Chapter 44: Silent Prayer [Part 1]
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When Kiara finally felt the nerves in her fingers activate, she clenched onto a hand. It was big and rather cold, as if this hand was frozen solid. But as soon as her fingers traced that hand's wrist and touched the familiar silver band of a guardian, Kiara knew it was David. Her eyes flush opened to see a beautifully decorated ceiling, full of tiny fairies and creatures playing about. It triggered her memory, but she couldn't remember what about.

"You're finally awake," Kiara heard David's voice as she hover her eyes to her right to see the guardian of Earth and Mokona beside her. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, I think," Kiara spoke in a surprisingly un-glam hoarse voice, remembering the vision she had. "I don't feel the effects of the vision anymore. Where are we?"

"Some five-star hotel whose name I usually don't recognise," David smiled with relief. "The casino is downstairs too."

"So we're finally in Las Vegas," Kiara sighed as she looked around at her surroundings. "What happened to the passengers of the plane?"

"After you fainted, I 'fixed' the plane," David recalled the incident. "Though after that, Mokona had to give it a jump start so that they can take off easily. We arrived four days ago."

"I was asleep for four days?!" Kiara gasped at the thought.

“Yes.” David nodded and looked worried. That was strange, Kiara thought. David never shows his expressions and moods to others. “The doctor who attended to you, said that you had probably hit your head during the fall and needed lots of rest. But Mokona said that the vision was so traumatizing that it sent you into a state of shock.”

Kiara made a sarcastic laugh. “Oh wow, it guessed it right.”

“Kiara,” David’s tone was now serious as he clutched her hand tighter. “What vision did you have this time?”

The guardian of water plonged back on her bed, and curled up the thick silk blanket over her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Kiara…” David pleaded. “C’mon. How can we help you if you don’t even --”

“I SAID THAT I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!” Kiara shouted under her blanket.

David could then hear her cries from under the cloth. The vision must have really hurt her for her to be like this, David thought. He wanted to know her vision. Tiadora said that Kiara would normally have visions about the guardians, but they had all been horrible visions; nothing happy. He still remembered Kiara’s first vision, where she said that she saw someone going to stab her.

I’m going to prevent that vision from happening! If the stab blow is really meant for her, I’ll take it.

Without any further reply from Kiara, David stood up and left the hotel room with Mokona tagging along behind him. He felt his sacred animal’s small paw pulling at his trousers, normally an indication that it was to be ferried instead, but this time as David let Mokona sit on his shoulder, it hugged David’s head. “It is okay,” Mokona comforted him. “Things like these do happen. All guardians suffer a terrible sad past or fate. Even Sir Arthur, Kiara’s ancestor, couldn’t bear with some of the visions.”

“Did he tell the other guardians about the visions?”

Mokona shook his head. “There was a minority of visions which he didn’t tell. When I asked Excalibur why, he said that it was because he didn’t want the guardians to be thinking twice unnecessarily,” Mokona explained, but when it saw David’s confused expression, it elaborated. “If I were to tell you that you’ll die tomorrow, you’ll make full use of today, right?”

“I guess I would.”

“Exactly. In every vision, Excalibur told me, Sir Arthur always tried to identify whose shoes he was in. On most occasions, he can. If you tell someone about the future, that someone would carefully plan to either avoid it or change it,” Mokona emphasized the last part. “If it is meant for that person, it is then for that person. The visions don’t change, David.”

The guardian of Earth sighed, approaching his room which wasn’t far away from Kiara’s. He was about to unlock his door when he sensed the big footsteps of Kiara father’s walking before the corridor bent to where he was. He fished out the envelope in his jacket, expecting the man’s arrival when they had arrived here in Las Vegas, and his father needed to convey a message.

The thin man with big feet finally made the bent, and quickly recognized David from afar. As Kiara’s flat face father walked closer, he began speaking to David, “Your father was supposed to make the transaction last week, boy.”

David didn’t answer, and just passed Mr. Sanders the envelope. He opened it, and after a few moments reading it, Kiara’s father, manager of one of the top modeling industries, ripped the letter into pieces. David had already expected this reaction though; he braced himself for impact. “What insufficient timing?!” Mr. Sanders boomed his voice that made a distasteful echo in the halls. “What does this mean?! He can only pay half even though I gave him the extension! Your father is certainly one ungrateful man, boy!!!”

“Do not forget who paying for your school fees, boy!” he shouted even though David was right in front of him. “I thought your father was a worthy man. But he became useless and pathetic right after that incident!”

“Yes, sir,” David responded in a monotone voice, while Mokona had dropped down to the floor and hid behind his legs. “He still blames me for where he stands now.”

Mr. Sanders bellowed in laughter. “Of course! If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t need to worry about paying me back the school fees!”

“Yes, sir.”

“How’s my daughter, boy? Has she awoken from her slumber?”

