The Crown's Entrapment

[Day nine inside the Realm of Eferia / aka Element Forest]

Devas frowned as he stared at Xenia, who was still lying unconscious on her bed.

"How come she's still not waking up?" he impatiently complained. He understood well that Xenia's body was still adjusting to her angelic powers, including the sudden appearance of her wings, but it had already been two days since it happened.

Helena let out a long deep sigh as she reassured him. "She will wake up soon enough. The same goes for us, especially for fairies born without their wings yet," she explained. "It takes them a few days to adjust once their powers are fully realized."

Devas shrugged with a frown, clearly still worried despite the reassurances. There, Saha suddenly appeared before them, blinking at Devas before she burst out into a fit of laughter. Devas's face crumpled, knowing full well just why Saha suddenly laughed at him. It was the first time he and his fellow guardian had met again ever since he returned from the thousand dreams.

"Wow, the King of Cordon really did a great job with your appearance," Saha beamed, still holding back her laughs. "I must say... I mean, he did a great job in shaving your head clean and shiny!"

Devas's face turned red in embarrassment as he resigned himself to the inevitable teasing. He no longer bothered to waste his energy to cast a spell for him to regain his hair, knowing that it would only be temporary. Plus, it wasn't practical for him to do such a thing in the first place.

Still, he must applaud Polo for creating such a powerful trial. Whatever happened in the dream was reflected exactly in reality, and it was a feat of power that even he would be hard-pressed to replicate.

"Stop laughing. It's not like I'm less handsome like this!" Devas hissed.

Instead of stopping, Saha laughed even more as she voiced out, "But it still looks funny! So hilarious..." She then wondered aloud, "Thinking about it, I wonder how our serious Polo would also look being a bald man... Oh heavens, I'd probably die from too much laughter just looking at the two of you if that ever happens!"

"Shhhh!" Devas suddenly hushed when he heard Xenia groaning. The latter stopped her teasing and pressed her lips together as her eyes also fell on the princess.

"She's waking up..." Devas whispered, holding his breath as he inwardly cheered for Xenia to open her eyes.

******

Xenia winced as she felt every part of her body burning. It was as if her bones were being cracked. She gulped, feeling so thirsty as she came to. Slowly opening her eyes, she hoarsely murmured, "Water..."

Yes, she felt like she needed water inside her body because of the uncomfortable feeling currently running rampant inside of her. It was hard to explain exactly what she was feeling, but it felt like everything in her insides was being disoriented somehow.

She groaned, and she suddenly cried as she raised her body. She wriggled hard, and her eyes widened when she felt something being ripped behind her back.

"That's so messy... It'll take her some time to manage her own wings..."

Hearing Saha's familiar voice, only then did she notice that she was currently surrounded by Saha, Devas, and another woman who harbored an ethereal beauty. She had a pair of shiny and sparkling wings on her back, and she wracked her brain for the identity of this mysterious woman.

Rapidly blinking her eyes, she murmured, "The Fairy Queen?"

Nodding, the woman gently smiled at her and said, "I am Helena, my dear. It's good to finally see you awake." She then offered her a glass of water that one of her fairy servants delivered. "Here, drink this."

"You're finally awake, my wife!"

Xenia's ears almost exploded upon hearing Devas's voice.

"Lord Devas," she politely greeted with an awkward smile before she looked around.

Saha chuckled. "Don't worry, there is currently no one watching you right now," she reassured her. "We stopped the vision the moment that white light appeared behind you. No one witnessed how beautifully you spread your wings that day. Still, I must say, how come you didn't look like you were in pain during that time unlike now? You look like you're in so much pain as soon as your wings appeared."

Xenia shook her head. She also didn't know the answer to that question. She couldn't even tell how she even managed to bring her wings again like this in the first place.

"Don't worry, my wife, I wi-"

"Lord Devas, please stop addressing me like that," Xenia politely requested with an awkward smile.

Saha laughed as she turned to Devas and said, "You're no longer inside Polo's thousand dreams trial, so stop acting like you're still wearing the king's appearance."

"A thousand dreams?" Xenia murmured, her eyes shifting between Saha and Devas for an explanation.

"Yes, you passed it, Princess Xenia," Devas cheered. "Polo's thousand dreams trial!"

The guardian then enthusiastically summarized everything that had happened to her. After a few moments, she worriedly asked, "Is my husband back safely?"

"Yes! So stop thinking about him for now and just focus on recovering and mastering your newfound angelic power," Devas insisted.

"We stopped the vision from going out to the masses since we weren't sure if you would want to keep this from the others. We're well aware of how fallen angels do their best to hide their existence from this world for thousands of years, so we avoided sending out those visions without your permission."

Xenia smiled. "Thank you all so much for these kind gestures," she whispered. "The last time I checked with my Mother, she told me that it's alright and that it was already time that we no longer hide our kind... her kind..."

"Still, there's a lot of interpretations pertaining to fallen angels, especially towards their offspring," Saha reminded.

"Some of them even consider your existence as the embodiment of abomination and chaos. That's primarily the reason why your kind always made sure to hide and let others think that the existence of fallen angels and their hybrid offsprings or not are nothing more than myths."

"But some also consider their existence to be a blessing..." Devas countered. "They can bring great fortune and protection to others, especially since they have angelic powers."

"Indeed, that's what my Mother said back then," Xenia nodded. "The rest are nothing more but speculation, so we shouldn't be too wary of who we really are so long as in our hearts, we have a pure and good intentions for others."

She then looked at them with a reassuring smile and stated, "Still, I would like to hide this revelation from the others for now. If possible, can we not show the public some visions while I still can't get a hold of my own wings?"

Before she could even sit back up straight, Xenia got startled when her wings suddenly moved.

Helena chuckled. "Indeed. We need to do something about your wings," she nodded. "You should learn how to properly hide them and let them out of your body."

"I would like that," Xenia nodded. She then whispered, "I must hurry and get out of this forest soon."

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A/N: I will post an AI-generated visual of Devas in the comment section in case you are curious how he looks before and after Darius shaved his head clean and shiny! lol