Far behind the distant past, there was an era, where, as always it raged in war. In this time, it was natural to see a burned down village while passing by, because when given a rare strength the humans cannot resist the evil to enslave others to themselves. This particular strength was called the Liya.
The Liya are a type of species that look exactly human, but they have a distinct factor that separates them from anything else on our planet. They were able to see into the future.
Of course, there are limits as to how far they could see.
Because of their skill, the Liya were captured from all over the world and used as a powerful weapon. Most of the time they were given a life of luxury, but for the unfortunate ones they were given a life of slavery.
Liyas had a very long life span and for those with luxury it was a blessing, but for those of slavery it was a curse.
Only a few kingdoms have a Liya of their own. An example is the kingdom Phir that hailed the beautiful Princess Rehenna. Rehenna was not captured, but found. She was wandering around their borders and taken in to be raised like a princess.
Phir was a peaceful kingdom and did not want war in any way, to them; Rehenna was a protector and not a weapon.
During the day, you would be able to see the princess sitting on her balcony, gazing upon the vast bundles of houses with her dark glassy eyes. As the wind flowed through her midnight long hair, she wondered how long she lived in the castle without her choice of freedom.
She was a very important asset to the kingdom, and it was understandable that the king would not have her wander around without any form of supervision. In this gloomy castle, her only joy in her small tiny little world was---
A loud bubbly voice yelled from outside of her wooden door, "Rehenna!" and soon after that, the entrance was opened.
With the grace of a princess, she turned her head knowing who it was, "Jui... good morning..." her empty eyes brimmed with sparkles as he entered the room.
Jui was abandoned when he was a child, and trained in the palace to become a knight. He was the same age as her and was chosen to become her assigned Guard for that reason and another. Right now, they were fourteen years old.
His vibrant green eyes searched for Rehenna's slim figure, and his lips formed a smile to see her under the sun. He ran towards her with small leaps and when he reached the balcony, his brown curly hair started to bristle with the wind.
"I was able to catch a break to visit you. I have been practicing like a madman these past few days, and I greatly miss your company." he gave her a short hug before sitting down on the stool right next to her.
Rehenna gave out a soft laugh and pat his head, "I missed you too, Jui."
He gently slapped her hand away from his head, "Why do you do that? I'm sure you are well aware that I am the older child." as an aspiring knight he didn't take it well to be treated like an incompetent infant.
She covered her mouth to hide a smile, "Only by a few months. To me you are the child." she dropped her hands onto her lap and looked up to the clear sky.
Jui pouted in the most adorable of ways and tugged at her expensive black silk sleeve, "It is simply not fair! When I reach a larger size, I would be the exact image of a true knight and it would only be then you would no longer be able to call me a child." he stood up and looked down from the balcony and asked, "Can you see that in the future?"
Her gaze was fixed on the floor, but Rehenna smiled and said, "Silly Jui, your future is not mine to behold."
"Another thing in life that is not fair, you show the kingdom's future but never its people. Why is that?" he groaned in disappointment, "I wish that I would know what my future holds, I am sure that I would have become someone admirable and dashing."
Rehenna stared as Jui attempted to glare the birds to their death, "Jui, what sort of knight do you wish to be in the future?"
He gave her a weird expression and asked, "Why the sudden question, Rehenna?"
Rehenna laughed softly, "It's just a small curiosity that I've been wondering for quite a while now."
Jui crossed his arms and stayed silent, trying to think of an answer. "Well," said he, "In all honesty... I don't know quite yet." Rehenna tilted her head in confusion, causing him to stammer, "I-I mean, of course I would aspire to become an admirable knight! One that brings hope to the people of Phir, but anything more than that... I don't know."
The princess transferred from her comfortable rocking chair to the stool right next to the knight to be, and said, "There's nothing wrong with that. You are still young, it is difficult to predict that far into the future; even for me." she placed a pale hand onto his shoulder and smiled.
All of the sudden, she froze when a flash of darkness, green eyes, screams, blood, cruelty, and death went through her mind.
All these words came together as one image, an image of Jui as a cruel man with a cold heart that did not care for anyone's life but his own.
Jui did not noticed the small pause in her movements for it went by too fast, "Just you wait, Rehenna. I have been drinking the finest of milk because I have been told it allows me to grow to the heights that I have been aiming for. With it, I would be able to become the Knight I wish to be! The female servants in the kitchen told me so."
