Chapter 47 - The Portal

"Hey wake up!" I heard a familiar voice.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a soft white sofa. I remembered that I was being dragged upwards by a strong wind coming from the strange magic circle.

I scanned my surroundings looking for the owner of the voice. I am in a white room with a white sofa as the only furniture.

When I turn around, I saw her. The same person who keeps on haunting me in my dreams.

"Finally!" She said as she floats around the area while holding a familiar item, the black stone. She's playing it around by floating it midair in circles. 

"Missed me?" She asked in a mocking tone. "And to be clear, I'm not haunting you. I'm just here from the very beginning."

"Why am I here?" 

"Hmm... straight to the point this time huh? Well, you see...you created this realm so why are you asking me?"

I sighed. What do I expect from her? Even though she claims that she's also me, the clash between our personalities are like fire and water. 

"Remember yin and yang? Same concept." She said like she doesn't care. 

"I don't. Really." She answered.  

"Stop reading my mind!" I shouted out of frustration. 

"I told you I can't. It just happens." 

"But how come I can't read yours?" I asked incredulously. 

Suddenly, there's a shift in her demeanor. She stops playing with the necklace and looked at me with a serious facial expression. 

'Really?'

I looked at her wide-eyed and shocked. 

"You're not strong enough to read my mind. You just recently able to see me so I don't expect you to see what's in here... " She said pointing at her head. "... Yet," she finished.

"But sooner or later, aside from single sentences, you'll be able to read everything. Oh yeah! Maybe that's why she brought you here in the first place."

"How? But-"  

"STOP! Don't ask questions anymore. Why do you want me to repeat something over and over again?" She said in resignation and threw me the black stone. 

I manage to catch it in time. 

"That Fae really tricked you into coming here." She said. 

"Who's Fae?" I asked. 

"I can't believe this. You know that she's not from this realm yet you didn't know what she is?" She said with disbelief. " I swear this is the most dumbest you've been. Really." She said.

I continued to look at her in confusion.

"Just seeing your dumb face makes me want to strangle the pretty little neck of yours." she said in extreme irritation. 

"Hey! Watch what you're saying. You may be using a 10 year old body but I'm still you." 

" Aliyah." She suddenly said that caught my attention immediately.

" What about her?" I asked. 

"That fae was a sly one. She lead you into this place and you followed her here like a puppy." She mocked.

"What's wrong with that? It's not like she'll harm me." I never felt threatened near her so I followed her despite not knowing her.

"She's a fae, am member of the realm of celestial beings. In other sense, humans call them fairies. The fae are extremely beautiful beings that uses their beauty to trick humans into submission." She explained.

"They exist?" I asked wide eyed.  "But aren't those what the sirens does to humans?" I asked.  

"Same concept. As a matter of fact sirens also exist but they like to live in seclusion. They're not important. Now, where was I.. Ah yes, the fae. They are also elemental magic users who specializes in using earth magic. It's the main reason why their gardens are always alive. They are blessed with beauty that can't be ignored by human beings and lured them into submission using charm. Charm is a dangerous spell that can be used to manipulate humans or beings with low magic affinity and it's also a form of magic that can be dispelled by a person with strong affinity to magic. In short, if you're powerful than the caster it won't work on you. " she explained. 

"You really know a lot." I said.

She smiled cockily. "Of course! I'm knowledgeable unlike someone else." She huff.

"That's insulting. I'm just introduced into this kind of world. Stop blaming my lack of knowledge on this matter."

I saw her rolled her eyes.

The nerve!

"But-but she never used charm on me." I just knew she didn't. I didn't feel anything weird when I'm with her earlier.

"Of course she wouldn't. She doesn't have to because you trust her! That's what I'm trying to figured out. She's not even an old acquaintance. And the only thing I can think of was because you're just plain stupid that's why you're clueless." 

"You've gone overboard calling me stupid. Aren't we just the same? There's a saying that if you argue with a fool then you become a fool." I quoted.

"Fine. Fine." She said in resignation. "What matters the most is she led you to the portal of beginnings. This is what she's trying to tell you. She's trying to force me to tell you the use of the blinking tower."

"It's not like I wanted you to explain to me the use of this tower. I never asked you!" 

She run her fingers into her hair. Exasperation was evident on her face. It's weird for a ten year old to show that kind of expression and it's even more eerie when she also a living replica of your childhood body.

"If I didn't then we'll be trapped here forever!"

I looked at her wide-eyed. 

"Say what!?"

"That's why I'm explaining things to you. There's no aeterium stone inside this tower but there will be once you manage to make use of this tower." 

"Tell me how to get out of this mess." I asked. 

My ten year old self sighed. "This tower is the portal of beginnings. A long time ago when there's an abundant supply of mana, they use this magic circle to transport numerous people into places but it was only used by the higher ups of the society. It was also their only means of transport to the floating Island of Ishmal, the sacred place for magic users."

"Floating Islands? As in the island in the sky?" 

"Yes, a long time ago they did but for thousands of years nobody alive set foot on the island due to the curse of the magic circle that you just activated!"

"But I didn't know."

"Of course you don't. That's why it happened." She sighed.

"How do I escape from this? "

"It's quite simple. If it was other people then they will be trap here forever but we posses something that they don't and that was the black stone."

"Then how?" 

She suddenly smiled eerily as she slowly floats towards me. When she's right in front of me so took the black gemstone in my hand. 

 "All you have to do is think of a place where you wanted to be."

Then everything turns black. The white walls vanished and the white sofa was nowhere in sight.

She leaned on my right ear and whispered, "I'll just show you."

Like a dream, I was transported from a dark room to somewhere like a dungeon. I studied my surroundings and all I see are concrete walls and a staircase leading downwards. My body moved  and started descending the stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found the same magic circle I saw in the tower. It has a bluish glow in every letters written. My body moved once again and walk towards the center. I suddenly drew a knife and  made a small cut on my palm. The moment her blood touched the ground, the blueish glow of the letters was replaced by an ominous red light. Dark aura was seeping from the corners of the circle. It was also emitting gust of wind that could even send someone flying but surprisingly, the i was unharmed. Suddenly, I murmured a spell.

Afterwards, everything went still..like a clock that stop its time. 

'Think of a place where you wanted to be.' I recalled what she said.

I closed my eyes and do what I was told, and when I finally opened them...I saw him.

End of Chapter 47

A/N: I'm reading the comments in every chapter and as much as I wanted to reply to everyone, I can't. It'll definitely give a hint on what would happen especially there are some who are really good at guessing spoilers. 😂

By the way, there's a comment that caught my attention regarding Dianara. I'll give you guys a hint: SHE'S NOT. To what exactly? It's for you guys to find out. 😉😁

I hope I can reclaim my place as one of the top 10 in adventure and fiction category. LOL

I'll keep you guys posted for the next update.

Toodles!

#Uneditedchapter (as usual)