Lightening clasps across the sky as the cloud turned black and blue at the same time. Maria gazed up at the sky and quickly diverted her gaze to Filippo, "Evil is drawing near, I can sense it" she mumbled gazing back at the sky as her eyes narrowed in observation.
Filippo scanned around the woods, Gabrielle was nowhere to be found, so now it is up to them to complete this mission and end this once and for all.
"We need to leave now," Filippo announced walking along a path as the woods became darker. A cry of a wild owl ran through their ears which was accompanied by a shuffle of a gentle breeze.
Filippo's eyebrow squeezed in thought, finally, they were heading towards the end of this. He knew that this is a suicide mission but it is worth dying for. He rubbed his cold palms together fixing his eyes to a tree a few feet away from him, immediately, Filippo stood at a point, realization dwelling on him.
"The Sixth seed of darkness" he mumbled turning to look at Maria who looked confused. Filippo diverted his gaze to the sky and back at Maria who raised an eyebrow, "I am the sixth seed of darkness, what thought do you have in mind Filippo?" She inquired as a thick fog of darkness revolve around them.
"Her hair, black as darkness, her eyes, blue as the sea just like the womb that bore her" Filippo's eyes widened and he quickly turned to Maria, "That is it!" He exclaimed as he tried to put the pieces together.
Quickly, Filippo pulled out his sword as he knelt to the floor, with the sword in his hand, he drew the sign of a triangle with four lines around it. Scanning around, he saw a small stone beside him, picked it up, and placed it in the triangle. Immediately, the ground began to tremble violently with Filippo fist to the ground.
"What is happening?!" Maria screamed as the trembling ground became so violent. Immediately, a bright light began to emit from the triangle Filippo drew, the ground began to spill into two.
"A bright light of honor, the sky shall turn black as her hair and blue as her eyes" Filippo muttered as a great wind began to blow swaying the leaves around.
He turned to Maria who held tightly to a tree, her hair swaying backward as she tried not to let the sudden strong wind take her off.
"Your mother!" Filipino yelled at the top of his voice to make sure Maria heard him well. "Your mother! We are close to her already" he yelled.
Maria held onto the tree as she swayed back to the powerful wind. She frowns in confusion, not removing her eyes off Filippo, "She is near?" She inquired as the wind shoved sand to her face, "How do you know this Filippo?!" She yelled as the wind became stronger. The bright light emitting from the ground became brighter as well as the ground began to split into two.
Filippo turned to her, his hair was covered in dust, he has to hold his fist to the triangle he drew in the sand, this will lead them to their destination.
"The book!" Filipino cried out, "THE SIX SEEDS OF DARKNESS, A page of the book described your mother when describing you, the signs, words, and pictures are written on the book, just to lead us straight to her.
Maria's eyes widened in realization as she remembered the book. Sure, she has read that part but she never knew it will help them in a critical situation like this. Before she could say a word, the bright light shone brightly, and immediately, Filippo and Maria fell into the open ground which swallowed them whole, the woods went back to normal instantly.
Maria fell to the ground heavily as she groaned in pain. She opened her eyes scanning around in wonder, her mouth slowly got wide open.
" Filippo" she whispered with a surprised expression on her face, her eyes not leaving the beauty she saw.
Right before her stood a beautiful garden of wonders. Exactly the paradise garden she saw in her dreams back at the convent. Everywhere was covered in beautiful flowers and splendid fruits of all kinds, birds of beauty flew above them chirping in happiness. The birds look exactly like the one she saw in her dream, the birds which turned into dark ravens before she could blink twice.
Maria looked down at the ground which she laid realizing that everywhere was covered in moist grass, each grass radiated with a bright green color to show that they are being taken care of very well.
"Where are we?" Filippo whispered filled with amazement. This is the most beautiful garden he has ever been to and its beauty mesmerized him.
Slowly, Maria's eyes scanned around realizing that the trees here are lesser but each tree has fruits growing in abundance, this is magnificent.
Gently, they began to stand up but to their shock, a group of men in wild dresses and sharp spears surrounded them, each man looked at them fiercely with disdain.
