The Golden Awakening

"How do we get to the Phox mansion again?" I asked.

"It seems the metin rae is a slow learner," Nathan grinned.

"Maybe it"s because we don"t have creatures coming through mirrors, where I come from."

"Then you"re primitive like I thought."

"Sar is nearly the same as when you came here. We"ll go through the mirror and then we"ll be taken to the Phox mansion," Robert said.

"It"s going to be any second now. Remember, once you see the xierh, it"ll start speaking to you, perhaps it"ll ask your name," Mitsuko said.

"It"ll speak to me?" I asked.

"It will only be for security reasons. Nothing will happen to you," Robert said.

"Even though I remember once when our friend Michael got his hands stuck inside a mirror, and it took him two days to get them out. Who says it won"t happen this time? You seem to share the same intellect as him," Nathan said.

"And no one cared enough to tell me this?" I asked.

"Don"t worry Sar, it was Michael, he"s not very bright to begin with, you won"t make the same mistake. I swear it won"t happen to you," Robert said.

I stood in front of the mirror while I waited for something or someone. My reflection vanished as it appeared in front of me, standing immobile inside. I was not sure what would have happened, in my eyes this creature would have been like any common human being if it was not because of its one vivid ivory eye, which made it more peculiar than any person I had encountered before.

"What is your name?" the xierh asked, I could see its eye as it kept focusing on me.

"Sarah Wilson," I said nervously.

"Mrs Wilson, do you accept the invitation of lady Jennifer Phox?"

"Y-yes."

"Ms Wilson, take your left hand and match mine," it said as its left hand came out of the gla.s.s.

"Why would I need to match yours?"

"We need to be sure you are the real Sarah Wilson."

"Don"t worry Sar," Robert said.

"It better not happen to me," I said reluctantly, as I took a big breath and matched my hand with its own. Without realising it, perhaps my reflexes were not quick enough, the xierh took both of my arms, making my escape impossible to accomplish even if I wanted to, as it immobilized them inside the mirror, which felt like dense cement.

"Guys, I need your help. Now!" I shouted.

"Why should we? The meeting has not started yet and I"m having so much fun. I feel she"s going to freak out," Nathan laughed.

"What is happening?"

"Don"t move Ms Wilson, you might get hurt otherwise."

It grabbed my face and began to a.n.a.lyse me intensely, I had the sensation it was reading my mind. It examined the mark I had on my wrist and asked me again what my name was, even though I had already answered it earlier. This time, however, it seemed odd? I was not capable of lying to it, the thought was unthinkable. I knew what I said was the truth, but I felt as if I was being manipulated by this peculiar being.

Once it realised my answer had always been sincere, it lost the grip it had on me. My head felt lighter, as if a huge weight had been quickly removed from my shoulders and with it my ability to lie suddenly returned. It was as if for those few minutes, I forgot a simple action which has always been embedded in the human brain and nature.

"Ms Wilson, you and your team can follow me," it said.

It felt unusual, just like when I went through Aliya"s mirror, I had the impression time stopped suddenly. We walked down a long and obscure hallway, I was aware it was a mere perception, but my body felt as if it was under water and the more we walked, the more we could observe what was happening on the other side.

"We arrived!" it said.

As we entered the mansion, I was stunned by the magnificence of this place, it seemed like one of those manors I only heard of in fairy tales, even the dances seemed comparable to what I dreamt when I was a child.

"Welcome to the Phox mansion," Nathan said in disdain.

"You must be Sarah," a voice whispered.

I gave him one curious glance as he extended his hand to me, his dark complexion made his icy eyes stand out, as his many dark curls gave him an elegant attractiveness.

"Yes, and you are?" I asked.

"Caleb Prasken, I"m here to take you to Jennifer"s alaitren. The interior garden on the west wing of the manor."

"Me? You probably meant us four."

"No, your team will be going directly to the werten, the main ballroom, while you"ll be talking with Jen."

Before my mouth could emit any sound, Robert threw himself in the middle of our conversation and said, "she"s not going alone!"

"She will come back straight after, you don"t need to worry," Caleb said.

"I"m not worried," Nathan whispered.

"Nathan shut up. Rob let her go, nothing will happen," Mitsuko said.

"You should listen to your teammate," Caleb said.

"I already told you, she is not going anywhere alone with you," Robert said.

"Well, we can"t stay here forever, so both of you will come with me. As for the rest of you, if you don"t have further problems, you"ll be going directly to the werten," he said as a grin appeared on his face.

We began to walk as Robert gently caressed my hand, he might have sensed how nervous I must have been. Caleb led us to an enormous garden, as a phoenix flew over my head landing on one of the branches of a pine tree.

"Jen, Sarah"s here," Caleb announced.

"I thought I told you to bring only the metin rae. Why is he here?" Jennifer asked.

"I guess he didn"t want to leave his friend. Maybe he feared you would have done something to her," Caleb said as he chuckled.

"I didn"t fear anything. She can take care of herself, but she may not know what kind of person you actually are," Robert insisted.

"Oh, then I suppose you should enlighten me! Why don"t you explain it to everyone, what an awful person I can be­?" Jennifer said.

"Like you don"t know."

"Then tell me, what kind of person am I?"

"I will not let you or any of your followers touch her. Not after what you did to Siobhan."

"You should stop!" Caleb shouted as he was not amused by this discussion any more.

"Stop? Everyone hates her! You ran away from your own blood and you weren"t even concerned about what happened to her until it was too late. Do you even know what you are asking her to do? How can she trust you, when you were not even capable of saving your own sister."

"Robert?" I whispered, trying to calm him down.

"What was your name again? Robert, was it? I wouldn"t care what your little brain has been contemplating. Followers you say? I was only interested in your friend, she can always refuse. I thought it would have been kind of me to propose her a deal of a lifetime," Jennifer said.

"Sarah listen to me, you"re going to decline her offer, you"re never going to accept anything she"ll promise you. People like her don"t care about people like us," Robert said.

""People like us?" You make me laugh, she"s not like you! She"s not like anyone in this entire deceitful realm," she screamed.

"Then why do you care this much? Am I a novelty for you?" I asked.

She rose from the chair, steadily approaching me. She stared at me with prying eyes, as her smooth hand caressed gently my rosy cheek.

"Because you"re indeed special. I don"t care if you"re a metin rae, you have the same fire I once had, and I admire it," she said.

"If he says you are not to be trusted, I believe him."

She started to laugh, my answer must have sounded pathetic to her, but I knew how much I trusted him, which was beyond the trust I had for myself.

"You don"t need to accept my offer right away, but before the end of this night, you"ll beg me to be my reity. We"re more similar than what you might think."

"If I were you, I wouldn"t count on it," I said.

"Caleb, I think we are done here. Take our guests to the werten. After all, we should all have the time to celebrate."