Chapter 25: Escape

How did she get to where she is today? When she just took care of the emergency in her special room, and went straight to the underground meeting room and saw that the princes and princesses were not there… how did she get to a cage today?

"Good thing you came on time Elesa," opened a voice that was also inside the meeting room. "I've been waiting for you."

It came from Elesa's back so she was surprised because even though she didn't turn around, she knew that voice so she seemed to stiffen in her place… and the next thing she knew, she was already bound.

Gradually Elesa got up from her lying on the floor of the cage while holding her head.

"Don't waste your energy trying to break free," said the blue shadow. "You're my prisoner now and out of all the princesses here in your nation, you're the only one missing."

The man turned away from her. “Come dear. Your prince is waiting.”

She gained strength just to stand even though her body hurt after she was pushed inside.

"I know what you are thinking," the blue shadow said at the same time he faced Elesa who was tied up and sitting on the floor. “You only made one cage but you've seen so many. But seeing the prisoners at each cage, I hope that's enough explanation for you to know what my goal really is. Besides, you know how it works right?”

Elesa looked back at him with fear in her eyes while giving back his grin to her through his eyes.

"It's your mistake dear that you left the cage for me, but don't worry…" the door of the cage next to them opened at the same time. “…I'll let you know if the cage you made works.”

So there, we are now in the current state where Elesa is trapped inside the same cage as where every prince and princess are trapped too. When Elesa also got up immediately and dust off her skirt,

"Femme," said a voice so Elesa was surprised and looked at the speaker approaching her.

"Is that you?" he asked her.

Elesa didn’t say a word and was just dumbfounded back to him. Zoltar suddenly smiled at her.

“It is you. I'm glad you're safe.”

She doesn’t know how she will feel in her situation now because out of all the victims in this situation today, she is the only one who knows what is happening now.

This is the plan. She made this cage because of the man in front of her now. For when she invites this man to this cage, even if he sees another woman, it is okay with her as long as she just wants to feel that once, the man he once loved had looked at her that way.

She was so desperate for him. Ever since she arrived in their nation, she knew in herself that she also wanted to run away from the nation… but because of the person in front of her, she was convinced in no time to stay. Seeing the face of this man, that was reason enough for her not to doubt to leave their nation.

During those times, she didn’t realize that little by little she was developing her feelings for him and sometimes she thought that she always wanted to be by his side so she did everything she could to deserve to be chosen as his assistant. She was so happy that day she was chosen. She became motivated every day even though it was a bit difficult to be an assistant to someone like him but she lost all that fatigue every time she was just told 'Good Job!'

Many women are easily swayed by the movements of a man and Elesa is no exception and her feelings for him only increased when they agreed that, as his assistant, she should call him ‘Sir’. The only reason he did that was because he was getting tired of calling 'your highness' but for Elesa, she felt special so she dreamed and she believed that someday the 'prince of her life' would love her back but it reached three years and nothing happened.

When Yani came, because of her, she was motivated to say her feelings for him but even if Yani simply came in to say Femme's name to him, she couldn't help but get hurt and she felt Yani betrayed her.

It’s already painful to know that this scientist prince learned to like a woman who is not her, and add the treachery of the person she once called a friend so those times, she has no reason to 'just let go' her feelings for him because she knows she weighs more than a water girl.

So when she was given the option to make such a cage, she did not hesitate to do so, so… she should like what is happening to her now… that the prince she doesn't want to let go is in front of her.

But after all that happened recently… and when that man came into her life, she couldn't help but give Zoltar a smile first and lifted her two fingers straight to his forehead…

Zzt. She released a special electricity in her fingers that made Zoltar fall down and lie on the floor, unconscious. It’s a good thing that Zoltar is an electric person so there is no problem even if she did that to make him unconscious. This is good… before the cage affects her. She's the one who made it anyways that's why she knows the loop holes. She first looked at the lying prince in front of her before she stared at the wall of their prison.

