XI

“Prophecy?”

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Amy, together with her teammates or friends, followed General Phillip. They saw a small old fashioned house along the path they headed for. They stared at it. General Phillip gently opened the gate of the house. They entered the gate and observed the surroundings.

"Do you know where we are?" General Phillip asked. They all shook their heads.

"And maybe it's time for you to know. What is the last thing to remember?" General Phillip asked.

"Power," Elise said with a low voice, trying to recall all of the things to remember.

"Power. We're going to put some kind of magic to your weapons just like what we have in our weapons," he narrated.

The general knocked very carefully at the old wooden door. While the general is knocking, Amy wasted no time in tying Airie on a tree nearby the gate and getting the arrow set on Airie's neck. The edge of the door has particles falling and then it regained again, like a new one. An old man wearing brown coat and hat opened the door carefully. It looked at all of them through his blind-like eyes and greeted them.

"Good day, General," the aged man said. General Phillip greeted him back at chattered a little about the Portland's Trainer.

"Well, this is Wizard Sheloin and this is his house," General carefully patted the old man's right shoulder. "Wizard, these are my new teammates. They are from Portland's Trainer."

"I know him," Amy whispered to General Phillip, afraid that the wizard might hear it.

"Really?" General Phillip smiled. "Well, that's great."

"You look familiar," Sheloin said with his lips statically moving. Everyone tried to look at the wizard through his eyes but his eyes were too narrow due to his age. The young ones looked at each other, trying to inspect everyone's face.

"Whom, wizard?" Lance asked humbly.

"The blonde," Sheloin said.

They looked at each other once again and got confused because each of them knows that Elise and Amy are both blonde.

"The archer," Sheloin said pointing at Amy with his oddly curved finger.

"M-me?" Amy asked pointing herself.

"Oh, yes, dear," Sheloin said.

"I'm not sure if it's true but my mother said that Wizard Sheloin gave me something," Amy said.

"Continue," they said.

"Tell me your life, dear," Sheloin said.

"My parents are David Arrows and . . . " Amy paused. "Ellen Porter."

"Your Majesty, you're the one in the prophecy!" Sheloin shouted in joy.

"Prophecy?" Amy asked, completely confused.

"Come in, General and children," Sheloin turned his back and walked weakly and gradually. General Phillip and the children followed the wizard into the dimly lit house. Sheloin tried to snap his fingers strongly and when he did, a spark of light came out of his hand. The spark flew slowly, catching everyone's attention except Sheloin's. The next thing was the spark already lightened the hanging torch in the darkest corner of the house.

Now that the torch is strongly shining, everyone glanced back at the wizard. Sheloin's perfectly old hand tapped the books in the shelf beside a dining table with several antique chairs. They look sturdy though.

Sheloin drew a new book, absolutely different from the old ones. He opened the book as he carefulness pulled a single spectacle under his old wizard hat.

"In this prophecy, a princess will be born at a date and she will grow up from the town where she was born. She'll move back to her home at a young age and build friendship with children like her. They will have many adventures. The danger will chase her for some unknown ways," Sheloin said as he closes the book of Amy's prophecy and returns it to the shelf. "That book is written in a obscure language and that's how I translated it."

"That's perfectly you, Amy!" Elise poked Amy on the shoulder.

"Wizard, why doesn't the kingdom know about this?" General Phillip asked.

"Because I think it was better for her to know the prophecy earliest," Sheloin said. "Also, I thought that it was about another princess from a different Kingdom."

"Wizard, we're here because we need powers for their weapons," General Phillip said. "Maybe, you can do it after the prophecy thing."

"Sure. Follow me," Sheloin grinned.

They followed Sheloin through the kitchen and they stopped by Sheloin's cauldron. There was a bench beside the cauldron and it's long enough for all of them.

"You may sit at that bench while waiting," Sheloin said.

They sat on the bench and waited for Sheloin to call them. Finally, after stirring the cauldron like coon's age, Sheloin started to call their names.

