3 Thousand Years Good Night

chapter 15: serenity

"Vienna," Arlene frowned. "What exactly is she?"

"The most powerful witch the kingdom had ever seen." Theon shook his head and stared at Arlene with sincerity. "With powers second only to my mother. Ultimately, she was the first known creator of immortality. The vile witch was not contended with the powers in her arsenal, she wanted to harness more power."

"You sound like you know her."

"Indeed." Theon nodded. "A lad was i, when i first encountered her."

"What happened?"

"I do not wish to recall that dreaded moment." Theon closed his eyes, the ghost of his past fills his memory.
"My mother was the only person that could keep her at bay, she engulfed the entire kingdom with a protection spell eventually, Vienna found a loophole and cursed her to death, and when the queen met her demise, her protective spell perished tardly, allowing Vienna to cast her influence amongst the castle's walls."

"She sounds horrible." Arlene sat at Axel's bed, determined to hear more about Theon's story.

"She was consumed by her desire for power and she would do anything to acquire it." Theon continued. "She resided at the edge of my mother's barrier, at the forbidden forest, where you found me."

Arlene crossed her arms in astonishment. Not too long ago, she and Axel were digging on a place that existed long before her great great great grandmother was born.
A mystical place, wherein, she, of all people, found Theon and Theon's mother's spell book. Has destiny interferred? Or was this all a coincedence?

Axel entered the room with a huge curve under his nose. "The floor is now spotless, thanks to me!" Axel raised his arms, imitating a well-known figure and looked around with pride, baring his sparkly teath in a smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, no need to thank me, it's what i do."
Axel gave a glorious bow, as if he made a remarkable speech.

Arlene rolled her eyes and smiled. Theon, however, glared at him as if he's some kind of performer in a circus.

Axel stood up straight and gave both of them another smirk.
"I see that you two are close now."

"Axel, Theon is----"

"Dirty!!" Axel stared at Theon's dirty face, a dirt that was accumulated in his three thousand years in slumber, with a frowned face. "Please tell me he didn't use any of my pillows."

Arlene placed her hands in her waist and gave Axel her 'your-being-too-vain look.'

"May i indulge with the purity of your river, or perhaps a lake, to tidy myself up?" Asked Theon, indeed feeling unclean.

"Sure, if you want to poison the fishes." Axel laughed. Arlene stared at Axel in disgust. Axel's laugh halted when he noticed Arlene's annoyance. "Or, you could use a shower." Axel smiled.

"What is that, sir?" Asked Theon, confused.

Arlene and Axel looked at each other.

"Here, ill show it to you." Arlene stood up and gestured Theon to follow her, leaving Axel behind.

"Oh and Axel!" Arlene screamed after leaving the room. "Prepare some towels please!"

Axel sighed. "Fine!" Axel shook his head without anyone seeing. "I'll have to bleach it afterwards."

Theon's eyes widened with amazement yet again after seeing
the advancements of a bathroom. But, his face turned pale after he saw a white circular hollow object with a shallow water inside of it, it reminded Theon of a very tiny pond with a deep hole in the center.

"That is a very dreadful place to bath, it is quite small to fit in" Theon eyed the toilet with disgust.

Arlene burst out with laughter much to Theon's confusion. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled even more. Tears of joy forming in her eyes.

Axel rushed in with a towel in his hand.

"Here you go, bro" said Axel smiling, handing the towel to the bewildered prince. "And.. i can't help but over hear, but I'm very sure you don't take a bath in a toilet Theon." Axel gave the towel to Theon and escorted him to the shower area. "This is where you take a bath, and i assume you know how? Cause I won't do it for you, no matter how much Arlene bugs me to do so, okay?"

"Yes." Theon nodded innocently.

Arlene was still in the verge of laughing. "Well, i'll leave you boys here haha! Ill be at the living room."

Theon frowned. "Axel. How will i bathe if there is no water?" Asked Theon.

"Right." Axel turned the shower switch clockwise then a smooth warm stream of water flowed out from the holes of the shower head.
Axel got a bit wet, much to his annoyance. Theon was stupefied and astounded. He backed off slowly.

"Is it some kind of miniature waterfall?" Theon eyed the shower head with curiosity. "Or, is it some kind of connective enchantment coming from a source of water?"

"Um, none of the above!" Axel raised both brows. "It's just a machine, i guess."

"Ma-chine.?" Theon frowned staring at the 'machine'. "Ma...chine." Theon repeated.

"Yeah, very good!" Axel sarcastically said, rolling his eyes. Axel continued, "If you want to turn it off, just turn this-" Axel pointed at the shower switcher. "counterclockwise." Axel gestured a counterclockwise motion with his index finger. "Got it memorized?" Axel smiled.

"Perhaps." Replied Theon, unsure.

Axel started to approach the exit. "Oh and," Axel glared at Theon. "don't forget to remove my clothes first, i don't want them wet."

"then it shall not." Replied Theon.

"Good!" Axel left and closed the door to give Theon his privacy.

Theon stretched out his hand at the stream of water and he let the warm liquid flow on his skin. It gave him a relaxing feeling, a calmness of a sort. It had been a long while since he felt water. Theon closed his eyes as he allows the water's gentle serenity sweep through his skin and nerves. Seconds have passed and he decided to feel the water completely, at first, he had a hard time unbuttoning Axel's polo shirt but eventually he succeeded, he had given an equally strenious efforts to unzip his pants but luckily, he managed to accomplished these within minutes. Eventually, his whole body was completely immersed in water, flowing its purity on his strawberry white skin.