“Rania?!” she blurted in her delight. “Rania are you there?! Is that you?” She was so happy that tears started falling from her eyes. She covered her mouth as she gasped, while her lips trembled in shock. She quickly rose from her seat, wanting to touch the door out of desperation. Fortunately, her sudden impulse stopped her or else she’d be sucked by the vines like what happened to Rania. But then she thought, ‘She was alive – so that means there wasn’t really any danger inside, right?’

And so, nearer and nearer, Selena moved her hand towards the door to the Forbidden Chamber, wanting to touch it.

​​

“Stop!” the sound of a man’s voice stopped her.

Selena was startled and looked at the direction of the voice and there she found Clavis with a stern look on his face. ‘What is a judge doing in this place?’, she thought to herself.

Clavis began walking towards Selena. “What do you think you’re doing, woman? You do know what that door is, right?”

Selena sighed and averted her eyes from Clavis who stared at him like a lion surveying its prey. ‘Why are all men in this place so freaking annoying?’, she thought again. She couldn’t really say that out loud, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

Clavis shifted his eyes from Selena, to the flowers, to the candles, then the door, and back to her.

“I see, so you’re visiting your friend who died there,” confident that his assumption was correct, Clavis didn’t bother asking anymore. “That is a respectable behaviour but I suggest you stay away from the door unless you’re planning on committing suicide because of your guilt”.

Selena’s eyes widened in annoyance. She also clenched her hands into a fist to stop herself from being angry.

‘This guy – argh! I hate him already!’

Noticing her held back expression – her fist trembling slightly every second, her averted gaze, her scowling face – Clavis raised his eyebrows.

“If you’re offended by what I said, speak up. There’s no need for you to hold your anger – you’re not really doing a good job at hiding it”.

At these words, Selena finally looked him in the eyes.

“Urgh, yes! I AM offended by what you said!” she blurted out. “And I’m not trying to commit suicide, so you don’t have to worry about your king losing another ‘wife-to-be’ -,” gesturing her hands on the last part, “I’m just … ugh, never mind, it doesn’t matter”.

Funny thing about Selena, she really wasn’t good at hiding her emotions. She’s that type of girl wherein everything showed on her face. Every little bit of anger, or fluster would make her face go red. Every word she said would always match her expressions. And if you let her speak, she would really tell you whatever it was in her mind, without filters.

Clavis was set aback by her straightforwardness. Usually, other candidates would try to be calm and respectful towards him. Actually, not just the candidates, but everyone from his race, except the king. But this was the first time that someone shouted at him – and a woman at that. A bit intrigued, his eyes widened.

“Hmm … a simple soul, I see,” Clavis pondered. “Well, it’s good that you’re not planning on killing yourself at least. The king would indeed be delighted. You have a high chance of being his consort anyway, since you are the most beautiful I’ve seen so far”.

Selena blushed when she heard the “most beautiful” part.

“W-wh-what?!”

“But seeing as you seemed naive, you probably won’t be picked as a queen. The best candidate that I can deduce right now would be … hmm,” he pondered again. “Ah, that other brave woman, Azalea”.

Selena’s face shifted from irritated, to an ‘I agree’ face in an instant.

“I’m not planning to be queen. She can have it – she deserves it anyway. Everything about her spells ‘queen’. At least, maybe with her … ,” she stopped again. “Wait, why are you telling me all this?”

“Well, in case you’re really trying to kill yourself and you’re just too shy to admit it. Suicide is the most foolish thing a person could do”.

“So you’re pitying me? … OR trying to encourage me?” Selena couldn’t believe what she’s hearing. She raised both of her eyebrows now in skepticism.

“Not really. I’m merely stating facts from all the information I’ve gathered”.

“Oh, okay. I don’t really get you but, thanks? I guess?” Selena shrugged her shoulders and wished for him to go away.

“It’s good not to expect too much, lest you grow disappointment”.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Now go away and leave me alone,” Selena’s face was now brooding. She couldn’t wait anymore so she just said it herself.

Clavis was appalled and a bit of annoyance finally showed in his forever standoffish face. Realizing there was no more point in continuing the conversation, he turned his back against her and disappeared into thin air.

“Oh! Wait!” Selena suddenly remembered something she wanted to ask. She quickly grabbed Clavis by his blazer before he disappeared to stop him.

However, she was not able to stop him … instead, she disappeared with him.

At the next blink of her eyes, they were now inside a temple-looking place. The whole place was made of white marble stones, including the gigantic pillars at each corner. There were big lamps on the wall, with portraits of ‘animal-looking creatures’ according to Selena’s imagination. Then there was a very large stairway at the middle of the room, leading to the next floor.

‘Is this a temple for animals?’, Selena thought as she circled around trying to remember everything she’s seeing. ‘Weird … why would someone create a temple for -‘

“Ah!” Selena suddenly writhed in agony. She didn’t know why but her body was caught in severe pain all over. She fell down her knees and had difficulty breathing. Tears started falling from her eyes. The pain was too much for her to bear. It was like being stumped on by something really heavy and suffocating at the same time. “H-help”

Clavis didn’t notice her at first since his mind already started to ponder into something. He only looked at his back when he heard her.

“You keep on giving me a surprise, woman. How did you follow me here? And what are you doing -” Then, noticing what was actually happening, his eyes widened and quickly, he went to her aid. “Stupid woman, this is a temple! You can’t wonder here, your frail body will die from the concentrated holy energy in this place!”

After grabbing her by the waist and carrying her in his arms, he immediately teleported somewhere safe – he didn’t care where, but somewhere with less energy. Within a second, they were now in a flower field somewhere in the Floating Kingdom.

“Seriously,” he sighed heavily as he shook his head.

He laid Selena down in the flower field and checked if she was still alive. Her face was now very pale, with light sweat trickling on her forehead and neck. Clavis knitted his eyebrows – the situation was bad. She got exposed too much and her heart was barely functioning. If he didn’t do anything, she’d die in the next minute.

‘To save, or not to save’ he thought to himself.

Clavis knew that the only way he could save her was by giving her some of his life energy to her. Healing would do nothing in this situation since it was her life that was sucked up. But then, was it worth it to share a portion of himself to a mere human? What’s in it for him?

The answer was “nothing”.

Deciding that the loss was too much against the gains, he decided to leave her be and die. He stood up and turned his back on her, preparing himself to go back to the temple he was before.

Then a sudden voice whispered to him, “σώσε την”.

Clavis’ eyes widened as he understood immediately what the mysterious voice said for he knew very well who it was – someone he could never disobey.

And so, he turned back and sat beside Selena. With a list sigh, he lifted her chin and kissed her on the lips.

As soon as they kissed, Clavis’ body glowed white and so does Selena’s.