What are you

At the Palace...

"A day is what you asked for, Your Majesty. Where is my son?!!" the queen's voice echoed in the empty main hall of the palace. It was a difficult task for the king to keep the fact that the prince is missing a secret from his subjects. But the queen pouring her heart out for their only son, who was lost, was not at all helping the king think straight.

The king was worried by looking at the pitiful state of his wife. She would become a mad woman if she couldn't see her son any sooner. She was not a queen now, but a mother; A mother who had lost sanity because her only child was lost.

It was a heart-breaking sight for the king. For the matter of fact, he was a father too. But mourning would only worry the others more. That was the reason he gave to himself so that he wouldn't break down.

Both the king and queen were startled by the intruder who dared to enter the room without announcing his respects to them. They heard the steps of the person loud and clear, echoing in the halls. Of course they already knew who he was as they did not show this leniency to everyone. The king’s only “trust-worthy” brother, Adam.

Adam was the king’s step-brother. Since he was the child of a mistress, a prostitute to be specific, he was ill-treated by the other royals and was given his mother's surname. He would have been thrown out of the palace if it was not for the half of royal blood that was in his body. The insult he had received since he was a kid, that too from the ones who called themselves family had made him swear to himself that one day, one fine day, he will make the throne his either by hook or crook.

Inside the kingdom of Solis there existed many fire provinces, water provinces, air provinces and earth provinces consisting of their respective elementals. When Adam reached a marriageable age, he decided that his son would take the throne. But he was again made a fool of when he had to marry a princess from a province of the air elementals and also a princess of the province of the water elementals.

His two out of two offspring turned out to carry their mothers' powers and not his. His eldest son Henry turned out to be an air elemental while the youngest one Liam was found to be a water elemental. Although his youngest son was quite stronger than any normal water elemental, he was no match in front of the only prince, a true royal blood, the strongest Salemander.

But the present situation was in his favour as the prince being lost without a hint of his existence looked like a golden opportunity to lay his hands on the throne. His dream was coming true and he was ready to even kill for that dream of his.

His intentions were all foreign to the king and queen. He made sure that he had acquired the absolute trust of both the husband and wife. He had become the monster as such due to the thirst of power, due to the thirst for revenge and due to the thirst of the respect that the king had received to this day.

Whose fault is it for him to become such a madman craving for power? Who was to blame for his condition? Was it just his fate that he had to go through this suffering from the beginning? But now he wouldn't stop, he wouldn't stop until he gets what he wants.

"Oh brother!! I heard that our prince is missing. How could this be? He was such a strong and bright child. The gods are playing tricks on us. How could something so horrible happen to wonderful people like you. I just wish from the bottom of my heart that Noah is not harmed" Adam said which absolutely deceived them without a doubt. He did not want them to see how happy he was.

"I understand your concern Adam. I didn’t expect him to go missing at such a time". The king’s dreamy words were clear and loud but were hiding something. Adam was curious now; what did the king mean when he mentioned ‘at such a time’? What was he hiding?

"What do you mean, brother? Is something important to happen in the coming days?" he asked, trying his best not to make it obvious about his curiosity on the matter. There was a sudden change in the king's posture as though he was not ready to disclose the matter which his brother insisted on knowing.

"It’s nothing, Adam. The words just came out of my mouth without me realising it. I was thinking of something else at the moment" he said to cover up the truth. But Adam was no fool; It was obvious for him to understand that the king was not ready to tell him the actual matter which made his face stiff with annoyance written all over it. But he covered it up with a smile before the king could even notice.

"Is that so?" he said and started walking closer to the throne where the king sat. "But, brother, what are you going to tell the people if they ask for the prince? His birthday will arrive any sooner and he has to appear in person for the evening's grand dinner that day. Also it is his 22nd birthday, the year we have to reveal his face to the kingdom" he said as he was trying to get the king more confused and frustrated.

"I can only pray that we find him before that. I just want my son to return home safely". The king was almost crying now. The pressure of the whole situation he was in was too much for him to bear. He got up from his seat as he excused himself and headed to his room leaving Adam and the queen in the hall.

"I will take my leave now, My Queen" Adam said as he bowed and left the room. He was stomping down the hallway as he said to himself, "So what if you don't want to tell me the truth? I will definitely find out on my own. You know I always do, 'brother'."

At the forest...

