"Come on Caly. You can step closer and kiss my hand," Rheya said.

Ann let go of me, but I didn't move at all. I could feel that the whole attention of the room was focused on what my next move will be. Now that I've met Rheya I was done with playing along.

"Caly, why are you hesitating?" Rheya aksed."Aren't you here to join me?"

"No, Rheya," I answered.

"If you aren't here to join me then why did you come here?" Rheya shot me an angry glare.

"I..." I hesitated a bit before saying my thoughts out loud because the whole room will think of me as an enemy."I came here to stop you!"

"Stop me?" Rheya looked at me with doubtful eyes."Stop me from doing what?"

"Isn't it obvious? I won't let you give a bad reputation to witches!" I said.

"Oh," Rheya said with a slight smile. What will you do?"

"I won't let anybody become a sacrifice!" My yell echoed through the silent room and I felt a flush on my cheeks.

The fire spirit brightly lit his flames but I put my hand between the spirit in the princess to tell it that I could handle it.

"Sacrifices, what are you talking about?" Rheya asked."Caly, are you okay? You are talking crazy,"Rheya calmly said while looking at me with confusion on her face.

"Why are you lying?" I asked.

"Lying?"She showed me a confused face."Girls, instructor Kyla, you know I wouldn't take sacrifices, right?"

All of them silently nodded.

"The witch fell in love at first sight with princess Rheya and gave her all of her magic," Kyla explained.

That was wrong. Rheya killed the old witch and violently took away her black magic. Everybody looked at me with anger as if though I was behaving badly towards Rheya but she calmed them down. Since I didn't let the fire spirit do anything she also controlled her lackeys.

"What about slaves, you were proudly walking around with two poor girls?" I asked.

"Slaves."Rheya sneered"Of course I have slaves! It is natural. There are rare magnificent people like me meant to achieve greatness while the other ones have the role of supporting me. Isn't that right, girls?"

Everyone in the room silently nodded to her words again.

"That's wrong," I whispered.

"Do you have any complaints?" Rheya asked.

"Yes. Taking slaves is wrong."

"Why?" She looked at me confused.

"I saw only a glimpse of your methods, but you kept them chained up in the dark. That's no way to treat anyone!"

"Slaves aren't smart and that's the reason I sometimes need to use rough methods. They need to be thought through pain and suffering. Some of them aren't obedient so I need to use some strict discipline methods., but that's all natural. Isn't that right girls?" Rheya said.

Once again everybody nodded as if though Rheya couldn't say anything wrong.

"If a witch isn't with me then she is against me," Rheya said while focusing her black magic on me.

The fire spirit summoned a protective firewall between me and the others.

"What's up with that small flame ball?" Rheya said while looking at the spirit with pure annoyance.

She called forth black magic and directed it towards the spirit.

"Don't!"I yelled but it was too late.

A black gust of dark material hit the spirit but Rheya's magic didn't even scrape the fire spirit. It redirected the black magic back to her and Rheya took a direct hit. She held her stomach tightly while being unable to control the painful expressions on her face. Even one's own magic can hurt the wielder.

"What did you do to Rheya?" I heard Kyla's angry voice. Everybody looked at me with despise on their faces, even Ann.

Nothing, I wanted to say, but since I was surrounded by Rheya's supporters they wouldn't listen to a word of my defense.

"This is an issue between two witches. Normal humans should stay back,"I said.

"Princess Rheya!" the girls looked at her with pleading eyes.

"I can handle one Calytrix without a problem," Rheya told them."But if you really insist you can help me," she smirked.

The girls listened carefully to Rheya and tried to cross the flame border the fire spirit created. They got burned heavily and had to back off. I was surprised they even tried. The heat from the flame wall was very strong in order to warn everyone not to approach, yet they ignored it and almost blindly tried to help Rheya.

Our fight only started but everyone in the room was against me from the very start. It felt like I was the one in wrong.

The gray room became brighter because of the flame wall but it was still an unpleasant gray devoid of all colors. It was an atmosphere that made me want to go away as quickly as I could.

"Are you all really okay with the situation of having a black witch as a country's top and establishing slavery?" I asked them.

"Princess Rheya couldn't be wrong!" they answered in unison.