She approached it and she tried her best to remove the metal blocking it and when she saw the inside, she broke a red wire and at the same time, the prison door opened.

Elesa let out a sigh first just to breathe deeply because somehow, the cage didn’t make any noise to alert that blue shadow. Elesa immediately built an electric platform to carry Zoltar outside the cage and she immediately entered the hallway that will lead them to the stairs and hid there first.

Elesa first waited for Zoltar to wake up and when he sat down holding his head,

"What happened?" he asked somewhat confused. "Where are we?"

"We are in an underground bunker," Elesa replied so Zoltar looked at her. "It's a long story on how we get here and I'll explain later but right now, we have to save the others."

"Others?" Zoltar asked back. "Who are the others?"

"I don't know which of them but most of the princes and princesses are here and are trapped inside a cage and they need our help," Elesa explained.

"Oh," Zoltar said as he tried to stand up but he was a bit wobbly.

"Are you okay?" Elesa asked. Must be the effect when she put the prince to sleep but instead,

"Where's Femme?" he asked suddenly.

Elesa was slightly surprised… and let out a sigh first at the same time she got up from her knees in front of him.

"I don't know," Elesa replied. “But I'm sure she's trapped inside one of these cages.”

“What are you talking about?” said Zoltar suddenly. "She's just with me a minute ago."

Elesa paused for a moment. Of course he'll think that after what he had been through inside that cage. Elesa let out a sigh again.

"There's a lot to explain about Zoltar," she replied. "I'll just tell you on the way so just follow me," and Elesa started walking.

There is no word that Zoltar followed Elesa. They climbed the stairs and stopped at the entrance of the stairs to check the hallway in case there were guards. When the coast is clear, they walk quietly into the hallway. When Elesa saw an opening, she stopped next to its wall and peeked.

When she saw a cage, she breathed a sigh of relief but when she saw the two people inside, she suddenly hid back.

"What's wrong?" Zoltar suddenly asked because of what she did and he would have peeked. "Is there someone—"

"No!" Elesa exclaimed and immediately pulled Zoltar back. "Don't look!"

Zoltar was shocked by what she did and said but he didn’t wonder. Maybe there is someone there who should not see them but Elesa's real reason why she did that is because she doesn’t want this guy to see the two people inside the cage.

Why out of all the cages, it has to be those two water people in it? What's more annoying, they look sweet so maybe when her companion sees it now, this prince will cause a scene and that blue shadow will be alarmed and they will be caught in no time.

"You have to stay here whatever happens Zoltar, okay?" Elesa commanded him.

“Why? Where are you going?” Zoltar asked.

"I will just try to break the controller of the cage so that I can free Fe—I mean I can free them," said Elesa.

Zoltar suddenly wondered. "What controller?"

Elesa let out a sigh. “'It's… it's hard to explain. Just trust me on this.”

“Then let me come with you. Maybe I can help—“

"No," Elesa suddenly groaned, which surprised Zoltar. “I mean, you have to stay here to guard this area. You see those stairs where we have been?” at the same time Elesa pointed it out.

Zoltar turned around. “Yeah. What about it?”

“Guard those stairs. If someone is coming from there, then you have to warn me.”

“Okay. I got it,” said Zoltar as he approached the stairs.

Elesa sighed in relief first because she was lucky to convince Zoltar. She immediately approached their cage and immediately went to the controller next to it.

Fortunately, she remembered again how she did it so when she broke a red wire, she turned back to the cage… but nothing happened. She wondered suddenly. That's really weird because that's the only weakness of the cage she made… not unless...

Elesa turned to the controller again and even though she was electrocuted, it had no effect on her but for how many wires she already cut, still nothing happened.

What could that blue shadow do? Could he have changed something she didn’t know?

Elesa just landed on its main chip covered with a strong steel. She tried to control the electricity to destroy it but her energy was running out and nothing happened. She even massaged her head because of the difficulty.