"Trespassers!" A hefty man in the middle cried out in an angry tone, he had a sharp spear in his hand and a sword by his side. His eyes squeezed in anger as he walked towards Maria and Filippo who looked surprised to see these strange men.
"Who sent you here?!" The man ordered with a tempered tone. Maria glared at him and with his appearance, she could tell that he was the leader of the men before her.
A man dragged Filippo closer to Maria as they stared at themselves surprised at the sudden attack of the men. The hefty man before them walked closer to Maria with a fierce look, he raised an eyebrow and Maria could hear the clenching of his teeth, this man looks intimidating indeed.
"I asked a question and I need answers at once!" He ordered with so much power, "Who sent you here?!" The man roared in anger as he got irritated by their silence. Maria turned to Filippo who nodded firmly, with a courageous face, Filippo diverted his gaze to the man before him, not a sign of fear on his face.
"No one sent us, we came here alone" he responded firmly without any hint of tension in his voice.
Seeing his courageous look, the hefty man squeezed his face in anger at Filippo's guts. With a violent look, he walked towards Filippo and grabbed him by his jawline, his strong fingers tightly pressed against his skin. Filippo stayed still but didn't say a word, he glared at the man without panic in his eyes, their eyes locked together.
"Listen, young man, I run things here" he yelled sternly with sharp brown eyes that spoke nothing but danger. "This attitude of yours won't save you or your chitty chat friend" he turned to Maria with firm eyes, "I can kill you both right now with just the first of my hand, don't try my patience" he threatened in an authoritative tone.
His words sounded so ridiculous that it made Maria laughed, "I look stronger than I look, biggie" She said in a sarcastic tone.
A man beside Maria suddenly hit her heavily across her face. Filled with anger, Maria spat out blood, she turned to the man and gave him a deadly stare, deep inside her, she wanted to act wild but a voice told her to keep still, she was here on a mission and she shouldn't be distracted.
The hefty man walked towards her with boiling anger in his eyes. Immediately, he dragged Maria by her hair as she screamed loud in pain.
"Tie the other and bring him, I will take care of this one" he ordered his men as he carried Maria on his shoulder and began to walk along a path.
The other men tied up Filippo, a man among them took Filippo's sword and no matter how hard Filippo struggled, the men overpowered him, tied him up, and dragged him as they followed their leader who held the screaming Maria on his shoulder.
They walked towards a big black gate. To Filippo's surprise, the gate opened by itself at the sight of the men, who marched into the kingdom, men, women, and children stared at Maria and Filippo who were dragged by the men.
Maria noticed that the people of this kingdom are exceptionally so beautiful but their dressing pattern was new and pathetic to her.
The men dragged them into a large castle that stood beautifully, decorated with flowers and special ornaments. Maria scanned around in awe as the hefty man held unto her tightly. They walked into the castle and went towards a dark path with no lights on. They went towards a path and as they got closer, Maria saw a dungeon and knew that they were going to be imprisoned at once.
One of the men brought out a key when they got to a small cell, quickly, he opened it and the hefty man dropped Maria on the cold ground, he still had that angry look on his face.
Filippo who was tied up in a rope was dragged into the cell and immediately, the hefty man locked them up.
"They will be beheaded tomorrow in front of the people, we can't let trespassers live, they might be a spy from our rival kingdoms and we won't take any risk by keeping them alive," The hefty man said to the men beside him. He turned to Maria and Filippo and gave them a stern look. Along with his men, they walked out of the place, leaving Filippo and Maria to toil in the dark.
Filled with anger, Maria rushed towards the gate of the dungeon and began to hit it violently as the noise echoed through the dark and quiet hallway.
"It's no use, Maria, they can't hear us, we are locked in here" Filippo spoke out defeated as he tried to untie the ropes tied around him.
Frustrated, Maria turned to him with angry eyes, "We can't just sit down here and do nothing. We have a mission now and that is to find my mother, not to be locked up In here when we don't even know if my mother is in this weird and strange kingdom" she let out angrily and began to hit the gate of the dungeon fiercely.
