ¡°She was pretty and very confident¡± the yellow one said, ¡°No wonder almost everyone liked her.¡±


    The blue one continued, ¡°Anyways, I don''t see anything wrong with your bloodlines. Step onto the white circle right behind you and you will be teleported to your bedrooms.¡±


    The three new royals stepped onto a big empty white circle where they said it was, and soon felt air of different temperatures blow in different directions on them, along with seeing a blinding white light. Soon the wind stopped, and the light dialed down, and they were all in a whole other room. It was a royal and luxury bedroom, with a bunch of giant beds and golden chandeliers.


    ¡°This is¡­ nice.¡± Arkanos muttered quietly but loud enough for Apurva and Trinity to hear.


    ¡°That was scary,¡± Apurva said, ¡°why do the overlords have so much power?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Trinity said.


    ¡°Well, anyways, according to what I''ve heard, we¡¯re allowed to sleep, but tomorrow will be a big day because we¡¯ll be shown to the rest of the castle and have our pictures taken for the newspapers.¡±


    ¡°I''m tired,¡± Trinity said. ¡°I don''t care that it''s-¡± she looked at the clock ¡°-almost 9. I''m going to sleep.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°Shut up. And don''t wake me up until morning, I''ll kill you before the overlords can.¡± Trinity went to one of the beds, didn''t bother to change her clothes or even go under the sheets, she just flopped onto the bed and closed her eyes.


    ¡°Wow, talk about being rude for no reason.¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°Maybe she''s just most comfortable showing anger.¡± Apurva said. ¡°But then again, she just found out her mom tried to kill the overlords and never mentioned anything about it, she''s probably going to be mad.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Fine, but do you know what happens during the rest of the night tonight?¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure 1-4 grey rings will show up.¡±


    ¡°Great, when will they show up?¡±


    ¡°I don''t even know if-¡±


    Apurva was interrupted by the sound of harsh air blowing. She and Arkanos turned around and saw three people standing in the teleportation circle they came in with. One had on a long maiden dress that came down below the knees, and was tall with dark blue eyes and black curly hair. Another person wore the same dress but was a lot shorter and had black eyes and short straight purple hair. The last one had on a formal suit and had brown eyes with bright orange hair.


    The tall black haired person in the dress spoke, ¡°Hello, we¡¯re here to serve you from now on. I''m Luiz Rostami, the purple haired girl is my partner, Jokela Paviel, and the other one is LIuc Snider.¡±


    ¡°Hi there!¡± Apurva said. ¡°You know, you don''t have to be so formal.¡±


    Jokela started to speak ¡°Royal Christensin, it is ordered by the overlords, we have to be polite to royals.


    Lluc spoke up, ¡°If we don''t, bad things will happen.¡±


    The 2 royals realized how uncomfortable they looked, and started to feel bad for them. They had to act like a person they were not, or else they would have bad things happen to them. They had just started to understand how horrible the overlords were.


    ~


    The next morning the 3 royals had all woken up and were soon going to be ready for the newspapers. Half the time, Apurva was telling them what was going to happen to Arkanos and Trinity.


    The overlords had ordered them to change their clothes to something more suitable for the front cover of the newspaper plus the entire castle. They had given Trinity something she was expecting, a long dress the same color of her ring, and had a hoopskirt, tons of petticoats, detailed designs with fabric, and a corset. Apurva and Arkanos had been giving something similar. When she put it on, she felt strange. She felt like she was going to step on it, despite the hoopskirt, and that the fabric and jewels were going to fall off.


    They were at the main opening of the castle. It was like the other entrance, it was a tall arch with knights in front and behind it, the only difference was that there was a door, and the arch was even taller. Both the royals and overlords were going to be pulled in self- driving carriages, cameras were going to be pointing at them for the newspapers, and the newly- selected knights were going to see the new royals for the first time.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be in the carriage in front of you, you just have to smile and wave, it''s that simple. The selected knight will be in the stands around you, so dont feel uncomfortable if they look at you, obviously they want to see the new royals!¡± the overlords told them.


    They all got into their carriages, the overlords in front of the royals. Trinity was once again anxious. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hardly hear anything else. She could see and feel the carriage moving on the paveway, but she couldn''t hear the sound of the wheels. She saw all the knights in the stands to the left and right of her, wearing their armor, their faces and a bit of hair sticking out. She remembered what the overlords said and lifted her arm to wave, but her arm felt like a million pounds. Then she saw a familiar face.


    It was Chloe. Trinity could recognize their face and that purple hair anywhere. Suddenly her heart calmed down, she could hear again, and her arm was lighter. She could hear the camera flashing and people talking.


    This had been going on for so long, Trinity had started to get bored. Her arm felt like it was going to fall off, and her mouth hurt from smiling. Soon it was finally over and they got out of their carriages.


    ¡°Over there, is another teleportation circle, you will be back in your rooms.¡± the overlords said. So then the 3 royals stepped onto it, and felt the air on them and saw the blinding light, but when the light disappeared, Trinity didn''t know where she was. What was worse, Apurva and Arkanos had disappeared. What was around her was a big hallway with bookshelves and vines all over the walls. She ran down the walls looking for an entrance, the vines getting thicker. Soon she saw a door covered in vines, but when Trinity tried to open it, it was able to open. When she opened it, she saw a beautiful garden. One section was full of animals she had never seen before, that were on fire, but lookee dlike they didnt mind, along with some plants that needed fire to survive, but she didn''t want to know what they were. Another section was animals and plants that were flying on their own, another section was a giant glass tank with a bunch of sea creatures and sea plants. The last section was a normal area, with grassy lands and normal animals.


    In the grassy section she saw a woman with a long flowy white dress that had long angel sleeves and lace, along with long wavy red hair that went down to her waist and had a golden wire-like crown with leaves and flowers twisted around it, along with a bright white ring. Trinity could tell by her dress and her crown that it was a mage. She was bending down next to an animal Trinity had never seen before. It looked like a sheep and a pig merged into one, like a wooly pig. The mage was feeding it something that was white with green things in it. Trinity ran over to them, lifting her skirt slightly over her knees, not wanting to ruin her dress. The woman turned around, and Trinity got a better look at her face. She had light brown soft eyes, and freckles all over her face.


    ¡§Oh! You must be Royal Aohina!¡§ the woman said, taking a deep bow. Trinity felt scared when she heard that. It was her worst nightmare ever since she found out about the past royals constantly dying.


    ¡§My name is Asteria Flamefist.¡§


    ¡§You don''t have to be so polite, Lady Asteria¡§ she said, saying Lady like it was a slur. ¡§My name is Trinity.¡§


    ¡§Oh darling, its ordered by the overlords, we have to be polite to the royals, especially if they just got selected.¡§


    ¡§Well, what is that animal, what are you feeding it?¡§


    ¡§Oh, you''ve never seen one of them? This is a porvium, and im feeding it with a health potion, so they won''t get sick.¡§


    ¡§You can make health potions?¡§


    ¡§Yes, I can, that''s one of the things mages can do with their earth powers!


    ¡§Earth powers?¡§


    ¡§Yes, mages have powers with all four elements, i''m sure you know them?¡§


    ¡§Yeah, its earth, water, air, and fire.¡§


    ¡§Because of that, usually the most powerful ones are assigned to work in the farms, because it can help the animals the most, but they are forbidden to use fire anywhere other than the fire section because it could hurt the animals and crops.¡§


    ¡§But those powers are a part of you, why does everyone follow the stupid and unfair rules the overlords say?¡§


    ¡§Royal Aohina, if you don''t follow the rules they give, you could be executed!¡§


    ¡§Call me Trinity, Lady Asteria.¡§ she said.


    ¡§But Royal Aohina, it is ordered by the overlords, we must say this!¡§


    ¡§Trin- Royal Aohina!¡§ said a familiar voice.


    Trinity turned and saw Chloe once again.


    ¡°Chloe!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve met Lady Asteria too? She''s one of the most powerful mages in all of Pantaleone! She''s so cool!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Chloe. Why are you here, Royal Aohina?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was supposed to be in the bedroom, but the teleportation circle broke, and now I''m here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you.¡± Chloe said.

 Chapter 4

    Chloe walked in front of Trinity, not looking away from forward.


    ¡°How do you know the directions to the royals¡¯ bedrooms?¡± Trinity asked him.


    ¡°One of the knights biggest duties is to protect the royals, so we have to memorize the map of the whole castle as fast as possible so they don''t get lost.¡± they answered back.


    ¡°The whole thing? All of its floors and hallways, everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We have a week or more to memorize it. We already know the basics, the royals bedroom being one of them.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that harsh?¡±


    ¡°Harsh? We¡¯re already learning things with sharp swords, others with arrows. But I''m obviously amazing at it, I''m a pure Nakano.¡±


    ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to put so much pressure on yourself just because of your bloodline.¡±


    ¡°I''m not, I''m doing this because I want to, okay?¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m worried about you and your mental health!¡± Trinity said a bit too loud.


    ¡°I know that, and I already told you, I''m doing great! But some of the other people are amazing! You should see Eldritch Charneldevil, he''s awesome! He took out 4 mannequins in one go! Despite that, he''s not as good as me! I got 6 mannequins already!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that¡¯s healthy, Chloe. You shouldn''t just be training nonstop, I heard that you¡¯ll get better if you sleep 7-9 hours and eat 3 meals a day. Once again, don''t put all this pointless pressure on yourself just because of your ancestors.¡±


    They were walking 10x faster than before. Chloe obviously wanted this to end, and by now they were a few seconds away from the bedroom doors, which were almost in front of them.


    ¡°Well, this was a nice conversation. I guess I''ll see you soon, just take a right and the bedrooms are right there.¡±


    ¡°Chloe, don''t avoid this!¡±


    But Chloe had already ran off. Trinity went inside, to where Apurva and Arkanos were there changing.


    ¡°Oh hey Trinity! The overlords allowed us to change into normal clothes, where have you been?¡± Apurva asked her.


    ¡°The stupid teleportation circle sent me to another place, i needed a knights help to get here.¡±


    ¡°We were teleported somewhere else too, but the overlords found us quickly, but they couldn''t find you.¡± Arkanos said. ¡°Can you take this off? I can''t reach the strings.¡± He asked Luiz, who was a few feet away. The second she took it off, he took a deep breath in and out and said, ¡°Finally, I can breathe! That corset was about to break my ribs!¡±


    ¡°I know! What¡¯s the point of making them so tight?¡± Apurva said, taking hers off and taking deep breaths. ¡°Are the overlords trying to suffocate us? Trinity, won''t you take off yours?¡±


    Trinity took hers off, not realizing how tight it was. She took a few deep breaths and sat on her bed.


    ¡°Is something wrong, Trinity?¡± Arkanos asked.


