Modern World

Cherry and Roger reached their world of houses and gardens. Houses were different in shades of brown, yellow, or blue with red rooftops. Then, they went to Cherry’s home had brown walls and a red roof. She unlocked the door. Cherry put Roger on the bed and covered him with blankets. She calmed him down until he fell asleep. She stepped out and sat in the chair to read some articles about the Rock Community. Cherry missed a lot of news on print and television. She read some that captured her attention. She left the rest on the table untouched.

She got one article and read it loudly, “Lava Valley has been solid. No lava flows.” Another article reads, “It could mean life at Lava Valley is less dangerous but still aware of the vulture, the obsidian prince’s pet.” The last article reads, “Cherry and Roger went missing. Please, help us to find them. Reward: $1,000,000.”

“A million dollars if we were dead!” A shock appeared on her face, which made Roger woke up to her scream. “Cherry is having a trauma from the dungeon. So am I.” his voice was soft.

She rushed to the room and showed up the article and the title. Her breath was frantic. “We are dead,” she said.

“For a million dollars? For who?” he was confused.

“If we were missing, someone would find us.”

“This is not the Rock Community, is it?”

“It is the Rock Community.”

“Just cancel the reward. We are fine, that is all.”

She dialed the number on the telephone. She waited a minute for Cupcake to pick up the phone in the office. Cherry said, “Roger and Cherry are back in the world. So cancel the reward, please.”

“I will do that to update the website.” Cupcake hung up the phone.

Cherry put away the phone. She said, “I already said it to Cupcake.”

“That is good to hear.”

Cupcake updated the Rock Community’s website. “Roger and Cherry were not missing. They arrived at 10:00 p.m. So she canceled the reward. Give a shoutout to their efforts coming back to town.”

She paused to drink the coffee for the night. She was relieved they were already here. Her job was to publish articles on the obsidian prince and his whereabouts. She was the one who created the Rock Community in the first place. She liked to be in charge of the news and information in people’s minds.

Cupcake was the sole survivor from the group of twenty who survived in the Lava Valley 5 years before Cherry’s and Roger’s expedition. She met Prince Flame, who healed her arm. Whenever his name popped into her head, she felt warm around her body. She said, “When is my turn to meet him?”

She removed her eyeglasses and put them on the desk. Her palms were on her face. “So warm,” she whispered. “So warm being in a hot bath with Prince Flame.” She looked up. Her mouth dropped. “Did I see the obsidian prince in front of me? Did he see me? Will he get me? Will I get after him? Will it stop floating around me? I felt the chills.”

Cupcake were the eyeglasses, and she turned the computer off. She ran to the elevator. There was nothing around the desk or her. But she has done it fast to get away from him. The elevator opened to the first floor. She came out with an awareness of his presence. She went outside and found the moon empty in the dark sky.

I want to meet Prince Flame and take a hot bath with him. She smiled but suppressed it. “Someday, I will.”

Once she was home, she unlocked the door and went inside. She turned on the lamps and took a shower. The shower was steaming. She was there daydreaming about Prince Flame. She took too long by kissing the wall with her lips. She realized later it was a wall, so she turned off the faucet, dried her body with a towel, and dried her hair. Finally, she sat by her desk to turn on the computer and start typing a letter. She wondered if the letter reached Amber Castle without paying a fee.

After the revision, she printed it through the printer, folded it neatly in an envelope, and closed it with an eyeglasses sticker at the back. She added her home address in the top left corner and Amber Castle in the center of the envelope. She put the envelope on her desk and slept on her bed.

Cupcake was already dressed and went to the post office to drop off the envelope. The staff said, “We do not take to the Lava Valley. Sorry.”

“Without a fee?” Cupcake asked.

“We do not take the envelopes to the mountains. We only take around the town and out of town.”

Cupcake left the post office with the envelope. She spotted Cherry, a member of the Rock Community. Cherry explained the story in less than 30 seconds.

