Chapter 1
3rd person’s pov
It was a quiet day on the Ocean Kingdom. The sea breeze is warm, and the King is having tea with his children.
“Why did you call us, father?” his son, Cayen, a blonde with dark blue highlights in his hair asked.
“I requested to have tea with you both because I had received a news that you and your sister had excel in archery and swordsmanship. Well done! Is there anything you want as a reward?” The king was delighted for their achievement.
“I want to learn how to control water, father.” Cayen immediately answered. The king raised his eyebrow.
“Are you sure? This is not something you should be taking it lightly.” He seriously asked Cayen again.
“Yes. As the future ruler, I want to at least learn it so I can protect not only myself and my sister, I can also protect my people.” He is determined to learn. The king saw determination in his eyes so he sighed.
“Alright, I’ll make an arrangements for you. But do not pressure yourself from learning it too much when your body is on its limit. Are we clear?” Cayen nodded. The king turned to her only daughter, who is silently reading a book about controlling water.
“How about you, my dear daughter, Cordelia?” He softly spoke. She looked at the King, he is mesmerized by her daughter’s appearance, long blonde hair and sky blue highlights. Her eyes sparkle as the sun radiates her pupils. Unlike her brother who had ocean eyes, hers was electric blue eyes. She smiled at her father.
“I want to learn how to be an assassin.” She answered. Silence was filled inside the garden.
“Pardon? Why do you want to learn it?” The king was quite shocked by her youngest’s unexpected reward.
“I want to move sneakily, I want to throw shurikens, I can kill someone without effort.” She happily clapped. The king and Cayen looked at each other.
“I will think about it, my dear. Why don’t you go to your mother.” She obeyed and went outside the garden. The king shook his head.
“Cayen, is it normal to have a 14-year-old think about killing?” He asked his son.
“Oh father, even I was shocked at her request. I didn’t think that she would want to learn assassination. It’s a good thing that she wasn’t interested in the throne. If she was, I might be her first target.” Cayen said in horror. The king chuckled.
“I’m sure she can’t do it; you are his beloved older brother. She must have her reasons. Let’s keep an eye on her for now. Anyway, I originally called you both because it involves the other kingdoms.” The atmosphere became serious. Cayen had done telepathy to her sister, and she shortly went back using water teleportation. The king was surprised.
“I taught Cayen how to do telepathy.” Cordelia explained. The King just nodded.
“As I was saying, I called you both because you two will represent our kingdom for the upcoming annual Clover festival. We, the 4 kings had decided that we will have our children represent us instead because of the invaders.” The conversation had become tense.
“Invaders?” Cordelia asked. The king nodded.
“It’s about time you know what lies beyond the Clover reigns, little sister.” Cayen said to her. Cordelia was curious, but at the same time, interested.
“The invaders were once humans, but because of their vicious sacrifices towards the devil, they had been granted dark energy. Once every four years, the barrier that surrounded our kingdoms will weaken, that is why we had our annual Clover festival at the center island of our kingdoms, that itself is the heart of the Clover. To restore the balance of our barrier, each kingdom will present a ‘blessing’ in other words, performance to the heart of clover. It’s like a ritual, but it depends on you on what you want to perform. At the peak of the full moon, which is the last day of the annual festival, each kingdom has a participant to dance the finale ritual for the restoration of the barrier, if it is interrupted, the barrier will collapse, and the invaders will seize the moment to attack us. We have been alerted by the kingdom knights that the invaders had become stronger, so we have to be ready for the worse scenario.” The king explained. Cordelia’s heart was racing.
“What will happen to us if we are invaded?” She asked.
“We will be killed.” Cayen bluntly answered. Cordelia felt shivers down her spine.
“Because of the reports that the invaders became stronger, other Kingdoms suggested that the Kings must stay behind the Kingdom in order to protect the people. Each kingdom served as the border of the barrier. That is why your mother and I decided to send you both to the annual festival as representatives in restoring the barrier. Can we count you on that?” The King asked. Cordelia and Cayen looked at each other.
“We won’t let you down, father.” Cayen seriously answered.
“I will master controlling the water before we set off, father. I will also teach elder brother the basics of water as you make arrangements of his lesson.” Cordelia is determined in order to protect her family. Cayen smiled.
“I might not be talented as you in water magic, but I’ll try to catch up to you.” Cayen ruffled her hair. Cordelia smiled back.
“As well as I, brother. I’m not good at swordsmanship, but I can teach you how to simultaneously control the water as you fight in sword.” Cayen saw how eager her sister was to teach him.
‘I’m so lucky to have a sister like her.’ He genuinely thought.
“But father, what will happen if we fail to restore the barrier?” Cordelia asked.
“As I said, we will be killed. The signs that the barrier faded are when the skies turned pitch black. No stars, no moon, no sun. The plants will wither, dark energy surfaced, and your elementals will be out of control. In short, the water will make a tidal wave, earthquakes, tornadoes, and fire everywhere. It can only be stopped if there’s a sacrifice for each elemental. And you do not want to know what it is.” The king’s expression turned cold as he said it. Cordelia still wanted to ask more but she saw Cayen shrug at her. She understood and said no more. They were excused and as they walk through the hallways of the palace, Cordelia couldn’t hold her curiosity why her father became like that as he spoke.
“Brother, what had happened to father? Why did he spoke coldly to us after I asked?” She asked her brother. Cayen looked at her and can only smile sadly.
“I will tell you when we set off to the festival. It’s quite uncomfortable if I reveal it here in our Kingdom. Father forbids to be spoken about the incident.” He whispered to her. “He has eyes everywhere. So please bear with it.”
‘Incident?’ Cordelia became more curious, but she understood that it might be a sensitive topic, so she didn’t push it further.
“Alright, I’ll ask again when we are out.” She replied with a smile.
