Freyja was about to head straight to bed when she heard a knock on the door. Freyja hurriedly swallowed the painkiller pill before opening it. It was Alaric, inviting her for a walk outside. She gladly accepted.

As they walked around the night town, Freyja couldn"t help but notice the damage that the phreinian did. The surrounding houses within the castle walls were destroyed, deserted. Even though it"s all over, it will still be hard for the people to recover from the damage and the trauma.

"Freyja…" Alaric"s words snapped her out of deep thoughts. "Yes?"

Alaric took a deep breath before continuing, looking fl.u.s.tered. Freyja felt a bit awkward, seeing him act like that. "I can"t forgive myself for being under that phreinian"s spell." Alaric began, which is something that Freyja expected. "... Sorry. Well, about THAT. You know… when I—"

"WELL!" Freyja glared at him, arms crossed, but lightening the mood up. "You sure scared me that time. You pushed me, pinned me down, and even shouted at me." Alaric cringed at every word she said. Then, Freyja grinned. "I"m just glad you"re back to normal now. More than anything, that"s what matters. If you"re really sorry, then make sure that doesn"t happen again, okay? And if there"s anything bothering you, you have to promise me that you will let us know." She chuckled, much to his relief.

Alaric took her hand, and on her palm, placed a shining ocean blue runestone with an "M"-like symbol on it. "I want you to have this rune."

"WOW!" Freyja"s eyes gleamed. "It"s a rune stone! You know, back in my previous world, we also have rune stones… but they don"t have aura and definitely not as beautiful as this one. Oh, sorry, I rambled about that."

"You do? Really?"

Freyja nodded. "The people over there also tried to channel aura and energy you know. But it didn"t really flourish in that world because of the strong barrier surrounding their dimension. Instead, they focused on technology. They have really advanced and amazing gadgets that you can"t find here!"

"Wow, you sure know a lot." He complemented with his usual gentle smile.

"Not really. Most of what I know about the dimensions are from the memories I recovered just recently. Most of those were teachings from my tutors in Celestia. Had I known I"d end up like this, I should have taken their lessons more seriously." Freyja excitedly continued, remembering her friends and travels from her previous world. "But I also studied quite hard in my other world! I"ve read a lot of books. And I also had quite some amazing adventures over there! Oops, am I saying weird things? Sorry." Alaric laughed and shook his head. "No, it"s fine. I"m happy to hear those stories. That rune, is the rune of protection. It signifies a forward movement, light amidst the dark. That rune is something from my mother."

"What? Then I can"t accept such precious gift, Alaric!" Freyja gasped, fearing that Alaric is only giving it to her as an apology. Freyja refused to take it, but Alaric a.s.sured her that it is not out of guilt. "No, please keep it. I want you to keep it. Please."

Resigning to his insistence, Freyja graciously accepted it. "Thank you, Alaric… I will treasure your gift, I promise."

And as they walked back to the castle, Freyja talked more about the things in her world.

~ o 0 o ~

"Your Majesty." Freyja paid her respects upon entering the throne room. There, the prince Saike sat on the throne, clad in a long, velvet blue robe with the monarch"s symbol embroidered at the back and on the sleeves. Kirin and Alaric were there too, along with the n.o.bles and people of Haia. "Forgive me. I wasn"t able to save the King. He had long been dead, since the creature possessing him used up all of his aura." The King died as soon as the phreinian lost his control over him, and she knows that even though the king tried to execute the prince once, he is still Saike"s father. "You should not apologize, nor bow your head. If anything, we should be the ones bowing before you. I can never thank you enough for saving my life, and this kingdom."

"And you should thank your people, who believed in you. And you should thank yourself for being able to stand against the king and his torture for the good of your people." Freyja added while walking closer to the prince, a wide smile on her face.

Saike stood from his throne and walked closer to her. "I am scared." He mumbled under his breath, just enough for Freyja to hear. She can see his trembling hands and eyes desperately holding back tears. This boy, is very scared, and rightly so. Haia is in a terrible state, to say the least. The rune barriers protecting their country are gone and would take some time to re-erect, the people are sick, hungry, and their isolation for many years does not make them appealing to surrounding countries. An invasion would not be surprising.

"We don"t have the barrier around Haia. The barrier is the very defense of the kingdom, it would need at least a year for the Haine crystal to return to its normal state."

"Listen Prince Saike, are you familiar of the northern lands of the Hawsdark continent?"

"Of course. We were once allies with the Aethelmaer family. Why?"

Freyja smirked. "Do they have a magical barrier around them? Do the other countries have such defenses around them?"

"Not all… "

"And yet, they manage to keep their defenses. Why is that so? Is there something their people can do which the people of Haia couldn"t?"

Freyja has seen her fair share of rulers, from Celestia, to the politicians in her previous world. This is why she can tell that despite his fears and imperfection, the prince Saike genuinely cares for his country and is determined to get it back on track. "Of course it"s not easy, it never will be." She said. "But you are the new king. And you can do new things from here on. It is your job to be the last one to give up. It"s your job to be both insanely practical, and insanely idealistic." She chuckled. "That"s what a leader is."

The king Saike felt a glimmer of hope hearing Freyja"s words. She"s right. They were too reliant on the Haine crystal that they didn"t bother thinking of alternative measures to defend their lands. He immediately started thinking of possible countries they can form an alliance with, maybe even open trade. Seeing him so serious, Freyja giggled.

