Guardian: Darkness Rising (18 page)

“
Considering the
fact they’re friends with her sister?” Felicity
added. “Yeah, they probably do.” 

Mari didn’t respond, but rather
distanced herself from her friends, looking somewhat frustrated.
Mari didn’t blame her friends for the way she was feeling; they
didn’t know Mari felt her mind slipping from her grip with every
waking moment, they didn’t know that Mari wasn’t going to be
like this for long.  

Mari felt like she was a hazard to
be around; a ticking time-bomb, without a timer to confirm the
moment of detonation. And that was the one thing Mari simply
couldn’t stop worrying about. 

Mari was startled by the sound of a voice in
her right ear. “Hey.” She turned to face the speaker,
knowing it was Luke. “Hey.” 

Luke put a hand on Mari’s shoulder; the tone
of his voice was soft and comforting. “Don’t worry about
things too much, Mari. It’s not good for you.” 

Mari shrugged; she didn’t know how to respond,
despite wanting to. “I can’t stop. I just feel like I’m losing
control, and when I do...” She looked Luke dead in the
eye. “I don’t want to know what happens to you guys,
Luke.” 

Luke smiled at Mari. “I won’t
let you lose control, Mari,” he said. “As long as we all
stay together, the Master won’t get to you.” He noticed that
Mari was trembling – probably with nerves. 

“
Need a hug?” 

Mari nodded, allowing herself to sink into
Luke’s arms instantly; she hadn’t noticed how badly she
just needed a hug before, and it made her feel
good. 

Luke silently rocked Mari back and
forth as he held her. “Shh,” he whispered. “I’ll
always be here for you, Mari. And not just me;
we’ll 
all 
be there, whenever you need us.
Unconditionally.” 

Mari smiled at Luke’s chest. “I
know.” 

“
How touching.” 

A woman spoke; when the Guardians looked ahead
into the throne room, they noticed a female Fixie sitting on one of
the four thrones. Apparently, King Kyan – and a vast
majority of the Royal Staff – had had a different woman in mind
whenever they mentioned ‘Her Majesty’. 

“
Greetings, Guardians,” the
female Fixie spoke as she rose from her throne. She had skin that
seemed to have a silver glitter, much like Kyan’s golden
skin. She, too, was surprisingly tall for a Fixie – human height,
even. 

The Fixie’s light brown hair was tied in a
tight bun; a single, golden streak of hair was visible on the
outside of the bun. Her eyes had the same colour
as Kyan’s. Her face looked young - too young to be Kyan's
mother. 

“
My name
is Chiara, although most of my subjects address me
with ‘Your Majesty’. Knowing you are important guests, you may
choose which you prefer... although I 
do 
prefer ‘Your
Majesty’.” Chiara straightened the creases out of her
purple dress before ascending the steps and nearing the
Guardians. 

“
Wouldn’t you kneel before
royalty?” 

The Guardians confusedly knelt
before Chiara – they had no idea how to handle the
current situation. Luke exchanged a confused look
with both Marco and Mari, but neither of the two could help
him on this one. 

“
Would you prefer if I had a go at
this one?” Marco mouthed toward Luke,
but Luke shook his head. He was going to handle this
just fine – with care. 

“
My apologies, Your
Majesty,” Luke said carefully, making sure he wouldn’t
look up until given permission to do so – “but we came to
see the Queen of the Valley Folk. Queen Eloine.” 

“
Ah...” Chiara scoffed. “Queen 
Eloine. 
My
daughter-in-law.  

“
I’m rather disappointed that you
came to see her instead of me.” 

“
If I may be so
bold to ask, Your Majesty,” Felicity said, not quite
following Luke's example, as she
was looking up and on the brink of standing up
as she spoke, “why are you disappointed with us? We simply
require help. I don’t think it matters 
who
 gives us what we need,
just as long as we get it.” 