Just like Rheya's slaves back in the cave they were satisfied with the situation. If the people directly concerned with it agreed full-heartedly I probably shouldn't intervene.

"But as far as I remember from history books Reyaeth kingdom never had slaves in its history. It was one of the rare places strictly against it," I tried to persuade them.

"The other leaders were wrong and were slowly destroying our kingdom, but princess Rheya is here to fix it. Just look at our neighboring country, the Barrel fiancé kingdom. The great rule of his ancestors degraded once a great county in just two generations. We won't let that happen here," Kyla answered.

I remembered reading about the Barrel prince's kingdom. His kingdom was once a calm place where almost everything prospered but in the latest books I read that everything collapsed. It wasn't the kind of place I wanted to stay at the end of my journey. I seemed like it was just a shadow of an old country, the ruins of once a great place.

"That may be true, but I think Rheya's methods are wrong. Happiness based on another's misfortune can't bring any good," I said.

"Misfortune? All of my slaves should be happy and are very fortunate to serve someone as great as me," Rheya said with a smile on her face.

I imagine I looked at her with an awkward expression on my face.

"In fact they should even beg me to take them as slaves," she said while puffing her chest."Cayltrix, if you want me to accept you, begging on your knees won't be enough anymore. When will you realize that serving me would be the best thing that could ever happen to you?"

"There is no greater pleasure than serving princes Rheya," the girls said in unison.

"I'm the one who is right and you are in the wrong, but even to such a disgraceful person I'm willing to stretch out my hand, "Rheya continued. "With enough repenting you can become a magnificent servant of the Reyaeth kingdom."

"I refuse," I immediately replied.

"Too bad. There is no choice but for you to perish now," Rheya said as she focused all of her magical energy.

The fire spirit moved between me and Rheya and focused its energy towards Rheya. I noticed from its strong flames that it was angry.

„Don't do it!"I yelled at the fire spirit but it didn't listen.

The fire spirit focused too much energy. If it hits her nothing but a pile of ashes would be left. Rheya's magic wasn't enough to kill me, but maybe her speech before she it attacked me already irritated the spirit.

Rheya was the first one to attack but her magic was dispelled by the fire spirit.

"Rheya, run!" I yelled. It was certain that Rheya was an enemy but I didn't want to kill her. I didn't want to kill anyone. The fire spirits' power was too strong and even if I tried to cancel it Rheya would get hurt badly.

Rheya didn't listen to my advice. She didn't move at all. There was no avoiding the attack now. Goodby Rheya. I averted my gaze because I didn't want to see a gruesome scene.

As I was saying my goodbyes a sudden explosion of strong magic canceled the fire spirits attack. I looked back and saw the water spirit in front of Rheya. Was the spirit on her side? Did she have such a strong ally?

The spirit water spirit stood there as opposed to the fire spirit in its transparent, watery form. Everybody looked at it with amazement, even Rheya had a shocking expression on her face. The reactions seemed genuine. That meant that the water spirit wasn't Rheya's ally so far.

"Fire spirit, Calytrix, intervening in human business with magic is prohibited! " the water spirit said in an authoritative voice.

"But Rheya is a black magic witch," I said.

"She didn't use magic to gain her royal position, subjects support her. Meddling in human business must be only done with ordinary human methods, no magic. The age of average humans, an age without magic is upon us and all of us, the spirits and witches are already relics of past," the water spirit explained.

"That can't be true. I'm a witch and I'm still young. Rheya also gained magic and I met a child witch during my travels," I said.

"Think of yourselves as members of a dying species. Nothing can stay the same forever. Everything is always in motion, " the water spirit said.

That depressing speech included its own existence but the water spirit didn't show any emotions. My world might become a world without magic one day and a world without elemental spirits. I couldn't imagine a world like that. Such a drastic change probably won't happen during my lifetime, but one day, in the distant future such a thing will be normal. People without magic probably already didn't think much of magic or the elemental spirits because they could live without it, but to me it was an important part of my existence.

"I might become the world last and most important witch!"Rheya said. "Becoming known as someone special, one of a kind that nobody could ever surpass isn't bad."Rheya laughed, but everybody else was serious.

