CHAPTER 3

For some reason, the night's silence is deafening as Zai and Hwayatt walks in the darkness. Their destination is still unknown, just trusting Hwayatt's instincts to lead them away for safety.

They're running out of time, that's for sure but they really can't run because Zai is losing so much blood and they can't even go to a hospital with the fear that some innocent people will be harmed because of them.

Hwayatt looks at her friend as they started to walk slowly. "Are you okay? Can you still walk? Please don't die on me." she says as she looks at Zai worriedly. Her friend only grunts as a reply and she notices how she clutches her stomach in a way that could've hurt but she didn't comment on it. Zai's breaths are getting heavier and she can almost see the bright red that follows their track but if they wanted to survive then she needs to lead them both to the portal first before something bad will happen.

"They're almost here." Zai says after a while and that comment alone made Hwayatt panic. "Can you walk faster? Just please, I really don't know where we should go but please hang on there." She says as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. "The portal's near." She heard her friend whispers while trying to breathe deeply.

She frowns and look around and Zai's right, she can feel the tugging in her grows stronger as they near a forest that she recognizes. "This is where we buried that monster." She silently commented as they walk into the forest grounds. "Do you think that portal could be in that exact spot where we buried it?" Zai asks. "No. it's near there but a little further. I think the thing that's been tugging me is near the cliff." She answers but before Zai could say something, a loud howl is heard behind them. "Damn. They're faster than the calculations in my head." Zai says and the two of them walks a little faster, almost running.

They heard them before they see them. The wolf jumped in front of them, blocking their way and a force has knocked Zai away from Hwayatt. "No!" Hwayatt screams as she watched her friend being thrown over a big tree and can see how tight Zai closes her eyes when her back hits the tree, she coughs blood then, making Hwayatt worry more for her friend than for herself.

"Your time's up, princess." A dark shadow says behind her and her eyes widen when she turns around to see a dark cloud with red eyes in front of her. The creature looks like the first they've encountered but for some reason, she knows that this one is different from the previous monster and this one seems to be more dangerous, something dangerous that could be the exact representation of those monsters that terrorizes a whole town for years in one of those animes that she and her friends love to binge watch.

"Who are you? What are you?" She asks, ignoring the term that they called her, because 'princess?' the only royal she knows are reigning over England. That could just be a nickname to mock her or something.

The monster didn't reply her, instead, in just a blink of an eye, it flew over her so fast that she can only release a single breath. But instead of the pain that she anticipated to feel, she heard an angry scream and a shriek of pain from the monster and when she opened her eyes, she saw Zai standing in front of her with one hand just in front of her face and the other holding her waist, protecting her. Her claws are once again there and there's blood in her hands, red and black that she swore is the color of the monster's blood.

She could have been dead for the second time that night but, thanks to Zai, again, she survived and her heart is beating so hard against her chest that the only thing she can do is stand there stupefied, making her to not notice the wolf, who is still behind them, to crouch and jumped over them with its mouth open and ready to snap her into two but Zai moved fast and she pushed her to the side making her butt meet the ground and she watches as her friend claws the wolf's jaw before reaching its neck and snap it so hard that the cracking of the bone is heard throughout the forest. With a last whine and a loud thud when the wolf hits the ground, the wolf dies with its eyes still open.

Before she can speak and ask her friend if she's alright, Zai once again moved in a fast pace, moving in time to avoid the shadow's attempt to trap her in its shapeless form. She makes a move to attack it back but she can only pass through it without any damage, making the monster laugh at her pointless attempts. Hwayatt can see the frustration in her friend's eyes and so did the monster as it laughs louder before attacking her, hitting Zai's still bleeding stomach making her scream in pain as more blood flows out of her wound.

Hwayatt was about to go and help her friend, put herself in danger or anything just to summon the light that helped them before but she saw Zai's lips forming a smirk before reaching the shadow and this time, she was able to hold it and its the monster's turn to screams in pain as a dark fire engulfs it. It tries to move away from Zai but the fire follows it and she watches in shock until she remembers her still injured friend.

