Finding Stardust

After Xion managed to take Emma away, Therius immediately asked the tower operator to continue providing the information to him.

The atmosphere became quiet and filled with gloom. Therius' face, which usually looked stoic and calm, was now filled with rage. He could already suspect something was up and it really filled his heart with so much anger that he had never experienced in his life.

"You can talk now," Therius finally said to the man. "I want to hear everything."

The man on the screen nodded respectfully and repeated the news he had been trying to convey.

"Last week King Cassius ordered the Minister of Defense to publicly execute General Kaoshin Stardust. Princess Arreya was furious and immediately gathered all the troops she could muster to attack Akkadia. They managed to infiltrate the capital and steal General Stardust's body and kidnap the hostage princess from Thaesi. Now that General Stardust and the little princess are gone, Thaesi has no more reasons not to go for an open war."

Therius' body staggered. He had to find support by leaning on the chair next to him to not slump down onto it.

Emma ...

Emma is in danger, he thought.

After General Stardust and the Thaesi princess were taken from the Akkadian capital, now, with him bringing Emma home, the girl would be the next hostage. 

Akkadia had no more collateral, so they must use Emma to suppress her mother's rebellion.

***

Emma tried so hard to break away from Xion's grip as the man led her to her room. She screamed and threw fireballs and lightning bolts here and there.

The people who saw them were shocked and terrified. Xion was forced to carry Emma himself to avoid her hurting other people. He hugged Emma tightly so that Emma could not move.

"Do you want to kill us all?" asked the young man. "Calm yourself down first. We don't know what news they brought from the tower."

"I know what happened ... I can guess what actually happened ... I'm not stupid ..." Emma cried bitterly. She was about to swing her hand and throw another fireball, but Xion held her body tightly. The girl was completely immobile.

"We don't know that yet," Xion tried to reason with Emma but the girl wouldn't listen to him.

"I know it!" Emma insisted. "Aaaarrrghh!!"

Emma was struggling to get away from Xion but the man was so much stronger than her, and his grip was so powerful. Finally, she tried to escape by lighting a fire all over her body.

"Put me down!" shouted Emma over and over.

She didn't give up and still tried to attack Xion with electromancy. Xion winced in pain several times due to the electric shock he received from Emma. He managed to hold it in by expending more energy to protect himself.

Emma then tried to hit Xion with hydromancy. The young man's body was suddenly drenched with water that came out of nowhere. Xion continued walking with long strides with Emma in his arms to her room.

After many failed attempts to get away from Xion, Emma finally cried and gave up. Her cry sounded so poignant.

Xion became impatient and finally darted flying towards their rooms. Not long after, he arrived at Emma's door. It opened automatically when it sensed Emma's presence. Xion immediately went inside.

"I'll put you down, but you must promise not to make a fuss," said Xion. "If you don't promise ... I'll keep carrying you like this and won't let you go."

Emma didn't answer. She had promised to follow her father and be a person with integrity, which means to keep her words.

But what did her father gain by being a person of integrity? Nothing!

In fact ... Emma guessed that now her father was dead.

Her heart was wrenched by indescribable pain when she thought about her father. What did they do to my father?

She knew, there was no way her mother would be so desperate and attack Akkadia without a very good reason. As Therius once said, the only reason the King of Akkadia kept Kaoshin alive was to prevent Princess Arreya from attacking Akkadia.

Then, what really happened? Was her father dead? Did her father die of natural causes, or was he killed?

But if her father died a natural death, there was no way her mother would attack Akkadia blindly.

"Let me go!! Ughh..."

Emma tried to escape from Xion's arms but to no avail. She kept trying to resist, but Xion was so much stronger than her. After a long time trying to kick and punch, Emma finally gave up and cried again.

Her tears streamed down and damped Xion's clothes which he had just dried with aeromancy after it was drenched earlier.

"Emma... please, calm down. We don't know what happened yet. Don't assume the worst..." he tried to coax Emma.

Xion was not angry at all because Emma attacked him. He was actually very moved to see Emma in this state.

He kept holding her tightly, not only to prevent her from running away and causing damage to the ship but also because he felt sympathy for her.

In his heart, Xion also had the same suspicion, that something bad had happened to Kaoshin Stardust, that caused Princess Arreya to be upset and mobilized her troops.

However, he kept hoping that it was not true.

He hoped he was wrong ...

If something did happen to Emma's father, Xion would not know how to console Emma.