Chapter 16：Stage FIFTEEN: Written on the Wall

"I'm HUNGRY!" Van whined. "Zip it, we're almost there!" Frey smiled, finally seeing the gates to her family's old house. "We're here!"

Van threw herself on the ever-familiar red sofa, relaxed as ever. Scarlet and Aya on the other hand, looked more uneasy than usual. They've been fidgeting, looking around, especially at the old black-and-white pictures hanging on the wall. "Hey Frey, who are these people again?" She asked.

"Oh. That one's my great grand mother, father side. This one is my great grandfather. I think these people are my uncles and aunts. This one is dad." She replied, though curious of Scarlet's sudden interest. "Why, is there something wrong?"

Scar didn't hear her question. She continued staring at the pictures. "You mean, HER great grand mother…" She thought.

"Well," Aya replied, "We've been thinking that, we haven't explored this place yet. It's the place where you grew up in, so we're thinking it might be helpful to investigate."

"Yeah. Remember when this place caught fire? It's unscathed. And it's disturbing. All buildings that caught fire were burned to the ground except for this place." Scarlet joined in.

"But we don't feel anything special about this place. I mean, there isn't a trace of sinister aura, is there?" Van stood up. "Frey?"

"You're right." Freyja felt her heart pound in excitement. What they said makes sense and she can't believe she overlooked that fact. She's been busy hunting Phreins and aggressive aura somewhere else that she forgot to look at her own house. "It is worth the try. Let's go!" An energetic smile on her face.

For starters, they quietly went around. They browsed every room, every single wall, furniture, decorations. Freyja's grandmother, who's the only one living in that house, is deeply asleep. The house was awfully quiet, it creeped them out. First, they entered a room in the far back of the house. It used to be Freyja's parents' room, which she also shared with them at one point. But now, it's covered in thick sheets of dust, piles of unused furniture and other things stocked inside. Inside, there is an old, faded mirror. Van looked at her reflection, and suddenly felt a chill run through her spine.

"What's the matter Van?" They all rushed to her side. "Oh!" Freyja saw the mirror and laughed. "I remember this. When I was young, I loved staring at myself here. Pretty vain, no? Haha!" She's the only one who is relaxed. "Frey, stand back." Scarlet pulled a small, pink talisman and stuck it on the mirror, much to Freyja's confusion. "Huh? What's that for?"

"This mirror, is definitely strange." All agreed, but Freyja. "What's that anyway? Are you even sure that's going to work?" Freyja's light heartedness made them even more worried. Usually, Freyja is the first one to sense an unusual presence. But at least inside the house, she's the most insensitive and oblivious. They couldn't help but think that Freyja's gotten so used to the presence, it appears normal to her. It's a different story for the three of them. The more they explored, the stronger the uneasiness grew.

"Shut up you powerless kid, you can't even use your celestial power now so don't complain!" Van stuck a tongue out, starting their usual comical fight. "What's that you monkey!?"

While Van and Freyja kept the mood light, Scarlet placed talismans in every suspicious corner as they walked around. They went to the house's basement floor, the unused rooms, dark corners. Finally, they returned to the living room to take a quick rest.

"Freyja, I'll ask you a question…" Van mumbled while pointing to a huge black spider by the window. Freyja jumped away, trembling in fear. "We both hate spiders right?"

Freyja nodded. "Hell yeah."

"What if… killing the spider with your bare hands and eating it is the only way to go to Kirin, will you do it?" Freyja is so mystified by Van's randomness. First Scar's interest in her ancestors, and now, Van. Nevertheless, she seriously thought about it. She felt tingly just by looking at it. But if the situation really turns out to be like what Van suggested, Freyja has a firm decision. She clenched her fists. Facing Van with all seriousness, she answered. "Of course, do you really have to ask? How about you, will you?"

Van looked at the spider once more. "Yes, no doubt."

"That time, when I saw him… I was down and sad. I almost lost hope. Mom, Dad, I don't know… then, when I saw him smile, I felt very relieved. It's as if he's telling me not to give up, I don't know… that's why I want to be with him… I want to see him…" Van continued.

Scarlet, and Aya both looked down hearing this. They felt the same. Scarlet also feels different and was always made fun of because of her dreams and visions. The same with Aya.

SLAM! Freyja slammed the table so hard it hurt their ears for a second. "What's with all the faces guys!? We're here to find something, not get all emo!" Freyja optimistically shouted. "Come on!!!"

The three of them smiled, feeling refreshed as well. "Anyway, the key to this is you Freyja." Scarlet pointed out to her, "When you were little, did you have strange experiences in this place?"

Freyja sat down while cupping her chin, "Hmmm… lets' see…. Well, I did experience a lot, but I'm not sure if it'll help."

