Chapter 64: The tower of reflection

 

Ivy found herself awoke to be surrounded by gorgeous crafted pillars with ancient designs as she strolled around. There wasn't a sign of Phoenix this time but she could hear whispers from afar as she approached a kitchen and saw two servants acting suspiciously. Ivy got closer to the door to eavesdrop."We shouldn't be doing this. This is wrong.", said the petite servant. "We have no choice. This is an order by the Second Crown Prince, Jaime. If we don't obey we will end up being beheaded!" Shrieked the other servant as Ivy tried to decipher what were they up to.The petite servant was fidgeting all over as the other servant tried to calm her. "Don't get anxious now with me. Just give the potion as usual to the Crown Prince and Princess. Tell yourself, the potions were to ease the pain of recovering from the effect of the tower of reflection.""You know that's not true! The Crown Prince will lose his memory again! They both are the good ones but I couldn't comprehend the reason for them to always be the victims of power and scheming." Whined the petite servant."Hush! Lower your voice. Do not ever speak in a such manner again! If someone hears you, you wouldn't get to see tomorrow again!" The petite servant wasn't aware of Ivy's presence but the other servant was deliberately putting on an act after knowing Ivy was around the corner. Ivy couldn't contain her exasperation knowing such a fact as she quickly ran to the nearby garden to keep herself composed while Phoenix who looked like he was searching for her frantically ran to the garden to hug her from behind the moment he saw her."I thought something happened to you…" Phoenix echoed as Ivy was shocked momentarily by his sudden appearance from behind. She was still trying to keep herself calm from her shocking discovery but Phoenix's warm hug was comforting as she slowly calmed down."It's time to meet the relatives." Phoenix echoed gently moments later as Ivy nodded and let him lead her to the hall. "Phoenix, are we entering the tower of reflection soon?" Ivy asked as Phoenix hesitated with his answer for a moment before he nodded."Promise me, we will always stick together till we come out of there together safely." Ivy gripped his hand tighter as Phoenix nodded.The hallway looked like archaic designs from the olden days with many hanging pots of various flowers decorating the detailed carved pillars in the hall. Petunia caught Ivy's attention but Ivy noticed Petunia looked as though she was under a spell to lock away her powers as she sat obediently by the king's side.As the regent started to introduce who was in the hall, Jaime's name caught Ivy's attention. He was introduced as their distant cousin who was next in line to hold the throne. Ivy began to make sense of the entire trap Jaime had planned as she tried to pay attention to the entire ceremony.Greeted as the Princess of the seven swords and Phoenix as Prince of the seven swords, the king was handing over the kingdom to both of them. Ivy was not expecting this but Phoenix didn't look like he was up for it either. He discreetly shook his head a little to tell her not to accept it because his motive was to enter the tower of reflection as a punishment.Being quick-witted, Ivy proclaimed her refusal. "No, I refuse this!" Ivy squinted her eyes at the King and then at Jaime who was smirking. The hall ended up with whispers and gasping as the king was fuming. With that, Phoenix's plan was a success as the king demanded both of them be sent to the reflection hall as a punishment. The whole congregation in the hall was gasping with anxiety as they bowed to the King and pleaded with him to grant the prince and princess pardon but were ignored.When the king had sentenced them to enter the tower of reflection, Ivy didn't expect it to happen instantly. As Phoenix led her there, she recognised the servants she saw earlier and could tell the potion from afar as she tried to stall phoenix by asking him to fetch her a bouquet of marigolds by the garden before they enter.When Phoenix was far away, Ivy ran to the two servants at the entrance of the tower to clarify which potion they held was hers. The petite one claimed she was holding onto Ivy's. Ivy could hear Phoenix's returning footsteps from afar as she quickly grabbed onto Phoenix's potion from the other servant and finished it all as the servants watch in terror. Out of panic, Ivy turned to not face Phoenix but entered the main door of the tower of reflection instead to buy some time to keep herself composed. As she walked into the bleak shimmering red-orange hues of the tower of reflection, Ivy hoped if this life was for Phoenix to save her, she would put an end to their vicious cycle once and for all.Phoenix hastily came and drank the potion meant for Ivy before he entered the entrance of the tower and found that she was much calmer as she smiled and took the bouquet from Phoenix's hand. The other servant told the petite servant to remain composed as they left the entrance and headed back to the kitchen. Phoenix and Ivy were faced with so many doors ahead of them with an instruction box by the side. In order to pick a door in the reflection hall, they had to pick a number between 1 to 10 to replace the "x" which works with the math myth equation of 3x+1.If the number is odd, they would add one to it. If the number is even, they will divide into two as there were two of them. The sequence will always be fair to accommodate both of them.What she didn't know was, the last three doors had already been determined as a loop that they will need to face a challenge in order to leave the tower. She only had one chance to pick a number before the doors were all determined.She ended up picking seven as they were known as the prince and princess