Chapter 54: Chapter 54
Vergil
New York City, Planet Earth
“I beg your pardon?” the captain of the Royal Guard asked Vida, as he heard her mention Colter. The very person he was looking for. His hand was on the hilt of his sword the moment he said these words, his eyes gave off an ominous glow that made Vida step back and recalibrate what she said.
“I believe you said Colter.” Vergil said calmly, disciplining himself with calm breaths, he had fought off the instinct to draw his blade. “Who are you and what do you know about the prince?”
“I think it would be better for me to ask you, who the hell you are first” Vida said in a shaky voice, brave but still quivering at the amount of bloodlust Vergil had emanated towards her, remembering the dreams Colter had, this could potentially be an enemy.
Vergil relaxed his posture and stood straight and stared Vida in the eyes, “I am Vergil, Captain of the Royal Guard to King Malik Howard and Queen Regina Howard.”
“Prove it.” Vida said stubbornly, still worried that he might be an enemy and Vergil simply shook his head while he unclasped his coat, it was a marking on his left chest, the same spot as Colter’s.
“Again” Vergil said calmly, “I am a representative of the Kingdom of Howard sent here to retrieve or investigate Prince Colter’s whereabouts. Speak what you know or I might not be able to stay my hand any longer.” His hand itched to draw the blade sheathed in his waist but his mind cautioned and asked him for patience as this human might have information that could help him in his apparently ceaseless quest for Colter.
“We know him!” Tessa suddenly blurted, and Vida tried to stop her but it was too late. The other woman stared fiercely at Vergil, looking at him from head to toe.
“Let me do my thing, girl” Tessa whispered to Vida, Vergil heard this clearly as his senses were sharpened to an extreme level.
Tessa, the other woman, took a deep breath and started questioning him:
“Give me a reason then, Vergil. Why are you looking for Colter?”
The captain of the Royal Guard smirked, seemingly amazed at how ignorant this whole new world is, “I am looking for Colter because he has been missing for a long time in the Kingdom.”
“Why would he be missing?” Tessa retorted, cautiously staring at the sheathed sword Vergil carried in his hips.
“Because the Prince thought it a solution to run away from his father after getting into a large argument with him.”
“So far so good, I can sense his honesty” Tessa whispered to Vida, “So he ran away, no one runs away from home because of an argument. He was treated badly.”
Vergil clenched his teeth this time in frustration, he had no time for vernaculars with these humans but there was no other way, “Yes. The Prince and the King were often at odds, but it is what it is with family. You should have family of your own, no?”
“True.” Tessa answered, “But family should never push someone to the point of running away from home.”
“Indeed. I agree with your sentiment, yet, I seek Colter not only for the king’s sake, but the kingdom as a whole. His mother pines and yearns to see him, the people of the kingdom are in disarray with the missing prince.”
“Sure.” Tessa said testily, still glaring at Vergil, “How can you prove that you are not one of those shapeshifting evil looking birds that I saw in my visions attacking Colter?”
“Evil looking bi-“ but before Vergil could finish the thought, he gasped. There were reports of these birds and they were only thought to be migratory ones, his mind suddenly sparked as he thought of all the possibilities.
“Please.” He said with genuine worry this time, “Help me find him. I believe he is in danger.”
Vida remembered the last words Colter told her, and finally connected all the dots that were a mystery before. Here was a stranger, with the same marking as Colter, looking for Colter and saying he is a missing prince.
“Can we speak somewhere more discreet?” Vida told the two, cautiously looking around as many people passed by them.
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Vida
New York City, Planet Earth
“He speaks the truth, Tess” Vida told her best friend as they sat in a park table, there were no people around them, which provided them a great cover. The royal guard who had introduced himself as Vergil was sitting with them, “Colter told me that he was needed back home, he needed to check on something. Something was wrong.”
“Something…wrong?” Vergil asked ignorantly, finally putting it altogether that these two women had shared a bond with his childhood friend and that they were in good terms.
Clearing his throat, the captain of the royal guard started, “Let me introduce myself again. My name is Vergil Dilhevia. Like I said earlier, I am the captain of the royal guard, the sword and shield of the kingdom. But before all of that, I am also Colter’s closest friend. I beseech you two, to help me find him.”
Vida stared at the silver haired man in front of them, his eyes showed worry and anger at the situation, she felt it in her bones that he speaks the truth. He had not lied to them yet.