Cupcake said, “The obsidian prince trapped Roger and you.”

“He does more than trap us in the dungeon. He hurt Roger with an extended hand. I gave Roger the medicine, so he was well. Right now, he is sleeping at my house.”

“Do I share any of this information with the Rock Community?”

“I want to keep them hidden for our privacy.”

“I understand.”

“I want to add that the ghost helped us escape. So was the prince.”

“Prince Flame?” her heart skipped a beat.

“Let’s say it is him. Both males helped us to escape from the Obsidian Castle. I want them with all my heart. But we left quickly.”

“I can tell them when I got time.”

“You are the best, Cupcake!” Cherry embraced her.

“How is Roger?”

“He is getting better, except for his limbs and torso. Just a minor muscle ache, he said this morning.”

“If I were you, take him to the hospital and get it treated immediately.”

“I want to keep it secret as well,” Cherry said, “Have a great day!” With that, she ran back to her house and locked the door. Cupcake was not going to do the dumbest thing. Do not say to the website. Leave it as is.

Cupcake went home and turned the computer on in her room. She found the news article, “Ghost is blue and gray, who asks for help in the Lava Valley.” Her eyes squinted at those bold words. Did Cherry mention the ghost, who helped Roger and her to leave the dungeon? It has to be that ghost.

She called the number that Cherry gave her many years ago before the expedition. Cherry was on the phone. Once she heard Cupcake’s voice, she asked, “What is it?”

Cupcake read the title from the computer. Cherry said, “His name is Bubbles. But how the news read him as well?”

Cupcake searched for the sources around the website. She found the tiny letter in the lower corner. She clicked on that. It led to the 3-D model of the Lava Valley. The ghost was standing there with a device. “A camera?” she said.

Cherry exclaimed, “That is Roger’s camera. He lost one in the mud and one to the prince.”

“But how is the camera can link to the website? That is too confusing,” Cupcake lost in thought.

“I am coming to your house.” Cherry hung up the phone. Cherry knocked on the door. Cupcake opened the door for her. Both went to the room to see the valid evidence.

“It was Roger’s camera!” Cherry cried. She surveyed the area with the computer mouse. She was curious about where and how it connected from the camera to the news. “But how?” she asked many times already.

Before the camera shuts off, the ax came and broke the lens. The picture was pitch black. Cupcake said, “The camera is broken.”

Cherry gasped, “We should protect the ghost from the prince.”

Cupcake felt the chills through the computer screen. His eyes glowed purple and wicked. His voice was almost a whisper, only to the ghost. “Trying to use a device against me. You have enough with the people that you help out. It is my turn to devour you.”

Cherry cried, “Do not hurt him! Do not hurt him!”

Cupcake said, “Whoever has this device, we are listening to the conversation between you two.”

Silence fell in.

Bubbles said, “You are imagining this, obsidian prince.”

“Am I imagining things? Why I heard two female voices from the camera? Why am I curious about their existence? Are they part of the Rock Community?” the prince asked.

Before the ladies screamed, “Yes!” The camera dropped into the icicles, and it finally broke. The ladies froze, and Cherry let out her breath. Cupcake said, “I realize he was protecting us from him.”

“We should go to the Lava Valley!” Cherry rushed out of the room and house. While Cupcake checked the source of the disconnection, she wanted to know more about the prince. He sounded colder than Prince Flame’s voice.

Cherry packed her things in the room where Roger was. Roger heard the bags open and close. He asked, “Are you in a hurry?”

“We are going to protect the ghost, who saved us. He was in danger.”

“What happened to him?”

“He sent us the evidence from Lava Valley and a videography of where he was. The obsidian prince hurt the ghost.”

“You are not going there.”

“I have to as a friend.”

“There is someone you have to talk to. It was a nice guy, who can help close to Bubbles.”

“Good idea.”

Cherry stopped being in panic mode. She went to Cupcake’s house to say, “I already told Roger about the incident. He suggested a nice guy from there to take care of Bubbles’ situation.”