"I have one last parting gift for you, Saike." She whispered to his ear, before jumping away from him. All eyes in the room were glued to her as she raised her right hand and started showing off her pure white aura.

"In the name of the Leafen bloodline of Celestia!" Freyja shouted, startling each and every soul in the room. People knew of the kingdom of Celestia only from legends, a creation story that most would dismiss as nonexistent. It was hard to believe what Freyja just said, but it was even harder to deny when she had her pure white aura on full display. Apart from Alaric and Kirin, it was everyone"s first time to ever see pure white aura.

From the medallion hanging around her neck, two streams of light escaped, like white dragons. Those streams of light suddenly took the form of two humans clad in white robes. On the left stood the stoic Aria, on the right stood the blonde Avice. The two of them put their left palms on their right shoulders, and their right palm on their left waist. The two bowed before Freyja, who"s holding the burning rune blade high up above her head.

"THE WHITE AURA!" The people exclaimed in awe, some, in fear. Kirin and Alaric too, bowed before Freyja with their hands on their shoulders and waists.

"I am Freyja Lenfiare Leafen of Celestia." She declared.

"C-celestia!?" Saike almost fell onto his knees, but forced himself to stand firm.

"That"s right. I am Freyja Leafen, heir to the throne of Celestia. Like you, I am also fighting for my homeland. So, don"t worry, King Saike, I am your friend. And we will both make it someday." Freyja grinned, and the prince gave an equally cheerful smile, a sweet, sincere smile she saw on his face for the very first time since they met. Freyja retracted the sword and Astrid returned to his human form, standing beside Freyja. "King Saike of Haia, it was an honor meeting you. Farewell." Right after the audience with the new king, Freyja, Kirin and Alaric immediately left the kingdom of Haia.

~ o 0 o ~

On board the airship bound to Runerich, Freyja swallowed another painkiller pill. She began sweating hard in the middle of the night, her every breath was painful to her lungs. Freyja locked herself up in the shower room to hide her condition from Kirin and Alaric. She undressed and quickly turned the shower on. Even the cold water couldn"t ease her pain. She crouched, winced, taking the pain in her chest the best she could.

The spiral wing mark on her chest glowed brighter as the pain grew worse.

"Lenfiare, is there something I can do?" Astrid materialized in his human body, holding the crouching Freyja. "Please, you have to tell us." Freyja shook her head. "Don"t look at me… I"m begging you, please don"t." Astrid turned his head the other way, but did not move a step away from where he"s standing. He understood what Freyja meant. She didn"t want anyone to see her in such a state. As the master of Astrid, Aria and Avice, she didn"t want them to see a weak leader.

Using the celestial aura within her, shortens her life, and the manifestation of this exchange is excruciating pain. This is something she didn"t want anyone to know about, especially her friends. Otherwise, they would surely stop her from using the white aura again. And she can"t do that. She NEEDS the white aura.

"Lenfiare, I am afraid Aria is incapable of healing your pain. Even if you"ve gotten your celestial body back, it is still too soon for you to be using such power. You were idle for many years." Astrid warned. "You called us all a while ago, and you"ve been using your aura for almost a whole week without rest. Please be more careful."

"Alfiore and my predecessors had to bear the same pain. This is the price we have to pay for caging Celestia"s core inside of us... this is nothing."

"No, they didn"t. Your predecessors only had to cage a small portion of the core within them. In addition, their hundreds of years of training is incomparable to your fleeting few years!" Astrid was uneasy, even though he shouldn"t be. "Lenfiare, why are you in such a hurry? Take the time you want, unlike humans, celestials live for thousands of years." Freyja answered with silence. Even if Freyja said nothing, the answer is quite obvious. Freyja didn"t want to live any longer than her friends… than Kirin.

"A shapeshifter and a puppeteer… They ARE phreinian abilities alright." Astrid spoke, changing the subject while Freyja continued to tremble in pain. He wanted to look back, he wanted to stop his master, but he is a servant who could never disobey the Lenfiare. For once, Astrid felt so frustrated, confused of what he must really be doing. A few more minutes and Freyja turned the shower off before drying herself with a towel. The pain has finally ceased.

"Thank you, Astrid. I"m fine now… you can return." She was smiling again, as if nothing happened. Astrid could only close his eyes and obey. "As you command, Lenfiare."

Freyja stepped out of the room to get some fresh air and there was Kirin, standing on the airship"s deck. "Can"t sleep?" He was about to go to her when Freyja suddenly ran to him and leaned her head on Kirin"s back, wrapping her arms around his waist. Kirin chuckled, but found the gesture adorable. "What"s the matter? Aren"t you feeling well?" Kirin asked and Freyja shook her head. "Just a little headache…"

"If you say so."

"Kirin…"

"What is it? Your highness?" He chuckled, remembering the flashy display Freyja did in front of Saike. He felt Freyja smile on his back. "Let me stay like this for a while." She whispered, tightening her hold. Then, Kirin"s wide hands enveloped hers.

"Of course." Kirin turned around, and held her cheek. He warmly smiled, a smile that never failed to dispel Freyja"s worries and pain.

Kirin opened his arms, and like a little child, she jumped at Kirin, hugging him tight. A wide smile on her face, her heart enveloped with his warmth.

~ o 0 o ~