serenity tugged the end of ash's cloth to make him pay attention and turn her way,
"What is it ?" He asked
She extended her hand twards him and all he did was glance at it before he held it tightly; as she stood from the chair, she said,
"Let's enter the shop then"
Ash walked her to the shop, although not knowing what she wanted, but did as she said without complain and actually he may felt a little excited ,'don't know why but i have a feeling something fun is about to happen! '
. Once they stepped inside, the smell of medicinal herbs was so overwhelming it felt suffocating. Ash frowned the second his nose picked up the smell ; he couldn't bear it and covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief immediately feeling restless all over,
His turned his gaze at Serenity asking,
"I don't like it here!"
Serenity picked up on his words ,and feeling his grib tightening on her hand thinking ,'his hands are shivering!....but why?!'
Remembering how he treated her before she didn't push him away ,instead she held his hands tightly from her end ,only then did his hands stop shivering.
"Bear with me just a little longer , i want to prepare something but i lack the ingredients, so maybe there is a shot for me to find them in here ."
Ash felt the determination coming from her words maybe that's what eased his emotions alittle, but he looked at her confused while asking,
"you know medicine?!"
"By smell, yes." She replied
Ash tried to remove the handkerchief but a slight opening made him feel nauseous he didn't dare remove it any further ,"ugh!... The mixed herbal smell is too strong; it might not be a good idea to depend on just your sense of smell..."
"Don't underestimate the sense of smell for someone whos eyes are the definitionof nothing"she said
Serenity let go of his hand and took a few steps forward, then tugged the ground twice with the tip of her heal,.
-Tak..Tak....-
Serenity turned her head slightly, pointing with her thumb at the road ahead.
"Let's go this way."
Ash got confused more than distracted realising what she said.
"Why!?!" He asked
" the easiest way to get what we need" she replied
Ash stood silent for a moment before he finally asked,
"How did you know there is a road ahead?!!"
Using the sound echoing through the ground as a road to pass her magical energy, and with so many people moving around, the waves keep connecting. An image of the place slowly forms in her mind.
It's not a joke to say she can see the whole island if she put her mind into it.... This amount of magic is closest to invisible, so it's safer as long as it doesn't exceed a certain distance.
She crossed her arms thinking about how to simplify her words; in the end she made up her mind and spoke,
"Using the vibrations of diffrent sounds, it's actually quite easy when you get used to it."
Ash was still processing what she said when he realized something was off ,"i thought you used your magic to somehow enable yourself to see, i won't lie but what you said was totally unexpected."
Serenity tilted her head saying, "but i do use my magic though"
"!!?"
Ash stopped talking and focused on listening her keep talking,
"When i truely want to see more detais It's more convenient to use magic ,it gives a more detailed picture compared to sound, although it doesn't consume much It's better not to be so dependent on it " she leaned closer with a smug smile saying, "otherwise how do you think i managed to read and write like a normal person?!"
"I see."
Althought he said it so casually but inside he knew the exact meaning of her words , seems simple on the surface but hides a deeper mor complix way of functioning ,
Hr thought to himself ,'Just how much understanding for magic principles are needed to achive such mastry? ..... but somehow this uniqueness doesn't feel strange....why i wonder!?!'
Ash suddenly started looking around him in confusion then asked,
"That reminds me why did you ask about a herbal shop in particular when there are so many shops around the area?"
"Because i originally wanted to come hear but then all that happened ,but.....here we are eventually "serenity explained
"I see."
Serenity took a mask out of her pockets and handed it over to him,
"Here!.....don't keep your hand hanged all the time"
Ash was satisfied feeling her kind gesture but in the end he gentl pushed her away and refused,
"No need ."he tried to ease the tention about this matter and avoid making her uncomfortable about his rejection ,so he brushed her hair saying ,"iam already wearing a mask on my eyes add another one on will make me look silly, don't you think"
Serenity didn't reply , her hands started going down slowly while her mind was still absorbed in his warm familiar touch ,'this feeling again!.....am i really this desperate that i started mistaking him for others!?...this doesn't feel right!'
