The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

pointed at a portrait of a guy with black hair, piercing blue eyes and an ironclad suit who was holding a sword.

"Crystalia was and still is ruled by kings and queens. That's Josh," I replied. "He was Crystalia's king in the 1700s, and he was a crystal."

The guys' eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm sorry. A what?" Zane was the one who asked. He and the guys were the only ones who did not know about the crystal, and I was glad about the reactions I received. I found it funny when I explained to someone who didn't know what the word meant.

"Crystal," I repeated. That, however, did not stop the confused looks I was receiving.

"But isn't a crystal like a shiny object?" Liam asked as he scratched his head.

"Yes, Liam. But in Crystalia, it is recognized as a person. Here's the difference. Crystalia is a name that was brought up from the word crystal. The crystal is a powerful witch that the universe selects every 200 years. They are stronger than the rest of the other witches."

"Why crystal?" Harry asked. "Why not powerful witch, or Crystalia's very own powerful witch?"

"Because those words are a mouthful," I stated simply.

"But what if the crystal turns bad?" Logan asked with uncertainty before turning his gaze to something on his right. "I have a feeling life as a witch is like a TV show."

I laughed at the irony.

"I didn't want to tell you guys this, seeing that you just found out that you yourselves are witches. In case a crystal's soul darkens, there is usually a spell that stops their powers temporarily. Then this gives other witches time to contain the crystal in a magical chamber that prevents them from harming people."

"What is the spell?" Logan asked.

I looked at a portrait away from them as I answered, "I don't know. Only the rulers of Crystalia and those close to the crystal know, and it is better if it stayed that way."

"Who's that?" Zane asked as he pointed a finger at a portrait far across the hallway. Once I turned to face the portrait, I instantly felt uneasy as fear clutched at my heart.

The portrait Zane pointed at was of a woman. She had black hair, pale skin and fiery green eyes. She wore a long black velvet dress which reached past her knees. Her hair was also styled into a bun. She had red lips that formed a thin line and some wrinkles on her face. Her eyes were drawn in a way that they looked and faced her right.

"That's Eva," I replied with no enthusiasm. I looked at the image for a moment before realizing that the boys looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. 

"She was a crystal. She was born in the 1800s, and you could say she was Crystalia's favorite witch," I stated with a smile as if I was there to witness her.

"But that was before her downfall."

"What?" Ethan asked. I turned to face him and the rest.

"An erwich managed to slip a potion that made her evil. With her being a crystal, you can imagine the chaos that ensued."

Logan looked at me with a weird look. I forgot once again they were new to the magic thing.

"She killed thousands of witches in one day. The king at that time had to make a potion that would get rid of the evil in her soul. It worked, and it seemed like she had gone back to her usual self. However, it didn't. Even though the darkness got out, she had a taste of it. She had accepted it, and before long, she killed more witches."

"What happened to her?"

I turned to face Logan as I noticed Liam pulling out his phone from one of his jeans' pockets.

"She was banned from Crystalia. Apparently, she was too evil to be kept near other witches."

Liam gasped as he stared at his phone.

"Guys, we need to leave or Trevor will have our heads."

Oh. I thought it was a reaction from Eva's tale.

The guys mirrored Liam's expression before Liam turned to me.

"Thanks, Selena," he said as he hugged me. I tried not to feel giddy, but I couldn't. I hugged him back and silently inhaled his scent.

I was hugging Liam Gray!

He retracted the hug as the rest came to me and hugged me.

"How weird will it be if you teleport to your hotel room?"

Their eyes widened in disbelief.

"What do you mean by 'teleport'?" Harry asked, and the rest gave him narrowed looks.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Really? How?" Zane chose to speak, ignoring Harry.

"Just close your eyes and picture the room," I said. They closed their eyes. "Then say in your minds that you want to be there. Like, make a wish or something—"

They all disappeared at the same time. Some seconds later, my phone buzzed with a message from Liam.

Thanks.

X Liam

Wait. I don't remember giving him my phone number... 

Oh, wait. I did.

With a shrug, I wandered across the hallway in search of Emery.

Emery's P.O.V

I couldn't believe the nerve of that girl!

I marched past Selena and walked towards the entrance of the castle. I was too angry to notice the garden that existed with a fountain on the other side of the castle.

Once I went past the opened castle doors, someone rushed towards me and hugged me. I was shocked at first, but the perfume that I smelled made me recognize the person.

"Mom!" I shouted in surprise as I retracted the hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at work."

She smiled at me before it turned into a frown.

"I was, and I decided to visit you and your dear cousin at work. I am disappointed in the two of you," she said with a disapproving frown.

I squinted my eyebrows in confusion. My mother remained silent as she waited for me to figure out the reason for her disappointment. I didn't. 

She sighed as she looked down before staring back at me.

"What happened at work?" she asked. I went into my mind and recalled the events of the evening.

"We had an erwich attack," I replied with a grim expression.

"Another?" she asked in shock. My eyes widened at the response.

"They were actually two," saying that didn't help the matter. "We felt it was weird, so we came to Crystalia to ask about it." She sighed in relief once I finished the sentence.

"That was smart of you, Emery. Who knows what could have happened if you didn't come immediately. Anyway, that makes it hard for me to be mad at you. I found Rachel in the kitchen."

My eyes widened in shock.

Crap! I forgot about her! Apparently, I was too busy dealing with a blast from my past to realize that she might have still been at the café. 