Chiara’s face instantly lit
up. “Oh, but if that’s the case,” she said, seemingly
completely forgetting her disappointment, “then why didn’t you
say so? 

“
If you require magical
assistance, then you’ve come to the right place,
darlings.” 

Chiara looked at the six teenagers
and the Fixie, who were still sitting in a kneeling
position. “Ah, of course,” she said. “My bad. You
may rise.” 

The Guardians gladly got to their feet; it
wasn’t fun to sit in a kneeling position for that
long.  

Chiara addressed Luke, smiling
friendlily at him. “How can I help you,
Guardian?”  

Chiara’s hand moved
toward Luke's  chest as she
said ‘you’; Luke was hoping
that Chiara would simply tap his chest,
but Chiara rested her hand just
above Luke's heart instead. Luke stepped
back in discomfort, causing Chiara to move in closer
than Luke had moved away. 

“
I know who you
are,” the Fixie whispered, so only Luke would
hear. Luke was rather taken aback by this strange lady;
he had no idea what she meant by ‘who he was’. He
was Luke, ans he was human. Nothing
more. 

Luckily, Luke's friends
came to his aid
quickly. “Ahum,” Violina coughed, “we have a
child here who is in desperate need of
magical healing. In fact, we have two.” 

Chiara suddenly made a sharp
turn in Violina’s direction. “Who let you past the
gates?” she hissed. “Have you returned to wreak havoc in
my kingdom once again, Violina dear?”  

“
For your
information,” Violina snapped, “this was my sister’s
kingdom, and mine, too – long before you and your precious boy
showed up.” She paused. “But... no, this is a visit of
peace. I am merely here to help my friends.” 

Chiara seemed rather
unconvinced, but did say, “Fine. But if you do even as much
as 
try
 to pull anything, I’ll have you locked up and executed
for treason.” 

Violina crossed her arms and slightly leaned
onto her right leg. “Fine by me,” she said. “But
you’ll have to try and catch me first.” 

“
You are hereby
dismissed, Guardians,” Chiara decided, paying attention
to Violina no more. “Except for... 
you
. I’d like you to stay, so your
friends can catch a break while I prepare
myself.” 

Chiara was
assessing Luke; once again, Luke got
nervous. 
What did this lady want from
him? 
Luke guessed that he was
about to find out, and that he probably wasn’t going to appreciate
the answer. 

Luke made some helpless gestures toward
his friends as they left the throne room; there wasn’t much they
could do for him, anyway. 

“
So... Lucas Riverdale,
right?” 

The sudden change in Chiara’s voice
as she said the name sent a chill
down Luke's spine.  

“
...Yes?” 

Chiara made a heel-turn into his
direction, wearing an unsettling smirk on her face. Her red lips
contrasted brightly against her greyish skin. 

“
How is your father doing,
Lucas?” Chiara said slowly, the smile on her face growing
wider as she spoke. 

Luke's eyes grew wide as he
defensively took a few steps backward. “
What
!?” he
exclaimed. “
Who are
you
!?” 

Chiara shrugged, her smile
not fading. “Oh, no one special,” she said, “just a
woman with a desire... the desire to become Queen of the Valley
Folk.” 

“
Why?” Luke asked, not
sure if he wanted to know the answer. But Chiara gave it
to him anyway. 

“
Because I want power, my
dear Lucas,” the Fixie said, gesturing at the thrones
further into the room. “The middle ones belong to my
daughter-in-law and my son, Kyan. The two at the sides... they
belong to the Princesses.” 

“
Violina and you?” James
asked, knowing he was delivering the obvious
answer.  

“
Not since she was banished, not
anymore,” Chiara said sharply. “But... I don’t want
a small throne. I don’t want to live in anyone’s
shadow.” 

Chiara began to pace around the room as
she continued her ‘monologue’. “That’s actually where you
come into play, my dear Lucas. I mean – I was originally
planning to capture your friend Mari and
send her straight to the Master, but now you’re here...
I...” 

