STAGE NINE: THE UNDERGROUND TEMPLE
Freyja summoned the crimson-haired guardian, Afra, in his human form. "Afra," she asked. "Can you hold us all underwater?"
"Count me out, Lenfiare. I can hold myself." Alyon interrupted. Freyja nodded.
"Yes, I am positive." Afra confirmed, before exploding into a thick mist. The mist encircled Freyja, Alaric and Kirin, forming a bubble-like barrier around them. Alyon summoned his aura, covering himself with the same aura barrier before jumping into the sea ahead of them. Freyja, Kirin and Alaric soon followed, covered in Afra's protective bubble, along with a huge reserve of air that Afra collected for them. They didn't have to swim. They had the aura propel them to their destination, deeper, deeper, and deeper into the waters. As they went deeper, it became darker and more difficult to navigate. Alaric summoned a light spell, guiding their path. Freyja's aura too, was naturally luminescent.
Freyja sensed something similar to the guardian's auras, though much fainter. Freyja lead the way, leading them further into the deeper and darker parts of the sea. Finally, they found the underwater cave that the Alfiore has talked about.
It looked like an ordinary, closed, underwater, cave. The only thing giving it away were familiar inscriptions etched around a protruding piece of rock. Alyon tried to pull it out, but it won't budge. Freyja took over. Like how she opened the path to the four guardians' prisons, she injected a portion of her white aura into the inscriptions, instantly lighting it up. "Celestial language." Alyon said. Freyja nodded. The protruding rock shattered as soon as the letters were illuminated. But no water entered the space. It was protected by a barrier that repels the water. Freyja went ahead, followed by Alyon, Kirin, and finally, Alaric. As soon as they got inside, they fell down the ground, not a drop of water to keep them afloat.
"Afra, it's okay now." Freyja commanded, releasing Afra's barrier. He shifted back to his human form and stood beside his master. "This is…" the guardian looked surprised, looking at the inside of the underwater cave. "…Lenfiare, this is Alfiore Kinju's markings."
Alaric summoned a stronger light, illuminating the entire cave. What it revealed was a wonder. The entire cave walls and the ground were made of clear crystal that reflected light in shades of pale blue. The walls were covered by Celestial script carvings, and in the middle is a golden platform with a crystal statue of what looked like a little girl with a pair of wings. On the statue were traces of the same dark aura that imprisoned the four celestial guardians. Slowly, Freyja took little steps towards the crystal statue. It was around as big as a five-year-old child. She gently touched it, felt its surprising warmth in her cold hands. Tears began falling from her eyes.
"Do you recognize that one?" Kirin asked.
"Yes." Freyja nodded. "This was a gift from Alfiore, for my birthday." She wiped the tears off and faced her comrades. "It was customary for Lenfiares and Alfiores to receive crystal statues as gifts to wish for their longevity. But since they were afraid of me living longer than I should, no one did. But Alfiore had one secretly made for me." She chuckled, rendering her comrades silent for a short while.
"You should have said sooner. I'll give you ten and extend your life tenfold." Kirin declared. "Runerich can do that much better. How about twenty from me?" Alaric joined in, annoying Kirin in an instant. Alyon cupped his chin, in deep thought. "Hm… should I send you thirty from Phrein? No, that can be misunderstood. How about if we send the gift through this world?"
Freyja laughed out loud, feeling the warmth instantly dissolve the heaviness in her heart. "Yeah, I'll be waiting for those then!" She took a deep breath and faced Afra. "So Afra, can you read the letters? I can only read a few."
"Yes, I can read everything Lenfiare." Afra said, as he started reading the message etched on the walls.
What Afra read to them, was a story.
"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away,
There was a country, of creatures born of light.
Very much like humans, they had four limbs,
pale skin and white wings on their backs.
But one day,
their kingdom fell under a siege,
and the once bright, kingdom floating high up in the sky,
fell and crumbled into dust.
The king's consort gathered every last strength in her,
and in the last of her army,
to summon a gate
that will lead her one and only daughter to safety.
To a land where no harm could reach her
To a land, where her dear homeland does not exist."
It said. "That sounds so much like what happened to you, Lenfiare." Afra said, looking straight at his master.
"WAIT." Freyja interrupted. "If Alfiore is the one who etched that in this temple, then how did he know about what happened? He was killed even before my mother could send me away." Something is just not adding up. "Then, are you suggesting that someone else wrote it?" Alyon asked, thinking the same.
"That's right. Someone else brought Alfiore's gift to me here. Someone else etched those letters on the wall, and someone else sealed Amos here." She said in full certainty. "Phreinians cannot seal the guardians, Lenfiare. It is certainly a powerful Celestial who did this." Alyon added.
Kirin turned paler the more he looked at the words. "Was it me?" He thought. "But why?"
"Kirin, are you okay?" Alaric asked, also suspicious. "You look pale. By any chance, do you know anything about this? You are an Aethelmaer after all." The runemaster pressed him more. "Do you think your ancestors has anything to do with this, Kirin?"
Kirin fell speechless. He shook his head.
"What's more important is, where is Amos?" Freyja interrupted. "If he was sealed here, then why is he not here now? Someone had the power to take him out of here, then. And that is worrying."
"And by the looks of it, it hasn't been long since he was unsealed." Afra added, looking at the still active remnants of the dark aura that sealed him.
"I bet the guardian we're looking for is above us. In that mansion." Alyon bluntly pointed out. "I'm sure you all think the same. But it's good we found this place. Now we know he hasn't been out for long."
"That's right. Let's go. Afra, we need you to—"
"Wait, Lenfiare! There's something more written down here!" Afra called her, showing more carvings on the floor.
"'Freyja' it says," Freyja read, "I'm… here."
"Freyja, I'm here." Freyja traced the etched letters with her fingers. A wide smile on her face, a sudden warmth enveloped her. A tear rolled down her cheeks, but, she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. For some reason, reading it comforted her to no end, like a message in a bottle floating in a wide ocean. She didn't even know who wrote it, yet, it made her very happy.
All of a sudden, a pair of warm arms, wrapped around her. "It's okay," Kirin whispered, "We'll go through this. And we'll come back and get your present from Alfiore." Freyja closed her eyes, feeling his warmth a little more. She took a deep breath, and unwillingly pulled herself away. "Yes, you're right. It's time we go up the surface, and get Amos back."
Afra disappeared and shifted into the protective bubble around Freyja, Kirin and Alaric. Alyon went ahead, Alaric and Kirin followed. Before stepping out of the cave, Freyja took a last look at the cave her father built, the crystal statue of herself, and the warm messages from someone she's desperate to meet again—whoever that is.
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