Suddenly, a bad premonition rose within Misha"s heart as she slowly made her way towards the place she heard the bangs. Her powers could take her faster there, but she forgot about them in her nervousness. As she reached a narrow alley, she saw the person she was finding all this while standing surrounded by people with guns. Time seemed to have stopped for Misha. A bullet seemed to be moving towards the person she waited for so long to meet. A single teardrop escaped her eyes and slid down her cheeks landing on the ground, mixing with the ground. A small beautiful flower grew out of the place where the tear fell.
No one realised, but time actually froze at that moment. Misha ran towards Brad as he stood there surrounded by uniformed men and a bullet was moving in slow motion almost close to his heart.
Misha madly dashed towards Brad and forced him out of the way and stood in his place, and faced the strange looking instruments and the bullet, which seemed heavily lethal to her.
She spun around, grabbed Brad"s hand and madly dashed towards the riverside. She jumped over the fence and pulled Brad inside the fence. Without looking back, she ran straight towards the direction of East Village.
She knew that his destination was East Village, but she did not know who those attackers were. She looked back to see Brad"s face all scrunched up and his eyebrows were knitted closely together. She stopped and asked in a most gentle voice she could muster, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, we are short on time. Let"s go!" Brad answered. She could tell that he was not okay, but she had to move forward, and as he said, they were short on time. Climbing over the fences, jumping over the benches, she did what she could do to bring him to the East Village at the fastest speed possible.
*************
East Village, Firenice Mansion:
In the courtyard, a lovely lady was sitting with her daughter and her mother in law on a throne specifically made for her. She glanced at the attic and said, "I wonder when he would arrive."
"How do you know who will arrive?" Asked her daughter.
"The thing that is upstairs can only be taken by a girl, but she needs someone to accompany her, and without him, she would never be able to retrieve the item."
"Wow, there is such a thing too. I am amazed at these things. Mom, please allow me to see what the thing is, please."
"No. No one can open the attic door."
"So we have to wait?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, I shall wait. I would request that person to show it to me."
The old and the young said nothing as they sat in silence together. A slight piano melody was playing on the gramophone.
They waited for a certain person"s arrival.
********
Outside the residence:
"Master, I advise you not to go through the front door. I can sense some ill intentions coming from the people sitting in the hallway." Olympia told Brad from the consciousness s.p.a.ce.
"Alright, we will do as you say." He replied to her before turning towards Misha and saying, "Dear Lady, I don"t know your name. What should I call you? Many thanks for saving my life again."
"You don"t need to be thankful to me. It is my duty. And my name is Misha. You can call me Mish, if you want."
"Wait. Hold on! What do you mean by "duty"?"
"I am born to serve you, Brad."
"How do you know my name? Just who are you?"
"As I said, I am Misha, and I am meant to protect you from any harm."
"How do I believe you?"
"Can I not be believed even after saving you from those people?"
"You can be a spy too."
"Haha. Ok, what would you like me to do to get your confidence?"
"Prove it."
"Alright."
Misha closed her eyes and then opened them, her purple orbs shining in the pale moonlight. With a deep voice so unlike her usual self, she said in a flat tone, "May the heavens be the witness to the oath I take today, that I, Misha, would never in life or in death will harm Brad Holman or his soul."
A single bolt of lightning entered Misha"s body holding her in place. Brad looked at her and said, "What is that?"
"An oath to never harm you. Now do you believe me?"
Brad nodded his head to show that he believed her.
"Good. But my oath comes at a price, so allow me to follow you." She looked pleadingly at him.
"What do you mean?"
"There is no time to explain. Quickly go and do what you are supposed to do, then we can talk about it. Meanwhile, I will stand guard here."
"Alright then." Brad said before leaving reluctantly. He moved towards the back of the mansion and called Olympia out.
Olympia came out and transformed into a lady and pulled Brad into her embrace as she jumped towards the attic. With one foot on the ground, she propelled her body to bolt towards the sky. As she neared the attic, she slowed down and caught the window handle, spun around and entered the window.
She saw a spiral staircase and accompanying it was a trap door. She climbed the staircase and then released Brad.
She went towards the trapdoor which had an aura completely similar to her. She knew that this was her inheritance, and hence, she closed her eyes, circulated her aura and then concentrated them on each of her hands before placing both of the palms on each side of the trapdoor. It was as if someone was guiding her. She knew exactly what to do when she reached there.
The auras spiralled on the door, but the door still did not open. Brad watched her with his mouth wide opened.