Glory

A shadow with horns floated from one end of the forest toward the hunters. One of them stood there with an open mouth, while the others aimed their bows at various angles.

A deep voice said, “Who summoned me?”

“Where is he?” asked a hunter.

I gritted my teeth and said, “I summoned you!”

A cloud of smoke appeared and covered the whole place. I could barely breathe and I coughed. Then, a pair of golden-yellow eyes blinked out of it.

“Why?!” said the demon.

The smoke cleared, and I could finally breathe. A pale man with floor-length black hair and oversized horns wearing a black suit with pentagrams appeared. He had two silver guns.

Wow, what a modern demon. He has guns, but no one else does.

The demon looked behind himself and said, “Why have you summoned me?!”

I coughed for the last time and said, “Evan, do the honors.”

“Alright. You must resurrect the prince! He had lost his soul but did not get what he asked for,” said Evan.

“Hmm, let me take a look.”

The demon walked forward while the hunters screamed, “Fire!”

Before they could shoot him, he turned around, dodged each and every one of the arrows.

“Continue,” said a hunter.

It was then that the demon fired his gun, and the bullet hit one of them with a bang, and the man fell to the ground while screaming. The other hunters surrounded him.

“We must avenge him!” shouted one of the hunters.

“Please, we do not have time! Two hours have passed,” said Evan.

The demon walked closer to them and began shooting at all of them, two hunters at a time. Within a few minutes, most of the hunters were shot, but a single arrow managed to pierce the demon in his head.

He toppled over, lost balance, and screamed.

“No, please, we need the prince alive!” I yelled.

“Ah, there’s no hope after all,” said Kelly, sighing.

“We must keep trying!” I said.

“What else can we do?” said the crown prince.

The demon screeched, took his arrow out, and said, “I will place a curse on these hunters forever.”

The cloud of smoke reappeared, and my eyes burned in it. The smoke vanished, and I lost my breath for a while, as if there was no air in my lungs.

“I will miss him dearly…” said Evan.

Kelly hugged him.

“I refuse to give up. Oh, I know what to do! I’ll travel to the underworld and find the lost soul.”

“Janessa, you only have an hour! What will happen if you lose yourself there? It is just as bad for you as it is for me! No, we must bury Cassius after he dies. His funeral will be the grandest, and the whole nation will weep for him,” said Evan.

“He is quite correct. There must be millions, no, trillions of souls in the underworld. How will you find his?” said Kelly.

“Enough. I’ll do it. Wait for me for an hour, at least!” I yelled.

“We will be waiting!” said Azalea.

I summoned a staff with my holographic glove. It was a golden stick with a circle surrounded by star motifs.

“Alright, if that is what you want,” said Kelly.

“Very well,” said the crown prince.

“I summon the path to the underworld!” I said, pointing away from them.

A portal opened, and a white light enveloped me. I began falling into emptiness, and tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth.

I found myself in an empty, dark place where I floated with my wings. The ground was miles away, and I gulped upon seeing it.

Orbs of various shapes began to flash with light, and whenever they lit up, there was only strong light, which made my eyes hurt. I got a headache within a few seconds.

What have I done? There’s no way I’ll find his soul here. At this rate, I’ll be reduced to one of these spheres.

They began to sing, “Be with us. Stay with us. There is no need for heaven or hell…”

“Cassius? Prince Cassius? Are you here?” I screamed.

There was no sound.

“Ah, this is just like when Cassius lost his soul when searching for his mother…” I said.

All of a sudden, my limbs began to vanish with the rest of my body.

“No! I’m not dead. I won’t die again!” I screamed.

“It is no use,” said many of the voices.

I began falling, dropping miles away. I could now see that those spheres and octagons were all silhouettes of people who held onto the roofs of buildings.

“Please, I’m supposed to be a goddess! Why is this happening?!”

I smacked hard on the ground and blacked out.

“No!” cried a deep voice.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a dark place where I could only see a blue outline of a man who held me in his arms.

“It’s not Cassius, is it?” I muttered.

“Why would you do this, Janessa? Why did you follow me here? And you, unhand her now,” said a man.

I saw Cassius’s purple outline and screamed, “Put me down!”

He obliged, and I stood up.

“Is this yours?” asked Cassius, handing me a staff.

“Yes, it is! My prince, I’ve found you. Let’s return,” I said.

“You are jesting. Do you see any way out? I have been trying for hours. Everyone has been trying for decades. Last time someone left, I hear that their soul had vanished, and all traces of their existence were erased.”

“But Cassius, that sounds like a rumor! How do you know for sure? We have to take that risk. After all, I refuse to follow unwritten rules that aren’t supposed to be there!” I screamed.

“Ah. Very well. If I am to disappear, I would rather disappear with you. No need to tell me, your actions have told me how much you still love me,” said Cassius.

“Of course, I love you. Now, let’s get out of here!”

He smiled and tried to embrace me, but I could feel nothing, and he was hugging air. I tried to hold his hand and was repelled, just as two like poles repel each other.

“I’ll try to open a portal,” I said.

“Stop. Do you have any idea how many souls will escape? We will be lost from one another in that mess.”

“So? It might be our only shot,” I said.

“True.”

I waved my staff in a circular motion and said, “Portal to the dimension of Saphyr, open at once!”

Just then, a silver rimmed portal opened, and I was pushed by hundreds of souls, trampled over, and I heard Cassius yelling my name.

