Will of a Prince

Jacob and Maria stormed out of Enki’s now empty restaurant.

"I can’t believe it. How the hell did he even get dragon piss?! You don’t think he found Sheeby before us, do you?"

Jacob recalled seeing Sheeby making an expression that was no doubt her reliving herself while she was stuck to the side of the medical ward. However, he decided it would be in his best interests to play ignorant so he can forget about this matter as soon as possible.

"Let’s hope not. I don’t think too much good will come out of that. What should we do now?"

Maria crossed her arms, her expression turned more serious.

"I think... I want to visit my new sister for a bit."

"Your new sister? Ah, I remember you telling me about that. I know she’s your sister now, but do you think we would be intruding on something by showing up to her place randomly? And how do you know where she lives?"

"I got the details from Lidia on where she lives. There’s actually another reason that I want to see her though. Apparently, she was attacked by Lee the moment Lidia took her eyes off her. Truthfully, I think it was just a big misunderstanding, but something doesn’t sit right with that situation for me, so I want to make sure she is okay."

Maria hesitated before continuing.

"And I don’t want her to get lonely. She is my sister now and all."

Jacob’s heart filled with greater admiration for Maria. She hardly knows this woman, but it didn’t matter to her. In her eyes, she was till family, and that meant she deserved to be treated as such. These kinds of situations are a part of the infinite reasons why Jacob fell for Maria in the first place.

Jacob smiled warmly and grabbed Maria’s hand.

"Let’s go pay her a visit. I think that would make me her... almost brother-in-law!"

Maria laughed and led Jacob through the crowded streets of Paria. Jacob had never visited the place far beyond the palace, so seeing Enki’s restaurant and a myriad of shops that filled the Kingdom brought him a strange sense of belonging. He truly loved peaceful sceneries such as the one they were currently walking through.

After walking for a long while, the hard pavement under their feet turned into course dirt. What fascinated Jacob was that even the crop fields of Paria were within the wall’s protection. Hundreds of farmers were working in the fields, collecting thousands of crops to ship back towards the city. Along these fields, there were houses seemingly miles apart from one another. The privacy reminded Jacob of Slimo’s cabin that was positioned in front of the maintain all by itself. Truthfully, this was the kind of place Jacob wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life in.

As they approached one of the lone houses, Maria cautiously looked around to make sure no one was looking. She knocked gently on the door. However, there was no response. They both knew someone was home because there were loud muffled bangs coming from the other end. Maria tried yelling to get the woman’s attention.

"Miss Enny! It’s Maria, your... uh, technically sister. I just wanted to stop by and visit for a bit to make sure you were okay!"

Instead of waiting for a response, Maria twisted the knob on the door. Jacob jumped and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?! She hasn’t even responded to your call yet! We can’t just invade her home like this! Both you and Lidia are terrible with this stuff!"

Maria looked at him dubiously and went back to twisting the knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, allowing Maria to practically drag Jacob inside.

’I need to talk with Slimo about this. And who the hell leaves their door unlocked when they think they’re in danger?!’

More muffled bangs could be heard from somewhere in house. Maria continued to call out.

"Enny! Enny! We’re here inside your cozy house!"

Still no response. Jacob asked the question that Maria seemed to be avoiding.

"What is that sound?"

"I’m not really sure. It’s probably nothing to worry about though."

Jacob felt like slapping himself in the face. He seriously couldn’t tell if Maria was trying to set him off. For a woman being in so much danger, hearing suspicious bangs coming from her residence should be an indicator for urgency, but apparently not to Maria.

"Don’t you think she might be in trouble? What makes you think we don’t need to worry about it?"

Maria paused for a moment and scratched her chin.

"I just have a feeling, I guess."

Jacob decided to shut his mouth until they found her sister.

Eventually, they stumbled upon a small door in the back of the home. Its hinges were horribly bent and there was drywall over the floor, as if someone swung the door open too hard causing it to crash into the wall behind itself. There were stairs leading down to some unknown place, and loud bangs were echoing off the walls. They had found the source of the sound, or at least where it was coming from.

