The Fallen Throne

Chapter 10.4 ✦ Mystic Forest

"All along, you said you knew this was wrong,
But still worth dying for."
~ Alaina (Mayday Parade, Save Your Heart)

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The fall had drained them good.

"Your highness?"

Familiar voices travel to Alaina's ear, and she gradually returns to her senses. Still light-headed from the fall, she forces her eyes open, feeling she'd just landed on something else rather than ground.

The instant her eyes flutter open, her heart beats so fast it drums in her ears, drowning out every other sound around her.

Ruffled brown hair and a familiar face greet her eyes. The face, so foreign yet so familiar and warm, almost welcoming; so close yet so far.

Kai's eyes are still closed when she's directly face to face with him, and her heart is in too much of a state of shock to even bring herself to check if he's all right.

Fortunately for her, the moment lasts no longer than a blink of an eye as Kai slowly stirs. She shifts; but as he opens his eyes to find himself in a similarly awkward position as Alaina's, their eyes meet and they stare blankly, staying that way as if time has stopped.

None of them utter a word, until the distant calls of either Lancaster or Lloyd reach them once again, breaking their little infinity of a moment.

Heat isn't something Kai feels, but this time, it's debatable. On instinct, he jerks upwards to his feet in a swift movement, dropping Alaina on the ground before he realises what he's doing.

Ignoring the warm feeling he can't comprehend stirring in his cheeks, he dusts himself, not turning to look at her. Other than Alaina behind him, there's nothing but darkness surrounding them, perhaps even darker than the forest, now that the moon isn't directly above them.

Yet Kai has other things occupying his mind, preventing him from rationally lighting a flame for their sake. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand furiously as his mind searches for the right words to say. With all the complex emotions bouncing up and down, he hardly understands himself when he says, as less awkward as he can make out, "I guess we survived that fall..."

Kai allows himself to trail off when they are interrupted again by the voices echoing from above, silently sighing in relief and thanking them for the timing.

As he finally builds up the courage to turn around, he finds Alaina dusting herself, an unreadable yet slightly unpleased expression plastered across her face. His smile vanishes as guilt takes over, when he realises how dumb he was to just drop a young lady -- the Princess of Theia, in fact -- without warning and ignore her for several minutes, pretending like nothing's happened.

Swallowing his pride, he strides over quickly and offers his gloved hand to her. "Sorry. You all right?" he asks, embarrassed by his own actions.

Alaina raises a brow at first, but smiles almost immediately after. Grateful, she takes his hand as she regains proper footing. "Better than ever."

"Your highness!"

Upon hearing Lancaster's voice, Alaina rushes to the source, glancing up at the opening above. "We're all right!"

"They're fine!"

She hears clumsy, scrambling movements shifting near the hole. "Be careful!" she warns quickly, easing at the pause in movements after a few quick seconds. She doesn't want them to share the same fate as hers and Kai's.

"What do we do now?" Lancaster sighs from above, seemingly frustrated. He isn't one to do things draggingly. "First Rose, now you two."

Biting her lip, Alaina feels guilty. Their priority was Rose, but because of her clumsiness, now Lancaster and Lloyd has one more thing to worry about.

She opens her mouth to say something that might make Lancaster feel better, but Lloyd beats her to it. "I've got a plan," he says confidently. Alaina smiles, her heart lightening as she knows she can always rely on Lloyd for strategies.

"Rose can get you two out of there without any more, well, accidents or the risk of any of us falling -- she can use her vines."

"Leave them here?" Lancaster asks, "will you be fine, your highness?"

Thinking for a moment, Alaina scans around to be sure. Darkness. The dark isn't really a problem, and can be easily solved when Kai is by her side.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine --" the wind carries a strange dirt scratching, growling sound to her ears, and she turns around, vigilantly inspecting through the dark. Standing just near her is Kai, poised with boredom as he yawns, stretching his arms. Shaking it off but shivering at the hallucinations, she adds in a low voice, "I think."

"Wait," Kai says, stepping in front of Alaina as he lifts his head up to face the opening of the hole above. He removes one of his gloves and produces a flame, one that's larger than his usual one, and flings it upwards.

As it reaches the top where Lancaster and Lloyd stand, the flame expands and shoots upwards suddenly. Like fireworks, it rises as high as the tall dark trees, forming a fire wall. Other than the heat Lancaster and Lloyd feel, the fire remains in its position, illuminating their surroundings harmlessly.

Although it's arguably the most illustrious and eminent of any other components of the entire forest however ethereal they may be, it can't be seen overhead as the dark trees still tower above it, blocking its obvious radiance. Kai controlled the fire just right; it's bright enough within a great radius, but not too brilliant to the point that it might attract too much unnecessary company.

Kai laughs lightly upon hearing a soft, short yelp of surprise from above. "You can use that as your source of light," he says, smiling at the vague sight of the fire from his limited view below. "If nothing goes wrong, it should stay that way... I hope."

"That's brilliant," Alaina compliments, when Lancaster and Lloyd are still frozen in awe from witnessing a tiny flame turning into a giant wall of fire instantaneously up close.

Flushing at her words, Kai turns to Alaina as he pulls his glove back on absently. Her face is lit dimly by the fire above, and he notices her genuine smile towards the fire he'd created -- a smile of fascination. She's not envious; with not even the slightest hint of insecurity in her eyes, she stares passionately at the flickering flames as if she's the one who created them, like she's the one who owns them.

It is what you make of it, firefly, she'd said. Your gift.

"Find Rose," Alaina says suddenly, snapping Kai out of his thoughts, and he turns away quickly after realising he's been staring at her. "And please, try to get along."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Lancaster frowns at Lloyd, and Lloyd returns a grimace. Though unwilling, they know better. Alaina had specifically said to try and get along.

"Be safe, your highness."