Seven Devils And A Rose - Chapter 100

It wasn’t long before I found myself in the middle of the room and Aria in front of me. She told me to close my eyes, which I did, and then she placed her palms at my temples.

Standing behind Aria was Lord Noah, who cast an orb around us. Apparently, this magic orb would, in turn, project three-dimensional images of my memories for everyone to see, almost like a movie.

Aria started releasing her blue qi and began to raid my mind. Oddly enough, this time I didn’t feel dazed like the last. Perhaps because of my strong pure qi.

In an instant, Aria got through, and just like that, a movie-like motion picture was shown in the room.

There, every image was through my eyes, starting with me finishing my end-of-year exams.

I was sitting in a hall filled with other students, obviously dressed in modern-day clothes, looking damned tired and stressed out. Then the film moved to me in my small bedroom, packing up. The next was me at the airport with thousands of other travelers. Then going through checkpoint, boarding the plane, and taking off.

“Wow!” Brenna uttered in awe.

After that, it was me disembarking the plane, along with throngs of other people, to get my luggage. I found Mom and Dad, who were picking me up at the arrival area.

I gave them big hugs, tears in my eyes. Then Dad drove us to the dock where we boarded the ferry.

From my point of view, I gazed out at the ocean, which was beautiful and refreshing.

“That’s the sea, isn’t it?” Leona asked. She sounded both awed and sad at the same time.

In the distance, there were dolphins, and I laughed, clapping my hands and telling Mom and Dad to look at how beautiful they were. Then I took out my cell phone and started taking pictures of the creatures.

The next image was of me and my parents arriving on St. James Island and Dad driving us home to the manor. There, I stared at the manor in that projection as if I were seeing it for the first time. I noticed that around the area of that estate were those glowing lines, like veins on the ground.

“Holy shit!” Lord Ethan said.

“Qi veins?” Caleb asked, as if in astonishment. “On another world?”

Qi veins? What are those?

Back on the projection, everyone saw that as I entered the estate, the qi veins flickered as if someone powerful had come into contact with it.

Felix said, “It reacted to Alfie’s qi.”

Lord Noah nodded.

We continued watching.

Then it was me just exploring the manor and St. James Island itself. The scene after that was of me meeting the guests and then having dinner. Then it was at the salon that afternoon, having my hair cut and a beauty treatment.

Felix said, “So you had your hair cut, then?”

I couldn’t reply because Aria was still using her magic on me.

In the projection, I was back at St. James Manor and helping Mom cook. Then we were having dinner and talking to the guests. After, I was at the bathhouse, picking up that necklace, and the aurora light appeared. I went through the barrier and travelled through space and time and ended up in another hot spring pool. I was being chased by none other than Felix, Caleb, and their men, of course.

Finally, Felix said, “That’s enough now.”

Aria released me, and I relaxed back on the seat.

I said then, “I don’t know how or why I ended up here. It’s all very strange. Did the Aurora barrier just happen to open its door there in the pool at that time? Or does the necklace have something to do with it?”

Lord Geoffrey said, “The fact that Yuki’s necklace ended up in your world and for you specifically to find, Alfie, means that someone wants you here.”

Felix said, “And I have no doubt who that is.”

Caleb nodded. “Philip.”

I ċȯċked my head to one side. “Philip? As in Prince Philip? But why? I have nothing to do with him. Then again, he asked me where my pure qi had gone when he caught me back then.”

I noticed the lords were looking at one another. Of course, I suspected that they knew something I didn’t.

I asked, “Please tell me, my lords. What’s going on?”

Lord Noah said, “Listen to me, Alfie. I have no idea how he could have figured out that you, from another world, had such powerful pure qi, but the fact is that he wants it, though we have no idea what for, as pure qi can be used for any number of things.”

Aaron said, “Philip isn’t the power-hungry type. We know that for sure, so it’s not to gain more power. He’s just a bit mad since Yuki died two thousand years ago.”

Lord Geoffrey said, “No matter what it is that he wants, we’ll need to investigate.” He turned to me. “We need to get some things clear, Alfie.”

“What’s that, my lord?” I asked.

Lord Victor said, “There’s no doubt that many with dark qi will come hunting for you, even disaster beasts.”

“That night last week when we accidentally lifted the magic illusion spell,” Aaron said, “your qi was released, and it pierced the sky for all in Aurora to see.”

Felix said, “It’s an advertisement. You displayed yourself to everyone when your qi pierced the sky. Obviously, there’d be responses.”

Caleb said, “In the form of hunting you down.”

Of course, I knew that those with dark qi would react to my pure one. But did that mean they had gone berserk, too, like the lords?

I asked, “They’re hunting for me because of my pure qi, which has the ability to do some awesome things. I understand that, but is it also because of pure qi that they will go berserk, too?”

At this, the lords looked at each other.

Lord Noah explained. “That’s not how it is, Alfie.”

“Then how is it?” I asked. “Felix, Caleb, Aaron, and Lord Ethan reacted to my qi and went quite berserk.”

