"Are you awake, Lenfiare?" Freyja woke up on a soft, king-sized bed with silk sheets and blankets. Sitting on the couch beside her is the eldest son of Aethelmaer, Ahrin. Beside him is Keon, standing stiffly. She quickly searched for her medallion, but it isn't with her.
"You should have killed me last time you had the chance." Ahrin said, sipping wine.
"You're right, I should have."
Ahrin stood up and walked towards the door. "At least you're aware of your own stupidity."
"Why am I alive? You could have killed me while I was still unconscious." Freyja glared at him, but he just laughed it off.
Ahrin opened the drawer next to the door, and took Freyja's medallion out, deliberately letting her see. "Well, it's a sudden change of plans. We need you to stay alive for a little while. Don't worry, Kirin will be here any moment." He put her medallion in his pocket before reaching for the doorknob. "Don't do anything stupid. I have your beloved guardians with me." Then, he eyed Keon suspiciously. "Make sure you watch over her, Keon."
"Of course, but if she gets annoying, I'll kill her." He coldly said.
Ahrin smirked, "Don't get too excited now." He warned, before leaving.
Keon felt his heartbeat going faster and faster. If Ahrin or anyone discovers that she let Freyja go two times already, he will be killed at once. Fearing for their lives, the two of them stayed in that room, without saying a single word to each other.
A whole day passed since Freyja was abducted. Upon discovering the note, Kirin and Alaric headed straight to the Aethelmaer manor, chartering the fastest vehicles they could get. In about 24 hours of non-stop travel, they found themselves in front of the gates of Aethelmaer manor. But it took them another six hours to break their way through five more gates to reach the inner manor.
"Lord Kirin, welcome home." Hundreds of servants welcomed Kirin and Alaric as they entered the inner gates, leading to the mansion. "Kirin, are you sure about this?"
"If you want to leave, no one is stopping you." Alaric sighed. He knows that the situation is harder for Kirin than it is for him. He's usually haughty, but anxiety was clearly showing in his face. It's not just Freyja he should rescue, he must also watch over Kirin.
They've been walking for thirty minutes and they were still in the manor's gardens. The Aethelmaer family's wealth and influence amazed Alaric just as it scared him. The moment they reached the main house, Alaric stopped and went over his decision to fight. He was frozen solid, unable to take another step further. The entire mansion was shrouded by an overwhelming black aura. He trembled in fear, but he bit his lip and grit his teeth. "No, we must save Freyja. She's inside." His survival instincts is saying otherwise.
Kirin summoned his black aura blade and destroyed the entrance, without a care of who might be behind it. At once, he rushed inside, ran through the hallways, barbarically destroying almost anything and anyone on his path. "Freyja! Freyja!" He called.
"Kirin, wait!" Alaric tried to calm him down, but failed. He followed Kirin, in flights of stairs, corners after corners, passed through several rooms and fought against henchmen who tried to stop them.
Finally reaching the ninth floor, Kirin shattered the doors to Ahrin's bedroom.
"This is the first time you entered my room, Kirin. Welcome." Ahrin stood up calmly, as if it was nothing. "What did you do to Freyja?" Kirin's murderous eyes met his. "Calm down, of course she is still alive." Ahrin said, walking closer.
~ o 0 o ~
Freyja noticed that Keon had been glancing at the wall clock for quite some time now. Freyja is at her limit already. She couldn't bear waiting any longer. "K-Keon..." Freyja finally had the courage to talk. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Father is going to do something to Kirin, that's why he needs you to stay alive for a while." He talked faster than normal, "Listen, whatever happens, do not talk to me especially in front of Ahrin or Father." He glanced at the wall clock again.
"Kirin, I hope he doesn't come here." She prayed. "I have to escape. But first, I have to get my medallion from Ahrin."
"I'll go get your medallion." Keon said something surprising. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. Give it everything you've got. There is a secret passage on the basement leading out to the gardens. To go there, go to the basement kitchen and through the fireplace, a hidden door should be obvious once you're inside. A rune beast will be waiting for you at the gardens, ride on it and fly far away from here. Listen," Keon squeezed her shoulders with trembling hands, "I will get your medallion. On my signal, run to the basement and leave. Whatever happens, don't look back, do you understand!?"
"How about you Keon?" Keon is terrified, it's obvious.
"Promise me you'll do that! Never mind me, I can handle myself. Promise me!" He almost shouted.
"Y-yes."
"Stay there and wait for me. After I give the signal, run. Do not EVER stop. Run." Keon left her with loosely-tied hands.
As Freyja waited for Keon, a sudden surge of familiar aura reached her. She's been feeling an overwhelming presence of dark aura since she woke up, but within that, she can feel a distinct kind of aura awfully familiar to her. Remembering Alaric's report, she's positive now that a celestial guardian is sealed somewhere in the manor. But without Astrid and Aria, she can't do anything except for a suicide attack. And even if she did, Freyja is afraid that it's the Aethelmaers' plan all along—to make her go berserk and extract the white aura sealed inside of her somehow. Charging by herself is out of the question. "Keon, where are you?" Freyja grew impatient, helpless.
Keon entered Ahrin's room as discreet as he could. He estimated Kirin's time of arrival to be around six o'clock in the afternoon. "Ahrin should be with him for around thirty minutes then," he thought. He quietly searched the room, opened every single drawer, looked under the bed, behind the books, but found no medallion. He was sure Ahrin left it there, because he saw how no one could hold it for more than a minute in their hands. The medallion always ends up burning whoever tries to hold it other than Freyja. Ahrin can't probably have it with him.
"What are you doing here, Keon?" Keon panicked, finding Ahrin behind him all of a sudden.
"I... I was just... looking for something." He replied, suppressing his fear. "Did Kirin come back?" He tried to divert the topic, but Ahrin saw right through his little brother. "Are you, looking for this?" Ahrin took Freyja's pendant out of his pocket, purposely showing it to Keon.
This raised a red flag for Keon. He rushed out of the room, and back to Freyja's room while Ahrin calmly followed him.
"Freyja! Run, quick! I'll give your medallion a little later, just GO! We've been discovered!" Keon shouted, slamming the door open. Now that their plot has been exposed, he is sure she'll never have the chance to escape again. Immediately breaking the faux chain around her wrists, Freyja jumped out of the bed and ran as fast as she could. Just as Keon instructed, she headed straight to the basement leaving Keon to keep Ahrin occupied.
Freyja ran with all of her strength and stamina. The mansion was too big, but she managed to keep her energy up. In no time, servants clad in black robes started to block her way one by one. Freyja's adrenaline and physical skills in sword fighting allowed her to pass through them, at the expense of her energy.
Finally reaching the basement kitchen, she quickly found the passage Keon was talking about. As promised, she headed out, found a bird-like rune beast the size of a horse. She hopped on its back, and it fled.
~ o 0 o ~