ALICIA ASCALON ASHBORN

“Are everybody on the ship alright?” I asked.

“Master you finally came back.” Hana jumped towards me as she could not contain her excitement.

“You did a really fine job with your skill Hana.” I made sure to praise Hana as much so that she could fix later on any mess I make in the future.

“From where you came… never mind. What happened to the pirates?”

Just as I had planned, I had teleported myself out of everyone’s sight back to where Regis and Hana were on the ship. Other people were still befuddled to look at the restored ship and the melted ice.

And I have also been hearing the talk of this strong person called the ‘White Queen’. I wonder how I could have missed such a unique person in this show. But this person really must be dramatic and delusional to have such a chuunibyou name.

Aside from that all the pirates and the ice sheet on the ocean has been handled thanks to Hana’s power. And we can continue onward on our journey without having any stops again.

Regis who was a bit taken aback by my unexpected appearance was quick to know that everything had ended. It seems that she has got herself pretty accustomed to it.

“While at the end I did realize those pirates were not all talk and did have a bit of pirate spirit in them. But they have no sense of aesthetics. So of course, I am unhappy. If they were going to do it, they should have at least done it right. My verdict is they were all terribly flawed.” Considering all their action I think I gave a pretty fair criticism of them.

“So how about on your end, Regis?” I merrily looked at Regis waiting for her remarks about my accomplishment.

“Oh, it's nothing we are fine. We just miraculously survived the onslaught when you left us without telling us anything. That’s all. But more importantly, I have something to tell you.” Regis’s agitated face and somewhat of a sarcastic remark were more than enough to tell that she was pissed off.

What it could be this time, I am sure I did not get lost in the sea. Did she want me to make her ice cream from all that ice then? I think the weather is perfect and I would like to try one myself.

This is bad I have to at least tell her that the ice from the sea would be ⸻salty and not sweet at all.

“Regis why don’t we talk about this when we land.” I didn’t want Regis to get embarrassed on the ship for making such a silly mistake.

“Why later? What if one of the cannon balls got to us and our ship would have been sent flying? Or what if you were hurt in all those blasts and drowned in the sea.” Regis screamed.

“I wouldn’t have let any of that happen. And that was partly the reason why I froze the sea.” I was trying to soothe Regis’s anger by making excuses.

“You didn’t even know how to swim. What would have happened if you actually drowned and I wouldn’t even be able to look for you? I was really worried about you all this time.” Regis’s voice for a certain duration became soft and carried affection.

“Regis, I am sorry. But I needed to take care of those pirates because of that submarine. And I wanted you to support me by keeping an eye on this ship.” I didn’t mind apologizing to her once in a while.

Regis looked shocked for a second and then she had that similar expression of a scowl contradicting her flustered eyes.

“You have always been like that… I could have easily crushed those pirates myself. You need to restrain yourself from acting impulsively from now on. Think before you are about to do something like revealing your identity and showing off your power out in the open.”

“You worry about the most simple thing. There’s no way anyone could have seen through my flawless disguise.” I was pretty confident in that regard. Except for the fact that it always felt like I was being watched and followed by someone on this ship and even during the battle it felt like someone could locate me.

But now that creepy feeling has disappeared, it could have been Hana because now she shares a bond with my soul. It’s still all new for both her and me. Hana had withdrawn from our argument as she had already surrendered to Regis’s assault. So, she was busy trying to spot mermaids out in the ocean. I highly doubt there would be any, but I will leave her to her childish fantasies. Even though she might have inherited them from me.

“But what if someone saw you and found out your identity?”

“What are the chances of that happening?”

Regis didn’t seem to be backing down, so I too was not ready to accept my mistake.

“Hmmm… Let’s see. Are you the three ⸻a human girl with a mask, a red-haired elf, and a maid girl. You three are the only ones that match the given description.” An old man in a sailor’s uniform and atop sat a captain’s hat on his head approached us.

“You failure of a captain, don't you realize I am discussing a very important matter here?? Who in the right mind gives up on his crew so easily just after one attempt?” Regis stormed her anger on the captain since he was the one who lifted her spirits during the pirate chase but he also went down so quickly.

“I beg your forgiveness for being so helpless in that situation…. I am ready to throw myself in the river as a punishment right now.” The captain takes out his cap and strikes his chest hard. He almost seemed to be breaking into tears. Regis’s glaring eyes could really destroy someone.

But losing him at this moment could slow down this trip.

“Mr. Captain didn’t you have to say something to us,” I asked trying to bring him back.

“For penance, I will get myself eaten by sharks…. Right. Someone important has called for you three. They are waiting in their cabin for you.” The Captain announced.

Regis looks at me with a sly smile on her face as if wanting to say ⸻Now you have done it. Or, I knew this would have happened.

‘This has to be a fluke they could not have found me out so quickly. That’s not possible, right?’ At least that’s what I wanted to scream.