She leaned against him and brought her hand to his cheek, "You are so adorable, but I believe that you are stuck in flocks of dreams." time was going very fast, and the time for his change was coming.
Before the knight in training was able to say anything else, the bells had started to ring. It was a signal saying that it was already one-half past noon, "It is time for me to get back to my training, and for this I apologize. I had wanted to spend more time with you, but my duty is calling me."
Rehenna gave him a wave goodbye and watched as he ran off back to the training grounds and with a smile on her lips, she waved him goodbye. With the silence's return, she resumed her previous position with both of her hands on her lap.
From her eyes, tears fell like rivers, although she made no sound. Rehenna bit her lip and tried to prevent a sob from escaping her lips, but failed. With her silk sleeve, she wiped away her tears and tried to calm her breathing.
"Please..." she whispered to herself, "Don't make this end."
At this present day, Rehenna was now 18 years old. She was a beauty to behold, one that many would pursue if not for the protective hands of the king. Jui's goal had come true; he was now taller but only by a few inches. A full-fledged knight, and would be able to escort Rehenna wherever she wished.
Right now, the Liya was watching Jui as he cleaned his sword. He had certainly grown these past few years, and every day Rehenna finds herself gazing upon his figure much more frequently.
With a grin on his face, Jui sheathed his glistening sword and said, "You know, just yesterday I had won a fight against a senior Knight."
Rehenna gave him a small applaud and smiled, "Congratulations on your win, my Knight." Jui had not changed into the ruthless killer she visions him to be, but she knew that the time was closer than ever.
He sat up from his place on the ground and sat right next to her on the balcony, "I'm getting better, am I not?" he dropped his sword on the ground gently, leaving him unarmed. He was not yet disciplined enough. A knight leaving his sword vulnerable was not a cautious one.
Nodding, she patted his head, "There isn't a need to improve, Jui, there is not a single war coming." just like usual, her hand was pushed away.
"Even so, I was assigned to protect you, and protect you I shall." he held her hands and looked into her eyes, "I will never leave your side, Rehenna. That's a promise."
Her smile had faltered for only a bit.
Jui stood to leave the room, picking up his sword, he said, "If I am to protect you, I must train every day to keep myself sharp and strong. As a Knight, it is my duty to keep my master protected at all times." he smiled and waved goodbye.
The green-eyed knight disappeared into the maze of hallways in the castle, headed for the training area. Rehenna was happy that she was able to spend a few moments with the ever-busy knight.
She gracefully stood up from her place and headed into her room. She was humming a song that she had recently heard from below the castle, until she touched the door handle.
It was dark; there was fear, and surprise. These all came together in one image, one of her wearing a blindfold with a palm on her mouth.
Her vision came in too late; the future had come by too fast. The moment that she had turned away from the balcony, the culprit had already climbed into her room. Rehenna was caught, "Mmmph!" she struggled but the enemy was far stronger than a Liya princess who spent all of her days inside a castle.
What was she to do? Jui was not there to protect her. He was downstairs at the training grounds practicing his swordsmanship.
She had made many attempts to scream or hurt her kidnapper, but it was of no use. Somewhere down the road, she had given up and decided to let him take her.
Rehenna did not know where they were headed, but she knew that she was being forcefully dragged without any thought of her well-being. It pained her body whenever objects through their walking speed hit her. Was this person doing it on purpose?
It was her first time experiencing a kidnapping, and fear clutched her heart as tears began to soak into her blindfold, 'what is going to happen to me? Where is Jui?' in her state of panic, she was unable to think straight.
She wanted to be free of this man's clutches. In a desperate attempt to escape, she bit her captor's hand; at the sound of his voice, it was clear that it was a man. He gave her a hard slap that sent her falling onto the hard surface of stone.
She was still in the castle.
Rehenna took this chance to escape and ignored the pain that throbbed in her body. Quickly, she took off her blindfold and looked around the halls. Having never left her room, it was unfamiliar to her. Why was the castle designed to be so intricate?
She heard footsteps running after her, the sound driving her determination to go faster. Rehenna ran for her life, blood rushing through her head and fear seeping into her veins.
