Diana speaks
I extended my hand to the door's handle and circled it to the left. The lock clicked and the door was opened slowly.
I crept with my eyes from behind the doors and...
I SAW HIM
His hulking back was facing me. He was kneeling in the middle of a beautiful garden cutting weed from some roses. A profession that doesn't suit a soldier by all means.
But that was him a'right. A strong body but with a child's humanity within, filled with care and integrity.
My heart was about to stop. I was about to pass out of joy.
IT WAS REALLY HIM !
The protector that loved me to the end, is a few feet away taking care of some flowers.
After my abduction. My escape from the palace and the demise of my town. After meeting my uncle and venturing with my life at the Red Castle. After my second abduction and being rescued by the love of my life.
So much happened, and they all tried to prepare me for this moment. The moment when I take back what was stolen from me.
However. . . I didn't expect that after all those events. . . I would take a step back instead. I felt consumed. I stormed an entire castle alone but I couldn't approach my father to remember his long-lost daughter back.
"Diana, what are you doing!? He is right there!". My Louis whispered from my back.
"I can't, Louis! I can't face him!". I whispered back while sobbing.
"Ok, Then I will!"
"Wait, wha- Louis! What are you doing?!". I told him to stop but he just kept going towards my dad.
"Excuse me, sir". Louis began.
My father tilted his head a bit to the left. "This is a restricted area. If you seek a consultant, seek Father Vivian. He should help you find whatever you want". His voice tone was deeper than the depth of the ocean but threatening as a wild tempest.
"I know. We already spoke with him". Louis responded.
The protector's hand stopped what they were doing.
"Who's we?". My father asked. And my body began to melt inside out despite how cold my pa talked.
The next moment, I saw Louis approach me, grabbing my hand and pulling me in.
I didn't resist this time. I already lost the energy to pull myself back.
"Turn around to know, my father-in-law"
I looked at Louis with tearing eyeballs. Who on earth introduce himself like that?!
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Of course, the protector didn't obey. He cuckeled jokingly at my Louis. "I think, you are looking for another man, Boy. I don't have daughters available for marriage"
"What! Oh, for God's sake. Richard! I have your Diana right here next to me!"
My father flinched when he heard my name. He threw the cutter of the weed away, breaking a jar nearby. He lost what was left of his patience and temper. Louis just hit a chord.
"I don't know how you know my daughter's name. But that's your Last warning Impostor. Leave or I will call the guards of the church!"
That was it. Knowing my father and his aggression when he is angry. Louis may need another visit to mrs marigold once more.
I had to kill that conversation before it escalated furthermore.
"Louis, let me do this instead." I whispered.
He responded with nodding smile...A purposeful one.
Wait, was that a play to get me involved all along? I thought.
But it doesn't matter anymore. My dearest Protector was one foot away from me. I had to introduce myself like I was some hobo or a stranger.
I inhaled one brave breath before opening my mouth...
"DAD"
He gasped.
"No No, I am dreaming again! Damn it. Damn it all!"
He clutched his head, shaking in agony as he refused to look at my face.
"Dad, it's me. Your blonde angel! Please, I am right here! look at me!"
"No, you are not here. You are just another hallucination! I need to pray more!"
"What?...Father..."
"Shut it! I will never Yield!! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER!". He shouted like a hobo maniac
He has completely lost it. Louis was right. His past had devoured him to the core that he already lost his memory of mine! He thinks I am a ghost! He thinks I am dead!
And then it came to me.
The solution to this illness.
A cure for that tormenting past.
The one thing he gave me back then when we hugged on that day...
That necklace.
I get it now.
He gave it to me for one much bigger reason. He knew he wouldn't make it through this period with full sanity. He knew he would break eventually and succumbed towards his despair. Though he had that unrealistic hope that maybe, just maybe...One day...I might find my way back to him. To relieve him of this unbearable binding, and awaken the protector inside him.
I wrapped my arm around my neck and wore it off.
The moment of truth had come. Either he remembers me now or I become an orphan forever.
I throw it right in front of his face. His head shifted towards it. His hand trembling fingers touched it as they got hold of the amulet. He drew it close to his eyes.
And finally...he stood up...
and he turned around...
Slowly facing me...
I couldn't get a hold of my nerves anymore. There were so many tears that soaked my skin. My eyes contacted his widened wrinkled orbs. His facial features were the same. He didn't change much, but I was terrified when I saw some white hair here and there.
"FATHER..." I barely gasped the word through my shivering lips. My legs could not move, and my heart was about to explode.
His rough hand reached to my face. Touching my cheeks, checking if I am real.
"Diana"
His cracking voice was filled with unlimited passion .
The next second; The space among us vanished. The next blink I was between his arms. Crushing my face to his chest. I felt my small bones taking the full shock of the contact. I couldn't react to any of this. it's like my brain was no longer working. I was a passenger in my own body as I heard his loud cries echoing in the air.
"I missed you, Papa!". I cried. The tears of mine were tears of joy. That was easy to see. But in reality, I felt a lot more than I could describe in mortal words.
I have finally found him...The protector and the father...The one who gave up everything to protect what's more important than anything...
My soul recapped all who I met on this long and fierce journey.
My prince, the love of my life. The one who I cherished the most, and the first witness of my existing triumph...My Queen, the second mother who took care of me. My uncle, The Pioneer that saved me at that castle. The General and his blue-cloaked lady. I couldn't have thanked 'em all enough...
"My angel..." Richard's voice cracked while his hands combed my hair. "H-How..."
"That sir" Louis began on a proud note.
"IS ONE HELL OF A STORY "