"That's fine!"

"You see," Freyja started, "When I was little, I remember seeing a lady singing over there." She pointed out to a nearby chair by the living room's window. "Also, I once heard a little boy calling me while inside that room." She pointed next to her grandmother's old room. "And since I was so scared, I ran off to my brothers. There was also an instance where in that mirror, I saw a lady standing and looking at me… I don't know…" Freyja pointed to the old mirror that caught Van, Scarlet and Aya's eyes in her parents' old room. She tried to think harder and harder.

"A lady… singing, and in that mirror too… also, there was a boy calling out to you…." Aya shriveled at the thought of that. "A GHOST!"

"No." Freyja thought, "They might be manifestation of my old memories? At least judging from what I've been remembering so far, maybe those are actually images from the memories I lost."

Van stood up, seeing something on the wall. It is covered by a wood cabinet, but she saw some scribbles which she thought, contains a bit of aura. "What's this?" Van went inside Freyja's grandmother's bedroom, quietly so as not to wake her grandmother. "There's something written here…" Van called all of them, to push the cabinet covering the rest of the drawings.

When they did, a wall filled with faded scribbles and drawings was revealed to them. "They are like drawings of a pre-schooler…" Van peered closer. Freyja smiled in nostalgia. Of course she recognized whose drawings those are. She did them all back when she was around five. "Oh, I loved to draw in this wall when I was yo—" Freyja suddenly fell speechless upon seeing one, eerie drawing.

"What's the matter Freyja?" They all examined it. Van fell onto her knees upon seeing one small doodle. "This… this looks so much like Kirin!!!" She wiped the dust off the wall, only to find it even more resembling to the young man. There was a drawing of a boy with white spikey hair and sharp eyes. Though drawn in cartoon-fashion, the notable features were spot-on.

"This is creepy Frey, you were a pre-schooler and yet you already knew his face! Didn't you meet him when we were in first year or so?" Scarlet felt her hairs rise.

The four of them wiped the dust off the wall together. They tried to piece Freyja's doodles together. And not for long, they saw a nerve wrecking connection.

"This… a drawing of a girl with wings… a lady with long hair wearing a gown… a man with long black hair and a sword…" Scarlet narrated, "Freyja, these resemble your description of those people in Celestia."

"Five flying things, a small castle and a huge orb… Hey is it possible the 'guardians' thing are these?" Aya added.

"And Kirin's face? But if these were Freyja's memories how come Kirin's face is here? It's not like she met him when she was still in Celestia or so…" Van found it the most intriguing. "Just who exactly is Kirin?"

"This has to lead to something. Freyja, think, come on, think hard!" Scarlet urged, believing that the one to confirm their interpretations is her and her alone. They knew that it'll only be her who'll unlock the mystery.

"I remember a bit about focusing aura on your eyes. While we can all see aura, powering-up the eyes is another story. I'm sorry, I can't do that yet." Freyja sighed in disappointment. She cannot even control yet her white aura, much less do an advanced technique.

While feeling uncertain, Van took her hand. Scarlet took the other. Aya nodded and grabbed Van and Scarlet's other hands. "Freyja, let's do this together. Let's try."

Freyja's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who are you?" Van squeezed her hand. "Who are you!?"

"FREYJA!" She shouted.

"And who is Freyja!?"

Freyja fell speechless for a while.

"I'm a Celestial! Mind you!" Van's words were like a huge slap on her face. Scarlet and Aya smiled. She squeezed their hands back and fixed her eyes at the doodle-covered wall. "Let's do this."

Freyja closed her eyes and slowly, her white aura started to leak out. She normally wraps it around her body, but this time, she let it flow all out. The white aura flowed into Scarlet, to Aya and to Van. The four of them, tried to control such enormous white aura by wrapping parts of it around their bodies. "O—ouch…" They could feel the burning pain, but they didn't let go. "It's burning hot!" Van exclaimed, feeling the hot aura flowing through her. To them, it's as if they're being submerged in boiling hot liquid. They squeezed each other's hands tighter and never let a single finger go. Then, Freyja carefully directed the now-stabilized flow of white aura into her eyes.

Little by little, Freyja opened her eyes and carefully looked at the doodles. The entire wall, is covered in a very very thin white aura. One you cannot detect without focusing your aura into your eyes. She looked around, and it's the same everywhere. However, Freyja suddenly gasped and jumped away, letting go of Scarlet and Van's hands, breaking the aura loop in an instant. Heavily sweating, she chased after her breath before facing her friends.

"Frey, what's the matter?" Scarlet asked. "This entire house…" Freyja said, with a trembling voice. "...is covered in white aura! And…" She swallowed before continuing. "In the wall something is written in aura. It says:

'IN MIRROR HELP."

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