Serenity removed his and turned around but grabbed his hand tightly as she advanced into the shop, locking their hands tightly .
The heavy scent of the medicinal herbs drifted through the enormous aisels of the massive building, instantly shattering his focus. Surrounded by the endless, towering shelves of wooden boxes, that formed endless, parallel aisles stretched far into the gloom.
Ash kept his gaze facing the ground, his grib was as cold as ice, tightly wrapped around hers ,making serenity a little concerned about him ,'for someone of his status to be reduced to such state just by the smell of herbs ... what could possibly have happened to him leaving him this traumatized?!...what was i thinking comparing him to this little kid?!, Whatever, we needto hurry out of here.'
"We're here!"
She stopped and pointed at a desk right in front of them ,ash looked up and was confused why this one in particular
He turned his head around along the way he found so many disks like the one they are in front, sh he turned back at her asking ,
"Why this one?"
"You will know soon enough."
"!!?!?"
Behind the desk there was no soul but the moment serenity tapped on the front disk twice ,a black cloud suddenly appeared behind the disk revealing a woman wrapped in bloody red clothes wearing a mask with the charecter 'life' engraved on it
"Welcome to our humble shot Taberna , i will start by laying out the rules for our dear guests " ,She politely greeted them with a bow then proceeded with what she needed to say,
"First of all every visitor have the right for three purchases only , the first time is determined by money, second time by trading precious herbs, and lastly the third one a trade with informations.
Second; after all three purchases are done the person is permanently forbidden from entering this place unless he provides a priceless treasure at least a grade S or higher.
Third and last; one is only allowed to trade one item at a time ,for the next you have to wait at least three months."
The masked woman took out a small tablet and held It's screen twards them,
"Please scan your right hand so we can determine if you have any previous purses in our store?"
Ash was about to step forward when serenity stopped him ,
"Iam the one buying in this round so let me do the talk, okay?"
Ash noded and stepped back on the spot ,'she seems to have a plan ,so It's better not to disturb '
serenity raised her head at a hidden small camera between the shelves and smorked then she turned at the masked woman saying,
[ Regula Aurea]
The moment those words were spoken a cold thick bloody aura covered them trying to pin them to the ground but neither of them moved .
The masked woman talked this time with a grawling voice,
"What did you just say?!"
Serenity didn't flinch and stared directly at her eyes saying with undeniable arrogance,
"I request the 'golden rule' of the ancient tomp to play"
So many blody clouds gathered around them as the character on the masked lady changed to, death
In almost no time they were surrounded from all directions with people wearing that same character ,they opened way for a man wearing a darck feathered coat and a crow mask holding a black stick in his right hand.
The man removed his long hat and bowed in front of them,
"Welcome my dear guests to our little game of the golden rules iam mister Reven and i will be your guide going forward ,may i ask which visit is this one?"
Serenity responded almost emotionlessly ," the first time."
"Oh~, so our guest here is a first timer !...may i ask for permission to confirm with you?!" He asked politely in a way that makes people embarrassed to say no
She teleases a helpless sigh and replied
"Just make it fast."
"Our guest is our king so i will try and fulfill your wish" he bowed holding his hat just like a gentleman then turned to the masked lady on the disk
-snap-
with that snap of his fingers ,the masked woman understood the gesture and automatically touched the disk and an electronic board appeared taking over the entire disk
Mr. Raven politely pointed at the border saying,
"Please confirm your visit in the golden rule!"
Serenity removed the gloves from her right hand and tilted her head twards the hidden camera then placed it on the electronic screen,
-ting-
Name: serenity
-ting-
Date of birth : the fourth day of the month January, year 7001504 in the seventh cosmic callender
-ting-
Parents: luna Voldemort and Jevon Alkana
-ting-
Status: a student under the agreement currently at the fourth year in Regis academy
-ting-
Times of visit: first time
Mr.Raven started clapping after seeing such frightening results,
"Clap,clap,clap....marvelous ....with such impressive identity what kind of purses is the princess looking for?!"