    ¡°My stupid friend was avoiding me because i told them they shouldnt overwork themselves.¡±


    ¡°You mean the Nakano the overlords mentioned when they checked our bloodlines?¡± Apurva said. ¡°Maybe they just don''t wanna face reality, or they actually don''t feel like they¡¯re overworking themselves, and they don''t want to hear you talk.¡±


    ¡°I know that she doesn''t want to hear me talk! But why?¡±


    ¡°Once again, they probably don''t want to face reality, they want to be good at what they are doing and don''t want anyone getting in their way.¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°But i''m her frien-¡±


    ¡°Stop with the buts.¡± Apurva said in a serious tone that scared both Trinity and Arkanos. ¡°She just doesn''t want to hear your bullshit! I know you''re anxious, but you shouldn''t be in every aspect of her life! If you''re really that anxious, go see Grigor Segreti. They¡¯re one of the best herbalists in the castle, she helped a lot with how scared I was when I got lost in the castle. Ask one of the knights to take you there.¡±


    By now, Apura and Arkanos had been done changing and were in casual clothes.


    ¡°Fine, I''ll go.¡± Trinity said


    ¡°Change first.¡± Arkanos said.


    Trinity changed into a simpler dress and left the room. She went up to the nearest knight and asked, ¡°Do you know where Grigor Segreti is?¡±


    The knight nodded and walked away, with a hand gesture that told Trinity to follow them.


    ¡°So, who are you?¡± Trinity asked them.


    ¡°Eldritch Charneldevil. You¡¯re Royal Aohina, aren''t you?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yeah, I am. Chloe told me about you. Didn''t you knock down 4 mannequins in one go?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I did. So, why are you going to visit Lady Grigor?¡±


    ¡°The other royals said I should go visit them.¡± she said in a miserable tone.


    Eldritch didn''t say anything, making Trinity assume he did not know how to respond. Soon they were at a giant gate. Eldritch put a finger and did a 10 second pattern with it on the door. It opened, and there was a giant room with different smells and very tall walls. There were at least 6 shelves with giant glass jars filled with different herbs. On one of them were smaller jars with a mixture of the herbs with some sort of liquid mixed in them. A person, who was wearing a dark green hijab with matching eyes and was wearing a long black dress with a ruffled top and angel sleeves that stopped at slightly above the ankles, was sitting near them with a silver bowl in front of them. The gates closed, Eldritch behind them.


    ¡°Hi, your Lady Grigor, aren¡¯t you?¡± Trinity said after walking up to her.


    The lady turned around and Trinity got a better look at her eyes, which looked like one of the dried herbs in the jars.


    ¡°Yes, I am. You must be Royal Aohina aren''t you, young lady?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Trinity said, taking an awkward courtesy. ¡°One of the other royals said I should come here because I had a problem with stress.¡±


    ¡°Well, I understand why you''re stressed, almost every royal had to come to an herbalist to help with stress, don''t worry, it''s completely normal to have stress, especially when you''re one of the new royals!¡±


    They then took a jar from the bottom shelf, which was a colored liquid that Trinity didn''t know what it was.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am? What is that?¡± she asked


    ¡°Dried lavender, valerian root, passionflower, dried orange peel, and dried ginger mixed with a special liquid.¡± she answered. They poured some of it into an empty silver bowl, then took a stick and spun it around the border of the bowl, making it shake and change color.


    ¡°This makes the magic happen, all you have to do is put it in hot or cold tea or sparkling water, and then drink it.¡±


    ¡°EIther one is fine.¡±


    Grigor then poured the colored liquid into a cup of sparkling water, making it change colors once again.


    ¡°Just a warning, it doesn''t taste all that well.¡±


    Trinity took a few sips of it. It was strong and quite bitter, but she managed to swallow it, coughing after it.


    ¡°Don''t worry, it''s normal to cough after drinking it. You can now go back to the royals bedroom, you''re allowed to sleep, it can help make it work better. I suppose you¡¯ve had a long day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I have. Thank you,  I guess.¡± Trinity said to Grigor, who gave her a smile.


    ¡°You''re welcome, I''m available anytime.¡±


    Eldritch was waiting outside for her. ¡°I knew you would need the way back, so I stayed outside.


    ¡°Yeah I do.¡± she responded. ¡°Chloe told me that she and the other knights have to memorize the whole blueprint of the castle. How do you memorize it so quickly, along with the passwords?¡±


    ¡°Different knights memorize different parts of the castle, it was a coincidence that I was the closest person to you when you needed Lady Grigor and I knew where she was, along with the password.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I have one last question and I really need it answered.¡±


    Eldritch suddenly looked scared and said, ¡°Well, that''s going to have to wait. Take two rights, then three lefts, then one last right, and you will be there.¡±


    ¡°Get back here you asshole!¡± Trinity called, but Eldritch was gone.


    All she wanted to do was ask him about Chloe, and if they were hiding something from her. She tried to ignore the feeling and follow Eldritch¡¯s directions, but on the 2nd left she was lost. There were 4 lefts on one side of the hallway, and she didn''t know which one it was. Suddenly, on the other side of the hallway, a light came through the window of the door. Trinity looked inside and saw a man, who had dark gray hair with lines of white in it, tan skin, and black eyes, hover his hands over what looked like a giant snow globe, but instead of the base snow globes had, it looked like the ball was sitting on a giant candlestick to stay in place. Trinity could see the man''s ring, which was a creamy white that looked so much brighter than everything else in the room.


    Trinity watched in amazement as the man, who she could tell was a sorcerer by his robe, held his hands over the ball and muttered something, making the white stuff inside the ball slowly move up and glow. Soon the ball itself started to levitate and glow. Soon it was so bright Trinity had to squint her eyes so she wouldn''t be blinded. Even though she had to look away, the sorcerer didn''t take his eyes off the ball, but soon he let go, and took deep breaths in exhaustion. He soon noticed that Trinity was watching him and went to the door, and opened it.


    ¡°You must be Royal Aohina.¡± he said to her, taking a deep bow the way Asteria did.


    ¡°Yes I am.¡± she said back to him, taking a courtesy.


    ¡°My name is Luxei Shrochen. I saw that you were watching me do a Spiraluxfuga spell on the orbilla.¡±


    ¡°That''s what those are?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can tell you are quite fascinated by it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s¡­ cool.¡± She walked inside the room, and went over to the orbilla.


    ¡°You can touch it, but it feels just like any other glass ball. Just don''t damage it, they are very rare.¡± Luxei spoke in a deep and serious voice that made Trinity want to always follow his directions. He could tell her to jump off a cliff and she would.


    She put her fingertips on the orbilla, and found out they were right. It felt like a normal glass ball, with nothing special about it.


    ¡°Doesn''t the selection happen every 50 years? Why were you and Lady Asteria here before yesterday?¡± she asked after realizing he was there before yesterday¡¯s selection.


    ¡°Sometimes when a person is very skilled, they are taken away to serve the overlords and the castle.¡± they replied.


    ¡°Taken away? From their hometowns, just because they are skilled?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It is sad, but we can''t do anything about it.¡±


    Trinity took her fingertips off of the glass. She felt bad for him and Asteria, who were taken away just because they were good at what they did.


    ¡°Is there anything you need, Royal Aohina?¡±


    ¡°Well, I need to get back to the royal''s bedroom.¡± she told him.


    ¡°Finally, I can use it. It''s been years since.¡± he muttered to himself.


    They walked over to a teleportation circle, and tapped a spot on the border with a stick, making it turn to the same color as the floor, but with a faint circle. He then tapped the border of the circle in different places, making the inside of it change color.


    ¡°This will take you to the royal¡¯s bedroom. I swear on Hefin, it is not broken, I''ve been practicing ever since I''ve been here, you will be able to get there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, Sir Luxei.¡± Trinity said. She stepped on the circle, feeling the different air temperatures blowing in different directions, and the blinding white light. The last thing she saw was him waving to her.

 Chapter 5

    When the bright light was gone and the air stopped, Trinity was back inside of the royal''s bedroom. She saw that when she was gone, Apurva and Arkanos were so exhausted that they had both fallen asleep, even though the clock said it was 5:26. They were on the same bed, Apurva lying on him. They both looked so peaceful, Trinity tried to not wake them up when she sat down on her own bed. She looked at them and saw that there was a slight smile on Apurva¡¯s face, like she knew she was having a good time. She imagined her with Chloe lying like that, like they used to. It made Trinity miss Chloe very much, and she just wanted to know if they were hiding something from her.


    Suddenly she heard the harsh air blowing and Luiz, Jokela, and Lluc were standing in the teleportation circle.


    ¡°The overlords have ordered us to tell you that you will have your dinner soon, and when we leave, the teleportation circle will change the location it will teleport to.¡± Lluc said as loudly as he could without waking up the other 2 royals.


    ¡°They remind me of us.¡± Jokela said looking up at Luiz, who was much taller than her.


    ¡°Yes, baby, I know they do. Every happy couple reminds you of us¡± they replied to him.


    ¡°Leave. I¡¯ve had a long day, stop being so annoying and corny.¡± Trinity said to the couple in front of her.


    ¡°They sincerely apologize¡± Lluc said, ¡°Come on, guys, you can''t act like that.¡± he said to Jokela and Luiz, who were tightly holding hands out of embarrassment.


    When they left, Trinity waited for Apurva and Arkanos to wake up until the clock said it was 6:20, meaning they had been asleep for almost an hour. She walked over to them, grabbed one of the pillows from above them, and hit both of them as hard as she could with it multiple times.


    ¡°WAKE UP, YOU STUPID LOVEBIRDS.¡± she yelled, making them both wake up out of fear and pain.


    ¡°Trinity, calm down.¡± Apurva said.


    ¡°I think you bruised me with that, you should be in one of those sports they played in the old times where they constantly punch each other, what was it called?¡± Arkanos asked.


    ¡°Boxing?¡± Trinity asked.


    ¡°Yeah, boxing. You should go be a boxer, you hit us really hard.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re going to have our food soon. Also the servants saw you lovebirds sleeping, did you know that?¡±


    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t, we were asleep.¡± Apurva said. ¡°How were we supposed to know, have some kind of power the overlords have?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. How tired did losing each other after whatever it was called make yall?¡±


    ¡°We had a long day, okay?¡±


    ¡°I got lost in the castle twice, I''ve had a longer day than you, and I''m not falling asleep for an hour straight!¡±


    ¡°Stop being so rude and playing the victim when you''re not. It''s getting annoying.¡± Apurva said in that serious voice that made Trinity stop talking.


    Trinity wasn''t trying to play the victim. She just didn''t understand how you could be asleep for so long in the afternoon without something waking you up. That was just what she was trying to say, and couldn''t help what came out of her mouth.


    ¡°The white rings said that they changed the location of the teleportation circle, so we need to be there soon.¡± she said to them after a few awkward moments of silence.


    They all got up and stepped on it. Once again, they felt the hot and cold air blowing in different directions on them and also away from them, and a few seconds later they were in the fanciest dining room they had ever seen.


    Each chair was made with soft velvet and lined with gold on the edges and gold for the legs. The table was so long, it looked like it could be a mile. The food was set up in spectacular arrangements that looked like a statue. It made all 3 of them not want to take something out of it because they didn''t want to ruin it. The overlords were sitting at the 3 chairs in the middle of the table, patiently waiting for them.


    ¡°Welcome, once again, new royals! You are allowed to do whatever you want, just don''t eat too much, you¡¯ll throw up, and you don''t want that to happen on your second day of being a royal, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course we wouldn''t.¡± Apurva said.


    The overlords walked away as they began to finally eat. Trinity didn''t realise how empty her stomach was, but she tried to contain herself and not eat too fast.