Running felt like forever to Rehenna but she knew that it had only been a few seconds, "Help... help... help." she whispered under her hard heaves for air, until she bumped into what she knew was a person, with a voice filled with authority, something that came naturally, she yelled, "I-I am Liya Rehenna. There is a man after me, and I order you to protect me at once." although she put on a big front, she couldn't deny how panicked she felt at that moment.
The person, who turned out to be a regular soldier, looked at her with wide eyes and out of reflex to her commanding tone, saluted. "Yes, your highness!" he was about to unsheathe his sword, but he was cut off when the same man who had just went after her bashed his head against the wall; leaving him unconscious.
Her heart stopped at the sight of the brutality, and turned to see the face of her captor. It was no one she has ever seen before, but that list was large considering the only people Rehenna's seen personally was the King himself and Jui.
The man cursed when he made eyes contact with her, "I've been seen!" voices echoing from the behind them alerted the thief of other knights heading towards them, sweat was dripping down his brow and he panicked.
It was now obvious to her that he was not an experienced kidnapper. That lifted her spirits by just a bit.
While she had the chance, Rehenna picked up her large gown and ran away once more. Run. Run. Run until you're safe.
However, she wasn't fast enough.
The man grabbed her wrist and pushed her to the ground, making her yell out in pain when she knocked down a small table with her. Rehenna grit her teeth, she was a princess. She refused to go down so easily.
With a grunt, Rehenna grabbed a candleholder and bashed the man on the head. When he clutched his head and groaned, she dropped her weapon and took this as another chance to flee.
Until a sharp pain hit the back of her head, causing her to black out. For Rehenna, she didn't know anything after that.
The culprit, dropped the candleholder with shaky hands, and gulped. He picked her up and placed her onto his back, then ran through the maze of halls that he had memorized by heart.
At the sound of voices, he took a shortcut through the window. The kidnapper tried to be silent, but the difficulty of carrying such a tall and lean woman was difficult. He was nearing the gates, and luckily, for him the security had lessened due to the swarming amount of guards who had received word that the Liya had gone missing.
"Rehenna!" a voice screamed, with an underlying tone of anger. The sound was close enough to startle the captor, letting him trip over a bucket that was used to feed water to the horses. The running could be heard and it was coming closer.
He decided to abandon all plans of being stealthy and ran as fast as he could; as he panted, he looked back and saw a green-eyed knight. "Rehenna!" this knight kept screaming that name; it must be the Liya's name.
It did not matter, he was almost to the river and he was sure to lose him there. This Liya was heavy and he was sure that he could not hold her for long, and with an angry knight chasing behind him he needed to go fast.
Jui was in between a state of panic and anger. Rehenna had been kidnapped and right now, he was chasing a man holding a motionless Liya. He tried to keep thoughts of her being dead as far away from his head as possible, but it was difficult. It was not clear to him if she was breathing or not.
With increased amount of motivation, he increased his speed, something that had been trained into him through years of training. The other was not as strong nor as fast as he was, and with Rehenna burdening the kidnapper it was all the easier for Jui to catch up.
He smirked when the man took a left turn towards the river, where a small army of soldiers had already taken their place to defend their Liya. The man screamed and made a risky turn to the right where he did not know led.
He had become slow but the amount of trees made the knight and soldiers slow in their attempt to capture him, all of the sudden he stopped in front of a cliff.
Jui was able to catch him before he was able to turn back and switch directions, "You have no more place to run. Surrender now, and return our Liya."
"D-Don't make a single move or I will kill her!" he took out a dagger hidden underneath his clothes, and placed it just an inch away from her neck.
Everyone froze as the sun reflected onto the weapon, but Jui steeled himself, his face remaining blank and firm. He would not let an amateur get the best of him.
He noticed that none of them had decided to stand down, making him feel anxious. "I-I'm serious!" he brought the dagger closer to her throat and prepared to bring her to death's door.
"Wait."
He stopped and swallowed, "What? Are you going to allow me to escape with the Liya?"
Jui's mind was zooming, trying to think of a solution that ended with Rehenna safe and sound. He had trained years to become her own personal knight in order to protect her from all kinds of dangers, and this was one of them. Now that he had to defend her, he had to stop this man at once.
This man did not have the guts to kill a person.