Ness was shocked to hell at what Anastasia had done. His eyes had widened a few minutes back and they still wouldn't go back to normal. Alas, the giant fell to the ground with a loud thud. Anastasia turned to Ness, held his hand and dragged him away from the cliff into the forest.

"You... are-" he was trying to say but Anastasia wouldn't let him finish.

"Why are you so persistent in proving that you don't have a brain?" she almost yelled.

"Y-You are.." again the poor boy was cut off.

"Why do you have to act like a child? Were you planning to get yourself killed?!" she was screaming now which made Ness cover his ears.

"Stop screaming and let me speak!!" even he screamed.

"What?!" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't know- just stop screaming at me! I wanted to divert the thing’s attention from you! I tried to save your life since you had saved mine! What is wrong with that9?! I was trying to return your favour and you are yelling at me!!!" he almost cried which made Anastasia sigh.

"I'm sorry. It was wrong on my part to yell at you like that. But don’t do favours on me which might get you killed. I didn’t come all the way here to see you die. So, let’s find your family as soon as possible" Anastasia said and started walking but Ness didn't even budge from his place and just stared at the ground. He suddenly held his head and sat down on the ground closing his eyes. It scared Anastasia to death looking at him as he screamed in pain. He started sweating profusely every passing minute.

Flashes of images were back in Ness's mind. There were seven men riding seven horses but all the faces were just a blur image to him. But he could tell that one of them was himself. They were headed to a city. The name of the city was clear now 'Solis' was written at the entrance in bold letters. And his eyes fluttered open because now he was sure where he had to go.

"Are you okay?" Anastasia asked, rubbing his back. He nodded and held her wrist tightly so that he almost broke it.

"I think I know where we have to go now. Come on" he said and before Anastasia could even reply, he started dragging her through the woods. Anastasia did not complain, she just did what he said. They started walking swiftly but after an hour or so they were tired. It was already past noon and they hadn't eaten anything. They sat down under the shade of one of the trees and they relaxed.

"If you don't mind, can I ask you something?" Ness hesitated with his question and Anastasia just nodded.

"What are you? I have lost my memory but I do remember that humans have lived far away from elementals for a long time. You living amidst humans and yet being an elemental makes no sense" he said as Anastasia looked away. He caught her being uncomfortable with the question.

"It’s okay if you are not willing to answer. You don't have t-" he was cut-off mid-sentence. Even though Anastasia never let anyone break through the walls she had built around her, she was willing to risk it today. She had to tell him for her own safety. She didn't expect him to help her but at least saving his life might make him keep her secret safe. But above all she wanted the burden of her secret identity, off her shoulders.

"I am a hybrid, Ness", her words were like arrows to Ness's ears and his jaw fell to the ground. She didn't mind his reaction and continued as Ness listened to her silently, "Let me tell you a story, Ness. Once, there was an orphan human girl who had a shop of medicinal herbs. She used to visit the woods often to find the herbs she wanted. One day, she encountered a man when she went near the river in the woods. She found him very attractive and somewhat alluring.

So, she went to the river again and again, each day, every day, anticipating for a single glance of that person. And he came everyday just to see her face too. Both became friends and in no time the strong feeling of love had taken over friendship. They found solace in each other's arms. But little did the foolish girl know that the man was no human, that he was one among the elementals whom the humans feared the most.

It was another day in the woods when she went searching for her charming mate when she was attacked by a wild boar. The same man emerged out of nowhere in a blink of an eye and burnt the boar to ashes with the fire that lit up from his bare hands. She was aware of the truth now but she chose love over the rules of the society.

Both of them decided to live in the woods without anyone bothering them. They lived happily and the happiness just grew with the birth of their first child, a boy. The boy also had his father's blood in him and the fact that he could burn the whole forest with his powers was proof of that.

The boy grew up with the animals in the forest and became stronger every passing day. But what fascinated his mother was the change in the colour of his eyes. It was dark brown normally but turned to brick red whenever he used his powers. Though it was not a surprise for his father since he had already studied at a young age about how the eye colour of hybrids would change whenever they used magic.

The family welcomed a baby girl after a few years and the boy was already five. Even though the girl was just like her father and her brother, she wasn't as strong as her brother. Her eyes also changed colour but unlike her brothers' they were bright purple. They lived in peace and were satisfied with whatever they had. Each day they woke up to a bright smiling sun and happily led their lives in their small world. They never asked for more since the life they were living was near to perfect.

