Chapter 63

  The source of magic(1)

  Location :Royal palace, Enlan, Britaania

  In a large red hall decorated with numerous portraits and golden pillars, a portal opens.

  Zeva walks out of the portal and walks through the long hall.

  Her armored footsteps echo in the hall like those of a gallant knight returning from battle, a scene that this hall has witnessed numerous times.

  -Welcome home, your Royal Highness-

  The servants move to either side of the hall, making way for Zeva, and then bow respectfully to greet her.

  -Where are my parents? –

  -His and Her Majesty are in the dining room having breakfast-

  Zeva inquires, then heads to where a servant directed her.

  She enters the dining room to find her father, a middle-aged man in his late forties, wearing a blue suit with well groomed, combed back blonde hair and a neatly trimmed golden goatee, reading a traditional physical newspaper.

  Her mother, equally frozen in time, sits next to the king, wearing a long traditional junihitoe style Kimono and pouring herself a hot cup of tea.

  Her mother’s hair is black and smooth like her own, and it stretches down past her waist, almost touching the floor, with some strands loosely tied at the middle of her back.

  -Welcome home, Zeva-

  The tired knight’s lips curl into a soft smile as he listens to the oh so familiar words.

  ‘unchanging as ever’

  Like the palace in which they live, the two of them have remained the same for as long as she remembers.

  No matter what happens nor how much the world changes around them, the two of them have remained the same. A symbol of stability and a pillar she can always rely on and return to, but unfortunately, this might be the day they finally have to change.

  Zeva’s smile shifts into a remorseful gaze as she looks at her parents.

  - I may or may not be about to do something stupid –

  Her father lowers his newspaper and raises an eyebrow at her.

  -elaborate –

  - I can’t tell you much because I don’t know much either yet, but Claus thinks the world government might be hiding something and wants to investigate it –

  -You shouldn’t follow him –

  He says absentmindedly before returning to his newspaper.

  Zeva blinks repeatedly, taken off guard by the King’s immediate and nonchalant response.

  -what? Why? Do you think he is correct? -

  -Of course, he is correct, darling, Is there a government that doesn’t have secrets? -

  Her mother comments while calmly sipping her tea.

  -No, I get that, obviously, but we are the highest team in the global strike force, there should be no secrets that we don’t know?-

  -You are a soldier, my child, why would there be a need to tell you? These types of information are usually on a need to know basis, it’s not as simple as having a high enough clearance level-

  -…!-

  Zeva can’t help but stare at her parents in bewilderment.

  She had expected this conversation to be difficult. She had expected them to doubt her or tell her she is crazy, However, she hadn’t expected the conversation to turn out this way.

  She didn’t expect her parents to completely dismiss her worries and act as if it is such an obvious thing.

  How are they okay with the government hiding information from the members of the GSTF, Who else are they hiding the information from?

  Zeva’s eyes grow wide as another question crystalizes in her mind.

  -Wait, do you know? -

  The King lowers his newspaper at his daughter’s question.

  -Hmm, well, I am not sure which program you are referring to, but odds are I do -

  -The Order of the Blue Phoenix, is it related to the government? –

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  The stoic king flinches at Zeva’s question, an action that was not missed by her and an action that greatly shocked her.

  In all of her memory, Zeva couldn’t recall a single moment where her father was shaken by anything, and yet the mere mention of the Blue Phoenix seemed to startle him.

  The king remains silent for a moment as many thoughts run through his head, wondering how much his daughter knows and how much he should tell her.

  He turns his head to glance at his wife, who is still calmly sipping her tea.

  -She is the heir to the throne; she will know eventually, There is no harm in learning a few things ahead of schedule –

  -I suppose so –

  The king nods at his wife’s suggestion, then turns back to look at Zeva.

  -No, the order of the Blue Phoenix is not related to the government, at least not anymore, also it’s not called the order of Blue Phoenix –

  The king gets up from his seat and walks toward the window behind him as he begins to recall some memories.

  -The order of Blue Phoenix, the covenant of the Raven, the Ascended ones, or whichever other name they wish to call themselves at the moment, is a mysterious group of individuals, we don’t know their true goals or their identity or where they are hiding, each time they show up they claim a different Identity and a different goal, one thing remains true though, they are very knowledgeable when it comes to magic. –

  The king glances at his butler, and without needing to issue any orders, the old butler bows deeply before leading the other servants out of the dining room and closing the door behind them.

  -Before the election of President Fredric, they held a high position within the world government as they were close with the previous President, and they were well known among high society, the government learned many things from them, most notably the importance of children as ingredients for magic-

  -children!-

  The young knight raises her eyebrows in confusion, but her confusion only lasts a moment before her eyebrows furrow and her confusion is replaced anger.

  She quickly recalls that the order of Blue Phoenix was eventually blamed for a large number of child kidnappings and that many government officials and wealthy families were implicated in the matter.

