Celestial Saga: Exiled To Earth III 20 Stage Twenty: Afra's Shadow

STAGE TWENTY: AFRA'S SHADOW

"This room is crowded, don't you think? Alaric groaned while shoving Keon's foot off his tummy.

"Hey, I can't stretch." Keon complained. "Then please don't."

"Sorry, my house is very small so…"

"It's fine. Just go to sleep, you're so noisy."

"How about you give us a little s.p.a.ce Kirin? You're stretching like a king. Curl up a bit, will you?"

"Ouch! Whose leg was that!?" Freyja exclaimed, her face hit with a leg.

"Oh, sorry, that's mine." Keon replied.

Finally, after some banter, the room fell silent, as they all fell asleep.

Freyja woke up with Alaric's hand hitting her face. "Ouch…" She groaned, sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She heard Kirin whisper, from the other side of the bed, wide awake and waving at her. He was gesturing for her to come to him as silently as she could. Freyja carefully crawled beside Kirin, making sure that she doesn't wake Keon up, who's sleeping between them. Kirin put an arm around her and pulled her beside him. "You having trouble sleeping over there?" He asked, closing his eyes. "I don't move much. You can stay here." Freyja nodded with a chuckle, before resting her head on Kirin's chest. Then, Freyja instinctively reached out for Kirin's long hair.

"Hey, don't pull my hair hard okay?"

Freyja nodded, as she comfortably played with his silver locks. Not for long, she fell asleep still holding Kirin's lock of hair in her hand.

The next day, Aluanthi's small house has gotten much louder, thanks to his additional guests. Aluanthi was about to take Freyja with him to his workplace, when Alaric suddenly interrupted and insisted that he take him instead. Though hesitant, Aluanthi and Alaric went on their way, leaving Freyja and the Aethelmaer brothers behind. Finally, when they left, they began their escape plan.

"We are most likely inside the 'dream' dimension created by a celestial guardian sealed somewhere in this island." She began, calling Astrid out to help them.

"Just to add something," Avice also came out of the medallion, in his human form, "When I was trapped in a subdimension back in Lenfie's world, I wasn't completely unconscious. But the only reason why I can't fully control what's happening, is because there's dark aura that's sealing me and using my aura to do things against my will."

"So, what's your point, Avice?"

"Lenfi said the guardian doing this refused to help her from the start. Meaning, it's possible that this entire thing is something he's doing deliberately. And if that's the case, even if we remove the dark aura seal in him, we will need to fight em' and drag him out of here to break this sub-dimension. You know that, Astrid!"

"Avice is right, Lenfiare. We willingly surrendered ourselves to you when you broke the seal. But this may not be the case this time." Astrid added.

"And if you're gonna fight either Afra or Amos, as you are now, it's gonna be really tough, I���m telling you!" Avice warned.

"I know that Avice, but if that's the only way, so be it. I'll have to drag a celestial guardian with me then."

"That's my Lenfie!" Avice jumped to her like a little kid. He rubbed his cheek to hers. "So brave!"

"What impudence! Avice! How dare you disrespect the Lenfiare!?" Astrid shouted, only to be answered by the playful Avice with a tongue sticking out. "Bleah."

"Anyway, the first thing that we must do is to find that celestial guardian and make him spit blood." Keon said.

"And it is most likely that he can be found somewhere inside this sub dimension. We just have to observe and he will show himself sooner or later. If that happens, we have to take him down first thing." Freyja explained, and they all agreed.

Alaric and Aluanthi came home earlier than usual. They had a simple meal for supper and headed straight to bed. Freyja slowly peeked into the room, finding a very tired Aluanthi sleeping ahead of them. Freyja tiptoed into the room, watching Aluanthi sleep. Looking at him like this, made her remember his stories, his kindness, and the fact that she will have to leave him soon. She promised to take him with them, but she knew very well that it's impossible. He's an illusion. Once they get out, he too, will disappear. The thought made her heart ache. She slowly took the blanket, and covered his shoulders, before quietly walking out of the room, and the house.

"Are you falling for him?"

"K-Kirin? Where on earth did you get that?"

"Had fun playing his wife these past weeks?"

"This person…" Freyja began. "He reminded me so much of how I was back then."

"It's as if…" Freyja continued, "…he's actually asking me to take him away from this place."

"Don't fall for him, okay?" Kirin ruffled her hair before leaving the girl to sort out her thoughts.

Freyja chuckled, "Whose fault do you think it is that I can't?"

~ o 0 o ~

The night was silent, and Freyja too, was sleeping by herself on Aluanthi's bed when the windows suddenly creaked open. Slowly, a shady figure entered, lurking onto the clueless girl, holding a sharp knife. Before it could stab the girl, an aurdagger came flying, piercing its writs, instantly disarming the a.s.sa.s.sin. Freyja woke up, and realizing what just happened, she shrieked.

The noise alarmed Keon and Alaric who were outside the house. A second later and she would have been injured. It was Kirin who sensed the a.s.sa.s.sin's presence just in time. And while he was able to graze the a.s.sa.s.sin's hand, it escaped with unbelievable speed, faster than Kirin.

"Great, another a.s.sa.s.sin." Keon cursed, running outside to check for other threats.