She moved closer to Luke, who instantly
backed away again, hoping he wasn’t nearing any corners or
walls. 

“
...I want your power, Luke.
I want all of it.” 

Luke didn’t
comprehend. “Sorry?” he said. “I must’ve missed
something.” 

“
You
don’t
 know
?” Chiara laughed. Something sparkled in her
eyes, as if she’d suddenly come up with an ingenious
plan. “Oh, my boy, you’re missing out on something great.
You 
do
 know you’ve got magic, right?” 

“
Um...” Luke said, “I didn't know I had
any until about an hour ago.” 

Chiara smiled. “Why, of
course. And what if I told you...” she said, “...you
could become even 
more
 powerful?” 

Luke swallowed. “Sorry, not
interested. I’m not planning on staying in Lunaria – I just want to
get my family and friends home safely.” 

Chiara backed away a bit, seemingly
disappointed. “Ah. I see. 

“
But you see, I hadn’t
finished my story yet.” 

Luke made a small gesture with his
hands. “Then finish it,” he said
encouragingly. 

“
I can make you
powerful,” Chiara said. “All you’ll have to do is
accept my hand in marriage, Lucas. And then you’ll become just
like me. A Royal.” 

“
...Fixie?” Luke blurted
out; Chiara began to holler with
laughter. 

“
But 
of
course
!” she laughed. “It’s a
magical transformation, which is either conveyed at birth or
through marriage – or... the
Master.” 

“
So... you
became a Fixie 
how, 
exactly?” Luke asked, one part of him
fascinated by the story, the other part rather worried. His
opinion of Chiara became more unclear with every word she
spoke. 

“
The Master gave me the power I
needed to get my son where I wanted him to
be,” Chiara said. “He was born a Fairy, as I had
become one, but with all the physical attributes of a human being.
When he married Eloine, he became a Fixie – and so did I
gain the power of the Royals, too.” She paused,
hoping Luke would ask another
question.  

“
But even though I am a Fixie, I
still can’t become Queen.” 

“
And you’re expecting to become
Queen how?” Luke said, scratching the back of his neck;
he didn’t understand how he could possibly make any of
what Chiara had just mentioned happen, as he was neither
a Fixie, nor a member of the Royal Family. 

Luckily, Chiara knew the answer. She
moved awkwardly close to Luke once again, speaking
in an eerily seductive voice. “If you marry me, you’ll become
a Fixie, and we’ll be the eldest couple in the Family, which will
force Kyan and Eloine to stand down. Then I’ll be Queen –
and you’ll be King, of course... That's how our monarchy
works.” 

Luke raised his palms
defensively, ready to push Chiara away if she came any
closer. “As much as I love the offer,” he said, “I
must say no. I don’t love you, Chiara. Even more so – I
don’t even 
know 
you.” 

“
You don’t have to love in an
arranged marriage, Lucas,” Chiara whispered,
stroking Luke's arms, which seemed to lower themselves
without Luke's permission. “It’s all about
power.” 

“
Well,” Luke said, raising his arms once
again, “I don’t 
want 
power. I
don’t 
want any
thing. Besides, there's someone
else.” 

“
That’s in
another world...” Chiara whispered. “And maybe you
don’t want power because you’re already more powerful than a
Fixie... and if you are, you won’t change after marrying me. You’ll
stay... 
human
.” 

Luke snorted uncomfortably. “Yeah.
Uh. Still, no thanks.” 

Chiara let out a low
sigh. “Fine,” she said, instantly moving away
from Luke, seeming awfully cold all of a sudden. “You may
go.” 

She didn’t have to
tell Luke twice; he instantly made his way toward the
exit of the throne room.
Before Luke left, Chiara called his
name. 

“
You have until sundown to
decide. Then, I’m calling the Master, and tell him you and
your friends are alive. If your
powers can't be mine, I won’t let them be
yours, either.