614 Is That Woman A Goddess?
The elf continued, “There is no such thing in the world which cannot be controlled or subdued. Nature has its own way of keeping balance. Among the pantheon of gods, there was a certain god who held the ability to control that power. That someone absorbed that Hellfire to protect all the three realms, sacrificing themselves to become the prison of that destructive power.
“For as long as I can remember, there has been a debate among my kind about what is the strongest attribute in existence. Some claim it is the power of light, others say that the strongest of power is of darkness, but as far as legends go, this hellfire is no less than those two. In terms of their destructive nature, darkness is absolute destruction, while hellfire is the extreme end of light no less destructive as darkness.”
Seren was aghast. “Are you sure what you saw inside me is hellfire? Maybe it’s just ordinary fire.”
“Your Majesty, elves have a lifespan of a thousand years. I have seen my fair share of magic with the fire attribute, and believe me when I say nothing among them combined hold a candle against the Fire I saw inside you.”
“T-Then what should I do?” Seren asked as she felt scared to have such dangerous powers inside her.
“Queen Seren, if there is one good news I can share, it is that this power is locked–no, sealed inside you. That means you cannot use it. You are of the earth attribute, and if this power, this hellfire was not sealed, it would have been dangerous for you.”
That news made her feel even worse and she felt her body tremble.
“You should tell her the solution, not scare her.” Drayce threw a glare his way while he continued comforting his wife.
The elf didn’t mind it. “Is it my fault the truth is scary? I am merely speaking facts, and it is best that the Queen understands the reality of her situation.” He then returned his attention to Seren. “The person who did this to you, I don’t know their intentions, but it was a cruel thing, what they did to you.”
“The one who did this to me?” she mumbled. ‘My mother?’
“The only way to protect yourself from the effects of this power is to keep this power locked forever, which is impossible as your body can’t seal it for long. Imagine your body as a glass cage and the power inside you a growing beast. Sooner or later, your body will break–fine, fine, stop glaring at me, King Drayce! I promise I am not scaring your wife! I am explaining. Explaining!
“Another method, well, since someone put that hellfire inside the Queen, that means we can take it away from your body as well, but I cannot do it. I do not have the ability, but…” the elf stopped “…but if we theoretically discover a means that we can use to separate this hellfire from the Queen’s body then…”
“Then what?” Arlan asked as he was getting impatient.
“If we can take this hellfire out, we will need another vessel to seal it in, and it’s highly impossible to find someone like Queen Seren. Queen Seren could be a vessel because she is not an ordinary human and why she is not ordinary, we are yet to fully know why. The thing is, if we do find a way to get this power out of her body and we are unable to get a new vessel to hold it, then, the legends will be legends no more–it will become reality. Hellfire will break out and destroy the mortal world but other realism as well.”
“So there is no solution, is that what you are saying?” Drayce asked with his eyes turning dangerously dark.
“The only way…if we cannot seal it and we cannot transfer it…then, we can strengthen the vessel,” the elf concluded. “Other than mastering her own earth element, she needs to master this anomalous fire element as well. That is the only way she can keep this power inside her without letting it hurt her, and the only solution that I think is most reasonable.”
Seren felt like her head would burst open. Mastering not one, but two elements?
“I have not even performed a single magic spell in my entire life and you are talking about mastering the elements. I cannot even feel the powers inside my body. I am just a useless witch who has no ability to perform any magic.”
“Witch?” the elf said as he smiled before giving Drayce a knowing look, to which the man refused to react.
The elf continued to speak, “I don’t blame you for thinking like this, Queen Seren. You have been restricted from using magic and your powers have been suppressed. I am not sure why they had sealed you like this…”
“Whoever did it meant to hide the essence of her powers, effectively hiding not only her but also her own powers and what is hiding inside her,” Drayce replied. “If what you say is true, they probably want to hide the existence of this hellfire, but from whom, that we are not sure of. But, as she will come of age soon, it will be impossible to hide it. The current seal on her powers will unravel once her magic reaches maturity. Once she becomes able to use her own powers, it might affect the presence of the other power inside her.”
“That is possible. Harmony in the body is just as important as the harmony outside. Once her earth element is no longer suppressed, its nature will trigger the fire element hidden inside her. Fire conquers earth. Once that happens, her body will be destroyed. We need to first train her to use the earth element such that at the very least, she must become capable of basic control once she is of age.”
Seren was in deep thought as she said, “As you said, according to the legend, that hellfire was absorbed by a god, that means this power belongs to that god…could she be a woman? A goddess? That woman in my dream always looks at me as if I had coveted something that belongs to her. If she is…then, could this hellfire be the reason I get those dreams? The reason why I see that destructive fire all the time?”
The three men heard Seren’s mumbling, and her words clearly made sense. Drayce and Yorian shared another knowing gaze.
“That is a good prediction on your side, Queen Seren. Though we cannot be sure, we cannot deny the possibility as well.”
“What if that woman in her vision is the owner of these powers? What if we find her and ask her to take the hellfire?”
“If that woman is the one who once protected the world, then it should be easy for her to get rid of this hellfire from Queen Seren’s body. But then, one had to consider that in the first place, how did the hellfire originally controlled by that goddess make its way to the Queen’s body? No, even before that, it’s crazy if you think that we mortals are getting involved in the affairs of the heavenly realm.”
“About that woman…I guess we can ask her herself to clarify our doubts. We have an idea where she is but we are yet to get confirmation. We need to hear Aureus’ report once he returns from Agartha.”
Yorian sighed. “If…If you get to find that woman…that goddess from the legends…then, she is powerful beyond any supernatural being walking in the mortal realm, and I must say…this is dangerous.”
The initially easygoing elf had a rare look of concern as his gaze flitted between the married couple.
“If all these predictions are true, our lives might be in terrible danger. Though I do not know what happened in the realm of deities, even the weakest among those divine beings, the angels, are more powerful than the supernatural beings of the mortal realm. Even the divine beasts are merely descendants of those who came from the heavenly realm.
“If you are to imagine what kind of atrocious incident must have happened for Queen Seren to end up having this power locked inside her, a power is considered taboo in all three realms–now, I’m not sure if my being curious is bane or a boon…”
Drayce heard it all and commented, “I have a feeling that we will get answers to everything soon. Like an invisible hand is pulling all pieces of the puzzle together.”
The elf nodded and said, “Seems like soon I too have to return to Agartha. I wonder how much has changed after a century.”
“I plan to pay a visit as well. I need to have a word with the King of Agartha to make things clear. And maybe he holds more information that can help us understand the situation,” Drayce informed.
The elf agreed. “Once we safely get over the event of Her Majesty’s coming of age, I believe it is a good time to visit Agartha.”
“Can I join too?” Arlan spoke as he looked at Drayce. “I wish to see one of our kind as I am tired of seeing only you.”
“Same goes for me,” Drayce countered. “You can be of help.”
p AndD nOve1.cO,m “Anytime.”
Drayce looked at his wife who had become visibly upset, merely listening to their conversation without a word, and rubbed her shoulder with his hand that was wrapped around her.
“Don’t worry, my Queen. No matter what trouble we face, we will face it together. I promise you that I will always remain by your side. Do you trust me?”
She nodded quietly as she finally raised her head to look at him. Those solemn red eyes were all the reassurance she needed.
Meanwhile the elf mumbled, “Seems like this won’t remain only limited to the mortal realm and supernaturals. Are we going to deal with deities now? Are two realms or maybe all three realms going to get entangled this time? Shall I be worried or be excited about it?”