Serenity removed her hand from the screen replying,
" judge of the iron throne"
Mr.Raven suddenly went calm as he stared at her asking,
"For a first timer you're quite knowledgeable about the hiden games of our little shop, care to tell me why is that?!"
Serenity wore her gloves again saying coldly without a care for anyone,
"I came here to do shopping not to answer to your useless curiosity so..." she turned to look at his face directly ,"shall we begain?"
"As you wish but first ...." the air around him changed to hostill when he pointed at ash standing in the corner ,"what is he doing here?"
Serenity lazily replied,
"To write for me, what?! Is there a problem?!"
Mr.Raven regained his calm, gently manner once again and replied,
"Hmm!.....We will see about this later, ...now then let's state our rules as per tradition, those who summons the judge of the iron throne are playing a game with the godess of luck"
-clap,clap-
The dead aura around them finally stopped descending and all the guards disappeared into thin air, except for the one behind the desk they registered on,
"First as per tradition i should start stating the rules of our little game , first,the moment you mention the name of the judge under the golden rule there is no way you could go back.
Second ,the player chooses a desk in the Taberna.
Third, the player ought to guess everything in the drawers and shelves behind the disk and write all of them down within five minutes ,and of course we demand absolutely zero use of magic
Fourth ,if all guesses are correct the player have the freedom to choose whatever and whichever he wants from our humple place but of course blindly , the good point is that if you succeeded you will leave with endless treasures but if you were to mistake even a single drawer even your corpses won't survive."
"In short there is no escaping this game..." Ash stood in his place stunned by the laied out rules ,'what kind of place is this to have this kind of rules?...worst case i will snatch her out of here by force..'
Mr.Raven smiled gently and tilted his head saying,
"Exactly, so do you still confirm participating?!"
"We do, but as i said.." Serenity pointed at ash behind her,"He will be the one writing "
"I know you said that but i can't allow this without a valid reason" Mr.Raven said as if he was threatening them
"You don't permit the use of magic so...." Serenity stayed as calm as ever and pulled her hair up while removing her glasses showing her lifeless eyes ,"I wonder If this enough of a valid reason for you?!"
Mr.Raven was stunned in his place for a while before he finally remembered to talk,
"So the princess is a special case.....okay then please come forward Mr?....how should i call you?!"
Ash walked pass him without even sparing him a glance ," just call me Mr"
Ash didn't add a single word which stunned him speechless, 'what kind of dou did we pump into ?'
"Cough!"
Mr Raven regaind his composure and turned to the masked lady,
"Lady life, please open the judge"
The masked lady bowed to him then to tthem saying,
"Let's begain then, we have on this wall a total of 300 drawer so do you still confirm this wall?"
Ash still had some douts about whether or not to continue, so he turned his head at her asking,
"Are you sure you can ?"
She answered him full of confidence " wanna bet?! "
"Your call" he said and turned to look at the screen and his face frowned on the spot,"i think i will have to use both hands"
Serenity flinched when she heared him she totally forgot he is sensitive to the smell of this place ,'will he blow this up for me?'
"Can you handle it?!"
"I prefer not to smell it if possible but that doesn't mean i am completely vulnerable twards it ." he answered with confidence. "Just five minutes...i can endure that much ."
" sorry to trouble you," Serenity said.
"No worries just tell me what to write and i will "
"Ok" serenity looked up at the wall and gave her the signal,"we are ready confirm this wall"
"Confirmation accepted " lady life pressed a button on the screen and glowing black circles marked from the number 1 to number 300 appeared floating in front of his eyes.
"The circle will turn white upon the begaining of the count ,write the name then slide it down then proceed, green means It's write red means It's wrong , on the count of three....two.....one, begain!"
Ash stood frozen in in place with only his fingers moving on the board with insane speed with only a rhythmic blur voice of the kaybord resonating with serenity's sound .
-clack-clack-clack-clack-
While his eyes are glued entierly to the glowing screen monitor in front of him , tracking a digital count down clock that is bleeding seconds in bright red digits,
4:12....4:11...4:10....
