CHAPTER 3: TO FIND HER - ACT 1
I see her there… lying there on the forest ground.
She has so many injuries... What could have happened to her?
Maybe she fell from the trees above…
Or perhaps… something else happened to her?
***
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AKASHI!"
The guests cheer, the party horns toot, the confetti cannons fire, and the brass band plays.
"Whoa, this is the best party ever! Thanks a mil, everyone!"
I'm glad Akashi likes it. A grand celebration like this is the least I could do for her.
I watch the chattering and dancing in the East wing's ballroom, over the inner court, from the West wing's hallway.
I'd commanded the guards to leave the ballroom's door open so I could see the results of all my hard work from afar.
It's… best that Akashi keeps a distance from me tonight. She didn't seem to mind that I couldn't attend… She probably knew what I was up to.
Momoka looks out of the window next to mine. She has a glint of a smile on her. I also share that smile.
Suddenly, the door to the council room opens, and Toma stands at the doorway. He bows to me. "Your highness, the King summons yourself and Miss Momoka."
"Thank you, Toma. Miss Momoka, please follow me."
We turn from the happiness of the party to the seriousness of the council room.
"The monarch of the East side, Prince Goyasaku, and the head witch of the East side, Miss Jien Momoka."
Post Toma's announcement, we both enter and stand before the council's table and bow accordingly. Father and Mother are present, along with the three councilors.
"Prince Goyasaku, thank you for working with Miss Momoka to arrange this meeting," Father begins. "And Miss Momoka, we welcome you to our humble abode. We greatly appreciate your presence here."
She bows her head. "The pleasure is mine, your majesty."
My father nods. "You both know why you are here, so let's cut to it. Miss Momoka, will you lead your coven to protect this palace from the East side sorcerers?"
Momoka pauses for a short moment, then answers, "No, your majesty."
Huh? She won't?
Father's brow tenses in surprise and frustration. This is gonna be one short meeting!
"Instead, I have a different proposal, if I may?"
"Hmm… Go on, Miss Momoka," my father responds hesitantly.
"The only way for the East side sorcerers to reach the palace is through the West side forest. Seeing as my coven is very familiar with that area, I propose that we form a scouting party with the sole purpose of flushing out any sorcerer trespassing there, long before they reach here."
I look at Momoka with one eyebrow raised. I guess her idea makes sense.
Father crosses his arms and silently considers. He then starts quietly discussing the proposal with my mother and the other council members. Their murmuring goes on for quite some time, which only adds to the tension in the meeting.
Finally, my father faces us.
"Miss Momoka, we agree with your proposal. You will be rewarded forty thousand gold coins for every sorcerer you defeat on the West side. You will receive nothing if any adversary you encounter gets past you and enters the palace grounds. Do we have a deal?"
Momoka thinks for just a moment. "Yes. Your offer is sufficient, your majesty. May I choose which members of my coven will accompany me?"
"Yes, so long as Prince Goyasaku is part of your team as our royal liaison."
"Thank you, your majesty. My party's members will be Akashi, Etsuko, and Eren."
EREN?! You've gotta be kidding me!
***
I walk behind her. I wonder if she's still mad at me for disturbing her that night?
She's so quiet... Unnervingly quiet!
Good thing Momoka made Eren the point-woman today. I can just trail behind her and not have to face her disapproval once more!
I look to my side and see Akashi. With her hands behind her head and her eyes closed, she's humming along carefree as usual. I guess she has nothing to fear after her winning streak.
Etsuko is gently pulling along Ban's headcollar by the leadrope, and Momoka rides on top of Ban. Those two are more straight faced. They get the seriousness of what we're doing.
As for Eren… I have no idea what she's thinking. This is way too awkward. I really should say something to her.
But… what should I say? What could possibly break the ice? Something casual? Something complimentary?
Something…
Akashi opens one eye. "Hey, Eren! The Prince was wondering what your power is!"
Huh? She's breaking the ice for me?
Eren turns around while walking, and looks at me as I try to appear confident. I observe her eye without the eyepatch, and it looks kind of annoyed.
"You'll see," she mutters with her deep, brooding voice.
Eren looks forward again and continues walking onward.
I lean back slightly. Man, she's mysterious with her long, straight purple hair covering some of her face, and her tall height makes her kind of intimidating.
