Helene descended to the basement. The scent of smoke wafted from the far side of the room. A three-dimensional silhouette was standing in front of the wooden door, his hands grasping the cloth which once concealed the portal to Otrâlmondé. Rip! She watched in horror as Gobhastan shredded the fabric with his bare hands. His plain face scrunched upon noticing her presence.

Helene extended two fingers and retracted her arm.

No! her inner voice screamed. Lightning wouldn't work against him. Most offensive moves wouldn't work either. Her only option was to crush him, either by a shrinking force field or by hurling an object at him. She instead raised her hands. The shipping containers around her lifted off the ground. She then tossed them at him.

He dodged them.

She threw everything at him—metal crates, white sheets, even force field disks with sharp edges. He dodged every attack. He leaped, ducked, and scaled walls to avoid whatever she chucked at him.

If she couldn't bring him down, maybe the ceiling would.

Helene clenched her fists and swung them downward. When her fists fell, the ceiling followed.

Rumble. Old Port Warehouse quaked as a portion of the ceiling collapsed above them. Concrete fell and seemingly crushed Gobhastan, a pile of rubble forming at where he supposedly met the ground. No movement. Helene wiped the sweat off her brow. Maybe she did not need the trio's help after all.

Fwoosh! A flare erupted from the heap of debris, with dust and rock flying in all directions. Helene stepped back and summoned a shield. Her electric blue eyes nearly bulged out of her head as they caught sight of Gobhastan rising from the mound.

Fire blazed as Gobhastan spread his arms wide, the flames reaching for all corners of the room and escaping through the hole above. Helene swung one forearm in front of her. The blaze rushing in her direction vanished. With a swing of her fists, she flung lumps of concrete towards him. He evaded her attack once more. Old Port Warehouse continued to quiver as they battled in the basement.

On the floor above them, the metal door swung open. The trio took a step back—the entire room was burning. Edmond stepped forward and made an outward sweeping motion with his arms. The flames then vanished. The three of them ran across the room and hurried down the stairs as the walls shook around them.

By the time they reached the base of the stairs, the basement was already half destroyed.

Stella jerked backward the moment she saw the shadow. She already knew what he looked like, but that did not stop her from jerking backward. That man took Terra's life. He took Brandon's life. He could take hers as well.

Edmond extended two fingers and pulled back his right arm. Stella shouted,

"No, wait!"

He didn't listen. A bolt of lightning escaped his fingertips as he thrust them forward. The shadow cocked his head, outstretched his arm, and flicked his wrist.

Boom! A shockwave sent them flying backward. Stella heard the cracking of bones as they slammed against the cement steps. Above her, she heard something dripping. It didn't sound like water.

A whooshing sound followed soon after. A shield. Stella lifted her head to see where it was summoned but fell back. She couldn't get up. Everything was aching—her bones, her muscles. Everything. Dread dug into her heart as she realized that she might soon die. She couldn't stand, let alone fight.

Soft skin came into contact with her forehead. Stella lifted her eyes. She recognized Jon's hand resting on her head as it glowed. The same cool feeling she felt earlier flowed into her figure and swept the pain away. Ah.

Once Stella felt good to go, Jon helped her to stand up.

Stella glimpsed the basement. Helene was the one who summoned the shield earlier, sealing off the silhouette from the rest of the room. Curses streamed from his fingers and struck the shield as Helene struggled to keep it from fading.

"You help her," Jon said, "I'll follow."

"You're not helping now?"

"I have to heal him!" He pointed at Edmond's unconscious body. "Go. I'll follow."

Stella talked no more and dashed towards Helene.

Getting to the far end of the basement was no easy feat. Rubble and scrap metal littered the once-smooth floor, hurting her soles as she raced across the ground. Stella covered her mouth. The air was suffocating with all the dust and smoke flying around. Searing heat threatened to burn her skin as she ran past the fires that lapped the walls.

Rumble.

Stella glanced upward. A chunk of the ceiling was caving in.

Stella jumped to the side before it could crush her. Small bits of fallen concrete hit her back as the chunk disintegrated. Her heart skipped a beat, knowing how close she was to death. She looked ahead, towards the far end of the basement.

Helene's shield was near transparent now. Cracks webbed through its surface. It wasn't holding up any longer.

Stella picked up her pace and sprinted as fast as she could. They couldn't save Terra's life. Celestine couldn't save Brandon's life. She was not going to let Helene meet the same fate. Her hands were ready at her sides, prepared to summon a force field.

At last, Helene's shield shattered. Shock paralyzed her as the shadow cackled. He then sprung at her.

"NO!" Stella screamed.

She leaped forward and swung her arms.

Fwshh!

A sphere formed around the shadow seconds before he could reach her. Shock painted his face as his hands collided with the shield's walls. Stella almost couldn't believe it.

She did it. She saved a life.

Helene turned her head and saw her. "Just in time," she panted. "You know how to shrink it?"

Stella nodded her head.

"Let's do it together."

The two of them stood side by side, arms outstretched and fingers curled. Stella felt the adrenaline pumping through her. This was what the book had been preparing her for. Just like what she did in the practice room, Stella rotated her wrists and brought her hands closer together.

The force field shrunk. The shadow fell to his knees and folded his arms as the shield pressed against his body. The pressure piled up on her palms as she and Helene squeezed the shield.

"Crush him!" Helene ordered her.

Stella's arm felt a sharp pang as she forced her hands closer to each other. Her palms neared each other only by a few millimeters. The shield continued to dwindle. Just a little more. The figure in front of her bent his head forward and curved his back as the walls closed in on him.

Crack, crack. The now-lifeless figure curled into a ball as his spine snapped and his neck broke.