She needs more power to directly damage the chip inside but she has no more energy… but if it is electricity…

Elesa looked back to where the prince she had ordered was guarding, and looked back at the two people inside the cage…

Light bulb! She had an idea suddenly so she did not hesitate to return back to where Zoltar is. Fortunately, this prince was an obedient child because he really stayed in his place.

“Elesa,” he exclaimed. “The coast is clear here. What happened to the cage you went to?”

"I need your help," Elesa replied to him.

“Okay. How may I help?” and when he approached Elesa,

"The controller of the cage is on the right side of the cage," she said. “And I need you to release a great amount of electricity to destroy it.”

“Okay. I can do that,” Zoltar replied.

She paused. “But that much power of electricity is only generated through our emotions…”

"Okay," Zoltar said but he also suddenly wondered. "Uhm, what do you mean by that?"

Elesa saw that the prince in front of her didn’t really got what she said so she asked directly,

"What would you do Zoltar if Femme is flirting with another man, that they can even touch each other?"

With this question, Zoltar walked over to the cage and witnessed what Elesa was talking about. He immediately frowned and the anger on his face was obvious. Fortunately, he was still thinking about the controller so he released all the anger he felt when he saw Femme and Eaux inside the cage.

Elesa's theory was right because the controller was completely damaged but maybe a little too much because instead of just opening the cage door, its glass wall was completely shattered. At the same time, the two inside the cage also fainted.

She started to panic because of the noise made after that but what made her panic more was Zoltar's sudden walk inside, straight to Eaux so as fast as lightning, Elesa immediately went in front of him to stop him.

“Zoltar stop! The controller is already destroyed so you better calm down now,” Elesa stopped.

"You told me that my girl is flirting with another man, and not just any other man but my brother himself and now you're trying to stop me?!" Zoltar angrily told her.

"I only said that to anger you so you can destroy the controller," Elesa panicked. “Now that's done, you have to calm down now. You'll just end up hurting Femme. Remember they are both water people and they are very much vulnerable to the kind of electricity we release when we get angry.”

Because of what Elesa said, Zoltar was stopped and also glanced at the lying Femme and only then did his face gradually calm down.

"Just go back to the stairs that I instructed you to guard to calm yourself down," Elesa added. "I'll take care of them and let you know if they are awake."

Even though Zoltar was a little calm, his forehead was still furrowed but he turned away.

"Just don't touch Femme," he stated angrily and grumpily wwalked away.

Elesa took a deep breath as he finally left. She immediately approached the two and waited for them to wake up without touching them. She approached Eaux first when he moaned and slowly got up while holding his head.

"What happened?" Eaux asked.

"A long story," Elesa answered immediately and soon, Femme also woke up and also confused by what happened but Elesa tried to help the two stand up again, without touching them.

They also immediately went to where Zoltar is and Elesa could still see that his forehead was still furrowed leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the stairs. When Zoltar saw Femme's presence, he immediately looked away from her. 'What a child. I can’t believe I fell in love with this prince,' Elesa just commented to herself.

“Come on. Let's move on to the next cage,” Elesa offered and none of them spoke and followed her.

As they walked, Eaux could not stop himself so,

"Is it really just me who is wondering what is happening right now?" he asked.

Elesa let out a sigh.

"That place where you and Femme were lying is actually a cage and both of you are trapped inside it," Elesa replied.

“Trapped? A minute ago I was having fun talking with Hera—“

"No you weren't with Hera," Elesa immediately added. "You were just dreaming that time."

"Dreaming?" Zoltar said. “More like he's flirting with Femme.”

"What?" Eaux exclaimed in shock while Femme was also surprised. They even looked at each other and the surprise was obvious on their faces.

“Why would I even flirt with her? She's not even my type. No offense Femme.”

"It's okay," Femme answered.