Maria tried calling down the dark stairs.

"Enny! Are you there?"

Finally, the banging seemed to stop. A soft voice replied back to them.

"Miss Maria? Is that you?"

"It sure is! Do you mind if I visit for a bit? I brought my boyfriend with me! I would love for you two to meet!"

"Sure thing! You both can come do-... wait a moment, how did you get in my house?"

Maria blushed and stumbled on her words.

"D-Don’t worry about it! We’re on our way down!"

Jacob looked back at the door entrance. It turns out that the door was actually locked but Maria’s obnoxious strength felt no resistance when turning the knob and pushing forward.

’Oh...’

As Jacob and Maria continued down the steps, the banging continued, putting both of them slightly on edge. The staircase itself looked homemade. Each wooden plank was a different size and was simply shoved into the dirt as a placeholder for people’s feet to follow a downward slope. Once they reached the bottom, they could both see what the obnoxious banging was. Hanging up on the ceiling was a thick, round block of black iron. Multiple indents were scattered across its surface; more being added with every single hit that Enny would throw.

This woman, whoever she was, was incredibly strong. Her bare fists weren’t even so much as scratched after all the continuous hitting. Enny turned around, slightly panting as she smiled at Maria.

"Hey, Miss Maria! It’s very nice to see you again!"

She looked over at Jacob.

"This must be your boyfriend then."

She held out a hand to Jacob.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Enny, as I’m sure you probably know by now haha!"

Enny’s cloudy eyes reminded Jacob of the sky, her dark grey hair resembled that of Avala, but her personality was very... unique. Jacob had never met someone who sounded so genuine with her words before, as if every word carried a hint of gratitude. Enny was wearing a short blue shirt with long white pants. The fabric on both pieces of clothing was thin as to allow for as much movement as possible.

"Very nice to meet you too."

Maria had a confused look on her face as she studied Enny.

"What’s with the setup here, Enny? I thought you didn’t like fighting."

Enny looked back at the horribly disfigured piece of iron and sighed.

"It’s not really that I like fighting as much as I don’t like being used as a tool for fighting. If I am in a fight, I at least want the liberty to choose whether it’s right or wrong for me to fight. That actually reminds me..."

She looked at both of them eagerly.

"It’s a good thing you’re both here. I need to talk to you about something. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll make us some tea."

After climbing back up the steps, all three of them sat around a modest dining room table with hot tea. Jacob took a small sip, his eyes widening in surprise by the taste.

"This is incredible! How did you make this?"

"I bought some fresh ingredients from some of the farmers. You won’t get fresher tea anywhere else!"

Maria put her cup down and crossed her arms.

"So, what is it you want to talk to us about?"

Eni hesitated and took a small sip of her teat before speaking.

"It’s about this war that’s going on. I think I trust you all enough to share some of Monlo’s secrets with you."

Maria leaned forward in her chair, her expression turning serious.

"I’m listening."

Enny sat up from her chair slowly and walked over to a small desk. She opened a drawer and gathered shards of a broken red gemstone. She handed them over to Jacob for both of them to study. Jacob held up a shard and looked through it.

"What is this?"

"That was a communication charm implanted inside of my body from the Monlo Empire."

Even hearing the surprising news, neither Jacob nor Maria flinched. They listened more intently as Enni lifted up her shirt slightly, revealing a scar across her stomach.

"I removed it myself but had a doctor help me. Told him it was a farming accident. That charm connected all the Monlo elites to one communication pathway. I could hear everyone’s conversations all the way up to the General. However, this charm existing is not what I wanted to talk about. It’s about what I heard while this was still inside of me."

She took a small sip of her tea before continuing.

"The Monlo Empire... I don’t think they have much time left."

Maria raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean they don’t have much time left?"

"I mean, by the time I took this device out of myself, the last person I heard speak was the General himself. And... he gave everyone a message before cutting off his own communication."

"What was the message?"

"He said: stay away from the ocean at all costs."

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