She probably has an incredible power…
Akashi tilts up her nose and puts her hands on her hips.
"Awwww, come on, Eren! You can do better than that! You said you've always wanted to marry a royal, and now you've got one right here on a silver platter to flirt with! Cya-hahahahahaha!"
WHA-?
"Huh?!" Eren quickly tenses up. She slowly turns around and grimaces at Akashi. "Grrrrrrr! Akashi, I'll replace my lost eye with one of YOURS!"
"Uh oh!"
"Come here!"
"Waaaahhhh!"
Eren chases Akashi around the forest.
"Get back here, you twerp! Don't worry, I'll make it painless!"
As they race around the forest, I just watch on with my face reddened and my jaw dropped.
Etsuko and Mamoka sigh together.
"This is gonna be a long mission," remarks Etsuko.
Ban neighs.
***
We reach a towering, fully leafed oak tree.
Momoka looks up into the sky. "It will be dark soon," she observes. "We should take shelter under here tonight."
"Right," I confer. "I'll gather some firewood. Akashi, please come with me."
"Sure thing, your highness!"
As the other witches settle under the tree, Akashi and I walk off into the distance.
We both find dry wood on the ground and start collecting it in two piles. I… haven't done this in a while. It's kinda… therapeutic.
Akashi's working by hand, without her powers, and she's pleasantly humming along. I guess we're both on the same page here.
Now's as good a time as ever to say what I need to say. "Um… Akashi?"
"Yeah?"
"You know I always appreciate your help, but I'm not sure Eren is right for me…"
Akashi stops. She puts her elbow in her hand and supports her chin with her fist. "Hmmmm... Well, Eren may not be the most talkative girl, but she sure does have a great body!"
I shake my head. "Huh? That's not what's important!"
"Oh? You mean you don't want a queen with certain… qualities?"
"Uh… Well… I mean…" Oh great, now I'm red faced!
"Aw, come on, your highness! I wasn't born yesterday, you know! Cya-hahahahaha!"
"Hey! You totally were born yesterday, Akashi!"
Her victorious cackle fills me with embarrassment once again. It's impossible to hide my reddened cheeks now!
I then sigh an all serious sigh.
Akashi stops laughing and straightens her face. "Huh? What's wrong, your highness? I was just kidding…"
"No, it's not that. It's just…" I face Akashi straight on. "Don't you ever think that my situation is… kinda hopeless?"
She tilts her head. "Hmm?"
"Juria tried to kill me. Etsuko faked her feelings for me. And now with Eren… She's not showing any interest in me at all, even though she wanted a prince. Not to mention all the countless past rejections." I roll up my sleeve and stare at my tattoo. "Perhaps my curse… can never be broken."
I feel a palm go onto my shoulder.
"Your highness, what you're feeling is totally natural. We all go through peaks and valleys. You'll be back to your old optimistic self in no time. I just know it! And besides, you're the one who threw a party for me even though you didn't have to. That says it all!"
How does she come up with such reassuring speeches?
I smile at her as genuinely as I can. "Thank you, Akashi. You go on ahead and deliver the firewood, okay?"
"I'm on it, your highness!" Akashi picks up the firewood from her pile, and jogs into the distance.
I look down at my tattoo again. Hmm… No-one in the coven has said they could sense a curse on me, so perhaps it really is just a deception.
I quickly roll down my sleeve.
I will find someone! I just have to keep trying!
I turn around… "Waaaaahhh!"
A witch is standing there, silently watching me.
"Eren! What are you-? When did you-?"
That's odd. She should have made some kind of warning sound. She didn't just appear there without making any footsteps!
She stares at me blankly.
Man, I sure hope she didn't hear all that stuff about her great body! But… Come to think of it, I guess she does have nice-
"Follow me, your highness."
Her serious tone stuns me. She starts walking off, and I can't help but follow her.
We quietly wander through the forest. The greenery seems to be more dense here. I sense something's ahead of us.
Finally, we leave the dense part of the forest and onto a more open area.
Before us… Is a thick, monumental red wall made of some kind of glowing energy. It's an intimidating sight, and I feel an immense power emanating from it.
"Your highness, do you know what this is?" Eren asks.
"Hmm… It's a territory marker, right? The dividing line between the West Forest and the East Forest."
