Thousands of years later…

Rania Caeles had always been a little special ever since she was born. On the outside, she looked normal—a typical young woman with pale blonde hair and blue eyes, though she's a tad more charming and elegant than most of her age. But that wasn't what made her special. It was the fact that for some reason, she could hear voices out of nowhere as if the wind suddenly learned to talk. Most often than not, it belonged to a woman, sounding gentle and kind. At other times, it would come from a child, playful and quirky. And on some rare occasions, from an older woman who sounded so wise and mysterious. However, she had to keep this little secret to herself. After all, living in a modern world that wasn't friendly with a peculiarity such as her, she could easily be mistaken for a lunatic if anyone were to find out.

At first, Rania thought that the voices were ghosts—like those people who died and couldn't pass on to the other side. But then, they would tell her things that hadn't occurred yet, and when it did, she would be surprised how in the world would dead people know about those things. It was as if they knew what was going to happen, and as far as her knowledge goes, ghosts shouldn't be able to tell, right? Because of that, and the fact that she hadn't dared to ask them yet, she settled on the thought that perhaps, they were her guardian angels. They never really harmed her anyway. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be guiding her instead—just like this beautiful noon our story starts, when she was on her way to take a break after a bunch of meetings she went through that morning.

"Rania," the voice whispered. It was the gentle woman's turn this time.

Used to hearing them by now, Rania replied through her thoughts. Fortunately, they could understand her thoughts—kinda like telepathy. This way, she wouldn't be talking to the air and saved herself some shame.

"Rose, it's you again! What's up?" 

Yes, she gave herself the liberty of naming them, to which they didn't mind since they wouldn't tell her their names.

"Look in front of you."

Rania put her phone down and gazed up, towards the direction that the voice told her. But then, there was not much in front of her—just the orange park from the other side of the road thanks to the third season of the year; a few guards talking to each other beside a street sweeper that kept on scratching his head; and a middle-aged woman walking fast towards them.

"Save the boy."

"The boy?" Rania knitted her eyebrows. "No kids are allowed inside our company's premises—unless today is the Halloween event—but no, it's not until next Friday. What do you mean? And save him from what?"

Yet, there he was—the boy that Rose told her about—running and hiding from one bush to another. He giggled as he ran around while keeping an eye out on the woman standing nearby who by then was already talking to the guards.

"Have you seen a boy with brown hair?" the woman asked them. Gesturing her hands around her hips, she added, "He's about this tall, with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue shirt." She tried to put a smile on her face, but her trembling lips failed her.

"A child?" the guard grimaced. "Children are not allowed in this area, ma'am. How did he manage to get in? And how did you manage to bring him inside?"

"No, I didn't! W-well, he—ugh, sort of ran off. Did you happen to see him?"

"No, ma'am. But this is something that cannot be tolerated, so I'm afraid you'll have to come with us."

"I understand, but I need help to find my son first…."

And so, their conversation went on. When Rania looked back at the boy, he ran again from the last bush in the park onto the road where she stood from the other side. He laughed nonchalantly as he kicked on a pile of leaves and made them scatter around. Obviously, he felt so proud of himself for escaping and hiding from his own mother, not knowing she was worried sick about him.

Suddenly, the sound of car tires screeching against the road could be heard from afar. The moment Rania heard it, she immediately ran towards the boy and caught him in her arms before reaching the middle of the road. They both fell on the roadside with half their bodies on the pavement and the other on the soft grass of the park.

"Haahh, haahh," Rania breathed heavily. "You scared me there, little boy," she said, smiling at him while wiping the sweat on her forehead, trying to make light of what happened so as not to alarm the little devil.

The boy, shocked from all that just happened, could not utter anything and just look back at her with horror so apparent on his face. His body trembled, and his lips went dry until he ended up crying his eyes out.

"Waaaaa-hu-hu-hu! M-mommy! Hu-hu-hu!" Alas, he wailed so loud to the point that everyone around could hear him.

"Oh no! It's okay little one, you're safe," she patted his head and embraced him, trying her best to calm him down. "It's alright. Don't cry."

"What the hell 'ya doin?! Why is there a child here?!" the driver of the car that almost hit them shouted from his seat with his face turned red in anger.

Rania mouthed, "I'm sorry," to which the guy shook his head and took off. Then, the child's mother, who had just noticed them, came running towards them.

"My goodness! My baby!" she screamed as tears fell from her eyes. She glanced at Rania, wanting to express her thanks, but her worry overtook her, so she embraced her child first and comforted him. "A-Are you alright? I've been looking all over for you! I told you not to leave my side, and then I see you almost hit by a car?!"