David considered this for a moment. Kiara wouldn’t want anyone around her with that trauma still in her mind. If she didn’t want to talk to David then her father would be much of a worst choice. David breathed in and answered back, “She is still asleep, sir.”

“Well then, once my little dove wakes up, tell her this,” Mr. Sanders handed David a stack of papers. “The first modeling atmosphere scheme would be at Phoenix Academy next week. Tell her that the theme is school days. You can at least do that, boy?”

“Yes, sir.”

The man, without bothering to take a look at his daughter in the room not far away, turned around and walked back to where he came from. Mokona climbed up David’s pants and reached into his pocket for the card. David couldn’t help but give a small smile when Mokona tried to reach the beeper from the ground. It wasn’t too tall enough. “Damn! And I can’t even transform now,” Mokona cursed.

David chuckled and lifted Mokona until it was on equal level with the beeper. Once it tapped on the metal bar and turned bright red in colour, David entered his room.

It wasn’t as colourful or fanciful as Kiara’s, but he didn’t mind, as long as there was a bed and a toilet. He dropped himself on the bed and sighed, recalling back how Kiara had pushed him away so forcefully. In the train of thoughts, he didn’t even hear Mokona’s question. “David!!!!”

“Huh?” he opened his eyes and looked at Mokona beside him. “What?”

“I asked…” Mokona smiled, making its face look puffier than it already is. “…what was the incident that Kiara’s dad talked about?”

David caught his breath, and in that split second had a small flashback about the incident. Sir Arthur told Excalibur his visions, but that doesn’t mean that he could have kept from the sacred animal other secrets. David looked away from Mokona and gazed at his plain ceiling before answering, “I used to be just like Kiara, Jason and Cornelia…I came from a wealthy family.”

“My family had ties with the Kingstons and Kiara’s family. When I was young, I was very close to Kiara because my mother always brought me to their house for tea,” David refolds his past. “I met Cornelia much later, but I first met Jason when I came to Kadic. Apparently, the Kingstons prefer to always bring out Cornelia rather than Jason.”

“My dad was so-called brought into the family;” David spotted a squirrel at his window, trying to come in. “He came from an average family while my mum came from a royal bloodline. I would say, we live very happily and I was quite pleased with the wonderful childhood I had in my first ten years. And then, when I was in fourth grade…my mother died.”

David stood up from his bed, approached his window and opened for the brown squirrel to come in. The little animal nudged at his hand as he stroked its fur, indicating that it was thankful. Below the cabinet of the television, David fished out the familiar silver tin, and gave the squirrel one ‘heart’ biscuit. “HEY!!!!” David heard Mokona’s scream behind him. He knew his sacred animal will get worked up if he were to ever give away its favourite snack to others. “That’s MY heart biscuit!!!!”

“After my mother passed away,” David smiled at the squirrel when it nibbled ferociously at the biscuit. “Nothing was ever the same again.”

Mokona suddenly stopped its whining, and looked as if it was the verge on tears. David gave a sad smile and passed Mokona a heart biscuit too. “At first, I couldn’t get into Kadic. There wasn’t enough money. But Kiara was a big help. She begged for her father to pay for my school fees monthly. My dad will still have to pay him back though. The problem is, he can never always pay in full every month. So I’m forced to join the modeling industry to at least, help earn some.”

“Is that why you are not going to visit your father this summer?” Mokona asked in between its chewing.

David sat back on his bed and sighed again, “It is not that I do not want to visit him, Mokona. It’s more like…he doesn’t even want anything to do with me.”

“Why?” David could already see the tiny water tears forming at the side of Mokona’s shut eyes when his sacred animal asked. “Why is your father so mean?”

“Because he blames me, Mokona…” David plunged into his pillows and tried to sleep as he ended his story about his past. “He sees me as a jinx, a bad luck charm. He blames me for the incident.”
★

When Ulrich said that they were going to see the trademark of history for Australia the next day, Cornelia was confused to why they had arrived at a carnival which was a two-hour drive away from their hotel.

There was a little pinch of irony in it too. The family had dressed casually for event and looked so happy and excited when they reached here. Cornelia couldn’t imagine her father even jumping for joy at a carnival. It was so strange to Cornelia to see the family in such high spirits. Even Ulrich was enthusiastic about it. “Here you go,” Ulrich lifted Cornelia’s right wrist, and slid in a tied string, an access pass through the entrance, around her guardian’s silver metallic band. “Excited?”

“Not really,” Cornelia said it in an uninterested manner. “I don’t understand why we have to come to a carnival.”

“It’s the end of school, Cornelia,” Ulrich gave an encouraging smile. “You’re supposed to have fun before studying the historical sites of Australia. Let’s have some fun together.”

Cornelia sighed, but smiled at the different way of thinking that Ulrich had. “You’re like the exact opposite of Jason,” Cornelia mentioned as they separated from Ulrich’s parents and Luke. “He finds fun from the historical sites itself.”