of the seven swords which is an odd number. However, Phoenix had a better idea and told her to choose three as the end result will get them to only visit seven doors. Phoenix knew the lesser doors they entered the better it was.However, she still insisted on seven as Phoenix reluctantly agreed. So Phoenix multiplied by three and added one which got them to 22. That made it their first room number to enter.22 was then divided by two, which gave them 11. This was their second room to enter.It was an odd number hence Phoenix did the math all the way and ended up with the results.Room 34, 3rd room.Room 17, 4th room.Room 52, 5th room.Room 26, 6th room.Room 13, 7th room.Room 40, 8th room.Room 20, 9th room.Room 10, 10th room.Room 5, 11th room.Room 16, 12th room.Room 8, 13th room.Room 4, 14th room.Room 2, 15th room.Room 1, 16th room.It surprised Ivy that phoenix was so good with numbers as they ended up with 16th room instead of seven if they had picked three but it was too late to do anything. Ivy told him to get the odd number to multiply but they kept getting a loop of rooms 4, 2, and 1. Hence, they decided to enter the first room first to see how things were.Ivy had a complex feeling as she vowed with visiting down the past, even if she needed to forget all the sacrifices he had made, she will ensure his safety and make him continue living his life. As for Phoenix, he dove right in when they unlocked Room 22 as he knew if he stayed longer with Ivy outside, he would be overwhelmed by his guilt of staging the entire act earlier with the servants and even in front of their parents. He knew the only reason he was doing this was to keep his promise to change her destiny this time around in return for favors he had yet to learn what they are from their past lives.As Ivy was about to enter the room, she find herself waking with a sob and unable to move. She wasn't sure if her sobs were due to not wanting to leave Phoenix or the terror of her sleep paralysis immobilising her again.She realised she was in Nick's arms when Nick woke to comfort her. His warm hug was slowly soothing her panicked self as she forcefully tried to hold on tight to Nick's hand. He noticed Ivy was struggling to get hold of his hand as he locked his into hers and gripped it tightly in return."Hey, it's alright… I am here. It's alright." Nick comforted her as Ivy wiped her tears away and forced herself to control her emotions."Sorry… Thank you…" Ivy said with a sad smile as she sniffed. "Is this how you couldn't have a good night's sleep?" Nick whispered as Ivy nodded. He cuddled her a little to comfort her. "Don't worry, it's just a nightmare. It's over now…" Nick said as Ivy tried to sit back up in bed. "Thank you…" She said again."It was a promise anyway… You were there when I needed someone. Here I am when you needed someone. So don't worry about it…" Nick patted her head as she sighed thinking about her family problem and the events that had occurred the night before."Don't think too much, alright?" Nick asked as Ivy looked away."Don't think too much about Jason. He will be fine." Nick said as he was still holding onto her hand."If only things were that simple…" Ivy mumbled."What do you mean?" Nick prompted as his curiosity grew. He started to direct his guesses to the family business."Something to do with your family's business?" Nick prompted again as Ivy hesitated to tell but thought a little that it should be fine."There has been suspicious stuff going on lately on the old town project," Ivy said briefly."Yes, I heard. You have been lurking into it. What's going on? I mean if it's not convenient then you can don't tell." Nick said solemnly.She told him about her doubts about the construction company's involvement and how she was frustrated that she couldn't find any wrongdoings. She felt that she was useless due to her inexperience.Nick assured her that he would pay more attention to it while Ivy should stay low and continue to work alongside Jin. Ivy knew that it was not wise at that point in time to tell him about Uncle James and their secret mission just yet."Speaking of which, you should visit your grandmother's business someday." Nick tried to lift up the mood.It brought back memories to her as she figured she actually had forgotten her grandma's business used to be her top concern. "Why?" Ivy panicked thinking something went wrong but she hadn't heard from Auntie Soh about anything wrong. In fact, she hasn't heard much from her lately."It's blooming with long queues daily." Nick chuckled. "Is that why Auntie Soh hasn't called lately? Hmm… about the future of the small stall, I felt I need to keep it sustainable for the next generation." Ivy mumbled."You should start by learning the recipe and master it yourself. You know this is the most valuable asset. The shop, the concept, and the ambiance can be rebuilt but the taste can never be reinvented to perfection without knowing the recipe or skills to create the same taste." Nick advise as Ivy gave a deep thought about it before nodding in agreement."I should... Yes… considering the old town refurbishments once completed, her business definitely blooms even more." Ivy pondered for a moment before Nick urged her to fall back to sleep."It's really still early… You should sleep." Nick laid back down in bed next to her but she knew she couldn't fall back to sleep as always. It was just one of those nights that again as she tiptoed with a sweater when Nick had fallen asleep.She sneaked outside and sat by the balcony as she watched the horizon brighten up from the glimmer of dawn while twirling with her bracelet which glows often lately in pink hues. The morning breeze was chilly but she had always loved them that way as she sat reminiscing on her life so far and hope that things would work out soon.