    After a few minutes, the overlords had come and saved all the leftovers for later, so now the plates were clean.


    ¡°You must sit here for a few minutes. We have some¡­ things to do.¡± one of the overlords said before they all left.


    A few seconds later the knights walked in, all in a straight line, the royals not knowing where they were going. They walked with their chins up, backs and necks straight, all looking the same.


    What really caught Trinity¡¯s eye was Chloe in the lines. They give her a small smile, Trinity giving back a forced one. She wanted to know why he was avoiding her, as she stared at him. But she wasn''t lying when she said Chloe looked beautiful and fierce in their full set of armor, like they were ready for war. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Soon Chloe was gone, and the lines of knights continued. Trinity couldn''t help but get up out of her seat.


    ¡°Trinity, where are you going?¡± Arkanos yelled out.


    ¡°This is about your friend, isn''t it?¡± Apurva yelled out, continuing to yell but Trinity didn''t listen. She was speeding walking, looking for Chloe. She was tired of this. She ignored the knights staring at her, and didn''t even stop when she thought she saw what looked like one of the overlords.


    She finally saw Chloe in one of the lines, and walked even faster. She grabbed a sword from one of the knights next to Chloe, grabbed one of their shoulder blades, which were slightly sticking out so she could grab them, and slammed them against the floor, sword to throat. Trinity didn''t have too much strength, but it was enough to do it.


    ¡°WHY ARE YOU AVOIDING ME?¡± Trinity yelled, ¡°ALL I ASKED WAS FOR YOU TO NOT OVERWORK YOURSELF, YOU BITCH!¡±


    ¡°Young lady! Absolutely unacceptable! You could have just asked us if you wanted to have a talk with one of the knights!¡±


    One of the overlords had come over to the madness, trying to pull Trinity off Chloe.


    ¡°Why are you avoiding me? What did you tell the other knights that you don''t want to tell me? What has gotten into you?¡± Trinity yelled.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take you to a private room so you can talk, I assume you shouldn''t be talking about this type of stuff in front of all the knights in the castle.¡± one of the overlords told her.


    ¡°That will be okay, thank you, maam.¡± Chloe said politely, making Trinity even more angry.


    They took the two into a small room, which was quite boring compared to the rest of the castle. There were pads all around the walls and even on the floor and ceiling, making them both assume they blocked out sound.


    ¡°Come out whenever you''re done, alright?¡± the overlord said to them before closing the door behind them.


    As soon as the door was closed, they both started yelling like crazy:


    ¡°What the fuck was that?¡±


    ¡°Why are you avoiding me? All I told you was to not overwork yourself!¡±


    ¡°I am not! For your information, I am perfectly fine, nothing is wrong!¡±


    ¡°Then why are you avoiding me?¡±


    ¡°It''s something between the knights and knights only! Just because you''re my friend doesn''t mean that you have to know everything about me and all my secrets!¡±


    ¡°Well you don''t have to avoid me and have all the other knights avoid me too!¡±


    ¡°Again, it''s a secret between the knights and knights only, just because you''re my friend doesn''t mean you have to be in every single aspect of my life! Just stop!¡±


    Trinity didn''t know how to respond, so she had to leave the room. She didn''t know where she was gonna go, until she saw a teleportation circle.


    Something she hadn''t realized before was that the borders of them had markings on them, different for each location. The one that Trinity saw didn''t have any, and only had a small light in the middle. She tried to use the spell Luxei had used for the royals bedroom, and put markings she tried to remember them doing around the border, and once she had done the last marking, the small light in the middle had expanded and it looked like the teleportation circle Trinity was used to. She convened a small hope inside her, which hoped that she would still be in the castle, and it was in a place that she knew, and tried to keep it while she stepped on, and while she felt the air around her and saw the bright light.


    As those things disappeared and Trinity could open her eyes without blinding herself, she knew one of the things she had hoped for had come true.


    She knew she was still in the castle, but she didn''t know where she was.


    ¡°Who are you? How did you get here?¡± A voice said behind her.


    Trinity turned and saw two guys standing in front of an uncompleted armor stand and a long chunk of metal.


    ¡°Are you Royal Aohina?¡± the other man said, staring in awe.


    ¡°If you are, I sincerely apologize, I didn''t know!¡± the first man said.


    ¡°Sir, don''t worry. I just need to get back to the royal¡¯s bedroom, i had a bit of an-¡±


    ¡°Outburst?¡± One of the guys said, ¡°Oh honey, your attack on that knight is all over the news! Tons of Pantaleonians have seen it!¡±


    ¡°Nilius, babe, stop it!¡± the other man said, ¡°Have you forgotten? This is the real Royal Aohina, not a fake!¡±


    ¡°Hildred, its fine-¡±


    ¡°I''m not worried about that, do you know how to get to the royals bedroom? LIke is there a spell?¡± Trinity interrupted.


    ¡°Yes, there is, it''s a pattern on the border of the teleportation circle, do you want us to show you?¡± Hildred said, brushing his dark orange hair out of their face.


    ¡°Yes please, I''ve gotten lost like 3 times today.¡±


    ¡°So basically, you put the dashes in groups for each word in the sentence, ¡®The windows are decorated with lanterns¡¯ Since ¡®the¡¯ has one syllable, you put one dash, and then an inch space between the next dash. Since ¡®windows¡¯ has two syllables, you put two syllables together, and then an inch space, and repeat that with the rest of the sentence, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do, thank you so much.¡±


    1, space, 2, space, 1, space, 4, space, 1, space, 2, space. She thought to herself while putting the dashes on the circle, which glowed up again.


    ¡°Thank you so much, what was your name again?¡±


    ¡°Hildred Estrada, master of armor making, and that''s my boyfriend, Nilius Arias, who is the master of weapon making.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much, goodbye!¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, Royal Aohina!¡± Both of them said, while Trinity stepped onto the circle and felt the usual air around her.

 Chapter 6

    Trinity realized the spell had worked when she saw the royal''s bedroom she was used to after the light disappeared.


    What she wasn''t used to was all 3 of the overlords looking down at her angrily.


    ¡°We have been living for thousands of years, but we have hardly seen a royal do anything so preposterous!¡± the blue one said.


    ¡°Looks like chaos runs in the Aohina bloodline, doesn''t it? You really are your mother, aren''t you?¡± the yellow one said.


    ¡°Well what was I supposed to do?¡± Trinity said.


    ¡°You could have come to us!¡± the red one said


    ¡°Well I don''t know where you all are more than like, 90% of the time!¡±


    ¡°Well here''s a summoning spell, do this and we¡¯ll appear. Just get on the floor and make a U shape, put a vertical line inside of it, then make a spiky circle connected to it, and then a normal circle around it.¡± said the yellow one


    ¡°I didn''t know that at the time!¡±


    ¡°We give royals three chances, you''ve used your first one already, you have two left-¡±


    ¡°I know how to do basic math, okay?¡±


    ¡°If you want to stay a royal, you have to lose that attitude and work on your terrible temper.¡±


    ¡°I can''t control it, though.¡±


    One of the overlords walked over to her and put a big and cold hand on her arm and pulled her closer.


    ¡°If you can''t fix it, we¡¯ll do it for you¡±. With their free hand, they lifted it up, their pointer finger glowing a bright red. They brought it up to Trinity¡¯s wrist that was captured by the giant hand, and Trinity herself felt her eyes getting tired and her vision getting blurry, but she thought she could see the veins under the thin skin glow the bright red. Right when Trinity was about to pass out, they pulled the finger away and she had energy again. She checked her wrist and saw that the veins returned to normal.


    ¡°What was that?¡± she stuttered.


    ¡°Oh, darling, it''s just what we¡¯ll do if you don''t behave. Goodbye for now.¡± they said before walking out.


    Trinity jumped onto her bed, trying to process what happened.


    ¡®What are they going to do? I have to try to calm down, but I don''t know if I can.¡¯ she thought to herself.


    Suddenly all her negative emotions disappeared and she felt lighter. She realized it was probably Lady Grigor¡¯s herbs doing their job.


    At least she could finally get some sleep without any problems.


    ~


    Trinity was a mix of both a light and heavy sleeper, sometimes she was one, sometimes she was the other.


    Right now she was currently a light sleeper, as she was woken up by footsteps.


    She slightly opened her eyes, and saw Apurva walking over to Arkanos¡¯ bed.


    ¡°Can we sleep together, please?¡± Apurva said after they had woken up Arkanos.


    ¡°Are you asking me if you want to have sex or are you a scared four year old?¡±


    ¡°No, im not asking you for sex! We¡¯re teenagers! I''m just- uneasy, okay? Besides, I slept in your bed last night and no one had any idea, and you didn''t care!¡±


    Trinity tried to convince herself that ¡°it¡± meant sleep in one anothers bed, because she realized how weird that sounded.


    ¡°Alright, but this and tomorrow night is the last time. If i''m honest, i''m a little uneasy too. Especially because of Trinity.¡±


    ¡°Because of her outburst on that one night?¡± Apurva asked, getting under the sheets.


    ¡°No, because she''s a royal. Yes it''s because of her outburst on that one knight! Weren''t they a Nakano? They¡¯ll beat her ass.¡±


    Trinity was both nervous and relieved, mostly because they weren''t doing anything sexual, and because she now knew they didn''t like her that much.


    ¡°They¡¯re childhood friends, ¡®Kanos. I don''t think they would want to hurt each other.¡±


    ¡°Well I''ve known you for 3 days, and I don''t want you to get hurt.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t want you to get hurt either, but a normal person wouldn''t want anyone they know to get hurt no matter how long they known that person for


    There were a few moments of silence, until Apurva spoke up.


    ¡°I''m glad you let me in your bed, I feel better with you.¡±


    ¡°I hate to admit it, but I feel better with you, too. But it''s kind of weird.¡± Arkanos responded.


    ¡°What''s kind of weird?¡±


    ¡°You know someone for a few days, but yet you would do anything for them. You know someone for your whole life, but you forget about them, or dont care after one point.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s just you, I still remember my old friends from when I was five years old, even the ones who only wanted to be friends with me for my bloodline.¡±


    ¡°Well I''ve forgotten about almost everyone who was in my life before I was seven years old. I don''t know what''s wrong with me, maybe I just have a bad memory.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you do, who forgets all of that?¡±


    ¡°I thought it was normal! Almost everyone I know forgets everything before a certain age!¡±


    They continued for about a few minutes, making Trinity go to get out of her bed and shut them up, but she didn''t want to make them hate her even more.


    Suddenly the doors opened and Lluc Snider came in.


    ¡°Please quiet down, me and Jokela and Luiz can hear you two, it''s bad enough you''re sharing a bed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I woke up a few minutes ago, I just didn''t want to bother you two lovebirds.¡± Trinity piped up.


    ¡°You could have told us, Trinity, we would have been more quiet! But thank you, Lluc.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome, and remember next time.¡± he said before leaving.


    ¡°I didn''t tell you because I thought you would hate me more and think I''m even more of a grumpy person.¡± Trinity said after the doors closed


    ¡°We don''t hate you, we just hate your personality.¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°You''re not making this any better.¡± Apurva said to him. ¡°We just don''t like how you get angry all the time.¡±


    ¡°You''re not making it any better, either!¡± he said back.


