Chapter 19：Stage EIGHTEEN: I Found You!

"What's your name?" A little girl, around five years old, pale, round-faced asked with twinkling eyes while looking up in the air. She had a transparent tube connected to her wrist, and looks very weak and skinny. But still, she won't stop smiling. "I am Freyja." Freyja remembered giving an answer. The little girl's eyes grew wider in amazement. "I am from Celestia."

"Huh? Where is that?"

"Celestia." Freyja didn't know how to respond either. She didn't know the strange place she's in, in the first place. There are people in different beds who looked weaker than normal, there are people walking around in white clothing, and machines she's never seen before in the floating capital.

What's more, she doesn't appear to have limbs, or a body. "I am going to die." Freyja said.

"Huh!? Why!?" The little girl shed tears. "Don't go! I'll help you!" She held her hand out to her.

"You will? Really?" Freyja felt a warm feeling envelop her entire self as she reached for that hand.

And that is all she can remember.

Freyja's mind went back to many years in the past, when she was still in elementary school. She's always spaced out, and never really fitted in school no matter how much she tried. She's always having headaches, always getting suddenly groggy from time to time. She often collapsed from time to time for apparently no reason at all. But, she had always been so fascinated with mirrors, and flying angels, and mysterious things. Always.

Whenever she would feel really depressed and down, whenever she would cry by herself, she remembered going near a certain mirror. There was a girl in there, who shared her every single emotion, thoughts, everything. That girl looked exactly like her. And that's because, the body that is reflected in the mirror, is originally hers.

Freyja opened her eyes all of a sudden, breaking in cold sweat. The little girl in front of her, full of hatred and pain, she recognized her right away. "You… you are her." She finally remembered. The little girl stopped crying, and looked at her with blank eyes. "Freyja, where is my body?" She asked, in a very childish tone. Freyja can't answer. "I want my body back. I want to walk outside too. I want to go on an adventure too. Come on, give me back my body, okay?" She said, walking closer and closer to Freyja. "You got your body back, Freyja. Can I have mine back too?" Freyja's silence irritated the little girl. "FREYJA!" She summoned five knives out of nowhere and sent them flying towards Freyja. She dodged, but a couple grazed her arms, and legs. "FREYJA! GIVE IT BACK!" The little girl screamed.

"Listen to me! Calm down!" Freyja can't do anything but run, and dodge her knives. "You left me! You left me here all alone! And you ran away with Kirin! You left me!" The girl got more and more hysterical by the second. Freyja couldn't run forever. She reached a dead end, and the moment she turned around, six flying knives came flying towards her. They didn't hit her, but it had an aura net that pinned Freyja against a wall. She was held up and can't move. "DAMMIT! LET ME GO!" She struggled, but the aura net is too strong. Apparently, it is also suppressing her aura.

"I know. I will kill your friends first!" She said with a wide smile. Then, pointing at the door, Freyja saw Van being cornered by another little girl who looks exactly like the one in front of her. "VAN! Get away! VAN!" She shouted, but Van won't hear her.

~ o 0 o ~

Van opened her eyes. Aside from a couple of grazes and bruises, she's alive. Feeling a familiar aura behind her, she looked back and found a pink sticker stuck to the wall. "Scar!" She sighed in relief, recognizing it. Scarlet's talisman, apparently, protected her. The little girl could not go to a certain distance around it. More than that, it's a solid link to the 'real world' and to her friends. Van regretted making fun of Scarlet for doing that. "My loss alright." She chuckled.

Van turned her attention back to the little girl, now in deep shock. Van peered into her face, and thought she looked familiar. But more importantly, she felt her chest heat up. Her crystal pendant, started giving off white aura! She pulled it out. Much to her surprise, while her own aura won't come out, the white aura can. White aura is the only thing working in that dimension!

Seeing her crystal, the little girl suddenly looked afraid. Van had an idea. She clenched her fists, with the pendant inside her right hand. Slowly, it covered her entire hand.

"It's payback time!"

Van rushed to the girl and punched her without holding back. She was hit, hard. The girl was sent flying across the room. "Stop being a brat and say it to my face! What the hell do you really want!?"