“I’m sure his metabolisms are much slower than mine…” Ulrich exclaimed, making Cornelia laugh. “But you’re with me now, so you will have to do it my way, one way or another.”

“Fine then,” Cornelia put her arm around his as he offered and walked.

But it was only after a few steps later, that Cornelia heard a little girl screaming at her mother, “Mummy, why does that guy have a big scar across his face?”

Hearing that, Cornelia turned around, and several metres away, she saw him. Artemis was leaning against a stall pillar, munching onto a green apple. Once they made eye contact, he gave a sly smile. Cornelia scoffed, and walked faster with Ulrich beside her.

“Woah, somebody is eager to get to the roller coasters,” Ulrich teased.

When they arrived at the ride, there was a long queue in line. Cornelia at first didn’t mind waiting in the queue, but when she turned back to look at the direction in where they came from, she saw Artemis walking towards them! She grumbled and pulled Ulrich through the line. Then she thought again, that the people would be complaining and shouting, but as Cornelia walked up the staircase towards the stand, she closed her eyes, and imagined of a thick mist blocking their vision.

=== Proceed down for part 2!! ===

Chapter 44: Silent Prayer [Part 2]
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When they reached the top, and Cornelia let go of the mist, Ulrich gasped, “I must be imagining things!”

“Why is that so?” Cornelia needed to keep a calm tone, so that he didn’t know that she felt uneasy.

“I thought for a moment there when we crossed the stairs, everyone disappeared! Then they appeared back again!” Ulrich exclaimed as he looked back at the queue behind them.

It was then Cornelia realized that the mist had also affected Ulrich too. “Yeah, I think it was your imagination. No one disappeared. Let’s hurry and get on the roller coaster.”

As the ride ignited, Cornelia kept looking down, trying to find Artemis, but apparently he didn’t seem to be in sight. Ulrich was screaming at the thrill of the ride when the roller coaster side-stepped and overturned continuously. Cornelia just slumped back behind her seat and kept wondering.

What if Artemis showed himself to Ulrich? What if he did something, and I’m forced to use my powers? And what if Ulrich sees or worst, got hurt?

“Damn you, Artemis,” Cornelia muttered to herself, as the roller coaster approached a cave over the man-made sea that was part of the ride. “You just had to ruin my day!”

★

After the tenth continuous ride, Cornelia slumped onto a bench, tired and worn-out. All these while, trying to avoid Artemis, she kept on pulling Ulrich towards the nearest ride available and with a short queue right after the previous. Even as Ulrich complained that he might need the toilet to vomit because of his constant headaches in between rides, Cornelia still insisted on heading onto the next one possible.

She still needed to use her mist effect again and again, careful to make sure that Ulrich wasn’t affected to avoid misconceptions. It was because every time they finish a ride, Artemis would be waiting right there at the end of the line, watching she and Ulrich together. The pick-up line from the last time they met, didn’t really pleased her. Artemis could be intending to hurt Ulrich, Cornelia thought as she remembered what Artemis had told her the previous day;

Ulrich is not a matter. If he takes you away, I’ll steal him from you.

Cornelia buried her face in her hands and grumbled. Just when she thought that when school had ended for the holidays, Xana had somehow interfered with her free time by sending over the irritating and not irresistible Artemis. Though she did find him, a bit alluring…

“Cornelia…” Ulrich finally came back from the toilet, and clutched onto the bench for support. His face looked purple, and sick from all the rides. “No more roller coasters! Please!!!”

The reason why they had stopped and settled down after the tenth round, was that at the end of the thrill ride, Artemis wasn’t there anymore. He must have run off somewhere, because even now, Cornelia didn’t see him. It was like he disappeared into thin air all of a sudden. Ulrich dropped to the bench beside her, massaged his forehead and groaned, “That was…unexpected…”

“I’m so sorry, Ulrich,” Cornelia really meant it. She felt bad for pulling him through this entire trauma without him knowing. “Do you want me to get you anything? Drinks or food?”

“Nope, I’m good. It’s okay,” Ulrich sat up straight and looked at Cornelia in the eyes. “What I want is to know what’s wrong.”

“I don’t understand,” Cornelia fully understood, but avoiding the real topic is necessary. “I thought we were having fun.”

“I was,” Ulrich pointed to himself and then back to her. “But you weren’t. What’s wrong?”

Cornelia had to think for a while. She can’t exactly say that some maniac from the past is now haunting her because she’s the descendant of a powerful knight and have super powers. No, she couldn’t say that. Then she remembered back in school when he just enrolled in the school. “Remember that time,” Cornelia formed a perfect story to lie. “You went topless and bottomless in the sea?”

Ulrich’s face turned bright red as he nodded, “Yeah, I remember.”

“Do you remember why you did that?”

Ulrich thought back for a moment, and snapped his fingers. “There was this stalker that was making you uncomfortable, right? Was that it?”

