45 The Frozen Clock Ticks Again

The atmosphere was heavy while everyone looked towards the girl lying in the middle of the room with concern. Her increasingly pale face generated more anxiety to anyone who saw.

"Why isn't she waking up? Her wounds are fully healed now. Is it because she lost a lot of blood?" Siri asked Old Bertie since she was the one who casted the spell to aid Ley's natural healing abilities.

"It could be one of the reasons," she replied, noncommittally.

Tristan gazed at with distrust and questioned, "Where is Merda? Is it because Ley used too much magic earlier? I had never seen Ley lose control or even wield that much power. Maybe she knows something."

"She already took a look and she said she can't see anything. She said Ley's body became so bright and it's painful to look at. It was as if her head was splitting into two and she had to stay far away from Ley to avoid seeing it," Gale relayed while shaking his head.

"What do we do now?" Sera whispered.

"Let's observe and give her some space," Old Bertie stated with finality while waving them off towards the door.

When the room was finally clear, she approached the bed slowly. She looked at the door and remembered the uncanny hearing of shifters so she casted a soundproofing spell. She waved her arm and Ley's body floated up from the bed. The unconscious body slowly turned to the side and she removed the covering at the back. The flesh was smooth without even any trace of the grave wound Ley suffered from the fight. 

Old Bertie snapped her made up fingers and specks of light flew towards Ley's back. Slowly, a flower bloomed on it, a splash of scarlet that was noticeably missing one petal. It was an eye-catching depiction of the amaryllis flower that shimmered with magic.

Old Bertie let out a 'tsk' sound and muttered to herself, "As expected, the seal was broken from the attack."

The seal which blocked the entirety of Ley's magic from manifesting was damaged and the trickle of magic that usually passes by became a full on river flow. She was unconscious and unused to this level of power so the magic just rampaged in her body and if it wasn't stopped her body might collapse from the pressure. Her weakened body is still recovering while trying to restrain the magic so she still hasn't woken up but trying to forcibly bring her to consciousness might agitate the already unchecked power within her. Fixing the seal wasn't an option as well because the magic was already too much to handle unlike when she was still young and still developing back then. It was really headache inducing. 

Old Bertie sighed heavily, "Seeing you like this reminded me of that time when you were little. Your parents tried to protect you from the world but this day still came. You can't run from your fate child. It was only a matter of time before the seal became completely undone. Maybe this is for the best. I wonder how you would face the world when you woke up to the full extent of your power."

***

A few yards away from the cottage where Ley was staying, the four were gathered in silence with visible frustration on their faces. It was only with the arrival of Anton that they got distracted from their uneasiness. 

His expression was harsher than usual. It was not surprising as the whole reservation was centered around Ley and she was the pillar that everyone depended on. Everyone was on edge tonight.

"How is Ley?" Anton asked even though he already knew the answer from their faces.

"She's still unconscious for some reason," Sera shook her head, her usual immaculate look was noticeably haggard at the moment. She can't even be bothered to make her disguise perfect.

"It's already been a few hours when she was fully healed. Is there a reason why?" He frowned at the words.

"We have no idea as well so we're just trying to observe her for now. It looks a bit different from that time she burnt out her magic and just slept like the dead," Gale answered.

"When it rains, it pours," Anton commented in a worried tone while looking at the cottage.

Siri immediately asked, "What do you mean?"

"We lost contact with Mina so I was planning to ask Ley for help. I'm worried that she's in danger especially after we discovered the existence of those renegade taboos that you encountered."

"Who is Mina?" A voice said, which startled them. 

They looked at Old Bertie who joined them without them knowing, along with Ara. All their attention was on the two that they didn't even notice the small figure that entered the cottage behind their backs

"She was the guardian for Russell, Kevin and Nana," Siri said in response when no one bothered to answer.

"Do the kids know?" Tristan inquired since Mina was always the one who took care of the kids, not just the trio but every kid at the reservation. She was very protective of them and always made sure that they're alright.

"Not yet and we're trying to keep it from them as long as we could but the last we heard from her was 2 weeks ago and she was supposed to come back this week from her vacation. They're bound to ask questions."

"We can only wait," Sera said while rubbing her forehead tiredly.

The discussion stagnated again as they were preoccupied with their own thoughts. 

Ara, seeing that there was a lull in the conversation, hesitantly inquired, "Uhmm . . . How were the people at the base?"

She was worried to death and frustrated that she couldn't help them. It was even worse because Ley was gravely wounded when she was brought back. She couldn't help but think of the worst that could happen.

"Don't worry, we made sure they're fine before we left except for Landon. We brought him to one of our safe houses so he could heal peacefully. Judging by the rate his wounds were healing, I'm sure he would be fine now. It was just Ley who got the brunt of it when she shielded a magic attack for him. You're not a prisoner here so if you want to talk to them, you're free to do so. Just be careful," Gale informed her with a subtle warning.

