The Dark Realm - Harlequin (King)

Chapter 10

Sorrel found the leaves enclosed doors. It seemed the Fae made use of the trees and turned them into homes like Harlequin had done.

"Is this where the idea came from?" Liana asked.

"It looks like what father did to one of the larger trees. It makes me suspicious of everything that's happened and all of what father's done." Sorrel said. They moved on to the Dark Tree. There were huge double doors carved into the bottom and engraved on the face of those doors were two trees. One had colors representing the Sacred Tree and the other had the colors of the Dark Tree. The handels were made of twisted vine and there were two tree shaped knockers. A small plaque off to the side read: The Imperial Palace of Darkness.

"An Imperial Palace?" Sorrel asked.

"Let's check it out." Liana suggested. Sorrel shrugged and they pushed open the heavy doors of the palace. A grand circular staircase led up to the upper floors of what were surely greatness. Sconces lit the way up the stairs and underneath the staircase three warm fires crackled in marble fireplaces. A velvet rug made of moss was laid over the stairs and a chandelier made of shining crystal hung high above the grand foyer.

"The Fairies have nothing like this." Liana commented.

"It's incredible." Sorrel breathed. They walked up the steps and noted the way the rooms were set up. Four rooms were set up on floors closer to the ground floor and as you went up the floors less rooms were on the floor. The top floor before the canopy of leaves had one single room. They opened the doors and found a large room with an adorning bathroom and a small living room.

"These must be the king's living quarters." Sorrel guessed.

"Of course. Look at the size of the bed and the silk curtains around the bed." Liana said. Crimson silk curtains lined the space around the king size bed and when drawn would conceal the sleeper from intrusive maids. The bathroom was stocked with fluffy towels and lavish soaps that smelled like roses, lavender, honey, and almond. A deep glass tub sat to the right of a large marble countertop with a waterfall sink set in the center. The tub was a teal blue and the glass had ripples in it. An equally impressive six person shower sat across from the sink. The showers, floors and walls were white marble. The glass had a slight blue tinge to it and the handle again was crafted from the same twisted vines as the rest of the handles. There was also a large mirror hung above the sink.

"Whoever the first Fae King was had a great sense of decoration." Sorrel said.

"If the palace wasn't The Imperial Palace of Darkness I would have a more positive reaction." Liana said. They ascended the last flight of stairs and found themselves in the presence of a flower bud building. The dark olive green of the building and the dark gold of the accents all led to a grand feeling. Sorrel pushed open the doors to reveal a throne of twisted vines. The throne itself sat on three steps and a line of cushions and a velvet carpet led up to the throne. Six hammocks hung from the ceiling, three on each side, and looked as if they were meant to seat high ranking officials or Fae.

Lancelot had found a tree in equal size to that of the Dark Tree and had opened the tree shaped doors to a library full of dusty books. The shelves were made from oak and sky lights placed up in the canopy of the tree provided all the light needed. Some books were laid out on the tables as if somebody was reading them, left, and was going to come back to the book. He read the titles of some of the volumes, A Guide to Flowers, The art of Pottery, The art of Weaving, Modern Potion Science, etc. the books showed great connection to human activities and showed no difference to the things regular Fairies would do. Behind the librarian's desk he found a small leather bound diary. The title of the diary was To Derieri. He opened the book and read the first entry and possibly the last entry:

Derieri,

It is in my best wishes that you find yourself in a better position. I was actually reborn as a Fairy. It sounds ridiculous, a demon reborn as a Fairy but it's not that bad especially since there are apparently two Fairy clans, the Fairies and the Fae. I only wish to write about the things the Fae do and what kind of lifestyle we live. The Fae live in what's called the Dark Realm, it's no different from the Fairy King's Forest except the trees are darker in color and the Faez live in the trees. The king made The Imperial Palace of Darkness and it's beautiful. We have our own school where young Fae can learn. It's called The School of Fae. The Fae even have a currency that can be used in markets and shops. There's a central lake where fields of crops are grown. There's also a central market near the lake. The lifestyle of a Fae is very similar to that of a human.

It's been a few months and I hope that you can find this diary. Of course the chances of that are slim. Shortly after King Kairos ascended to the throne Gloxinia found out about our clan. We were peaceful and lived in harmony with the other clans, but all Gloxinia saw was Cethin, the only Faez who was absolutely opposite to the rest of us. He claimed us all to be like Cethin once he saw Cethin. We begged Gloxinia to see reason but of course he didn't. Kairos managed to get us a one year pact to prove that we weren't like Cethin, but of course Cethin ruined the pact. Gloxinia brought his terror to the Dark Realm and burned everything to the ground. The forest was able to survive thanks to Spirit Spear Polaris and Kairos, but he was defeated. Before his death he planted a seed that would cause the Dark Realm to regrow. I hope you will read this, I hope you've overcome the demon clan and have made a better life for yourself.

Rajine

Lancelot didn't know how to explain the rush of emotions he felt. He didn't know the truth about the Fae and only went with what rumors he had heard. He had no clue the Fae had a school, money system, crops, market and lots of other things that reminded him of human lifestyles. He kept the diary and prayed Derieri had been reincarnated. Harlequin said after Derieri had died a Goddess had cast a spell that would allow her to reincarnate with all her previous memories. If he ever found Derieri he would show her this diary.

Tristan had wandered in the direction of the only water source and found old barns and other signs of farming. There were also signs of hunting. There were no signs of connection to the demon clan so far but he did find an interesting booklet of facts about the Fae. After reading the booklet he found that the Sacred Tree and the Dark Tree were products of the Demon King and Supreme Deity. Some Fairies would have a closer connection to the Dark Tree and some to the Sacred Tree, those connected to the Dark Tree would be led to the Dark Realm where they would find a home among their kind. He also learned of the Powers of Two and powers of Three. The Powers of Two are when one spawn of the Sacred Tree is connected to the Sacred Tree and the other connected to the Dark Tree. The Powers of Three are when three spawns of the Sacred Tree are evenly divided, one to the Sacred Tree, one to the Dark Tree, and one down the middle to choose their own fate. He realized the Fae had a closer connection to the demons that originally.

They eventually met up in front of the Imperial Palace of Darkness. They shared the facts they found and decided that perhaps if fate was left to unfold things wouldn't be as disastrous as originally thought.

"It wouldn't be beneficial though. The Fairy clan would lose their king." Lancelot pointed out.

"Still. Something tells me something unjustly unfolded in this forest." Sorrel said.

"We should go before father finds us and gets furious." Liana suggested. They nodded and left. As if Harlequin had read their thoughts he was waiting by the southern border looking absolutely furious at them.

"What are you four doing?!" Harlequin shouted.

"We weren't doing anything." Sorrel answered.

"Lies! You went to the Dark Realm didn't you?!" Harlequin shouted.

"It was my idea." Lancelot said.

"Surely you know better than to endanger my kids?" Harlequin accused.

"I thought it'd be a good learning experience." Lancelot said. Harlequin was not convinced and simply glowered at Lancelot. If Ban and Elaine heard of this it might be the end of Lancelot's free time. But they had to be grateful for his help. If he could get them out of trouble then good for them, but they were worried about the consequences his parents would give him for disobeying Harlequin's orders.