Phileas followed her like a sad puppy who has disappointed his master and wants to be pampered. Sarah, however, looked straight ahead and walked swiftly.
"Have I done something wrong, Rhea?" silence followed, "I apologise for breaking the table," Silence, "You may punish me as you wish for my misconduct".
Sarah stopped. She inhaled and exhaled before turning to face Phileas who towered over her by at least three heads.
"What are you doing? Why are you doing this? I understand the prophecy and all, but then my fate is written. Neither of us know how this will happen or when this will happen. All we know is that it is a foreseen event. It doesn't mean we can't come in contact. I really really like Jake and have a huge crush on him for like the last nine years or so. You really need to read in between the lines, Phileas. You are annoying me".
"Forgive me. I am just doing what is right for you -"
"You're doing what YOU think is right for me. You do not calculate your surroundings, you do not understand how I feel about all this, and you are blindly accusing someone without any evidence against him," she glared at Phileas while he looked down at his feet, "You know what? I was better off without any of you in my life. I might as well die and escape this massive confusion of a life I have than have to deal with you and figure all this out. Just go away," with this she walked off at full speed.
Phileas stayed rooted to his spot watching her leave. She no longer wants to see his face. She resists his assistance and company, and prefers the Ankur boy over him. The thought made him frustrated. He clenched his fist as he produced his wings from his back. He looked up at the sky and took off for the clouds. You will be the one to look for me.
It has been seven days since then. There has been no sign of the young man with wings, Phileas. Everyone at school took to making good friends with Sarah with the ulterior motive of getting their hands on the handsome young man. To her surprise, they just thought he was a cosplayer who knew Sarah somehow and showed up at school for a visit. They envied her thinking she was dating him. Well, at least this saved her the trouble of having to explain his unusual appearance.
Jake, now free to be near Sarah, started to become good friends with her. However, it bothered Sarah that Phileas would not return. She blamed herself for it. Is he an idiot? Nobody means it when they say it.
She would hang around in the school balcony, or field, or any open space expecting his return. The guilt was setting in. That idiot. When nothing else seemed to bring him back, Sarah turned up at Jake's door.
Jake held the door open, motioning for her to step in. The apartment was small, and mostly empty except for a few stacks of books and a makeshift bed on the floor. The kitchen had a sink and wall cabinets probably empty as well, since Jake did not choose to live in town anyways. His home is elsewhere.
They sat on the floor and he heard her complain, but he knew that there was only one way to reach Phileas.
"We will have to go to the land of magic. We could summon him here, if you had magic. But that isn't going to happen anytime soon, so now we only have the option of going to him ourselves".
"And how are we going to do that? Phileas just appears out of nowhere, so I doubt there is a passageway. You probably do the same".
"Well yeah I can do that, but it takes a lot of energy to do that. The passage is easier through the sky. Phileas probably just flies in and out of the realms. So, there is another secret gateway. I had it back when I had to cross the boundaries as a kid. I kept it afterwards".
Jake escorted her over to a store room area. A large mirror, about six feet tall, stood there. The mirror had a silver frame with intricate flowery decoration. Sarah ran her fingers along its exterior, completely unaware that it is pure silver.
"Let's go?"
"No wait," Sarah stopped, "I must tell my parents first".
No matter her origin or identity, it was a fact that the people who raised her were her parents here and forever. She could not just leave without a word or preparation. She had never been away from them either.
At home, Mrs. Roberts packed up a rucksack. Sarah took her parents' blessings and headed back. Of course they cried, without a doubt they held her close not to let go, and obviously they asked her to stay back. Goodbyes are always hard. There was no telling when she would be back once she crossed the boundary. There was no guarantee she would be safe either, after all when she was brought to Mrs. Roberts, the man holding her was stained in blood. Even so, home is where the heart is and they had faith that their daughter would return to them. As long as their prayers are with her and as long as she believes this to be her home.
Back at Jake's apartment Sarah watched as Jake closed his eyes and worked magic with his hands on the mirror. The mirror began to glow with silver light. Jake snatched away her rucksack and threw it aside.
"I won't be taking you for a trek. We are heading to my village first. You will go as Sarah. No one needs to know who you really are already".
Sarah stared at the bag her mother had packed for her. Tears welled up as she turned back to Jake to let her take it with her. But Jake shook his head once, because he needed her to let go of all attachments here. He then took her hand and walked into the illuminated face of the mirror, leaving behind an ordinary mirror in a dark store room of an empty apartment of the common human world.