"FINALLY! I"m dead tired." Freyja finally breathed a sigh of relief upon arrival to their destination city in the southern continent. For the past month, they"ve been travelling non-stop, confronted by a.s.sa.s.sins every single day.

Compared to the more turbulent north, the south was a rather small, cold, and relatively peaceful continent. The only problem is that, because of its relative isolation and cold regions, developed cities are rare. The city they just arrived at, is one of them.

"We need to re-stock on our supplies. And maybe get some rest too." Alaric suggested, looking at the city"s map. "There"s a nice hotel over there. Let"s go now." Kirin suggested, ma.s.saging his stiff neck.

The hotel was fancier than they expected. Excited Freyja was about to follow her friends inside, when she caught a glimpse of a young lady, around sixteen years old, forcefully dragged by five men to an alley. "HEY! What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing!?" She ran to her rescue without hesitation, throwing a stone at one of the men"s head.

"b.u.t.t out outsider! This girl will be the prize for tomorrow"s race."

"Race? Prize?" Freyja sneered.

"See, you don"t even know anything! So, mind your own business, kid."

"Wait a minute!" Freyja walked towards them casually, "You make girls as prizes? Come on, who came up with this bulls.h.i.t?" One of the men tried to hit her with a wooden plank. She didn"t move. Freyja was about to block the strike with her short sword when suddenly, the girl ran in front of her and took the attack instead. "HEY! What are you doing!?"

Freyja grabbed the plank and broke it into two, with her bare hands. Then, she took the young lady in her arms. "You shouldn"t have done that, that thing wouldn"t have scratched me!" Freyja shouted, shaking her.

The girl opened her eyes, and wiped the blood off her arm. Then, she stood in front of the men. "Listen, please don"t involve her. I will do what you want, but just please let me off today. My younger brother is very sick. Please!" The young lady begged, but the men didn"t listen. Freyja sighed. "Miss, you have no idea how strong I am, relax." She a.s.sured, taking the girl behind her. The men laughed at her, and Freyja laughed back.

"Alright, since I really want to rest now and I don"t want trouble, I will refrain from butchering you guys. So, for now…" Freyja took a few gold coins and threw them at their feet. "…take it or leave it? She will come back tomorrow. It"s not like she can run, can she?"

The men looked at each other and picked up the coins Freyja threw before leaving them.

"I can"t thank you enough for what you did." The girl"s took her hands, shivering in fear. Her name was Meimi. She was about to head back home, but Freyja insisted to come, making sure she won"t get attacked again. Though hesitant, she took Freyja to her home, after Freyja insisted that she"ll be more worried if she goes back alone.

It was a peaceful ten-minute walk, and they reached a small, one-room concrete house in the residential area of the city. Meimi ran to the kitchen, brewed tea for Freyja and scrambled for some biscuits she can offer. But Freyja a.s.sured her that she"s full and to not worry about anything.

"You see miss Freyja, its only me and my brother here. Our parents pa.s.sed away long ago and he"s sick. So, sorry if we can"t offer you something good."

"No! The tea is tasty! Besides, I really admire your courage. You are only sixteen and you are already raising your brother by yourself."

"And I was really surprised that miss Freyja is older than me!"

"Uh, thanks but let"s change the topic okay?" Freyja shook her head, making Meimi chuckle. "By the way, you said you really are going to return tomorrow, but what is that race thing?"

"Well you see, this city has an age-old tradition celebrating the festival of the wings in honor of the G.o.ds of Celestia."

Freyja concealed her surprise, hearing about Celestia from Meimi. Of all the continents, the south has the most stories and legends about celestials, it"s not surprising. But to actually hear accurate bits of details is still unsettling.

"…and they said that thousands of years ago, the winged G.o.ds of Celestia came to this country and saved it from a great deluge. So that they will feel our grat.i.tude from the heavens, we hold an annual race held here in the capital and the winners get the loveliest maiden as a wife chosen by the ruler himself."

"And it happened to be you. A complement, yes, but not really something to make you happy, I see."

"Yes, although I do want to please the G.o.ds, I am worried about my brother."