“Err…” Cornelia thought about it again. The story was somehow connected. “Yeah. Well, guess what. That stalker is here, in Australia. I saw him at the entrance.”

“That maniac is here?!” Ulrich gasped, his tone had a tinge of anger as he stood up and looked around. “Where is he now?”

“He disappeared after the tenth ride,” Cornelia said, knowing that what she was saying were half-truth and half-lies. “I don’t see him here anymore.”

“Come,” Ulrich held out his hand towards Cornelia. “If we stay here any longer, he’ll corner us sooner or later.”

“Where will we go?” Cornelia asked, and then remembered that his parents were still here. “I don’t think your parents will like it that you left the amusement park.”

“You’re probably right,” Ulrich slapped his forehead and thought about it again. After a few moments, he snapped his fingers again and a surprised expression was plastered across his handsome face. “We’ll confuse your stalker and trap him.”

“How?” Cornelia wondered aloud. She thought to herself that if the element on her wrist were to pick a sixth guardian, Ulrich would be so very suitable for the job.

“Follow me,” Ulrich grabbed Cornelia’s wrist, and walked quickly behind a row of stalls. The walls in between them made a narrow pathway enough for one person to walk at a time, and Cornelia, confused to where they might be heading, realized that Ulrich was taking a short cut from across one end of the amusement to another. Soon, Ulrich slid from one of the openings and came towards a two-storey red-cloth building with a huge sign that says it all about the ride.

“‘Hall of Mirrors’?” Cornelia questioned at Ulrich.

But the Princeton son just smiled, and this time, pulled her into the building. “There’s one unique thing about this House of Mirrors,” Ulrich explained as they approached the counter before entering through the curtain. “It’s a maze, as well. It makes one very confused because just when you think you can head straight on down, you bump into your reflection. Sometimes, it’s just hilarious.”

“And you think you can trap my stalker here if he were to be following us right now?”

“Yup!” Ulrich gave an encouraging nod, lifted the curtain and gestured towards its interior. “Because I got trapped in maze mirror houses tons of times before.”

And with just that, Ulrich entered the building, thinking that Cornelia was behind him, but she stayed behind and looked around again. Is this really a good idea? Cornelia pondered over it, and tried to catch a glimpse of whether Artemis was still hovering around the area, spying on her.

When the coast was clear, Cornelia allowed herself into the building.

The first thing she saw when Cornelia stepped behind the curtains, was her reflection. Normal-looking and tall, the mirror was just the average mirror and not the unusual kind yet. But then when she turned around, there were mirrors everywhere. The mirrors made it look like as if they were triangular, and looked like as if they were on her right, left and in front. Ulrich said it was a maze, but when she looked, she only saw her reflection.

“Ulrich?” Cornelia called out and touch on the mirror in front of her. “Where are you?”

She only heard his voice after five long seconds from her right, “Follow my voice and you’ll be able to find me.”

Since she had heard the voice trail from the right, Cornelia tried to touch the mirror on her right. Her hand passed through the border! It wasn’t a mirror at all. She walked to her right and realised that there was another mirror further back that had made her reflection seem to look like as if it was right beside her. Cornelia decided to continue trying to touch the walls, hoping that there will be a pathway that leads towards Ulrich. “Talk to me, Ulrich,” Cornelia shouted when she still didn’t she him after a few turns. Everywhere still showed her reflection.

“Oh when the saints…” his voice echoed further in as she heard him singing. “…go marching in. Oh when the saints go marching in…”

Again, she tried to follow his voice, and was successful in finding a pathway eventually. There were times when she reached a dead end, whereby every single mirror in front of her were really mirrors, so she had to go back and find another route again.

But after about five minutes, Ulrich’s singing died off and Cornelia still couldn’t find him. “Ulrich?” she called out again, and after fifteen seconds, there was still no answer. “Ulrich?”

Cornelia then made a turn, and when she tried to touch the front again, all were mirrors. Another dead end, she thought, but as she retraced back her steps, her back leaned against another mirror. Cornelia turned around and tried to touch it. Her hands felt the glass! There wasn’t supposed to be a mirror from where she had came from!

She then tried touching the mirrors around her, but all were opaque. There wasn’t any opening! “Ulrich?!” she hated that her voice sounded so scared, but she couldn’t help it. She was really trapped.

Then from one of the mirrors, she saw a reflection of someone else. Since the place was rather dim, Cornelia couldn’t make out of who the person was. Sure she had passed by several other people who were also into the maze, but this time, she couldn’t even see the person’s face.

Her horrors came true when she finally saw the person enter the dead end and smiled widely at her, “Found you.”

“I hate you, don’t you know that?” Cornelia composed herself properly and tried to see which opening Artemis came from. “I hate you very much.”
“At least I have a better voice than him,” Artemis leaned against the mirror which Cornelia thought was the pathway from where he had come from. “His singing was so horrible! What a relief that he had already shut up.”

