Chapter 33

The mythical portal mirror smelt of smoke like a burning metal. Lord Parafon looked at it and shuddered. The mirror was healing, completely healing. But as it healed, so did the writings on it begin to disappear, burning out in form of the smelling smoke and disappearing like they never were. The writings that had guided them throughout all these years were becoming extinct as the mirror healed. What it meant, they didn't know for in that instant the High Priest's knowledge of what was happening began to be hazy.

The Oracle went and stood next to him as they both watched in confusion. The mirror kept healing, the words kept smoking out. One thing was clear to them. The complete healing of the mirror meant the complete shut down of the portal and there would never be another dimension again. The gates to Palawa Kingdom from Dalawa empire were completely closed, permanently. There could never be a return to the upper dimension by either Nicadeaus or Cinderella. Not even Malin and Revina could manage to break the portal mirror again. But the rubbed writings was a strange phenomenon that neither of them could comprehend.

Then their memories started to become foggy, gradually disappearing as the mirror started to disappear from their sights. Then, they couldn't remember anything about the mirror or what it represented anymore. They completely forgot about Malin, Revina and the mission that brought them back to Dalawa empire. They couldn't remember the reason as to why they were together in the Lord's cottage for it was a rarity to see the High Priest and the Oracle together leave alone in the cottage where the Oracle had never set foot before. Their presence in the cottage together widened their confusions.

The Emperor looked at them keenly, wondering what was happening to them as they greeted each other as if it was the first time in a long time that they were seeing each other. The Emperor moved closer to them to find out what was happening to them.

"What's going on here?" he asked, looking at them confusedly. The empress was still outside with Revina, keeping her company as she awaited the return of her beloved.

"I was just trying to find out from my dear friend the Oracle here what she is doing in my cottage at this hour sire," Lord Parafon replied.

"Yes My Lord,"the Oracle spoke. "But the problem is I can't remember for what reason I came here sire."

"Are you kidding me? What's wrong with the two of you"

"Is there a problem My Lord?" Lord Parafon asked. "By the way sire, to what honour do I owe your visit? This is unprecedented and untraditional. What brings the reigning emperor to my cottage?"

"What nonsense is this? What game are the two of you playing?"

"Pardon me My Lord," the Oracle said, "but I'm lost. What are you talking about sire? How come you are saying we are playing games with you My Lord? That's a sin against the crown and we cannot commit such a crime against you sire, you know it."

"What? Don't you really remember?"

"Remember what My Lord?" asked the Oracle.

Moving backwards as confusion raged in him, "the story about the portal mirror and the rescue of Prince Medan?" the Emperor asked.

"What portal mirror?" Lord Parafon and the Oracle chorused.

"You really don't remember?" the Emperor asked as his eyes caught sight of a glowing object next to the wall behind them. He walked past them to the wall to check it out.

On the wall was the portal mirror, appearing before the emperor for the first time after it disappeared from him for disbelieving it's contents several years ago. On the mirror were writings that confused the Emperor more than anything else. "THESE EVENTS HAVE BEEN ERASED FROM THE MEMORIES OF ANYONE WHO IS NOT A ROYAL MEMBER OF DALAWA. THEY KNOW NOT WHAT HAPPENED. EXPLAIN NOTHING TO NO ONE AND YOU MUST GUARD THE SECRET OF WHAT YOU KNOW WITH YOUR LIFE. PRINCE MEDAN IS ALIVE AND WILL BE THE LAST IMMORTAL EMPEROR. THE ROYAL CITY MUST BE DESTROYED AND ALL THE ROYALS WILL ASSUME THE FORM OF NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS. SAY NOT A WORD UNTIL THE TIME ARRIVES." Those were the writings on the mirror and as soon as the emperor finished reading them, the writings disappeared and the portal mirror cracked into smaller pieces until it became as fine as dust. A strong wind blew the dust a way and the Emperor felt pain in his chest. A pain he had never felt for the hundreds of years he had been alive.

"What's going on here?" he asked more to himself than to the two confused companions he had in the room.

"What My Lord?" Lord Parafon asked.

"Sorry, I wasn't addressing you High Priest."

"It's ok sire. Back to my question, what brings you to my cottage My Lord.?"

Before the Emperor could answer Lord Parafon's question, a coal dark darkness enveloped the cottage and the entire empire to an extent that even the lightings in the cottage could not do anything to rid the cottage of darkness. No one could see anything. The darkness was followed by thunderstorms that whacked the atmosphere with sounds loud enough to deafen anyone, forcing the Emperor and his two companions to cover their ears. The empress became too frightened to stay out on the balcony and reached for Revina's hands to pull her into the cottage. Unfortunately, in the darkness she couldn't see or guess where Revina could be for her hands only managed to catch a soft object that felt like a clothe. In her fright, she called out for Revina but no sound or response was forthcoming from her and out of fear of attack, she fumbled her way into the cottage where she bumped into Lord Parafon.

In that moment, it began to rain heavily and intensely, the roof spluttering louder than usual as lightening and thunderstorms accompanied the pouring rain. A strong wind started to blow in the opposite direction with the rain, building up as the strength of the rain increased. The cottage started to shake and everyone including the High Priest himself began to fear for the worst, the fall of the cottage into the valley. A resounding thunderstorm sent cricket-like sounds into everyone's ears, forcing them to hold onto their ears as they bent on their knees, protecting themselves from an invisible enemy.

