The next day, after having slept and rested, I went to the yellow house to pay my respects.
The Laoch family had lost three of its members and I couldn't help but think that it was my fault.
Russell's voice echoed in my head nonstop. You are the cause of all my suffering, the worst thing that has ever happened to me.
How would he forgive me for this?
Was it even him talking or all the black magic that was running through his veins?
The Comrades, along with a group of healers, including Tryx, had come to the conclusion that that was what it was, black magic.
Apparently, King Lucius had already begun his experiments years ago, but had never managed to come up with the perfect mix.
After the loss of magic, which won him a battle, he lost the opportunity to achieve his goal, to create an army of dark beings to control the entire Earth.
He had never wanted my heir, or maybe he did, I don't know, most likely he needed me to break the curse and have his so precious magic back.
In creating the magic, his experiments came to life, all those who had been injected or had consumed his potions would follow the same path as Russell.
As for him, although my magic did not affect him, it did not mean that another would not. They didn't know if they could cure him, but at least they could contain him.
He would be asleep for a while, preventing him from completely transforming into that human wolf that the others had become.
He rested in the room of the Comrades' house, encapsulated in an enchantment that kept him floating in the air. I couldn't go to see him, I couldn't stand him being like that because of me.
So now I was going to ask the Laochs for forgiveness, for being the cause of so much of their suffering.
The yellow house was open, receiving people from the village who had come to be with the family.
Aaron's body would rest next to the grave they had made for his father a few years earlier.
I stepped inside without even paying attention to the bows I would eventually have to learn to accept.
I recognized Cara in the middle of the room.
I thought she would be angry, that she would yell at me, that she would kick me out, because that was what I deserved, but she did nothing of the sort.
'Oh dear,' she came up to me and took my hands and then held me in her arms.
'I'm so sorry,' I said, holding back my tears.
The others in the room remained silent.
'It's not your fault, Aaron was happy to serve the Crown and my husband... we had lost him a long time ago. Russell will be fine, I trust the Gods will save him.'
I smiled at her as best I could and looked for the twins.
They were both hugging Fred, but they ran towards me and hugged me over the huge white dress that Rythel had urged me to wear. Apparently, white was their mourning color. They believed that souls turn that color when they went to rest beside the Gods.
'We thank you, Princess,' Aly said.
'You saved us all,' Annie continued.
'Not all,' I told them sadly.
'You're our salvation, whether you believe it or not,' Fred told me, walking up to me.
'Speak for yourself,' Rich stood alone in a corner and approached his brothers. 'They shouldn't have gone with you, but they were determined to go and you didn't stop them... you could have... and Father.'
He started crying and I tried to calm him down but he walked away. I couldn't stop thinking about how Rich had lost all his joy. His jokes as mere memories in the sadness in which he was now immersed.
'He'll get over it, he was very close to Aaron...' Cara told me. 'I know the Gods will take care of him. My son was a good boy, he will be with them.'
'I know my parents will take care of him like you took care of me.' I earned another hug, this time from Cara and the twins.
'I'd better go now,' I said to them as I headed for the door, 'whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask, we are family.'
'That is an honour, your Majesty.'
I left the yellow house and quietly said goodbye to the place that had opened its doors to me without judgment or hesitation.
I arrived sometime later at the Comrades' meeting.
They wanted to talk about the steps to follow, and the coronation they already wanted to start planning.
'The coronation can wait, the main thing is to establish new rules now that magic has been recovered in all the Kingdoms,' Rythel tried to stay on top of things.
'We just need her to say the oath, it will be simple,' insisted Sir Oskel.
'We will do it, but Rythel is right, we must think what we are going to do about the black magic. Even if my dome holds, we won't be able to keep all the creatures in check much longer. We have to find a cure.'
Everyone listened to me carefully.
'But Your Majesty, I don't think there is such a thing...' Rythel told me honestly.
'That's your problem, birdie, you're always so narrow-minded.'
A voice from a corner of the room startled us.
'Who's there?' Sir Tlinar asked, although I had already recognized him.
'Syform?'
Syform was alive.
I was so happy it took me a few seconds to see the difference in him.
He no longer jumped around, nor did he behave strangely. His features had changed. He had become the same man my father once called a friend.
'Syform,' I said again, rising from my seat and going to meet him. 'You are alive!' I exclaimed, embracing him.
'My little one, I could never leave you,' he said, holding me in his arms.
'Where did you go? I thought you were dead,' I scolded him, giving him a little tap on the shoulder. 'You left just when I needed you most.'
One of the Comrades coughed and I noticed that all four of them were looking at him with hatred.
'Can you please leave us alone?' I asked them, even though they knew it was an order.
They left the room in a bad mood, but obeying my order.
'Explain yourself right now.'
Syform, who now impressed me with his emerald eyes and neat hair, took me by the hand.
'I couldn't intervene, you had to find the answer yourself, that's the way I saw it, and that's the way it had to be. If I change something, everything changes.'
'Did you know that all this was going to happen? Why didn't you warn me?'
'I couldn't, little one, if I said anything you would never have done it, everything had to happen as it did. Everything is necessary for the future I have predicted.'
'Even what happened to Aaron and Russell's father? What is happening right now to Russell as well?' I asked sadly.
Russell had commented that Syform was right, perhaps he had warned him of what could happen if he stayed by my side.
'Sometimes misfortune opens the door to changes we never thought possible.'
I understood his point, but I was still not convinced.
'Why did you come back now?' I asked him doubtfully.
'Because I know how to heal all those affected by black magic.'
'Do you know how to cure Russell?'
Syform smiled at me and snapped his fingers.
We were at the side of the lake where I used to go with Russell.
'No one has to listen to this. I saw that too and believe me, it's not very nice what I saw, so we will try to avoid it at all costs,' he explained, although I was still trying to understand how what had happened had happened.
Had we teleported? What kind of power did Syform have? How had he...?
'Got my powers back?'
I was even more frightened, was he...?
'Listening to your thoughts, yes indeed. When you brought the magic back, I regained total control of my mind, of my powers. At the time when the curse was striking the Earth, I was locked up in the whispers of the future and they came out of me out of control. Now, I am in total control. So, you have to listen to me, I know how to solve this, I saw the happy ending you deserve, little one.'
Happy ending?
It seemed like something impossible at that moment where so much pain overwhelmed me.
I thought about my father's memories. King Gelon, the magnificent King of Crescendo, my own father, had trusted his friend, even though he had predicted his own death. If he had trusted him... so would I.
'What do I have to do?'
'You must go to the Lost Kingdom, seek Caelus.'
'Caelus? The leader of the Lost Men?'
'That's right, he'll help you get where you need to go.'
'Where would that be?'
'The Tree of life.'
The End.
This is the end of book one. Milaia's adventures continue...
Book two of the Fifth Element Chronicles, "The Lost Kingdom", is being published every five days:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/290174648-the-lost-kingdom-the-fifth-element-chronicles