“What did you do to him?!” Cornelia didn’t care if she shouted and let everyone else in the building hear her. “Don’t you dare hurt him, Artemis!!!”

“Why would I want to hurt him, darlin’?” Artemis smiled and took out another apple from his coat. “Come, tell me.”

“It’s because of yesterday’s pick-up line, right?” Cornelia had had it with his games. She was tired, and sick of seeing his scarred face whenever she tried to relax. “You didn’t want Ulrich to hang around me so you did something to him, right?”

Artemis laughed cunningly at her answer, as if it was some joke that he had forgotten about. But then he stood up from his leaning position and took a bite from his apple, as he answered her back, “Why would I want to hurt my precious descendant?”

“Descendant?! Wha…”

“Cornelia!” Ulrich’s voice could be heard from her left and as she took her eyes off of Artemis to see Ulrich running towards her.

As Ulrich came forward, he hugged her tight, and kept on apologizing, “God, I’m so sorry, Cornelia. I left you alone. I’m so sorry.”

She could hear him suddenly break into tears, and shudder in fear. She could really feel the regret in his voice as she embraced him back. And when Cornelia turned around to look, Artemis wasn’t there anymore. He had disappeared again. As if he didn’t want Ulrich to see him.

As if he didn’t want Ulrich to see him.

As if he didn’t want his descendant to know that he, the ancestor, is here in the 21st Century.

Ulrich is Artemis’ descendant.

Ulrich and Artemis are related.

They are blood-related.

Chapter 43: Distasteful Feeling
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At the Hilton Hotel, Cornelia was busy walking around in circles beside a simple-looking fountain, and stretching her arms as if she just woke up. Her butt felt raw from all that hours of sitting down in the noisy helicopter. Ulrich and she didn't even talk because of the damn noise and it was very warm inside. The air conditioner was a brilliant new breeze, though the hotel didn't look as fanciful at all, by her standards. Sure there were pretty creative things like an enormous fish tank that stretched till the ceiling with a dolphin inside, but Cornelia just didn't feel the luxury pull.

Ulrich ran back to her with a bellboy behind him. "Penthouse."

"Only?" Cornelia teased, gesturing the bellboy to her bags. "Oh. I thought you said that your family would be here?"

"They are," Ulrich smiled, taking her hand and ushering her to the elevator. "...waiting in the Penthouse as we speak."

"Oh great," Cornelia sarcastically commented as they entered the lift. The ride was surprisingly a short trip up to the hundredth floor, and Cornelia was just trying to compose herself with the correct manners and such. (Treat yourself like a representative of the Kingston family! The reputation of it, in front of the Princetons will be up to me!) Cornelia now no longer felt comfortable meeting the family at all.

A jolt zapped through her. Something didn’t feel right as they ascended.

However, as the doors opened, Cornelia just saw typical luxury furniture laid out. Everything was in place, in fact, quite untouched. But no sign of any other human being. Ulrich tapped her tense shoulder and pointed towards the kitchen. No one was there, but there was an half-eaten apple and a cut strawberry cake in a glass container. And just as she was about to approach the kitchen, Cornelia heard a small boyish voice behind her. "Brother!"

Cornelia turned around to see Ulrich embracing a boy about eight years of age. A couple, apparently rather quite tall, came behind and smiled warmly. "Welcome Ulrich, darling," the one whom Cornelia assumes is the mother, spoke. "You're half an hour late."

Ulrich chuckled, "Well, I wasn't able to get the helicopter to the academy first. Someone stole my parking lot."

"Nii-san!" the brother called back Ulrich's attention and pointed at Cornelia. "Who is she? She's very pretty."

"Oh yes," Ulrich stood up and gestured Cornelia. "Father, Mother, this is Cornelia Lily Kingston. She is a very close friend of mine. And Cornelia, meet my parents and Luke, my annoying brother who always steals my things."

"And vice versa!" Luke immediately rebutted, then bowed playfully towards Cornelia. "Nice to meet you, Cornelia-chan! Call me Luke-kun!"

"Ignore him," Ulrich pretended to whisper into her ear. "He's so addicted to Japanese anime that he is turning into one soon."

"My favourite is..." Ulrich's mother covered Luke's mouth before he could finish his sentence. Instead the mother just smiled at Cornelia and welcomed her as well. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kingston. I've heard quite a lot about you recently."

"Oh! Really? I hope Ulrich didn't say too much," Cornelia tried to keep it casual, but it didn't sound right coming out from her mouth.

"He did," the father gave a low-tone laugh. Even though he had a rather musculine figure, he fitted into his suit perfectly. And Cornelia didn't quite expect a low-tone voice coming from him. Then she thought again, it's bad to stereotype. "Apparently, you have some kind of influence on my son."

"Well, I..." but Cornelia's words was cut off with the ringing of a phone. The father fished out his Blackberry and answered the phone. After a few words exchange, Ulrich's father hang up and gave a small smile.

