The Truth-Seeker’s Quest

I huffed and heaved, having difficulty breathing, trying to catch up with the small creature with green eyes and black fur and a white patch on her chest. She was leading me somewhere — I guessed to a batch of kittens in danger since she was meowing very desperately, but I had been running with her for a while and so far nothing. If I stopped for a second, she’d meow at me like keep going! 

“Where are you leading me cat?!” I yelled, but something told me to trust her.

It was late and a school night. Mother will kill me if I come back home late.  I had two exams the next day and should have been cramming —- not chasing a cat that I met three days prior.

The cat started showing up in my backyard the night of a full moon, sitting next to the tree where I liked to read books and draw. She gained my trust that first day. I just assumed it was the neighbor's cat. She was sweet and playful until she started acting very strange. 

When I saw her come in through my bedroom window, she meowed at me. I didn't think much of it until she jumped out the window and kept meowing louder and louder each time. I jumped out without a second thought and followed her. 

I’m not much of a runner and I was starting to regret my decision to follow a cat late at night. It dawned on me, what if this were something malicious or dangerous? I stopped running, and I started to get cold chills.

“Where are you leading, cat!?!” I screamed. This time the cat stopped and turned her head around and looked at me. I dropped to my knees. The cat started walking towards me and sniffed my hand and gave it a lick.

I patted her head. “I can trust you, right?” I asked. She gave the softest meow as if saying yes, trust me. I smiled and got up.

As I looked around, I noticed the forest where she led me didn't look familiar— not the one that the whole neighborhood knew and where I went camping as a kid.

She continued walking as I followed behind her and saw a meadow down the path she was leading. Once she entered the meadow, the flowers she stepped on started to light up like bioluminescent plants. “This has to be a dream,” I said to myself as I stepped on the patch. I continued walking and noticed that the cat disappeared. I looked around and didn't see her. I kept walking until I stepped on something and fell right through.

As I was falling, I started to see light and saw the cat falling with me. I reached out to grab her paw and pulled her close to me. Not even five seconds had passed and I felt the wind slow down. I landed on another patch of grass with the same flowers. I was still holding the cat in my arms, but she wiggled her way out and started leading the way again.

I followed and she led me to a cave. It was beautiful, filled with the same flowers that were outside. The cat stopped walking.  “Why did we stop?” I asked the cat, and she looked around and meowed a couple of times. I didn't understand why; I was the only person there. Then I heard a noise and saw a creature come out of the ground. I couldn't believe my eyes. 

“A troll!” I gasped and fell in disbelief. You only see this in movies or children's books.

“That's rude. I am a fairy!” said the troll, hands on his hips.

“You don’t look like a fairy,” I responded. “Fairies don’t look like that.”

“Is this the best you can find, Emerald?” the troll said to the cat. “A disrespectful kid with no manners!”

“That’s rude.”

He dismissed what I said, but the cat responded to the troll's question, nodding.

“I guess she’ll do,” he grumbled.

“Wait! Will do what? Why am I even here?”

“You were the one who followed Emerald here and accepted the quest to help her break the curse,” the troll said.

“Hold on. I didn't know I accepted a quest for a cat I just met a few days ago,” I said, almost laughing.  I grabbed my phone to call my mom, but it was out of battery. “I had my phone fully charged when I left the house! Why is it dead?!”

“Once you enter this world, the tools from your world are drained. They’re useless here, human,” the troll-fairy said with a smirk. 

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Arcadia. It’s a magical world that exists in another universe from yours,” he said. “Emerald here, she and the other chosen cats are the only ones who can lead us into each other’s worlds. They jump through realms working for the most powerful mages.” 

“That doesn't explain why I’m here,” I said, crossing my arms.

The troll sighed.  “We need your help. Emerald was assigned a mission to find a hero twenty years ago. Either they walked away when they saw her for the first time or tried to kick her out of their property.” The cat lowered her head. “She's been turned down by many people. Trying to find someone who at least was willing to help— until you came along. You were scared, but you followed her anyway.  You showed the courage that we need to help us fight this evil curse!”