The fire spirit got angrier after the water spirits' speech. Its flames burned brightly and I could feel the intense heat from them. Both of the spirits clashed but there was no victor.

"We'll take this fight outside," the water spirit said and both of the spirits left the room as if though they disappeared.

"We're the only ones left. Let's solve our dispute by human means," Rheya suggested.

The smirk on her face showed that she had an ace up her sleeve. I was all alone among her supporters. If she won't use magic would she use the girls to physically capture me? I was unsure wheater I should use magic or not. If I use magic in self-defense only that should be fine. It wouldn't be a violation of interfering with the business of normal humans. This situation right here is about me getting out of the place.

"I see that you won't choose me, no matter what happens, Calytrix," Rheya said."If that's the case I need to use force." She looked at the girls while pointing out to me.

They encircled me without her having to say any direct orders. Should use I use magic in this situation? Or maybe I should use my physical strength? As I was wondering what to do the girls grabbed me.

"No. Stop! Don't do it."

One of them held a wet handkerchief in front of my face and pressed it against my nose as if though they wanted me to inhale it. I didn't smell anything but I was sure it was something quite different from water. A strange, fuzzy feeling came over me and my eyelids felt quite heavy. I closed them and felt a wave of sleepy darkness. The one I'd feel when I fell asleep from exhaustion. My head got clear of all thoughts.

I woke up with a blurry vision in a dimly lit place. The cold, damp air wrapped around me like a heavy, drenched coat. I tried to look around but I couldn't make out any shapes. Opening up and closing my eyes didn't help. I felt dizziness but it was just enough for me to handle. My limbs felt stiff and when I tried moving them I noticed that they have been bound to something behind me. A rope must have been wrapped around my writs and legs. I couldn't clearly see it.

For a second I felt panic come over me but I took a deep breath and calmed myself. The fire spirit wasn't here. I couldn't sense its presence at all. It might have been caught up in the dispute with the water spirit and we'll see each other later. In the meanwhile, I should get out of this strange place I'm captive.

"Patet visu," I chanted a spell to clear my sight, but it didn't work.

The blurry vision didn't face away and I felt another wave of panic. Why wasn't my magic working? Perhaps I was too stressed out with the situation and once I am really calm I'll be back to normal. My body was also under pressure and that's surely why my clear vision and magic were temporarily gone.

The last thing I remember was that the girls surround me and put a wet handkerchief on my face, but that couldn't cause me to pass out. Rheya must have cast a spell on me, but I can't remember it. I blackened out at the moment when the handkerchief was tightly pressed against my nose.

As I was trying to wriggle out of the ropes I made some noise in the still space around me.

"Empress Rheya! Are you here?" I heard an unknown, timid, young girl's voice.

"I am not Rheya," I replied.

"Who are you?" she asked in a disappointing tone.

"I am Calytrix, a witch on her journey...and I'm also Rheya's enemy," I introduced myself. Rheya was the one who put me in this situation there was no point in beating around the bush.

She gasped in shock. "Rheya is a lovely lady, a current princess and soon to be an empress. She is exquisite and there is nobody else like Rheya," she said.

"You are right about one thing. There is nobody like Rheya. I haven't met anybody crazy as Rheya so far and I've met a lot of other crazy people," I said.

"Don't speak such words," she scolded me."Be ashamed! To tell you the truth I was just like you in the beginning. I cursed the best person in this world, princess Rheya a lot, but I came to realize that I made such a terrible mistake. I feel so ashamed. You too will come to regret your words."

"I doubt it. The only way I'm going to regret it is if I go crazy," I said."You're held captive by Rheya too?"

"That's only because I didn't know my place and acted terribly towards the dearest princess." the girl answered."She still doesn't trust me, although I repented so much already, it's surely still not enough. I'll repent more and earn her trust. I'll dedicade all of my pain to the lovely Rheya."

I felt sick just from the conversation. Rheya was torturing this poor girl and broke her mind.

"What did Rheya do to you?" I asked.

"At first she tied me up...well, I'm still tied up, but at the beginning it was different..."she said.

"Actually, I don't want to know the details," I interrupted her."I'm also tied up and my vision is blurry. I can't recognize any shapes. Is there any chance that we free ourselves?"

