300 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PAST TWO

To make matters worse, Zoe was transported to another scenario. It was at the time that she was already lost in the forest and her parents and Uncle Bo were looking for her. 

"It seemed that Uncle Bo's men were already looking for the Tree and Uncle Bo is still pretending that he's just here to help Mama." She gritted her teeth.

To her horror, there was little Raigon who was hiding behind the trees. And seeing his Uncle Bo with a gun, he immediately ran to where the royal guards are and told them where they are.

Her trembling hands flew to cover her jaw dropped mouth. And after gulping a lump that was stuck on her throat, she uttered.

"Raigon was the one who caused my parent's death? Is this the reason why you're not telling me about the tree? You don't want me to know about this?"

Her horror stricken face watched as the royal guards cornered her parents with swords in their hands. 

Instead of firing his gun, Uncle Bo ran away leaving her father to protect them as he tried to fight with them. However, since he has no weapon and is not really a fighter, one of the royal guards stabbed him with a sword. 

"Papa!" 

Zoe screamed with all her might. She ran towards him and tried to touch his dying body but because it is just a vision, her body just went through. She tried to touch him again and again while he physically covered up the little Zoe who was also crying hysterically at that moment.

Just then Queen Rose showed up at the scene. The royal guards stopped and stepped backward as she approached them.

Her mother quickly knelt down at her feet and put her palms together. "Please, Rose. You can take my life away. But please spare my child."

But there was not even a trace of sympathy on her face as she crossed her arms. 

"You shouldn't have escaped from the dungeons that I put you in. You have even stolen my necklace from me!"

"It was not yours in the first place. You and Wiktoria took it from me! I don't know what it means to you. But it is the only thing my mother left behind for me!"

Queen Rose froze for a few seconds as she decided to change the topic. 

"It's your fault that you are in this mess. Why did you even come back here? Are you here to take Artair away from me again?"

Zoe's eyes widened in shock as her hands balled up into fists.

"The Queen even put my mother in prison before she escaped from Terra?"

"Forgive me. I repent of my sins. I am not here for Artair. You can kill me now if you want. But please, spare my child!"

As she said so, she turned her back and embraced Zoe and secretly put the necklace in her pocket. 

She kissed her and told her. "Never take this off and come back with your Uncle Bo. Always remember that I love you and I will always be with you."

Zoe bit her lips until it bled but still she couldn't prevent a cry from escaping it. Her body trembled as she cried with all her might, seeing her mother bid farewell to her.

Queen Rose seemed to understand as she saw the mother-daughter dramatic scene as she already had Raigon at that time. But she wasn't able to see the necklace. So she nodded her head and replied.

"I will have the kid transported out of here. But you must stay and get back to the dungeons."

Her mother nodded in agreement as a royal guard took the little Zoe away. After she was gone from her sight and seemed to now be in safe hands, the other royal guards took her away and was about to bring her to the dungeons.

However, when they were walking towards it, her mother saw little Zoe and her Uncle Bo leaving in a boat, from where they were. And she could hear her screaming, "Mama! Mama!"

It seemed like her mother's instinct got the best of her as she pushed the royal guard and tried to escape from him. Even though the royal guard was stronger than her, she still tried to fight her off until both of them fell down from the cliff and died.

"Mama!" It was now the older Zoe who screamed as she ran to her mother's body.

"I'm sorry, Mama! I shouldn't have called you back!" Zoe frantically grabbed the image of her mother as her hands were lifted to little Zoe's direction.

"Live, Zoe. Live the life that I wasn't able to live." Then she breathed her last. 

"Mamaaa!!!!!" Zoe cried out at the top of her voice as she tried to embrace her mother. Seeing that she can't, her hands balled up into fists as she thumped them on the ground over and over again in frustration. 

"I will make them pay! I will get your revenge! I will make them see that they shouldn't have wronged our family!"

She shrieked until her voice ran out. As she was doing so, her body immediately sprang up from the bed.

Her hand flew to her throat as it was as dry as a desert land. She tried to speak but no voice was coming out. 

"Zoe, are you all right?" 

She darted her eyes to where the voice was and saw Raigon. He stood up to get a cup of water and he immediately gave it to Zoe.

She grabbed it and drank it in one quick gulp. And as she did so, she tasted blood. She bit her lips until blood oozes out again from it. Her hands touched her cheeks and she felt dried up tears that were stuck on them. 

They were like her memories that she doesn't know if there is any medicine in the world that can make her forget after she has witnessed them with now not-so young and innocent eyes.

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The axe may forget, but the tree will always remember.