Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 103

“Then,” Davitt said, stopping in his tracks, “How about we take a little rest?”

He pointed at a nearby table with two benches surrounding it on opposite sides. Everyone nodded their head vigorously and ran to the bench. They all sat around the table and sighed in relief.

“My poor feet,” the fairy mumbled as she stretched her legs.

Laojin and Astoria laughed in unison.

“It cannot be that bad?” Davitt asked the fairy, who pouted.

“Of course it is,” she told him, “I am not used to walking for so long in such a hilly, zigzagging, and twisted road.”

Astoria gently patted the fairy’s slender shoulders.

“There there, princess,” she told the fairy, trying to comfort her, “We are almost done. Hang in there a little longer.”

Laurelai shrugged her arm away.

“Nexi!” she heard the fairy whisper-yell at her in her ear, “Quit it! You will make me look helpless in Davitt’s eyes.”

Astoria softly chuckled and nodded.

“Oops,” she clasped her hands together and smiled, “Sorry. My bad, my bad.”

The fairy blushed and clasped her hands together, staring at the table. Astoria smiled and leaned her head back as she stared at the sky, which was as blue as a millionaire’s swimming pool.

‘Ah,’ Astoria thought, ‘Since we are ready, let me ask them a few questions about my siblings.’

She cleared her throat and leaned her head forward.

“I have a question,” she said, causing the other three to look at her, “and it is about my siblings.”

Laurelai tilted her head in confusion.

“Your siblings?” the fairy asked, furrowing her brows.

Astoria nodded.

“Did they always treat me like a stranger in the academy?”

“Huh?” Davitt tilted his head in confusion as well, “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Astoria replied, “Have we like ever hung out? Do they talk to me? Things like that.”

Laojin pressed his lips together and stared at her.

“Well,” Laurelai began, “Anyone can see that you guys do not get along. Ever since you joined the academy, I have never seen you guys hang out.”

“Yeah,” Davitt nodded, “It’s like you are complete strangers.”

“It is obvious to everyone that Nadia hates you,” Laojin bluntly added, causing her to let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ah! I didn’t mean to…to…” Laojin waved his hands in the air, looking all flustered, “…to sound so blunt.”

She shook her head and crossed her hands together, and bit her lip.

“No,” she said, “I know you did not mean to.”

The fairy sighed.

“Have you tried to talk to her?” the fairy asked, causing Astoria to raise her eyebrow.

“Your sister, I mean,” the fairy added upon seeing her confused expression, “You guys are sisters. You should be there for each other, you know?”

Astoria half-heartedly laughed.

“I tried to talk to her,” she told them, “but let’s just say it did not go so well. When I try to talk to her or even Morvin, it’s like I am annoying them.”

She laughed again.

“Correction,” she said, “It’s a pain just saying hi to them without being criticized. I have given up trying to sort out our differences…for now, that is. I have bigger things to worry about.”

She said the last part softly enough for none of them to hear.

“It will get better,” Davitt said, trying to comfort her, “Just give it time. Fights are bound to happen between royal siblings.”

The fairy and troll nodded and smiled at her.

“Yeah,” she said, giving them a smile back, “I guess you are right.”

She looked at the blue sky again.

‘Though I do not know how long it will take for me to mend Nexi’s broken relationships,’ she thought, ‘However, I cannot worry about that right now. I don’t have time. I have to focus on finding and stopping the Dark Lord.’

They sat at the bench for an extra five minutes in silence, regaining their energy. Davitt then stood up.

“We should get going now,” he told them, and they nodded.

They stood up and finally reached their destination a few minutes later.

“Finally!” Laurelai and Laojin exclaimed in unison as they stared at the multiple creatures walking about in the swamp.

“It’s packed,” Davitt said, staring at creatures who were laughing and chatting.

Astoria nodded and looked around to see if she could find someone belonging to the Riddle Race. They walked around and scanned the area for the creature.

