The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

After Raven declared he was well-rested and ready to go to the fourth cave, the four youngsters proceeded to the next one.

This time, everyone could read the writings on the walls – it was Latin, the root of all the languages they spoke in this world.

"I've already recorded it," Jules said. "So please go ahead."

Raven touched the wall. This time, there was no light, but a flood of water instead, drenching them all and filling up the cave. But while the other three floated to the top immediately, Raven remained underwater, much to the anxiety of his friends. Several minutes passed, but the water neither receded nor did Raven come up.

"I'm going in," Mana declared and dived into the water before anyone could stop her.

Jules was about to follow, but Fox caught his arm. "Wait for a bit," he told Jules. "We should try one by one, so that we're able to save our breath."

Jules nodded reluctantly.

The two boys waited for several minutes, but neither Mana nor Raven appeared.

And then, suddenly, Mana's head broke through the surface, dragging an unconscious Raven behind her. The moment Raven's head broke out of the water's surface, the room became dry again, and all the writings on the walls disappeared.

"He's not breathing," Mana said in a panicked voice, pumping Raven's chest. Then, before anyone could stop her, she pinched the boy's nose and performed CPR, completely forgetting that Jules was a pretty decent healer and something minor like this could be resolved in seconds.

"Why is she kissing him?" Fox whispered to Jules, watching Mana with his cheeks tinged with red. He was nearly twenty and he's never kissed anyone in his life. It was unfair that ten-year-old Mana could do it, he thought sullenly.

Jules shrugged. Thanks to the days he'd spent hanging out in the library with Mana and Raven, he knew a little about non-magical medical techniques. "She's not kissing him," he explained to Fox. "She's breathing for him." At least that's what Jules thought.

He thought right, for a moment later, Raven coughed up water and opened his eyes.

"What…what happened?" he asked in confusion, seeing Mana's face up close and not entirely sure if he had really felt her lips on his own or if he had just been dreaming.

Mana hugged him tightly without saying a word.

"You nearly drowned," Fox informed him. "And Mana was breathing for you or something – it looked an awful lot like kissing to me."

Raven turned as red as a tomato in an instant.

"Were you able to absorb everything?" Jules asked mildly.

Raven nodded.

"Then why didn't you come up by yourself?" Jules demanded.

Raven looked away. "I…can't swim."

"We're putting swimming lessons on your schedule as soon as we return," Jules told him.

Raven nodded obediently. Mana was still clinging to him, and her small body was trembling.

"Mana?" Raven called softly. "Are you ok?" He rubbed her back comfortingly, trying to copy King Jaren's movements. It was a bit awkward, since he'd never done it before.

"She was probably scared out of her wits because you nearly drowned," Fox said.

Mana finally released him and her reddened eyes made Raven's heart ache, but also evoked a warm feeling within him. She cared so much about him…

"Mana," Jules said archly. "This time is fine since it's Raven and you're betrothed to each other…but the next time you see someone drowning, just call me, all right? It's a very simple healing magic procedure that I can perform quickly…without such intimate contact." He rubbed his temples like King Jaren did when trying to ward off a headache. "Also, you two are too young for…" he gestured vaguely with his hands. "…for all this."

Mana flushed in embarrassment. In her panic, she had completely forgotten that this was a magical world and there was no need for CPR at all.

"Yes, Big Brother," she said obediently. "I'm sorry, I just…panicked." She shot a pleading look at Jules. "Big Brother…don't tell Papa…please?"

Jules waved nonchalantly.

"You stole Raven's first kiss," Fox accused Mana.

Jules glared at Fox. "Mind your tongue. It's not as if my little sister has kissed anyone before either!"

"I'm sorry," Mana said miserably to Raven.

Raven was amused by her subdued appearance. "Well, you did steal my first kiss," he teased. "So you have to take responsibility and marry me."

Fox rolled his eyes. "She's going to do that anyway," he said. "At least add a condition like she can't take other husbands or something."