Jui took a step towards him, "Move any closer and I will s-slice her throat!" but he still kept going, "Do you not believe me?! I will do it!" but Jui did not stop.
Inside of the man's head, he knew that he would not be able to kill her. He had never killed anyone before. It was a mistake to even try and kidnap the Liya; he had brought his death closer than it was supposed to be.
"F-fine!" stuttered the kidnapper, placing Rehenna on the ground. "I surrender." Immediately, relief entered Jui's system. He couldn't help but release a breath.
The man raised both of his hands in the air as a sign of submission, and lowered his head. It was the end for him. With a shaky breath, he took a step back.
Only for the rocks beneath him to give away, plummeting him to his death.
In his state of alarm, he grabbed anything that would stop his fall, and the first this he reached out for was Rehenna's slumbering form.
Time stopped... and all Jui could see was Rehenna's soul drifting away from her body as the God of Death prepared to welcome her into his arms. He barely had a moment to breathe in once before they went straight down the bottom of the cliff.
Jui ran to the edge and saw Rehenna's body, blood starting to gather all around her, "Rehenna..." the shock prevented the tears in his eyes from falling, and he bit down his tongue to prevent him from making another sound.
The soldiers behind Jui whispered and muttered around each other, panicking that they had just lost their ultimate defense, "What are we going to do now that the Liya is gone? I don't want to get blamed!"
"We are not to blame." eyes turned to his figure, their gestures whispering that it was his fault. His fault? Yes, it was his fault. Rehenna would not be dead if he had not pushed the assassin to kill her.
He could not redirect his eyes from Rehenna's dead body and just sat on the ground in silence.
Soon, his bright emerald eyes had turned into a dark shade of polluted waters.
Jui's body started to shake, his eyes unable to avert themselves from Rehenna's lifeless corpse. He gritted his teeth, trying to push away that one thought of insanity, the thought that she could have been able to survive the fall.
He dropped all of his heavy equipment and started in his attempt to climb down in order to retrieve her body, but was stopped but a group of guards tried to stop him.
"Sir! Climbing down these cliffs is like begging for an instant death, it's simply impossible!" they held him down.
"Let go of me." Jui mumbled, his eyes glaring at the soldiers, sending fear down their spines.
"It's for your o-own good, Sir." stuttered one brave soldier.
Jui restrained said soldier in a flash, having him on the ground with the new Knight pointing a dagger at his back, a weapon he retrieved from the soldier's holster. "I'll say this just once: I'm going down there." he said in a whisper.
The others backed away from the Knight, while the soldier beneath him shook in surprise and fear. Gulping, the soldier nodded, "Y-yes, Sir."
"Good." Jui silently stood up from his position and lazily threw the knife on the ground, where it stabbed the grass right next to the soldier's head. Once again, he tried to step closer to the edge of the cliff but a hand was placed on his shoulder, causing him to growl. "I thought I told you all to-!"
"Stand down, Jui." it was the voice of one of the most respected Knights in the kingdom of Phir, Sir Sochi. "We can't risk any of our knights, how little they are, to retrieve the Princess' body. Nobody could have survived that fall, and especially not a small girl. The Liya is long gone." the man pulled Jui away from the edge.
Jui was shaking like a leave, biting his lip, "She has a name…,” he whispered.
Sochi raised a brow, "And what is it?" but the boy just stayed silent. Sir Sochi gestured for two of his soldiers to grab a hold of Jui, “You must face the truth, Jui." As the two men held Jui’s arms he followed them without sound.
When they arrived in the King’s throne room, Jui and the others dropped on one knee in front of Phir's Leader, “My King, the kidnapper was successful in abducting our Liya, but died when our men had cornered him in the western woods.” all were bowing before the royal highness and awaited his answer.
His strong voice echoed around the room, asking, “And what became of Liya Rehenna?” Just hearing her name caused Jui's breath to waver, and this small change in his movement was enough for the King to know, “I see… well there is no helping it. Now that we don’t have a Liya… we must keep this information a secret.”
Sir Sochi raised his head from the floor and looked into the King’s eyes, “My King, if the other Kingdoms have a Liya they would be able to know that we have lost Rehenna…”
Giving out a heartwarming laugh the King smiled at the veteran Knight, “I understand our situation, Sir Sochi, the stronger kingdoms that indeed have Liyas would know this and before their invasion, we must prepare.”
