Chapter 4: Beauty

Max wakes me up at dawn. I swing my arm in protest and hit his chest plate heard enough that I sit up with a yelp and rub my hand. Max scowls silently as he throws my clothes on top of me and heads for the door. He's still pissed off. I've never seen him this way. Who knows what goes on in these walls anymore.

"Hurry up. We leave before breakfast." Max grumbles.

"We aren't eating first?" I ask. Max's hand tightens on the door knob. He throws the door open angrily.

"The last thing we need is for the king to ask us what the hell are we doing in the castle! Now get up you pathetic sack of–" The door slams shut, muffling whatever Max was about to say.

"Sardine head!" I yell angrily, knowing that he won't hear me. If I were to say it in his face, I might as well hang myself right now. It's rare when Max gets angry. But when he does, he's an entirely different person. And honestly, that side of him scares me shitless. Really shows how pathetic I am.

I quickly dress and start packing up. I should've done it yesterday. But considering how awful yesterday was, all I want to do was hide under my bed. It's stupid and pathetic. But that's all I can do. If I try anything else, I'll end up making myself a laugh stock.

"Keep moping around and it will become permanent." Someone says. I jerk my head up from my bag of clothes and look around. No one. I sigh and take in my room. It's mostly empty depsite being a chamber for a prince. I have a useless personal library, useless study table, useless maps, and useless weapons hanging on the walls. My clothes takes up most of the floor along with papers I should probably taken seriously months ago.

With another sigh, I zip up my bag and sling it over my shoulder. I kick everything in my path aside and head towards the door. I feel a tug on my hair and whirl around. Seeing nothing, I turn.

"Are you leaving just like that? No good-bye?" The voice echoes through my room.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" I yell, dropping my bag and turning in a circle.

"If I showed what I am, you would only see a shadow. I am already weak as it is. My voice should suffice." The voice responds.

"Then, at least tell me who you are." I find myself shaking and sweating in fear. At first, there's no answer. As I begin to think I hadn't had enough sleep, the voice responds.

"The stories. Of the goddess chained underneath an empire. This empire."

"What about it?" I grumble.

"They are true." I laugh nervously.

"This is some prank, right? If you're a goddess, how were you captured to begin with? What sort of goddess are you?"

"I am the type of goddess that could destroy this empire in a blink of an eye. And yet, I chose to spare the children. Have you not noticed the decline in the birth of children?" I suck in my breath and stay still.

My oldest brother has been trying to get a heir for the thrown before Father dies and he himself can't rule anymore. But there's been no success. He's already had six of his wives executed for being "useless".

"You're behind this? Do you have any idea how many innocents are being affected by this?" I feel anger emerge from the bottom of my heart. Who is she to decide anything?

"Innocents? This kingdom is full of wickedness! Especially, after what your mother did! You alone are an innocent with maybe two or three. But everyone else has a pending death!"

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?" I look around frantically as if I'll see her somehow.

"That is for you to figure out. After all, you have been sent towards possible death. This...Beast, this Beast is not to be taken lightly. The creatures that roam on the land are either curses or blessings from me. Respect them and they will respect you. Do not make the same mistake your mother did. I will not mind tearing out another heart blackened by lies."

The room becomes cold. Somehow, I know she's gone. I pick up my bag and run out the door. I run towards the stables, picking up my pace every minute. I want to get out of here. I want to get as far away from here as possible.

By the time I reach Max and Felix, I'm breathless. They don't say anything as we begin to head towards the main gate. A mechatronic horse runs past us and through the gate. Felix's eyebrows knit together in silence. We head out in silence.

The night falls on us, signaling the first day of travel. Max, Felix, and I find a place to camp. Felix hunts down dinner while Max and I make the fire and set up our tents. Max and Felix ignore me. They only command me to do stuff and walk off if I say anything. I got past the slightly annoyed and hurt stage and just do as I'm told.

"Caught three rabbits. And I found something." Felix says as he returns. He carries the three rabbits with the arrows still in them. Something glows faintly in his satchel.

"What did you find?" Max asks as he comes out from behind the last tent.

"More like, 'who' did I find?" Felix says as he produces a small winged creature out of his satchel. It glows red as it struggles against the string Felix used to bind it. I stare at it even as Max takes out a small knife to dissect it.

"Wait! What are you doing?" I ask just before Max slits the fairy's throat. Max doesn't even pause. He just glares at me and kills the fairy. The red glow dims and disappears as the fairy dies. Blood the color of bright red paint taints Felix's hand. Without a care of his cousin, Felix tosses the fairy into Max's hand and walks away to skin the rabbits.

"Start the damn fire." Felix grumbles as he walks past me. His long hair smacks my face as he passes. I stare at Max as he peels the skin off of the dead fairy and examines its insides. With sudden anger, I punch the stones I formed to create the pit of fire. Rather than feeling pain, I feel a soft and warm sensation go up my arm. The stones crack as an orange fiery glow spills out. The wood catches fire.

I stumble back, falling on my ass as I try to get away from the fire. The fire dances around. It looks like any other ordinary fire. But something about it is different. I notice purple and blue in the otherwise orange fire. I stare into the fire until Max throws the dead fairy into the fire. There's a his and the fire grows. Max curses and steps back.

"Must've been a fire element." I hear him mutter.

"A fire element?" I ask shakily. Max looks at me and nods.

"Fairies are chaotic creatures of nature. That fairy must've caused a hell amount of trouble." He explains.

"Is that why Felix killed it? Because it was causing trouble?" Max smiles.

"It must've annoyed him or something." Max says and joins Felix. I stare into the fire. Should I tell them? No. They wouldn't believe me. They'll think I went crazy already. With a sigh, I stand and head towards my tent. I'm too tired to care anymore. I'll figure it—

There's a roar off in the distance towards the Lotus Village. Max and Felix stop what they're doing and turn towards the roar. The roar is followed by multiple howls. Some are so dangerously close that I find myself skimming my sword.

"What element was that fairy?" Max asks.

"Fire. Why?" Felix responds.

"I think you angered some spirit. How did you get your hands on the fairy?"

"It was lecturing me over how to cook the rabbits. I got annoyed and caught it." Felix grumbles.

"If we get killed for this, I'm going to torture you in the Underworld." Max says with a sigh. I go into my tent and sit with my sword on my lap. Not even out of sight of the capital and we've already fucked up. At least, I wasn't the one who caught it or killed it.