Road of the Heavenly Light

20-2: Reflection

The very next morning, all the students of Royale High slowly trickled into the dining hall for their breakfast, which was much less formal than dinner. Anna was one of the students already up early, and she sat down next to Reeve and her usual friends.
"It's finally the big day," Astrid remarked, the excitement clear in her voice.
"Exciting, isn't it?" Elizabeth added, turning to Anna.
"Absolutely," she chimed in, "though I wish my back wasn't still sore from the point-to-point yester-"
She stopped her words, instead looking around her.

"Why are there so many people looking at me?"
"It must be the point-to-point. Don't let it get to you," Levi responded.
Anna nodded and was about to resume eating when one of the students approached her. It was a girl from Brightwald, her name had escaped her.
"Is it true?" the girl asked.
"Yes, and I'm quite proud of it," Anna remarked confidently.

The girl adorned a revolted expression before shrugging.
"Well, I guess some people take pleasure in that sort of dynamic. I just hadn't expected it from you, of all people."
Anna raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"I heard that you're secretly dating a footman from your father's household."
"What?" Anna exclaimed, feeling her face turn red, "I'm not! I thought you were talking about the point-to-point."
"Oh... I see..." the girl muttered before walking off again.

"What an irritable girl!" Laura scoffed.
"Well, that certainly explains all the looks!" Anna exclaimed.
"Who would spread such a nasty rumor?" Reeve asked, clueless about the usual goings at Royale High.
"There is only one person who would do that, and that's-"
Felix didn't get to finish his sentence, as the doors to the hall slammed open, revealing a furious Drake.

"I'll kill that damned wench!" he shouted.
"What's wrong?" Glen asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
"It's only going around the palace that the two of us are planning to declare war on Brightwald, and only because we were seen together in the garden at night," Erric explained.
"Well, what were you doing in the garden at night?" Apollo asked.
"We were going to the arena to place bets together," Drake answered.
Howard scoffed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me at all... you two are real scoundrels."
"I'll show that spoiled brat a scoundrel," Drake growled.
"Oh, please, calm down; it's all just some harmless gossip that will pass in a few d-" Amaya remarked, a newspaper in front of her, which made her eyes widen, "I'LL DESTROY HER," she then screamed.

Eleanor took the newspaper from Amaya's hands, looking at the headlines.
"'Princess Amaya's greatest weakness revealed: her addiction to anything sweet', oh dear," Eleanor read, trying her best to stifle her laughter.
Drake did not, bursting out immediately.
"I'll kill her, I swear," Amaya vowed.
"Who are you all talking about? Who is she?" Reeve asked, still clueless.
"Well, it's-"
"Audrey!" Isabella exclaimed, cutting off Anna.

When Audrey entered the dining hall, she immediately saw that there was quite a commotion going on. All eyes were on her, and the gazes were varying between confusion and absolute rage, which piqued her interest.
"What is all this fuss about?" Audrey asked, "could it be that you're all impressed by my stunning looks in preparation for tonight?"
"The fuss is about the terrible rumors going around about our classmates. We suspect you to be the source," Isabella explained.
"Suspect?" Drake cut in, "they've almost got her damn name on them!"

Isabella handed Audrey the newspaper, which covered all the rumors she had supposedly spread. She immediately scoffed upon reading it.
"I didn't say those things," she remarked nonchalantly, "it's not my fault if people twist my words for their own benefit."
"But the rumors still began with you, did they not?" Elizabeth argued, "they could seriously damage people's good names and reputations, not to mention continental stability because of our stations."
"Oh, you exaggerate; it's really just harmless gossip," Audrey refuted, "you all have no sense of humor. I'll just eat with my ladies instead, at least they know better."
Audrey left the room without another word.

As she walked through the palace halls, Audrey couldn't help but think that her classmates were being overly dramatic and sensitive. All she had done was discuss some intriguing events with her ladies. If other people took that information and came to their own conclusions that were completely different, then that was their fault, not hers. And it was all just rumors. No sane person would threaten continental stability over that. It was all just harmless and delicious gossip.

After taking breakfast with her ladies and discussing the outrageous situation in the dining hall, Audrey remembered that her father had asked her to go and see Armagedon before the ball tonight. Thinking that it was the best time of the day to do so, Audrey made her way to the secret resting place of her country's national treasure.

She couldn't help but be in awe of the waterfalls that cascaded down the walls of the room below the castle as she walked down the stairs, the noise loud but not overwhelming. She looked down at the water as she reached the bottom of the stairs, careful not to fall off the rather narrow walkway to the altar where Armagedon rested. Her father had once told her that the water in the room came down from the Caltara river above, which prevented the river from overflowing and destroying the city that was placed in the middle of it. From this room, the water flowed further downward through caverns and aquifers, all the way down to Wyvernston.

As Audrey approached the altar, she tried not to strain her eyes, as the room was rather unusually lit by glowing crystals imported from Wyvernston, which managed to survive only thanks to the water. Torches, of course, would require constant maintenance and more people needing to access the room. But there was no light needed to make clear the plain truth in front of Audrey. Armagedon was no longer there.

Audrey rushed through the palace halls as she tried to find Harriet. She hoped desperately that there was some kind of misunderstanding and not an extremely terrible disaster. Audrey finally managed to find Harriet in the music room. She closed the door behind her, not wanting anyone to hear.
"Did you tell anyone about the entrance to Armagedon being unsealed?" she asked, panting from running.
"No, of course not. I would never spread something so important," Harriet responded, "why do you ask?"
"I went to see it. It was gone."

Harriet gasped out loud.
"How could that have happened?"
Audrey believed Harriet's innocence. The shock on her face was evidence enough that she hadn't told anyone. She herself had not told anyone, either. That just left one possibility. Someone had overheard them and decided to take matters into their own hands. The very thought was enough to terrify her. She thought of Podira, Magnos's national treasure, which had also been stolen and used to blackmail the royal family. She couldn't let that happen to her.

"Someone must have overheard us and taken it," Audrey explained to a waiting Harriet.
"We must tell your father, then. He will have a search party set up within minutes, and can put the city on lockdown."
"No," Audrey said resolutely, "we can't cause panic in the city, not with the ball tonight. Not to mention that there are people from all over the continent watching tonight. We can't just let them see we're too weak to even protect our own national treasure. Not to mention that my father would never forgive me for being so careless."
"But then what will we do?" Harriet asked.
"We'll have to find out who took Armagedon and get it back ourselves."
"With just the two of us? Whoever took it is clearly skilled, as not a single guard noticed anything."
"We'll need to make a plan, but we also need more help."

Audrey knew, however, that just the help of her household would not be enough to get it back. She would need the help of her classmates and Isabella. It didn't exactly help that she had just vilified them all earlier, but she would have to swallow her pride and get them on her side again. This was too important to mess up.