Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

-Shopping Trip-

Zaphaniea closed the door to her rented room and stretched as she stepped out into the hallway. Last night, she had had some of the weirdest dreams. She and three unicorns had ridden down giant rainbow slides into big fluffy clouds. The dreams had been... nice, she thought to herself and a blessed relief from the constant nightmares which plagued her sleep. To this day, images of Vackzilian attacking her home and killing her grandfather played across her eyelids, even though it had been so many years ago.

At least that pounding headache in my forehead is mostly gone, she thought, shaking her head. Drake's massage had worked miracles on her energy flow. Zaphaniea chuckled to herself. Despite his original protests, the boy had gone all out, even using acupuncture in the end.

Of course, the dip in the hot springs hadn't hurt either. All in all, she'd had a wonderful visit, and a part of Zaphaniea wished she could stay another day, but she knew that Lord Litter Box would never let that happen.

He had ants in his pants, Drakovian did.

Suddenly, the champion realized one of the establishment's workers was staring at her. She smiled at him, then bowed and waved her hands at the doorway, allowing him to pass.

The cranky fellow narrowed his eyes as he walked past her into her previous night's bedroom, and she swore she heard him whisper, "Pompous blowhard."

She pulled back. Well, someone wasn't having a good day.

Fluffing her long, sleep tousled hair, she decided not to let the cranky man ruin her day. With a bounce in her step and a refreshing night of sleep behind her, the grand champion waltzed down the open hallway. Her feet sank in the lush red carpet as she made her way to the food court and glided towards its entrance.

She rubbed her belly as she entered the room, and her mouth salivated in anticipation.

Sunlight from the windows illuminated the sushi food bar in the middle of the in-house restaurant, highlighting the display of food that would soon occupy her stomach.

Despite the beautiful view, however, Zaphaniea frowned as the noise of the room reached her ears. Normally, the dining room was a quiet location despite its many patrons, but today everyone seemed to be talking rather loudly.

She sighed. Not everything can be perfect, the grand champion thought to herself as she scanned the room.

There, by the waterfall, Olivia, Alf, and the maids lounged, finishing their morning breakfast.

Zaphaniea strolled over to them.

"This is a mess," Olivia said, gazing into Alf's medallion. "Everything's just thrown in here haphazardly. How in the world do you ever find anything?"

"Look at this," she said, reaching into the storage device. "You have the ham placed next to the toilet paper."

Alf shrugged. "It works fine for me," he said as he spotted Zaphaniea. "Oh, hey, you're up. We just finished eating."

She nodded while she glanced over the group, then noticed the prince wasn't there. "Where's Drake?" she asked.

"He said you were taking too long," Scarlet told her, glancing up from her scrying. "So he took the stuff we gathered from the beast and went to sell it so he could buy supplies. He still thinks we're going to walk straight through the middle of the jungle," she said, her tone heavy with exasperation.

"Ah," Zaphaniea answered. Then she realized what the maid had said. "Wait, you let him go out alone?" she asked in shock. As much as she enjoyed teasing the boy, the last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt. She knew from her future visions that it wouldn't be long before Vackzilian realized who Drake was and sent his minions to eliminate him.