Then a feeble light started to illuminate the room. At first, they were able to see not beyond their feet but as the seconds ticked into minutes and the rain diminished, they began to see their surroundings. The darkness gradually and reluctantly receded as the light intensified. The wind calmed to a standstill as if it never blew that fast and with such great strength.

The Emperor looked at the empress and seeing how scared she was, he pulled her to him and embraced her, reassuring her that everything was ok even though he wasn't sure what ok meant. Then they realized Revina wasn't with them and rushed outside to check. Lord Parafon and the Oracle were still utterly confused and stood in the middle of the cottage like little children scared of thunderstorms or lightening. To them, it was strange enough that they were there in the cottage but it was more than weird that both the Emperor and the empress were there too. It was more than difficult for them to understand what they termed as an unprecedented and untraditional action by the Emperor and the empress.

On reaching outside, the Emperor and the empress were surprised to realize that the light they enjoyed inside the cottage was only limited to the cottage and that outside there on the balcony resided a pitch darkness that seemed to be speaking in ghostly languages. It was difficult for the empress to figure out where Revina had been standing for even then, her view was still limited to nothing but a star that seemed patched on the top of the Forbidden Medan Forest. The Emperor was more blinded than she was for he thought the empress was dreaming or hallucinating when she mentioned the star to him. He was seeing nothing but the darkness.

The star the empress was seeing sent some rays of light onto the balcony and the empress was able to see Revina, or what she thought was Revina. The Emperor was still blinded for even then, he saw nothing and still insisted the empress was imagining things. The empress moved forward towards Revina who stood still like a statue. The Emperor remained by the door of the cottage, unsure of what the empress was seeing or doing.

On reaching Revina, the empress stretched out her left arm to her shoulder. However, to the empress' surprise, she touched a soft object rather than Revina. Then a smoke started to emanate from Revina, a bright smoke that smelt not but rose not high into the sky but low into the valley. The empress shuddered. The clothes Revina was wearing fell onto the ground, bodiless. The empress shrieked in horror and ran towards the cottage where she found the Emperor by the door, his sword in his hand, ready to strike whoever was after the empress. His vision was still limited and he could not see anything except for the High Priest and the Oracle who were still in the cottage.

When the empress told the Emperor what she just saw, the Emperor shook his head in disbelief. They walked into the cottage but before they could fully enter the cottage, the star that the Emperor hadn't managed to see radiated like sun in the night, illuminating the entire empire like the morning sun. It stood above the forest as if the forest was it's orbit, rotating like a planet around the forest in a semicircle but at great speed with its rays remaining constant, unaffected by its constellation. The Emperor, the Oracle, the High and the empress all walked to the balcony to see this strange phenomenon.

From a distance, Medan Forest sparkled in the star lights. It was no longer the forest they knew or the forest the Emperor and the empress knew for the High Priest and the Oracle had completely forgotten about the existence of such a forest. It was it's former self, Medan town. The tall buildings that were once beautiful sights stood erect where formerly tall trees swayed in the air. The roads that snaked the once upon a time luxurious town emerged with such a beautiful glitter as if they had awoken from a deep peaceful slumber. The fine trees that lined the paths and the roads of this once beautiful town swayed in the weak wind that tired it's way past them to its sleep. The Medan forest had transformed into a glowing and beautiful Medan town, just like it was over thirty years ago. The town was alive and the forest was dead.

Looking into the valley, both the Emperor and the empress' eyes caught sight of Malin and Revina's clothes, floating in the valley like birds flying in the sky. But to their shock, there was no Malin, no Revina. The clothes flew like lost sheep, wandering in the wilderness of nowhere, searching and searching for their lost owners. Lord Parafon and the Oracle followed their gazes into the valley but instead of seeing the flowing clothes, they saw burning flames emanating from the bottom of the valley, rising up and up as if advancing towards them. They shuddered and pulled away from the edge of the valley and stood a few steps away. Just then, they realized that they had lost, if not all, most of their powers for they could not understand anything or see anything like they used to.

Unable to fathom what just happened, the empress began to mourn for Malin and Revina. She had began to love them both so much and though she couldn't fully understand what went on, she was certain they were gone forever. Then she remembered what she saw when Malin and Revina said goodbye. It was their last goodbye. And it saddened her even more. The Emperor was too confused to think or react in anyway.

Just then, the Emperor caught sight of the star rising up and up into the sky, disappearing into the darkness of the universe. The night was returning and the transient abnormal morning was going with the rise of the star. But upon looking closely, the Emperor caught sight of a man holding the royal stick and standing on top of the grand Medan Tavern, a huge bean-shaped story building that was the tallest building in Medan town and also acted as Medan headquarters. Next to the man was a woman but from the limited vision, the Emperor could not make out the faces of the two human beings he was seeing. The empress was still lost in her sorrow that she saw nothing or heard nothing while the High Priest and the Oracle started to talk indistinctly to themselves as if hatching a plan to escape from what they thought was an eminent danger.

The darkness returned as the night began to age, the first quarter having gone. The Emperor and the empress remained glued on the balcony while the Oracle and the High Priest went back into the cottage. It was then that the man and the woman the Emperor was seeing emerged, riding on the royal dragon that belonged to prince Medan. The empress was so overwhelmed with joy that she passed out while the Emperor stood still, paralysed and mystified. Prince Medan and Princess Malia had awoken and upon the dragon they rode onto the balcony of the High Priest's cottage.