Chapter 3: A Meeting with Princess Soleia

When the griffin landed in front of the castle with the elf, centaur and humans safely on the ground, it nodded to a nearby guard, who was holding a staff with a symbol that could probably represent the sun, and flew off.

“Come with me” the guard ordered with a gruff but friendly voice. He lead them through the main door which was covered with a weird golden metal that was as cool as ice even though the temperature outside was immensely hot. Behind the cool doors, however, was the most stunning thing any of them ever saw. The walls were covered with gold, which were studded with diamonds. The diamond studs were in the most intricate and hypnotic designs. It was a magnificent sight to behold. Although, that was only room one. When they reached a door that was covered with gold and the diamond studs were in the shape of a phoenix, the guard banged his staff on the tiled ground three times (’cause it’s a magic number *author starts singing magic number rather out of tune*) and the door turned into a phoenix.

“Who are they?” it asked and nodded towards the 5 flabbergasted humans/fairies with its fiery head.

“The griffin brought them.” answered the guard. The phoenix stepped out of the way and let the band of people through but the guard stayed where he was and told them to wait inside for the princess and kneel on the floor.

Now, if you thought the first room was in impressive, prepare to be dazzled.

As they filed in one by one, they gaped at the room they were in. The floor was made out of pure gold (Artemis checked) and the walls and ceiling were invisble so the sunlight shined through (much to Artemis’ disappointment) and Mother Nature’s plants and animals were visibly seen doing what they do best. The air in the room was filled with the scent of lavender and another unknown flowery scent. But, located at the centre of the room was something even more amazing than the phoenix. It was a water fountain. It was taller than five Butlers stacked on top of one another (AN: The ceiling is incredibly high). It was combined of seven levels and at each level the water changed colour from the top, which was red water, then orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and finally indigo. Each of the levels were in the shape of a sun (which was made out of gold) with the rays angled downwards slightly so the water flowed down the rays like rain flowing down the tips of any rainforest plants. The levels weren’t actually supported by anything so they were floating inbetween one another. At the bottom where all the water was collected, there were minature (chinese style) dragons that were spurting water from a hole in their mouths at the side of where the water was being collected. The water that came from the mouths of the dragons didn’t shoot straight but swirled around the water fountain once before reaching the top of the fountain which was a golden globe that reflected the sunlight coming in from the walls and ceiling. Behind the water fountain was a throne with a golden phoenix on one side, a golden dragon on the other and golden sun at the top. The throne was actually more or less several royal red and celestial gold coloured silk cushions.

Suddenly, there was a trumpeting noise and somebody announced that Princess Soleia had arrived. Swiftly all five of the awe-struck humans/fairies instantly snapped out of their daze and knelt on the floor waiting for the Princess’ arrival.

“You may rise.” ordered a voice that was so sweet, pure and innocent that you’d do practically anything the owner of the voice wished. One by one they slowly got up and stared at the princess and were instantly awe-struck by her grace and beauty.

The princess was fair in every way. She had blonde hair in loose pigtails that looked as soft and smooth as the silk cushions she was sitting on. Her skin was a pale cream colour with a little rosiness in her cheeks. The irises of her eyes were a very light aquamarine blue colour that were encircled by a deeper blue. Her lips were gold and so were her eyelashes. The only unusual thing about her was that she had a symbol of a sun on her forehead that was constantly shining (like a bindi). Her attire was actually quite plain. It was just a red summer dress with a golden dragon spiralling around it with matching golden ballet pumps (for the boys reading this imagine ballet shoes that don’t have ribbons and have a bigger heel).

“Pray tell why you needed a meeting with me?” asked Princess Soleia.

“Well there have been strange things happening to us where we come from so we wondered whether the Kingdom of Soleisia had anything to do with it, your majesty?” explained Holly as she was the only person who wasn’t totally hypnotized by the princess’ beauty.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! But at the moment the Kingdom of Dlykasia is trying to invade us and the people of Soleisia aren’t at all happy with this. The way the sun and the moon work is that both of the kingdoms have to work in harmony.” explained the apologetic princess, ”But ever since my father died, the people of Dlykasia have gone into war with us and I’m afraid there is nothing that I can do. You see noone can touch me but that’s only if I’m in Soleisia…”

“So if you travel to Dlykasia your father’s spirit can’t reach you and thus making you weak and very vulnerable.” interupted Artemis, “And your people can’t travel there because the atmosphere in Dlykasia will make them weak and with the war going on right now they shall probably be held hostage or killed. However, that would mean that the people in Dlykasia can’t travel to Soleisia without some kind of shield to protect them. Am I not correct? Your Highness” Artemis concluded, which baffled everyone.

“Correct! I’m surprised how a mere human could possibly be able to know. The people of Dlykasia have created a potion made from quartz, moonstone, root from the Vamparuga tree and nectar from some kind of unknown flower. Now you see if I knew what the flower was I would be able to create a potion that could counteract that one. I’ve tried everything! The only alternative is for me to find someone to go directly to Dlykasia and somehow trick the ruler there. Alas, noone from my kingdom dare go near Dlykasia…unless…” she stared at them hopefully.

“Um…we’ll do it.” said Artemis, he just couldn’t resist that sweet voice or the hope in those shimmering blue eyes (if you’ve ever seen anime it’s like when their eyes twinkle like someones just proposed to them or something). Holly elbowed him and mumbled something that was too inaudible for Artemis to decipher.

“Oh, Thankyou!!! If you succeed then my people and I shall be indebted to you forever!” she said getting up and about to give Artemis a hug when Artemis ducked and hid behind Butler.

“Um…your highness, your father’s spirit.” warned the bodyguard. Immediately, she turned around walked and pulled a cord from behind her throne/cushions five times. Instantly, five maids appeared in front of the startled humans/fairies and lead them towards an exit.

“These girls shall show you to your rooms where you shall be treated like royalty.” she said before they reached the intricately carved doors.

*Authors Note: Yep, this is definetly one heck of a long chapter!!! Remember to r+r!!!*

Some other stories by artyrox:

• Irreplaceable
• Winner of the Valentine's Day competition
• Prodigy vs Pirate
• Artemis Fowl Fanfiction Competition Rule and Guidelines
• Unfaithful