"They are long gone Maria, even if they hear your scream, they won't help us. Remember what the man said, we will be beheaded in front of the people by morning. Right now, we should look for a way out and know if your mother is in this kingdom or not" Filippo stared losing the last rope tied around his legs.
Maria began to pace around the small room, she scanned around and realized that there is no window available. How will they escape from here?. Frustrated, she began to hit the gate again but the more she yells, the more the realization dawn on her that they are stuck in here.
Feeling defeated, she walked towards Filippo and sat down beside him, her back rested on the wall next to her as she buried her face in her hands, her long black hair covered a part of her face.
"What are we going to do now?" She asked softly turning to Filippo who seemed hopeless too. This was not how he thought things will turn out, they have no time left and now they are stuck in here with no clue about the future.
Filippo exhaled loudly, "I don't know either. Let's wait till morning and watch what happens. Before we will be killed, the king will be present, we can explain to him that this is just a misunderstanding and we mean no harm. Fine, we trespassed because the magic symbol brought us here but we will promise to leave without any harm and I am sure the king might listen to our pleas" Filippo turned to her, his face filled with uncertainty.
"Then what if it doesn't work?" Maria inquired searching for answers.
Rubbing his hands, Filippo sighed overthrew, "I don't know Maria, I don't know" he mumbled as he rested his head against the wall, his head filled with thoughts.
Night slowly crept in, Filippo and Maria sat still unable to sleep as different thoughts filled their mind. Filippo wished they hadn't taken his sword, he hopes to retain it back because the journey before him is a dangerous one. But at the same time, he wishes they will be alive to accomplish this mission.
Morning finally came but they didn't sleep a wink, it was very hard to distinguish between day and night because the dungeon was very dark and cold.
A few hours passed by, Filippo and Maria heard the sound of feet approaching them.
"They are coming" Maria whispered to Filippo who only nodded and gazed at the gate.
The hefty man walked towards the gate, he inserted the key and opened the dungeon gate as three men came in and dragged them out.
"I can't wait to place your heads at the gate of this kingdom" The hefty man whispered into Maria's ears but she stubbornly shrugged him away, the other man pulling her aside.
The men dragged them out of the dark path and into the kingdom. To their surprise, the kingdom ground was filled with people who came to witness their death.
At the sight of them, they began to roar violently as the soldiers bounded them with chains and stuffed dry hays into their mouths to prevent them from talking. As the soldiers dragged them to the spot they were to be beheaded, the people cheered excitedly seeing the persecutor ready to drag down the beheaded with a sharp dazzling tool.
A soldier kicked Filippo to the ground as he knelt with a mouth filled with hay. He turned to Maria who knelt before him with defeated eyes, this is indeed the end for them as the people of this kingdom are ready to have them beheaded.
With their head bowed down and chains all over their body, Filippo and Maria knelt as lambs led to the slaughter. With closed eyes, Maria prayed silently, this can't be the end for them, No!, it can't!
Sighing as he lost all hope, Filippo whispered, "May the Lord be with us..." He was cut short by the powerful roar of the people.
Slowly, Maria looked up, high above them was the king chamber with an open balcony where he gives his judgment. The people's outburst became louder as their leader came out from a dark corner into the bright sunlight. The figure came out surrounded by the hefty man and some soldiers who bounded Maria and Filippo.
Maria narrowed her eyes as she stared at the approaching figure. First, her eyes caught the presence of the long flowing black hair before them and a silk white dress that brought out so much power.
Maria's eyes widened in shock as the figure became visible to her. This isn't a man! Their ruler is a queen, a woman who looked exactly like her!.
The queen walked gracefully as she faced the people who roared happily. Slowly she turned her eyes to her trespassers and immediately, she froze as her eyes enlarged with great shock. Knelling before her was a younger version of herself, with a great abundance that she could feel from where she stood.
Maria knelt still with her eyes still fixed on the figure who locked eyes with her, dazzling blue eyes that brought so much chill to her body.
A drop of tear rolled down Maria's eyes as they both stared at each other, "Mother" Maria mumbled, and darkness erupted in her.