Celestial Saga: Exiled To Earth III 35 Stage Thirty-Five: The Celestial Dragon Afra

STAGE THIRTY-FIVE: THE CELESTIAL DRAGON AFRA

Galun was right. Alyon dispelled two more illusion barriers, revealing the scarlet-haired celestial guardian, his eyes shut, inside a gigantic gla.s.s cage.

"Afra!"

She rushed to him, summoning the celestial runeblade. Freyja shattered the gla.s.s cage into pieces, instantly freeing the celestial guardian. "Afra! Afra! Wake up! It's me!" She shouted, catching the unconscious celestial guardian in her arms. Afra opened his eyes slowly, finding the worried face of his Lenfiare right above him. "Lenfiare…" he mumbled, "You're here..."

Freyja sighed in relief. She hugged Afra and smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're okay." Then, her smiling face suddenly turned serious. "I'm sorry if I'm too imposing Afra but, we must hurry. We have to save Kirin!" Afra nodded and held his hand out.

"Lenfiare, please forgive me. I should have done this sooner and I…"

"Sh… it's okay. It's not your fault. Let's go, okay?"

Afra nodded. Freyja took his hand, intertwined her fingers with his. Freyja felt a strong surge of warmth enveloping her entire body. She felt the aura slowly enter her body right through her palm. Afra started to vanish, as the light enveloping them grew stronger.

"Listen, Lenfiare. It is the sworn duty of our kind to guard the dimensions." A 5000-year-old man who looks like he's in his early thirties, lectured. "We have been entrusted this job of keeping the balance between dimensions. Any disturbance harms our own core, and that won't be good for you and your people."

"Yes. I know that." Little Freyja answered, confidently. "The lessons were easy!"

From afar, you'd see Celestia as a completely impenetrable land. Seemingly lifeless and h.e.l.lish. Those who dared break interdimensional barriers had only seen electrical storms, fatal ga.s.ses, their end.

No human, nor any other creature can even get close to Celestia, unless a capable celestial opens the gate herself. The dimensional gate will pull your body apart, even before you can get close to it. And just to be able to traverse such a gate requires a body way beyond human capabilities— a body able to disa.s.semble itself, taking only the shape of your aura. You need the body of a celestial.

"That's why for so long, celestials were perceived by many as deities. The job we have, is to travel dimension to dimension, ensuring, keeping the balance of the worlds, just as what the first Lenfiare Leafen started." The tutor continued. "We don't need the sun, nor we have the same stars around. The heat, the life, all comes from the core of Celestia"

"The one inside me." Freyja uttered as Afra continued flooding her mind with memories she had long forgotten.

Inside Celestia, it's a vast land of greenery. The airs were very cold, and the skies very bright. The wild gra.s.ses were very tall, and the water, cold and crystal clear. The capital, where the Leafen's palace lies, is floating high up in the sky, while other lands floated just below.

The palace floors and halls were made with white, marble-like material decorated with an a.s.sortment of gems that cannot be found in the human realms. Floating rivers and streams connect the palace to the lower lands.

The six towers of the capital were the tallest, and there are no doors, only large, large windows.

In the palace grounds, the Leafen clan owns an exclusive garden full of rare plants, flowers, from different worlds, decorated with statues of the past rulers. It was the same garden where Freyja would usually run to hide, as a little girl.

Freyja smiled as she remembered her room, the second largest one in the palace, next to Alfiore's. It was a room four times bigger than the King's throne room in Haia. Inside was a big bed, with four glowing crystals each on its corners. Crystals were floating everywhere, books and orbs were neatly lined up in a big, gemmed cabinet. There were only six windows in the Lenfiare's room. Four were relatively smaller, but the other two were much bigger. Through these doors, Freyja used to run to the palace gardens, or to anywhere she wanted to.

Freyja giggled, recalling that once she had a teacher, named Master Lain, whom she tricked by saying that she can't fly yet, while in truth, she already can. She did it, so that they would lower their guards and she'd escape smoothly. Freyja laughed, and laughed.

The teachings of her tutors returned to her, one by one. Casting spells, calling her wings out, materializing swords, almost everything came back to her all at once.

But the memories weren't all good.

After finis.h.i.+ng her lessons with ease, young Freyja was about to leave the palace to play with Avice. But, she overheard her tutors speaking. Afraid she'll be given more work, she hid under a desk, waiting for them to go away.

"She finished everything so fast." The tutor said to the other. Freyja smiled, thinking it was a complement. But it wasn't.

"This is bad." The other said. "Her progress is not normal. Do you think it's true? The prophecy?"

"Serleira has never been wrong before. Just look at what happened to Lady Reyrah. That couldn't have been a coincidence, right?"

"But don't worry," The other tutor continued, "Alfiore Kinju swore to kill her even before that happens."

Freyja heard everything. She stepped out of hiding, surprising the two. "L-Lenfiare… how long have you been there?" They were pale as ghosts the moment they saw her. Freyja could clearly see how scared they were. A mere step of the four-year-old, could already make them scramble away in horror. Freyja pretended to not know, but she knew. She knew that they were afraid of her, that her mother lost her power because of her, and that her father will kill her someday. She knew everything.

That same day, Freyja ran to the gardens, and there she met someone… someone she cannot remember who. But there was someone there, with her. "Are you afraid of me?" She remembered asking that person.

"No. Why should I?" that person answered.

Freyja had a huge smile on her face. "You know what, I like you!"

And then, the memories became hazy once again.

There were flames, all around. "Yes," She thought, "You should all burn."

Freyja couldn't believe what she just said in the memory. Unfortunately, she didn't get to know more.

"No! Don't leave me! Avice!"

"I will seal the guardians. So that no one can use them—but you, Freyja."

The deep, familiar and nostalgic voice said. Freyja couldn't see that person's face, it was all blurred and hazy. But she was sure that it was the person who sealed the five celestial guardians, and someone who followed her out of Celestia.

"Wait! Don't go! Tell me more! Wait!"

Freyja's eyes sprang open, sweating, breathing heavily. She was back, in front of her are Alaric and Alyon. She pulled the medallion from under her s.h.i.+rt, now with four crystals embedded on it. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Thank you, Afra."

Freyja could feel the surging white aura inside her even more violently. She could feel the pain of her muscles, her bones, her whole body adjusting to the awakening. It was a familiar pain, a pain she'd be more than happy to have if it means getting stronger.

"Are you… okay Freyja?" Alaric asked, rubbing her back in circles. "Should we rest for a bit?"

"It's okay, Lenfiare. Let's rest for a while." Alyon suggested.

But Freyja shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm okay. Let's go get Kirin."

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