“I will try to talk to him.”

Cherry sighed deeply. “I just want to go and save the ghost with my hands.”

“I know.”

Cherry left her house and took care of Roger to drink some water. His muscle aches started to recede. Cherry was happy for him that he recovered quickly.

Suddenly, Cupcake found the amber rose pen sitting on the window pane. The sunlight gave its radiance to the writing pen. She snatched it and wrote on the piece of sticky paper. “You must help Bubbles the ghost. The obsidian prince hurts the ghost. We saw through a camera on my computer.”

Prince Flame saw on the mirror in orange handwriting. He sensed there was danger for Bubbles. He wrote back with the same pen as Cupcake. “I will try to find him and separate them.”

“Just go!”

Prince Flame wiped off the mirror and went out into the Lava Valley. He spotted the obsidian prince with his vulture on his arm. He came as the younger brother turned, “What brings you here, Prince Flame?”

Bubbles went behind Prince Flame, who calmly said, “Do not fight him.”

“Who?”

“Do not fight the spirits.”

“How are you involved in our fight? Are you…” He could not point something off his brother’s posture or some magic.

“Just be nice, as your sister said.”

The younger brother just looked at him. “I cannot be nice to the ghost. He is already dead. I can…” He stopped himself.

“Just go to your castle, obsidian prince.”

Whoosh.

Bubbles said, “Thanks.”

“What did he do?”

“He broke the camera that humans invented. Then, he got after me for using it.”

“You can stay with me in the Amber Castle if you want.”

“I rather stay with humans,”

He heard footsteps crushed on the rocks. It was Princess Ruby. Bubbles escaped before she reached Prince Flame. She said, “You have tasks to finish at the castle. I finished mine.”

He turned to her and walked passed her. She said, “Prince Flame?”

He paused, and she said, “I want your answer.”

“I will do mine right away.”

“Glad I hear your voice. It warms my heart.”

He ignored it and went to the castle. The princess narrowed her eyes at the site of icicles and Lava Valley. While Bubbles followed him behind. He was relieved in the prince’s room. He can get to sleep on his bed and not worry about the cat-and-mouse chase.

Scruffy sensed a ghost in the room. He was a firebird with teeth on four legs and fluffy feathers on his body. He woke up on a cushion to sniff out the ghost on the bed. Bubbles felt the nose touching his back. “Leave me alone!”

Scruffy went to his bed on the floor, waiting for his owner. Prince Flame was doing tasks in the office room. He was signing off contracts as fast as he could. He wanted to spend time with Scruffy and Bubbles.

Princess Ruby was in the castle sitting on the throne, waiting for her older brother to show up. “He was taking so long. I want to talk about what he was doing at the edge of Lava Valley.”

He did signing the papers and went to the hallway. He paused before the door. The servant told him that his sister wanted him. He obliged, so he sat next to her in the throne room.

She asked, “What are you doing at the edge of Lava Valley?”

Without looking at her, he said, “Just looking at the scenery.”

She was analyzing his face. She felt the cold. “Did you meet our younger brother without me?”

“I did not meet him.”

“Just look at me, Prince Flame. I want to see your eyes.”

He faced her while she touched his hair. “Prince Flame, I will…”

“You do not have to,” he said early.

“Why not?”

“You do not have to,” he repeated.

Her fingernail tapped his cheek. He said, “I will be in my room.” He stood and went off to his room. She grunted. “I think he is hiding something from me. But he never let me talk to the younger brother. Is he afraid of the consequences?”

Scruffy heard the door open. It was Prince Flame. The firebird flew toward him and licked his face. “Scruffy, no.”

Scruffy landed on four legs and snared at the one in bed. Prince Flame noticed the ghost was asleep. “Do not bother him.”

The firebird went back to the cushion and slept there. Prince Flame touched Bubbles’ hair. “Cold and icy like my younger brother. Cold-hearted soul.”