Beyond the Stars

Chapter 10: Map

"HOW DARE YOU BARGE INTO MY CASTLE!" Queen Barbara shouted. She's really angry. "HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP ONE OF OUR STUDENTS!" King Crisanto shouted back. This is scary. "DON'T EVER RAISE YOUR VOICE ON MY WIFE!" King Arnel resented. OMG, they're fighting. "THIS GIRL IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A THERONDIAN! SHE DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST, ON WHAT HAPPENED ON MY SON." she swallowed. She really is trying her best not to cry. She's fuming mad. "MY SON LOVED YOUR DAUGHTER BUT WHAT DID SHE DO? SHE REPLACED HIM WITH A THERONDIAN! SHE LEFT HIM JUST BECAUSE HE'S A CASPIAN! HE LOVED HER SO MUCH THAT HE KILLED HIMSELF WHEN HIWAGA LEFT HIM!" what? They have different versions of the story. I'm confused. King Crisanto told them that what they're saying is not true. I think they realized that I was listening to their argument that's why Queen Marikit decided to go out of that place. I have no choice but to just come along with her because they might end up fighting again.

What's bothering me is that they have different versions of the story. Which side should I believe on?

We were quiet on the way back. It's so scary. I don't know what to say or if I should say something. Outside King Arnel and Queen Barbara's palace. The queen banged her scepter lightly on the ground and there I saw a big portal. The guards were the first ones to go inside the portal. Queen Marikit gestured me to go inside since I was in a state of shock but since I know she's not in the best of mood, even though I'm hesitant to go inside, I did it because she might be angrier.

The other side of the portal was the castle. I saw the queen and king from behind me just coming out of the portal. I was expecting that Queen Marikit will scold me but I was wrong. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you?" She worriedly asked me. She's just like Queen Barbara. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." I assured her. "You made us all worried. Almost all of the people here in Therondia are busy finding you, we tried to use our pixies to reach you but they also don't know where to find you." King Crisanto said. Oh, so the pixies here only memorized the area in Therondia and not the whole Cassiopeia. That makes sense but what doesn't make sense is that why would almost all of the people in Therondia find me. Why would they care?

"You should stay in our palace so that the guards could look after you." The queen suggested. I'll be sleeping again in a palace? "I agree lass. You should attend your classes and after that, you should transfer all your things from the dormitory here. You'll be staying in Hiwaga's old room." The king told me before they left. I saw the queen teary-eyed. What should I do?

As I went inside our classroom. Almost all of them were happy to see me. They told me that they were all worried and they all felt sad when I disappeared. That's such an overreaction. Of course, in every rule, there's always an exception, almost all of my classmates were happy to see me except for one. I don't need to mention her name anymore, it's stating the obvious. She never gets tired of glaring at me. She really looks like she wants to kill me.

After our class. I saw Blessica, Danilo, and Alon. They all ran into me and immediately hugged me. They all told me the same thing, that they were worried etc. "You really are an attention seeker aren't you?!" A girl who hates me interrupted our reunion. I don't need to state her name. "Maybe the reason you disappeared is that you want all of their attention!" She's angry. I still can't forget the lodicakes thingy. I tried not to crack a smile. Blessica shielded me and defended me.

"The reason why people like her is because she's kind. She's not like you. Do you want me to report this to the queen so that she can kick you out of Therondia High School?" Blessica threatened her that made Amelia scared and have no choice but to leave. The group asked me how I was but I don't know how to answer. How am I doing? I'm confused. They asked me where did my confusion come from so I answered.

"I'm confused. I don't know what's the truth. Who should I believe in? Are the Caspian's king and queen lying or are the Therondian's leaders deceiving me?" After I told them that, I shared with them what I found out about Prince Sinag. "Don't believe them, Angeline. I know Queen Marikit so well and she would never lie or make up a story." Blessica defended the queen but it's still wasn't enough for me. "But you don't know Queen Barbara well that's why you don't have a say if she's lying or not." I gave them the benefit of the doubt which made them all quiet. "Since I'm here in Cassiopeia, I want to know the truth. I won't know the truth if the places I'll seek for answers are in Caspian or Therondia." I explained which made them all sigh.

"There's a place called 'River of Truth' wherein it answers your question truthfully if you go there." Blessica explained. "Then I'll teleport there." I said which made Danilo shook his head. "We still can't do that. We just knew the basics. Teleporting to a place we haven't seen yet is one of the difficult ones we still haven't learned. We'll learn that in Junior year." Danilo said. Junior year is 2 years away. I can't wait that long. I asked them if they have a map of the whole Cassiopeia and they said the library has a copy. They offered to get the map and just made me wait for them.

While I was waiting, I heard someone's "psst" I realized that I was near the wall-like boundary. I peeped through the little hole in the wall and there I saw Carmen, Baron, and Cedric. They all asked me the same questions I heard the whole day. They asked me how I am and things like that. It's redundant. I should've recorded my answers and play them so that I shouldn't waste my voice. I told them I was finding Cassiopeia's map and they went away to find it for a while.

While they were finding the map, I prepared the things I needed for my trip. This trip might take time. I better be prepared. After a few hours, they went to me.

"We found the map!!!" I heard all of them say but I think they didn't hear each other. "But the thing is-""it's broken in half." Blessica and Carmen said in sync which made them glare at each other. I grabbed the two broken maps and surprisingly, the two pieces match together and is what I needed for me to explore Cassiopeia. These two kingdoms can complement each other. I was enthusiastic but I saw my fellow companions glaring at each other.

Uh-oh...