***

SHIP’S CABIN

Alicia, Regis, and Hana were standing outside one of the rooms inside the ship. It appeared to be one of the largest suites on this ship and the three still wondered who could have asked for them at such an odd time.

Right, now everyone was celebrating on the deck after they have survived the impossible pirate attack. The sailors would be drunk for the whole night and they were singing some merry songs about the arrival of a new savior they called the White Queen. I still found that name hilarious and amusing.

The captain had been asked not to reveal from whom this invitation was. Since it would arouse suspicion to refuse the invitation of someone influential outright, the three had no choice but to accept.

“The door is open. You can come in.” A voice came from inside even though no one had knocked on the door.

“Well, there’s no point in overthinking this.” Alicia pushes the door and the three walked in only to find the room in the dark.

On a comfy chair sat a girl in an elaborate blue gown and beside her stood an old man wearing a butler’s uniform. But that was all they could see.

The girl stands, and from the open window at the back the moonlight seeps in, enlightening the entirety of the room.

“My name is Arya Stark, the first princess of the Stark Kingdom. This is my butler, Alfred. I am really glad that we could finally meet.”

Despite her innocent charm, the air of nobility around her was so overpowering that it did not raise even a single question of doubt in the trio’s mind. What’s more, Alicia was instantly drawn to her heterochromatic red and green eye.

To Alicia at a glance, she almost resembled one of the elegant heroine princesses she used to watch as a kid made by a certain famous entertainment company.

“You are the one I saved from falling that time.” Alicia now remembered her face even though she only saw it for an instant only.

“I thank you for that time and for what you did,” Arya said.

“She is the one who gave all the injured people our healing potion….” Regis stops while speaking but, it seemed like she had spilled the beans already.

“It’s alright Regis. It would be almost impossible to hide that fact from her anyway. I was wondering how everyone on the ship was uninjured, so I assumed there would have been a powerful healer around. But I now know that it was the princess that saved them.” Alicia asks Regis to settle and not panic.

“I have already tried to learn about you three before you came here. Miss Alicia, Miss Regis, and Miss Hana, I thank you for making those healing potions and saving this ship from the pirate's attack.” Arya was always thorough with her research. She had already looked out for every piece of available information and learned of their details from the passenger’s ticket list she got from the captain.

She had also earned the captain’s protection and could stay on this ship without being pestered till they reached the Stark Kingdom. So, holding a discussion right now, without being disturbed by anyone else was the right decision made by her.

“Alicia how did she know it was you? What should we do now? Would we be forced by the kingdom to serve them or be imprisoned?” Regis too seemed to be fearful of the outside world and had her own prejudices about the human continent in the elf kingdom.

“I assure you nothing of that sort will happen. And I am not here to seek your power?” Arya justifies.

“The princess possesses mystic eyes and from that, she could confirm that the one who made the healing potions was me,” Alicia explained.

“So, you can tell about my secret just by looking. I should have expected this much. Miss Alicia I would like to thank you again for so bravely taking it upon yourself for fighting the pirates all on your own when this ship’s artillery failed. And you two must be her friends?” Arya was now slowly trying to know about everyone.

“Hello, I am Regis.” Regis was in a quandary since it was the first time she met a fellow princess like her. She was obviously trying to compare her qualities to Arya.

“Not just friends. My relationship goes beyond mere friendship! It is a much deeper, much more intimate relationship of sharing heart to heart.” Hana despite her age and stature sounded like a mature girl.

“Whaaat… are you saying, Hana? From where are you learning these kinds of things?” Regis tries to scold Hana.

“I see, you are a homunculus made by Miss Alicia. I have never seen one myself, much like hearing a consciousness like yours. Are all of them funny like you?” Arya laughs.

And so Hana was again crushed in her tracks for using funny antics trying to tease others.

“Wait she did not take that seriously. I guess those eyes really are that special.” For Regis, it was more of a surprise when Arya, could tell that Hana was not a human. Hana’s expression and body structure made it almost impossible to believe she was not exactly a human.

“It must have been very painful. Looking at me all this time with those eyes.” Alicia says something which only Arya could have understood.

“Yes your magic power is nothing like I have seen before, but it does put a burden on my eyes. But I am adjusting.”

“No, I should have done a better job suppressing it. I never expected there would be someone out there like me. And so I got caught in the act.”

“So, you do finally accept your mistake. Hm.hhhh…” Regis bantered with Alicia.

“What do you mean miss Alicia?” Arya was taken aback when Alicia claimed to have the same mystic eyes.

“Yes, I too possess mystic eyes but mine are a bit different than yours.” Alicia decided it was alright to reveal a small fact about herself. If she was really the princess of Stark Kingdom then Alicia could ask for her help in search of Athena and come up with some clues to her location.