Sochi bowed his head, “Yes my Lord.”
“Now that this has been settled all may leave except for Sir Jui.”
Everyone left and the only ones left in the room were the King and Jui, “What is it, my King?” Jui asked still bowing.
“There’s no more need to bow, Sir Jui, we need to talk about Liya Rehenna…” Jui’s lord and King was warm and kind, the best Lord he could ever ask for but none could ever compare to the gentleness that his master Rehenna had shown.
Far from being young, the king had age and wisdom alongside him. He had been sitting upon his throne for far longer than a century, and this was only due to his royal Potion Master. A master who developed drinks to prolong his life.
“What is it about her that you want to speak about, my Lord?” Jui asked his eyes dull and confused.
The wise man gave him a warm smile and beckoned him to come closer, “Remember how I found you, Jui?” the knight nodded, now a few paces from the throne, "I was visiting one of the local orphanages until I stumbled upon you lying still on the ground with wounds all over you. Ever since that day I had taken you into my care and had you cleaned and rested."
With a small hand gesture, Jui asked, “What is the point in talking about how we first met?”
The king raised his hand as a means of silencing Jui, “Just listen to this old man monologue.”
The knight bowed his head and complied, “Forgive me for my show of disrespect, my king.”
Clearing his throat, the king nodded and continued, “When you woke up, I asked you why you were in that state and you replied with: ‘nothing’ and never was I more frightened in my whole life when I looked into your deathly green eyes,” he looked straight at Jui and said, “You never told me anything else, can you tell me now, Jui?”
Unable to keep the eye contact he averted his gaze towards the floor, “My King, the orphanage was a corrupt one. Every day they would starve the children and beat them... but it's all in the past, that Orphanage was shut down long ago."
The wise man paused to look at him with a grin, “That's because I had it shut down. I knew about it all, my son."
That's right. Jui was the King's adopted son. Of course, no one other than the both of them knew about this secret. It was one of the reasons why the King never thought of having a biological child; after all, he already had a perfect heir right within the castle walls.
Juisae Herthwick was the Prince to the entire Kingdom of Phir.
"You are excused.” he watched Jui turn his back and slowly walk towards the exit, before he could open the doors, he stopped him with a few words, “Rehenna was quite beautiful, wasn’t she, Jui?”
Silence covered the whole room and Jui turned to the king with a small smile, “As beautiful as the night sky hiding the fading sunset.” after this sentence he continued to his exit.
As Jui followed the path to his chambers, he willed his mind to become as blank as a brand new sheet of paper, continuing just like this until he entered his room.
Unlike the other kingdoms, the kingdom of Phir did not use heavy metal armor and instead wore light clothing just as strong as metal due to the potion enhancement they used on their wool. Now he had no trouble removing his garments.
Sitting on his bed with only an open collared long sleeve and trousers, he stared out his window. Jui’s room was purposely placed in a position where he would be able to see Rehenna on her balcony just in case there were any disturbances.
Rehenna was always so quiet when speaking to others, but her silence only lifted when she was exchanging words with him. That was the reason why he made it his goal to make her open up to him more than she did with anyone else. He supposed that he had accomplished his goal.
He lied down on his bed with his hands covering his eyes and recited a poem just as Rehenna always had.
Thou e'en rise from thy slumbering sleep953Please respect copyright.PENANAhmzVHRkPd7
Thou sun in thy hands for thy night to keep953Please respect copyright.PENANAJNZiulBeAn
Thy darkness had drifted for as long as forever953Please respect copyright.PENANAD0WTdhjwXK
No comrade so kind for thou infinite to treasure
In thy forests of Phir lands lived a tree with kindness so warm953Please respect copyright.PENANAVWlLYFTseF
To this tree had thy night’s heart for as long as the maid had sworn953Please respect copyright.PENANA8Jt0s1CoWx
Thy e-en drift for as long as forever953Please respect copyright.PENANAKtbqhyNbA9
Now with thy comrade as kind for thy to treasure
They were the first words that Rehenna had spoken to him since the start of their friendship, it had made Jui swell with pride that he was able to have her speak. Whenever she was sad or whenever she was happy she would sit on her balcony and recite this poem and Jui would always look through his window and listen to her angelic voice.
