Chapter 6：Stage FIVE: A Scarlet Sky

Freyja shut her eyes while sitting on her bed, concentrating. For some reason, she's feeling a strange, warm sensation shrouding her body. It felt like she's submerged in a warm liquid. She can't see it whenever she faces the mirror, but when she looks directly at her hands, she sometimes sees a faint, white gaseous substance emanating from her body. No one else could see this, except for her and a handful of people, like Van. It was also quite similar to the same gaseous substance that she saw came out of Van's crystal pendant. Now she's sure, this is the same thing that the spaced out girl earlier told her about— the strange white light that protected her from the car's impact.

"Alright Kirin! I'm gonna find you and fast!" Freyja roared, feeling a sudden burst of excitement in her.

"SHUT UP!" Someone outside shouted.

Freyja grinned as she threw herself on the bed, tightly hugging her pillow. "That girl earlier, why was she so spaced out?" She thought, closing her eyes. "I hope she'll be alright."

Freyja drifted into a deep sleep, where she vividly dreamt of a silver haired young man with piercing emerald eyes, skilfully fighting a number of men clad in black robes.

The reunion was a lot more sudden than she expected. She went to school the next morning and saw the spaced-out girl she met yesterday standing on the hallway. But this time, she's with another girl wearing the same uniform. The girl she's with is tan and slim, with long wavy hair tied in a low ponytail. She looked familiar too. Freyja instinctively hid herself. Then, she followed the two of them secretly to their classrooms. Apparently, they're the same year as she is. They were heading to the classrooms of the second years.

Freyja ended up witnessing something that looks like a part of the girls' daily routine. A group of familiar boys blocked their path and tripped the spaced-out girl's companion. They laughed and began throwing insults at the two. They called them names, laughed at them and threw crumpled paper at them.

Freyja felt her blood pressure rise watching them. "Are you just gonna let them do whatever!?" She shouted in her mind.

The spaced out girl was irritated alright. She was about to put her foot forward, but Freyja beat her to it. Even before she could do anything, Freyja jumped in and glared at the boys imitating the 'Kirin' boy in her dream. "Aren't you blocking my way, fags?"

"It's you again!?" Of course, they knew who she was.

Without wasting a second, Freyja's fists came flying to their leader's face. She was about to hit the others too when she heard a familiar voice, rushing from behind her. "Hey! Leave some for me!" Much appreciated, Van came charging at them, kicking them one by one, and claiming her own share of glory. Of course, Freyja didn't let Van hog all the fun. Back to back, they beat them all one by one, Freyja even threw one boy's bag far away scattering all his belongings on the floor. The group of boys ended up running while throwing insults at them. "Barbaric bitches!" Freyja and Van grinned at each other.

"Warrior of Justice!" The spaced out girl recognized her right away. But what surprised them the most was her reaction. "Her fists are glowing!" She said, pointing to Van's fists.

The two girls jumped away from her in surprise. Although Van is already used to seeing the strange gaseous substance appear in her body from time to time, she never expected that another one would be able to see them aside from Freyja. Indeed Van's fists were covered in faint gray-ish light. This time it's more visible than before. Freyja too, saw the white light cover her hands, up to her elbows for a moment.

"Well, we gotta go!" Freyja slipped her hands into her pockets before running to her classroom. Van too, rushed back to her classroom soon after, leaving the two girls in shock.

Freyja returned home only to be shouted at by her brother. Freyja was chosen as the school's representative for an investigatory project competition. The teacher was impressed with Freyja's project proposal, a design of a facility that accelerates organic waste decomposition. However, the big secret that she's been hiding from her school is that the real inventor is her elder brother. And now, he wants to make sure that his invention will win through Freyja's defense. He trained his sister hard, day and night, making her solve problems, teaching her advanced scientific concepts. While Freyja managed to defend the project well in class, deep inside she would always feel wrong doing that. The truth is, she's only memorizing his brother's words, deceiving people as if the invention was hers. Her project partner, Ash, was also unaware of the real person behind the invention.

Her brother too, was not at all amused seeing her try 'strange' rituals, and hanging out with friends he believes, would ruin her concentration.

Despite this, Freyja actually welcomes the much needed distraction from the other problem she can't solve—the strange white light around her, the disturbingly vivid dreams about a silver-haired young man, everything else that she can't answer by reading her brother's books.

"NOW WHAT?" her brother shouted at the speechless girl. "Don't expect to win with THAT."

Freyja clenched her fists, tears fell from her eyes. Actually, she couldn't do it. She couldn't solve the mathematical problems, she couldn't help with the design, no nothing. No matter how much people would praise her, the invention that is only forced upon her is something that she will never be good at, especially in front of the real inventor. "I QUIT!" She shouted, running away.

Everything was just too much! She's trying to remember something important she knew she forgot. She's trying to figure out the strange white light she's giving off. She's trying to figure out why Van's crystal is emitting the same light. Though used to it, she's facing bullies at school and more. She's trying to figure out all too many things at once, she's breaking down.

Freyja, in her running, just found herself at the school, right in front of the circular bench where she met Van. All of a sudden, a flash of memory came into her. "You really love machines don't you?"

Who said those words? It was a very familiar and nostalgic voice. But when she forced herself to remember, a splitting headache came to her. Freyja fell onto her knees in pain. But, she wanted to know more than anything. Who was it? She's tired and frustrated, but who was this person she couldn't remember, but made her remember how she loves studying how things work. Who is this person? Freyja endured the pain.

"Could it be?" Kirin's face flashed in her mind. "Could it be you, Kirin?" A warm breeze blew.

The headache subsided. She felt her mind clear up. Kirin's gentle face popped up in her mind. But this time, no headache. He's smiling, gently. Freyja smiled too, in relief.

"Um Hello." A voice said from the other end of the bench.

"Oh hell…. WHAT!?" She jumped away, realizing she's not alone after all. It's the spaced out girl she met before. She's there and for sure, she heard her talk to herself like an idiot. Freyja wanted to disappear.

"I don't really know what happened, but aren't you the warrior of justice?" The girl said, with a straight face. She's so serious, Freyja wanted to laugh but held it in. She took a deep breath and smiled. "You're right." She sat down, on the other side of the bench across the girl and looked up at the sky.

"I'm Freyja. You?"

"Scarlet."

"Look," Freyja pointed up. "The sky has a nice scarlet color, isn't it?"

"Yup, just like the color of blood." The girl sounded exasperated. She smiled, self-deprecatingly.

"Don't be stupid." Freyja grinned. "It's what makes us alive, right?"

The girl looked at her in surprise, for a few seconds, and smiled sweetly with tears forming on her eyes. "Yeah, you're right."

Freyja stood up, stretched, full of energy. "Alright! I'm going back after all. I'll have to study, and make sure Kirin praises me!" Freyja chuckled, looking refreshed. She turned to Scarlet and waved at her. "See you tomorrow!" Freyja ran, in full speed, back to her house.

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