Alicia and her two friends walked through the town, following where the glowing object was. It appeared that what Nadine said was correct. The town became unusually quiet; a seaside necropolis. Shops that were supposed to be open until late were also tightly locked. Even though being lonely late at night was reasonable for a small town, the feeling of isolation pierced nerve endings in an unnatural way. Not to mention when combined with the presence of that bizarre object floating in the sky. It felt like it only summoned the three of them, while the other civilians were trapped in a dream realm by force.
Nadine and Alicia walked side by side holding hands, while Gilmore guard them from behind. The closer they got to the foreign sphere, the more erect their nape hairs were to find out what was going on. But their curiosity balanced their fear, especially for the bespectacled girl.
It did not take long when they finally arrived at the cemetery gates. They saw the matter shaped like a sphere was above the ancient burial complex, which was located right in the middle of graveyard. They were only three hundred meters away from the sphere. Up close, the plasma energy flowing around it formed a dancing aurora, welcoming the three of them and inviting them to come closer, get acquainted. Perhaps Gilmore was right. This spectacular sight seemed unlikely to have come from an evil force. The girls even gaped at the sight.
"Well," Alicia glanced at Nadine and later turned slightly towards Gilmore. "May the dead stay die, and the living live."
She stepped forward to examine it in person and do a little observation. Gilmore caught up with Alicia. Nadine, still had her gaze fixed, suddenly came to her senses and promptly pursued them as well. "Wait, Alicia. Slow down!".
The three of them finally managed to get closer to the flying sphere. The sphere, which from afar looked like the moon, when viewed up close, resembled a mint blue star due to the flow of plasma around it. They looked up and saw that it was still floating as usual. However, they had to be careful lest they do anything that could trigger any danger. Alicia took out her notebook and pen from her back bag, then wrote what she knew and felt about the glowing globe.
"Let's see what you are, love," she said. Alicia then wrote, A giant ball resembling a star in the centre of the Trinketshore necropolis. It emitted a bright bluish glow mingled with reddish-purple, producing a plasma stream that dances across the sky like an aurora…, Alicia looked around for more clues about what was going on, to cause such object appeared in sudden. Nadine and Gilmore were engrossed in walking around the sphere and busy admiring the phenomenon, ignoring each other. Alicia also seemed to enjoy herself in her world as a detective, trying to find clues and solve extraordinary supranatural cases.
What caused this globe to appear? Then this stream of energy… Is this truly coming from it? Or is this a collection of spirits gathered together by the force of this globe? Or maybe… these spirits indeed gathered together and then formed an orb as a massive source of power! Wild guesses had already swarmed Alicia's mind.
She looked at the gravestones scattered around the sphere. Most of the old tombstones were mossy, eroded by overtime erosion. Some of them were so out of shape that it was difficult for her to read the names on the memorials. She also did not discover any clues to the names on the gravestones that were still legible either, until her eyes noticed a mausoleum in front of her. The mausoleum was old and neglected. Maybe a few centuries old. No, older than that. A millennium at least. It seemed that the family who owned this tomb was no longer left, so it was clear that no one had ever cared for or buried anyone in it for years. She then tried to see the name on the top of it.
[The Hall of Languoreth]
'Languoreth? Who is Languoreth? Doesnae sound like a family name.'
Alicia felt familiar with the name, however. She just did not remember where it came from. After a while, she started to feel exasperated that she could not find a piece of memory that could offer her an answer about the meaning of the name "Languoreth". But Alicia did not give up. She took a breath, calmed herself for a bit, then closed her eyes and tried to dig into her memories one at a time. She had all night, what did she have to worry about? That strange orb? Maybe, but her best friends were there, ready to keep her safe. She also had the magic hood from her mother.
She then came across a sliver of remembrance. It was when her mother told the history of the leading wizards in the Kingdom of Camelot, including the land of Caledonia. The hazy memories were slowly unveiled.