What if she discovered what we were?

"Does she—" I asked, intending to ask my thoughtful query, but my mother cut me off.

"No, she doesn't. Rachel was closing the café when I ran into her. She told me she had gone to visit her mother for a while."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I was glad to hear she was okay. I just had to worry about the excuse I had to give her.  

"I didn't know that," I told my mother.

"I know," she replied. "She told Selena."

Oh my goodness...

"She apparently told her that she would be gone for an hour before coming back to the cafe to close up with you guys. She is mad that you guys left without her."

I winced in reaction.

"Please, be more cautious next time. It wouldn't be nice if the world found out about witches."

I nodded in agreement.

"Where were you going?" she asked.

"Oh, I was going to see the queen. We need to talk about the erwich attacks." My eyes roamed around my current surroundings, searching for the queen.

"I'll go with you," she replied. I nodded in agreement, and we set foot towards the queen's quarters. We found ourselves walking along a staircase and reaching the floor above. My eyes met a hallway in front of me and another on my right. We turned towards the right one, looking around for the ruler of Crystalia.

The queen's servants shook their heads in denial when we asked them about the whereabouts of the Queen.

"Emery! Miss Davis!" a deep voice shouted through the hallway, causing us to turn to the source. A smile appeared across my face when I spotted the queen's son approaching us.

His name was Prince Erick, short for Erickson. He was about a year older than me and he was set to be Crystalia's next ruler. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and a lightly tanned skin. He had worn a navy blue waistcoat with white buttons and a white dress shirt underneath, just like the queen's servants. His legs were however hidden inside black khaki trousers that completed his formal look.

Once he was a few feet away from us, I hugged him. He returned the hug, then retracted to hug my mother.

"How was your day?" he asked with a smile that revealed his pearly white teeth. We replied with 'fine' and 'great'and then proceeded to bow our heads down. Once we were done, Erick let out a bark of laughter.

"There is no need to do that. You know that you are like my aunt of sorts and you are like my sister," he respectively told my mother and I. I smiled at him, and my mom copied my actions.

"Well, let's go. I am sure my mother is not busy right now," he said as he walked in front of us. We followed him as he led us past a large dining room and into a small conference room.

In the chamber, a large rectangular sepia table with padauk wood chairs surrounding it met my view. The gray walls were slightly illuminated by the bulbs arranged near the top left and right corners of the room. There was a closet arranged at the far left corner that showed us one of its sides and a large window that displayed one of the mountains that surrounded Crystalia.

In the room, Erick's mother, Queen Elizabeth, was busy reading a book. 

Erick looked like his mom. Unlike her son, she had red hair and her skin was a bit lighter. 

"Hello!" she said with a smile once she saw us at the door. She closed the book she was reading and approached us.

"What's wrong?" she said instantly with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would anything be wrong?" my mother asked. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her.

"Please, Susan. You know you only come to Crystalia when something's wrong," she stated as a fact. My mom went to oppose, but she found herself opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Fair enough. But you of all people know why I don't come here at most times," my mom said with an edge to her tone. The room went silent as tension made its presence. It wasn't uncommon for the two to be like that; 

I mean, who would want to come to the place where their husband was killed?

"Selena and I have been having frequent erwich attacks," I said instantly with hopes of changing the subject.

"What? They only attack about thrice a year!" Elizabeth said in shock. I nodded my head in agreement.

"I need your help in finding out what is going on," my mother said. Elizabeth gave us a solemn look.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot help you. You know what the risks are when we try to spy on erwiches. Whatever it is that they're doing—well, it's not like it would work, right?" she said with a shrug.

"If I may," Erick started, "maybe it's because of next Friday."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Emery, have you forgotten? On that day, the universe will pick who the next crystal would be."

I couldn't believe it.

"Selena and I can't be the only ones who have had frequent attacks, right?" I asked, and he nodded.

I sighed in relief.

"I have a feeling they know about the next crystal being selected. I guess that is why they are attacking. Maybe they're afraid of being wiped out of existence."

"Well, that makes sense," my mom commented.

"So, what do we do?" I asked Erick.

"All witches will stay in Crystalia for the following week," Queen Elizabeth answered for him. "We can't expose the witches to erwiches at this time."

"But what about my job?" I complained. I was still saving for college, and I was looking forward to having some cash before I started it.

"What's more important, Emery? Your job or your life?" Erick asked.

Damn it!

Third person's P.O.V

Past the mountains that could be seen from Crystalia lay a dense forest. Further from that was a slightly desolate land with a small eroding castle. The castle was small and had gray brick stones for walls and a wooden roof with rusting red paint. It was composed of a cubic structure three floors high. Four towers supported the corners of the castle with a height of five floors.

In the castle, dark beasts roamed around, searching for food. The beasts had big wings like those of bats, and they resembled baboons. They also had long tails. Sharp claws were present on their limbs. Past the creatures was a group of erwiches. They appeared like ordinary men and women with clothes that were slightly torn.

In the middle of the group was a pot with boiling contents placed over firewood. An erwich appeared in a blink of an eye before approaching the one who was closer to the pot.

"Do you have good news?" the one near the pot asked the approaching erwich. The erwich looks down before meeting his eyes.

"They escaped," she replied. In an instant, she was backhanded. Her cheek turned to the side as the sound of the smack carried through the castle.