"Isa?" Asahi replied with a confused expression. "What happened to Isa?"
The moment he uttered that, the entirety of the mansion started to tremble. A flash of light sparked from behind the windows, blinding their eyes.
Immediately, Toivo rushed through the front doors outside to investigate what happened. Both front doors were poised and creaked open, swinging back and forth from the harsh wind.
Asahi, curious about what happened, chose to follow Toivo with Kendra and the others. The azure color in the sky slowly transformed into a dark gray, the flowing clouds thinned and straightened as if they were scared, and the entire forest around them fell silent. The joyful atmosphere that had emanated within this place faded, and the wind noticeably picked up as pebbles rocked back and forth.
"The air outside feels a lot more stuffier than I remember." Toivo mumbled as he looked heavenward across the mountains. "Something strange is happening. Asahi, keep Kendra and the others safe! Keep your guard, as well. I trust you."
With a carefully appraising eye, Asahi pushed himself in front of Kendra and the others and took a deep breath. He didn't know what happened back in Clearstar. All he was aware of was that something bad happened and the possibility that his sister could be in danger.
So, keeping his emotions at bay, he stood straight with a bold posture, rooting his feet into the ground to keep balance from the quakes. Brunella hurriedly paced forward and ran down the stairs, questioning as her drifting eyes caught sight of the clouds swirling.
"What exactly is happening?"
The trees started to shift into eerie unnerving patterns, streams all around stopped entirely as if paralyzed from the occurrence, and even the faces of Asahi's allies all froze still.
At this moment, it felt to Asahi as if time stopped completely. A rush of fear coursed through his veins as he noticed a beacon of darkness shooting up into the sky. The linear pattern and shape of the beacon started to swell up and expand into a large, round, nearly transparent black dome, expanding with each kilometer.
Asahi was weighed down with dread.
"Mountains were enveloped by the wall of black, followed by several forests along the horizon, and finally the mansion. Then, without warning, the beacon exploded with a burst of light, resulting in a massive shockwave.
Trees were flattened and debris soared, but the moment the shockwave reached the mansion, it... faded into nothingness. Not just the shockwave, but all evidence of its existence. The trees were back to normal, and the sky was clear of any dust or dirt. Even so, he wasn't able to ignore what he just saw when he noticed how everyone else had started to act funny. Something happened, and it gave him a bad feeling; a feeling that something else could be lurking around.
"That's strange." Brunella muttered as she tried to conjure up a brown luminance in-between her palms. "It seems I'm having difficulty using my magic."
Asahi raised a brown in confusion.
Confused, he looked over to Toivo and Canyon, who also seemed as if they were trying to use their magic. At first, only a blue silhouette of a man emerged in front of Toivo's hands; one who had their back tilted over and their jaw dangling like a flag; a zombie. But before it could even walk, it evaporated into particles. Toivo stepped back in shock but treated the occurrence with a calm and mature manner. Although he was confused, Tovio chose to keep his mouth shut and witness the other's reactions.
"I can't even summon ropes." Canyon trembled as he hunched his back over to the ground. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
No matter what he could try, Asahi couldn't truly fabricate a connection with them; for he was almost powerless when it comes to magic. When the static blackness slowly started to fade away, the sky started to clear up, revealing the beautiful radiant glimmer of the sun once more. The trees and the mountains around them were then showered in the rays of light, and the sounds of nature rushed in once more.
As Asahi walked and looked around, wondering what had happened, Toivo stepped in front of everyone and straightened his posture in front of the stairs. Without hesitation, the rest of them gathered up before Toivo like an audience meeting their podium and listened to his declaration.
"So, it seems something went terribly sour after that event had transpired." He said as he kept his gaze at their worried faces. "And, now it appears that we all have difficulty using our magic."
Kendra, Asahi, Canyon, Brunella, and Joshilyn nodded their heads silently in agreement as he continued speaking.
"However, that will not halt our plans. We have a long day ahead of ourselves. And no matter if we have our magic or not, I will refrain from allowing anyone to leave this place until further notice."
