42 Journey: Sylvania (4)
Once they entered the hidden chambers, Estelle could faintly smell the musky smell of filth. Sounds of rattling chains could also be heard increasingly growing in volume as they drew closer to their destination.
[Chains?] Estelle started to crease her brows. The so - called Fae King was being chained down.
How was Heine allowed to lock him up? Obviously, there's still a faction that supported the new King. They detested Hein, but he was still able to chain him?
<Don't make any harsh sounds. He's very sensitive.> Heine warned in advance, earning a hum of acknowledgement from Estelle.
Taking a look around, it seemed like the place held nothing but a narrow corridor that wasn't even equipped with lights. You had to create a source of light by yourself.
The path led up to a wider space, in which she saw a glistening barrier enclosing a small settlement.
Inside the barrier laid a bed that had chains strapped into it. The other end of the chain was tightly locked onto a boy's wrists, dangling off heavily.
They stopped in front of the barrier, but the child did not even look up.
"Kalis," Heine called out to the young child in front of him.
Both his hair and eyes were black. The darkest shade of black.
It was strange, because Spirits normally had features of the bright color spectrum. However, it wasn't enough for her to suspect something was off.
An anomaly would always sprout out.
The pale Kalis didn't look like a Spirit, but Heine's testimony proved his identity.
"It hasn't been a year yet, but he's already this big?" Estelle questioned.
The man had a fully grown physique. He was lean and slender. His features were sharp, but his physique made it look like he was malnourished and haven't eaten in a while. Bones could be seen protruding slightly in some places due to his tattered robe.
"We're spirits, different growth rates," Heine threw out a casual response.
A Spirits' humanoid form depended on one's power. The stronger they were, the more they resembled a human. Kalis was able to take on a full human form without any traces of his Spirit features, which indicated that he had huge power.
"Kalis, lift your face up," Heine spoke once again.
This time, 'Kalis' responded.
Slowly, he raised his head up to reveal an exquisite face that could be described as perfect if not for the huge, pitch - black mark that covered more than half of his face. The marks seemed to stretch down to his neck and possibly the rest of his body.
The marks looked like a passionate fire burning up without a care.
"This.. This is your King?" Estelle covered up her mouth as a form of reflex.
She didn't know why, but the sight of the boy made her uncomfortable. Her stomach churned as she felt repulsed by the boy.
[The Strays? Why do they carry the same feel..? Is it just my fleeting thought?]
"How is it?" Because of Heine's former warning, they conversed in low volumes.
"The marks are definitely impurities.. It shouldn't be there. But I don't think it's Black Magic. It's.. something different. Much more sickening," Estelle had the urge to puke. This was the first time she had such an adverse reaction to magic.
"Not Black Magic?" This time, it was Heine's turn to frown. He thought that the complications that surrounded Kalis originated from the forbidden magic.
"I don't know.. It's something I've never seen before,"
Heine had his own doubts.
"Never seen before.." Heine repeated the words again and again in his mind. A thought flew across his brain. There was another person who possessed a magic that they had 'never seen before'.
The person was right in front of him, the bearer of [Creation Magic], Estelle Clareste.
Estelle made sure to learn every accessible magic known to man. If it was something that she had never seen before, the only answers would be either a special case like Yulia's Spirit Borrowing, or something completely new.
His instincts led him towards the second answer.
Heine debated whether to keep the theories to himself or to tell the girl.
"Kalis.. was it?" Estelle drew closer to the boy who had lifeless eyes that peered into her with disinterest. He looked at her like she was not there, as if he had already given up on everything.
His line of sight was on Estelle, but his thoughts were in another place.
Estelle breached the barrier to try and make contact with the boy. She moved her hand forward to touch his arms.
The moment their skin touched, Estelle immediately retracted her hand and hissed.
"Ouch!" Estelle yelped in pain. The touch had resulted in a sensation that felt like electric currents invading her bloodstream. The hand she used to reach him was instantly numbed and paralyzed.
