Chapter 5 – Restoration
Even though Diana went to sleep early yesterday, she didn’t sleep at all. A thousand thoughts were racing through her mind for the entire night. She thought about leaving the dimension, but she wasn’t sure if she could. She wasn’t even sure if she could escape Helen because she is always with her and checks on her. It’s obvious that Helen wants Diana to stay in this dimension forever as the ruler of her kingdom for her own goals, but Diana hasn’t exactly figured out what Helen’s goals are. Helen appears to just want to be a good advisor to a ruler who will listen to her sound advice and thoughtful strategies so that she can live in a great kingdom. But that can’t be all of it, Diana thinks to herself. There’s always something that Helen leaves out before telling her to do something else. It’s always something bigger and ridiculous sounding.
Speaking of the devil, Helen lets herself into Diana’s room. She sees that Diana is still preoccupied with her thoughts, so she lays down on her bed with her.
She says, “Already enjoying the eternal peace you’ve earned?”
“I guess. Why? You’ve got something else for me to do.”
“If you want.”
“Figures.”
“Hey, you’ve been making good decisions. Why stop now? I mean you can enjoy this peace we’ve achieved, but who knows if someone’s going to be crazy enough to attack our wonderful kingdom? Why don’t you make sure that doesn’t happen?”
“Jeez, what am I going to have to do?”
“Just say yes to a king we’re going to join forces with.”
“First you wanted me to start wars and now you want me to make allies?”
“This isn’t any kind of alliance here. It will spread back to the normal world and the peace we enjoy here will be there as well.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“How do you know this is true?”
“Because of how much power this king has. You’ll be amazed by what he can do. He’s also handsome, so there’s that too.”
“Alright, I’ll go make an alliance.”
“This is the last major decision you’ll ever make. After that, you don’t need to worry about anything else anymore.”
“You better be right.”
“What have I been telling you since the very beginning?”
“Okay, I trust you.”
“Thank you, Diana.”
Helen flies Diana to a flowery kingdom. Every island is filled with every kind of flower and the cities are beautifully built. It seems that this kingdom has been here for a long while with how ancient the buildings look though age has only made their look more aged and imposing. The two fly up to a white castle that almost reaches the skies. Everything inside the castle looks heavenly and the guards are dressed like angels. They lead Diana to the king while Helen stays and flirts with the king’s officials. Once Diana enters the throne room, her heart stops as she sees the king. He’s dressed in snakes like her and sits upon a throne made of the bones of a dragon.
The king stands up with a smile and takes Diana’s hands. Even though she feels uncomfortable, she also feels in love in a strange way.
He says to her, “Be my queen, Diana, and you shall inherit the earth.”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Marry me, Diana. You’ll have more than you can imagine. Our child will bring peace to the world and judgment upon the people you hate.”
“I…I can’t!”
Diana breaks away from the king and storms outside the room. She quickly runs away and out of the castle without telling Helen. The snakes on her body try to make her go back into the castle and she resists. The king walks outside the castle with his arms open to receive Diana. Desperate, Diana cuts off the snakes from her body then lets the gravity of this dimension pull her away from the island.
Because of her rejection of her snakes, she loses the powers she once held as a ruler. She can no longer control her Heaven or Hell, nor can she see her other islands. Scared of what’s happening, she decides to leave this dimension. She doesn’t know where she is going and only hopes that the dimension’s gravity will somehow take her in the right direction.
The once lively islands turn black and the armies of the king fly after Diana. She can see Helen among their numbers and she is furious. Diana’s powers are gone, and she is outnumbered. There doesn’t appear to be any hope for her until a light ignites itself within her soul. She remembers a prayer her family told her to say in her mind when she was in trouble and she prays it. When she finishes saying it, the light within her explodes and creates a shield of light around her. The gravity stops pulling her from right to left and begins to reverse. The barrier of light pushes through the dense army without slowing down. Another light barrier joins Diana with Nina in it.
“Nina? How did you-”
“I’ve been trying to escape being queen for weeks now. I have to thank you for relieving me of my duties and letting me live. Those people did not let me leave.”
“Y-you’re welcome. Did they try to marry you off to a king dressed in snakes too?”
“I’ve heard about him wanting the perfect dark bride, but I kept myself pure. You were probably the one he’s been waiting for this entire time, but now he’ll have to wait even longer for another like you. I’m glad you saved yourself.”
“Where are you from?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to be friends when we get out of this.”
Nina tells Diana where she’s from and it happens to be not too far from where she lives. They promise to see each other after they escape, and they do eventually make it to the hole in the cliff they came out of. Both of them make it through while the king and his army cannot go through. Nina completely disappears while Diana’s body changes back to normal. She emerges from the cave and back into reality. Diana looks around then back to the cave and sees that the statue of the Blessed Mother is restored. She says a quick prayer before turning around to see the dog she injured. Even though she hurt it, it isn’t afraid of her nor does it hate her. It senses the light within her soul and licks her hands. She picks the dog up and heads back home.
When she gets home, Diana’s family hugs her. They ask if she's okay and what happened to the dog. She says it got hurt because of her. The dog's owners and her family reassure her that the dog doesn’t mind risking his life for her since he loves everyone. Taking another look at the boy she’s supposed to marry, the two look at each other while blushing. She decides to give the boy a chance. While the two are out together in the town, a little girl with brown hair, eyes, and clothes approaches them. The girl is familiar to Diana while Diana is familiar to the girl.
Diana asks, “Nina?”
“Diana?”
“It’s you!” both of them say.
“Hello Nina,” the boy says, “Are you a friend of Diana?”
“You could say that. Who would you be?”
“He’s the man my family wants me to marry. I figured I’d give him a chance. It can’t be any worse than my other option.”
The two girls laugh while the boy is confused.
“I’m sorry. Was there another man after you?”
“It’s something between us. I guess I better leave you two alone then,” Nina says.
“We should get together sometime. Maybe you can teach me some of your martial arts skills.”
“I will and this time I’ll beat you. You won’t have your snakes to back you up this time.”
The two girls laugh again with the boy confused again. They tell each other a day and place to meet up again and part ways for now. From now on, Diana decides to listen to others before herself. To think before acting, and to love before hating.
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