It is in the nature of elements to find their match just like the opposite poles of two magnets. Destiny and Fate, too, often change their paths to soothe the elements of nature. However, with nature, to predict anything is difficult. Nature can also develop and change its destiny if it intends to do so.
"Excuse me. Excuse me." Lara learned a thing or two while passing through the crowd, people use ears to watch and not eyes.
Even after seeing that the other person needed to cross over no one was budging, but right after Lara started saying "excuse me", just like the others in the crowd were doing, she somehow managed to cross through the crowd and came to a road side.
She wasn't near the sea, nor to the busy street which was lit as it comes to life only at night.
"Why are the lights placed at a distance here? This reminds me of the fire torch at the palace gateway."
Lara's clothes weren't wet anymore, they were cold. The water turned into the little icy droplets which looked like pearls on the white dress she was wearing.
People who accidentally bumped into her looked at her strangely, but fortunately no one stopped to carefully examine her or her dress. For them, Elsas belong to Disney movies.
"What would Sharon be doing?", staying quiet for too long reminded the princess of her best friend. "Maybe nothing, it's hardly a few minutes in the kingdom, isn't it?"
Looking around once again, Lara was playing games to choose which way to go.
The road that led to the busy streets with banners having lights and boards with shining signs or the road which led to the dark alley where there were no people, none to be exact.
*At the cafe To The Beach*
"Where is she?"
It was only a matter of time for the golden eyes of Taehyung to start casting the fire.
Even if it was just 15 minutes in the Water Kingdom, 9 hours had passed on Earth. And since the princess was on her own for 3 hours without knowing anything about this crowded dimension.
"Not here."
On the contrary, the lord of Earth was calm. The crowd didn't bother him. Not until it gets touchy.
"I can see that Jungkook, that's why I am asking. You said she is here."
Of course it wasn't the time to test the patience of the aether King. One blow and he will be the ruin of Earth's element.
"Do you by chance have a pic-?" Before Jungkook could complete the sentence, the death glare was on him.
"I am sorry, my King." Lowering his head, Jungkook immediately apologized. "But it seems like the princess had a change of clothes. It is hard to ask around about a lady wearing white dress." Looking back at his brother he continued, "Your look is also not helping."
"What?" The searching eyes of Taehyung once again came to a halt at his cousin's face.
"Your aura is expanding and the color of your eyes isn't helpful. You will end up inviting trouble before we can find the princess. You didn't have enough time to prepare but on Earth two decades have passed."
On realising the eyes over him, Taehyung calmed down. Taking another glance if anything seemed suspicious, but other than a few ladies in outfits which seemed too less to cover their bodies properly looking at him, he ended up looking at the guy on the counter.
Strange enough, that guy was looking at him too but suddenly turned away.
"Who is that man?" Taehyung's instincts were much better than his eyes, maybe being a king taught him a few things too.
"I don't know. A bartender." Jungkook looked at the guy in white shirt and shrugged his shoulders.
"He looks similar."
"Similar? To whom?"
"I hate to admit it but he looks a lot like you." Taehyung took a step towards the guy but before he could go any further a shriek voice from his right side made him flinch.
"Yahhhh. Can't you see the queue?" A man shorter than his long pitch of voice was looking at Taehyung.
"Excuse me?"
"We are sorry." Jungkook was aware that Taehyung hated being yelled at the most. It wasn't his royalty which made him that way but he had been a gentle kid since childhood.
As long as told calmly, Taehyung never went through reprimand. But once when a fellow royal schooler yelled at him, he nearly broke his hand.
"Let's get out of here, brother. We need to look for Princess Lara first." Holding Taehyung with both his hands, Jungkook brought his cousin out of the cafe.
The streets were crowded, the lights were bright, but all Taehyung could focus upon was the dark sky and the night.
"If she is really trying to hide from us, then she will be hiding somewhere away from her element. Look for her away from the sea, Jungkook."
"Will do, brother. But-"
Without turning to his brother, Taehyung asked another question, "But what?"
"There's something that has been bothering me since her escape." Jungkook looked at his hands turning red and itchy all of a sudden.
Taehyung, too, looked at Jungkook's hands and then at the confused face of his.
"No one can escape the prison of void because it is designed specifically for their elements." Another irresistible urge to rub the hands came to Jungkook.
"What are you trying to say, Jungkook?"This time Jungkook and his hands had the complete attention of Taehyung.
"I am… this is just a wild guess… but I think that" after putting his hands behind his back and looking at Taehyung, Jungkook continued "I think that she is not the water princess."
A silence took over the two.
The noise coming from the crowd, the noise of waves crashing on the shore, the bells ringing on the cafes' doors, the car horns from the street, everything, every noise died down before reaching their ears. Only the land breeze gave a hit or two every time the pressure in the atmosphere rose.
"What do you mean by she is not the water princess?" Taehyung's eyes were opened wide. Wider than the eyes he had when the princess asked about golden eyes.
"She… there was ice. In the prison of void. She used ice to break it." Jungkook, still not sure of what he was talking about, told the one thing which was bothering him the most. "I think…"
"Lord Jungkook." Suddenly, gaining his composure and the tone of King back, Taehyung stopped him mid-sentence. "I command you to not tell this to another soul." He looked around again to check whether anything seemed suspicious. "This is a secret you are going to take to your grave."