For a second, Van remembered saying the exactly the same thing to Freyja before, when they were in an argument not so long ago. "This girl reminds me of Freyja." She laughed.

As the little girl got up, Van felt the room collapsing. "Listen, I won't understand if you don't tell me. So, what do you really want? No one can help you if you keep being like that you know!" She looked at Van with surprised eyes. "Listen, if it's Kirin that you want, then you have to fight us fair and square!"

"What are you waiting for?" The girl asked. "Huh?"

"You already know how to kill me, don't you?"

"Oh. Yeah I do."

"Why are you hesitating?"

"I'm not hesitating. I just want to hear you out first."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Maybe, because… I kind of feel you. I was like that too. I was once keeping all my feelings and hate to myself. Not just me. Scarlet, Aya and Freyja. Yup. We were once like you. So, I can't bring myself to kill you without hearing what you have to say first. But it better be worth it!" Van hit her fists together, with every intention to scare the little girl.

The little girl stared at her silently. Then, the ground started shaking and the walls collapsed. "You're dumb." The little girl said before vanishing, leaving Van by herself in the collapsing room. "WHAT THE HELL!? COME BACK AND I'LL REALLY KILL YOU!" But Van had no more time left to spare. The ceiling started to collapse with big chunks of wooden debris falling. She can't risk whether they're illusions or real. Van ran from the collapsing room with all of her might.

The moment Van got out of the room, she found herself on an exactly similar room but intact. "I see. Every time I enter a room, it's like I'm being transported to a different dimension. I'm sure that's what happened to the three of them too." With this, she entered every single room, in random hopes to find any of her friends.

~ o 0 o ~

Aya opened her eyes. "Aya! Hey Aya! Are you okay?" Still out of it, she thought it's her fear that's making her hear voices in her head. "AYA! You're there aren't you!?" The voice was so loud, it won't stop, and she had to shout back. "Yeah! I'm here! Is that you, Van?"

Aya stood up and looked around. She can hear Van, that's for sure. But she can't see her anywhere! Then, just behind her, she felt something warm. Scarlet's pink sticker was glowing. "Don't tell me this thing saved me!" She jumped in relief, almost forgetting that the little girl trying to kill her is still in the room.

"Now… you're going to leave me too, aren't you?" The little girl started crying again. But this time, Aya felt more positive. "I'm sorry, I can't stay here. I have to go to Scar, Van and Freyja."

"WHY? Why is it always Freyja!?" The little girl's eyes grew fierce and murderous again. Aya stood on guard. "That thief! I will kill you all!"

The girl's rage is so strong, that all of a sudden, a cloud of thick black aura emerged from behind her. Aya took steps back, closer to Scarlet's pink sticker but much to her surprise, the dark aura is too strong that Scarlet's talisman stopped glowing and tore apart. "WHAT!? VAN! SCARLET!" Aya panicked.

Aya still can't summon her whips, but she's starting to feel that the room is not as isolated as it first appeared to be. She was sure that something happened while she is unconscious. She's guessing either Scarlet, Van or Freyja broke a wall in this sub-dimension trapping them. And she's right. Van made a 'pillar' collapse.

This is enough hope for her. She dashed out of the room, running from the little girl chasing her with knives floating around her. "DIE! DIE DIIIIE!" She sent her knives flying to Aya, but she managed to dodge them fast enough to avoid getting seriously hurt. "Van! Can you hear me!?" She shouted, keeping her senses as sharp as possible. "AYA! I can hear you!" Her eyes glimmered.

Then, Aya caught sight of another pink Talisman Scarlet stuck on the wall. She ran towards it. And just as soon as she touched it, she felt the wall crack. "What the—" She jumped back, surprising even the little girl. The wall cracked, and from the cracks, bright rays of light appeared. Aya felt energized. Her aura starting to awaken once again. "It's back!" In joy, she summoned her whips first thing, deflecting the little girl's knives with ease.

"Aya!" One more smash and the wall crumbled, revealing a sweaty Van with cuts and bruises all over her body. "Van! You're back!" Aya couldn't help but jump and hug her in relief. "Save it for later, she's getting away!" Van and Aya chased after the little girl, who is now escaping in a hurry. Aya used her whips to catch her, but the little girl escaped. She disappeared. "Van, how did you break that wall?"

