Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

I was aware Bernard only said it as a joke, but the memory of Kai barging inside the bathroom popped up in my mind. I could feel my face and ears heat up at the thought. I know it wasn’t an extreme situation, but ever since I became mortal, and a teenage one at that, I had become very conscious of my body and the things around me.

Awkward silence hung in the air. I gritted my teeth in both embarrassment and frustration. In my previous life, nobody would dare make me the center of a joke (apart from my siblings). But then again, I used to not mind it and everyone else kept their distance because of my status.

But…

I was currently Luna. I was mortal and I had weird friends. Bernard most of all loved teasing us the moment he was given the chance.

“Enough with that.” Freya broke the silence with an annoyed tone. I mentally thanked her for it. “Just let it remain between the two of them. Can we just get this gathering over with? I have to go back home and I’m not sure if you guys care but who in the celestial’s name would set a meeting in the rooftop in the middle of the day!”

When she said that, I was suddenly became aware that the sun was glaring down at us.

“Right.” I said. “Before we start, I’m wondering how you got Freya roped into this?”

“This was ‘her’ idea.” Andrea pointed out.

I stared at the wind mage and she just shrugged. Then I realized it was probably one of her other personalities’ idea.

“One last thing… About what happened back in the northern forest…” I turned to Kai. “Kai, I may have an idea what your connection to that place was.”

“Don’t worry. Uncle Leo already gave us the rundown yesterday.” Kai answered with a satisfied look on his face. “My Fox Curse got activated because of that mysterious energy source in the cavern under the old alchemy building. Now that I think about it, this curse I loathed so much actually saved me when I was a child.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his response. At least he wouldn’t think as the Fox Curse as a burden anymore but rather a blessing. I heard from Aunt Zaira before, when I asked her what the Fox Curse was.

Originally, the Fox Curse was a blessing granted by a fox deity to the ancestor of the Syna Kingdom’s royal family. The fox deity in question was my sister Elthesia who was roaming the mortal realm almost a millennium ago if counted by mortal realm years. She blessed the mortal who helped her. He would then gain some attributes of a fox spirit, and a few more. But there was a catch, he and those that inherited the blessing cannot harm or kill a fox.

Unfortunately a direct descendant of that ancestor, to be specific Kai’s great-great-grandfather and founder of the Syna Kingdom, killed off all the fox population of a mountain, not caring of his family’s rule of never harming or killing a fox. The blessing became a restriction and was slowly considered as a curse. In the end, those of the direct bloodline cannot escape the curse which would be activated if the carrier was exposed to a life-and-death situation.

I think the blessing my sister gave, even though they were calling it a curse, was still a blessing in many ways. It saved them from a life-and-death situation after all. But they could never escape the fate of being hunted, just like a fox, for the different applications of the effects of the curse in their body.

“I suppose that’s one less explanation for me. Now then, I know you have a lot of questions regarding what happened in the forest.” I turned to Freya, Kai, and Thomas. “Especially the three of you who saw that event.”

I was talking about when I was buried under a pile of debris and suddenly the energy ore in that cavern merged with me.

On the way to the rooftop, I was debating whether or not I should tell them who I am, or who I was. Sure I trusted them because they were my closest friends (they were my only friends), but I also weighed things out. A secret such as being a former goddess is a big thing. It was probably even more complicated than hiding the fact that I was the fourth miss of the Celestine Family. After all, my secret did not only encompass the mortal realm and the humans, but also the celestial realm and those that lived there.

Also, such a truth was not easy to handle. They got into danger recently because of me already, but revealing my secret would only get them into more dangerous situations. I couldn’t do that to them.

And so, I decided not to tell them about that fact that I am Nyxtriel Wetcheit li Stedus, princess of the Liada Fox Clan and a goddess of war. Or I was.

-At least not yet that is. I hope they understand.

I was on the run before I woke up in Luna’s body and I was pretty sure the celestial king wouldn’t believe I died when I fell in the chasm. Names have power, so those that knew of my real identity should be kept to a minimum.

With that decision, I needed to tell them a more reasonable story. I was only hoping they would believe me and when the future comes they would understand and not desert me.

“That core… I believe, belongs to me originally. I don’t remember much about before I was taken in by my aunt, but the moment I laid my eyes on that core in that cavern, I knew it was mine.”

“Is that why you said you were reclaiming what was yours?” Thomas asked.

“It seemed to be the appropriate thing to say at that moment.” I sighed. “You saw how it reacted to me. If that core really did not belong to me, then it would’ve rejected me and I would’ve become one of those mutated creatures we fought.”

“Why was that energy – I mean, why is that core yours?” Kai asked.

“I’m not sure either. But I think it has something to do with my origin.”

Now that one was not a complete lie.

Thomas then replied. “But you don’t have memories of before you were taken in by the – I mean, by your aunt.”

-Dang, he almost let that one slip!

I gave Thomas a glare which he only replied with an apologetic look.

“By memories, you mean that scene we saw when you entered my mind but we ended up slipping into yours?” Freya pointed out in which I nodded solemnly.

-I never thought they would believe such a lie. But then again, humans believe just about anything but the truth.

“Wait, time out.” Bernard interrupted. “Freya knows something about you that we don’t? How come?”

“That one… uhm… I guess it won’t hurt telling you guys about it.”