Celestial Saga: Exiled to Earth II - Chapter 17：Stage SIXTEEN

“My name is Freyja!” For a moment, Freyja thought she heard the voice of a little girl. “How about you? What is your name?” She asked. The answer of the other little girl sounded gibberish. And then, she was back to reality. Van is shaking her shoulders roughly, Scarlet and Aya looking at her worriedly.

“Are you alright Freyja? What did you see?”

“I…” Freyja took a deep breath to calm herself. “I saw something written in aura. It says ‘IN MIRROR HELP.’ You guys were right, there is something in that mirror after all. How couldn’t I sense it!?” She punched the floor before standing up.

“I think it’s because you’ve grown so used to it. That’s normal, no need to be hard on yourself Frey.” Scarlet tapped her shoulder. “Anyway, are we really sure it’s THAT mirror? We have a LOT of mirrors here.” Aya asked. “Hell yeah we are. It’s the only weird mirror in this place, come on!” Van didn’t let them finish talking. She ran straight to the dusty old room where the strange mirror is. “Let’s get going!”

Freyja, Scarlet and Aya sighed and chuckled, before running after the hothead.

But, when they entered the room, Van’s usual energy is all gone. She stood there, as if paralyzed. “Hey, what’s wro—” Scarlet shrieked all of a sudden. “Look! The talisman I just stuck to it is gone!”

“You mean that pink sticker thing? Are you sure it didn’t fall off or something?” Aya looked around the floor, but no trace of a pink sticker.

Freyja stared at the mirror quite intensely. The words written on that wall, it’s an SOS call. Her heart thumped faster and faster. She has this strong feeling that all her questions will soon be answered. For one last time, she looked at her reflection on the mirror. And for a second, she remembered her seven year old self looking at the same mirror with the same curiosity. “Whoever you are,” She whispered, “Wait for me. I’m coming to get you.” Freyja clenched her fists and closed her eyes. She concentrated her aura on her hand, forming a white aura blade.

“Guys, Listen. I think I know what’s happening. A bit.” She faced them with serious eyes. “I told you before that when I was young, I kept on dreaming about an ‘angel’ and a ‘demon’ fighting, right?” The three nodded. “Those writings, the dreams I had… It is possible that someone is guiding me after all these years. There is someone waiting for me, locked in this house all along. And I need to find out who that person is. Then, maybe, I can return to Celestia.”

“What are you going to do?” Van asked.

Freyja smiled. “I’m going to see that person.” In one swing, she smashed the mirror into pieces. Much to their amazement, it revealed a swirling vortex of pure energy. The air around the room swirled, grew violent. She dispelled her white rune blade and without second thoughts, jumped straight into the vortex.

Before Van, Scarlet and Aya’s eyes, the vortex started swallowing Freyja whole. Van felt a tingle on her spine. The moment Freyja vanished completely, she jumped into the vortex herself, with a wide smile on her face. “You are NOT gonna hog the fun alone!”

“You hotheads!” Scarlet growled, but jumped in as well. Aya, though hesitant at first, sighed and jumped after. “Don’t leave me! Hey!” Soon, the vortex closed and the room’s air returned to normal.

~ o 0 o ~

“AHHHHHH!” Freyja landed onto the floor pretty hard. She rubbed her back as she tried to stand. Her limbs and her entire body are in sore, though tolerable. Jumping into that vortex had an effect in her body, that’s for sure.

Even before she could get up, Van, Aya and Scarlet fell right above her, almost crushing her face flat. “GET THE HELL OFF ME!”

“You are heavy Scar! Get off!” Van kicked Scar off, who retaliated with a punch. “WAIT! This is no time to fight! Look around you!” Aya broke it off rather effectively. They looked around in silence. After jumping through that strange vortex, they found themselves right at the same room in Freyja’s old house EXCEPT that the mirror is not there. But everything, every single furniture is there, unmoved. No dust, as if everything is new and unused.

