HALFWAY TO PARADISE

Meanwhile, inside the mound of rubble, Alicia, who had fainted after being struck by a meteor, suddenly awakened in a state of shock, almost suffocating. She tried to check the condition of her body; it was dull due to soil and dust. There were scratches and abrasions on the feet and hands, as well as pain in the spine. The narrow space inside the building's debris made her could barely move. There were rips in some parts of her clothes, but other than that, she was doing alive and well. Her hooded robe seemed to glimmer for a while before dimming then extinguishing. Her mother's protective cloth, which was still intact, actually saved her life. This was the umpteenth time the unexpected had surprised the girl in a single day, perhaps the largest number of shocks in her entire life.

In front of her face was a piece of the rock wall that was quite wide and long. Fortunately, on each side, it was supported by other chunks of rubble, so that the boulder did not fall on her. Alicia attempted to grope and push the rock, even though she knew that would be useless because even with the body as strong as Gilmore's could not get rid of the enormous block, which was also crushed by other layered wreckage on it. She knocked the wall and screamed to give a signal to the outside world.

"Pals! Nadine! Gilmore! Anyone! Help me! I'm trapped inside!"

No response from anyone.

"Pals! Anybody! Help me! Please..."

No one replied.

Slowly but surely, she started to sweat and her anxiety grew. The air was getting stuffy because of the cramped space. While she was thinking of a way to get out, suddenly she noticed something odd. The room where she was now was illuminated with some kind of dimming blue light. Alicia then realised that the source was right behind her.

As she turned around, she found herself a bright purplish-blue sphere. It was almost the size of a bowling ball. The surface of the sphere was like made of transparent and strong glass, and inside there were hundreds or thousands of plasma streams moving around each other in a circle. Alicia was taken aback. Could this be the same sphere as the one that floated earlier? The size was tinier than the previous one before!

Alicia then crawled closer to the orb, and stared at it with narrowed eyes. Her head tilted left and right to analyse it. Thousands of plasma streams that moved in a mess, then closed together and formed circular motions that were parallel to each other, so that it resembled a blue sphere with a white core. Looked like the orb was also inspecting her.

"So odd. What are you?" asked the girl while stroking the sphere with both hands. As she reached the surface of it, Alicia felt its concrete and warm surface. In addition, the orb also gave off a vibrating sensation, as if the orb had a consciousness of its own.

As soon as it touched her, the orb abruptly transmitted energy into her palms. Alicia saw an intense blue light gleaming through her skin for a moment, revealing the silhouette of the veins and muscle tissue on her hands, before finally, her right hand burst into flames! Alicia screamed in pain, struggling to free her hand from the magic ball. Her efforts were to no avail. Her hand miraculously clung to the magic ball, as the energy kept flowing through her until it reached her brain, thereby sending electric jolts throughout her body, adding another shock of the day. The jolts made her jump and hit her head against the ceiling.

"Ah! Ouch, ouch, ouch! Mah heid!"

Her head crash was followed by a tremendous scorching sensation in her burning hand. Alicia saw that the energy flow had carved her right hand's skin. The shape of the carving was vague because it was covered with blood and blistered tissue. Alicia wept profusely.

The orb then made a sound of a squeaking machine.

"Nguingnguingnguinguing."

The girl's crying stopped. Hiccuping, Alicia stared at the ringing magic ball with furrowed brows.

"Hey,"—Alicia hiccuped—"That's not funny, ye ken!" Alicia replied half angry with one eye closed due to the pain.

The ball then again uttered a mocking sound effect on her reply.

"Why can't you be gentler… wait! What the…!" replied Alicia with a gasp.

"H-how? How can you understand what I'm saying? No, wait! How can I understand what you're saying? Oh no, I think… I think I'm short of air. I'm hallucinating. Oh, Divine Mercy. Oh, Ellie's wrath, I've gone bonkers! I'm dying! I'm dying! Gilmore, Nadine, help!"

The ball rang the squeaking sound effect once more, then proceeded with a more stable tone. Alicia was still gaping in disbelief that she understood the message conveyed by the orb.

"The stream of energy flowing through my hands…? That surge of energy just triggered my nerves and allowed me to connect and communicate with you? S-sounds absurd. Like…."

The sphere interrupted Alicia's words.

"Magic. Yas, like magic," after saying that, the girl just realised something. She slowly smiled, then dared to laugh out loud, followed by the orb sounded another squeaking voice, mimicking her reaction. Alicia smiled back at the orb with her chin resting on her folded hands on the ground, then tried to ask the bizarre sphere.

"But you haven't answered my question; what are you? How did you come to be in this place?" then her voice rose an octave, "And why on earth you're being such a weapon and hit me like a meteor? Made us end up stuck in a place like this! Not to mention you burned my bloody hand!"

The ball gave her a sound like a piece of music, which explained the reason for its existence.

"F-Fine! Let me be clear. You were summoned by Langoureth, wherever she is right now, may she grant Eternal Peace in her 'new' resting place…," Alicia looked around, "… and your goal is to find the chosen one to be your 'friend'. And since you had found 'that' person, which is me, you were too excited because I look… a-attractive? Then you were misbehaving, bumping into me, destroying the whole graveyard, and to cover your crazy series of stunts, you branded me?" Alicia pulled a slightly petulant face. "You were off yer heid, pal."