    ¡°Stop talking, please.¡± Trinity said. ¡°People have said that to me my whole life, and I''ve been trying to work on it my entire life, also, so I understand that. Just go to fucking sleep, we¡¯ve all add long days.¡± she slumped back onto her bed and fell back to sleep, Lady Grigor¡¯s herbs still doing its job.


    ~


    Trinity had a nightmare that night. She had woken up in the dream to see she had been chained up and couldn¡¯t move. She knew she was dreaming, but couldn¡¯t wake herself up, like she wasn¡¯t dreaming. Suddenly she saw one of the overlords towering over her, holding up a long, glowing finger. She had to crane her neck in order to look up at them, like she became smaller than 5¡¯4 or they became taller than 8¡¯6.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    She tried to calm herself down, but started panicking even more and thrashing around in the chains, when the long finger was brought up to her wrist, the veins under her skin once again glowing and Trinity feeling how cold the finger was. She had that sleepy feeling again, but this time they didn¡¯t let go, and it was like she fell asleep again, while she was already asleep.


    ~


    When she woke up, Trinity had forgotten all about the dream.


    ¡°Trinity! Come on, breakfast is ready!¡± Apurva said, standing next to the bed frame, slightly scaring Trinity.


    ¡°You were sweating a lot, what happened in your dream?¡± they asked her.


    ¡°I don''t remember.¡±


    Apurva started walking quickly to the teleportation circle and pulled a piece of paper out of their pocket.


    ¡°The overlords gave me this equation for how to change the location of the teleportation circles, but I really don''t understand.¡±


    Trinity got out of her bed and looked at the paper.


    To deactivate, wipe away one of the dashes on the border. Soon all of the other dashes will disappear and the light will, too.


    The sentence for the location is, the boat people asked for food.


    The paper continued to say what Nilius and Hildred had already told Trinity.


    ¡°I''ve already deactivated it but I don''t understand.¡± Apurva said to her.


    ¡°Watch this, and listen.¡±


    Trinity explained to them what the couple had told her, while doing it at the same time. By the time she was done explaining, the teleportation circle was glowing once again with new dashes on its border.


    ¡°I''m sure it¡¯ll work, if it doesn''t, i give you permission to murder me.¡± Trinity said to Apurva, making them smile.


    They both stepped on, and when the light was gone, they were in the dining room that Trinity remembered from last night, only there were different foods on the tables. When she reached out for one of them, Arkanos came up out of nowhere from behind her and tried to ask her a question, but Trinity didn''t know he was there, and immediately turned around and almost slapped him in the face.


    ¡°Oh shit, I''m sorry! What were you gonna ask?¡¯


    ¡°It''s fine- um- what''s that thing on your wrist?¡± he asked her.


    Trinity looked at her wrist. There was a dark circle with a few dark lines going across it, and electric blue lines where her veins would be, all of them blurred into her skin and were slightly fading.


    ¡°I don''t know how they got there, I''m sorry, I don''t even know where it came from.¡± she said to Arkanos.


    ¡°How do you not know? And how did you not realize it before?¡±


    ¡°I was tired, I guess, and my vision isn''t that great. Usually when you wake up, your eyesight is blurry.¡±


    ¡°Have you guys tried the waffles?¡± Apurva piped up, their mouth and hands full of waffles.


    ¡°Ok, you''re gonna choke and get a heart disease if you eat any more of them.¡± Arkanos said, grabbing them out of Apurva¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Well eat one of them! You''ll understand!¡± They said after a swallow


    Arkanos grabbed one and took a bite, ¡°Yes they''re good, but please stop,¡±


    After a few minutes, the 3 royals were already finished eating and were quite overwhelmed, when suddenly one of the overlords came in.


    ¡°Royal Aohina, come with me, please.¡± They said after smoothing out their yellow skirt.


    Trinity followed them, where they were soon taken to a giant balcony outside. It was quite early in the morning, and the view showed the garden Asteria did their work in, so Trinity could see almost everything. She could even wave to Asteria, who waved back at her.


    ¡°Why did you bring me here?¡± Trinity asked the yellow overlord, who was sitting down, but was so tall they were still much taller than Trinity standing up.


    ¡°I heard about the markings on your wrist. Dont worry about it, they''ll go away soon, but only the blue lines. The others will fade but you will forever see them if you look close enough. They could be there because of something happening in your dream, or someone could have put a spell on you, which can leave a mark.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, okay then, but why did you bring me all the way here? And how do you know about the marks on my wrist?¡±


    ¡°I heard Royal Lordano mention them, sometimes the powers me and my siblings have can view and hear things happening in other locations, both voluntarily and not.¡±


    ¡°That''s kind of weird, what have you seen?¡±


    ¡°I have seen horrible things, Young Royal. Sometimes I wish I did not have these powers, sometimes they are too much for me.


    ¡°I mean, being a royal is too much for me, too, but I''ve hardly learned anything.¡±


    ¡°You remind me so much of myself. I know that''s quite cliche, but really you do.¡±


    ¡°You hardly know anything about me, just the fact that my mother tried to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Of course we don''t know each other, we¡¯ve hardly enteracted, and it wasnt me your mother tried to kill, it was red.¡±


    ¡°Well, what''s your¡­ name?¡± Trinity asked.


    ¡°Well, since we''ll be dealing with each other for a long time, I guess I¡¯ll tell you. My actual name is Iroda. Blue is Yaromir, and Red is Maryam. I don''t feel like saying our last names.¡±


    ¡°Can I call you that? In private?¡±


    ¡°Yes, only if you follow me to call you by your first name, also in private.¡±


    ¡°I''ll allow you to do it. I prefer it much more.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know about the others, but I prefer mine, too.¡±


    After a few seconds, Trinity piped up, ¡°I should get back, they might get worried.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, of course.¡± Iroda said while standing up, once again towering over her, ¡°Let''s get going, follow me.¡±


    Trinity followed them, having to slightly run to keep up with Iroda, who opened up the doors to the dining room, where Apurva and Arkanos were waiting for them.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Apurva asked her once Trinity sat next to them and Iroda had left the room.


    ¡°Just some stuff about my wrist, apparently someone could have put a spell on me, or something happened in my dream that transferred over to my real body.¡±


    ¡°I''m slowly starting to be done with magic.¡± Arkanos said in a monotone voice.


    ¡°Yeah, it was probably magic that killed all those people, and started all those wars.¡± Apurva muttered to herself.


    ¡°Since when were you guys like this?¡± Trinity asked them, realizing they were acting differently.


    ¡°Just mood swings. It''s normal, you know, and what was the sentence for getting back to the bedroom?¡± Apurva said, getting up from their seat and walking towards the teleportation circle.


    ¡°It''s The boat people asked for food, what happened when i was gone? It was like, five minutes.¡±


    ¡°Lots of things can happen in five minutes, lots of things happen in time, no matter how short.¡± Arkanos said, also getting up and following Apurva, who was making marks around the border or the circle that Trinity didn''t realize had disappeared.


    ¡°Talk about being edgy.¡± Trinity said, reaching over for a slice of bread.


    While she took a bite, she watched Arkanos and Apurva step onto the teleportation circle. The light that was shooting out of it had started to bend in different places, but it led to what looked like chaos around the two, a bunch of light refracting around them, soon going faster, until she couldn''t see them anymore. Before it absorbed them, Trinity thought she saw them grasping each other''s hands. Once she couldn''t see them, the light started slowing down and straightened, they had disappeared.


    ¡°Follow them.¡± The voice in her head told her. Since she was taught to trust her instinct, Trinity walked onto the circle.


    Once she was in the room, Apurva groaned. ¡°You don''t have to follow us everywhere, you know.¡±


    ¡°Be quiet, do you hear that?¡± Arkanos said.


    They listened quietly for a few seconds, and then heard the sounds of the overlords yelling at each other.


    ¡°What an idiotic move you did!¡±


    ¡°It had to be done, we couldn''t have a stable country if they act like this!¡±


    ¡°It''s been less than two days, of course they''re gonna act weird, they''re not used to it!¡±


    ¡°The other royals were just fine with it!¡±


    ¡°Because most of those were people with royal blood in them, trained to live like this their whole entire lives, and these three are not like that!¡±


    ¡°You could have just told them to fix their attitude once, they''re gonna listen since we are the overlords, you didn''t have to inject them with a spell to fix their behavior!¡±


    ¡°Royal Aohina saw the mark on her wrist from it, of course she''s gonna be confused about it.¡±


    ¡°Those two little lovebirds were so immature, acting like 9 year olds, and their little dog is a chihuahua, that thing wont stop barking out of anger, it had to be done.¡±


    ¡°This is why the ¡°chihuahua¡¯s¡± mother tried to kill you! This is why millions of people hate us!¡±


    ¡°Don''t make a reference or mention Seher Aohina to me again!¡±


    ¡°Oh shit, they did that?¡± Trinity said to the two, ¡°No wonder you guys are so hormonal.¡±


    ¡°At least you won''t attack a knight or yell at us for no reason.¡± Apurva said.


    ¡°Come on, that''s quite harsh.¡± Arkanos said to them.


    ¡°At least we¡¯re good enough to be royals, now, and what can we do knowing that we have this power over this country?¡± Trinity asked with a mocking tone in her voice.


    ¡°Let''s think of what other royals did the first few days like this. Oh yeah, they did nothing.¡± Arkanos said.


    ¡°I don''t like this version of you, you need some serotonin.¡± Trinity responded to him.


    ¡°I don''t like this version of you either, shouldn''t you be yelling at us?¡± Apurva said.


    ¡°Oh my god, can you let that go for one second?¡±


    ¡°It''s the spell that they injected in us that''s making us act like this, and it''s quite harsh, especially what it''s doing to Apurva.¡± Arkanos said, once again in a monotone voice.


    ¡°Be quiet, go back to forgetting about almost everything that happened in your childhood, which was probably boring.¡± They responded.


    ¡°Oh my god, you guys are so annoying, if you dont shut the fuck up, theyre gonna inject you with another spell, if the overlords could see the future, they wouldnt have let you be a royal! Because you guys are so annoying! And I really don''t get it, when I yell at you, it makes you guys hate me more. When I''m calm, you guys are wondering why I''m calm and why I''m not angry, it makes no sense! Now be quiet before I fucking invert your ribcage! I just wanna go home and eat bread with no flavor in it!¡±


    That got the other two to be quiet. Trinity walked over to her bed and flopped on it like she used to do before all this.


    ''How am I going to deal with this?¡¯

 Chapter 7

    About a few hours had passed by, and they had just finished their lunch. Nothing had changed, and the 3 royals were still acting the same, when Trinity heard voices outside the doors once again.


    ¡°And on top of that, the pullianas are acting up again.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re flying out of the water, and they also wont eat.¡±


    ¡°It means the water is getting too cold for them. Inhaling colder water can make them more energetic and less hungry.¡±


    ¡°How do you know more than I do about animals? I''m literally the farmer of the castle, my powers are meant for this kind of stuff!¡±


    ¡°You just have a bad memory, also i''m not changing the water for you, you at least are better with water then i am.¡±


    ¡°But youre so much faster!¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you fucking-¡±


    ¡°Hello!¡± In the time those people were talking, Trinity grabbed the first thing at the table and walked over to the doors and opened them. Asteria Flamefist and Luxei Shrochen were standing at the door facing each other.