Estelle couldn't comprehend what caused it.
The man called Kalis did not do anything. She felt no mana coming from him, so it wasn't him that activated the reaction, but something that laid within his being.
Estelle gulped her saliva as she braced herself for another shock. She approached the man and decided to sacrifice the same right hand that she used to hold his hand before.
[Might as well force it to see what happens.] Estelle had fear brewing inside her heart, but she was also curious.
If Kalis repelled her, it meant that he could be her opposite.
She was cognizant of her fate as the [Villainess]. The opposite of a [Villainess] was a [Hero].
The man before her, Kalis, could be the perfect mold for a [Hero].
Her thought process might seem skewed, but it made sense for her.
[Is he really..?] Estelle's mind was stirring in chaos.
If Kalis was her counterpart, what would happen? He was a Spirit, and her a human. She wasn't scared of the races fighting with each other, she was scared that she would drive a wedge between the unity of the Spirits with her existence.
Someone who was loved by the Spirit Tree, is a friend of the former Fae King, but is enemies with the current King.
Wouldn't that be funny? Her existence in itself would draw mixed feelings.
[Whatever happens..] Estelle was resolved to see where the story would go until the end. The fact that Kalis had a reaction with her meant that she had a part in the whole scheme. Whoever was planning this to happen, they definitely assigned Estelle a role to play.
That is, if her theory was correct. The 'someone' who planned the script deliberately granted her the chance to continuously meet figures that shouldn't be disclosed to a simple Duke's daughter.
She had a role.
Only, she didn't know whether her role was an enemy, or if Kalis was actually also 'evil' and could be turned into her comrade.
Kalis showed no reaction to the touch, which led Estelle to believe that she was the only one being affected by the electric shocks.
Under Heine's worry - filled gaze, Estelle grasped Kalis' hand in hers.
Indeed, a shock attacked.
"Urgh!" Estelle tried to bear the pain. Her arm was scorching hot. It was a mixture between electricity and pure heat. She didn't know which one caused the worst pain.
The longer she held his hand, the more painful it got.
However, her resolve to continue would not be so easily broken.
"I'm not going to lose, I'm not losing to someone like you. I definitely won't lose!" Estelle chanted as she gripped Kalis' hand tightly as she bit her lips to bear the pain.
The shock spread from her arm to her upper body, and later to her entire body. Everything. Everything was in pain now.
After bearing it for more than a hot minute, Estelle felt the shocks gradually recede, but felt an ominous feeling as her instincts warned her to remove her hand this very moment.
She should've followed her gut.
She saw Kalis' features glow with a purplish hue. His hair, which had previously been black, slowly revealed a striking amethyst shade. His eyes followed suit and turned into a similar color.
In a split second, Kalis had tugged on her hand with a harsh force and pulled her into his level. Taking advantage of their intertwined hand, he wrapped his other arm around Estelle as he glued their bodies together.
A shock incomparable to the previous ones struck her as she felt Kalis' body embrace her and drain all of her strength away.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!" Estelle shouted out a mortifying shriek as she slowly descended into slumber, overwhelmed from the absurd amount of pain served to her.
The last thing she saw was that of Heine's worried face and Kalis' reformed face.
His face showed no traces of emotions even when faced with her screams, but a certain vision forced her to stay awake even though her consciousness was slipping by.
Her eyes forced itself to widen as she observed how Kalis' marks disappeared for a flash before returning back.
Indeed, she was proven to be the key to the mystery. Although the cost was absurdly high, she didn't mind.
She smirked in victory.
In the end, she won, didn't she?
Her theory was right, she did have something to do with Kalis. Her existence made Kalis reveal another side to him.
It meant that the 'someone' who granted her power planned this ahead. Her theory was proven.
Her job was temporarily done, since she played her role.
More than anything, she was happy.
For she had made progress in discovering her identity.
