2 Thou

The palace was situated high atop the hill overlooking the town, its countless pointed towers making it resemble an eccentric crown. The roof was grey slate and the walls were cemented with white stones that glistened under the summer sun. It was as big as a thousand ordinary houses of Angelic and employed a huge number of townsfolk as servants. The palace was surrounded by grazing pastures which housed the horses. The Angel army headquarters and royal gardens were also situated here. A high stone wall with protruding iron spikes encircled the palace, marking its boundaries. It was heavily guarded round the clock.

"This is magnificent." Albia murmured, observing all around her.

"That's why it's the Capital." Atlas said who was walking along with her two sisters.

"Look at that, there's a statue next to it." Basilia pointed to the cascading waterfall on the right side of the palace. It was the Derath waterfall, coursing through the Angelic Capital, nourishing the lands, providing fertility and freshness.

"What's the statue?" Albia asked.

"Zeus." Atlas replied.

Both Albia and Basilia paid attention to their brother, Atlas who continued, "It was built on our birthday to thank Zeus for giving life to Angelic."

"How is it that possible that we never knew about this?" Basilia questioned.

"And how do you know, when we don't?" Albia asked, raising her thin eyebrows.

"It was mentioned in one of Julian Roosevelt's novels," he chuckled, "and you guys never read novels."

"Because that's wasting time and they are fictions," Basilia said and she focused on something else.

Amongst the crowd was a young man, carrying a small boy on his shoulders to show him the royal families. He was tall, averagely built with dark brownish straight hair. He was dressed in black with a symbol of two swords on his belt, it appeared to be a uniform. Basilia nudged Atlas's arm and gestured towards the young man.

"What's that uniform?" She asked.

"What uniform?" He asked, trying to find the person Basilia was trying to show him.

"The one with the boy on his shoulders." She said, staring at young man. He had a smile of gold, rich with happiness and love.

"That's the Angelic sailor's uniform," Atlas paused and observed the man more clearly and commented. "It looks good on him, right? Full black."

The young man noticed Basilia inspecting him which made him smile. Basilia returned the smile without hesitation. She had no idea why she did but she knew that she wanted him to notice her. He showed her to the boy on his shoulders and the child began waving at Basilia. Basilia smiled and created a wave of glitter in the air from her fingers and sent them towards the boy. Everyone cheered and laughed trying to catch the glitter but the young sailor kept staring at the Air Angel as if he had witnessed the presence of a Goddess. She grinned once more before walking past them towards the parade. 'That sailor stole my heart', she thought.

All the royal families were following the platoon of soldiers and the Angelic brass band into the palace, they were receiving bows and cheers from the ordinary Angels of the Angelic Capital and they were enjoying it.

The Angelic brass band was leading the parade, followed by the Angelic soldier platoon and lastly the royal families led by Angel Fire who was being accompanied by her two children; Cael and Parisa. Then Angel Water with her children Joseph, Michael and Peter, along with Angel Air with her children; Atlas, Basilia and Albia. Finally, Angel Earth with her children Alexander and Alicia walked in the parade with pride inside their hearts, they were followed by the army platoons of the four Angelic lands; Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

* * *

The blessed fruits of the royal garden were being plucked and tossed into a bowl by Elizabeth as she tiptoed through the bushes. The splash of red berries was incredibly vibrant in contrast with the green ceramic of the bowl. Her hands spread over the ripples of clay just like a starfish landing on rocks.

Parisa entered the royal garden expecting to meet Elizabeth. The law of prohibition dictated that children of the royal family were forbidden to keep in contact with one another, although there was no known reason for the existence of such a law. Despite the law, Parisa and Elizabeth had known each other for five hundred years.

When Cael told Parisa that he was having recurring nightmares, Parisa asked Cael to draw the woman he was seeing to confirm whether or not she resembled the real Ever. After he drew the portrait it was confirmed that he had been dreaming of the real Ever, the future queen of Angelic. After Parisa found a way to keep in connection with Elizabeth, she discovered that Elizabeth was happily breaking the law by sending letters to several members of the royal using the identity of Angelic's famous writer, Julian Roosevelt. Hence, Parisa expressed her concerns to Elizabeth through her letters in the hopes of uncovering more about Ever. This resulted in the birth of a friendship, they have remained pen pals for five hundred years.

