The king looked around as if he was searching for a small coin on the ground. After standing for a couple of seconds baffled, he turned to his assistant and whispered something to him. It seemed that whatever the king was asking was very important until his face suddenly became blank with bewildered eyes.
“Send out a message to all the other kingdoms. We have no time to waste right now.” The king said with a firm look in his eyes.
The king turned to us with a stern expression on his face that looked more like a mixture of concern and anger.
“Unfortunately, it seems like looking around the castle will have to wait a little bit. It seems like my daughter has gone missing since morning. We’re currently sending a message to the other kingdoms so that they're updated about our dilemma.” The king explained with a clear face of being distressed.
I looked at my mom and sister to gauge their reaction to this news before I said something. However, my mom proclaimed something before I could tell what her expression was before she spoke.
“Isn't there something we can do at all?”
The king stood for a second with a quizzed expression on his face before telling my mom what the answer was.
“Yes... there is something you could do. Two of you could search an area that my team won’t be searching for a while. Every area counts so It would be great to have some assistance with searching.”
My sister glanced at my mom before looking at the king to announce that she was going to go with my mom to look for the princess. I would be excluded from the trip because according to my family, I’ve never been the type to go and outright help people for their own benefit. You could say that I was selfish but I just thought that I really shouldn’t get in people’s own business unless it was demanded. However, there have been many missed opportunities because of my own mindset. Was I going to let an opportunity this big slip my hands just because I believed in my own ways? Or would I be right for not going to help them?
No, I wouldn’t be right. I would be wrong just like Eraga had said. That unless I start taking things into my own hands I would be responsible for anything I missed in life. I would be someone who didn’t take part in their own story.
“I’ll go instead of mom.” I said just loud enough so everyone could hear me.
My family had a bewildered look on their face when I said that but the king himself was smiling. That smile gave me some reassurance that I was doing the right thing. My mom, who had no objection to me taking her place, allowed me to travel with my sister to a unsearched area of the kingdom. Shortly after, my sister and I went to board a carriage, similar to the one that drove us to this castle, and proceeded to head off to the unsearched area.
I remember what the king said about the place.
“It’s only unsearched because it’s in a lower priority than the other places we think she would be. It’s a meadow, not too big or wide but just enough to get lost in there for hours. Golcon is a huge place so it shouldn’t be any surprise to you two that it’s easy to get lost in some areas than others. If you ever feel like you’re lost, press this button on the watches I’ve given you to ring a sound that will hopefully help someone locate you.”
That was what the king explained to us about where we were heading. I’m sure the area had a name too but it’s probably not important enough for me to remember. I turned my head to look at my sister as she was melancholically staring out the window. I was also bored and closed my eyes waiting for an eventual signal that would hopefully alert me when we’re at the location.
…
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Thursday, June 12th
7:40PM
I was walking along back to my house when Eraga stopped me in my tracks.
“I thought you weren’t going outside today Zaikoto?” Eraga said with a hint of anger in her voice.
I blinked to reaffirm that she was actually in front of me. Eraga, a friend of mine from school who was about 5”5 with long black hair that drooped to about right where her torso ended, was standing right in front of me. Eraga, who had a slim body and was wearing a dark blue jacket with what looked to be a plain navy blue shirt on the inside was still standing there. She was wearing a skirt with striped black lines that had a dark blue color filling up the gaps that the lines left when crossed as an additional accessory to her dark blue shorts that went down to her knees. Her shoes consisted of brown leather shoes that had a couple inches to expose the socks one might be wearing, which to Eraga's case were black socks.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
I didn’t intend on seeing Eraga today. She asked if I wanted to go and eat at a restaurant with her but I declined because I said that I was feeling a little bit under the weather. Truth be told, I just didn’t want to head out the house to meet with someone for food but was forced to leave my house because my mom told me to get some exercise. I didn’t expect to see Eraga near where I was walking, which was towards a local market.
“Well you see… I went to go get some daily exercise actually.” I said.