Beside him stands serenity, her posture remarkably still compared to his frantic motions. Her eyes are pressed tightly shut , her face tilted slightly upward as if filtering the entire world through her senses.
"Rosemary " she says , her voice is calm and sharp.
He doesn't blink. He doesn't look at her . His fingers hammers out the litters: R-O-S-E-M-A-R-Y
and almost instantly shift to the next one ,-clack-clack-clack one word after another and the clocks dips below the four - minute mark.
"Stardust weed..golden mandrake...moonwhisper leaves.....frost heart...twin spirit ..."
And the list goes on with her continuing to move her lips while ash keeps storming his fingers, running against time,
-clack-clack-clack-clack-
2:40.....2:39...2:38...
Serenity took a deep breath , with her eyes are still tightly closed, she breated in and out with that breath she resisted a few names ,a full minute passed , and right now we're approaching the final seconds ,
1:45....1:44....1:43.....
-clack-clack-clack-clack-
"_ aetherbloom..sirens kelp"
-clack-clack-clack-clack-
0:32.....0:31...
The countdown hits his final stages and the air grows freezing cold, and she reaches for the final drawer.
" frostval moss."
-clack- ckack-
0:03...0:02
-clack-
Withe the last click on his board the time has finally ende
0:00
Ash's eyes kept fixed onto the digital screen right before his eyes and was bewildered by what's right before them,
"This is brilliant.." he said
the whole screen glowing green; he seemed to have realized something: ' She actually identified every single one, even for me. Some of these names I have never seen... I wonder how she knew all of this?'
Ash turned his head to look at the woman standing tall beside him with respect in his eyes,'this princess is not as simple as she appeared to be....that's good...'
Raven on the other hand was still trapped in the shoke of what he just witnessed ,'a person can actually complete the judge of the iron throne!...logically speaking this shouldn't be possible so how did a woman fron this cosmic line manage to achive such results?!...how?'
-clap-clap-clap-
From behind them the voice of a pair of clapping hands echoed through the empty hallway successfully catching their attention making them all turn to look except for serenity who was stil staring at the walls
"Nicely done"
The one clapping was a woman stands like a sculpture carved from flame and shadows,. A tight red dress hugs her silhouette like a second skin , it seems to be flowing upward to mimic the organic lines of a blooming flower
She walked in her midnight black veil wrapped around her head and shoulders, wearing a crimson veil that covers the lower half of her face , striking through the narrow gap between the veils are her striking ginger eyes that pierce like a knife.
She walked twards serenity with steady steps and right when everyone thought that woman was going to strike serenity she bowed in fronþ of her , a bow that didn't feel out of obligation but gratitude,
"Winner of the golden throne i welcome you to my humble shop, iam the owner . "
She raised her head and looked straight into serenity's eyes saying,
"I will accompany you to take your loots"
Serenity nodded in agrement and almost instantly the entire shop turned into a huge pillar of blind boxes climping all the way to the sky with no limits to stop it,
"Please pick your loots"
"Agreed" both answered firmly at the same time, ash especially was so excited about what other surprises serenity will show him from there onward.
serenity stood in place and kept picking numbers in random,
"4,6,60,70.....200, 3004..."
All the drawers she selected came flying down into a dimensional ring the owner was holding but serenity felt something was off with ash since he didn't talk for a while ,she stopped counting numbers and asked him,
"What's wrong?"
He gave her an immediate answer "I feel like we're blundering this place"
"It's true though"
He was dumbfounded by the answer that his brain stopped braining,
"S..so you know?"
Serenity was going to defend herself, but suddenly she felt a connection from one of those boxes that immediately caught her attention,
Shoked she couldn't hold her expression steady anymore ,"..Huh?!...don't tell me , this thing is actually.....no! Wait!....there is actually another one....and another....oh my god..."
"You okay?!...What's wrong? "Ash asked surprised by her sudden change.
"I found something really really importantfor me...." she said and turned to the owner and gave her a slight nod and she responded with the same as if it's some kind of a contract between the two
While ash stood in his daze knowing nothing, understanding nothing,
"Huh!"