Mana glared at Fox. "Shut up," she scolded. "That's already a given. As if I'd ever even consider anyone other than Raven!" She turned back to Raven, her eyes soft and apologetic once again. "Is there anything else I can do for you to compensate?"

Raven shook his head. "It's not like you did anything wrong," he told her. "You saved my life."

Mana felt a smile tug at her lips, wondering how this kid could be so adorable. She was even more determined now to take care of him properly and to raise him well, so that even when he grew up, he would always retain this innocence and remain the cute Raven everyone loved, instead of becoming the evil emperor.

"All right, that's enough lovey-dovey stuff from you two!" Jules said. "We have one more cave to find."

Mana and Raven stood up quickly.

"Do you want to rest a bit longer?" Mana asked Raven.

The boy shook his head. "I'm fine now…let's get it done quickly and then we can go home."

And thus, the four of them went looking for the last cave. Mana was still shaken up by Raven's near-drowning, and she held his hand throughout to ground herself.

Raven didn't object. It was an unfamiliar experience for him, but one that he found he quite liked. Mana's hand was soft and warm and smaller than his own, but seemed to radiate a mix of affection and protection that made him feel comfortable from head to toe. A part of Raven's mind was already thinking up excuses to hold Mana's hand as much as possible from now on.

It took them longer to find the last cave. The wall was covered with hieroglyphics similar to what Mana had seen in Egypt. It wasn't something she was fluent in, but she could vaguely understand what was written.

Jules quickly made records once again and then Raven put his hand on the wall.

Immediately, everything went dark. Mana realised that she had lost all her senses. She couldn't even feel her hand which held Raven's hand, but she didn't move her hand at all – in case it was an illusion.

Mana had been curious about this so-called dark magic for a long time now. In her original world, she had always been interested in mythology and history, and read a lot of books. She knew several cultures which spoke of five elements – earth, fire, wind and water were common, but the fifth one was usually space or ether or void or spirit. She wondered what exactly the dark magic in this world was – all she knew so far was that it was something found only in the people with blood of the Obsidian Kingdom, and it was required to be able to enter the Obsidian Kingdom's wards.

A dim light suddenly illuminated the darkness and Mana felt her senses coming back slowly. Her hand still held Raven's, and she could see his pale face next to her. There was no sign of Jules or Fox, though.

"Why are there two of you?" an old voice asked, and an elderly man wearing a faded jeans and t-shirt appeared.

Mana realised her conjecture was right after all. These ancient masters had come here from her earth. Whether they had transmigrated into a book or whether this was an alternate reality or dimension – she had no idea.

From the man's face, he appeared to be Caucasian. So, Mana chose to reply in English – which the natives of this world were not very familiar with. She was sure they would understand bits and pieces because the local languages were Latin based, after all – but not entirely.

"Hello," Mana said. "Are you the ancient master who transmigrated from earth? What year were you in?"

The old man stared at her in shock and waved his hand.

Raven, who had turned to face Mana when she spoke out, froze.

"Who are you?" the old man demanded.

"Here, I'm a princess of the Emerald Kingdom," Mana told him. "On earth, I was a lawyer."

The old man laughed in delight. "I never thought another person could come…we thought that the gateway was destroyed…" he murmured. "How did you come here?"

Mana, for some reason, felt that she could trust this old man. He seemed to be a spirit or a residual consciousness of the ancient master, since his form was translucent and he was floating several inches above the ground.

So she gave him a brief synopsis of what had happened with her.

"Oh," the old man said, stroking his beard. "You're several centuries behind us, then. We were in the year 2520 when we discovered the gateway and came here. You say you died in your original world and your soul was pulled here?"

Mana nodded.

"Interesting," the old man said. "And this boy, who's he? He seems to have what I was looking for in my successor."

Mana quickly told him about Raven.

"Excellent, excellent," the old man said, pleased. He touched Raven's forehead, and the surrounding darkness seemed to be getting absorbed by Raven.. "A worthy successor indeed."