"Correct. It was created by the head sorceress from the East. If you touch the wall, you'll instantly vaporize."
Yikes… We're only a few meters away from it!
"I've heard about it, but I've never seen it up close like this. Is the East side trying to keep us out, or keep themselves in?"
"Who knows," Eren responds plainly with a shrug. "This concludes my report on what I've found."
"Right. Thank you, Eren. Let's get back to the camp and inform the others."
"Yes, your highness. Please follow me."
Eren takes point and starts walking back to the camp.
As I follow, I feel a little more relaxed around her. I guess she really knows what she's doing.
***
The pheasant Momoka caught and cooked tastes great, and the berries which Etsuko gathered aren't too bad either!
After we've eaten, we sit around the campfire and watch the flames burn away. The sun descends, transforming the sky into a blanket of orange.
"So, where did you go off to, Eren?" Momoka gently asks.
"I sensed dark magic from afar, so I investigated it's source. It turns out that the energy wall is just a couple of miles from here."
"Huh? There's an energy wall out there?" asks Etsuko.
"Yeah, 'energy wall'!" Eren repeats. "You know, the thing that separates the West side from the East side in the center of this island!"
"Wow, I can't believe I didn't know about that!" Etsuko exclaims. "Wait… Are we really that far into the island? No wonder my legs are sore!"
"Huh? You do realize you have healing powers, right?"
"And you realize you can just shut up, right?"
As Etsuko and Eren bicker on, Momoka sighs and shakes her head disapprovingly.
I then notice Akashi. She's looking down with her brow all tense.
I hate that look.
***
I struggle to sleep tonight. I'm not used to resting on the forest floor wrapped in my cape as a sleeping bag, but I have to make do, I guess. The camp fire is just about keeping me warm.
I look around to see how everyone else is doing. The witches and Ban are fast asleep. How are they all doing that?
Huh… Where's Akashi?
Hmm… There's only one place she could be.
I get up, tie my cape, and quietly head East.
After a few minutes walking in what I hope is a straight line, I eventually see a red glow in the distance.
I've found it!
I exit the dense greenery onto the open grass, and approach the wall. I look around, and I see Akashi in the distance.
I walk up to her side. She stares into the energy, still retaining that serious look on her face.
"Akashi… What's wrong?"
"The barrier… It's supposed to be green."
I shoot her a look. "Green? Hmm…" I look back at the wall and cross my arms. "Well, if it's red… Then could the wall be… broken in some way?"
"Yeah. It changes color depending on its circumstances. Eren didn't notice as she's colorblind."
I place my fist on my chin. "So, there must be a gap somewhere. That would explain how two sorcerers from the East managed to get through it already."
"Right. Some incredibly powerful magic had to have been used to break it."
That's not good!
"I see. Let's find out where the gap is. We'll let the others rest for now, just in case we need backup later. You go North, and I'll go South."
"Yes, your highness."
Akashi bows to me, and we go our separate ways along the barrier.
I jog along the wall while keeping a close eye on it. The break-in is probably small and won't be so obvious.
I also believe the wall changing color would have alerted the East side. There may already be sorcerers on the West side inspecting the damage…
After a long while, I stop. Before me is the beach on the edge of the island. I've reached the end of the wall, which continues on into the distance of the sea so no-one can swim around it.
I didn't see any damage to the wall on my way here, which means Akashi will be the one to find the break-in!
I quickly turn around and start running back along the wall.
I suddenly grind to a halt as I notice something on the ground.
Foot and hoof prints? They weren't there before! I certainly didn't request any backup from the palace, so these prints must be from a different party!
I pick up the pace, and dash along the wall.
The prints eventually disappear as the party has seemingly drifted into the forest. Good - I won't run into them!
I continue on running, and I feel I've already passed where I'd met Akashi earlier.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hits me. I stop and close my eyes as it brushes over. Wow, this wind is so dense and cold… This weather can't be normal!
The breeze stops and changes direction. Now it's pushing me towards the trees. It's relentless!
Could this be… some kind of prompt?
I take a chance, and cautiously head into the greenery. Who knows who I'm gonna run into!
I slowly edge through the trees, cautiously looking around with my hand on my sword.
And then…
I see her…
Lying unconscious on the ground…
