TALES ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF PARADEISO

THE CHAMBER is dark. All I could see is just pitch back.

Professor James is in front of us for our course for today, and he flashes the hologram luminesce. And there it is, The Kingdom of Paradeiso flashes on the air. The gallant dark kingdom that’s brutal and wicked. Their powerful kingdom, a non-impregnable one. Their defense system that’s beyond compare to all kingdoms. And their ways, their dark ways, they train even children to kill. They make them a wretched legionnaire. That only knows how to follow orders and taught to become merciless.

Exploring their kingdom is already bringing fear to us. But for me, I find it amazing, but I can’t share what I think about them with any of my friends here in the Kingdom of Chamenos. Because all they see is darkness. And they despise them. Yet they want to learn and follow their methods to make us powerful and make our kingdom as strong as they are. As a matter of fact, from what I have observed, our training and wicked ways mirrors theirs.

In a fraction of a second, I lose my senses. My eyes are kind of vague, and my head feels heavy. So I shake my head a little bit and close my eyes and make a sound of resistance. Ignoring that I am in a session, suddenly somebody turns on the light. And I can see it—the brightness behind my closed eyes, that the lights are turned on.

I open my eyes, and it continues to widen more like I never intended to as I see them all in the chamber looking at me.

“What?” I ask them with a shrug.

“We should be the one asking you that, Zinvul,” the professor said. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am, sir,” I exclaim to cover my shame.

Then someone’s tender hand touch my left shoulder. I spin, and I see a wonderful good-smelling gigantic chest. “What?” I utter with a shock, and I look up. It’s Cristine Black.

“Let’s go to the healing charter, Zinvul. I’ll go with you.”

I couldn’t respond right away. At the back of my mind, really? Does she want to go with me? Cristine Black? One of the most beautiful girls in the Kingdom? I’m dreaming and lucky, I think.

“Zinvul!” Professor James shouts from his lungs! His mustache stretches sideward with his anger, and his pale skin gone paler.

But the professor is a master legionnaire. The tale says that he decided to withdraw himself from missions and wars. And he’s been tasked to teach us to increase our intelligence in combat as legionnaires. But I heard that Professor James is a powerful one, but an old man now.

“Uh-uh. Yes, sir. I’ll go to the healing charter!” I said cracking my voice.

Laughter fills the room. This is so embarrassing!

Then I hear a tease from one of my friends named Blue. “What a lucky modus operandi, pretending to be sick so that a hottie can go with you, Zinvul, eh? Nice.”

It’s weird hearing him with that tone because he is . . .

“No, I’m not feeling good, man, for real,” I respond with a defensive red face while I frown at him, ignoring what I recall about him.

We are out of the room finally, and we walk in the hallways. I’m being out of breath, as I am with Cristine Black. I couldn’t even look at her. She is just so beautiful even without looking at her at my side as she walks with me.

And it’s odd seeing her cladding herself with a plain black shirt. Very rare indeed that she’s hiding her stunning skin and sexiness. Well, what am I thinking? We’re in a session, not on a mission.

It is ten minutes of silence while walking on a semi-dark hallway like a maze and stairs. But I’m still wondering, where the heck is this healing charter anyway? Well, I bet she knows since she offered to go with me. Her footsteps stop as she halted, but why?

“You don’t plan on going to the healing charter, are you? Or you are only playing sick or something?” she says with a little bit of a sharp tone that made the hallway shrink.

“Uh, No, no. I want to go the healing charter to find out what’s going on with my head. All that check-up stuff,” I reply with a rattling voice.

“For real?” she smirks while she lifts her right eyebrow. Even by just doing that she’s still pretty. “I’ve intended to walk you to a different path. Yet you did not react that this way is the wrong path to go to the healing charter,” she said.

“What? How would I know? I don’t even know all these hallways in this kingdom,” I say, stretching out both my hands.

“You sound like you’re telling the truth though,” she says frowning. “But how are you feeling right now?” she asks.

“Well, I’m feeling better. The crazy walking made me catch some air to breathe, compared to that tight chamber. Though there’s no fresh air in this kingdom. But I can manage now, and I don’t need to go to that filthy place,” I answer looking away. “Well, I should go back to the chamber to finish the lesson for today,” I tell her . . .

“Let me ask your personal opinion,” she says with a cold voice that makes my neck stiff.

“Uh, what is it?” I say, but at the back of my head, I am so confused and worried about what is it she’s going to ask.

“What do you think of the Kingdom of Paradeiso?” she asks.

But it is an easy question that all legionnaires could answer.

“They are evil and brutal, that’s what they are teaching us every session, right?” I say while lifting my eyebrows up.

“That’s what they are teaching us, but does is it mean that it’s true?” She asks while looking down.

I am speechless.

“I’m confused. What’s the meaning of all these questions?” I ask her.

She then takes a deep breath. And the hallway where we are standing the two of us are beginning to feel suffocated. I know at that time that she is using her grace into something I don’t know and I can’t see. I keep my senses sharp and observe what she is up to.

“Zinvul,” she says in a very low voice but with an intense tone.

She looks me in the eyes, and she wants me to meet her gaze, though I’m a little bit shy, but this time she is serious, so I oblige. I look her in the eyes.