Serenity turned at the worker asking her for drawers ,"163, 189, 999, 1940 ,2024 give me those five boxes and we're over here we can leave"
Ash gave her a strange expression asking ,
"You sure about that ,don't you want the walls as well?"
She gave him thumps up saying,
" this is all i need if something new came up ,i use mony then and i happen to have plenty , no problem at all."
He sighed feeling helpless and shoke his head saying,
"Haah....As you wish just tell me when you come next time , i still want to join the fun"
She looked at him with smiling eyes saying,
"My pleasure , i would actually make use of an extra pair of eyes"
The owner suddenly spoke,
"Since you are done her then it's time to go back but i need to speak with the winner alone so you will wait for a while, is that okay with you?!"
Serenity nodded her head and turned to ash saying,
"Wait for me outside okay.."
"Umm"
And just like that with a snap of the owner's fingers ash found himself in front of the inner doors of the shop, with Mr.Raven standing besid him,
-snap-
"She really did sent me out!" He kept staring at the door with intense expression
Ash suddenly stopped feeling nauseous from the smell and said with a voice so calm yet filled with intense killing intent ,"Hey. Little bird!"
"Huh?!!"
The man almost instantly found himself kneeling on the ground unable to look up or rather afraid to...
"Five minutes " ash said and looked at the clock on his wrist pointing at It's minute hand ,"if five minutes later she didn't reappear before my eyes this entire shop ...i will personally reduce to ashes, understood!"
Mr Raven was so frightened he dared not to speak a single word , while in another space serenity and the owner were watching them from a big eye in the middle.
The owner laughed at them ,"hah.hah,hah,hah....he intimidated raven that easily...i can't belive it! ..hahahahahahaha"
"He really have a little resemblance to him-gasp-" the owner finally stopped laughing and realised she said something she shouldn't
"I-"
Serenity cut her off saying,
"He really have a little resemblance to him, but in the end he is not him...."
A thick, unbearable air suddenly gloomed over both of them as the owner dared not to rais hwr gaze at her she knelt on her knees ,
"Greatings your majesty ,witch of the forbidden era"
Serenity turned her head the other way and said,
"Cut the introduction and get to the point Dominus florum, what happened after my body vanished?"
The owner kept staring at the floor with concern visible in her eyes,
"Your majesty iam afraid i can't help you with what you need, my knowledge is superficial about this matter"
"At least It's better than nothing " ,Serenity released a deep sigh and waved with her hand saying, "get up and talk slowly."
"Thank you your majesty "
She got up from the floor and waved her hand for a chair to appear out of nowhere,
"Please sit down first , believe me you will need it.."
Serenity sat on the chair and looked at tye owner with dead eyes ,
"Can you start talking now?!"
The owner nodded and started telling exactly what she went through,
"At that time your brain couldn't bear the shoke of the death of his majesty and the two young masters and you accidentally lost controle of your powers and blow up the entire nervana in the process"
Serenity leaned on the chair and tilted her head to the sky feeling so helpless,
"That i remember....what i don't know is who did it ? And what happened afterward?...why is there a seal tying my powers? That's the kind of thing i need to know ,got it!"
The owner nodded, " i understand, Although i don't know what happened to the royal family but one thing is for sure their bodies were never found no matter how much we searched. but what happened after ; the balance you and his majesty created was destroyed in less than three years Although the relationship between zodiac and Avalor remained connected it wasn't the same after that day as for the other royals they started a fierce battle trying to take over your reigons ."
"If not for the power of the world tree the end will be unimaginable, but her interference lies in sealing all the remaining nine lords, she forced them into a cycle of reincarnation but unfortunately the cycle was broken by one of them which resulted in a war at a fixed date every once in a while "
Serenity tilted her head asking,
"A war?!"
The owner noded ,"it's exactly as it is or as they call it a war between the gods ,i don't know the details since my soul was locked in here by my master the fourth lord, but i know the ban is supposed to fall on ten lords ,but since his majesty's power is against reincarnation then that leaves only...."
Serenity looked at her hands and said with atired voice,
"Only me!"
