The reason for her surprise was because never before had anything physical gone into the pendant. The pendant itself was invisible to others and only she could see it. She always figured that this was because it was a magical pendant.
The Saxon ancestor spirit slept or lived in the pendant and she was always telling Phoebe to transfer energy to it. Phoebe always did so reluctantly because the spirit had never offered an explanation for this before.
She took the pendant off her neck and spoke directly to it. "Come out, come and explain where my money has vanished to."
She walked to her office as she addressed the spirit in the pendant because there were some secrets that even Rosette didn't need to know. The pendant, her ties to the Saxons, her rebirth and the like were secrets meant for herself.
In her office, she firmly locked the door and stared intensely at the pendant which was now glowing green.
"Repeat after me." The voice of the Saxon spirit came from inside the pendant. "Touch the pendant and say the words transfer or just think about that word."
Phoebe did as the spirit said and she felt herself fading away. Her entire body was transferred somewhere else, an unknown place.
"All this while, did you think that i was telling you to transfer energy into the pendant for no reason? You are such an untrusting child."
While the spirit harped on, Phoebe was looking around to see where she was. It was obvious that she was no longer in her cafe. For one, her cafe did not have a mountain.
"Where am i?"
"Inside the pendant, it's obvious. Why are you so slow to understand?" The impatient spirit replied.
"Oh my God!" Phoebe exclaimed.
Never in her wildest dreams had she ever dreamed that the pendant was not just useful in bringing her back to life but it had another function.
The spirit flew over head and laughed loudly. Her laughter was like the ringing of a bell__, a high pitched bell.
"You are impressed, right? You feel like falling to your knees and calling me master, i know. This is the true inheritance of our Saxon family." It boasted.
"This place has existed before me so it's older than you definitely. All the treasures here are things that were collected for millions of years by the ones that were blessed to own the pendant through the years. Of course, just owning the pendant doesn't mean that it's power can be activated. You have been the first to activate it in over two hundred years." It explained.
It pointed to a wooden cabin and sighed.
"The last owner was not very diligent. He built that small cabin, didn't collect any treasures and hated his ghost seeing abilities. It's a relief that you were not so freaked out when we met."
Phoebe pinched her arm just in case she was imagining what was happening. All the pinch did was cause her pain and give her fair skin a red bruise.
"Do you see that mountain? It's filled with layers and layers of aura stones."
Phoebe turned to the Saxon spirit and she shook her head.
"I am not a Saxon."
The spirit had called it an inheritance of the Saxon family and she wasn't one. If the pendant's abilities were triggered by blood, it had made a mistake.
"You are one by marriage." The spirit reminded her.
"I am not married to a Saxon."
The Saxon spirit waved her words away as if they were nothing but gibberish. "Technical differences, let's call it that."
Phoebe put her hands on her head and she laughed softly. She wondered how many more magical things were in the world that people didn't know about or simply laughed away as fantasy.
After her rebirth, she had read many books about rebirth, transmigration, systems, magical space, cultivation, werewolves, vampires and the like. Basically, she drowned herself in as many fantasy novels as often as she could because she was living a fantasy.
Who knew that the fantasy could become even bigger?
"A magical space." she whispered in disbelief.
The Saxon spirit ignored her look of disbelief and continued sharing information about the space.
"Ghost energy keeps this place alive and functioning. The more energy, the more functions you unveil and the more life like it becomes. Now, you don't need to keep your ghost pets like Yin, the cat and others which you collect in the coins. They can live in here with me."
The spirit recalled the teenager and she clapped her hands excitedly.
"Connie too and any other ghost servant that you acquire along the way. But, if you get any more ghost servants you must control them. This space is a place that many humans and magicians would kill for. It's a secret that is even bigger than your rebirth."
Phoebe nodded, agreeing with the spirit about the need for secrecy when it came to the space. She also came to realize that she had been very lackadaisical in collecting ghost energy.
In order to keep herself alive, power the trinkets she sold, use in her tonics, feed the Saxon spirit and keep the magical space functioning, she needed so much energy, a lot more than she had currently.
"You can grow herbs here that you use for your tonics, store important things and hide in here in case you are in danger. Also, there are books inside the cabin on cultivation of magic to help you become a real mage.
With time, even the ghost lake will open up. It's water can help purify any ghost or human. It can heal and hasten the growth of herbs.
Most of these functions are still sealed off of course because the energy is not enough. Now you know why i keep telling you to take on more ghost clients than humans."
There was a trembling in the ground suddenly and the Saxon spirit sighed.
"Energy is not enough to sustain us all right now. It's time for you to go."
She waved her hand and Phoebe left the space. She found herself back in her office.
"Where have you been?" Connie practically assaulted her with her voice, demanding for answers.
Phoebe winced and pushed the girl away.
"Inner voice Connie, you don't need to scream."
Besides Connie screaming, her phone too was ringing, loudly. When she looked at it, she noticed that she had five missed calls, all from her father. The thought of answering that call almost gave her a stomach ulcer.
After her rebirth, she had noticed many strange things about her family which she never saw before, like the way her father talked to her.
He was stern and cold, always forceful. It wasn't the same as when he talked to her brother. With him, he was kind and soft. Still, Phoebe didn't read too much into it.
She picked up her phone and took a deep breath before calling him back.
"Dad, hello I..."
"Did you steal Ruth's fiancé?" he shouted at her angrily before she could say more.
Phoebe clenched her jaw and her left hand as well. It looked like Ruth had paid her home a visit and as usual, her parents were already on Ruth's side, believing her over their own daughter.
Even in her last life, before rebirth, it was this way. Sometimes, she used to joke around that Ruth was more of their daughter than she was. Every day that passed, it felt more like a truth than a joke.
"Come home right away." her father ordered and hung up.