“I’m pretty sure I jumped through that vortex.” Freyja mumbled. “Yeah, so am I. But GREAT. We’re back. I thought we’d end up in a cool palace or dungeon or something!” Van sighed. Scarlet looked around some more. “Guys, I think we ARE in a completely different place after all.” She walked out of the room, and peered into the windows. The scenery is exactly the same. But there is no one there. Not the caretaker, not even Freyja’s grandmother. The house is completely empty.

They headed straight to the living room, and then for the door. It’s exactly the same, looking at the windows, but there are no cars passing by the usually busy road. Van opened the doors, the bell rang. But, the moment they stepped outside, they just found themselves back to the old room where the mirror Freyja shattered is supposed to be in.

Aya and Scar instinctively clung to each other, creeped out. Van too, got closer to them and so did Freyja. “Frey, I think we’re trapped here.” She had to say the obvious.

“Shhh! Can you hear it?” Aya’s sensitive ears are telling her something. “Can you hear it? Someone is crying….” Her words creeped the three of them even more. “Don’t scare us like that!”

“I’m NOT scaring you! Isn’t this situation scary enough?”

“What the hell, good thing I didn’t go here alone!” Freyja thought. Extremely thankful her friends followed.

Carefully, slowly, they walked out of the room again, looking for the crying person. They looked around, still no one in sight. Freyja, knowing the house well, led the way. They climbed down the stairs, browsed room after room but found no trace of life. There’s no electricity either. Thank goodness it’s still noon.

The group headed back up, finding nothing downstairs. However, as they went back up to the dining room, where a huge blackboard was hanging, the voice of the crying girl became louder and louder and louder. Freyja’s chest was pierced with a strange feeling all of a sudden the moment she looked at the black board. She suddenly felt heavy and a blend of loneliness and anger enveloped her heart. Soon, Freyja just found herself dashing towards the crying girl’s sound.

“Frey wait!” Van tried to stop her, but before she could, Freyja disappeared right before their eyes! She disappeared right after she passed through the arch leading to the kitchen. “What are we going to do!? Frey is gone!?” Aya shrieked.

“Hey… hey you….”

Scarlet, this time, heard the voice of a little girl. “What?” She looked at her friends, who gave her an equally confused look. She looked back, and saw what appears to her, the shadow of a child. She saw the shadow ran to the living room. “Guys, look at that!” She took just a few steps towards the shadow, but when she looked back, her friends are no longer behind her. Scarlet gasped, feeling her hairs rise and her heart pound in fear. “Van! Aya!” She called, now afraid to take another step. But they won’t answer.

~ o 0 o ~

Aya and Van instinctively held each other’s hands the moment they saw Scarlet vanish too. “Van, stick to me! We have to find them!” Aya felt tears form at the corner of her eyes while Van tried her very best to remain strong. “A-alright, they must be around here somewhere….”

Very carefully, they searched for Scarlet and Freyja. There’s no trace of them. Just then, Van saw something in her peripheral vision. She quickly turned her head and saw a young man with silver hair and emerald eyes. “Kirin! It’s Kirin!” She gasped, letting go of Aya’s hand. “Van, wait!” Aya tried to stop her, but Van suddenly ran to Freyja’s grandmother’s room in full urgency. Then, just like what happened to Scarlet and Freyja, Van disappeared.

“VAN! VAN Where are you!?” Aya is now trembling in fear, she is all alone without a single clue. Her hairs raised, her heart thumping in fear and panic, tears rolled down her cheeks. And then, she heard footsteps.

“There’s a lot of magical stuff here! Let’s go!!!” All of a sudden, a shadow of a child appeared before her. Just the shadow, as it appeared to be hiding from her. Aya jumped away instinctively. She shouted, but the shadow won’t leave. It’s just stood there, as if waiting for her. When she finally calmed down a bit, the shadow ran towards the stairs leading to the basement. Aya is trembling all over, but left with no choice, she followed.

~ o 0 o ~