"We will not replace your weapons. We're just going to add specializations to them," Sheloin started.

Amy's fear of losing his father's gift was gone. Yes, she was afraid that the gift of his lost father will be replaced by a new bow.

"May the swordsmen line up," Sheloin said.

Sally and Lance lined up. The two of them stood excitedly with their sword's tip thrusted frailly.

"I have two specializations for swords here: ice and flame," Sheloin said. "Who wants to use ice?"

"Me," Lance whispered.

"I want flame," Sally smiled.

"Please give me those," Sheloin ordered. He dipped Sally's sword in the grey substance in the cauldron. Sheloin made Sally's sword stay in the cauldron until he had chance to pour the content on a bright red vial. The grey substance became red and the heat can be felt in the whole kitchen. He pulled the sword out of the cauldron then the red pigment and heat went out.

Sally received her sword back and the moment it touched her hands, a flame surrounded her sword. She had put the fire away using her rational orders. Sheloin dipped Lance's sword to the grey liquid, just like what he did to Sally's. He rummaged the small stable table in search of the blue vial of ice. When he finally found it, he poured it to the cauldron.

The grey liquid became a blue ice right away. The sword of Lance started adhering to the ice but Sheloin pulled it out snappily. The coldness of the ice and the bluish hue have gone. Sheloin deferentially gave the sword to the owner with the messiest hair he had ever seen. Just like Sally, when Lance had his hands touching the sword, ice starts to fill the edges of it.

The swords are done!

"I have seen someone with an axe though it's seldomly used and I just don't know," Sheloin ran his mouth.

Elise walked towards Sheloin. Sheloin took her axe and submerged blades in the cauldron's grey stuff. Sheloin picked the largest vial and poured its whole obnoxious amount into the large pot. The liquid became resplendent. He pulled the axe back and gave it to Elise.

"When you want it to have the laser, just think of it," Sheloin explained it to Elise. "It's looking lighter than before. You can use it as a disguise of a simple stick."

Elise nodded happily in contentment of her new weapon. She stared at her axe and the blades were made of laser, a hologram.

"Your Majesty," Sheloin called.

Amy stood and walked to Sheloin. In her hands, three arrow sets from her waist, back, and near Airie's saddle. Sheloin received the arrow sets and held it vertically by the straps. He dipped the bottom of the holder and letted the gas-like liquid stream out of a vial. Sheloin pulled the arrow sets out of the cauldron.

Amy delightfully received the arrows and gave her beloved bow to Sheloin. Sheloin submerged the whole bow into the large cauldron and poured the melted metal fluid into the cauldron. He tugged the bow out of the cauldron. It has no variation in the appearance of the bow but the ability is surely better.

"When you ran out of arrows, it'll regenerate as fast as a lightning. In the case of your bow, it'll turn into a cutlass depending on your need," Sheloin explained while giving the bow. Amy nodded and thanked him.

"Who among of you are left?" Sheloin asked, showing a sign of his age's memory loss.

Tom and William silently strolled. When they are at Sheloin's front, the wizard stood still.

"Rifles," he mumbled to himself. Sheloin took ages to have two cylindrical vials in his hands. He immersed the barrelheads of the two rifles and poured the clear fluid from the two vials.

"You'll never run out of bullets. And if you want it to a sword, it'll be," Sheloin explained and wrenched the barrelheads out. Sheloin gave the rifles back with a weak beam.

Seeing everyone on the bench and stools, Sheloin sets down the fire under his cauldron. Sheloin walked towards them and said, "All of your weapons are specialized. The Kininvas can't use it against any of you because I only give support and powers to the Kingdom of Portland Goldens."

"Thank you, Wizard Sheloin," Amy smiled, staring at her bow which swiftly turned into a cutlass.

General Phillip shook hands with Sheloin.

"You may come back for visit and needs," Sheloin waved after the children and General Phillip went out through his home's doorway. "Bye, children." Then, he waved his old hands goodbye.

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