    ¡°I couldn''t help but hear you two bickering about animals and water,¡± she turned her head to look at the overlords and said, ¡°You guys need to make your walls more soundproof,¡± she turned her head back at them, ¡°Would you like some¡­ wine?¡± she said, bringing up the glass.


    ¡°You''re 14, Royal, why are you drinking that?¡± Asteria asked her.


    ¡°It was the first thing I could grab, and it makes me look more mysterious, but why were you drinking wine, Apurva? Did the hormones affect your age?¡±


    ¡°It''s not mine.¡± Apurva groaned.


    ¡°Quite grumpy, aren''t you?¡± Luxei said to them.


    ¡°Look at yourself!¡± Asteria said to him, ¡°You''re the ruler of being all mysterious and stern, they are nothing compared to you!¡±


    ¡°Must be a nightmare, then, because I can''t deal with those two lately.¡±


    ¡°Well, why don''t you come with us for something? We really need help.¡±


    ¡°I could hear your conversation through the doors, so I assume you need help changing the water?.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but Sir Hormones here,¡± Asteria pointed to the man next to her, who looked quite offended at the words they said, ¡°is refusing to help. The least he can do is tell you how to do the spell for it to work. It can be your first ever spell, if you haven''t done magic yet.¡±


    ¡°The spell is ¡®calidior aqua¡¯, which may sound cool and all, but it''s just Latin for ¡®hotter water¡¯. Luxei said.


    ¡°Thank you, sir. And yes Lady Asteria, I''ll help with that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Royal Aohina.¡±


    Asteria and Luxei had walked away, Trinity closing the door behind them and walking to her seat.


    ¡°Wow, you''re so lucky. Literally everything happens to you.¡± Apurva said.


    ¡°If you wanted a role, you should have just spoken up.¡± Arkanos said to them.


    ¡°I''m asking the overlords about this. I cannot deal with this anymore.¡± Trinity said.


    She remembered that the overlords had told her a summoning spell, and she remembered it, but where was she supposed to put it?


    Turns out she was supposed to do it on a wall, but not using anything to make markings, because once she did that, the 3 overlords had been summoned.


    ¡°Oh, Royal Aohina! What is it you need?¡± Maryam said.


    ¡°I know one of you injected a spell into us. I''m thoroughly enjoying it, but I cannot deal with those two.¡± Trinity then realized that she was way more calm than usual when talking to the overlords. Usually her heart beat got faster and her breath got slightly unsteady, but none of that happened.


    ¡°I told you she was going to find out soon enough!¡± Yaromir said.


    Maryam scoffed and said, ¡°In order for you to undo it, if that''s what you''re asking, you''ll have to do magic. Go ask a sorcerer about it, those people know almost everything about spells.¡±


    ¡°Dont most spells need to be undid by the person who cast them?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the type of spell. This one was injected into them, Royal. Anyone can undo it.¡± Iroda said, slightly bending down to look at Trinity.


    ¡°Alright, now that''s done. Also, do you know the portal mark code or whatever it''s called to Asteria¡¯s garden?¡±


    ¡°She asked you for help about that?¡± Yaromir asked.


    ¡°Yes, Sir Luxei refused to help her.¡±


    ¡°Royals cannot help mages or knights with anything. They both have different jobs to do, and each must do it.¡± Maryam said.


    ¡°Stop spreading lies just because you don''t like her!¡± Yaromir yelled, ¡°The sentence is, The biggest potatoes grow for the dumbest farmers.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. And where is the nearest teleportation circle?¡±


    ¡°Take a left down that hallway and it''s in the second door on the right. There are a few rooms around the castle that have nothing but a teleportation circle, so even if you are lost, you can look for those and get to where you want, if you know the sentence to change the location, of course.¡± Iroda told her, pointing to a large archway leading to a hallway.


    ¡°Thank you once again.¡± Trinity followed the directions they told her, and it was what Iroda said it was, just an empty room with just a teleportation circle. She remembered the sentence she was told, The biggest potatoes grown for the dumbest farmers, and once more followed the directions Nilius and Hildred told her, and put it down on the order.


    Deactivate it, 1, space, 2, space, 3, space, 1, space, 1, space, 1, space, 2, space, 2, space. Now step on, hopefully it works.¡±


    When Trinity opened her eyes and the wind had died down, she was in the garden she remembered from yesterday. Asteria was standing near her, which slightly scared her.


    ¡°Hello Royal Aohina! Thanks for helping with this, Luxei still refuses to do it, even though he''s here to watch.


    ¡°Im just here to make sure she doesn''t fuck it up. Last time somebody else did it, they secretly had no experience with magic and all the water somehow disappeared, almost all the pulianas died. We had to repopulate them out of only 49, there was even some incest in it.¡± Luxei said, who was sitting on a bench looking bored, and sounded disgusted at the last few words they said.


    ¡°That''s gross. I''ve had some experience with magic, I think that drama caused everyone to learn a bit of magic.¡± Trinity repiled.


    ¡°The spell is calidior aqua, there is a little cap at the bottom of the cage you unscrew, so when you do the magic, the puilanas don''t fall out. You just have to unscrew the cap, and while the water is gushing out, you put your hand in it, say the words, and you might even feel the water getting warmer yourself. You can say it multiple times to make it hotter, and it only works when your hand is in the water, so you can say the words outside of the water and you don''t need to worry much about it.¡±


    They walked closer to the cage and Trinity got a better look at the puilanas. They looked like an animal Trinity had seen in a book about the old world before the war, called a swan, but longer body and even longer legs and tail and had something that kind of looked like a pig¡¯s snout instead of a beak. She then saw the cap Luxei had mentioned, which was a white circle with a 6 inch radius that looked like a water bottle cap.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Asteria put her hands on the cap, getting ready to twist it off when xe said, ¡°Are you ready, Royal Aohina? Step to the other side of it, you dont wanna get your whole body wet, only your arm. Remember, put your hand in and and say calidior aqua, say it more ties if you need to.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Lady Asteria.¡± Trinity then said.


    Asteria then pulled off the cap and water gushed out of it. Trinity put her hand in it, and the water was freezing. She got goosebumps all over her body, and her arm felt weird. She tried her best to calm down, and then muttered the loudest she could, ¡°Calidior aqua.¡± Soon the water started warming up and stopped when it started to feel good against her skin.


    Asteria put xir own hand in to feel the water. ¡°One more time, it''s still not hot enough.¡±


    Trinity did as she was told ¡°Caildior aqua¡± she said, the water getting even hotter.


    Asteria pulled their hand away. ¡°It''s good, take your arm out.¡± She said, sounding like she was smiling.


    Trinity followed orders once more. Asteria gripped the cap and muttered, ¡°Et fortior.¡± They then put the cap back on.


    ¡°Luxei, get a towel for this young royal here.¡± They turned their head to Trinity and told her, ¡°You did such a great job. I''ll put in the code to take you back inside.¡±


    Luxei came back and gave Trinity a small towel. She tried herself off with it when Luxei then said, ¡°There''s someone coming here.¡±


    Trinity turned her head to see a knight running towards her, with two kids following them.


    ¡°Royal Aohina! I found these kids in the dungeons!¡± the knight said.


    ¡°I already told you, I''m 13! I''m not a kid!¡± one of the kids said.


    ¡°Why does the castle look so different?¡± said the other shorter kid


    Trinity got a better look at the kids. She assumed they were siblings, because they looked a lot like each other. Black hair, black eyes, and confused looks on their faces.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked them.


    ¡°Ber Oikorx, and she''s my little sister.¡± So they were siblings.


    ¡°I''m Guilstan.¡± she said


    ¡°Let me see your hands.¡±


    They both gave Trinity their hands, which did not have rings.


    ¡°That''s strange. Take them to the overlords.¡±


    ¡°Wait no! We did have rings, they just- fell off! We can''t find them!¡± Ber yelled suddenly, starting to panic.


    ¡°What color were they?¡± Trinity asked.


    ¡°Um- um- they were-¡±


    ¡°Purple! Both of them were purple!¡± Gulistan said.


    ¡°Both of you are knights.¡± Asteria spoke up. ¡°You should follow them,¡± pointing to the knight who brought them in. ¡°To the knights'' region. Eldritch shall help both of you with training after you''ve chosen a weapon.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Royal Aohina. I shall take them to the knights'' region.¡± the knight said. It seemed they had already memorized the codes to some locations, because they had put the marks on the borders.


    As this was happening, the girl, Guilstan, asked them, ¡°What is this? What does it do? Aren''t you taking us to the knights'' region?¡±


    ¡°Shut up with your stupid questions!¡± Ber whisper-yelled at her, but the knight simply answered, ¡°This is a teleportation circle. You put in a code, which is the markings on its border, and it takes you to whatever place you want. This code will take you into the knights region. Different markings mean different places¡±


    Gulistan looked at it in amazement as the knight finished putting the code in and it lit up.


    ¡°Woah! That''s amazing! I didn''t know teleportation existed! We used only transportation, because we thought teleportation didn''t exist!¡±


    The girl continued on talking as they stepped on the circle, and soon disappeared in the light.


    ¡°They''re kind of suspicious. What were kids doing in the dungeons? Why was Ber so scared of the overlords? What was Guilstan talking about?¡±


    Asteria came from behind her. ¡°I agree. Plus, the dungeons aren''t a fun place.¡±


    ¡°I think I should follow them.¡± Trinity said to her.


    Luxei came from behind Asteria. ¡°Royal Aohina, respectfully, that is one of the most stupidest things I¡¯ve heard a royal say, and I¡¯ve heard some stupid things.¡±


    Asteria scoffed and told Trinity, ¡°Don''t listen to him. He cries at corny romance movies.¡±


    ¡°At least I know what I''m doing more than half the time, and don''t I know more about animals in your own garden and how to help them more than you do?¡±


    ¡°Alright, well at least I''m not the emotionless hormonal old man stereotype in old books!¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± Trinity said to them. ¡°I need one last thing. How do you undo a spell injected into someone?¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to know this? Is this about Royal Christensin and Royal Lordano?¡± Luxei asked her.


    ¡°Yes it is.¡±


    ¡°First of all, they can be either asleep or awake for it to work. I''ll do a demonstration on Asteria.¡±


    He walked over to her and put one finger on her wrist, and the same finger on her other wrist. He slowly moved them up her arms, to her shoulders, and moved them to her collarbone. He left them there for a few seconds, then moved up her neck and up her jawline onto the corners of her mouth. He slowly pulled his hands away.


    ¡°There would be some particles coming out of their mouth, if she was injected with a spell.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I''ll try to find Apurva and Arkanos.¡± She stepped onto the teleportation circle, knowing damn well it hadn''t been changed since the knight put in the code.


    ~


    The knight came through with Ber and Gulistan. The teleportation circle was in a stone hallway, so no one noticed it. It was only when they came in through the doors that they stopped what they were doing.