"Stella, open the portal and step back," Helene ordered her.

Stella jogged towards the wooden door and pressed her hand on the handprint. A small speck of light lit up in its center before spreading to the corners. She walked backward as it opened. As Helene guided the sphere shield towards the portal, Stella turned her head away from the corpse.

Once the door closed, Stella leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

Helene bent over, supporting herself using her knees. Panic soon struck her face. "Where are the boys?"

"I, um, at the stairs!" Stella recalled. "Jon was healing Edmond."

"Let's go."

The two of them jogged across the room, towards the staircase. Helene swayed her arms as she cleared their path of fire and debris. Jon was sitting on one of the steps, his glowing hands holding the back of Edmond's head.

"Are you two alright?" Helene asked, rushing to aide them.

Jon grimaced. "I think he broke his skull," he said.

Stella held back a gasp. His skull was broken? She stood still as Helene knelt beside Edmond's body and checked the back of his head. Warm blood seeped through where his skull collided with the edge of the stairs, forming a red pool that stained the cement.

"Not good," Helene said, shaking her head.

"Will he be alright?" Stella asked.

"He will. Jon, you and Stella can rest. Leave it to me."

Jon stood up, careful as to not drop his friend's head, and walked towards Stella. He breathed a huge sigh of relief upon noticing that she was still alive. "You're not dead," he exhaled. "What happened there?"

"We won," she told him. "We trapped him in a shield and crushed him."

"Oh. Like what you did to me during practice?"

"Uh, something like that," she said.

An impressed expression surfaced on his face. "Smart."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Jon then proceeded to condense the water vapor around him and use it to wash the crimson off his fingers. Stella looked around. Old Port Warehouse was in ruins. Half of the first floor had collapsed, the walls were blackened with soot and ash, and the shipping containers had been crushed and flattened into scrap. She wondered how they were going to keep the portal a secret, now that it was exposed.

A deep groan sounded from the other side. Stella turned her head. Edmond was waking up, his eyes slowly blinking.

He tried to sit upright. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out, Jon tended to you, and Stella and I killed the shadow," Helene informed him. She held out her hand and helped him to stand up. "Now let's head back to Celestine's house. They must be worried sick."

"But what about this place?" Stella asked her. "Aren't we going to rebuild it?"

"Oh, that can be taken care of," Helene said casually. "Just leave it to me and my friends."

Helene ascended the staircase, the trio following closely behind her. Stella took one last glance at the basement before she climbed up the stairs. After all the damage that Old Port Warehouse had endured, she wondered if rebuilding it was even possible.

***

"What happened?" Celestine quickly opened the door and ushered them indoors. "Is everything alright? Wait, Edmond... you're bleeding!"

"It's okay," he said, "Jon and Helene took care of it. I just need to wash this off. May I know where the bathroom is, please?"

"Upstairs. Stella, can you take him there please?"

"Yes."

Stella began her ascent and glanced over her shoulder. He was just a step behind her. She reached the upper floor, opened the door to the bathroom, and gestured to it.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome."

"By the way, euh, do I have to...?" He pointed towards the ground. She lowered her gaze. He was referring to a pair of slippers that were placed just outside the bathroom.

"Ehm, I think you should," she replied.

He knelt on one knee as he unlaced his shoes. Stella faced away from him—dried blood stained his hair, nape, and the back of his shirt. She was lucky to come out with less serious injuries. When she returned her gaze to him, he had already worn the slippers. He stepped inside the bathroom, briefly smiled, and then closed the door. He smiled at me, she thought, a warm and fuzzy feeling suddenly making its way throughout her body. She placed her hand on her heart as she made her way downstairs.

"...you fought the shadow?"

Celestine's loud voice startled Stella. She glimpsed the scene below her: Jon was slouching on the sofa, using his power to pour water into his mouth; José sat upright on an adjacent armchair, his eyes filled with concern; Helene and Celestine were opposite each other, neither of them bothering to take a seat.

"I know, I didn't expect that to happen," Helene said. "I needed help as soon as possible, and my best bet was the trio. If I tried calling on anyone else, we'd all be dead by now."

"You said a white sheet could stop him from passing through."

"It was supposed to. That's why I need to borrow your book."

"Stella"—Celestine glanced up at her—"can you please get a book? It's on the shelf in your room, has a leather cover, and no title."

"Sure."

Stella entered her bedroom and strode towards the shelf. She reached for the book. Before she could carry it with both hands, it sprung out of her grasp and flew off. "Huh," she huffed. I guess it's quite excited. She followed it down the stairs and entered the living room.

The book landed on Celestine's palm and spread its pages wide. Jon widened his eyes upon noticing it.

"Is that a magic book?" he asked.

"It is," Helene replied. "Come over here if you want to see."

Jon rose from the sofa and scuttled to stand next to Celestine. He, Helene, José, and Stella leaned over Celestine's shoulders as they tried to glimpse the book's pages. They were about to find out just how the shadow was able to penetrate the portal joining Mondéum and Oppidula.

It happened in the basement of Old Port Warehouse. Sketches of Stella, Jon, and Edmond appeared from the corner of the page as they walked into the scene. Stella gulped while Celestine and José exchanged nervous glances. What exactly did they do that caused the cloth to become ineffective?

They witnessed as Jon lifted the white sheet. He gasped. Stella asked a question, then Jon tugged at the white sheet. The scene paused. Ink swirled as it enlarged the image. A small, barely noticeable tear had formed at the top corner of the white sheet.

At once, they knew exactly how the shadow managed to cross to Earth in the first place.

✧ ✧ ✧

Question Time! Out of all the things that happened in this chapter, which one did you least expect?

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