When The Universe Align

c h a p t e r T H R E E | | Gabrijela Kavynier

"Wait, Mr Lancelot, you cannot enter-" a clear feminine voice rang out just as the doors to Gabrijela's office doors burst open. The sudden sound made the owner jump in shock. Looking up, a familiar figure strode into the perfectly spacious office, that seemed even bigger with the natural light streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows. Conroy Lancelot is Gabrijela's cousin and right-hand man. His unique silver hair was slicked back as alway. Plastered on his face was his usual playful smirk. He had his hands in the pocket of his navy blue suit pants as he walked in with an air of confidence and purpose. Even so, Gabrijela could see the worry behind those purple eyes, which were slowly turning back into their usual icy blue eyes.

"It's fine Irene." Gabrijela gave a nod of reassurance to her nervous young assistant, who looked ready to burst into tears and drop down onto her knees to beg for forgiveness. Seeing the reassurance from her boss, Irene returned back to her usual happy-go-lucky personality and bowed before closing the big heavy doors to the office on her way out.

"What's wrong, cousin?" Gabrijela asked, worry etched on her face. She knew that her cousin rarely worried about anything. Being the smartest, most knowledgeable person in the world, her cousin could easily solve even the toughest of problems without breaking a sweat.

"Must there be something wrong for me to visit my most favorite dearest cousin?" Conroy retorted back with his usual cheeky self as he placed his hands over his heart, feigning being hurt.

Between Gabrijela's office desk and the door were two white leather sofa seats facing each other, and a glass coffee table in the middle. Shamelessly making himself at home, Conroy had decided to plop himself on the sofa seat that faced Gabrijela's desk. With a flick of his wrist, eyes glowing purple, a tea set and some biscuits appeared on the coffee table. He took a long sip, out of the tea cup that appeared in his hands, before letting out a contented sigh.

"What do you mean most favorite? I'm your only cousin. What do you want?" Gabrijela asked once more; Annoyance was thick with her question. Her cousin was beating around the bush even though there seems to be more pressing matters at hand. He had barged into the office without notice, broke her peace and focus from her never ending pile of work. Now here he was, playing around. Though it was also true that she had been feeling uneasy all day, which might have played a part in her irritable mood today.

"Boo. You're no fun" Conroy pouted. Seeing Gabrijela's patience slowly snapping away, Conroy's playfulness was replaced with seriousness." Geez, what's got you so uptight. Anyway, there seems to be some discrepancy with the magic levels in the holy temples."

Now it all made sense. Why she had been feeling uneasy since morning. The 5 holy temples in Verenata are the pillars that helped balance magic in this world. Without the 5 holy temples, magic would be too unstable which would cause this world to be unlivable due to the harsh climates. Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Tornados. The damage done would be simply unimaginable. In addition, unstable magic would cause the immortals to behave erratically; all sense of logic, morals and control would cease to exist.

"Are you sure? The magic has been stable for the last century." Gabrijela had to make sure what she heard was right. If what she heard was true, a repeat of what happened the last time was bound to happen.

"Gab, the west region is currently cut off from the rest of the world due to the heavy downfall since this morning. We've tried using rain shelters to ensure normal daily activities but because of the imbalance of magic, the shelters only held out for 5 hours before it gave up. We're just lucky our drainage system is one of the best in the world because of our magic knowledge." Conroy confirmed as he took a bite out of his biscuit. Even though he seemed to be reporting his findings nonchalantly, deep inside, Gabrijela could sense the fear and worry. Conroy was always good at masking his worries and fears in order to help Gabrijela stay calm. However, this time Conroy was not sure if this was something even he could solve.

"Knowing you, you must have already gotten someone to find out the cause of this imbalance. The only thing we need to do now is to wait for the report. Please let the other empires know that we will be hosting an emergency meeting in 3 days' time, since this will affect their people." Gabrijela instructed as she stood up from her desk to walk over to the sofa seat on the opposite side of her cousin.

To others, Gabrijela was someone who had everything under control. Someone whom even the Goddess bowed down to. Someone who is just so capable, that carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders seemed like a breeze. But Conroy knew that deep down, she was just that same scared 20 year old, still a baby in immortal years, who had to rule an entire empire at such a young age; Even if a century had already passed.

Only they understood one another. They were put in the same situation after the war. Like Gabrijela, Conroy was forced to take on his family's responsibilities as Warlock Grand Duke Lancelot to represent House Lancelot. This meant that he had to serve and advise the royal family at the age of 20, without any experience or training. Even though the cousins were inexperienced and have been through a lot, they have managed to rebuild Verenata back up from a war-torn rubble to the most advanced nation in the world. It may have taken a century for the nation to prosper and grow, but it was certainly worth it when they saw how much their people lived worry free. They will not allow anyone or anything to take away this happiness and peace that belonged to their people.

Understanding her worries, Conroy stood up from his comfortable position, and took a seat next to his cousin to comfort her. "Everything will be okay. Like it always does." he whispered as he pulled his cousin into his side to comfort her. Gabrijela welcomed the comfort of her cousin and snuggled deeper into his warmth. Just like always.

"You're such a baby." Conroy teased trying to break the dark suffocating atmosphere.

"Shut up. We're the same age." Gabrijela retorted back as she continued to lean her head comfortably on Conroy's shoulder as he shook with laughter.

"Yeah. But I'm older by 1 month." His lame reply was always the same, but as always, it caused Gabrijela to laugh at her cousin's lameness.

It seemed that he had succeeded in cheering up the only person he wanted to protect in this world.