    The Knights region was a grassy area, with structures built around them for training. There was a rock wall to climb up, a moving river with stones so they could jump on them, tons of mannequins to slice through, and targets for archery.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Ber and Guilstan Oikorx. They are new here, so go a little easy on them. Lady Asteria Flamefist has ordered Knight Eldritch Charneldevil to train them. Where is he?¡±


    Eldritch came closer from the mannequin area. He took off his helmet to get a better look at the two kids.


    Ber looked slightly up at him, his dark eyes wide and face red, looking at his light brown eyes, slightly covered by matching hair, something that Trinity didn''t see when she met him.


    ¡°Don''t worry, I won''t bite.¡± Eldritch said to him, slightly smirking at him.


    ¡°Hi.¡± Ber said, slightly stuttering.


    ¡°Where''s all that cocky energy you had before?¡± Guilstan said to him, also smirking.


    ¡°Be quiet. What do I have to do now that I''m here? With¡­ you?¡± He said.


    ¡°Well, of course, you have to choose a weapon, since that''s what knights do.¡± Eldritch said to him.


    ¡°Oh, um, okay.¡± He replied.


    The three of them went to another room, where there were an assortment of weapons.


    ¡°I wanna do the bow and arrow! I''ve loved it all my life!¡± Gulistan said to him.


    ¡°Alright, if that''s what you wanna do, pick it, then. Go and choose a target to shoot at. What about you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ber.¡±


    ¡°Nice name! What about you, Ber?¡±


    ¡°I-I don''t know.¡± He was starting to sweat. He tried to touch one of the weapons, but it made it worse. He was starting to hyperventilate, his whole body started trembling, and his eyes were wet and shiny.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡± Eldritch said to him. He put his hands on Ber''s shoulders and tried to stop it. He was telling him things like, ¡°You''re safe, there''s nothing happening, follow my breathing. Count with me, remember the 333 rule.¡±


    Soon Ber had calmed down, and after that Eldritch told him, ¡°Let me know when you''re ready to try again. You don''t have to force yourself to do it if it gives you panic attacks.


    ¡°I-Its fine, i just wanna see how Gulistans are doing.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let''s see how she¡¯s doing, then.¡± He grabbed Ber¡¯s hand and took him outside, looking for his sister.


    When they found her, they were quite surprised. Almost all the arrows were on or near the center.


    ¡°Watch this!¡± She said. She pulled back the string on the bow and soon let go. The two boys watched as it soared through the air and hit the target.


    ¡°Wow! That''s amazing, especially for a beginner!¡± Eldritch told her.


    ¡°I''ve been doing this for 3 years!¡± She said to him, ¡°Did you know that the arrow will almost always go into¡­¡± she continued on rambling about how to get a better shot, Eldritch tried to listen, but after 5 minutes was starting to get bored.


    ¡°Gulistan, respectfully, I don''t think anyone cares.¡± Ber said to her. She stopped talking and looked slightly sad.


    Eldritch tried to brighten up the mood by saying, ¡°There''s other things around here in case yall are interested, like the lake or rockwall.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go to the rockwall!¡± Gulistan said. Her brother then followed her to the rock wall, Eldritch staying where he was.


    ¡°Weird kids, huh?¡± a voice said behind Eldritch.


    It was Chloe. They had on their full set of armor besides the helmet, so she looked slightly strange.


    ¡°Yeah, weird kids, but not as weird as the fact you literally got mad at someone for telling you your habits aren''t healthy.¡± He said to them,


    ¡°Will you let that go, holy Hefin!¡±


    ¡°No, I won''t let it go until you mature, and also tell her what you told us.¡±


    ¡°Wow you''re so funny, you got everyone here laughing.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t trying to be funny.¡± He then walked away, not wanting to deal with them.


    Little did they know, someone had been watching them.


    ~


    Trinity was soon back in the royal''s bedroom. She remembered a few years ago when someone told her to write down what was on your mind. It helped her a lot back then, so she thought it would help now.


    My best friend is being stupid and avoiding me even though ive done nothing wrong. Ok, i may have slammed them into a door, but before that all i did was just tell them not to overwork themselves. I also just did magic for the first time in a while, so that''s exciting. I''ve gotten along quite well with one of the overlords, I got the injected spell successfully out of Apurva and Arkanos, and there are these strange kids, one of them just had a panic attack over touching a knife. What type of shit has he gone through?

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8


    Trinity closed the book as she walked over to a mirror.


    ¡®It''s time I actually learn how to control my emotions.¡¯ she thought to herself. She remembered the directions Luxei told her. She put her right finger on her left hand, and left hand on her right finger, and slowly moved them up her arms. The insides of her arms felt strange, she felt like she could feel almost every vein and blood cell in them. She stopped at her collarbone, and the feeling went down her body, down her chest, reaching her waist, her legs, and then her feet. It was an unpleasant feeling, but she had to feel it for the spell to work. When the feeling was in her whole body, she moved her fingers up her jaw, to the corners of her mouth. She waited until the feeling moved up her body, up her neck, and through her mouth. She looked in the mirror as tons of dark blue particles came out of her mouth. She didn''t take her fingers off until the feeling moved up, away from the bottom of her body, going up, and through her mouth and all of it was gone.


    Trinity went back to her book and opened it up again, and wrote down, ¡°Lastly, I shouldn''t be needing a spell to fix my behavior. I should be the one to do it¡± she wrote down. She closed the book for the last time that night.


    ~


    When she woke up, Trinity found a note on her nightstand:


    Meet me at the ignipici cage, I need your help again


    - Asteria


    P.S. If you don''t know what it looks like, it''s the glass


    cage with flying fish on fire. It doesn¡¯t hurt them.


    Trinity mentally rolled her eyes, she just wanted an uneventful day to herself, but she wanted to prove to herself (and all the people in her childhood) that she could actually be nice to other people.


    She loudly exhaled and went over to the teleportation circle and put in the code and stepped on it like usual.


    What wasn''t normal was that when the bright light was gone and the wind had stopped, Trinity wasn''t in Asteria¡¯s garden. She wasn''t even standing on a different teleportation circle. There weren''t any walls with vines like the halfway to the garden, and when she looked in other archways, none of them had viney walls.


    Trinity put her face in her hands and muttered to herself, ¡°Can I please just get a day as royal where nothing happens? Why does everything happen to me?¡±


    She remembered that the overlords told her there were small rooms in the castle with only teleportation circles, so she ran down the hallways looking for them.


    When she had spent a few minutes looking for one of those rooms, she finally found one and was ready to put in the code when suddenly, she realized next to her was another hallway, and something green was glowing from it.


    Trinity carefully looked around the corner and saw something that immediately made her turn away, but she couldn''t help to take another peak.


    The overlords were standing around a large green glowing stone, the same color of the royals¡¯ rings. They held something in their hands, and were muttering stuff Trinity couldn''t make out, that released a spark of lighting from the stone, making her feel like the ground was moving everytime a spark was released.


    ¡°They really need to enhance their security levels.¡± Was the first thought that crossed Trinity¡¯s mind. She looked away and tried to listen to what they were saying.


    ¡°Say the right words, dumbass!¡±


    ¡°It''s not my fault I can''t remember a 10 word spell in a dead language!¡±


    ¡°Well you should be remembering, dumbass!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, shut up! The more negative energy you give off with your annoying voices fighting, it''s gonna do more damage!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Yaromir, shut up!¡±


    ¡°At least I have a good memory!¡±


    Trinity couldn''t bear to listen, she immediately put in the code on the teleportation circle, and closed her eyes after stepping on it, and then when the sound of the air died down, she opened her eyes once more to see the beautiful garden Asteria did all her work in, but she couldn''t see any them anywhere.


    She walked around the garden looking for zem, passing by a divergent cast of plants and animals all around her, looking for any speck of wavy orange hair, metallic flash, or anything that looked like a light colored fabric.


    ¡°I know we don''t have the best relationship, but rant all about it to me. I''ve known you for a very long time.¡±


    Trinity turned at the sound of Lux''s voice. He was standing next to Asteria, whose face was red, blotchy, and shiny. They were sitting on a bench that was surrounded by bushes of  bright colored lotus flowers.


    ¡°I just feel so stressed and scared, i have a bunch of duties to cover and your better at my job than i am, and there was that terrible earthquake a few minutes ago, thank Hefin that it was a few miles away from us, and for some reason i''ve just started feeling less and less like a real woman, i feel like now matter how much i feel and look like one i¡¯ll always be a boy and i just hate it, and that if i reveal it, everyones gonna hate me.¡±


    ¡°Look, Asteria. Nothing bad will happen to us, just be glad we¡¯re okay and not too many people are hurt. It''s fine that you feel stressed, practice spells with Royal Aohina, I can tell she has potential. And get that nonsense out of your head telling you you''re not a real girl, you are and always have and will be. The palace and the people love you very much, there''s tons of people who also are like you, and even if they don''t like that, it doesn''t matter, you still have me and your dads.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I guess. I also just wish I could see my dads again. It''s been 3 and a half years, I hope they are doing well. I also miss your moms, they were so supportive of me. Remember when they bought me all those dresses? Gosh, I hate to admit it but they were so ugly. But I still miss their support. At least your moms and my dads all love each other, they''re like therapists for each other.¡±


    ¡°I probably sound like a child right now, but i miss them too¡± he replied, ¡°even if we had five more minutes, i would apologize for any trouble i''ve caused them.¡±


    Asteria wiped away their tears before they looked away from each other and sat in silence for a minute before Trinity came out of her sort-of hiding spot .


    ¡°Hey, I got your note, I was looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Great, there''s not much you need to do. Before I tell you, I''m just gonna give you a little information dump about why you need to do this.


    ¡°The ignipici are immune to fire, but they are still able to feel the heat, and while they can withstand high temperatures, sometimes they can overheat from the fire on them, which can affect the water around them, making them even more hot, killing them. About once every week I have to go inside the cage, and make the water cooler. It can dial down the fire and make it less hot. This may be similar to last time you were here, but the water is too hot for the average person like you to handle. However, since I have elemental powers, I''m immune to high and low temperatures, so I am able to dive in. The only reason I need you is so that you can make sure i dont stay too long in the water. It can affect both me and the ignipici negatively, so you have to make sure I''m in there for exactly a minute. They¡¯re able to make teleportation circles and people have powers but yet the timers I¡¯m allowed to use aren''t waterproof, and a certain someone-'''' she turned to look at Luxei and then looked away a second later ¡°-refused to help me.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I''m probably never going to use more than 90% of that information ever again, but I''ll do it, I don''t want you or these fish to die.¡±


    ¡°Great. Take this timer and set it to one minute and start it when I first get in the water, and also take this megaphone, it has been spelled so that when I''m in the water, I''m able to hear what the speaker is saying. Once the timer is up, say something in it so I come out of the water.¡±


    ¡°Sounds easy enough, I guess.¡± Trinity said to Asteria, who nodded excitedly. They then proceeded to pull a ladder out from the side of the cage, making Trinity wonder where it came from. She then climbed up it, all the way to the top, while Trinity set the timer to one minute.


    ¡°Remember, when my full body is in the water, start the timer!¡± They yelled from the top of the cage.


    ¡°I got it! You can dive in now!¡± Trinity yelled back to her.


