STAGE THIRTY-SIX: WAKE UP, KIRIN

STAGE THIRTY-SIX: WAKE UP, KIRIN

Finally reaching the room hidden behind layers of illusion-inducing barriers in the hideout's topmost floor, Alaric and Alyon took a few seconds rest, catching their breaths while Freyja continued, leaving the two behind. "She doesn't experience fatigue, does she?" Alyon sighed, making Aalric chuckle. "She does. She just forgets it whenever Kirin is involved." He smiled, and continued running, catching up to Freyja.

Alyon broke a couple more illusion barriers, before they finally reached the room where Kirin was being held. There, Freyja was dumbfounded. Since Galun was defeated, all remaining phreinians desperately fled the tower, leaving everything behind. And there in the middle of the room, Kirin was lying shirtless, shackled, on top of what looked like a flat stone table. Wires and contraptions were attached all over his body, crystals of various colors floating around him. One look, and a whirlwind of emotions engulfed Freyja. She ran to him, as fast as she could. She pulled the wires away, breaking the glass and crystals with her bare hands, forgetting to even use aura. "Kirin! Kirin, it's me! I'm here!" She shouted, tears gushing out of her eyes.

"What were they doing?" Alaric couldn't take a step closer. He was far too astonished. "What did they do to Kirin!?" he demanded for answers from Alyon, who looked equally surprised. "This is where they should be extracting the Celestial core from Lenfiare. So why is that man there?" Alyon didn't know too. But he and Alaric both stepped closer.

It was very, very cold, there were ice crystals forming on the floor. Freyja held his cheeks, it was ice-cold. But he was breathing. Had he been an ordinary human, his body would have died from hypothermia. But instead, his dark aura is more radiant than usual. Freyja was grateful to the dark aura that kept him alive.

"Kirin… wake up!" She shook him hard, but he's not moving an inch. She hugged him tight, but still no response.

Alyon examined Kirin as well. He felt his pulse, examined the circulation of his aura. "Despite his injuries, and Galun's aura inside him, he's fine. He should be strong enough to gain consciousness anytime now, but it's more like…" He hesitated, looking at Freyja. But Freyja nodded, urging him to continue. "It's like he doesn't want to wake up."

"But what could be the reason why Galun accepted this young man in exchange for the Lenfiare? Could it be that he's—"Alyon continued, but Freyja cut him off.

"It doesn't matter. We'll wake him!"

She summoned the celestial sword and instantly cut off the chains binding him, destroyed all the equipment surrounding him. Again, she shook him hard. "KIRIN!" Freyja panicked, "Come on, wake up!"

"About what you said Alyon, Kirin doesn't want to wake up?" Alaric knew Freyja might get offended by the question, nevertheless, he thought she should ask. Then, Alaric suddenly remembered the portrait of the man who looks like Kirin, back in the Aethelmaer mansion. He passed out when the exchange happened, and they were too focused on getting Freyja out that he didn't have the chance to ask Keon what exactly happened. Alaric made a mental note to ask Keon once they meet up.

"He's not the type of person to slack off knowing the situation he's in, is he?" Alyon began, "And from the state of his body and his aura, he should have been awake a few hours ago. So perhaps, there's something in him that made him chose not to wake up. I can't tell if its Galun's aura, or some other thing."

"Don't you want to be with us anymore?" Freyja desperately shook him hard, but it's not working. Even so, Freyja knew there is still something that she can do. Freyja stood up and spread her arms out. "I guess have no other choice then." She took a deep breath. "I will wake you up, whether you like it or not."

Freyja called Astrid back into the medallion, and held her hands together as if in a prayer. She closed her eyes. The white aura began clumping around her, looking much denser than before. She didn't stop, the aura kept on clumping and growing and forming around her. Alaric was worried, seeing that the aura she's releasing is way more than usual. But he also knows that there's no use stopping her. Alaric stepped back and quietly watched.

Freyja opened her eyes and released the white aura she summoned all at once. "Aria!" She called. The ground shook, and instead of Aria's usual human form, something different appeared.

"WHAT THE—" Alaric jumped back as soon as Aria materialized.

Beside Freyja is the head of a gigantic serpentine creature covered in white feathers and white hair. The creature was so large, it occupied almost half of the entire room, encircling them. "A rune beast!? No…" Alaric was confused, until the creature spoke in a familiar voice. "Lenfiare, what can I do for you?"

"It's Aria!" Alaric exclaimed. "Don't tell me it's the real form of Aria?"

"I doubt it. But seeing your reaction, this must be the first time Lenfiare summoned her celestial guardian in this form." Alyon said.