The orb then made a tone that sounded like a melancholy song, as if expressing regret for crashing into Alicia and effectively demolished the house of the dead.

"Okay, I forgive you. At least someone has an interest in me. Not someone, sorry, a ball. But well, 'it's ball or nothing'," Alicia chuckled. However, she was becoming more and more curious about the sphere. "But can I ask you something else? I mean, Languoreth is long granted Eternal Peace, but how could she call you? I'm sorry, but I have a lot of questions in my head."

The orb sang a song in a high pitch. It seemed that the orb accepted her wish, but it also gave her a reminder of something. Alicia, who knew what it meant, raised her head only to see the wall she was stuck in. "Oh, yeah. I'm still trapped. Silly me."

She giggled again after realising that she was busy chatting with the magic orb, even though she was still trapped in the rubble, watched over by a collection of "angry" skulls wedged in the rock crevices.

"Alright then, Orb, help me get out of here, eh?" she said as she lifted the orb with both hands facing the wall. The orb gave a sound to Alicia. "W-what? I'll do it? W-what do you mean?"

The ball hummed to her again.

"You… will lend your power and teach me how to use it?"

The orb showed a sign of approval. For the sake of Silent Divine… inside her, felt an unstoppable joy, like going halfway to paradise. Her eyeballs were wet, the Silent Divine finally answered her long-time prayer. She still could not believe what she had just experienced, to the point that she wanted to grip her scorched hand.

Still hurt. Still looked gross. It was real.

But getting out of the ruins was priority number one. The orb made a sweet sound, and Alicia tried to translate the meaning.

"Focus… I'm you. I'm an Orb. You are me. You and I are one…. Oh pardon me, Orb. I have to get used to translating your every message, so the others won't think I'm a freak when I'm talking to you. Just so you know, they dinnae have a magic orb! Alright, I'm talking too much, am I? Where were we? Oh, right. I'm you, and I'm using my energy…," the surface of her hands holding the ball emitted a stream of energy which then spread throughout her body…

***

Nadine and Gilmore were desperate to remove the too-heavy rubble.

"It's no use, Gilmore. I'll run as fast as I can to the civil guard base. You keep digging. I'll be right back!" Nadine wiped her bloodshot eyes and climbed out of the hole with her vision obscured because of her puffy eyes. The same thing happened to Gilmore, who was still trying to get rid of the remains of the construction, more slowly this time, and also without uttering a word. He was out of energy, even to speak. As she had just climbed from the hole, Nadine felt the ground quaking, and suddenly a radiant light was behind her. She turned around and saw the petrified Gilmore, as he witnessed the debris vibrating and glittering.

"What is that? Alicia? Is that you? Alicia! Answer me!" cried Gilmore.

"Gilmore looks like you have to go up! The wreckage is gonna be scattered all over the place!" Nadine said.

"Quit yer haverin'! I have to get her! Maybe she's still alive!"

"Gilmore, stop being a bawbag!" Nadine screamed at him again. "If you believe Alicia is still alive, you must hurry and take cover! You may promise with your whole life to save her, but if you die, you will never know her fate and you will never save her! Now bring yer bloody arse over here and take cover, ya bampot!"

The ground shook more and more, small debris floated in the air. Gilmore was increasingly hesitant to stay there. "Fuck!" he exclaimed. He had to go up and joined her to hide behind a gravestone. The shaking grew stronger as the huge debris also soared. In that instant, an explosion of energy occurred, blowing the wreckage everywhere. Nadine and Gilmore looked down and covered their ears to prevent their heads from hitting the rubble, and also because of the deafening sound of the explosion itself. After the outburst subsided and the light faded, they heard the screaming of a girl.

"Ah! Land! Land now! Orb, Land, for Divine's sake!"

A familiar voice. Gilmore and Nadine dared to look behind the tombstone. They saw Alicia's figure hovering in the air, about to fall while screaming. The orb transmitted light again and unleashed its power to slow down gravity the moment before Alicia hit the ground. She was able to land safely, although her balance was a bit wobbly. They looked at Alicia—apart from wearing shabby clothes and lightly injured, looked fine—in disbelief. Nadine tried to get up the courage to ask.

"Alicia? Alicia, is that you? Are you all right?"

"Alicia…?" continued Gilmore, curious he was as well.

"Ah, hello! Sorry to make you worry, pals. Oh, if you give me a moment, this orb says I have to clean up this ruined mess!"

"O-orb?" Nadine then saw the magic ball held by her friend. She was utterly speechless. Her friend then lifted the orb with her right hand, then lo-and-behold! The debris that was scattered all over the place was lifted up by the blue energy emanating from the sphere. They began to move and slowly formed into the various mausoleums and tombs that were previously destroyed. The big hole earlier was being filled again, and the bones were returned to their comfy rests. After a while, the funeral Complex miraculously returned to the way it was before the three of them arrived.

His two friends were amazed to see such a phenomenon. Gilmore, with goosebumps, spoke to Alicia.

"Alicia… you… can cast magic?"

Alicia answered.

"Yeah… about that, I... uh…."

The girl's vision suddenly turned black.

The quite intense thud was heard.

Alicia fell unconscious. []