"I have a blindfold on, but when the glorious empress Rheya descends here she'll take it off. I can't wait to see her again," the girl said.

The captive girl had gone crazy like the two Rheya's slaves I met in the forest dungeon. I wonder what Rheya does to get people on her side. She can use magic, but she had obedient slaves even before she became a black magic witch. The thought quickly passed my mind because actually I didn't want to know gruesome methods that eat away one's healthy mind.

If only I could see I would have already done something to free myself. I could only wait now for my eyesight to return back to normal. In the meanwhile I tried to relax my tense body because I'll need strength when I confront Rheya again.

The captive girl started singing a song about how great Rheya is and I felt a wave of nausea from it.

"Rheya is holding us captive and yet you're praising her. Don't you realize how crazy it is?" I asked not expecting a reasonable explanation.

"You'll realize it once you stay longer here...tell me. Which part of Rheya do you like the most?" she asked.

"Stop it!" I said annoyed.

"You can't order me around. Only empress Rheya can order me," she replied.

"I guess that you wouldn't appreciate it if I freed you once I find a way out?" I asked.

"Of course not. Our dearest empress would get mad. We don't want that. You should get those silly thoughts out of your head. Serving Rheya is the best thing that could happen to a person," she said.

Rheya won her over and there was nothing I could do. I should just escape on my own as soon as possible.

The silence of the place where we were held captive got interrupted by the sound of heels loudly hitting stones. Somebody was getting closer to us.

"It's her!" the girl happily said.

"Rheya!" I angrily said.

The walking sounds stopped and were exchanged with a faint laugh. Rheya was mocking us, but that only lasted for a few seconds. She resumed walking again.

"My dearest dumb butterfly, Caly, are you doing fine?" Rheya asked.

"We are doing great!" the girl happily said.

"Caly?" Rheya's footsteps stopped next to me. I sensed that she focused her attention on me. I quickly closed my eyes and opened them up in order to clear my vision. My technique actually worked this time and I saw a pair of bloody red eyes looking at me intently. I almost screamed but stopped myself.

"Rheya! Release me!" I demanded.

Her lips formed a slight smile as she slowly answered no.

"In this dungeon I'm the empress. You need to obey me and follow the rules. When I ask a question you need to answer." Rheya said.

"Rheya is absolute!" the blindfolded girl said with a smile.

My eyesight was back I could clearly see my surroundings. We were in a cold stone-paved dungeon. There was nothing in here except chains and torture equipment. The captive girl was slightly chubby, she wore only underwear and shaking from the cold. Her curly blonde hair was tied up in a loose ponytail.

Rheya was dressed in the same red dress I saw her in earlier and was crazy as usual.

"Calytrix, you're still not answering. How are you feeling?" Rheya asked me.

"I've never been worse," I said honestly. Akios did put me in some quite bad situations but I was never robbed of my freedom in such a way.

"Wrong answer," Rheya calmly said as she glanced at the stack of her torture equipment.

"You'd better not provoke the empress!" the captive girl warned me.

"My cute little butterfly, for somebody so dumb you've become quite obedient," Rheya turned to her and patted her head.

"Thank you," the girl said.

When Rheya stopped petting her the girl pleaded her for me.

"See, Calytrix? This is your future," Rheya said."You'll give yourself to me and use your magic for the good of Reyaeth kingdom."

"That won't happen," I said."Ignis!"

I called forth fire to burn my ropes but the spell didn't work. My eyesight was back and my body felt normal again but my spells didn't work.

"What's wrong, Calytrix? You can't cast any spells?" Rheya mocked me, but I tried hard to hide not to show my nervousness or any kind of weakness in front of her.

"Ignis" I focused again but flames didn't show up.

I felt sweat coming me over me in this cold place. What was going on? Was something blocking my magic? I didn't feel like I was put under a spell.

"Oh my! It seems you really  can't cast spells." Rheya said."That's great because you don't need magic in here."

"Empress Rheya, she might have magic outside but I am sure I can serve you better than her," the captive girl said.

"Feeling a bit competitive, little butterfly? Being envious isn't good," Rheya scolded her."Let's play girls! We need to get to know you well, Caly, because you'll be staying with us for a long, very long time, for the rest of your life!"She smiled like crazy.