"Apparently, only the white aura works inside this sub-dimension."

"So, you noticed it too? Every room leads to a different world, I thought."

"Seems like it. We're trapped in many small dimensions with almost impossibly hard to find links."

"But Scar's pink talismans, I saw them!"

"Me too. Who could have guessed sticking those pink stickers can actually save us! Gotta treat her some yummy snacks after this!"

Aya chuckled. "Yeah. Seems like she made the links for us. We owe her a pretty expensive snack, don't you think?"

"Anyway, let's go get them and kick that creepy girl's ass." Van and Aya dashed forward. "I agree!"

~ o 0 o ~

Scarlet reached a dead end. The little girl standing behind her, furious. Her running away made her angrier, she summoned even more knives and threw it all at her. Scarlet managed to dodge some, but a good number wounded her limbs. Good thing they were only grazes and minor cuts. But if this continues, she's not sure if she can dodge serious wounds any more.

Still, her aura won't appear. Scarlet doesn't have a choice, but to do what she's long wanted to do. She stopped running and turned around to face the little girl.

"Freyja once told us a story about her childhood…" She started speaking in a soft, gentle voice. The little girl, surprisingly, appeared interested that the floating knives around her dropped to the ground. "…she had always loved those dolls. Millie, right? Yep. She was her favorite." She started walking closer to the little girl who just stared at her silently, without blinking.

She called her Freyja's given name in the world. The girl smiled. "I knew it. You are her. You are the girl who saved my friend, Freyja." Scarlet crouched, leveling her eyes to hers. "Because of your body, your life, Freyja survived. Because Freyja survived, I also am here right now. So, I owe my life to you." She smiled sweetly at the girl. "Now tell me, why do you want us to die?"

The little girl looked down, unable to speak another word. Scarlet confirmed her hunch. The girl is not violent in nature. She actually is very kind. She is not the type to hurt others. But, something is causing her to be aggressive. "It's okay, I am Scarlet, I won't hurt—" Just as when she was about to touch her, the girl's eyes met her, and the little girl smiled creepily. She's suddenly covered in a cloud of dark, sinister aura. "Then, stay here with me!" She suddenly grabbed Scarlet's wrist, gripping it tighter and tighter. She didn't have enough time to escape. Her grip was so strong, her hand felt as if it's going to come off. Just as when she thought she'd lose a hand, something cut the little girl's hands, which grew back anyway after a few seconds.

Van and Aya jumped in front of her, shielding her from the little girl. Van is with her grey aura daggers while Aya has her whips out. Soon, she also felt her aura back. Scarlet summoned her flame arrows fast, and this time, it appeared.

"Van! Aya! How did you find me!?" She fought the urge to hug them both.

"Because I am awesome." Van laughed, chasing after the girl. "Don't let her escape!" Aya and Scarlet followed.

~ o 0 o ~

Freyja smiled in relief, seeing that her friends are alright. "They're not easy to kill, I tell you. Hell won't like them there." She even managed to crack a joke despite being tightly bound. The little girl looked dejected more than ever. She's speechless. The rooms, the entire sub-dimension is starting to crumble and they can all feel it. Freyja looked at the little girl, still fascinated with their resemblance.

Just then, Freyja remembered another memory. She remembered hearing a voice when she was thirteen years old. It was a voice that urged her, that kept on asking her who she is and saved her many, many times. It was a voice that is desperately keeping her alive. That voice, is her own voice. It was 'Freyja's' voice. Living in this little girl's body for a long time made her hurt both this little girl and Freyja. In the end, she chose to be the Freyja who chases after Celestia. But in the process, she almost forgot about the little girl who lent her the body 'Freyja' needed to survive in the first place. "No matter how you look at it, I was on the wrong." She murmured. She took her body, displaced her, left her in this mirror world and even forgot about her. And worse, after taking her life away from her, she even hated it. She hated school, she hated living, she hated that she was isolated and felt different.