Lord Victor said, “They’re not the only ones reacting to your qi, Alfie. Geoffrey, Noah, and I did as well. It’s just that we’re better at controlling ourselves. Those lousy guys… How should I put it? Have less self-restraint than we more mȧturė ones.” He chuckled and winked at me.

Lord Ethan said, “Mature my ȧss.”

Did that mean all seven lords had reacted to my qi, but it was just that some were better at controlling themselves from going berserk than the others? How interesting.

I asked, “Do all creatures with dark qi react to those with pure qi if they are close?”

Lord Noah said, “No.”

I frowned. “But you all reacted to mine?”

Lord Victor continued. “Not all those with dark qi react to those with pure qi. The phenomenon is mysterious, to say the least. It’s an attraction of sorts.”

Aria said, “Something like that is hard to explain, Alfie. Like Lord Victor said, it’s an attraction.”

Lord Ethan said, as bluntly as usual, “We react to your qi, Alfie, because we’re attracted to you and we want you.”

All eyes turned to Lord Ethan, including mine. Suddenly, I blushed, remembering Caleb and me in the woods and…

Ah, I see. They wanted me in that way.

Even though I had paraded myself as a boy and had a magic illusion protection on so they couldn’t see who or what I was properly, they still instinctively wanted me?

I thought about this for a second and then nodded my head in understanding. Wasn’t this like when two people met and there was that spark? That chemistry?

How even more interesting.

Lord Geoffrey said, “That aside, we’ll need to decide on what you want to do, Alfie, regarding your world.”

I licked my lips and said, “I would like to return there, if I can. That’s why I have been working hard to figure out how everything works here and…”

Lord Noah said, “And if you can’t return to your world? Then what will you do?”

I shook my head; I didn’t want to think of that possibility.

Felix said, “Of course, we’ll do what we can to help you, darling.”

I looked up at him then and gave him an appreciative smile. I said, “It would probably take years, but yes, I want to at least see my parents again. I can’t imagine…” I felt my throat going tight with emotion. “Although, I have been in contact with my grandfather and sending him messages through dream with Aria’s help.”

I looked at Caleb with that revelation because he had been the one who had suggested it. He smiled at me in response.

Lord Noah said, “Sending messages via dreams only works within the Aurora Realm, with sites that don’t have access to the WIFI communication connection. In other words, strong qi veins.”

I was dumbfounded.

Caleb said, “You’ve connected with your grandfather who is in your world. Is that correct?”

I nodded. “That’s correct.”

Lord Victor said, “But that’s impossible, Alfie.”

I frowned. “But I really did connect with him. We even hugged, and he felt so real. He even said that he’d do whatever he could to get me back home.”

At this, all seven lords glanced at each other.

I asked, “What do you think?”

Lord Noah said, “I think, Alfie, that there are a few possibilities. The first is that, when you reached out to him through dreams, he could be at a place where there are strong qi veins. The second is your grandfather is in fact a realm watcher who has a strong spiritual qi, a violet one. Because you said that he felt real, I ȧssume that it’s both.”

I asked, “What’s a realm watcher?”

“Some worlds have these types of people,” Lord Geoffrey said.

Felix said, “They’re what you call a gatekeeper. The bloodline with strong qi passes from generation to generation. A realm watcher guards a site where the qi veins gather, and there is a gate or door that allows you to travel between realms. Of course, to realm travel, one requires the help of some very powerful beings, because realm travelling expends a lot of qi.”

Aaron said, “Those with weak qi will not survive the journey.”

By now, my mind was overloaded with new information so that I began to feel more than a little overwhelmed.

I said, “This means there’s a possibility of me returning home, right?”

Lord Geoffrey nodded. “Although, I must say that this is all our ȧssumption, Alfie. We’ll need to gather more information on this before we proceed, with caution, of course.”

Lord Victor said, “I believe the Great White Sage of Yamato will be able to help. She’s an elf who is very powerful and knows many things, even ancient things that were destroyed over two thousand years ago.”

I asked, “How do we get in contact with her?”

Caleb said, “She’s a recluse, which means that getting in contact with her or her people will be not be easy.”

Victor said, “We can always visit the Yamato Kingdom and ask the emperor for an introduction.”

Lord Ethan nodded. “We can always pretend that it’s a friendly visit.” He winked at me, and I blushed.

Lord Geoffrey said, “Then we’ll extend our travelling agenda. After the international conference in Wulin, we will visit Yamato.”

It was then Aria said, “That sounds marvelous, my lord. We haven’t visited Lord Hara for so many years now. He’ll be pleased.”

I turned to Aria. “Lord Hara?”

Felix said, “He’s a general of the Yamato Kingdom and our old sensei. He taught us some of their ninja techniques.”

Ah, I see. Like Silent Move, for example.

Leona said, “And we haven’t seen Kuro for ages. He must be all grown up now. The last we saw him, he was a boy with a head that bȧrėly reached our ċhėsts.”

Aria nodded. “He must, mustn’t he?” She smiled, remembering the adorable dark-haired cat boy who had always followed her around, begging for her attention and stealing kisses from her.