"I'm sorry to break our conversation short but..." the musculine man spoke. "...it seems that our ride is here."

“Alright, then you better get a move on!” Ulrich pushed them towards the door. “You do not want those kangaroos cages filled up with many other tourists!”

And when they waved their goodbyes to Cornelia, Ulrich and her were left alone in the penthouse. Before Cornelia could ask, it would seem that Ulrich had read her mind. “They are going to the Zoo. Luke’s idea.”

“Oh!” Cornelia sighed a breath of relief that his parents were gone. Then something bugged her. “I want to bathe. I feel awfully sweaty.”

“Hey, me too,” Ulrich started to walk towards a turquoise door and tried to open it but it was unlock. “Strange, the toilet is locked.”

And after going to every three bathrooms, it seems that very one of them were locked. Apparently, the only one that wasn’t, was the one in Ulrich’s ‘appointed’ bedroom. “You bathe first,” Cornelia initiated and plunged herself on his velvet bed. “I’ll unpack. How long are we going to be here?”

“About ten days,” Ulrich fished out two hotel towels and dumped a bathrobe into the bathroom. “Are you sure you do not want to bathe first?”

“I’m sure,” Cornelia smiled, and waved her hand at Ulrich, still feeling the uneasy that she had before. “Now shuu~”

With a chuckle, Ulrich closed the door shut, leaving Cornelia slumped on the bed. She looked at the plain ceiling and just couldn’t shrug off the feeling. I must be imagining things. Cornelia fished out her iPhone and walked over to the balcony right beside the bed. Being at the highest floor, she looked over lots of buildings and the breeze was cold despite the season being Summer.

Then sizzling sound could be heard behind her, as if someone had appeared there.

“Kadic Knights, how ironic.”

The ring of that familiar voice made Cornelia jump as she turned around to see a distasteful face lying down on Ulrich’s bed. She hadn’t seen him for quite some time, and she didn’t expect him to pop up here either. Instead of answering him back, Cornelia just turn back to the balcony and pretended that he wasn’t there.

“Sorry, darlin’. But Xana told me to ‘keep an eye on you’ during your trip with Princeton-kid,” Artemis took an apple from the side table and began eating. “So, you’re not going to speak to me even though I took the trouble of coming here? I feel so devastated.”

The sound of the shower was loud enough for Ulrich not to hear, Cornelia thought. At least after Artemis got bored, he would quickly leave and hope that Ulrich doesn’t realize the one less apple from the basket. She then scrolled down her contact list to see Jason’s contact. A new message popped up and despite Artemis’ continuous babble, Cornelia started to draft a message.

“I know how to get you talking!” Artemis clasped his hands and the apple juice splattered from the impact. “Xana just gave us a conference, and he revealed every single juicy secret that each of you are hiding. And surprisingly, you’re keeping two secrets and both regarding Jason and David?”

Cornelia balled her hands into a fist that made Artemis laugh, “Yes! I knew it. Jason ain’t what he thinks he is and neither is David, right?”

She cancelled her application and finally turned towards Artemis. “How much do you know?”

“Everything!” Artemis spread out his arms as a gesture. He finally had her attention. “Xana told us everything, though I was quite surprised about David’s one. And here I thought he is already a monster. Does his mate know?”

“No, Kiara doesn’t know.”

“Then how do you know?” Artemis bent forward towards Cornelia and smiled gleefully. “What do you know?”

Cornelia sighed recalling that very moment when she was eleven and had first visited David’s house with her parents. She was entranced with the gardens and ran in first, but that was when she saw it, the horrific scene which ended just in time when her parents came to her. Only three people knew of that incident, and the other two doesn’t know that she knows and her parents didn’t see what she had seen. “It’s none of your business. And you do not have any right to know someone’s past if he or she is reluctant.”

“But that thing is a trademark of history!”

“I don’t care,” Cornelia folded her arms and frowned, not understanding what connection it had with history. “The fact is that he doesn’t show it anymore so it should be fine.”

“But it is not,” Artemis stood up and approached the guardian of Air. “And you know it. He’ll turn into it again. Bet on it.”

“Get out of here. If Ulrich sees you….”

“Ulrich is not a matter,” he whispered in her ear the same way Ulrich had done before he wanted to prove it to her that day. “Even if he takes you away, I’ll steal you from him.”

“Why?” she jerked her head to fully see his scarred face.

“Because,” Artemis smiled but by then his image began to waver as if he was disappearing. “I think I’m starting to fall for you.”

And by the time Cornelia gasped in surprise, Artemis vanished and the door to the shower opened. Ulrich stood at the mat dripping wet from his bath with a towel around his waist. He looked curiously at Cornelia, “I heard voices. Were you on the phone?”

“Oh yes. I was uhh…” Cornelia looked around for answers and saw the spilled apple juice on the bed. “…calling for room service. I accidentally spilled some apple juice.”