Upon hearing the words, Jungkook knew he had seen something he wasn't supposed to. He knew that even after being in command, what Taehyung just ordered him to do was more of a request from a brother to his brother.
"I give you my word, my king." And so, with another bow and promise, Jungkook accepted what was asked of him. At that moment, it seemed like it was the only right thing.
*An hour later*
"Where should I go?" Sitting at the corner of the street which was an unnoticeable spot at the opening of the narrow alley, Lara was still wondering whether it was a good idea to enter the alley.
*grumble*
"And where can I get money?" Holding on to her stomach, Lara put her head between her knees.
"Would you like to have some?"
Lara startled at the sudden appearance of a lady from the alley.
Wearing a shabby looking cloth around her shoulder, the lady was sitting on her haunches eating a cream bun. Her face was clean but the dirt on her clothes made sure that she had not changed them in days.
It was all so evident that she was one such woman Sharon always warned about. Like the sorceress who keeps the princess locked in the tower but all the instincts of Lara were quiet.
Her eyes were fixated on the bun which didn't look much appetizing and yet enough to calm her hunger down a bit.
"But I don't have a token or money." With difficulty, Lara brought her eyes to the face of the lady from the bun.
"It is free." The lady replied with a sharp grin and added while pointing at the bracelet Lara was wearing, "You can buy anything with that."
"I can?" Lara took the bracelet in her hand and turned it around her wrist thinking about what the guy at the cafe said.
"Of course. You can exchange it for food and money too." The lady took a careful step forwarding towards Lara. "It is expensive."
"I know, right. It is really expensive." Lara proudly showed her wrist to the lady, feeling that only some of the humans can appreciate the value of jewellery.
"Where can I get the money from it?" And suddenly realising her hungry stomach's pain, Lara pulled her wrist back to herself which was almost in the hold of the lady.
"You can get 5 of these buns in exchange." Another sharp grin was given by the lady.
"What? Really?" Lara opened her eyes wide and then, looked at the lady with an all-knowing look. "Do you think I am stupid? With this single bracelet I can buy the whole shop in which they sell it. Do you think I won't notice your cunningness?"
The sudden outburst of Lara made the lady embarrassed and she took a step backward.
"I-I can take you to the buns' shop too. You can ask yourself if these buns are that cheap."
"Really? Ask me then." Another voice joined in the conversation but this time it was coming from the street side.
Looking at the source of voice, Lara slipped on her toes and sat flat on her haunches. "YOU?"
"Aren't you leaving?" The man asked again from the lady who was, yet again, trying to get her hands over Lara's wrist. The lady had no choice but to step backward and hide in the darkness from where she came out.
"What are you doing here?" Lara was standing now as she thought running would be the next thing she will be doing if anything gets out of control.
She wasn't going to trust another person from Earth because the very first man locked her in the prison.
"Who are you?" The guy from the cafe was wearing a black t-shirt with worn out black jeans and a pair of grey sneakers.
His snarkiness was no longer a reminder of Lord Jungkook too.
"Who are YOU?" Lara's feet were shaky and her voice almost broke but somehow, it wasn't the time to get scared.
"The bartender from the cafe, Yoongi." replied the guy with a cooler and softer tone to lighten the air around them.
Yoongi. It is the name stuck on his clothes earlier too. It doesn't ring a bell though.
"Why are you following me?" Lara asked again, with greater authority and a confident voice as the other looked harmless.
"I am not. But some other guys are." Yoongi looked at her from head to toe, noticing the wet white dress again.
"Other guys? Who- who are you.."
"I think you need to change your clothes before you catch a cold. Do you have a place to go?" Yoongi stopped her from completing the sentence when he saw her shiver, knowing the least that it was fear which made Lara cold.
"I.. don't." Lara let another cracked voice come out of her mouth.
Giving another thoughtful look to Lara, Yoongi looked around to see if anyone was there to suggest to him what to do next, but to his misery, they were alone.
"How can you not have money, food, clothes, or a place to stay when it is 11 pm on an empty road and you are standing like a wet puppy with no food in your stomach?"
If words could form a train, then Yoongi just formed one because Lara tilted her head to her right looking at his face with utmost focus.
"Did… you just…. call me a wet puppy?"
That's it, Yoongi lost even before the argument with a stranger started.
"I am sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I was just-" Yoongi looked around once again, and this time, he prayed to have someone around but again, he felt dismayed.
"Will you be okay to spend the night at a stranger's place?" Yoongi asked with a 3x speed.
But she heard it, and she saw his face too. The blush was clear. Even if it was dark on the spot they were standing, Lara noticed the pale skin of Yoongi getting red.
What kind of man is he from the stories? Is he trustworthy?
Yoongi looked at her once again only to find her looking at him searchingly.
"Can I trust you?" Lara asked out loud as if she was tired of talking in her head.
"You can have the answer in the morning." This time, Yoongi was giving a pressed smile. A smile he used only when he had to comfort the other person.
It was only a miracle that it worked on Lara just fine.
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