"I-I'm sorry, sniff, I'm really sorry. Hu-hu-hu."

"Sshhh. It's okay. What matters is you're safe. Just please, don't ever do that again."

Seeing as they were both okay and reunited, Rania stood up and slowly snuck out of the scene. She didn't wait to be thanked for the good deed or receive praise—after all, she didn't save the boy to receive a reward or anything. She was just happy that he was okay. Plus, if it weren't for Rose telling her about the boy, she wouldn't even notice he was there. If there's anyone who should receive thanks, it should be her, was what she thought.

"You helped me again," Rania said in her mind. "You guided me into saving the child. I sure wouldn't want to see a poor child get hit by a car in front of me."

"I merely asked you to save him. You're the one who chose to do it."

"It's the right thing to do. But still, thank you."

Rose chuckled. "In that case, it's my pleasure."

By the time that the mother and child remembered to thank Rania, she was no longer there, leaving them with bewildered faces and slight dizziness from spinning their heads around trying to look for her. Little did they know that she was already walking straight to the coffee shop where she was supposed to go in the first place. If there were three things she couldn't live without, that would be food, coffee, and most importantly, books. Luckily enough, the coffee shop near their company had it all—Starr's Café.

As soon as she opened the door of the shop, the rich aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans welcomed her, making her pause for a short moment just to smell the lovely fragrance. Once satisfied, she continued inside this rather luxurious café with a sophisticated interior.

There were modern yet comfortable chairs and tables neatly arranged throughout the shop. Beside each table stood racks of new magazines and books anyone could just grab and read as they pleased. Chic tumblers, mugs, miniature coffee barrels, and other coffee-related products could be seen on display near the counter where the baristas stood. There were also crystal chandeliers carefully hung by the ceiling, magnifying the beauty of the whole place. And to top it all off was the view of an enchanting fountain just outside the shop that could be seen through the glass walls. Its waters danced back and forth to the rhythm of the music being played, giving a little entertainment to everyone who saw it, especially Rania. She loved looking at fountains—that's why as soon as she came in, she glanced over to her favorite spot near the fountain, checking if the seat was empty. To her luck, it was, so she went straight to the counter to order.

After paying, she walked towards her favorite seat, but unfortunately, another customer arrived a second after her, about to sit down. Noticing her, Rania simply smiled and let her have the seat. She then turned around to look for another and found a vacant spot in the middle of the shop. While waiting for her order, she saw her favorite book on the rack beside her table and immediately grabbed it—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

'Would you look at that, she thought. In exchange for giving up my seat, I get to enjoy my favorite book from childhood. How lucky!'

And so, Rania started reading. A few moments later, her order arrived, and she took her sweet time enjoying every sip of the coffee and every bite of the delicious cake. Engrossed with what she was reading, she didn't notice that her phone had been vibrating. She only realized it when it touched the back of her hand since she kept them on the table, ready to flip pages once she was done with the current one she was on. Seeing the name Zeid Ardor flashed on her phone's screen, her lips curled into a smile. She then placed a metal bookmark on top of the book—something she always carried in her bag—and picked up the phone.

"Hi babe!" a cheerful-sounding man greeted her from the other line.

Rania smiled upon hearing his voice. "Hello, babe," she greeted him back. "You sound happy. What's up?"

"Nothing much. You know, the usual. It's just uhh—do you have anything scheduled for tomorrow afternoon?"

Rania raised her eyebrows. That's random. Usually, he would ask first how I am and how my day is going. Nevertheless, she checked her calendar to answer his question.

"Hmm… I do have a free slot after five. Why? Is there something wrong?"

"None at all! Let's just saaay… I want to take you somewhere."

"Oh, that's nice of you. I'm in! But where are we going?"

Zeid chuckled. "Now that's a secret. Just wait for me there tomorrow, and I'll come to pick you up."

"O-kay?" Rania reluctantly agreed.

"Ha-ha-ha! Don't worry, you're gonna love it."

"Really? As long as it's not some noisy place—"

"It's not. I promise. Well, it might get noisy, but it can be contained."

"That's not very reassuring," she teased.

"Oh, come on. Pleeease?"

"Ha-ha-ha! Fine. Just come whenever. I miss you."

A faint squeal could be heard from the other line. He's definitely fanboying, she thought.

"Awww… I miss you, too. I love you, babe."

Rania's cheeks blushed. A little embarrassed, she lowered her eyes and bit her lips as she replied, "I love you, too. But if you're planning on driving by yourself tomorrow, I beg you, don't drive recklessly, please!"

"Ha-ha-ha! Yes, ma'am."

"See you tomorrow."

"See you, too. Muuuuah!"