6 Chapter 5: this is my family

The sun has already sunken itself beyond the horizon, subduing with it the overwhelming emotions Shaianah had been feeling, and drawing out the ever glowing moon and its army of stars. In front of the balcony laid a landscape that was fed only a little amount of light. It was dark but everything was still. The quietness became ever relaxing.

"I'm sorry if I called you crazy." A voice comes from behind as faint footsteps slowly steps forward to see the evening view.

This part of the castle remained unexplored to the siblings until now. A wooden door with gold accents lead to a huge balcony overlooking the front of the castle. It was too beautiful that it almost felt like a Romeo and Juliet scene.

"Why? You always call me that." Shaianah says, filling the air with both their soft laughter a moment after.

The thing about these two girls is that they know that at the end of the day, they would always have each other's backs. After all the envies, the fights and the hatred they would sometimes throw at each other—they were still bounded by something that's beyond blood. And that is love.

"How could this be true? We're actually magical creatures now, like the ones we used to watch on the television as kids." Christine's eyes fell on her palms, staring at it strangely while her mind drifts back to the magic she had seen earlier. She doesn't even have to deny the fact that she was getting thrilled. She wanted to learn more, like how to use and control it.

"Do you want to go back to Manila?" Shaianah nonchalantly says while looking at the moon.

"Mammy said it would be dangerous for us to, now that both our parents are gone." Christine finally puts both her hands down to lean against the balcony.

If Shaianah had asked this question yesterday or perhaps just the time before they learned about the elementals, she would've said yes in an instant. She had a life back in Manila. She had friends there who misses her and people she's already known for so long. She was reluctant to leave that city because she didn't want to leave that life behind. But now that she's out here, in a new and strange world that welcomes her—she's already changed her mind. Being in this town wasn't so bad after all.

"Gio still lives there. And we can call him again to tell him to pick us up here."

"What's up with you? I remember being the one who wanted to stay in Manila but all of you insisted that we should leave. It's what our mother wants, right?" Christine finds herself convincing her sister to stay. Oh, how the tables have completely turned. "Besides, we're only going to bother Gio if we do that."

"You're right." Shaianah sighs in defeat. "Mommy wanted us to stay here. Mommy would want us to stay here."

Silence crept between them until Christine purses her lips and says, "You can tell me what you're thinking."

Shaianah pauses for a moment to think about it. Then she sighs and nods her head. "Asrial told me that I shouldn't have come here because it wasn't safe. I don't know what it actually meant but I want to protect you and the twins. I fear that one day I would lose you too, and I don't want that to happen."

"Woah, there. No one's going to lose anyone, Shaianah. We'll be fine. Now that we've learned about our magic, wouldn't we be able to protect ourselves... more?" Christine tried to convince her, which seemed to work because Shaianah did think of it. They can use their magic if ever their lives are threatened by any harm. "You're just thinking too much. But hey, who's Asrial by the way?"

"Oh my god!" Shaianah pushes her palm against her forehead when she remembered what she had said to Asrial earlier. To add with that, after all the trouble he has gone through today to help her, she just left her outside and treated her like some monster she's afraid of. "I was so rude to him earlier. I didn't even give him a proper good bye."

"Is he that guy who brought you home?" Shaianah only nodded as a response. "Better apologize to him when you see him, then."

Shaianah lets out a deep breath before she once again stares at the moon. If anything, the conversation she just had with her sister made her feel more at ease. Fears of threats and danger would always be there anyway, but you don't have to let them control you. Their family was here at Cassiopeia, Mammy and Pops. There's a whole new life waiting for them here at this town. It's not too bad to give it a try.

"Shaianah!" There it is again, the screaming of her name from unfamiliar voices. Some sounded so gentle, others felt like they were begging. They would become too loud that no option was there but to cover her own ears and wish that they'd disappear soon.

'Why are they calling me?' Shaianah thought to herself over and over again but no answers would be given. She was all alone. No one was there—only voices, only darkness.

"Impending but unwanted death." She hears her own reflection saying the same line as before. Her fears comes back to life. Was she ought to lose someone dear to her again soon?

And she wakes up.

It was that same dream again—the one she had when they were still traveling to Cassiopeia. She softly touches her cheeks and realizes she's been crying, and that her heart was feeling so heavy.

"Shaianah!" Shrill voices echoed through her bedroom once Jillian and Joseph pushes the door and enters. They quickly ran towards Shaianah's bed and jumped on her side.

"Shaianah! Shaianah! It's morning." Jillian giggles while taking away Shaianah's pillows and blanket.

"I know it is. What are you guys doing here?" Shaianah finally sits down and reaches for the twins' arms to stop them from jumping all over her bed. The two obeys and sits beside her.

"Good morning! We wanted to wake you up today." Joseph enthusiastically says.

"We made breakfast! Well, Mammy and Christine mostly did it but we helped!" Jillian added.

"Okay then, I'm going downstairs in a bit so why don't you guys go first?" The two nods their heads before saying good bye while Shaianah finally stands up to fix herself. She has forgotten about her nightmare for a while. It was another day and she wanted to make it a beautiful one to be spent with her family. Her anxiousness would only keep her from enjoying.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Pancakes?" Christine pops her head out from the kitchen before finally walking inside the dining hall. On her hands were two plates of pancakes. "How was your sleep?"

"You're weirdly nice to me right now." Shaianah creases her eyebrows and wrinkles her nose, showing an expression of disgust to her sister. The latter rolls her eyes before putting down the pancakes on the table.

"What Shaianah? I'm always nice! You just don't notice it." She defended herself and they both laugh.

"Good morning, ladies. May I join you?" Pops followed from the kitchen, holding a plate of bacon and eggs and placing them on the table beside the pancakes.

"Pops! Pops! Show us your magic again please." There goes Jillian and Joseph, running and giggling all over the place. Christine scolds them and tells them to stop running, so they stood behind Pops to hide from her.

"We'll do that later after breakfast, okay? Your Mammy has a strictly no magic policy in the dining area. We wouldn't want our foods to be spoiled because of our magic, wouldn't we?"

"Hey, You've been quiet." Christine notices when Shaianah was only sitting at the table while watching Pops and the twins. "Oh right, you're always quiet. But today's quiet seems off. Are you still thinking about the whole going back to Manila thing?"

"Who's going back to Manila?" Mammy overhears when she enters the dining hall. Behind her were the maidservants that were carrying the plates, spoons and forks.

Mammy looked a little sad upon hearing the two. She immediately assumes that the siblings were all moving out after hearing the truth about the town. She wouldn't want them to leave, but it was still their choice if they wanted to do so.

"Nothing, Mammy. No ones going anywhere." Christine softly says, embracing Mammy from the side and smiling warmly at her. Shaianah nods and smiles, too.

"No one's leaving, Mammy. I would not want to leave you and Pops here. You're our family, too. This is my family."