“Uh-huh. I see.” Eraga said with a tinge of disappointment on her voice.
I started to walk and eventually passed Eraga before she called out to me. Turning back to look I saw her cold brown eyes that contrasted her flaky white skin start to quiver.
“It’s not nice to lie to people like this. If this is how you always are then… I’m sure you’ve missed out on a bunch of things before because of your selfishness. I’d just like you to know Zaikoto that unless you start jumping at the things people throw at you, you’ll be stuck there forever.”
“Stuck where?”
“Stuck alone, in that cave of nothing.”
…
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I opened my eyes to find my sister sleeping on her side of the carriage, happily snoring away. I glanced out the window and saw green trees fly past us and we eventually came to a halt.
“Is this the area?” I asked.
“You mean Forchess Meadow?” The driver asked me with a puzzled tone.
I still wasn’t quite sure what this area was called.
“Yeah, I mean Forchess Meadow.”
“Well then, we’re right here. If you need me, remember to press the button on your watch.” The driver said with some sort of assurance in his voice.
I flicked my sister’s head to wake her up and her eyes slowly began to open.
“My head hurts for some reason Zaikoto...” She murmured.
“I don’t know why you would expect me to have the answer to that but we should get going now.” I say to quickly speed up the pace of our conversation.
“I have a name you know.”
…
“I don’t know why you would expect me to have an answer to that Fuenia but I don’t. Now let’s hurry and go search Forchest Meadow.” I repeated.
“You mean Forchess right?”
Ignoring what she just asked, I opened the door to the carriage and walked towards the front of the carriage to wait for my sister. Soon after she got out of the carriage we began walking towards the meadow further and further. There really wasn’t anything here besides grass and a couple of boulders every few miles or so. I can see why the king wouldn’t put this place on high priority.
After about 30 minutes of looking around far and wide for the princess in Forchess Meadow, it became clear to me that there was no princess here and that I was just wasting my time along with Fuenia’s. All the boulders that we’ve seen are really just there as if someone elaborately planned them there for no reason. No secret message, no hidden message, nothing from the giant rocks at all. I told Fuenia that we should go back to the carriage and take a break before searching again. Although reluctant, Fuenia seemed to agree that a break was needed so we headed off to the carriage. Until an odd, yet pleasant female voice came from behind us.
“I wouldn’t leave so soon without the princess if I were you.”
Turning around, we saw a tall woman, standing with a brown hooded cloak covering her face and what seemed to be most of her body. However, the princess was standing right next to her as well with a grim expression on her face.
“Why do you- no wait, just surrender the princess and we’ll be all good!” Shouted my sister towards the mysterious cloaked female.
“Is there a reason why you want her? Perhaps, to take her hostage?” Asked the mysterious girl.
“We’re actually on an official quest by the king to retrieve her! A quest from King Afure of Golcon to be exact.”
“Hmph. Answer my question correctly and I’ll give you to her. If you fail to answer correctly, then I’ll take her with me.”
“It’s a deal.”
Shouldn’t we be thinking about the consequences of losing this trivia? Honestly, sometimes my sister can be way into the moment.
“Answer me this, who is someone that is selfish, uncaring, and is overall a terrible person?” The mysterious person said with an odd hint of joy to her voice.
My sister, who looked extremely concentrated seemed to have a hard time answering the question. A question that was more directed towards me than her when I think about it.
“…You’re the someone in that question, right?” My sister said with a small amount of hope in her voice.
“Wrong.” She flashed a smile towards us as the princess continued to look away from us.
We messed up. We messed up big time. How else are we going to retrieve the princess if we already failed once?
We.
That was it.
“How about I answer that question?” I said hoping that she would allow me to answer her question.
“I will ask a different question, but the rules and prizes have yet to change. This is my only offer now since your sister had failed to answer my question. Are you sure that you want to do this?” Asked the cloaked female.
I was sure that I’d do everything I could to retrieve the female once I saw her. Because I wasn’t going to be like the old me and do nothing to help. I would for sure do something with my life for once.
“...I accept.”