“Wait, wait, wait.” I put my hands up “Fight? What do you mean to fight?” 

“I mean breaking the curse, not fighting.”

“Okay…” I said. “What do I have to do? What am I dealing with?”

The troll pulled out a letter.

The only way to free this land is to find the truth that the prince has.

Only a hero from another world can save us.

Reveal the past and all will be free from this curse.

“Sounds like the prince did something,” I said. “Does anyone know about this?”

“The town only knows that a hero from the outside world will come to save the kingdom and so does the king,” said the troll. “We assume the prince is alive and knows the truth because he witnessed it as a young boy. He was kidnapped and is being held hostage by a witch.”

“Then why go through all of this when this witch can reveal the truth herself?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

“We don’t know her motive,” said the troll, frowning. “She killed the current king's brother.”

“And what’s the curse that she cast on you?” I asked.

“Famine. We are almost out of food in this kingdom, no one can leave or come in. So that’s where you come in. Someone from the outside world who can save our little kingdom.” 

I looked at the troll and Emerald with concern. I wasn't sure If I wanted to trust them in going through a crazy journey to who-knows-where just to reveal some ‘truth’ but I also couldn’t leave these people here starving to death. “Where do I have to go?” I said.

“Just outside the kingdom.  I can’t leave as I am the gatekeeper to your world. Only you and Emerald can go,” he said as he handed me a compass. “All you need to do is find the truth and reveal it.”

“Do I get any weapons?”

“Nope, just follow what the letter says.” He handed it to me. “What's your name, hero?”

That caught me by surprise when he called me a hero. I hadn’t earned the title yet. “Selena.” 

“Beautiful name. Now go, there's a horse outside that you can take to bring you to your destination.” 

The cat was walking with me until we reached the horse. I picked up Emerald and got on the horse with her. Almost 3 hours to reach outside of the kingdom. It was a small tower and a cottage right next to it.

The cottage was beautiful with lots of animals and crops. How come this witch is so selfish to have all this and let a whole kingdom starve?

I walked towards the front of the house and knocked on the door.

“Why am I even knocking? She's the villain here,” I said aloud to myself. I broke the lock and barged in. No one was there. It was neat and cozy with a bed and table. “So the prince is living perfectly fine here in this cottage prison,” I said sarcastically as I looked at Emerald. 

“And I have been taken care of since.” I turned around and saw a young handsome man standing by the door. He was quite a bit taller than me.  He had to have been the prince from the letter— the one who held the truth.

“Hi, um…” I stuttered. “I was sent here to save you and— uh, to find the truth to save your kingdom.”

“No need for saving.” He put down a box filled with water jugs. 

“But aren't you a hostage? From the witch?” 

“Yes and no,” he said calmly. 

“You might have the strangest case of Stockholm Syndrome.” 

He sized me up.  “You're a bit small to be a hero.” I felt embarrassed but no one was there other than Emerald. He continued, “The witch that everyone claims is evil and kidnapped me saved my life,” he said with confidence. 

I looked at him confused and stared at Emerald to see if she heard the same thing. The little black cat nodded.

“She is no longer with us. She died from a grieving heart.”

Huh?  “Is this the part where you tell me the truth?” I said.

“Yes, I have been waiting for 20 years for this. I was free to do what I wanted but was limited to how far I could go for my own safety.”

I shook my head, trying to understand.  “So what happened? Why did she curse the land?”

The prince took a deep breath.  “Twenty years ago, my father, the king, killed my uncle for the crown.  It was never his, he was second in line. I was a playful child. I loved my uncle; we played hide-and-seek together. One day I went to hide behind a bookshelf to scare him when he entered the room but someone else was with him— my father. He stabbed my uncle, killing him, thinking no one saw him but me. Blare, my uncle's wife, was down the hall. She heard him scream, ran into his study and found her husband dead. My father was hiding behind the door and started to yell and scream that she had killed my father, blaming her. Then I stepped out behind the shelf crying, shouting that my father was a liar. He pulled out a dagger and was going to attempt to take my life as well.” 

