“Where?” Alicia took a long while to respond. She had tried to remember when it was that she had cried and recalled the places where she was when it happened. However, nothing specific popped up in her mind as she skimmed through her memories. “Where exactly was that place?”
Her gaze searched his intently. She could not help but hold her breath as she waited for his answer.
“It’s at the Grand Cliff.” He answered and Alicia blinked. In the south-eastern part of Viscarria*, there lies a great cliff overlooking the ocean. There, you can find black, spiky rocks at the top of the cliff that the native people called ‘Dragon rocks’ because of it looks as though dragon’s spikes had been planted into the ground.
It was not a famous place though because it was not a good place to spend even a little time at. The winds there were so strong and fast due to the increasing height of the cliffs. Also, there was really nothing else to see there but the spiky black rocks and strong winds.
But for some reason, since Alicia was young, she had always run off to this place when she was troubled, sad or just needed time to sort things out in her mind. She escaped from Dark Forest and then somehow ended up in that place. She just sat on the ground, leaned back against those black rocks as the speedy strong winds from the ocean below blew up the cliff face and come at her.
Anyone who would see her sitting right there might think she was waiting on something or someone when she actually was not. When she just turned eighteen, the young witches’ competition that was held in the Dark Forest happened. It was a competition to determine the possible candidates who were to be the future queen of the witches.
Alicia had prepared for that competition like everyone else. But a day before the competition, her peers had cooked something up and sabotaged her weapon. Not only that, but they had also even sneakily poisoned her. She ended up fighting them all on her own and they all came at her together.
She of course lost against them because the poison had already weakened her after some time into their fight with each other. Thankfully, she was knowledgeable enough and she knew of the exact cure for the poison those girls used on her. But the damage had been done. Those girls had already beaten her up.
So bruised and bloodied, she escaped from the Dark Forest and ended up at that cliff again. For the first time in so many years that she last remembered, she cried her heart out while she was there, shouting into the wind, kicking the rocks and pulling at whatever grass that were sprouting there.
“When I get there, I couldn’t find anything special nor suspicious. There was nothing there but strong winds and rocks. I tried to linger for a while despite feeling certain that there was nothing unusual in the place. I tried to wonder why my mother wanted me to go there. I also wondered what was it that she wanted me to see or find in that place. But time passed and there was nothing there but you. At first, I saw you just sitting there as if you were waiting for someone. I was shocked at first as I thought you, a witch, might be the one that my mother wanted me to see or something. I thought I was going to find out a secret from you or something like that. But just as I was about to approach you, you lifted your face and I saw you in tears and seemed beaten up. Then you wailed loudly and stood. You began to shout and curse… kicking the rocks and cursing them all to hell too.” A smile curved on his face as a small chuckle erupted from his chest. “I heard you angrily swore to beat them all into a pulp the next day.”
Alicia flushed. Just imagining how she had acted that time had her already swallowing in embarrassment. Damn, so the presence she had felt at that time was Ezekiel?!
“I knew you had felt my presence then, which I found impressive.”
“But you didn’t approach me. Your presence immediately disappeared that I really thought I imagined it. Did you just leave right after that?” she asked him, curious to know more.
“I just hid my presence from you and stayed there until you left.”
Alicia blinked, craning her slightly to the side. “Why didn’t you… approach me? Should you not be curious since your mother asked you to find that place?”
“Because I’ve kind of had a feeling that you’re someone I needed to avoid.” His direct and honest remark was shocking, and Alicia’s eyes widened.
She winced. “I can’t believe you had already started to avoid me the moment you saw me.” She then pouted and grumbled good naturedly.
“Following my guts turned out to be the real deal.” He sounded like he was in disbelief and Alicia could not really blame him.
“I wonder what might have happened if you approached me that day.” She wondered out loud.
Zeke could not answer that question. He honestly did not know the answer even if he did try to think about it now.
“What could be the reason that your mom kept asking you to go there?” she asked again, breaking the short silence that had reigned between them.
Another question Zeke could not quite figure out.
Since that day, he had been bothered by this question as well. There was no way his mother had just wanted him to go there without any reason. She was pretty desperate when she kept reminding him about it. Like she wanted him to go there at all costs. He knew his mother. She would not tell him something for no reason. More so when she was so insistent and adamant about it.
[Foot Note: I decided to use the name Viscarria instead of Country V. Pronounced as Vai-kah-ria]
