Dawn- An age of Darkness

We didn't want to waste time. Now that I'd met him, I needed to get him to somewhere private, to know why he did that. And why he apologized before shoving me down. However, with the king in the picture things didn't look too hot for us. More like for me. I still didn't know what the geezer was about to pull, so my heart was doing its duty: the duty of freaking out.

I kept my motives and uneasiness hidden. I pretended like I fell from the boat. Besides, no one would have believed me anyway. And it was too late for revenge; all I wanted were some answers. 

But I sure wanted revenge, there was no doubt about that. 

  ***

The palace was genuinely beautiful. Almost everything was made from crystals from the walls to the furniture but all of them weren't see-through. The most frequent color was deep blue. Most of the walls weren't seamless: there were various patterns and designs. If my eyes didn't lie then I'd say the palace was at least ten stories high.

However, we went through a place that totally eclipsed even the palace's beauty. 

"How wonderful!" Alisa jumped around.

"This is the royal garden," Araan said.

"It's as beautiful as I remember," the old man said.

"Oh, you've been here before?"

"Yup, about twenty or so years ago." The geezer kept looking around like he had tons of memories and all that. 

It was a gardener's wet dream. I didn't like gardening all that much but the sight managed to sway even my heart. Roses, violets, wisteria, orchids, and so on were basically calling me to sniff at their wonder. However, the one that stole my sight was the crystal roses. Even the vines were made of white translucent crystals.

"Are those organic?" I asked.

"Everything you see in this garden is, even those," Lianne said.

Really? But how could crystal have life? Wait, it could silicone based!

All the life I knew was carbon-based. But finally, I saw something which wasn't. The rose was presumably silicone-based. I couldn't think of another explanation. But then again, this world blew my expectations from day one. And there were hundreds of things I couldn't even hope to understand. So this was plausible.

"Biteria!" Alisa screamed. 

Biteria had jumped out of my shoulder and ran into the garden. She didn't even look back. I was too busy examining the roses that I hadn't even noticed.

"Don't worry. I'll ask the castle guards to secure her. I'll also make sure no one hurts her," Lianne said.

"Much appreciated," I said.

Biteria jumped in the bushes and we couldn't see her anymore. I trusted Lianne, so I didn't worry too much… for now. But honestly, what was wrong with this rabbit? She wasn't much different from before but somehow something just didn't feel right anymore.

We kept moving. There were paintings in the hallway. To me, they all looked the same. Elves were a very similar-looking race. If Lianne was a guy, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between her and the rest of them. However, the prince had one differentiating feature: blue eyes. The paintings however all kind of looked like Jowy: dignified versions of him that is. 

Guess all elves are lookalike with some variations.

There was one picture among them that looked a bit different from the rest: the picture of a beautiful woman. But then again even she had similarities with the others.

***

We arrived at a corridor with two massive stairs spiraling upwards. They were long and reminded me of how much, my legs would suffer.

I have to climb that? I sighed. The old man didn't seem to lose heart even for a moment. 

Once we got on the stairs, they started moving on their own.

"Ah! Hah! What is this?" Alisa screamed.

The stairs were also made of crystals; they glittered as the staircase spiraled up.

Araan explained things as we went up. "This is our treasure. Naturally, outsiders won't be allowed to use this but since you're Daarc's companions, you're welcome."

"How is this achieved? Through magic or machinery?" I pondered.

"I'm sorry Daarc, but that's a national secret."

Yeah, right! It didn't bother me. Escalators weren't anything fancy, at least not to me. But it did intrigue me though.

I glared at the prince when he wasn't paying attention to me. My subconscious was very alive and wanted to rid this world of the prince, but my sanity kept it from happening.

When we got to the top, I looked out through the veranda and we were at least ten stories high; the town looked marvelous and the people like moths. The palace really was massive. Next, we were taken to a massive door. Everything in the palace seemed gigantic. Was it some sort of fetish to enlarge things? Did size matter that much?

There was a massive shout in the elven language and the herald declared our names and that we were coming in. 

How did they know of our visit and names? 

It seemed information traveled rather fast in Alfeim.

That was a very pressing question but we went in anyway. With a solid creak the door opened. The inside was bright and the walls were made from golden crystals. There was a floral scent in the air and the atmosphere was welcoming.

"Welcome the savior of my son and his companions." A voice from the throne greeted us in a loud voice. The place was quiet, so the voice reverberated a little.

We were barely inside the room and we didn't even get to bow. 

So, he's the king? He sure doesn't waste time, huh?

A little further in, all of us bowed. The whole room was full of elves. They all looked important. However, there weren't many guards. To me they all looked like Jowy though; they even had matching clothes. 

Is it me or are there too many Jowys? 

Even the king resembled Jowy. 

"I am glad that you survived. I have heard a great many things about you from my son and daughter." The king himself looked like Jowy, except for the fact that he looked like a Thirty-year-old instead of twenty. 

Jowy was pretty old himself, so I guess that meant his father was even older. Actually, I for once wasn't jealous of living long, at least not whilst I was still in this world.

Wait, what did he say?

"Daughter?" I was utterly confused. It took me a good second to put it all together. But when I did, sweats poured.

"Hmm? Hadn't she told you? Lianne?"

Unfortunately, she didn't give me the privilege of knowing. Wait, doesn't that mean, Jowy is also a prince? What the-

"Lord Father, I didn't think it was necessary-"

Suddenly a lot of stuff became clear. Especially the Jowy lookalike syndrome.

The king sighed. "Anyway, I am glad you made it. We sent search parties for you but they never found anything. After one month, we didn't think you'd made it. "

This guy is surprisingly thoughtful. Is this an act?

I was kind of staggered by the fact that all the elves I had met were nothing but royalty. It was a small world, or was our fate intertwined? Was that even possible?

"You're majesty, are all these people you're family as well?" I asked. I was quite curious.

"Yes, you did well to recognize that," he said.

I wouldn't call it recognition.. They all look the same.