Alaric nodded. "Well, she used to summon Avice in a flying beast form, but not like this. It's so… grand." Alaric shook his head, trying his best to keep himself from admiring the Aria too much.

"Perhaps, it's because of the power that just returned to the Lenfiare."

Freyja caressed the Aria's face. "Listen Aria, I need you to give it all you've got. Purge every single drop of Galun's aura in Kirin. He might feel pain, but if that will save him… if it will wake him up, do it."

"Alaric, Alyon…" Freyja faced them. "Run."

And as soon as Aria affirmed Freyja's order, Alyon dashed away, dragging Alaric along. "Hey, why are you—"

All of a sudden, Aria's gigantic form exploded! Filling the room with a thick white mist, much to Alaric's surprise.

"Aria… Aria just exploded!?"

"Get away runemaster! Hurry!" Alyon shouted.

"What's happening? Why did Aria disappear?" He demanded for answers. Alyon sighed.

"So that's what it looks like. This is the true form of the celestial guardian Aria." Being a phreinian, Alyon himself, stopped to witness the Lenfiare's power. "Frankly runemaster, this is the first time I've seen something like this as well."

"T-true form? I don't see any form! It's just like the entire room is covered with this strange mist. Will Freyja be alright?"

"As expected from a human, your eyes could only perceive the physical form you know. Unlike you, we, phreinians and celestials are not bound to a single flesh. Our 'bodies' change and adapt to the surroundings, and to the strength of the aura within us. The mist you see, no, the entire region in space has become Aria, the celestial guardian. "

"Aria's true form… Celestials…" Alaric has read about it in books. But looking at Freyja and Aria, they both suddenly felt so otherworldly.

Freyja began speaking in a strange language that Alaric could not understand. "A celestial prayer… that can only be spoken by the ruling monarch." Alyon explained, seeing the confusion in Alaric's face.

The mist began to clump towards Kirin. Making his unconscious body twitch and jerk. They could all see phreinian aura rising out of his body, vanishing into thin air. His dark aura had an even more violent reaction. Though unconscious, the pain made his body react violently.

The purging continued for quite some time, until finally, the mist disappeared.

Leriouge's memories that were forced to surface started to sleep once again. Though Kirin recovered a small fraction of his past self, much to his relief, most of them faded away once again. And as soon as he opened his eyes, he cannot anymore remember what happened to him, nor what he dreamed about. But he could certainly feel that he just went through the most severe torture he has ever experienced. Kirin couldn't even move a finger without wincing in pain. Everything was just so painful, for a second, he wondered why he woke up.

"Kirin!" Beside him. He heard her call. Then, it came back—the reason why he willingly went inside the phreinian fortress in the first place. "Freyja… are you okay? What happened? Where are we?" He asked, feeling the cold creep into his body.

"KIRIN!" She hugged him tight first thing. "Kirin!" She called him again and again, tears rolling down her cheeks "Kirin you're awake!"

Kirin sighed, and smiled. "Freyja, are you alright?" He asked, weakly wiping her tears off. "Why are you crying?" Kirin looked around, found Alaric and an unknown phreinian who doesn't seem to be their enemy. "What… happened?" He still couldn't stand up properly. And he couldn't remember what happened since he gave himself up to save Freyja.

"It doesn't matter." Freyja said, hugging him tightly. "As long as you're back Kirin…" And just in a few seconds, Kirin fell deeply asleep again, in Freyja's arms. "Kirin? Kirin!?"

"Don't fret Lenfiare." Alyon held Kirin's forehead. "He's not the same as before. He's just sleeping out of exhaustion. Let's let him rest."

Their touching reunion had to be interrupted. All of a sudden, they heard loud explosions, one after another. And the floor shook so hard, it started falling apart. "What is happening!?"

Alyon clicked his tongue. "No way. They are destroying the fortress. They want to bury us here! We have to escape!" Alyon shouted in panic. "Hurry! Grab him and go!"

Freyja handed over Kirin's unconscious body to Alaric. He flung Kirin's arms over his shoulders and carried him on his back. "Let's get out of here, Freyja." He said. But Freyja didn't follow.

"Lenfiare, let's go!" Alyon reminded, annoyed.

"Alaric, please take care of Kirin. Leave this place at once!" She shouted

"What about you!?" Alaric exclaimed.

"I have to find Keon. I need to make sure he's not here anymore. Don't worry, we'll catch up to you! Hurry!" She ran the other way, while Alyon and Alaric headed down and straight towards the exit.

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