Celestial Saga: Exiled To Earth III 3 Stage 3: The Shapeshifter

STAGE 3: THE SHAPEs.h.i.+FTER

"Wow, it's been so long since I've been in an airs.h.i.+p!" Freyja, shrouded with her usual energy, ran to the s.h.i.+p's deck, feeling the cold wind against her face. Kirin sighed, and smiled, seeing how her reactions never change. Except for one. While he expected her to grow taller over the last six years, there is nothing more prominent than how her once dark brown eyes turned so much lighter. It looked almost golden, under the sunlight, and had a familiar sparkle that made him a bit anxious whenever she'd look straight at him.

"What's the matter Kirin? You're so quiet." She asked, noticing how he's gazing on her. "Nothing much…" Kirin denied, wrapping his arms around her from the back. "Jeez, you get so excited over trivial things." He chuckled.

However awkward it may seem at first, Freyja's heart would always find its calm soon. After all, just thinking about how she was separated from Kirin for years, she wouldn't want to waste any second not having him by her side. Freyja shyly held both of his hands and closed her eyes. "So warm…" She thought.

"Kirin…" She mumbled under her breath.

"Hm?"

"Nothing…"

Amidst the serene surroundings, a loud shriek of a woman alarmed everyone in the deck. Freyja and Kirin rushed to the lady, conjuring their aura blades. In one of the upper cabin rooms, a group of bandits trying to hijack the s.h.i.+p, are holding an elderly woman hostage. But Kirin was too fast. Even before they could react, he's already standing behind the bandit leader with the tip of his dark aura sword on his neck. Freyja too, charged at them, swinging her sword with a smile on her face. "Come to think of it, it's been so long since I fought people like them."

One of the bandits took a small handgun out and shot Freyja. Freyja smirked, her white aura effortlessly deflecting the bullet, just inches before touching her skin. Kirin stabbed the bandit dead before he could pull the trigger again.

"Hey Kirin," Freyja asked nonchalantly, "Come to think of it, why can't they put aura on bullets?"

"Well, it moves away from the body so fast that aura on it dissipates quickly." Kirin explained in the same mood.

"Oh, I get it. In that other world guns and projectile are popular. Well, I guess it's because they cannot use aura." Freyja explained.

In no time, all bandits fell dead, others were knocked out. Even before Alaric could arrive, Freyja and Kirin had taken them down already. "Man, you didn't leave some for me." Alaric joked.

When things started to look peaceful again, Kirin continued to feel anxious. He was sure that there are still traces of an ominous presence in the airs.h.i.+p, making him even more alert. Freyja on the other hand, was clueless, happily eating her dinner. While her reflexes are still sharp, her years of stay in her previous world with limited exposure to hostile aura, her senses weakened.

"Freyja, stay in my room tonight." Kirin said standing up, leaving his food half eaten. "EH!?" Freyja almost jumped out of her seat. But sensing Kirin's unease, she instantly knew it's not because of what she first thought it to be. "Alright…" Freyja forked the fried squid on Kirin's plate and straight into her mouth before standing up to follow him.

Kirin and Freyja stayed together in one room while Alaric slept by himself in the next room. She slept on the left half of the queen-sized bed while Kirin laid on the other.

"What's the matter? Do you sense enemies?" She asked, crawling closer to his side.

Kirin nodded. "I'm not really sure, but there's no harm being prepared."

Kirin's intuition was right. Just as when they were about to rest, the airs.h.i.+p began to sway, losing its balance. Freyja, Kirin and Alaric quickly stood on guard, feeling a presence far more ominous than those of the bandits. The airs.h.i.+p stopped swaying, but then, the lights suddenly went out, almost blinding them. Kirin, being the only one with eyes that could see perfectly in the dark, ran to Freyja's side.

"ASTRID!" Freyja called, a stream of white aura escaped the medallion hanging around her neck. That stream of aura materialized into the form of a man dressed in white robes, long and silver hair, and his eyes are blood red. They were waiting for Alaric to cast a light spell but surprisingly, he's taking much longer than usual. "He was here a minute ago." Kirin mumbled, looking around. "Where did he go?"

They stood on guard, but then the lights returned and Freyja called Astrid back inside her medallion to save energy.

"Freyja." Alaric appeared from the back all of a sudden, with the usual smile on his face. "I guess I missed the action again. Is it all over?" Freyja sighed. "I guess it's just a power outage after all." With that, the three of them headed back to their rooms.