The kids were exposed to neither the humans nor the elementals. The couple made sure it remained so till the end. But one day, when the two siblings were playing in the waterfall they came across two men. They looked like they were the same age as their parents. The only difference was that they were Mayongs. They thought that the siblings were mere humans and tried to abuse them with dark magic. But when they saw how the boy could stop their attacks with fire they were scared that he might be someone from the palace.

What caught their eye was the change in the boy's eye colour and in no time they knew what they were dealing with. Suddenly both the men ran away making the boy think that they got frightened by his powers. Both of the hybrid siblings continued to play in the water but after an hour, the two men were back with hundreds of men. Before the men could reach the river the boy grabbed the girl and hurried to their house.

He was scared that he would fail to save his five year old sister. Unfortunately he led the whole troop of men to their home. As soon as he reached the house he explained everything but as he spoke the people started attacking the house. The couple wrapped up the little girl in their son's clothes and made her sit inside a bag. The mother made two holes to the bag for the girl to breathe.

Before tying up the bag the mother cupped the little girl's face, both in tears and said, "You will not open your mouth about us to anyone no matter what happens and you will stay silent inside the bag. Promise me my angel that you will never use your powers in front of anyone unless you have to save someone's life and that you will not do anything dangerous". She placed a soft kiss on the young one's temple. The mother grabbed the bag and waited at the back door as the two men went out to fight the raging mob outside the house.

Father and son fought like monsters burning every person who tried to attack them. The mother took the opportunity to escape while the two men fought with all that they had. She ran away with her child in the bag as she was scared to death. Two of the men from the mob followed her, but she was witty.

She hid herself behind the tree when she noticed the two men following her. She threw a stone in the opposite direction which diverted the attention of the men as they ran in that direction. She then started running to the human city and finally reached it. It was already dark and all the shops were closed. She was tired since she was a mere human.

She sat down near a wall of someone's house and opened the bag to find her daughter sleeping. She tied it up again and carried it to the house she lived in earlier. She saw that one of her friends had occupied that house. She gave the bag to her friend and begged her to take care of her daughter and left the house saying that her life was in danger and that if she stayed there even for a minute more, her friend would also be in danger.

The girl grew up under the woman's care keeping her powers a secret from everyone. But the woman died after ten years and the girl had to live on her own. She did try to search for her family but she found no house in the entire woods. There was no sign of her father, mother and brother in the entire woods". Anastasia stopped due to the lump in her throat. She couldn't control her tears anymore and they left her eyes glistening to the sunlight as she bit her lip.

Ness felt pity for the girl who was crying without a pin drop of sound. Although the tears came down without hesitation her face carried no emotion. It was like there was a void in her heart; a void created due to the loss of the only family she knew and for the love which made her parents sacrifice their life. Ness had grown a soft spot for her which urged him to lighten up the mood.

"But you never told me that the girl grew up to be so beautiful," he said, leaning down to look at her face. A small smile crept up Anastasia's lips as she smacked his shoulder which made Ness chuckle.

"It’s getting late. We need to keep going" Ness said as he got back on his feet. Anastasia followed his lead and after an hour they reached Solis and stood at the entrance as they looked at the gates. The sudden headache was back and crowded Ness's head with blur images. This time the pain was bearable being the umpteenth time he was experiencing it. He heard a faint voice of his own, calling out to someone. As soon as he was sure of the person's name, he looked at Anastasia

"Alec. We need to find someone named Alec" he said to her and she nodded and followed him into the busy streets of the city. The small groups of young boys looked at Anastasia with dreamy eyes while the girls in the balconies of the buildings on either-sides cooed at the sight of Ness. But both of them were the kind of people to not actually observe what happened around them.

Ness wanted to find this person as soon as possible. He went to the young man who stood across the potters shop and patted his shoulder to gain his attention. The man turned to Ness. The person was a little bit shorter than Ness but was no less handsome than him. His expression confused Ness as he looked at him with astonishment. His eyes were as big as possible like he had seen a ghost. Ness ignored his reaction and asked what he wanted to know.

"Where can I find a person named Alec?" he asked. The person was bewildered at Ness's question.

"Umm..." he said looking at Ness as if he was not sure of what he had heard. He looked at another person standing not far from them and called him.

"Liam~" he called out and Anastasia saw a young man with blue eyes who came and stood right beside her. The other person held Ness's shoulders and twirled him around to face the man called Liam and said,

"My friend here is searching for a person called Alec" he said almost snorting but the other person was in shock and his expression never changed as he said in a deep voice which was almost inaudible,

"Noah...".