Chapter 12 : Found something

Two days after the coronation day, troops were sent out to search for who the intruder was, where they came from and anything related they can find. Albion came to see Aeras and Eisen. They were now completely healed. Given that they were healed by none other than Queen Harmonia herself, no damage or even scars were left on their body. Albion, Aeras and Eisen had planned to gather at the stable a few hours before it's time to leave for their respective kingdoms. Albion came to the stable, but kept looking around, searching for both of them. Suddenly he heard.

Aeras : Psst...Albion....here.

Albion turned in their direction and nodded. They hid behind the doors of an empty stable.

Aeras : So....find anything ?

Albion : Yes.....and no.

Eisen : What does that mean ?

Albion : Patience boy!! Ok so.....one of my general candidates found something weird.

Aeras : What is it ? Did he find who their leader is ? or their location ? Their camp site or something ?

Albion : No.

Aeras : .....

Eisen : .....

Albion : My general candidate has a hybrid Ruu, so he is sensitive to ruu energy left behind. He felt a peculiar Ruu energy so he followed it all the way to the end. He followed the trail to the forbidden forest.

Aeras : Forbidden forest ?

Albion : Yeah, come on, don't tell me you don't know what forbidden forest is, it's literally near Erlia.

Aeras : Ohhhh...your mean Karst ? We don't really call it forbidden forest, we call it Karst in Erlia.

Albion : That is not the point Aeras, the point is after following the energy trail through lush green forest, he came to a completely barren land, with dry trees. He followed the trail till the end but he said that right at the middle of the forest, the trail ended.

Aeras : What ? You mean, in the middle, was their anything around ?

Albion : No, for miles, it was just dry trees and weird barren land. He also told me, that even though he was following one particular Ruu back, he felt presence of the same ruu but from different users, one in particular caught his attention...he said that, that ruu felt like it was choking him, he felt...blood thirst from it and that if the wielder of that ruu wanted, he could destroy the world.

Aeras : In Karst ? But as far as I know it's just a simple forest. Yes, people live in it, but i'm sure no one that powerful lives there.....otherwise we would've known for sure.

Albion : How about I come to Erlia with you ? We can investigate it further maybe.

Aeras : Ok.....but wouldn't it be suspicious that you are going with the Aeras you dearly hate, to his kingdom ?

Albion : Well...now that you say it.....

Eisen : How about you just say that you and Aeras are friends ?

Albion : First of all.....no way in heavens am I ever admitting that, even tho now its true, and second...you call your King by the name ?

Aeras : Yeah.....of course, he and I are like brothers.

Albion : Ughhh, you guys are weird, but I guess admitting to Aeras being my friend is the only way I can go with you without drawing suspicion, huh. Fine, I'll do that, but only because it is absolutely necessary that we investigate further and find the source of all this and not because we are best friends or anything. Knowing more about the enemy would help, we can tackle the situation better then.

Guard : Prince Aeras.....Prince Aeras...? Sir Eisen ? Where did they go ? They did say they saw them coming here, weird. Prince Aeras.....

Aeras signalled Albion and he nodded and to stayed put while Aeras and Eisen got up and exited the stable.

Prince Aeras : Yes, you need something ?

Guard : Your highness, His Majesty has regained consciousness.

Aeras looked towards Eisen, and they both broke into a sprint. They sprinted through the long hallways and made their way towards the Healing Chamber. Aeras opened the door and saw Queen Harmonia, Erebus and Albus around Aileen. Aeras ran and hugged his father.

Aileen : Aeras ? Are you ok ? What's wrong ?

Aeras : .....

Aileen : Pfft.....Did I scare you ? I'm sorry son.

Aeras : How can you laugh father, I was actually scared to death you know, for these past three days you were unconscious and showed no signs of getting better.....I was.....scared.

Aileen : I'm sorry son, I scared you, it won't happen again.

Aeras : Even if it does, I'll protect you.

Aileen : Oho, ok.

Harmonia : Now Aileen, What happened, why did you faint ? You showed signs of a panic attack, what happened.

Aileen : It was....one of them.

Queen Harmonia's eyes got bigger as she gasped, she signalled all the others to leave them alone. Queen and Aileen talked for what seemed like hours. Before she finally came out with a scared look on her face, but composed herself before everyone else notices, even though all of them did.

Albus : Mother ? What's wrong ?

Harmonia : Oh, it was nothing, its just I was shocked as to who it could be that hurt His Majesty so bad, nothing more.

Even they all 4 of them knew queen was lying, they didn't press her further.

Aeras : Aunt, you should go rest a bit, you don't seem good.

Harmonia : Thank you my child, I will. Then, I shall take my leave.

Albus : Take care of your father, I'll go with mother.

Aeras nodded to both Albus and Erebus, and they both parted ways. Aeras went inside, hoping to get some answers.

Aeras : Father ? Are you ok ?

Aileen : Yes, I am fine now that you are here.

Aeras : ....

Aileen : I know you want answers, but I cannot give you any.

Aeras : But, father, I know you know what that was, I'm sure of it.

Aileen : No, you are wrong.

Aeras : There is no way that undefeated, His Royal Highness, King Aileen just passed out with fear because of creature that he had already defeated. It does not make sense.

Aileen : Aeras ! There are something I cannot and will never tell you, even if you hate me.

Aeras was shocked to hear this revelation, but didn't press Aileen any further, he knew he would only make things worse.

Aeras : Alright father, then I'll wait for the day you can.

Aeras left the chambers.

Aileen started tearing up out of anger while he looked up at the stars that filled the sky.

Aileen (Angry) : Why !! Why!! What do you want !!! Leave....us.....alone, please, haven't you already taken enough from me?!!

A few hours later, everyone was ready to leave for their kingdom. Of course Albion was going to Erlia and had to announce that he is now friends with Aeras, which left some people shocked and some.....disgusted at how quickly he changed because maybe he wanted something from Aeras. A day and a half later they were back in Erlia, they passed by Karst on the way and all three of them looked at each other and nodded. They rested until it was dark and then went out to investigate further. At first it didn't seem like much, but sure and soon enough, the barren land and dried trees came in sight. They came to the point marked on map and started looking around.

Albion : Hmm....there does seem to be a concentrated ruu at this one point. What in the world is this power.

Aeras : The air is...heavy and this weird power surrounding us is no different.

Eisen : I feel something too, something ominous, something heavy weighing me down.

Albion : But there is nothing here, at least not that we can see.

Someone's footsteps could be heard coming from behind them, they all quickly ran and hid behind the big rock and observed what was happening. A person came walking towards the point they just stood on and starting chanting something. Suddenly a crack appeared from nothing and the person walked inside. All three of them looked at each other and dashed towards the crack like opening to try and get in, but the crack closed instantly as the person walked in.

Aeras : *Huff*.....who...*hah*...was that ?

Albion : I-I'm not sure, *huff*...what do you think.

Eisen : That person.....seemed familiar somehow, but because of the dark I couldn't see much.

Now that the three now knew that there was something here, they knew what they have to do next. They returned to the castle for the day.

****To be continued****