The owner couldn't help but fall silent upon witnessing how serenity looked but she had to grit her teeth and keep going,
"This cosmic calender was completely erases from history so iam afraid you won't find anything even if you search...but there is something i need to tell you.."
Serenity looked up at her with dead lifeless eyes and pale expression,
"What is it?!"
"They said the result will be determined once all the originals are gathered and the world tree gave a hint ...but A few days ago one of the reincarnated lords who regained his memories came looking for me, wanting to recruit and i don't know why " she said
"Isn't it obvious..."she started tugging on the chair's hands with brutal force it actually moved the entire space," they want your spying ability to gather informations about the rest before they awaken"
The owner sharoened her eyes saying, "i don't want to choose them i want to choose you"
"Why?!" Serenity asked
She looked at serenity with sharp plazing eyes saying ,"that war destroyed my hometown,....I want to revive my world, and i need you to do so"
Serenity leaned on the chair saying lazily ,"That's mondi's job not mine not to mention a world that forgot he even existed cannot be revived It's not up to us we're not gods, we're just people favored with powers that's all"
The owner fought back desperately saying,
"But the world tree said you can, you were given the right"
"But i still couldn't save anyone when it mattered most, didn't i?.....i can't help you, and this so called war....i won't get involved..." serenity said and was about go get up from her chair ,'if only i could die i wouldn't be this miserable right now'
The owner pinned her the the chair and said , "just one, if you could revive just a single person to ensure we don't completely die i will be on your side"
The owner was so desperate to exist more than anything but looking at serenity's eyes that felt like the abyss of infinite death all her resolve crumpled to ths ground,
"Forget it, you won't help us"
She slid down and couldn't hold back her eyes , tears started flooding down like a river as she penned to the ground feeling utterly helpless.
"Dominus!"
Serenity suddenly called and pent down placing her hand over her head,
"Although i don't plan on searching for traces of your people but,you have my word....if i ever come in contact with a tracd that could be revived i won't hold back, consider it the payback for today's informations"
Those words were the beam of light that pulled her out of her misery, she looked up at serenity with a face full of gratitude and thanks ,
"Thank you,...thank you"
Serenity didn't respond and got up to leave ,"i won't be coming here anymore maybe then you may survive till the day you meet your kin,"
"I hope so ,but your majesty needs to be careful " the owner stood from the floor and wiped her tears saying ,"the world tree previously released a prophecy telling all the rules that this may be the last fight so you need to be extra careful "
Serenity didn't respond and just walked into the beem of light that swallowed her and sent her at the doors right beside ash
He saw her hands empty and asked in concern,
"Where are your loots?...did you get scammed?"
"Don't wrong me, i did nothing wrong" the owner suddenly appeared beside serenity and opened her hand showing two rings with two big jewels on top,
"The rec one contains your loots today while the other diamond one ....chuckle...i guess you recognize it better than i doo" she said
serenity grabbed the rings and looked at her with pure surprise,
"How did you..."
"It's a secret , you may leave now"
-snap-
-out-
Serenity dragged ash away the moment they stepped outside of the shop , him not understanding what happened to her just following silently, till now all he saw was some calculated moves so he was just waiting for her explanation,
Serenity suddenly stopped walking at the entrance of an abandoned alley no one was actually there, her aura suddenly changed and the tone of her voice became deeper and sharper she turned at him with serious look in her eyes,
"You previously asked how i knew about the shop right.... now i will show you..."
Put on the ring with a diamond on her middle right finger Serenity released her thick mana for the first time in front of ash covering her body with flickering symbols of antient magic, although he could see her mana he could absolutely feel nothing,
Once the light spread to her eyes in less than a second her body was coverd in crystal like shapes of butterflies , it glowed with a blinding sky blue color
ash unconsciously covered his eyes ,'Even my mask didn't hold it back, what's wrong with her magic?'
when he removing his hand ,he was stunned seing her whole body and aura changed completely wrappedin a storm of sparkeling butterflies,
He thought ,'did the person really change right under my nose?'
He swallowed his saliva and asked,
"Just.... who the hell are you?"