"Elizabeth?" Parisa spoke after spotting a beautiful young lady in a blue dress with a basket full of red berries.

Elizabeth smiled brightly as the morning rainbow, "Parisa?"

"Yeah." She hugged Elizabeth.

They were like a tree and its branches; they were more than friends, they were like sisters. They hugged each other as if they had known each other for their entire lives.

"How was the journey?" Elizabeth asked, loosening her grip.

"It was brilliant, we had a good time." Parisa replied, following Elizabeth out of the garden.

"Do you like the Capital?" Elizabeth asked.

"I love the Capital, this is a dream come true."

"How about Cael?"

"He's good. He's almost in his room."

"So, Parisa did you meet any interesting man on the train?" Elizabeth asked, plucking some more berries.

"No, I don't like any of them." Parisa's face looked like a little fire bird that has lost its spark.

"What? Really? You'll have to marry one of them anyways." Elizabeth offered a few red berries to Parisa and ate one herself.

"I'm not going to marry any of them." Parisa said, chewing her first berry.

"What?"

"I'm not the heir to the throne and I'm not the eldest of the Fire family so it's not a must for me to get married to a royal family member." Parisa explained.

Elizabeth laughed and ate another berry.

"By the way, did you ever tell your sister about Cael and his dream?" Parisa asked, putting another berry into her mouth.

"No, never. Even if I told her she wouldn't care. She usually doesn't care about other people."

"Oh." Parisa suddenly stopped and took hold of Elizabeth's hand as if she just remembered something really important to ask Elizabeth, "Do you remember, I told you that I wanted to meet Julian Roosevelt?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Of course, I do. But I doubt my sister would allow you to."

Parisa's face turned into a rotten tomato, "Why?"

"They are lovers."

"What?" She stared at Elizabeth like a lost kite.

Elizabeth chuckled deeply, "I was kidding, they are best friends."

* * *

Tousled by the gusts of wind, her long hair looked matted and dull. In a way it gave her wild soul, like it was untamed.

She always loved the wind, for it came to her so boldly, lingering against her skin. In the cold it roused her to wakefulness, an alertness that would let her savor the moments of dryness and rain just the same. Soft breezes finer than silk, smoother than water. In the gales it sang through the trees, sending loose leaves dancing and fluttering; it was hypnotic and beautiful. In the summer time the wind was cooling, allowing the warmth to gently enter each muscle and bone while her skin felt at ease with the world. Today it was almost stationary and she found herself in joyful anticipation, absorbing the bright colors of the new foliage and buds, taking a moment to observe a dragonfly pass by, it was a brilliant electric blue colour.

The voices had called Ever to the river. She was getting ready for the welcome ceremony of the royal families when she had heard a female cry out, calling her name. It had brought her to the river.

The river was like a sleeping cobra. It lay across the land with seductive curves, beautiful in the morning light, cool and innocuous. Yet it hid a myriad of dangers.

The voice was not only crying out her name but it was asking for help. It was like an erupted volcano, burning Ever.

Ever was an Angel; a warrior. However, the voices made her weak, they passed through her bones and muscles, destroying every part of her soul.

The cruel female voice cried loudly, "Ever, Ever, help me. You did this to me. Help me, help me, Ever." Those words kept repeating inside her.

Her head throbbed painfully, it felt like someone had pierced her skull with a knife. Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed the pain to go away. The rest of the world became detached, all she could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep in her head.

She could barely hear the voices chattering around her. All she felt, all she knew was the agony of that moment.

"Jump!" She heard her own voice shouting at her but she had not spoken, "Jump into the river."

When she opened her eyes, she witnessed the blue river turning black and her body finding a mind of its own. She walked towards the water and was about to jump into it but something; someone caught her from her behind, taking her back to safety.

"Are you alright?" He asked, holding her tightly. His strong arms and burning hands gripping her waist.

She sighed deeply without turning back to look at who it was. She kept sighing, still feeling scared that her heart might stop.

"Are you alright?" He repeated still holding her in his arms.

She pulled herself away from him. Ever noticed several things about this man whom she has never seen before, his voice was deep and strong. He reminded her of a stormy day. He was a Fire child, red sparks illuminated his eyes and the area around his palms. She could feel the warmth of his fiery strong hands.