The portal closed, and I said, “Oh, no!”

The rest of the souls gathered, stacking on each other while falling.

“I told you so,” said Cass.

“I suppose you did.”

I rose up and floated.

“Wait, we can try flying up. We can go back the same way we came from!” I said.

“Do you see any wings on me?” he remarked.

“Leave it to me!”

My wand glowed green, and the light capsized us, and we found ourselves in the same teal green dressmaking room. We were back to color, except our bodies glowed.

“Huh? What is this place? Are we back in the castle?” he asked.

“No, this is another dimension!” I said. “Hmm, I need a measuring tape. Oh! Inches are marked on my staff. I just noticed now.”

“Okay…?” he said.

“This is part of my dressmaking magic.”

“Oh! Splendid. Breathtaking! Wait, cannot we summon a portal from here?”

“No, I’ve tried before! How much time do we have, Prince Charming?” I asked.

“Oh? There is a clock, here… Oh my God, only twenty minutes! Rush, Janessa!” he cried.

I gulped, measured him at once, and chose a grey fabric, wire, and foam.

“Pixies, cut the foam into feathers! I’ll start sewing the outfit, and build the wire frame!” I yelled.

“Janessa, we only need the wings!” said Cassius.

The grey fabric was immediately cut into a suit, and Cassius’s clothes vanished, while the fabric censored him. A lavender shirt formed itself around him. The last part was the foam, white angel wings.

“Can I fly?” he said, flapping his wings.

He floated for a few seconds and dropped to the ground.

“It is no use!”

“Cassius, we have no time! We gotta leave now. Use your imagination to fly.”

“Oh?” he said.

He flapped his wings and rose from the ground.

The green light flashed once again. We found ourselves back in the underworld. The white light made it difficult to see each other.

“We have no time, Cass. Let’s rise up on our own!” I yelled.

“Understood!”

I heard a flapping noise, and I flew up at once. I pointed my staff upward, and a golden light carried me upward.

All I could see was darkness.

“Ah, an hour is nearly up. Just a few minutes remain. What should we do?” asked Kelly.

“Let us wait a bit! We cannot let Janessa’s efforts go to waste.”

“Alright. I feel my heart will beat out of my chest. Dear Cassius!”

“Oww…” I said.

I found myself under a tree, and Comet yelled, “Janessa has returned!”

“Has she?” yelled Evan.

They looked behind.

“There she is! Oh, when did Cassius grow angel wings?!” exclaimed Kelly.

I got up, weak in the knees, and staggered toward him.

“There, there, Janessa! You have done enough. Let us return. I have a feeling that Cassius will be alright,” said Evan.

I disintegrated my costume.

Will the prince wake up? If so, will he even remember me?

We walked and boarded the carriage.

“Where is Jim?” asked Evan.

“I am okay!” he yelled from on top of the carriage.

“Ah, Jim, you coward!” said Evan.

The three witches waved goodbye. They kept Cassius next to me. I fell asleep while leaning against him.

Just then, I heard a cough beside me, and I woke up. Still, I closed my eyes.

“Janessa… Janessa?” cried Cassius.

He remembers me!

“Oh my God, what a relief!” said Evan.

“Ah, thank the Lord and thank Janessa!”

“Where is Janessa?!”

“Look beside you,” said Kelly.

“Ah, look how she rests like an angel! You deserve it, my love.”

“You seem to be quite an angel right now,” scoffed Kelly.

“Oh, what?”

“Your wings.”

Soon, the horses stopped walking. We stepped out of the carriage, and the moon shone brighter than ever as the maids stepped out of the castle.

“Open the gates! The princes have returned!” they yelled.

We walked out while Cassius held my hand.

“Am I stuck with these wings forever?” asked Cass.

“Of course not. My magic will wear off soon,” I said.

“Oh. I was looking forward to flying around.”

We entered, and all the lights turned on. Everyone bowed and curtseyed for us. Catherine ran toward Evan and hugged him tightly.

“I cannot believe it. You are all heroes,” she said.

“Ah, it was mostly Janessa,” said Prince Evan.

“Oh. What matters most is that all of you are back home, safe and sound!” said Catherine.

“The King!” cried Kelly.

They all bowed, and I curtseyed.

“I must applaud all of you!” he said, clapping. “Evan, you will make a fine king, alongside Catherine as your queen!”

There goes all of Cassius’s chances. Not that he had a full chance to be the king, anyway.

I looked at Cassius, who clenched his fist and stared at the floor with a scowl. The King touched the feathers of his wings, and they disintegrated, falling onto the floor. Cassius continued to glare, but at the king’s shoes.

“My dear son, Cassius. You are the youngest and the most beloved among all. I will be sure to leave you many riches, more than enough for you and Janessa,” said the King.

“Your majesty, it was Janessa who saved us all.”

“Is that so? We must be sure to reward her greatly.”

“Cassius, it is alright. It is too soon to tell who the king will be,” said Evan.

Cassius smiled his way and said, “I suppose you are correct.”

“But Prince Evan, you are the eldest!” said Catherine.

“Yes, I know that,” said Evan. “Well, if you will excuse me, I will go to bed now.”

Catherine extended her hand toward Evan’s back, and he turned back to glance at her once.

“Good night,” she said.

“Good night,” said Prince Evan, without looking at her.