While Freyja is sleeping soundly on the bed, now in her own room next to Kirin's, Alaric tiptoed to the sleeping girl, with a sharp dagger on his hand. "This is the end, Lenfiare." With no hesitation, Alaric plunged the dagger right into Freyja's heart! However, even before the dagger could touch her skin, Freyja opened her eyes and rolled to one side, barely evading the fatal attack. She immediately summoned Astrid, who s.h.i.+fted his form from man to an aura sword. She disarmed the surprised Alaric at once. Then, the door slammed open, and Kirin barged in, leaving no opening for Alaric to run. "I told you this will work." Kirin sighed, his arms crossed.

"Who are you?" Freyja asked, glaring at the a.s.sailant. "Where is Alaric?"

"When did you… notice?" The impostor Alaric asked, still looking for an opening to escape. He tried his luck and swiveled to his left in an attempt to escape. And he did. He managed to run away from the room, only to be caught by the faster Kirin once more. This time, his appearance changed. From Alaric's face, the impostor suddenly turned into Kirin's father, Aneurin. Kirin was surprised, but not enough to drop his guard. He slashed the impostor's arm and it again changed its form into Kirin's elder brother, Ahrin.

"Now that's unique." Kirin thought, "I didn't know this spell exists! What is this thing?" Kirin continued attacking the impostor, until it changed its form into Freyja. Kirin was caught off guard for a second. He was about to get hit when Freyja's sword pierced right through the impostor's chest, instantly taking his life away. Both of them witnessed how the impostor reverted to its true form. And much to their surprise, it wasn't human. Its skin is purple-grey and its eyes are crimson red. It does have the form of a human, but it's thin and at least seven feet tall. Freyja bent down to examine it further. "What is this creature?" Kirin asked, Freyja shrieked in surprise. Then, Freyja called Astrid out, and left the questions for him to answer.

"Lenfiare?" Astrid's human form appeared beside Freyja.

"Is this what I think it is?" She asked, pointing to the impostor���s corpse. With just one look, Astrid immediately recognized its race. He nodded. "Correct Lenfiare. It is a phreinian."

"Just how the h.e.l.l did it even get to this world?" Freyja clicked her tongue, remembering what happened in her previous world, when phreinians started appearing out of the blue.

Kirin was rendered speechless hearing them. He felt his chest ache, and with all of his strength, he suppressed the anxiety and fear rooting from this discovery.

"Yes Lenfiare, they are not supposed to be here. Even if they managed to go to Celestia, they shouldn't have the power to traverse dimensions the way we do. Forgive me, I cannot answer your question." With that, Freyja called Astrid back in the medallion. Kirin noticed Freyja's shaking hands as her eyes locked at the corpse of the creature. Her eyes are filled with hatred and disgust, she would tear its body to pieces, had she been less calm than she is. But that was perfectly understandable. Right before her is the reason behind her homeland's fall. Freyja pulled her dagger out of her belt and she pierced it through the dead phreinian's chest another time. "I won't forgive you… for taking Celestia away!" Giving in, Freyja shouted, hands trembling and teeth clenched. Kirin was taken aback, afraid of Freyja all of a sudden. He has never seen her like this before, and he could almost see those glaring eyes looking straight at him. Freyja's rage was dispelled the moment she remembered the missing Alaric. "Kirin! Where is the real Alaric then?"

"You're right… he disappeared in that power outage." Kirin and Freyja searched the entire airs.h.i.+p for their friend. For about thirty minutes, they searched until finally, they saw him on the s.h.i.+p's deck, sitting by himself, staring blankly into s.p.a.ce.

"ALARIC!" Freyja ran to him, relieved. "d.a.m.n! I thought that demon did something to you!" She laughed in relief while shaking Alaric's shoulders. "Thank goodness!"

"Demon? What happened?" Alaric asked in confusion.

"There's some creature that impersonated you and tried to kill Freyja." Kirin explained, surprising the rune master. "I- I'm very sorry Freyja!"

"Don't worry. What's important is that we're all okay now!" She smiled.

"Yeah." Alaric smiled back, but Kirin noticed something off with the runemaster. Even so, he kept his suspicion to himself and kept a close eye on Alaric.

~ o 0 o ~

Alaric was lying on his bed, eyes fixed on the bedroom's ceiling. Clearly, he could remember what happened when the lights went out.

"Alaric, come over here."

There was an impostor Freyja who invited him to a dark corner of the airs.h.i.+p. He knew very well that it wasn't Freyja, but he still followed her. Then, the impostor kissed him pa.s.sionately. Standing still, Alaric soon felt his consciousness drifting away.

"I'm sorry."

~ o 0 o ~