Chapter 24

Oh no, she shook her head in denial, no no no I did not just do that.

Sarah was panicked from the kiss. She felt that the way she reacted to this turn of events was unfair to Jake, that she was supposed to have this moment with him instead of Phileas. Yet, somehow, she also felt that this is something she has been wanting for a while now. Was she betraying Jake?

Am I cheating on him? She shook her head in disbelief.

She was so occupied in her thoughts that she almost did not notice the sound of footsteps approaching her. A hand came down on her head and caressed her hair. Startled, she jolted upright and looked up at the person standing in front of her. Her eyes grew wider while she internally cussed at herself.

"You okay?" Jake asked.

*

Phileas had almost ran away from Sarah. He crouched down next to a stream holding his face in his palm. The touch of her lips against his would not leave his mind and was completely occupying all of his senses even now. Inside his chest, his heart ran like a horse. He let out a nervous laugh against his own will. He could not believe that he, a knight, would dare defile the princess. He dared have such feelings for Her Highness.

I should have resisted.

When he moved his palm away from his face, his eyes fell on the reflection of himself in the clear spring water. Black orbs in place of eyes. Hair whiter than moonlight. To him, he was a freak of nature. Sarah was not like him. She had beautiful eyes.

But despite what he thought of himself, he could not stop himself from wanting her for himself. He could not help but notice that she wore blue on days she felt cheerful. That she loved flowers. Her eyelids when she looked down at his wrapped palm. Her curls bobbing when she turned to look behind her. Her prominent laugh lines whenever she laughed. When she told him to keep the scar on his palm so that she could heal it herself, Phileas felt as if though he should have left all the numerous marks from training on him too, instead of healing them.

Ugh, such vile thoughts, he told himself.

Amidst all his thoughts about Sarah, he realised that he had left her on her own for too long. He stood up to make it back to her, although his legs resisted it. He was still ashamed of his actions, and very nervous about facing her. As if asking divinity to give him courage, he looked up at the sky which was very clear in sight due to a lack of trees next to the rocky spring. He turned towards the direction he came from.

It was at this moment when Phileas realised that he had made a huge mistake by running away. The sky above the forest was slowly dissolving in darkness and this time it was more powerful than last time, as if though it would be completely eaten up by the dark veil setting down on it.

Without batting an eyelid, Phileas' legs took off on their own. He ran at full speed towards the forest before opening his wings and flying straight through the myriad of tree trunks. He kept his eyes fixed on the dark veil in the distance. It seemed thin which meant there was still time for him to enter it and find her.

Holding onto the butterfly brooch on his uniform, he flew straight into the darkness.

*

Sarah stood up against the tree and straightened her dress, "Y-yeah I am okay".

Jake inspected her face, "Really? Why does your face look so red, are you unwell?" He put his palm against her forehead to check her temperature.

Sarah could not help but compare this to Phileas' touch. She blushed again, and stuttered, "No, no I am fine. I am telling you. I must have been flushed from all the walking. Wooh. It's hot here!" she fanned her face with her hand.

"What are you doing here alone?"

"I was with Phileas. He, um, went off to check something. He is nearby".

Jake looked around, "Really? I can't sense him though".

"What are you doing here, Jake?"

"Me? I went to the palace to see you, but you weren't there. Ella told me you came to the forest. Fancy finding you alone. Phil would have shot lasers at me and made me uncomfortable," he laughed.

Sarah found it hard to focus on what Jake was saying, because all of a sudden the ringing in her head had returned. She raised a hand to her head. This time it hurt more than usual. Without realising, she was calling out to Phileas.

"Phil -," she mumbled, as she squeezed her eyes shut due to the sharp pain.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Where is Phileas?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"You said he was nearby".

"I need to find him," she began to walk towards the direction she saw Phileas leave in.

Suddenly, Jake grabbed her hand and stopped her in her tracks. Sarah turned to look at him in surprise. Jake was just standing there with an expressionless face.

"Let go, it hurts," Sarah tried to free her wrist from his tight hold.

"Can't do".

"Hey, let go. You know I want to be with you too, but just right now I need to find him -"

He pulled her towards him and held her in a hug, "Can't you just stay with me?"

"Hey" Sarah squirmed in his arms, "I really need to find him, Jake. This is really important". She turned her head to check if Phileas had returned.

"Just stay with me here. Tell me what is the problem. I can help you too".

Sarah looked back at him. I cheated on him, at least I should trust him, she thought.

"Well, Phil and I suspect that my headaches came from the darkness which had settled in me from the time I last came to the forest. He removed it from my body, but it seems to be back. I need to inform him".

Jake held her close and looked straight into her eyes, "If it is that, I can help you too. Just look into my eyes".

Sarah stopped resisting, "Really? But we need to find out why it has been after me -"

"Just trust me," he cut her off.

Sarah stared into his eyes. His pale brown eyes looking as clear as spring. It reminded her of the time she had almost lost herself in them the last time. This time too, she felt as though she was being drawn deeper into them. But somewhere in this exchange, she began to feel uneasy. Her headache was not diminishing, but increasing. She wanted to be with Phileas really bad right now. She needed to tell him about the darkness that was surrounding her right now. The darkness is surrounding me? Her thoughts snapped her back to reality.

The sky darkened and darkness swirled around them, wrapping them in a thick blanket of black. The darkness formed a tornado around them. Sarah was still in pain from her headache, but tried her best to stand her ground amidst the strong wind from the swirling darkness. Jake just stood straight, looking at her and firmly holding onto her.

"What is this Jake? What is going on?"

Jake remained silent.

The tornado collapsed just as fast as it had started, leaving them standing in the middle of a gloomy clearance within a forest. Sarah felt a presence behind her and she turned to find a man veiled in black standing far away, looking at them. He had black curls for hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked at her and smiled eerily.

"Hello, Rhea".

Oh no, she realised whom she was facing.

"Hades," her voice shook.