I started to tear up.  “Your father went that far just to keep the crown?”

The prince nodded, eyes cast down.  “Yes.  Blare used her powers to save me, stopped my father, and struck him so that he flew and hit a wall but the guards saw Blare attack him. So she grabbed me and flew out the window. She is the witch who saved me and cursed the land because no one would believe her.  After all, most witches are evil.”

I dragged my hand across my face to wipe away my tears.  “What a selfish king.  Now that I know the truth, what do I do?” 

“We go into town in the middle of the kingdom, and you reveal it…to everyone,” said the prince.

“Why would they believe me?” I asked.

“They are desperate.  And you don’t look like us, with your strange clothes.” I was about to tell him off, but he went on: “They've been waiting for a miracle. Part of the curse has been lifted. I’m free to roam where I want. I want to take that man off the throne more than anything right now.” 

“That would make you king!” squeaked Emerald.

I turned around, shocked that the black cat could speak. “You could talk this whole time!?” 

“No. I am the royal mage using my familiar to communicate with you through telepathy. Blare was my sister. I couldn't leave the kingdom due to the curse. No one knew we were related. If they did, they would have killed me. I knew she didn't kill him, but finding out the truth was my mission. The king didn't want anyone looking for the prince, because he claimed that Blare had killed you for the curse to work.” 

“This is some crazy family drama,” I said with a snort. 

“And what of my mother?” asked the prince.

“She knows nothing,” came the voice out of Emerald. “She cries for you.”

“I don't want the crown!” exclaimed the prince. “I just want to get my father off the throne and pay for his crimes!”

“Then you must leave now,” said the mage through Emerald. “The king plans to imprison the lower class during the night so there will be more food for the next few years.”

The prince grabbed my hand and ran outside. “We must leave now. I was only to give you the truth. But I can't be the one to reveal it to the court. It must be you. The hero that everyone talks about!”

“What if no one believes me?”  I said.

“They will.”

He gave me a letter— the second part of the curse. I read it aloud:

Only once the king admits the claims to be true.

Only the truth can set this kingdom free.

“So he has to admit that it was him!”

“We must make haste,” the prince urged.

We rode out to the kingdom hoping to make it there before the king announced his terrible plans. We entered the town and had to ride the horse to the main gates of the castle. The guard barely put up a fight, so we were able to make it through. We ran through the castle to find the main courtroom. They were about to make the announcement when we saw the royal mage and her expression lightened up when she saw us.

“Stop!” I screamed. “I am the hero from the human realm! I found the truth and I can set you free!” Everyone looked at each other, whispering. “But I need the king's cooperation!” I said.  I was scared but I needed to do this to set everyone free. “The curse prophecy is The only way to free this land, find the truth that the prince has. Only the truth can save this land from a hero from the human land. Reveal the past and all will be free from this curse.

“The prince is alive!” someone yelled. 

“Yes! He is here with me. He told me the truth.” I continued to read the letter to the people: “Only once the king admits the claims to be true. Only the truth can set this kingdom free.” I looked at the king with eyes narrowed. “The king murdered his brother to claim the title, while his son witnessed it. He was willing to kill his own son to hide the truth and blame his brother's wife!” Everyone in the court gasped. “And it was her who saved the prince, the true heir of this kingdom— not a criminal!” 

“Admit that it was you and the people of this kingdom will be free,” said the prince. 

The king was shocked to see his son alive but wouldn't answer his question. 

“Answer!” the prince demanded.

A court member came close to the king. “Your Highness, if these people claim what they said to be true…then prove them wrong.”

“Never! I will not listen to peasants,” snarled the king.

“Then you will all die, along with your criminal king!”  I cried out.

The court started whispering and getting loud, wanting the king to prove them wrong.  The king had enough.  He grabbed a spear from one of his guards and rushed me, stabbing me in the chest.  “Yes, I killed him and you will join him, hero.”

The pain was excruciating, but I smirked.  The people were free. “Thank you for letting your anger get the better of you.”