Chapter 6 : The Change
FLARE
"Are we all ready?" Frio asked and looked at us.
I'm already prepared leaving the Land of Salvatras. I brought my pixie, Ember with me. She's more like my secretary. In Versailles, pixies are made to serve every royal blooded.
"I'm ready to go!" Excited kong sabi.
For years, we stayed in Land of Salvatras for our safety because it's freezing outside and even our powers cant do anything.
Nadia, the pure blooded astroloheir of earth is weak because of the lost sun.
Levi, the pure blooded astroloheir of air cant fight the coldness of the whole Versailles.
Aquacia, the pure blooded astroloheir of water is in danger because the coldness can turn her into a frozen statue.
Tyson, the half blooded astroloheir of earth and fire is weak because rather than being a astroloheir of earth, the fire in his body is slowly fading since the energy came from the sun.
Meissa, the half blooded astroloheir of air and water is also in danger. Both of her elements is nothing compare to an ice.
And me, I cannot use my abilities to melt the whole nation. Maari akong mamatay kapag nangyari iyon.
And last but not the least, the pure blooded astroheir of the ice. Frio, he's okay with the situation since one of his abilities is ice manipulation. But still, we need to be careful, hindi namin alam kung anong kakaharapin namin.
"Ember," I clapped my hands.
The pixie already knew what she had to do so in a flick of her hand, she swirled around me with some sparkles and when she's finally done, my clothes changed. From a medieval styled red dress, it changed ito something thick coat but still a dress.
I looked at my friends and saw that they changed their clothes too. We're about walk when the pixies blocked our way. My brows furrowed.
"You're not planning to break our wings right?" Tinaasan ako ng kilay Ember. Napabuntong hininga ako.
Right, they're summer fairies and the coldness might damage their wings. And a pixies without wings is a no, no, no.
Frio released ice on his hands and it went to the pixies wings and covered it. Masayang naupo sa balikat ko si Ember at nagsimula na kaming maglakad. I have the fire with my palm so we can have light while walking.
I looked up, the moon is still there but the sun is gone. I've been so curious about it. Saan kaya napunta iyon? Before I stepped on the Versailles, I see the beauty in it. I fell inlove on the whole place. But when the sun disappeared, it seems that it brought the beauty of Versailles.
And I'm curious about the Astrologies, Gods, and Goddesses. How can they do nothing about it? We've been suffering from more than a year now just to survive every passing day.
"Do you think, where are the gods?" I asked out of nowhere.
"No clue." Ember answered. Napabuntong hininga ako.
"Stop," Natigil kami ng magsalita si Levi. He looked around while his eyes are squinting.
"Someone's spying us." He said, naalarma ako dahil doon. I cant release much heat with me. Guess if someone attacked me, I'll just fight hand to hand.
"A-Anong meron?" Oh, I almost forgot that we have a mortal here.
"None of your business," I smiled at him.
"We cant afford to waste our energy." Frio stated and gestured his hands on Levi.
Bago pa 'man ako makapag-tanong ay naramdamam ko nalang ang pag-angat ko mula sa lupa. Then in swift move, I found myself shouting because of Levi.
"Fucking put me down, Leviticus!" I shouted while the air is still carrying me. And worse, It might look like that I'm enjoying because of the speed but the hell, I wanted to puke already!
"LEVI---AHHHH!" Napatili ako ng may makitang puno sa harapan ko, then I thought I'll bumped into it but I suddenly changed direction. I can hear Levi's laughters on the air. Nakita ko siyang naka-higa at presenteng pinalulutang ang katawam niya sa hangin habang halos mamatay-matay na ako dito.
"I can walk! Stop it!" I tried to move my hands but I cant because I'm so nervous that I might fall.
"Geez. You're so heavy, fire girl." Ngumiwi ito saakin.
"Pag ako nakababa dito, papatayin kita!" I shouted again.
And then, from up here, I saw lights from the the Abiliantes' villages. My eyes filled with amazement because of the lights. Nag mukha iyong city lights dahil doon. And then I noticed that Levi is slowly reducing the speed and gently put us down.
Halos matumba ako ng makatapak muli ako sa lupa. Geez, flying isn't really my thing. Pilit kong pina-deretsyo ang tingin ko ngunit umiikot pa rin ito.
I'm about to take a few steps when my head started to spin again. Matutumba na sana ako, mabuti na lamang ay mayroong umalalay saakin kaya napahinga ako ng maluwag.
"Thank you," I thanked the mortal guy. What's his name again? Ah, Fisso.
"You okay?" He tilted his head to measure if I'm okay, then he started becoming thrice on my sight. Napahawak ako sa balikat niya.
"That answered it." He chuckled. I was stunned when he cupped my face to look at him straightly. Then he massaged my temple and later on, I'm back to normal again.