“I see,” Ulrich peeped at his soaked bed. “Alright. Take your time. Then tomorrow we can see Australia’s trademark of history!!!”

Cornelia stopped in her footsteps, hearing Ulrich’s words. But Ulrich didn’t notice her pause. Instead he walked over to the balcony and felt the breeze chill the water droplets around him. Cornelia felt a slight shiver, but it was probably because of the cold atmosphere in the bathroom. She pulled a clean towel from the rack and closed the door reluctantly as she shivered in fear.

★

Tiadora thought she was dreaming, but as soon as Herbert had opened the doors to Jason’s room, she thought that maybe she was!

Light practically shone through the crack when the doors flung open. As she stepped inside, her eyes widened in awe and her breath was caught in surprise. Jason’s room was a huge rectangle and in the middle of both lengths was one huge window from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling? It was so incredibly high that she felt as if it needed more than ten of her just to get up there. Two tall windows facing one another, but what entranced Tiadora even more was the rest of the walls.

There were no walls that shaped his room. It was all shelves and shelves of books from all corners of the room, and just like the windows, it stretched all the way to the ceiling. Filled with books, there wasn’t a single empty slot for dust. It was overwhelming. She hasn’t seen these many books since her time in the castle.

At each breadth of the rectangle was a staircase that leads to a higher platform. The platform right at the end had a grand bed with drapes on the side. An empty table and another shelves which from far, Tiadora could see, contain worksheets and files. “That is where Master Jason sleeps, studies and relax,” Herbert approached Tiadora from behind and explained. “There are balconies outside the windows. Jason normally does the business work there where he can have the cool fresh air instead of the normal air-con he feels in the room.”

“And on the other platform, which he insists that we put a bed there for your accommodation, he uses that to practice his instruments.” Tiadora turned around and saw the maids readying mattress and pillows. The platform which she was going to sleep at was nearer to the door from we they came in.

She then realized why Herbert had protested when Jason insisted on putting the bed there. It would mean blocking up some of the books from the shelves. Tiadora just giggled to herself and suddenly noticed something positioned in the middle of the long walkway in between the two ends of the room. There, positioned at a diagonal angle from the window, was a jet black grand piano and beside it, nearer to the window was a stand that held a glassed container.

Tiadora ran down the stairs and walked over to the shiny instruments. Enclosed in that glass container was a sapphire-shade violin. It wasn’t blue, yet it had that shine like how a gem sapphire does. It was intricately beautiful. She had seen performances at Kadic, but neither of them did Jason play in.

Trapped in her own thoughts, Tiadora didn’t realize the maids sighing faintly, and the footsteps behind. It was only when it was close to her head that she jumped at notice. “Admiring my room, I see.”

“Ah! Oh Jason, don’t scare me like that,” Tiadora sighed and tucked her fringe behind her ear. “And yes, you have an incredible room. It is practically a library itself.”

The guardian of Fire walked over to the violin stand, tapped two times on the glass such that the glass opened and gripped onto the blue violin. “This is my violin. I had it ever since I was very young, and it was given from my uncle. He is a famous violinist himself. And after I kept on telling how much I would like to play as well as him, he shut me up by getting me this.”

Tiadora just continued staring at the instrument as if hypnotized. “Your uncle has good taste.”

Jason laughed and held the base of the violin on his right shoulder. “Would you like to hear a song?”

“Can I?”

“Of course, but…” Jason then walked to somewhere near the window, pushed aside the curtains and revealed a green button. He just pushed the button and faced back Tiadora. “…I can’t let others hear the song if I’m playing for you.”

“Huh?”

“This button enables me to let the others in the mansion hear the violin playing,” Jason gestured for Tiadora to sit on the piano seat. “But this one is meant only for your ears.”

Jason held up the violin to his left, rested his cheek on the chinrest, fiddled his left fingers on the neck of the violin and let his bow slide down the upper bout to create a melody.

Tiadora closed her eyes and listened to the song. It was like a mixture of sad and drastic tones, as if the story of the song was based on a battlefield. She could picture herself, fighting against the previous guardians with the knights’ side-by-side, battling against Xana.

The melody then swayed to a calming pulse. As if it was the aftermath of the war, the tune tapped into a soft tone. Tiadora could easily picture a scene. She had seen this awfully too many a times after war, with the stained grasses and the polluted waters. All with the fallen’s blood. The melody sounded as if it itself was crying to the devastation of the bloodshed, and it ended with a little spring of the strings, sounding like hope still exists after tragedies.

When the song was done, Jason put away his violin back in the glass case and sat beside Tiadora at the piano seat. “How was it?”

“Like a battle,” Tiadora smiled as she pressed on a few keys on the piano. “You are indeed talented. It was a very beautiful piece.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Jason made a little tune on the piano. “I drafted that piece after I heard someone play it. That person called it ‘Knights of The Round Table’.”