The night sky represented her and the tree was he. He would forever remember this poem.
Silent tears slid down his cheeks as he imagined her silky dark hair, her pure night eyes, soft creamy skin, and beautiful smile flashing repeatedly in his mind. Jui understood that no longer would he be able to see Rehenna’s perfect attributes ever again, after all, she was… dead.
"Rehenna, I understand now that you're forever gone... I-I will miss you so much." Jui covered his eyes with his sleeve, catching the droplets of salty water as his voice started to crack, he stared up at the ceiling with the most mournful of expressions.
"I have failed as a Knight."
Rehenna cried in pain when she awoke. It felt as if every bone in her body had been crushed into dust, and every skin upon her was torn into a thousand strips. Even though she swore that she was opening her eyes, she was unable to see anything other than... nothing. It wasn't even darkness; it was just nothing.
She choked as messy sobs poured from her mouth, Rehenna could feel her body healing, but not at a fast rate. Rehenna tried to move herself, but there was too much suffering. All she could do was lie limp on the ground.
Rehenna tried to calm herself, breathing in shaky breaths. Observe her situation; try to figure out what was going on. The last thing she remembered was the sharp pain in the back of her head after the man had hit her, and then nothing.
It was afternoon when the man had kidnapped her, but now with no vision to tell the time Rehenna had no absolute way to know how long the thief had dragged her along. Where was she now? Was she captured?
Rehenna was still unable to see anything, and she feared that her vision would never be able to come back. Will she ever be able to see Jui's beautiful green eyes again? Will she be able to see his fluffy locks of hair? Will she ever be the cause of his vibrant smile again? She would not know.
Rehenna forced herself to move, despite the excruciating pain that made her body beg for her to stop, but she kept on going, slowly pulling herself away from the rocky plain.
She never knew that she was crawling away from the dead body of the same man who had attempted to kidnap her.
After a while of forcing herself to move, the pain had reduced to nothing but numbness. She could no longer feel anything else. She had read some stories of pain being so great that it felt like there was no pain at all, was she experiencing the same thing?
Rehenna didn't know how long she had been crawling through the place she now identifies as a forest, but it felt like it had been forever. She no longer cared about her surroundings, and because of exhaustion, she fell asleep right where she was.
In her daze of sleep, she felt someone hold her hand. Another whose touch was so warm, so familiar, one that made her smile.
"Jui..." her raspy voice whispered.
"Are you alright?" but that wasn't his voice.
With a gasp, she awoke and realized that everything was moving and that the ground beneath felt wooden and flat. There was a sound of a horse's neighs and the rumbling of wagon wheels upon a bumpy surface.
Her wounds felt terrible, and she felt as if she would faint just by the thought of it. Rehenna was still unable to move her body. Who was the person who held her hand?
"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" the sound of the man's gentle voice entering her ears caused her surprise.
"W-who are you?" her voice sounded horrible.
"Please hold on for a little while longer." she felt strong arms wrap around her frame, "Can you not feel it? I too am a Liya." his voice was quite masculine, confirming that he was a man, but he did not bear the soft hands that a Liya treasured by a kingdom would have.
When she concentrated, Rehenna could feel power flowing through her coming from the other, and it was true. He really was a Liya.
"Oh... what are you doing?" she said faintly.
"I'm trying to heal you." he pulled her up into a sitting position, making her cry out in pain, "I'm sorry!" he yelled, cradling her in his arms.
"Heal me how?" she asked, although she could feel it. She could feel the transfer of his power into her own.
"You don't know?" The other Liya brought her into a hug, making her grunt in pain, "The Liya are able to heal others using their power by giving them affection." His power was making her pain go away, replacing anesthesia. She nodded, her eyes fluttering shut even though it brought her no sight.
"Where are we?"
"We're surrounded by a forest, that's for sure, but to where specifically is our location? I have no idea."
Rehenna sighed in disappointment, “Thank you for the information…” it took her a few seconds to realize that she had not heard his name, “What’s your name?” she asked.
A chuckle could be heard in front of her, “Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself.” he took her hand and gave it a shake, “My name is Ekubar… I’ve been captured just like you.”
Thank you for reading the first chapter of my story "What Future?"!
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