"Then explain yourself what you two are doing in that cage a while ago," Zoltar said angrily… and before everything will get worse,

"That's enough," Elesa interjected as they stopped. “Don't even start hurting each other without even understanding what really happened. Let me explain first before you two even start arguing.”

Elesa explained every detail to them of what is happening right now in simple terms. They will ask back if they did not understand something and Elesa will answer them back.

"Oh, so that's how it is," Eaux commented.

Zoltar and Femme were speechless after that.

“So Femme…” Elesa said.

"Yes ma'am?" Femme responded.

"Could you please tell Zoltar who is the guy you were seeing when you were looking at Eaux while you were dreaming?"

Femme paused and looked at her fingers first while playing with it.

"It's Zoltar… because he's my love interest."

Zoltar was surprised to hear that and like a bubble he lost his jealousy earlier. It was obvious on his face that the expression on his face calmed down.

"Now, does that solve your problem?" Elesa asked Zoltar seriously so he felt speechless.

"I hope that's a yes," Elesa added. "Now, can we move on already?"

They just looked at each other but it was good when,

"Yes Elesa," Femme replied so they continued walking.

They thought they would just walk quietly, when the silence broke.

"I'm sorry Zoltar," Femme said suddenly so Zoltar was surprised and glimpsed at her, with her head bowed down. "I'm sorry that you witnessed all that, that's why I hurted your feelings.”

Zoltar was just quietly listening.

“I really thought I was seeing you at that time. It felt so real to me. I thought… it wasn't a dream.”

To hear all that, Zoltar suddenly stopped in his place so when they noticed that, they also stopped and looked at Zoltar with his head bowed down.

"You know…" Zoltar began and slowly lifted his head and looked straight into Femme's eyes. "We can make those things real again."

Femme was shocked by what he said so Zoltar looked away.

“I promise, I'll do my best this time. I will be in each date that we set—“

"Please don't promise that," Femme interjected so Zoltar stopped and looked at her.

Femme is giving back a smile. “You don't have to promise anything. Maybe I have my mistakes too. I expected too much from you. Let's just do this little by little.”

Zoltar did not speak back immediately but he smiled back.

“Yeah. Let's do that.”

Seeing the two like that, Elese can't help but smile too and just kept walking. Eaux also joined in to leave the two behind. And at least now, she knows that the two are okay.

They also reached the next level and Elesa immediately peeked at the next cage and also hid because it was the same… so that the water prince could not see the two prisoners inside it.

Does that blue shadow intentionally make the sequence of cages like this?

"Why what's wrong?" Eaux asked in astonishment.

Elese ignored his question and just stared at the controller on the left side of the cage.

"Stay there," Elesa said to Eaux and approached the cage again and she did the same as before. She cut almost all the wires but still nothing happened until she reached the main chip again which blocked a kind of steel that could be damaged if it was placed with…

Elesa looked back again at where Eaux was and signaled him to come and that's what he did but when he got in front of it, he was surprised by what he saw. He saw how the two metal royals were happy with each other inside it. So before he goes crazy…

"If ever you feel angry Eaux," Elesa began. "Make sure to release all of it in that box," while Elesa pointed to the controller but Eaux was still looking inside the cage.

"Why would I be angry?" Eaux questioned. "How can I be angry if Hera is smiling and happy like that?"

"So," Elesa promised. "You aren't jealous at all?"

Eaux could not answer and looked down.

"I don't get you but at least destroy the controller to free them," she said.

Eaux looked at the controller… and he did what Elesa told him to but Elesa knew that if he was just angry then the controller would be broken so before he attacked it with water, she heard how he clenched his one hand into a fist. When the controller broke, the same thing happened but instead of breaking the glass, it opened on its own. Elesa thought that Eaux would approach the two lying metal royals with her but when the controller broke, he also left immediately. Elesa ignored that and just woke up the two.