"I"m pretty sure the "G.o.ds" of Celestia do not give a c.r.a.p." Freyja thought, standing up. Then, she entered the sick brother"s room. He was only eight, and he looked so thin and weak. "Aria, can you do something about him?" She whispered and Aria replied with a yes. "Lenfiare, that boy is not really ill. It"s just that his body is weak. That"s why minor illnesses affect him more than usual."

"If we can strengthen his muscles and improve his body condition, he"d be fine, right?" Meimi just stared at Freyja who"s suddenly mumbling to herself. "Don"t worry Meimi, I think I can do something for your brother." She knelt beside him, closed her eyes and summoned Aria.

"WHAT"s THAT!?" Meimi exclaimed, jumping away from her instinctively. She felt something warm surrounding Freyja. She couldn"t understand what it was, but it did not feel sinister at all. Meimi stared, dumbfounded , as Freyja"s hands glowed with radiant white light. It didn"t take long and the boy opened his eyes. "Meimi? Is that you?" He called.

"Yes! How are you feeling?" She ran to his side, holding his hand, and feeling his forehead. "Your fever is gone!" Meimi exclaimed, looking at Freyja with tears in her eyes. "How did you do that!?"

Freyja chuckled, scratching the back of her neck. "Well, you can say that its one of my abilities." She bashfully explained. "Anyway, Meimi, he still needs to rest. Make sure he gets lots of nutritious food, and exercise, and he should be fine." Freyja turned her back and grabbed her bag before heading for the door. "I need to go back to my friends. They must be wondering where I am by now. And I"m glad you"re safe." Freyja smiled.

"Wait! I can"t thank you enough…" Meimi grabbed her hand, wanting her to stay for a bit more. But Freyja refused. "Don"t worry. Tomorrow, I promise you, I will win the race and free you." She winked at the blushing girl before leaving the house.

~ o 0 o ~

The next morning, Freyja ran to the plaza first thing, all fired up and energized. Of course, dragging her friends along.

Everyone exchanged glares with one another, as if securing victory with their eyes. Freyja and her friends stood in front of the line as the announcer explained the rules to the race.

"Good morning everyone! Thank you for coming to the annual Wings Festival! Before we begin, I will explain the rules of the race. It is very simple, all you have to do is reach the finish line through the mountain course as fast as you can! Get the flag on top of the mountain and return here. But here"s the twist, you will be tied to your partner. You will have to work with your buddy to get the flag. But once you get the flag, only one can return to the finish line."

"Great, so this guy is actually telling us to pair up and beat the c.r.a.p out of each other after we get the flag?" Alaric laughed.

"One question, is the use of runes and aura allowed?" One of the partic.i.p.ants asked. "And what if someone dies?"

"Of course, you can use anything you want! You signed a waiver that you won"t hold the committee responsible for whatever happens to you. The prize is this lovely maiden, who will serve you for the rest of her life!" And the curtains behind the stage opened, revealing a beautiful lady in white veil, Freyja"s friend, Meimi.

"Believe me, please don"t give that killing suggestion to these people." Freyja sighed, looking at Kirin and Keon. Then, she shifted her eyes back to Meimi and smiled. "Alright, I"m in. I"ll get that prize and get this whole thing over with. You hear me Meimi? I am going to save you!" She winked at the lady, making her beet red. "F-Freyja it"s you!"

"I think it"s good practice if I join as well." Alaric said stretching his arms.

"This would be child"s play" Keon joined in.

"I knew we"d end up like this sooner or later. Good thing the hotel had fantastic amenities." Kirin stepped forward, arms crossed.

And finally, the announcer revealed the names of the pairs. After a long, long lists of names, finally, Freyja was called. "Leafen Freyja and Aethelmaer Keon!" Freyja and Keon looked at each other, surprised. The a.s.sistant tightly tied a red ribbon on their wrists soon after. "Aethelmaer Kirin and Fullmar Alaric!" The judge called.

"What the f.u.c.k?" Kirin and Alaric sneered at each other.

"Disappointed? Switch with Alaric, I"ll be fine with him." Suggested, which Freyja strongly refused.

"Oh, come on!" Freyja dragged Keon, "We"re gonna get the first prize, kay!?" She exclaimed, holding onto Keon"s arm tight. "Let"s beat the h.e.l.l out of them!"