“Really. I have never heard anyone else possess these so this should make things more simple for us to find a common ground.” The news had put Arya in a bit of a relaxed state, till then she was trying to act so formally to the three.

“Then if you did not ask us here in need of my power then it must be regarding those healing potions.” Alicia extrapolated from what Arya said before. Before being asked for any help she wanted to make sure she did not bite more than she could chew. Regis and Han were traveling with her so she also needed to be responsible for them as well.

Arya made a serious face as she understood that Alicia was more interested in knowing for what reason they had been called here for. Despite her lax aura Arya still appeared to have a steadfast resolve.

Arya’s hands were tied since she needed to tread carefully before revealing any sensitive information about the Kingdom. And during her talk, she assessed the trio to be believable and trustworthy enough.

“Yes, it is in regard to the special healing potions you made. And since I am the one making a request for your aid, it cannot be helped. What I am going to tell you must be kept a secret. The King and Queen of the Stark Kingdom have been poisoned and cursed forever to sleep.”

“Who could do such a terrible thing?” Regis shouts in anger.

“We still don’t know. But it is more important to search for a cure to restore their health as quickly as possible before anything bad happens. We have already tried all the existing methods but the curse turned out to be more powerful than we imagined. And that’s when I ventured to the Demon Continent in search of a new treatment and found your potion might prove to be potent. But during this pirate attack while I found Miss Alicia is its creator by noticing the synergy in the magic used to form the potion…. I have used all of them to heal the people here who were in critical condition.”

Arya though was always rational she might have decided to save two potions for herself and risked two lives than risking the state of an entire kingdom. But when she saw Alicia in her majestic form, something in her wound up revealing her esteemed identity to raise everyone’s morale and save everyone.

“Alicia, don’t we have any more potions left to use?”

“No, I gave all of them to Caige and it would take some time to make them. And if the curse is really that powerful I cannot tell whether the potion would be fully capable of warding off its effects.”

“I see.” Arya’s face showed up a bit of a fight to hide her melancholy.

Regis's hands shook knowing there was little she could do here. Regis knew fully well that their mission was to help Alicia search for that person, and by taking detours and helping others she cannot possibly know where she would stand in the future. They might get into some trouble and never get out of it.

“But I am sure if it was me in person. I could heal them and bring them back to normal.” Alicia interrupted Regis’s thoughts.

“Alicia will you…” Regis did not know what to speak then.

“Why not be honest with what you are thinking now, Regis?” Alicia replies to Regis’s tense face.

“It's written on your face, what you want to do,” Hana spoke.

Alicia knew from Regis’s perspective; Arya was just like her then. Arya’s family was in trouble and she was doing all she could by herself to save her family. Regis also had the same aspiration.

And by then Alicia had realized yet another crucial secret from Arya’s story.

Even though she did not know what real predicament the Stark kingdom could be in while Arya was away. Alicia too had this irresistible sensation to heal as many people as possible with her magic. In Alicia’s previous life she had been told that her mother was a doctor and whenever she heard about that... It made her feel more passionate about becoming a healer herself.

“Then will you… really accept my request and help my father and mother?”

“Yes,” Alicia confirmed, not going back on her word.

“Thank you, Alicia.” Regis turned to Alicia with a bright face for accepting the request.

“No, I should be the one thanking you three. Miss Alicia, you have really set my mind at ease and I will do my utmost to make sure that you three are well cared for in the Stark Kingdom.”

“You can just call me Alicia.”

“And you three can do the same as well by calling me Arya since we appear to be around the same age. I would really like to make friends friend with you and know more about you.” Arya’s charisma exploded the moment she knew she could finally save her family. Everyone, there could not help but admire her princess qualities and charms.

“Is there something wrong Alicia?” While others could not tell what Alicia was thinking because of the mask. Regis somehow had become a genius in knowing what Alicia was feeling just by looking at her.

“Arya are you prepared to go back to the Stark Kingdom, despite knowing what truth would be lying in there waiting for you.”

“So, you have realized that too already. It hurts to think, but nothing else can explain who did this to my family?” Arya looked sad but in addition, her voice carried an insatiable anger for the one who poisoned her family.

“Princess, what do you mean?” Alfred the butler could not understand the conversation between Alicia and Arya. He also got concerned for the first time seeing Arya exhibiting such an emotion.

“Alicia tell me what is troubling you?” Regis asked again.

“Arya possesses mystic eyes and according to her story only, very few close people in the castle knew about her power. If someone from the outside were to attempt to poison the King’s and Queen’s poisonous food. Then Arya should have been able to detect it.”

“And yet the poison somehow got past me and it was not a fluke but a properly planned assassination attempt.” Arya verified Alicia’s claim.

“Then that means….”

Alicia finally decided to pull up the curtain from the surprise.

“The one who poisoned the King and the Queen of the Stark Kingdom knew of Arya’s power. So, the true enemy is someone who would be really close to the royal family.”

***