  -Why children?-

  The king glances back at Zeva, noticing her gritted teeth, then looks away from her and at the sky above.

  -well, to quote one of the members of the Blue Pheonix, every father loves his children, especially the young ones, and this is especially true for the great father in heaven –

  -what is the supposed to mean? -

  -hmm, are you familiar with old legends?-

  -if you are referring to our old legends, then, sure, I am familiar but I don’t see how that’s related-

  The king continues to stare at the heavens above as he recalls old legends.

  -well, in most legends, all magic comes from the divine, which is especially true for our legends, Be it miracles or divine artifacts such as the holy grail, or even the devil himself, for he was once an angel, and his authority and power were granted to him by the divine–

  -what’s your point? –

  -Think about it, All legends point to magic originating from the divine, the Creator himself, the great father in heaven, The closer one is to Him, the stronger their connection to magic, and who is purer and more untouched by sin than a child?-

  The king glances back at Zeva.

  -and it’s this purity that makes them very close to the divine and favored by him and it’s also why their connection to magic is so strong -

  Zeva’s face contorts as her rage builds.

  -Are you trying to tell me that those delusional cultists were kidnapping children because of their twisted interpretations of some old legends-

  -hmm, cultists? sure, delusional? Unfortunately, no, although I do agree that their reasoning is at best illogical, and both their methodology and reasoning are wrong, they did stumble upon a truth, It is true that for one reason or another, children are born with the highest affinity for magic and that affinity often decreases as they grow older-

  Zeva clenches her fist and grits her teeth, then shifts her gaze away from her father as she tries to calm herself down.

  After all, her father did say that this was before President Fredric was elected. It’s definitely horrible, but at least it’s no longer happening, and surely, President Fredric has punished all those involved.

  She hates the fact that the bounty hunter was correct, especially because she knows he only wanted them to turn against the world government and cause chaos within the strike force. But at least now she knows this was only in the past, and there is no need to worry about it now.

  -haaaaa-

  Zeva lets out a long sigh and brushes her hair back.

  -well, originally I came here to ask the two of you to come with me to a place where you can hide so the world government doesn’t target you in retaliation, you see-

  The King turns slightly to look at his daughter to listen to her.

  -we got ah…. Let’s call it a report about a location where children are being kidnapped and held and that the government is involved in it, and we were going to investigate it-

  Flinch!

  The King flinches, and the Queen, who was calmly drinking her tea, suddenly spills most of it from shock.

  Zeva blinks repeatedly and looks at them with a wary expression.

  -w,what’s wrong? What’s with that reaction? –

  -Zeva, I forbid you from going on that investigation –

  The king says with a stern and worried expression.

  -why? You said this was happening before President Fredric was elected, right? –

  -Zeva, my child, you should know about a different program, any electronic device that produces and receives electromagnetic waves can be used and is used to monitor you-

  -Hey, why are you changing the subject?-

  Zeva tries to interrupt the king, but he ignores her and continues to speak at rapid speed as if he is in a race with time.

  - a grimoire, a watch, even a thermometer, like the echolocation of a bat, they can use the waves generated by it to create a 3D image, one that is accurate enough to track everything you do and know everything you say by tracking your lips, Zeva, whatever you and your team are planning, you should know the government is already aware of it –

  -Is that a threat? -

  -No, Zeva, it’s not a threat-

  The Queen says while looking at her child with pleading eyes.

  -my beloved daughter, you know President Fredric is not an oppressive man, the fact that no actions were taken against you yet is probably him being considerate of us, Zeva when you are a leader sometimes you have to make hard decisions –

  -are you trying you justify it right now?-

  Zeva looks at her mother with a shocked look.

  - I really can’t believe the two of you right now, The government is still doing it, isn’t it? And you are in on it, aren’t you?-

  -Zeva, there are a lot of things you don’t know, Just listen –

  -NO-

  The King and Queen flinch as their daughter, who never once raised her voice at them, shouts and glares at them with raging eyes.

  - You are not going to try to convince me that this is okay, I don’t care what your reason is, I can’t believe that stupid bounty hunter was right, Ugh–

  Zeva raises her arms in frustration and slams her fist into the wall, causing it to crack under the force of her biomechanical armor.

  She presses a button on her armor, which sends a signal to her team leader. soon after, a portal opens next to her.

  -I originally came here to ensure your safety, but I never expected you to be part of the problem, Now, I don’t care anymore –

  The king looks even more worried when he sees the portal open, and he shouts.

  -Zeva, I said forbid you from going –

  Zeva turns to look at the king.

  -Father, no, my King, I never once disobeyed you, I have always respected you and looked up to you, but that ends today –

  Zeva walks through the portal and disappears from view.

  -…-

  The king stands there, frozen in shock.

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