"Oh my Goddess, that's amazing!" Puri ko sa kaniya, is he a witch or something?
"Well, I kinda do that often to someone." I smiled at that thought, I'm about to answer him but an air blewed on the remaining space between us.
"C'mon, we still need to get going." I glared at Levi.
"What exactly are we going to do here?" Binalingan ko si Frio.
"Gonna pay Astralea a visit." I smirked when Frio said that.
Astralea huh? It's been a while, Visionary.
"Sino si Astralea?" Tumabi saakin si Fisso habang naglalakad kami. It's still a big mystery how he got in here all of a sudden.
"She's the Versailles' Visionary and she can see what's happening on the whole domain." Explain ko sa kaniya. Ano na kayang hitsura niya ngayon?
I looked down and enjoyed everytime my feet will burried down the white snow on the ground.
"Ano bang nangyari dito? At nasaan ako?" Muling tanong ni Fisso.
I guess he's curious about everything. Siguro ay wala nga talaga siyang alam kung nasaan siya. He look so out of place in this world. And he's been here for almost a week and no mortal can survive to be in here unless he's into something. He may look good on the outside but we cannot let ourselves be decieved by him. We never knew what really is his secret.
"We're expecting you," Natigil ako ng marinig ang pamilyar na boses. It's Astoria, she's Astralea's daughter.
"Nasaan si Astralea?" Kaagad kong tanong.
"She's inside," Astoria gestured us to enter the barrier that seperates the Visionary's place to the Abiliantes' Land.
"Is this safe?" Tanong ni Fisso, siguro ay kinakabahan sa posibleng mangyari sa kaniya.
Instead, hinigit ko siya at tuluyan na kaming nilamon ng barrier. A dark place full of stars greeted us. Tumingin ako sa gitna ng malawak na kawalan at nakita ang dalawang malaking bato. Pinag-gitnaan nito ang isang babaeng naka-talikod saamin. Mula dito ay tanaw ko ang mahaba niyang buhok na sumasayaw dahil sa hangin.
That's Astralea, she's the oldest wizard in the whole Versailles and she witnessed how this world works. Isa siya sa pinakamatandang nilalang sa Versailles ngunit kung titingnan mo ay mukhang kasing edad lamang namin siya. She doesn't age at all.
And she was called the Visionary because she's like an eye into the whole domains. Nakikita niya ang lahat ng mangyayari sa apat na sphere ngunit limitado lamang pagdating sa Utopia Sphere at Abyss Sphere dahil masyadong makakapangyarihan ang mga naninirahan dito.
But the odd thing about her is she never speak something without rhyming words on the end if we asks questions about her visions.
"Anong maipag-lilingkod ko, Astroloheirs?" Dahan dahan siyang humarap saamin and we're greeted by her glowing white eyes. Wala kang makikitang itim doon, bukod sa purong puti ay umiilaw ito.
"Ah, nakakakita ba siya?" Bulong saakin ni Fisso. I chuckled at his question.
"Of course, she's the visionary of this domain. It's her natural eye color." I whispered back.
"We're here for some questions." I said.
"Who bloomed Nadia's flower earlier?" Kaagaran kong tanong kahit hindi pa siya nakakasagot.
"Where did the sun go?" Tanong naman ni Levi. But Astralea only stared at us.
Then, she swayed her hands and a light came from it and went to the sky. An image flashed through the sky.
The image shows a girl, she's gasping for an air. Tila mayroon siyang tinakbuhan kaya naghahabol siya ng hininga niya. On her back was a purple floating water. It was a border. I looked closely to the girl but she's not familiar. Ngayon ko lamang siya nakita.
Pinagpagan niya ang suot niyang dress na patay na asul ang kulay. Then as she wiped her dress off, golds and candies started falling off from the ground. Napanganga ako dahil tila wala siyang pake doon.
"Grabe, ang galing mo kanina!" She turned her head to her right side at tila naroon ang kausap niya. Napuno ng pagtataka ang mukha nito ng makitang wala naman siyang kasama.
"Huy? Hala nasaan na yon? Teka---ano ngang pangalan niya?" tanong nito sa sarili.
"Shit!" Natuptop nito ang labi niya ng tila may mapagtanto.
"Hindi kaya multo 'yon?" Tanong muli nito sa sarili niya.
"Hoy, Ikaw!" Napatingin siya sa likuran niya at doon nakita ang dalawang jack cards na mayroong palaso.
"Alice in Wonderland," I mumbled when I realized that she's in that book.
"Ano na naman ba!?" Tila pagod na sigaw ng babae.
Then the cards started running and she ran away too.
"Bakit ba ang hilig niyong makipag habulan!? Pagod nako!" Sigaw niya.
I felt something trembling beside me. I looked at Fisso. With wide eyes, he's staring at the image with much emotion.
"Serel..." He called.
"Find her and you will have the key. A key to open the domain's valley."