    Asteria then jumped in the water, Trinity immediately starting the timer. Asteria opened her eyes and made a pattern with her fingers on the edge of the cage, not using anything, just her fingers and the cage. She continued to repeat that pattern, and everytime she finished one loop, the water looked like it began to glow a light cerulean shade for one second, then disappeared, each time getting brighter and brighter.


    Soon enough the timer started beeping, the one minute being up.


    ¡°Your one minute is up, come out now!: Trinity spoke into the microphone. Asteria got the signal and swam up to the surface, taking tons of deep breaths. She pulled herself out of the cage and climbed back down the ladder.


    ¡°Thank you so much, Royal Aohina.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t really do much, but-¡±


    ¡°Do you not know what would have happened if you weren''t here just now? The fires would have died out, making the ignipici die from hypothermia since it''s their only heat source, and if i wasn''t in there long enough, then they would have died from overheating since the fire can get too hot for them!¡±


    ¡°I''m truly sorry, Lady Asteria, please calm down.¡±


    ¡°You''re right, i''m more sorry, i don''t know why i said that, your a royal and i''m just a-¡±


    ¡°Lady Asteria, really. It''s fine, please be quiet! I''m not mad at you, really!¡±


    ¡°Please dont keep on apologizing, Royal Aohina. I''m 18 already, I don''t know why I act like this, and I know I sound dramatic. You can leave now, but once again, thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome, and you don''t have to worry about forgiveness, Lady Asteria.¡±


    Trinity walked away, going back to the teleportation circle, being proud of herself for being nice, but still anxious about the crystal she saw the overlords fighting around.


    ~


    Chloe had a schedule for practice every day. On the first, second and fourth day of the week, she would practice sword fighting, which was her main skill. On the third and sixth day she would do archery, on the fifth day she would practice knife throwing, and on the seventh day she would have a fight for all weapons against one of the other knights.


    Today was knife throwing day. She stood 12 feet from her target and was holding a knife in her dominant hand, gripping it like a modern-day hammer, her arm over her shoulder, wrist slightly bent, her right foot in front of her left. Getting ready to throw, she shifted her body weight forward, getting her arm ready to throw. It started to straighten, and she only let go when her wrist was about to be straight too. letting the knife slip out her hand. She watched as the knife spun through the air, and then saw as the blade was enlodged in the target, but not in the center. She let a breath out and walked to the target, pulling it out.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± A voice said out of nowhere, startling Chloe. She turned around and Gulistan was standing there.


    ¡°Practicing knife throwing.¡± She replied.


    ¡°How do you do it? Is it like an arrow?¡± the young girl said, curiosity in her dark eyes.


    ¡°Not very much, you don''t have as much control with the knife when you do with an arrow. An arrow goes straight, but a knife can go in almost any direction.¡±


    ¡°Can I try throwing the knife?¡±


    ¡°Of course, just use another one, this one has been used too many times.¡±


    Chloe pulled a similar knife out of her pocket and gave it to Gulistan, who looked at it like it was pure gold. She observed it with her hands, slowly moving her fingers up and down the blade.


    ¡°Alright, once you''re done with looking at it, I''ll show you how to put yourself in the best position, it''s very important to be in the right one.¡± Chloe told her.


    Guilstan walked right over in front of the target.


    ¡°Look at the ground, there are markings, how far do you want to throw it?¡±


    ¡°15 feet, I don''t really feel too comfortable or uncomfortable with it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, put the knife in your dominant hand, and put that arm over your shoulder, if you want to use more force, straighten your elbow.


    ¡°Since you''ve put the knife in your right hand, put your left foot in front of you, no weight on it, but put your right foot behind you, all your body weight on it. When you throw, you''ll shift that body weight forward on your left foot.


    ¡°Now, when you throw it, shift your body weight like i just said, and when you throw it, don''t throw it like a ball. Just straighten your arm in front of you and let the knife slip out of your hand. Force doesn''t really matter too much, just keep your body movements fluid.¡±


    ¡°That was a lot of information, but I''ve faced way worse!¡± Gulistan said, slightly yelling. She then threw the knife. Both of them watched as the knife flew through the air. It then hit the target, enlodged in the wood.


    ¡°Woo! Yes, I did it!¡± Gulistan yelled.


    ¡°You''ve got good hands, girl! No wonder you''re so good at archery!¡± Chloe laughed. The young girl continued to yell out victory chants. It reminded Chloe so much of themself when they were younger, all happy and cheerful.


    ¡°Hey guys.¡± An annoying voice said. Or at least it was annoying to Chloe. They turned around and there stood Eldritch Charneldevil.


    ¡°What do you want, stupid bitch?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, look at this.¡± He pulled out a fresh newspaper. Chloe looked at it and was surprised.


    There had been a severe earthquake not far from where the castle was, in fact outside of it. It had harmed tons of people and sent lots of people into a panic.


    ¡°That''s awful!¡± Gulistan said while she was looking at the picture.


    ¡°Yeah of course it is, Sherlock.¡± Ber said. He was standing next to Eldritch, his eyes puffy. It was safe to assume he had another panic attack.


    ¡°So um¡­ What happened with you two?¡± Chloe said, changing the subject. They hated talking about stuff like that.


    ¡°Well he struggled again, but that''s no big deal!¡± Eldritch said, trying to look as happy as possible


    ¡°I look like a fool compared to Gulistan.¡± Ber said sadly.


    ¡°You''re not a fool, okay? It''s fine if you''re uncomfortable with it, you can stop and choose something else.¡± the slightly taller boy put his hands on the other boy''s shoulders.


    ¡°N-no it''s fine. Isn''t patience key?¡±


    Meanwhile, Chloe looked at the newspaper more. There are articles about some dumb bullsht the overlords were saying, but then they saw something else.


    ¡°Trinity has done something else for Lady Asteria?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she''s a royal, people will want help from her,¡± Eldritch said to them. ¡°Almost everything she does is in the newspaper and why are you pulling a knife out of your pocket?¡±


    ¡°I''m throwing it, obviously.¡± They threw the knife, not doing any preparations and threw it at the target.


    ¡°Why does Lady Asteria, a beautiful woman who can do her job properly, need help from some stupid jackass like Trinity?¡± The whole time she was speaking, she pulled knives out of her pockets and threw them at the target, not caring where they ended up.


    ¡°Why can''t you calm down about her? You care so much about what she''s doing, what, have you got a crush on her? Are you her biggest fan? If only your skill was equal to temper, all good, no caring about others?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, at least I still say ¡®I don''t bite¡¯ to people.¡±


    ¡°At least I don''t curse unnecessarily.¡±


    Chloe threw their last knife. By now, they were sweating and out of breath.


    ¡°If you don''t mind, I''ll go drink some water.¡± They then walked away, Eldritch with a disgusted look on his face.


    ¡°I don''t like calling people dramatic but holy shit.¡± Ber said.


    ¡°Well kids, here''s a life lesson for you. Don''t be like that, and if you''re gonna curse, at least use it at an appropriate amount of times.¡± He said to Ber and Gulistan.


    The siblings looked at him dumbfounded, looked at each other, and then back at the idiot in front of them.


    ¡°We will take that in mind, thank you. Come on Ber, don''t you like the skipping stones?¡± Gulistan said, walking away with Ber.


    ¡°No, I don''t like them, and I am older than you. Stop treating me like I''m your baby brother.¡±


    ¡°What are you, going through an emo phase?¡±


    ¡°No, now be quiet!¡±


    ~


    When Trinity was back in the royal bedrooms, Apurva and Arkanos were once again sleeping on top of each other despite the fact it wasn''t even 6pm yet.


    She sat down on the bed next to them. She really envied both of them, how they were all cheerful and bright, and how they had each other to lean on.


    She missed and loved Chloe very much.

 Chapter 9

    It had been a few hours since Apurva and Arkanos had woken up and had dinner. It was now almost 8pm and the 3 royals were lying in each one of their beds. Trinity wanted to sleep, but the thought of the crystal was burned into her mind.


    It was sketchy how right after she had seen that, there was that terrible earthquake, and it was facing away from the castle.


    Her thoughts were only focusing on the negative possibilities that she needed to look at something to remind her everything was fine. She looked around the room and saw a map of the whole entire country of Pantaleone.


    The country was divided into 3 long states. At the bottom was Southvawil, known for its capital, Serenis, known for its plants and mushrooms, and for being one of the biggest and most peaceful cities anywhere in the world. Southvawil was also known for its terrific landforms, mainly mountains and canyons, mostly because they were from modern times.


    In the middle was Port Moundswer, known for its east, where it is said Hefin had blessed the overlords and made what Pantaleone is, making it known as the most blessed part of the country, hundreds or thousands of people coming to worship Hefin, where they were more likely to answer them and their prayers. It is also known for its mining heritage and where riches are made most in the country, and because one of its cities was always raining, but the residents were always happy despite the rain.


    At the top was Saint Norhing, which was famous for where the castle was, but known to Trinity because it was where she was from. Her city, Netholic, was only a few minutes away from the castle, and was probably going to be a landmark for however long she was going to be a royal. She also knew that across the other side of it, you could see the City of a Thousand Flowers bloom all of its flowers every four years.


    Just thinking about Netholic made her feel better and worse. It made her feel better because it brought back memories of her childhood, but worse because it made her feel homesick.


    ¡°Man, those overlords are going to be the death of me.¡± Arkanos said. Trinity was lost in the space of her own thoughts; she didn''t realize that Arkanos and Apurva were having their own conversation.¡±


    ¡°You''re gonna be the death of yourself if you keep interrupting people.¡±


    ¡°Forget about that, tell me more about Orochis, please.¡± Arkanos told them.


    ¡°Well, it''s where I grew up in, and honestly the newspaper only shows the good side of it with its landmarks and sunny days, the people there suck. They think they''re so much better than everyone because of where they live and that they are most likely to be royals. The stereotype for the poor people there is that they are nice and will do anything for you, but that''s only correct 10% of the time. Most of the peasants I grew up with only wanted to be my friend because I was one of 20 people in the city who had the most Iraklis blood. I want to go back, but I also don''t. It kinda sucks.¡±


    Trinity couldn''t believe what she was hearing. Apurva was from Orochis? The biggest city with the most beautiful structures and most intellectual scholars that everyone dreamed of living in? So far away, they must have flown on a dragon to get to the castle? How much more perfect could they get?


    ¡°Isn''t Orochis like, all the way on the other side of Pantaleone?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it is, a lot of people think we have to fly on dragons, but that''s only for the best people, I had to go on a ton of trains. Speaking of riding dragons, we actually arrive in different cities all around Pantaleone, and since the teleportation circles can''t take you all the way to another city, we¡¯re gonna ride dragons across the country!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Arkanos asked them.


    ¡°Really, only it''s gonna be happening in a few days, maybe even tomorrow, so these next few days get a good night''s sleep.¡±


    ¡°I know this is off topic, but I really envy you a lot, Apurva.¡± Trinity said.