“That is…”

“Sir,” Hebert’s voice drifted from the door. “I have brought Sephy with me.”

“Bring her in!” Jason stood up from the piano, and nudged Tiadora to do the same.

“Come. There’s someone I would like you to meet.”

Before Tiadora could answer, an animal ran in from the door and bolted towards Jason. But just as it got near to Jason, the animal stopped in its tracks and looked at the guardian of Fire. Something didn’t seem right in the animal’s eyes. Jason was confused too. Sephy didn’t hesitate whenever he came home. Why the sudden reluctance?

“Hey Sephy,” Jason approached the animal and tried to pat between its ears. “It’s me, Jason. You mean, you can’t remember me?”

At the familiarity with the tickle in its ears, Sephy barked happily, knowing that it was its owner who had come back. The dog licked Jason’s face over and over to catch his attention, and Jason was laughing all the way. “Tia,” Jason said after he calmed Sephy down. “This is my Husky. My dog. Her name is Sephy. Say hi.”

Immediately, the Husky went on twos and held out a paw towards Tiadora as if the dog was greeting like a human. But as soon as Tiadora shook Sephy’s paw, it pounced on her and licking her well on the face. “Ahhh!!” Tiadora screamed playfully. It was her first time seeing a dog, as she didn’t recall seeing any back during her time

“This is very…” Tiadora managed to say in between the lovely licks. “…unexpected indeed.”

After Jason calmed the white k-nine down, he crossed his legs and sat on the floor. The dog was bigger than Jason in size. It had the face of a grey wolf and a masculine body of fur. Tiadora, though still uncomfortable with the idea of sitting on the floor, she pat on the animal and gave Jason an ironic look. “What is it?”

“Oh yes, I forgot that your idea of a pet would be dragons and phoenixes,” Jason teased all pulled a cushion from behind the piano to let Tiadora sit. “This is a man’s best friend, a dog. Sephy here, is of a Husky breed, half-wolf and half-dog. She’s been with me ever since as long as I could remember. Ain’t that right, my sweetheart?”

Jason snuggled his nose against Sephy’s, as the dog made a little groan as if it really treated Jason as its true master. Tiadora smiled and teased, “I thought I was your sweetheart?”

His laugh echoed through his large room, as he gazed at Tiadora lovingly. “Of course you are. You’re my querida.”

And just as Tiadora was about to question, the sound of tapping shoes entering the room, interrupted their conversation. Hebert stood at the mouth of the brown doors with a long capsule in his hands. He uncapped one end, tilted it and out came a scroll. Composing his posture and clearing his throat, the scroll cascaded down to the floor revealing a whole list of words that was too far for Tiadora to see. “Master, here is the collation of duties that require your attention for the whole of this week,” Hebert mentioned as he read the list with his nose raised. “Tomorrow at ten o’ clock in the morning, there will be a meeting with the North American Branch regarding that stats of three hotels which are Trikata Paradise, San Diego DelHa as well as Lotus Flow. It is then followed by another meeting in the afternoon around 2 o’clock that Desmond Harten wishes to convey various feedback upon the implication of the several oil industries in Asia. On Wednesday, you shall begin early in the morning with…”

And the list just went on and on. Tiadora couldn’t help but feel incredibly dumbfounded at the amount of things that Jason needed to do within this week, and he only just came home! Details of what Hebert said sounded alien in her ears, but just knowing that Jason would be occupied for a whole day didn’t sound like a summer vacation at all. It’s only been two hours since they landed, and yet, he’s already been given work to do? Is this how it feels like being a Kingston?

She turned towards Jason, to see a reaction, but Jason was looking at Hebert, paying attention, as if he was trying to memorise every single detail of the tasks this week. He didn’t look overwhelmed or even surprised. It was more like as if he had expected it. There was only a tinge of disappointment in his face, but even that, he tried to hide it away in front of Hebert.

“…and on Sunday, Claire Tear Granarde will be coming to visit you, Master. She claims to have been looking forward to meeting you for six months,” Herbert finally rolled up the scroll and slot it back into the capsule. “Master, your parents have requested of you and your acquaintance’s presence at the dining hall in three hours time for dinner. You are to be present and be appropriately attired. End of command.”

“You are dismissed, Herbert,” Jason ordered as the butler turned away and tapped his shoes out of the room.

Tiadora stared at Jason, disbelief in what she just heard. Now, it wasn’t the overwhelming workload that had baffled her. Instead, Tiadora was more worried of seeing his parents! There was only three hours left to mentally prepare herself for the worst to happen, and she didn’t know how to address them since normally people always address to her instead.

She looked at Jason, who was busy thinking about things that now Tiadora was just unsure of.
Jason, realizing that Tiadora had started to stare questionably at him, put up a smile, stood up, and held out his hands towards the guardian of Energy. “Come. Let’s get you a dress, shall we?”