All of the friends looked at each other with concern as they waited for him to continue.|
Toivo took a step forward and motioned toward the mansion.
"We have some work to do, and we don't want any unnecessary disturbances. So please follow me, and I'll explain everything to you."
* * * * * * *
The group followed Toivo down the stairway and made their way to the kitchen where he led them to a table that had been set up on the balcony overlooking the valley below. As they were approaching it, Asahi suddenly heard a deep formal-sounding voice resound inside his head.
(There's no other explanation I can give you as to why that event occurred, Asahi. I believe that wasn't some sort of natural occurrence, rather a malfunction of the main source of Linuxinia; The Sealed Beatific.)
Asahi indefinitely who that voice belonged to. It was no other than the wise and mysterious man, Telos. Struck with a flood of curiosity, Asahi slowly parted away from the group and decided to hunch over in a corner, secretly having a discussion with Telos.
"What do you mean?" Asahi asked.
(Back in the time before you returned to this world, there were not only queens, but kings residing within the eight nations of Gincad. Of those kings, one of them cared most of his people rather than his kingdom himself. He feared that because of the effects of The War of The Wish, the people of Linxuinia fell into a state of despair and anguish.)
"How so?" Asahi questioned, genuinely curious about this world's past.
(The War of The Wish was a devastating war against the unknown. It was triggered by one of the eight kings of Gincad; Aurdensah. Supposedly, he reached the core of Gincad and managed to harness the ability to be granted one wish. Although much could be said about him, I am afraid I don't know much about this period; only the aftermath of it.)
Asahi continued to listen attentively, taking notes in his mind.
(Nonetheless, The King of Linuxinia; Selig, couldn't bear to see his citizens fall into such a state. So he created The Sealed Beatific; a strange and typical source of magic that uses the powers of Happiness to benefit his kingdom. At first, The Sealed Beatific only started in one condensed part of the caverns in Linuxinia. But as time expanded, it grew its roots, spreading toward every corner of the nation.)
It sounded like Telos was making a sigh of apprehension after he uttered those words.
(The Sealed Beatific was designated as the hopeful source of Linuxinia. Where happiness of any kind can be emitted. Where power and magic can be amplified to its extremes.. Thus, even the lands were blessed by this power. People of all neighboring nations chose to migrate to Linuxinia because of The Sealed Beatific and its happiness. The result…)
As Asahi tilted his head, seeing the wonderful horizon of Linuxinia in the distance, Telos resumed with a calm and humble voice.
(...Is prosperity at its finest. Mountains grew lush. Villages, cities of all kinds were erected from the joyful minds of Linuxinia's people. Now, Linuxinia, despite being relatively poor among nations, is one of the most joyous nations in the world of Gincad.)
Asahi couldn't find words to express the emotions he felt when he was given all this information. He never realized how much could be done in just a time span of five thousand years. It was unfathomable for him to imagine what events had transpired. But given this mere fragment of history among his changed world, Asahi couldn't help but plaster a smile on his face.
"Interesting." He mumbled as he saw Kendra approach him. "So, how come it malfunctioned?"
"Asahi!" The blue-haired maid interrupted as she waved her hand. "Come here! We're all waiting for you!"
"In a minute!" Asahi answered with a kind gesture.
As Kendra nodded her head happily despite the events that had transpired beforehand, Telos continued with a queasy tone.
(That. You must discover yourself. I don't have any reasoning on why or how The Sealed Beatific could malfunction. But if I were to guess, I say it could be linked to The Ending, The Promise, or something else like your return.)
"Why did it malfunction then?" Asahi pressed.
(I am sorry, I don't know. Perhaps the reason is beyond my imagination.)
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Asahi said with a heavy heart.
He didn't want to leave anything unresolved. There might be an answer to his questions somewhere out there, but it would take time to search through everything. For now, he had to focus on the present. As he stared into the horizon, Canyon yelled at him from the golden table.
"Come on Asahi, we don't have all day!"