Ara was at a loss for words when she heard what happened. She was glad that the family she recognized was fine but it was in exchange for Ley's sacrifice. Before Ara could reply, she heard a quiet lilting voice that seemed so peaceful and warm.

"Did you hear that?" She muttered distractedly while following the sound.

"What did you hear?" Siri asked in confusion since her ears didn't register anything.

They went quiet as they concentrated on listening until they figured out where it was coming from. They glanced at each other in astonishment when they found that it was coming from the cottage where Ley was staying. They hurriedly headed over to find the cause of the sound.

Gasps of surprise were heard as soon as they opened the door. Little Nana was sitting beside the bed and her delicate fingers grasped Ley's arm. Her eyes were glazed as she hummed a melody. They stood there mesmerized with her ethereal voice as if the song held power over them. It washed over them and calmed their roiling emotions as if they were a boat that was peacefully floating on a calm sea. The song reached a crescendo and it continued to grip their hearts with sadness and hope at the same time as Nana sang the joyless words with tranquility.

The land is howling

The people are mad

Would you still be able to hear me?

That was when tiny translucent wings made up of fine feathers unfolded behind her back like it would disappear in a second. 

"Nana manifested!" Sera reacted in astonishment at the scene. They've been anticipating it since she's at the age where shifters or magicks reveal their abilities but nobody expected that it would be now.

"Be quiet!" Old Bertie sharply interrupted while intensely staring at Ley's body which began to emit  a soft glow as if it was responding to Nana's voice  

They looked on with bated breath as the little girl earnestly sang until she finished. The dazed look immediately vanished from her innocent face as if flipping a switch along with her delicate wings. If they had not witnessed it earlier, it would seem like the previous scene didn't happen at all.

She flashed her endearing smile and proceeded to shake Ley's body who became unresponsive after the song was done, "Ley, wake up. I finished singing the song for you. You promised that you would play with us again, didn't you?"

Nana slowly turned her head at them with a confused face as if wondering why Ley still didn't react. Her face started to crumble and not a moment later started to sniffle as tears well up on her eyes.

"I-isn't she supposed to wake up like the lady in that magick tale?" she whined pitifully at Old Bertie.

"Don't worry about it, Nana. I'm sure Ley heard your song and we'll wake up soon," Sera frantically comforted her. 

It was useless though since after hearing the words Nana proceeded to a full on crying jag, breaking the hearts of the adults in the room.

All of a sudden, someone weakly called, "Don't cry, Nana."

"Ley!" Nana gleefully squealed.

Ley felt her head was fogged up as she struggled to sit up. She blinked wearily, feeling like her body was run over by a truck with the way it ached all over. She looked at Nana who still had tears in her eyes. She reached out a hand slowly to wipe her tears and gave her a reassuring smile.

She struggled to get up and was shocked to find so many people in the room, "Huh? What are you all doing here?"

"You idiot! You made us so worried because you weren't waking up and your body was acting so unusual. How do you feel?" Sera fussed around her while complaining.

"I'm good except for some soreness though I kind of feel like my head is still floating on clouds," she muttered as she examined her body for anything different.

"You went crazy back in the clearing Ley," Tristan stated meaningfully.

"I'm honestly confused about that as well. I don't really know how it happened," she replied as she pushed off herself from the bed so she could stand up but a loud cracking noise resounded in the room after.

Ley gaped at the bed which was now in shambles due to being split into two when she stood up.

"Your tail is out, Ley," Gale pointed out as if she wasn't astonished enough.

She immediately looked back and saw a fluffy white tail behind her back that popped out without her knowledge.

"Your ears and nails are out too, Ley," Nana added with a giggle as if they were playing a game.

She glanced at their dumbfounded expressions with Old Bertie looking grim in contrast. Her mind reeled at the thought of having shifted in a blink of an eye without even one indication like the usual.

"I think I have to go home," she blankly said in disbelief, feeling like the world changed after waking up.

At a corner, Siri quietly slipped out the door while everyone was still distracted. After putting a considerable distance from the cottage, she took out a vibrating phone from her pocket and answered it urgently.

"Katarina, how is my daughter?" A grave voice echoed out as soon as it was picked up.

"She's awake and seems to be doing well now but there's some unexplainable abnormalities at the moment. I believe she's going back soon," Siri reported, her usual laid-back mode was replaced by a rarely seen solemn expression.

"Excellent! The plan is moving forward sooner than I thought. Keep me updated. Good work," the man replied and hung up shortly.

Siri looked at the cottage with a frown, wondering how the future will unfold.

***

Back at the base, there was a bustle of activity as they arranged the dead and fixed the damages from the earlier fight. However, Landon was unmoved while staring at the window in anger.

He was holding a small paper and suddenly crumpled it without warning. His palm tightened around it and almost threw it but he gently straightened out the paper instead.

He placed it on the table and stared at those infuriating words written on it.

'Don't find me'

It did nothing but increased his determination to hunt her down. He let out a smirk at the thought of seeing her annoyed and bothered.