'Wizards…'
'Caledonia…'
'Twins…'
'The Land of Camelot against The Eternal Empire of Roma…'
'Her heart skipped a beat when she remembered something. A name piece, a clue.'
'Lailoken!'
'The Grand Magus of Camelot, as well as the mad visionary.'
'Opponent of The Eternal Empire, but saved by Roma itself.'
'Trying to unite Caledonia and Eternal Roma. Or, as the Caledonians called it, subjection.'
'In the end, must fight the remaining extremist rebels.'
'Against her own twin sister,
Languoreth.'
"That's it! Languoreth!" roared Alicia, then chuckled. Languoreth, the twin sister of Lailoken, or the world would rather know him as: The Great Magus, Merlin! It looked like what was in front of her might be the tomb of Languoreth herself! Alicia could not understand why no one ever realised that in this cemetery, resided one of the foremost wizards whose legends put children to sleep. And also, that sphere in the sky! It seemed that the orb had some connection to her. It could not just be a mere coincidence, floating on the horizon near the final resting place of Merlin's sister. She ought to report these results to her best friends! They must be tired after waiting for her just to come out of her fantasy world.
"Pals! I think I found some—"
"Alicia! Watch out!" the two friends rushed towards her after such a hysterical scream.
Alicia had not even caught the message that entered her ears, before eventually… Boom!
That sphere. That bloody damn sphere. It flew, fell, and shot straight to the magic nerd, then hit the mausoleum, putting the entire building into crumbles. Nadine and Gilmore were pushed far away because of the energy spike after the collision. The ball exploded after hitting the ground, wiping out the surrounding tombs, and leaving a large hole. The sphere literally smashed her like a bloody meteor.
The fallen Gilmore immediately got up and started yelling frantically. "Alicia! Alicia! Shite! Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Gilmore immediately ran, his sweat mixed with the tears, carried by the rushing wind. Both signified extreme anxiety. Gilmore stared at the hole. All the ruins of the mausoleum and emetery assembled there. Oh no! She was hit by the debris!
Nadine was unconscious for a moment after being hit, and when she woke up, she also immediately rushed towards the big hole. It shocked Nadine when she saw mounds of building wreckage filling the pit. She watched Gilmore go down the hole, lifting and throw the rubbles in hopes of a boulder protecting poor Alicia, so she would not die from being crushed by the enormous walls. He struggled to lift the large stones one by one hastily. Feelings of guilt haunted him, recalling that he and Nadine were the ones who took Alicia where she shouldn't not be and promised to protect her if anything happened.
"Alicia, Alicia, ye hear me? Answer, damn it! Alicia, Alicia!"
The hysterical Nadine tried to call Gilmore to stop dismantling the rubbles because.
"Gilmore! Stop!"
"No! Cannot! Alicia's in there! Help me remove these blocks, quick!"
"You can't do it, Gilmore! We must report this immediately to the authorities!"
"Fuck, Nadine! She's as guid as deid if we wait for them!"
Nadine felt that Gilmore was too stubborn to reason. She then took out her portable telecomm to contact the civil guard, fire brigade, or anybody. And how the Divine had cursed her, her telecomm was dead, its glass was cracked, almost out of shape. The impact was powerful enough to destroy the handy Telecomm inside her pocket. "Oh, no!"
Gilmore still tried to lift one of the biggest chunks of rock, but with all those muscles, the rock barely moved.
"Ah, fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fucking ...!" He had despaired, knelt down while pumping his fist toward the boulder and laying a thousand curses on it.
Nadine descended and told Gilmore about the problem with her telecom. "Gilmore! My telecomm is broken! Give me yours!" she ordered.
Gilmore pulled out his own telecomm from the back of his pocket. His telecomm was also damaged. Both began to lose hope. Nadine sat down beside him and cried. Gilmore—who had been weeping for a while, continued to remove the debris so he could find her little friend as soon as possible. []