Freyja gave her nothing but sad and painful thoughts while in her body. Coupled with the dimension aura leak problem, this little girl's aura turned aggressive, piled more and more, and finally, she had enough. Freyja couldn't bring herself to blame this little girl. Should she be in her place, she isn't confident to say she wouldn't do the same.

"If I die, would she be happy?" Freyja, started losing the drive to fight her. "It was my fault anyway. I should know more than anyone who it feels to be left by yourself."

Just as when she's having these thoughts, she heard a rather loud voice. It was so loud, it's annoying. "FREYJA!!! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE YOU DUMBASS!?"

"WHAT THE HELL!? YOU'RE SO LOUD!" She shouted back, almost instinctively. Realizing that for a sec she forgot the severity of her situation, she chuckled. The walls of the room started cracking. "NO!" The little girl panicked. "NO! DON'T!" She's getting more and more hysterical. Not for long, the walls crumbled completely, the entire room turned so bright, it's like they're high up in the sky.

Van, Scarlet and Aya ran to Freyja. "HEY YOW! Nice pose!" Van is as annoying as ever. "Frey, you okay?" Scarlet is being like her usual worried self. "Come on, let's get out of here!" And Aya, she may look scared but she's actually pretty badass with those whips. Freyja sighed in relief, at the same time, feeling the white aura getting stronger and stronger. In a few seconds, the dark aura nets binding her crumbled, freeing her. Freyja stretched her wound and bruise-covered limbs, hopping and even punching the air. "Yup, I think I'll be okay."

"Freyja, you have to dispel her." Van reminded with all seriousness. The four of them looked at the crying little girl on the floor, covered in thick dark aura. She's rolling in pain, she's calling for help. "Frey, you're the only one who can save her." Scarlet urged.

"She's been waiting for you." Aya gave her a push.

Freyja closed her eyes, letting her aura flow freely, slowly filling the space with the celestial presence. She called out her aura, without hesitations, without minding if it will hurt her body or if it will run out. She called it all out. The air around them whirled violently, like a storm clearing everything in its path.

Freyja concentrated her aura, as well as her most sincere feelings, on her right hand, forming the biggest white aura sword the three of them has ever seen. Van gaped in surprise. Scarlet and Aya wide-eyed.

Slowly, Freyja walked towards the girl, and called her name. The little looked at Freyja with teary eyes. And so did she, to the girl.

Freyja knelt down and wrapped her arms around the girl. She hugged her ice-cold body tight. She was trembling, tears gushing out of her eyes. "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry I left you. But I'm here now." She whispered, before piercing the white aura sword right through the girl's body. The little girl's feet wobbled and fell down on Freyja with her little arms flung on Freyja's shoulders.

The dark aura surrounding her started dissipating, little by little.

Much to Freyja's surprise, the little girl weakly wrapped her arms around her neck and lovingly sank her face in her shoulder. "Do you remember?" She weakly asked. "I was in the hospital. They said I was going to die, but I saw an angel." The little girl narrated.

"I knew it was an angel. She said she'd be with me. Always. And she'd save me. And we'd go on adventures!" Freyja felt the girl smile as she continued with her story. "The angel went inside me. She taught me how to fly! And we went on an adventure together! I was so scared, but not anymore…" Freyja tightened her hug. The little girl's body is starting to get lighter and lighter, as if dissipating with the vanishing aura.

"I've always… wished to see an angel. I'm so happy." The girl's limbs disappeared. Her torso, and her head.

"I love you Freyja!" She heard her happy voice, getting farther and father. Finally, it sounded so peaceful, so sweet, just like the first time they met.

"Me too. I love you. I love you."

"When I get my body back, take me to Celestia okay?"

"Of course!"

"And let's play there."

"As much as you like!"

"You have to find… your way back."

"Who do you think you're talking to? Of course, I will."

"Good night."

"Until you wake up."

Not for long, the dark aura completely disappeared, along with the girl, along with the sub-dimension. Finally, they are back to the old, dusty, room where a shattered mirror is standing.

"Thank you, for everything. Until we meet again." Freyja whispered for one last time, wiping tears from her eyes.

~ o 0 o ~