“Could you tell me more about these evil looking birds you claim to have seen in your visions.”
Tessa took a deep breath and started speaking:
“So basically, I saw these nasty looking flyers attacking some sort of kingdom, okay? Did your palace have ivory-colored walls?”
Vergil nodded solemnly, and Vida just listened.
“There you go, in my visions there were hints of chaos and madness. There was death everywhere, people were dying, the survivors were being rounded up and attacked by ugly looking creatures, these ones do not fly though. They were almost reptilian like…”
Vergil exhaled violently, realizing what this could mean. There was only one kingdom that could fit this description, his eyes glowered now, feeling the rage inside him build as he thought of the Kingdom of Havocc and their power-hungry monarch, Dyron.
“So yeah, the whole place was on fire and there was blood everywhere, like so much, dude! You could see the streets flooding with it and Colter was in the midst of all that chaos!”
“Colter did say he was going back home to check on the kingdom” Vida interjected, but Vergil stared at her with even more worry in his eyes.
“If he had returned home, I would have been informed by his father immediately. As of the moment, he is still listed as missing in action. This is the reason why I was sent here; I was sent to retrieve him by any means necessary.”
The two women could not help but glance at his sword when he said ‘any means necessary’
“OH SHIT.” Tessa suddenly exclaimed and they both jumped.
“What’s wrong?!” Vida asked her.
“Enemies?” Vergil said immediately, his hand once more now on the hilt of his sword.
“Colter’s not with us anymore, okay? But Colter is not home yet. As you have told me, you would immediately know, right?”
Vergil nodded, Vida felt a chill around her. It was as if the beast of anxiety suddenly awoken inside her and started thrashing against her rib cage. She was worried now, the fear took her in and she could not help herself as she let out a slight whimper and tears welled around her eyes.
“Jesus.” Tessa continued, prodding her temples in pain, “It seems that he could have been captured by these evil birdies before you could even reach him or before he could find himself home. Which is why he is missing!”
Vida felt herself spiral at these words, Colter was not home, Colter was not with her, Colter was missing and potentially captured by these evil beings that Tessa had told them. The tears that had welled in her eyes began to streak down her face and the two people with her looked at her with worry.
“I’m sorry. I just… I just remember the night when he told me all about himself, how worried he had been and how anxious he looked after dreaming about things. I just…” Vida cried this time, unable to hold back the sorrow that had been building like a bomb inside her.
“You should go home, Vergil.” Tessa said, trying gamely to ignore her crying best friend, “I saw war happening there. It seems I have been cursed with the gift of seeing these evil visions.”
“Colter told me he loves me!” Vida interrupted, and Vergil looked at her in disbelief, remembering the rules that had been created by the kingdom since time immemorial.
But as he said, he was Colter’s friend first. He put this aside and focused on finding the missing prince first.
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Vergil
New York City, Planet Earth
“It would be for the best if you two could come with me.” Vergil announced, finally putting his plans together, “You have information about the missing prince” he motioned his head at Vida, before turning towards Tessa who blushed slightly, “And you have visions. I believe it would be better for King Malik to hear these in actuality from the two of you.”
The two women looked at each other nervously, one was still crying while Tessa looked unsure. Focusing the powers inside of him, he delved into his mind and focused on King Malik Howard.
“What is it? Any news?” The king answered in Vergil’s head.
“Bountiful and dangerous at the same time, your majesty” Vergil answered.
“Then tell me.” There was worry now in Malik’s voice.
“I have two humans here with me who know about Colter. One also seemingly has the gift of visions like the Deity Flora.”
There was a silence as the king pondered this, he had not told Vergil that the Deity Flora was slain recently.
“I ask your permission to bring them to our kingdom for further questioning, your majesty” He intentionally cut off the details were Vida said that Colter was in love with her, to protect them both.
“Then I grant thee permission, captain” The king answered after a while and cut the connection.
“I have been given permission to bring you to the kingdom. I ask both of you to come with me.”
He felt their fear at these words, for these were simply powerless humans, well, one powerless human. They were afraid of what they might see and what they might be caught up in, but since they interweaved their destinies with Colter’s, it was meant to be.
“I ask that you help me, Colter and the kingdom. We would be in your debt if we manage to pull out of this building situation.”
Tessa glanced at Vida who was still saddened, “Fuck it.” The one with the oracle powers said bluntly, “Let’s go it. You only live once!”