FANTASY (WATTYS2018)

CHAPTER 03

"Wait a minute... Fairynasia? What's Fairynasia? Who's Fairynasia? Sorry I don't know him." I scoffed arrogantly. "Why would I help a stranger?." The man looked at me weirdly while the pretty lady was close to face palming herself.                                                                                                    

Oops... I guess Fairynasia is a lady. It does sound fancy for a guy.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?". The lady said turning to the man. 

She sounded lost and desperate but I remained clueless. I mean, this person with a Fairy name needs my help, but how am I to do that? What help does she even need? Laundry!? I'm losing my brain cells here for crying out loud.

"I... I need to go back home. I don't get what's happening. I don't even know if all this is real. But please, send me back, who ever you are." I pleaded.
The two of them exchanged glances and then looked back at me.

"Let me explain to you what this all mean" The man said. Well since its clear they're not going to send me back, might as well clear my doubts. I nodded and so he began.

"First of all, My name is Ace, and this here beside me is Venessa. And the next thing you should be clear of is that, Fairynasia is a place"

Oh, so it's not a person's name.

"Its my kingdom. Our kingdom."

What!? Kingdom?

"The place we come from. A Fairy realm where we live. As you can see Venessa and I have our set of wings. And so does million others who live in our world. Fairynasia is one of the many kingdoms."

woah

"A century ago Fairynasia was one of the prosperous and well loved kingdom under the reign of Queen Sophie Melanie. All that changed when the Queen deceased. The rule fell on the hands of the ministers and now the kingdom is on the verge of collapsing." Mr. Ace clenched his fist, glaring at a distance.

Is the situation that bad?

"The ministers order tax collectors to force the people to pay high tax, even for trivial things. When the common citizens raise their eye level to meet that of the royal army and ministers, they are thrown into prison cells or beated for acting out of place. There's a constant increase in ruffians and rebels." Venessa said taking off, from where Mr.Ace stopped.

"The people of Fairynasia has all but given hope. They're not even fighting back anymore. The kingdom which was once filled with laughter, joy and festivities is now a mere dungeon." She shivered wrapping her arms around her. If all what they're saying is true, then I felt awful.               Yes, I argue and fight with my Mom and brother but that doesn't mean I accept violence and mistreatment. I can only imagine what these people must be going through.

"Are you not able to fight for your rights? For your freedom from this bull-shitting ministers?" I inquired.

"We've tried everything possible. It's no use. They even have accomplices from the other kingdoms backing them up. A century is a long time Stella. People aren't willing to fight anymore and lose their loved ones." Venessa replied to me with a solemn look.

"The army? Surely they must be against this insanity?"

I at once noticed the grim look in Mr. Ace's face. He looked worn out and lost.

"I am.. was, the Head of the Fairynasia army. I can only be a head if there is an army to follow my orders. The army was disbanded dozens of years ago."

"Uh... Mr. Ace sorry if I'm sounding rude, but exactly how old are you?" I had to ask. I wanted to know. There's something bothering me.

"Let me tell you this, when Queen Sophie was still alive, I was her right hand." He said with a smile which seemed distant and in pain.

"Woah, woah, woah! You're a hundred years old!?" I stared at him, then at Venessa in disbelief. He's joking right?

Venessa stepped a little forward.

"Fairynasia has its own specialty. There's a lake which has no end. It's got magical properties which allows a person eternal life when he dips himself in it. If a twenty-year-old boy needs to remain twenty, every year on his birthday he should take a dip in the lake. That's all he needs to stay twenty forever. That is how for a century now the ministers has remained unchanged." She explained to me. I could only stare at her.

God, this is madness. Eternal life? Magical lake? Fairy kingdom? Is the world coming to an end?

Groaning I turned around clutching a fistful of hair, swinging to and fro. What do I do? What do I do!?

I take a deep breath and turned back to face the two of them.

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm just a regular girl. How could I possibly help?". I had my doubts. Why had they come to me for help? How do they even know me?

"Simple. Because the Heart Of Lumen chose you." Mr. Ace replied.                                                               Its sweet that he thinks I'd get what he meant when clearly I was a fish out of the fish bowl.

"Heart of what now?"

"The Heart Of Lumen, which is the Heart of Life, is an amulet left behind by the late Queen Sophie. She said a day would come when the Heart would radiate a golden glow. It would guide us to where we would find our savior. The person who would help us reclaim our honor and kingdom back. A century passed and it remained still until today. The Heart shone like never before, showing us a glimpse of you Stella." Venessa had a hand on my shoulder, looking at me intently with pride in her eyes.

What the hell is she proud about?

I stumbled back away from her. Away from both of them.

"Alright, I've had enough. Send me back right now! I want to go back home." I demand, stomping my foot on the ground like a five year old throwing a tantrum. 

"I feel sorry for what's happening to your home, but... this is too much. I... I don't want to have anything to do with this." 

"Stella,"

"No! not another word. I'm begging you. Leave me alone. Send me back."

"But... Princess," Venessa reached out.

"What? Now you're calling me princess? Seriously? You can do better than calling some random girl princess, just so she'd help you." I snapped.

I saw Mr. Ace moving his lips. What's he saying? Why can't I hear him? Are they speaking with each other in a magical sort of way, so I'd not understand?

I squint my eyes staring at the two of them. They look at me worried, then panicked. I see their lips move in sync saying my name, but I couldn't hear them.

They seemed distant. Am I going back home? If so, then why do they look like that?

Everything went fuzzy and blurry. My vision was unclear.

Whats going on?