"This is bad, the 'setting' just turned violent. Come on guys, we have to stick together from now on." Alaric suggested while Freyja is still shocked of what happened. "I'm sorry, I let my guard down. I've been staying here peacefully so, I…" She apologized, when suddenly, she remembered something. "WAIT! Where's Aluanthi? An a.s.sa.s.sin is around he might be in danger!"

But Freyja's worries were different from her friends'. While she's concerned for Aluanthi's well-being, the three held him as primary suspect. "Aluanthi will never do such a thing, right?" She thought, reading the visible expression on her friends' faces. "The a.s.sa.s.sin was especially discreet, even I could barely sense its presence. This is alarming, Freyja." Kirin warned.

The following night, the same thing happened to Freyja. The mysterious a.s.sa.s.sin returned to a.s.sa.s.sinate her, but she easily defended herself this time. And then the next night, the a.s.sa.s.sin returned, but targeting Kirin instead. While Kirin fended it off easily, he was still grazed on his left side by one of the a.s.sa.s.sin's daggers. Freyja was about to call Aria, but remembering the recent reaction of Kirin's aura to hers, she stopped. Frustrated, she took some bandages from Aluanthi's medicine box, water and disinfectants and dressed Kirin's wound without using her aura.

"Why won't you ask me?" Freyja uttered, helping Kirin take off his s.h.i.+rt. "…you all suspect Aluanthi, don't you? Then why won't you just say that in my face and convince me?"

"You don't want to agree with us, do you?" Kirin answered as Freyja gently washed his wound with water. "…there is no use forcing you to believe in us. If you want to believe in his innocence, go on. Whether you're right or wrong, we'd all still catch that a.s.sa.s.sin anyway."

Kirin's words sounded cold and harsh, but she knows that Kirin is just aware of how stubborn she can get. He's being considerate in his own way. Then, she wrapped her arms around Kirin's back just as when she finished bandaging his wound. "Let's catch that lurker. And also, we have to keep a close watch on Aluanthi."

Kirin chuckled.

"…If he tries to hurt anyone of you, I won't forgive him." Freyja thought. "Jeez, I'm sorry, I am a celestial healer but I couldn't close your wound." She apologized before leaving the room. But before she could do so, "Wait, Freyja!" Kirin called.

"F…Freyja?" Aluanthi, accidentally overheard their conversation. Kirin sensed him, but it was too late. "Why did… why did he call you Freyja?" For some reason, her name sounded irritating. Aluanthi could feel irritation, his ears hurting just by hearing that name. Aluanthi covered his ears, squeezing his head tight in a desperate attempt to silence the uncomfortable sound ringing inside his head. "What—"

"Aluanthi! What's happening?" Freyja ran to him, but he shoved her off as he trembled. "Finella, who is Freyja?" He asked, terror warped his face. "TELL ME! WHO IS FREYJA!?"

Kirin grabbed Freyja's arm, stopping her from going near Aluanthi. Aluanthi tried to run, but he suddenly felt heavy, as if a ton of weight is over him. He was knocked down to the floor. Alaric appeared, his spell bound the suspect to the ground. "Now I am positive! That man is the a.s.sa.s.sin! Look at the aura gus.h.i.+ng from his wound!" Alaric pointed out, reinforcing his binds.

"Alaric is right, we've been trailing you, you rat. You can't escape now." Keon stepped in front of Freyja, urging her to stand back while he question the suspect on the ground. "Tell me why you're doing this?" Keon grabbed Aluanthi's hair, forcing an answer out. "What do you want with Freyja? Who ordered you to do this!?" He shouted.

"Lenfiare!" Astrid's voice rang inside her head. "That aura! it's the same dark aura sealing us, guardians. Back away from that man! He's concealed himself so well that even we, didn't sense him!"

Aluanthi's bright red eyes turned white. A sudden surge of dark aura escaped from his body, breaking Alaric's aura binds. Like a beast, he charged at Freyja, but Kirin fended him off while Keon tackled him and pierced two of his daggers into both of his legs, instantly immobilizing him. Alaric casted yet another bind spell for good measure.

Seeing how he was wounded, Freyja instinctively tried to get near him, but Kirin pulled her back. "Don't go near him! He's not the Aluanthi you know anymore."

Crazed Aluanthi struggled, breaking off Alaric's binds another time, pulling Keon's daggers from his severely bleeding thighs. He was about to attack Freyja again, but to their surprise, he stopped. He then groaned in pain, tightly squeezing his head, desperately fighting for control of his body. Freyja called his name, with a glimmer of hope to bring his senses back. Aluanthi continued to groan and moan like a madman.

"Hearing your name must have triggered the boy's 'instructions'. They may be pieces created by the celestial guardian sealed within this dimension. As time pa.s.sed, they had forgotten their true nature and they, themselves believed that they are humans—" Astrid was explaining casually that it annoyed Freyja. "Not now Astrid, please."

Losing hope that Aluanthi would peacefully return to the one she knew, Freyja hesitantly summoned Astrid and ordered him to neutralize Aluanthi. And just as Astrid was about to execute his master's orders, the dark aura surrounding Aluanthi suddenly grew weaker. "Run… Finella." Aluanthi, with the little control he had, picked up one of Keon's daggers on the floor, and stabbed his own abdomen deep, before das.h.i.+ng out of the house— leaving a trail of blood on the wooden floor Freyja used to wipe clean.

"Aluanthi!"

~ o 0 o ~