"Who are you?" She asked, examining him.

She observed his sharp jaw, chin and cheekbones. On both sides of his straight nose were two blazing eyes. He had black straight hair. His dark brows were actually graceful.

He was staring at her; he almost forgot that she had asked him who he was. He was staring at her as if he had waited for this moment for an eternity. Of course he had, this was the girl from his nightmares. The girl who had dreamt of for five hundred years, who killed him every night, and who he loved regardless.

Ever took Cael's silence an opportunity to investigate him. Muscles rippled across every part of his body. He was obviously a seasoned warrior. She had never seen a Fire child with such prominent features; usually the Earth children had the strongest body features.

"Everyone's looking for you at the palace." He spoke not being able to bear the deafening silence between them.

"Who are you?" She asked, still staring at him as if he was the first man she had ever seen.

Without answering her question he turned around to walk back to the palace. He had no idea why he did that nor did he understand why he was attempting to run from the girl whom he had searched and loved for five hundred years.

Ever had no idea what was happening to her. The desire of knowing him grew like an enchanted fire inside her heart.

She had noticed the golden fire symbol on his belt. He was a royal family member. She presumed him to be Cael, the eldest of the Fire family.

"Cael Angelo Fire." Ever called him.

He halted in his tracks, his heart stopping. Her voice made him weak. He wanted to go back to her. He felt shivers throbbing through him but he still managed to walk.

"Wait." She ordered, walking towards him.

Cael kept inching towards the palace.

"Wait." She repeated, this time with anger. He stopped and turned towards her.

He stared at her with his fiery red eyes drilling into hers. She could not help but think that she had never seen such beautiful eyes, so full of light.

"Come back Ever." The voice from the water called her.

The excruciating pain returned, crushing her into something she never wanted to be; weak and insane.

"Ever!" The water yelled. She closed her eyes. She felt frightened. She never feared anything, she could not comprehend why she felt this way.

"Ever." The boy with scorching eyes called Ever but she could not hear him. Cael observed her with fear.

"Ever. Come back, help me!" The voice called her again.

"Ever." Cael repeated her name.

"Ever!" The water yelled.

After few seconds Cael gripped Ever's hand, "Ever, run." He screamed, dragging her with him.

When she opened her eyes it felt as if she was waking up from a dark dream. She let Cael drag her with him. She turned her head back to see what had made him run with fear. It was the water, it was towering like a breathing giant pouring onto the land.

When the water crashed onto the land it was not with the gentleness like spring rain rather it collided with the power of a nuclear shockwave. It cascaded violently over the sleepy blades of grass.

She stopped; Cael looked at her as if he was looking into the eyes of a young girl who was insane with the desire of adventure.

"Ever, the water is coming," Cael shouted.

She turned to look at the water, he followed her gaze. The water would have washed them away within seconds. Cael grabbed Ever into him, their bodies touching each other, for a moment he forgot that the girl next to him was a thousand times powerful than him. He raised his left hand and created a fire wall to protect them; to protect her.

She smiled, enjoying the look on Cael's face; ready for battle. When she noticed that he was no longer strong enough to bear the strength of the water she touched his left hand, bring it down. The water was coming to devour them.

"What are you doing?" He asked, the fear of death clouding his beautiful scarlet eyes.

She held out her hand. Pulsing from her fingertips was a strange, bright light. She watched it flicker, changing colors from amber to ruby, then black to gold. She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palms and then released her palm. Blue sparks shot out from her hand, creating a frozen wall, freezing the whole river.

"Ever." The water yelled in a wretched voice, "I curse you, Ever! I curse you!"

Cael could sense that something was wrong with Ever. He tightened his hold on her, his touch transferring strength into Ever which made it easier for her to fight against the vile water.

Once the entire river was frozen solid, Ever's hand fell limp with a weakness she had never felt before. Cael could feel the coldness growing inside Ever as she began growing pale. She stared at Cael as if he was the last thing she would ever see. Immediately, he cupped her face spreading the warmth from his hands to her icy face.

Suddenly her eyes shut and she fell into the arms of Cael Angelo Fire.

They were a sinful combination of fire and ice.