They also reacted the same way and when Zoltar and Femme caught up, they explained to the two and proceeded to the next cage but…

"Eaux," Hera called but the prince ignored her and he just kept walking but that didn't stop Hera so she ran right in front of Eaux to stop him.

"Eaux," Hera was panting but worry immediately changed her face. "Are you okay?"

Eaux didn’t speak immediately and averted his eyes from her.

"I'm fine…" he paused. “It's just that, I can't help but blame myself for hurting you that time. Seeing you in that cage, I just wish that I'm still that guy that can make you happy like that.”

Hera smiled after hearing that. "Do you even know the guy who I'm smiling at back when I was in the cage?" she asked.

Eaux was speechless and just looked at her.

"It's you, Eaux," she smiled to Eaux's surprise. "There's no other guy that can make me smile like that except you and you know why, right?"

Eaux was shocked so he shook his head telling her 'no'. At his response, Hera chuckled.

"It's because you are the only person in my life to be ever persistent to be with me."

Eaux was surprised by what he said.

"I know I'm being selfish to say this but," she continued. "Please don't change, okay?"

Eaux smiled. “You don't need to ask for that, my love.”

She gave him her sweetest smile. “Then that's enough for me to hope for more.”

Elesa smiled again to witness another pair get along and continued walking.

"So it was true," Aes stated. "It was all a dream that I saw Donna right there in front of me."

Elesa just glimpsed at him and upon arriving at the next cage, she already had a suspicion of what was next so she was not surprised at who might be the next pair.

When she peeked, she was right. It is no coincidence that the blue shadow intentionally made the sequence of the cages like this. Elesa just let out a sigh and looked at Aes… and just like the first two, she also used Aes' anger to destroy the cage controller. She knew that this prince was quick to get angry when we talked about his princess so there was no word that he shot the controller until it broke.

And when it was completely broken, Elesa made her way to calm Aes down. She had no plan on how but it was good and a water ball immediately blocked in front of Aes and as before, Aes immediately turned to Eaux with an angry face.

“Calm down Aes. Remember Elesa's explanation on what happens inside the cage?” Eaux said.

We can't say that he calmed down because even though he did not move in his place, anger was still etched on his face. Elesa woke up the two earth royals and likewise, they would wake up wondering what was happening and their heads would hurt and Elesa would just tell them it’s a long story and they had to leave immediately.

When Donna noticed Aes that he was just standing in his place,

"Aes?" Donna said so she got his attention as Donna approached him.

"Are you okay?" Donna suddenly asked him which surprised Aes. “What happened to you? Why are you angry? You were just standing right in front of me and now you're here? We are having a wonderful conversation and you were even happy so why—“

"Wait," Aes stopped Donna's chatter. "You thought I was the one standing in front of you a while ago?"

"Uhm yes," Donna replied. “Why? Uhm have I said something wrong?”

"That means that I'm your love interest?" he suddenly asked.

"Love interest?" Donna wondered and when she processed Aes' question, she suddenly blushed.

“Wha-what do you mean by lo-love interest? Wha-what does that have to—“

Donna didn't finish what she was going to say when Aes suddenly hugged her.

“It's okay. Now, everything is clear to me,” Aes whispered.

Donna wanted to say that what was happening was not clear to her but she just fell silent and blushed.

Elesa sighed because it was good that the princess was able to calm the fierce metal prince. Elesa looked at the confused Edmondo and was about to ask,

"She's in the next cage," Elesa replied. “You were just having a dream a while ago that's why you thought you saw her.”

Edmondo fell silent when she said that and at first he was surprised but he was really stopped because she seemed to answer the question he was about to ask.

As they walked to the next, it was good and Elesa explained well to others what was happening in the cages so they were the ones explaining to the confused princes and princesses but Elesa was starting to wonder…

She looked up at the next levels of the bunker as she frowned.

Probably in all that is happening now, she knows that blue shadow should be aware of them but, why did he not even show up or move to stop them?