Keon chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, let"s do that."

"We got ourselves scary rivals. Those two can both fly." Alaric said, scratching the back of his neck. "But we won"t lose. Right Kirin?... Kirin? How dare you leave your partner!" Before the race started, a solemn prayer is offered to the G.o.ds of Celestia whom they worship. They called a G.o.ddess Lenfir. "Oh, G.o.ddess Lenfir, with utmost beauty, gentleness, the motherly embrace, the stars in her silver eyes and long, silver hair of silken threads…" Keon, Kirin, and Alaric couldn"t hold back their laughter, looking at the p.i.s.sed Freyja. "Get this c.r.a.p over with, enough praying let"s go." She mumbled. "…and with your holy wings, please accept our offering!" As soon as the prayer ended, the fireworks were set off, and the race began. Everyone started hitting each other, others were just running for their lives. Alaric was being dragged by the very fast runner Kirin. Not able to keep up with his speed, Alaric conjured an ice path beneath his feet, sliding.

Keon summoned a flying rune beast and together with Freyja, they easily led the race. "We are sure to win this unless…" Keon and Freyja thought, looking at Kirin. "Our flying speed is still no match for Kirin"s running speed." Indeed, Kirin overtook them as expected and he stuck his tongue out at her before leaving them all behind. "Wh-what"s with that!? You"re going to pay for this KIRIN!" Freyja is both annoyed and fired up. She swore she"ll beat him even if it cost her life. "Let"s go crush them, Keon!"

As Kirin lead the race, Alaric constantly conjured an ice path, tightly holding onto a rope tied around Kirin"s waist. "So long Freyja! Keon!" He too, overtook them thanks to Kirin"s speed.

Agitated, Freyja stood up, held onto Keon"s shoulders and summoned Avice" wings for a speed boost. Keon too, made his rune beast fly faster that they began catching up to Kirin.

"I"m not the one to talk, if we all run by foot, I"ll be one of the slowest for sure." Freyja thought while thinking of anything that can be used as an advantage. She looked around, a.n.a.lyzing the terrain from up above. A few arrows from the ground flew at them, but she fended them off quite easily with her aura. A few were brave enough to attack Kirin, despite knowing he is from the feared Aethelmaer clan, but even before they could go a meter closer to him, his dark aura is more than enough to scare the wits out of those who dared. "Pathetic…" He spat, boredom in his face.

The race went on for about twenty minutes, and almost all of the partic.i.p.ants were already out of the race, exhausted, or forfeited fearing for their lives. Only a couple of teams were left, which includes Freyja, Keon, Kirin and Alaric. And as expected, Kirin and Alaric are still on the lead.

"Freyja, Kirin and Alaric are almost there, what do we do!?" Keon said, finally seeing the flag ontop of the mountains, and Kirin ahead of them.

"FREYJA! FLY! DO IT! Avice can be faster than Kirin and we"re on air!" Keon confidently suggested, seeing the thick clump of trees on Kirin and Alaric"s path. "I"ll throw you and give you an initial boost."

"Wait what?"

"Do you want Kirin to get that woman for his wife?"

"h.e.l.l no!"

"Then I"ll throw you. Trust me?" The only way to make up for Kirin and Alaric"s lead is to throw Freyja to the flag and summon Avice"s wings to fly. It"s quite the gamble, but Freyja felt she can do it. Freyja grinned. "I sure do. ROGER THAT!" She crouched and summoned Avice. Then, Keon gave his rune beast a speed boost, focusing his aura into his palms. In the count of three, Keon pushed Freyja forward with his aura, majestic white wings emerged from her back, granting her flight like no other winged creature can.

Like lightning from the heavens, Freyja soared as she s.n.a.t.c.hed the flag from Kirin"s reach. As soon as she got it, Keon nodded, ordering her to return to the finish line at once. It didn"t take long, and she reached the city center, all eyes were on her.

"Look! The girl has… WINGS! WHITE WINGS!!!"

The astonished spectators couldn"t believe what they were seeing. It was the first time they saw wings made of pure white aura, the aura that is said to be possessed by no other than the Celestials, the creatures they worshipped as G.o.ds.

