A Phoenix's Heart

🌌 Prologue part 1

 Mereoleona's point of view (ages of characters: Mereoleona - 11; Nozel and Fuegoleon - 9)

The Sun started going down and I could barely hear Nozel and Fuegoleon's whispers as we silently sneaked through the dense trees leading from the Vermillion estate to the Novachrono estate.

"Why do we have to sneak into the Novachrono estate? Aren't Royals allowed to visit each other's Estates," whispered Nozel as we crouched in the bushes to wait for the guards to pass.

"Yes, but they must be invited or the two families are close like ours. The Novachronos aren't as closely related to the other three royal families and no one has been invited since the heads of the house died 6 years ago, leaving only their kids. They have some relatives that might take over as head till the kids are older," I replied.

"So why are we breaking in? Maybe they just want to be left alone! They have suffered so much already," replied Fueggy.

"None of that is what I meant," whispered-yelled Nozel. "We have been on their estate grounds before to train or with our parents. So why are we sneaking around now? And why at night? Why are we wearing clothes and disguises to do it? We haven't even left the castle grounds yet."

"To sneak out of the castle. Duh. There's a hole in the wall that surrounds the castle. We can use it to sneak out to the surrounding towns" I explained.

"Then why are we heading to their house," asked Fueggy

I rolled my eyes at their dumb questions before I replied, "Becauusse I don't know where the hole is. But Estella does."

"Estelle!!! I hear she has no power," exclaimed Fueggy. "Some of the adults said that her mother wasn't even human. She wasn't from here."

"That must be why she's weak," commented Nozel.

"Our mother and father think it's something else. She was born with a large amount of mana but rumors of her being powerless are more recent" I said, defending her. "Now quiet! Both of you and follow me."

Nozel and Fueggy follow my lead. We hide in the bushes under a window near their mansion. I shush them to be quiet when I hear the subtle squeak of the window opening. I peek out of the bushes and can barely make out the outline of a slim short 9-year-old girl quietly climbing out the window. She, too, was wearing a long black cloak to hide her appearance and helped her blend in with the shadows. After she climbed out the window she started sneaking through the bushes toward the outermost wall.

"Come on you two! We can't lose her," I rushed them.

"We're following her. I thought you were going to ask her where the exit was," questioned Fueggy.

"No... I've never talked to her before. I have just seen her sneak out ... or at least I've seen a shadow about her size and shape sneak out".

"Wait! So you don't even know who we're following. What if that's not Estella? What if it's some sort of criminal has been sneaking in," snapped Nozel grabbing and pulling me to face him.

"It's not a criminal. The capital and the royal castles are some of the most secure facilities in the entire country".

I could feel Nozel's deadpan expression through his tone of voice as he replied "Then why is there a hole in the wall."

Man, Nozel is really starting to annoy me.

"We should have brought a candle or something," spoke Fueggy, breaking our moment of silence. "I can't even see her anymore. When you two weren't bickering did you see where she went?"