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You''re beautiful, kind, smart, you actually know what''s happening, you don''t make other people hate you so easily, you''re from an amazing city, you''re everything I''ve ever wanted.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know anything about me. I carry a lot of burdens and insecurities, and I''ve done some stuff that has made people hate me and I regret a lot. I wish I could go back in time and knock some sense into myself. Some of the stuff I''ve done has made me feel like I''m in a room filled with broken mirrors, and shards, each one reflecting a different version of myself that other people can look into, but there''s one fully intact, that the only person who''s ever looked into it is me.¡±


    ¡°Damn, you don''t have to be all dramatic.¡± Trinity said to them, ¡°You could have just said something like, ¡®Thank you, but I''m not that perfect¡¯, just because you''re royal, doesn''t mean you''re the main character in some cheesy modern book.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, a lot of things I''ve gone through have made me think doing things like that are normal.¡±


    ¡°Its fine, and also, dont blame everything on your past, some people are just stupid and do things for no reason.¡±


    ¡°Okay Trinity, you''re also getting dramatic. Go to sleep, it''s almost midnight¡±. Arkanos told her.


    ¡°I''m not being dramatic! I''m just telling them common sense.¡±


    ¡°Please Trinity, go to sleep.¡± Apurva agreed. They had already gotten into their bed, and their eyes were heavy with the need to sleep.


    Arkanos yawned and muttered to himself, ¡°God, how do people do this everyday?¡±


    It had been only a few minutes later, and they were all asleep.


    Except for Trinity, of course.


    She couldn''t stop thinking about Esma. Why did he lose his mind over such a little thing? How sensitive was this bitch?


    Trinity longed for their touch. She knew what the training did to kind souls, they had hardened them into emotionless rocks.


    She looked at the clock. It was 12:03 a.m.


    The average person would have been tired by now, or even asleep, but Trinity couldn''t.


    She could swear she could hear birds tweeting in something that sounded like fear and being desperate, but she only heard it for a few seconds.


    Trinity didn''t do anything, since she thought it was gonna be something bad.


    ¡®I guess I''ll try to sleep.¡¯ She thought to herself.


    She closed her eyes and it felt great.


    When she tried to open her eyes again, it felt like she was forcing herself to stay awake more than before.


    ¡°I guess I didn''t actually try to close my eyes¡¯ she thought to herself before falling asleep.


    ~


    Instead of waking peacefully on their own, the royals were awoken by some yelling voices.


    ¡°Wake up already! Put this on! How could we have forgotten about this?¡±


    Trinity blinked a couple of times. She tried to get out of bed, and realized it was the viscountesses.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, what''s happening?¡±


    ¡°The dragon riding is today! How could we have forgotten about it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it''s today? We just need to get ready!¡±


    ¡°You must put on this!¡± They brought out an outfit that looked like they were meant to hide you while you were traveling during a war in the middle of a battlefield. They were black and had puffy sleeves connected to long sleeves, and also a hood that was green on the inside, plus the rest of it was like armor, but less bulky.


    ¡°Don''t feel embarrassed, the other two royals will be wearing it,¡± they said to Trinity, who was looking at it like it was a bug.


    ¡°I''m not embarrassed, it''s just that why do we need to wear this? It''s just dragons, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is just dragons, it''s just that this provides protection, but we have no time to waste, put it on, and we¡¯ve put in the code, so you won''t be taken somewhere else.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Fine then, and I''ll put it on.¡± Trinity said to them, but they were gone.


    When she put the outfit on, it felt weird and heavy on her body.


    ¡®How does Esma do this all day?¡¯ she thought as she stepped on the teleportation circle once more. It always felt nice to her when hot air blew onto a place where cold air once was.


    When she opened her eyes, Trinity saw that Apurva and Arkanos were waiting for her, wearing the same outfit, along with the viscountesses.


    ¡°Alright, let''s get going,¡± they said to the royals.


    As they went onto the grounds, they passed tons of dragons.


    Some were as blue as the ocean and just as mysterious and deadly, but also fun and friendly, almost exactly like it.


    Others were as yellow and orange and bright as the sun, well not that bright, but you get the point. They were bright and a sight to behold.


    There were some that were as green as the exquisite and priceless emerald, and just as rare. Their scales looked like they were just made out of emeralds.


    They passed by dragons that were as white as pearls and beautiful and durable as diamonds, and almost as extravagant.


    There were also tons of people around the dragons. Trinity assumed that they were training to be professional dragon riders.


    The last one in everyone''s sight was the most beautiful dragon out of them all. The wings were fading from bright red to light orange to an even brighter yellow, like a sunset. The scales on its whole body was a saturated red carmine color, proving how red could mean so many things, but mostly strength, passion, and anger. The scales on its underbelly were lined up horizontally, colored a dark creamy white, the same as its long and curved horns, and had greenish-yellow eyes that made Trinity both intrigued and nervous.


    Standing next to the dragon was a person who looked proper, improper, masculine, and feminine all at the same time. They had on a long beige waistcoat with dark and light brown striped pants, black leather combat boots that made them 4 inches taller, covered by a rich burgundy cloak and matching bandana around the top of their head. Their brown-to-white dreadlocks made a great contrast to their outfit and dark skin.


    On their shoulder was a steampunk-looking owl, whose underbelly looked like the inside of a modern mechanical clock, but also looked so real. Everytime it moved, the wheels moved along with it.


    Trinity assumed the person wanted to make themselves look cooler, because right after everyone got a good look at them, they pulled out a thick but smooth cylinder of wood from underneath their cloak, and shook it while muttering something. It made the stick stretch out to a height slightly taller than Trinity, with a plinth on the top of it. The person tapped it on the ground and the owl flew onto the plinth, resting on it.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± They spoke like the people in Netholic, which made Trinity feel at ease. ¡°My name is Zoidi Fridess and you all will be riding on Ragnvier! We will follow my route all the way around Pantaleone!


    ¡°Just remember, dragon riding isnt hard at all! Just keep a firm grip and you''ll be okay!¡±


    The dragon, Ragnvier, took a few steps towards them and took a turn, letting everyone see the tall spikes coming out of its spine.


    ¡°Just sit in between the spikes and we¡¯ll take off! You¡¯ll be safe, I promise!¡±


    Zoidi had helped the royals onto the dragon¡¯s back, which they then shifted around to get in a more comfortable position.


    Zoidi themself then sat on top of the dragon.


    ¡°Alright guys, we''ll be taking the route to the closest city near here. First stop is Netholic!¡±


    Trinity felt like something bloomed inside of her. She could finally see her home, her mother, her house. She couldn''t wait for this.


    ¡°Alright buddy, let''s take off! Remember the route!¡± Zoidi shouted to Ragnvier.


    Ragnvier then started off with a long run, and then he started to flap his wings, lifting off the ground.


    All 3 royals felt adrenaline rushing through their veins, but they were excited.


    Especially Trinity.


    ~


    It was the most beautiful sight almost everyone had ever seen.


    The red-yellow dragon flew past mountains, villages, and bodies of water. Trinity loved the feeling of the wind blowing around her body and through her hair despite the fact her legs hurt so much. The feeling around her, especially below her, distracted her from it.


    Almost everything reminded her of Netholic. She wanted Ragnvier to fly faster so she could see her city again.


    She tried to look past the dragon''s neck to see if she could see if she was closer to the destination.


    All that happened was the wind blowing on her face harder.


    ¡°Don''t do that!¡± Zoidi yelled, ¡°You''ll get blown off! We¡¯ll be there very soon, any second now!¡±


    Trinity sat back the way she was before, getting even more impatient.


    She looked down and she could tell that they were getting closer.


    Some of the roads she could see were familiar to her. Her heartbeat was getting faster and more adrenaline was pumping through her.


    A few seconds later she could feel the dragon moving downwards. She felt like she could stand on the dragon while it was flying, she was so excited.


    When she looked down she saw what looked so much like the part of her city she knew like the back of her hand.


    The dragon then suddenly landed on the ground very harshly, but that didn''t matter. But there was only one problem.


    There were tons of people around the dragon, flashing cameras, and paparazzi.


    ¡°Excuse me royals!¡±


    ¡°Royal Christiensin, is it true that-¡±


    ¡°Royal Aohina, are you the-¡±


    ¡°Royal Lordano, can you-¡±


    Too many questions were being asked by too many people.


    ¡°Excuse me everyone, but these 3 royals aren''t feeling the best. Let them have a few minutes, folks!¡± Zoidi said.


    Everyone but two people had left them alone.


    ¡°I really need this question answered though, and it''s for Royal Aohina.¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Are you really the daughter of Seher Aohina? Because there''s really no way, she''s quite crazy if she thinks you two are even related!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am her daughter. We have the same last name, and we look almost the same, you idiot!¡±


    ¡°Aren''t royals supposed to be nice? Golly, they must have messed up with the selection this year!¡±


    ¡°Just because i dont allow people to make fun of my family doesn''t mean I don''t deserve to be a royal!¡± Trinity yelled out.


    Apurva tried to speak to her, ¡°Trinity, i know your mad, but thats gonna be in the-¡±


    ¡°I dont give a shit about what you''re gonna say! They can make up rumors like that but I won''t take it. I know you''re gonna say something about the newspaper, but guess what? I also dont give a shit about the newspaper!¡±


    All Trinity cared about right now was seeing her mom. It was a long walk, but she knew the route.


    The Viscountesses were a few kilometers away from her, telling each other something that seemed urgent and important.


    ¡°Can I go to a specific destination alone, please?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± One of them answered immediately. It seemed like they didn''t care about anything else other than this topic.


    Trinity got her memory ready. She remembered that from here, it would take about 10-15 minutes.


    ~


    Trinity looked ahead of her and saw her neighborhood. The people around her, and the people who saw her during her pathway all waved at her, bowed, and asked for pictures.


    She came up to her own house, or what was now Seher¡¯s house. Trinity saw the garden in front of her house, which made her remember something buried in her memories.


    When she was only four years old, an older man would steal some of the flowers from her garden almost everyday. Seher didn''t notice, but Trinity did. She wondered for a long time why this old man was stealing flowers, so after 2 weeks of it happening, she spoke to him.


    While he was taking the flowers, she came up to him and asked him,¡°Why are you taking the flowers? Do you love somebody?¡± Like any four year old, she didn''t have a strong vocabulary in her brain.


    ¡°Yes, I do love somebody. I loved her a lot, she meant so much to me.¡± His voice was small, and depressing, it sounded like he was exhausted of everything.


    ¡°Do you love her enough to steal?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but I would have done anything for her.¡±


    ¡°Is she¡­ gone?¡± Trinity didn''t understand the concept of death yet, but she knew that at a random age, a person would leave the world forever and never return.


    ¡°Yes, she is gone. When somebody is gone, you miss them, and get them things, usually flowers, in honor of them.¡±


    ¡°But why from here?¡±


    ¡°I simply do not have the money. And yours are simply extravagant, your family does an amazing job.¡±


    She didn''t remember the conversation after that, but she also remembered that after that, she bought more flower seeds and learned how to keep a plant healthy, so that he could give them to the women he loved, and he would take them almost every day, soon taking them less and less.


    Months later the man never took flowers from the garden again. For almost half a year, she still planted seeds of the flowers for him, but he never returned. It hurt to admit it, but she knew the man was gone.


    She convinced herself that he was with the woman he loved, and that he would be with her forever.


    Ten years later, she still believed it.


    She could feel all eyes on her, watching her wait for her mother to answer the door.