“Whoa!” she said, stopping abruptly, causing Laojin, who was walking behind her, to bump into her.

“Ah, sorry,” he told her and stared at her, “What are you staring at?”

He looked in the direction of her gaze and found that she was staring intensely at a treant. It was a creature with tree characteristics, human-like mobility, and facial features.

“Ah! A treant,” Laurelai said, “And it’s wearing the white t-shirt with a Hyacinth flower.”

They walked towards the treant, passing other creatures who were heading in different directions. They stood in front of the treant, and Astoria could not help but stare at it with her mouth wide open.

“But treants in Ashen do not speak, so how are we supposed to know what the riddle is?” Laurelai whispered to Davitt.

“It can just write the riddle on the soil surrounding it,” he whispered back to her.

“Soil?” the fairy raised her eyebrows and stared at the direction the gargoyle was pointing at.

Sure enough, the treant was surrounded by light brown soil.

“Ah, I see,” the fairy then pressed her lips together.

The treant stood 30 ft in height. It was huge. Astoria watched as it bent down to their level. She was really taken aback by this, and she blinked multiple times in surprise. It began to scribble words on the soil.

“Riddle Race?” she read the words it wrote.

She looked up at it, and Davitt nodded.

“Yes,” he said, “Do you have our riddle?”

The treant nodded and began to write down the riddle on the soil. Other creatures stared in their direction, wondering what the treant was doing with them.

“What is that treant doing?” one creature asked its friend.

“I do not know,” the creature’s friend replied, “Maybe playing a game?”

Astoria stared at the treant, examining its brown and green body. This was basically a moving tree, and it was fascinating for her to see such a creature. She was once again reminded that this was indeed a fantasy world.

“It’s done writing,” Laojin said, causing her to avert her gaze to the written words scribbled on the light brown soil.

“Let’s see,” the fairy said, scanning the words, “It is written like a poem.”

The fairy began to read the poem.

“A thousand colored folds stretch toward the sky,

Atop a tender strand,

Rising from the land,

‘Til killed by maiden’s hand,

Perhaps a token of love,

Perhaps to say goodbye.”

The fairy looked up at the treant and then at her team members.

“Any ideas?” she asked them.

“Rising from land?” Davitt said, furrowing his brows.

“Since we are in a natural setting, don’t you guys think maybe the riddle involves nature?” Astoria suggested.

Laojin nodded.

“Yeah, it’s possible,” he agreed.

“So, if it’s that way, then ‘rising from land’ would be plants, maybe?” the fairy suggested, tilting her head causing her red hair to sway to the side.

“Or flowers?” Astoria added, “Because flowers get plucked by women, and if you pluck a flower, you kinda kill it…”

“That makes sense,” Davitt nodded, “And flowers are used as a token of love and can be used to say goodbye.”

“Like white flowers used for a funeral since they bring about feeling of peace,” Laojin added, “To say that may the soul reach the afterlife and rest in peace.”

Astoria and the fairy nodded, agreeing with the gargoyle and troll.

“Then we will go with the answer flower,” Davitt said, running his hands through his brown hair, “Are we all agreeing to that?”

He looked at everyone, and they nodded. He smiled and faced the treant.

“We will go with the answer flower,” he told the treant.

The treant nodded and began to write on the light brown soil again.

“Oh,” the fairy said, twiddling a strand of her red hair, “I hope we are right.”

The others waited as the treant finished writing.

“Correct?” Astoria slowly read, “Correct! We were right!”

“Yes!” Laojin jumped for joy, and the fairy clapped her hands in satisfaction.

Davitt smiled and watched as Astoria took out a piece of the puzzle from her belt bag. She showed it to the treant, and it nodded. The treant slowly stretched its large branch hand at them.

In its hand was another piece of their puzzle. She took the puzzle piece and thanked the treant, putting the puzzle piece safely in her bag. Now, they had just one more puzzle piece to collect.

“We better get going now,” the fairy said, “We have one more place to go, and that’s the Anthousai Museum.”