"That girl is… is…. She is a G.o.ddess from Celestia!" The people roared, panicked, shouting praises, bowing their heads before her as she finally got the flag to the finish line. Even the announcer was speechless. "Alright! That makes me the winner, right?" She cheered before calling Avice back in her medallion.

"That girl is mine now!" She pointed at Meimi with s smirk. "Since she belongs to me, I order her to continue living here, with her brother and she will serve no other master but me."

"The way she healed my little brother… those wings… there is no mistake. That is the white aura from the legends!" Even Meimi, the prize, was so surprised she couldn"t speak nor move.

Now that Freyja realized what her flashy arrival just did, she decided to use the opportunity to speak to all of them. Freyja proudly stepped forward and announced herself. "Listen everyone. I am Freyja Leafen, Lenfiare of Celestia." She began, calling her guardians Avice and Aria out for show. "While I do appreciate how you cherish your past with my homeland, we would all be happier if you don"t use prizes that would enslave people. Personally, I would be happier if a prayer or a tribute wouldn"t require a single person to feel bad about it. It would be better if we could all enjoy it and not ruin someone else"s life!"

"…" The people were all astounded to even comment. Even so, Freyja kept her proud face and went on with her speech. Freyja had a good plan in mind just then. She borrowed Avice" wings once more and fled to the top of the plaza"s tower, before materializing thousands of tiny feathers that fell onto the people.

"The G.o.ddess is blessing us!" The people shouted, hastily grabbing the aurfeathers, only to have them vanish when they touch them.

"Celestia"s blessing will only be a blessing. The real power is still inside you. The one who will make the miracles you dream of will be you, yourselves. The heavens have already granted you more than what you need, it"s up to you how you use them." She spoke, and the people solemnly listened. "Your hearts to dream, your eyes to see, your feet to walk, your hands to reach out." With that, Freyja did one last trick before vanishing before the people. She covered herself with her materialized wings and in the view of the people, she is disappearing, along with the wings. But in truth, she used the materialized-wings as a diversion and had Avice carry her down the tower, and away from the crowd.

"Sheesh, that was scary. Celestials don"t even do public speeches anyway. But, oh well." As soon as she landed on an alley, she called her celestial guardians back inside the pendant, before crouching. "s.h.i.t…" She cursed, heavily sweating, her hand tightly clenched on her chest. "…it hurts." Sensing Kirin and the others arrive, she regained her usual posture, as if it was nothing. "Hey there! Glad you found me."

"What a show, you did back there." Kirin sighed his palm on his forehead while shaking his head. Alaric clapped his hands, laughing. "Wow, you"re so cool!"

"I never knew you could speak like a venerable priest though." Keon added.

"I know it"s going to be hard to change their ways. But at least we did out part." Freyja sighed, stretching her sore arms.

"After that ruckus, we can"t stay here any longer." Kirin handed over Freyja"s bag to the girl. "We took them already from the hotel, let"s go now.���

"Sorry. We should have relaxed more." Freyja apologized, before the four of them headed towards the city"s gates. "Nah, the next town will be much more peaceful. We can relax there." Even before they could leave, however, a voice stopped them.

"WAIT!!! Wait!"

It was the most beautiful lady of the town, Meimi.

"Thank you, Thank you so much! I will never forget everything you said!" Meimi ran to Freyja, hugged her tight and much to their surprise, she kissed her cheek. Keon, Alaric and Kirin dumbfounded! Freyja too, was all red and speechless. "I love you, Freyja. I will never forget you."

"Uh… Uh… yeah, um… We"ll I… Uhh…" Freyja was stuttering, not sure what to say, especially that her companions are giving her "the look." "We"ll leave now. Take care of yourself Meimi, and your brother too. Goodbye!" She held Meimi"s hands before bidding her farewell.

With only Meimi watching, Keon summoned his flying rune beast, the four of them hopped on and immediately left further south.

Freyja waved at Meimi who watched them with eyes sparkling in awe and wonder.

"But," Freyja thought as they fled away, "To whom will those "G.o.ds from Celestia" pray, when they are the ones who need help?" Looking up, she sighed.

~ o 0 o ~