She looks at where Zai is and she saw her in a kneeling position while clutching her stomach. She rushes to her and kneels in front of her and holds her cheeks in between of her hands to check on her and with the help of the moon's light, she can see how pale her friend is while breathing shallowly. "Can you stand up for me? I'll carry you if I have to." She suggested but her friend only smiles before standing on her own and opening her eyes to see the still struggling monster behind her. She notices then that her eyes are still purple just like how it usually turns in to everytime she shows some of her new found abilities but unlike the few times that she have seen them, it's not glowing now.

"There are still some of them that is coming." She says before her eye color goes back to brown and falling to the ground. Hwayatt panics and goes to her friend's side and checks her still bleeding wound and wonders how she can still fight and stay alive after all of the walking and fighting. It feels so long when they walk the way from their apartment to the forest and Zai has been bleeding ever since so it came to a shock for her that her friend is still alive, she is grateful to what their new discoveries about their selves tho, because she knew that that could be the only reason as to why her friend didn't die due to haemorrhage.

She grunts when she tries to carry her friend. They're near to the portal, she can feel it, she just needs to hurry before something comes blocking their way again or the monster manages to escape that black fire that Zai set on it because she can't fight like Zai therefore, she can't defend them if something catches them.

When she reached the cliff, she got confused at the realization that aside from the feeling that the portal is here, she doesn't know where exactly it is or how to open it. She looks around but she can't see anything that could maybe show her how the portal could be opened.

She's heaving when she went to look over the cliff, Zai is still unconscious in her back. She's about to go over a tree, away from the edge of the cliff to put Zai down and look for the portal but the creatures after them has finally reached them and she gulps as she can see lycans and wolves around them. She steps back before realizing that there's nothing behind her and with a scream, she falls along with Zai, who tightens her hold on her.

She hears howls and growls when she opens her eyes (she doesn't even remember closing them), she can see them hovering over the cliff and she sees the shadow glaring down at them with its red eyes before something big and dark covers her and Zai.

The last thing she heard is the loud splash of waters before everything went black.

________________________

When Hwayatt wakes up, she expected to be in a deserted island with a painful body or maybe not wake up at all, they fell in a high place with rocks at the bottom so she didn't really expect to wake up in a room and feeling perfectly fine, but that's what she wakes up to, along with a person who's eyes grew big and ran outside.

"Okay?" she says confusedly before sitting up. She tries to roll her shoulders, expecting a pain that never came and that's when she realizes that Zai is nowhere to be seen so she stands up hurriedly and follows the way that the person ran in to.

What greeted her outside is something that she never dreamt of facing in any situation.

There were huts everywhere and she swore that there are caves that she can see in her peripheral vision. What surprises her most are the people who instantly kneels when they noticed her presence and they were all dressed in clothing that can only be seen in movies and those games that Rage loves to play. She also notices the pointed ears that some people has, fairy wings, animals that she's not sure if they're actually animals, some scales and other attributes that she believes to exist only in stories.

"Your highness, you shouldn't have left the bed. You still need to rest after all of the energy that you used for creating that portal." A man says beside her that she only noticed. She looks at him and her jaw drops when she notices the pointed ears and silver eyes that he has.

"What – what are you?" she asks dumbly that made the man bows to her with a smile. He motions his hand at the open door beside them, "You should go back and rest. I'll answer all of your questions then." He says but she again remembers her missing friend that she's supposed to find.

"Where's Zai? Can you show me where she is, she's injured and oh my gosh, she's alive, isn't she? Please tell me she's alive." She says as she holds the man's arm, her voice shaking and refusing to listen to that thought that tells her that she will never see her friend ever again. She ignores all of the gasps and tries to push away the need to ask what he means by the way he addresses her.

There were whispers behind her but she ignores to listen to any of them, her focus is still on the man. "You mean the dark creature, Your Highness? I'm afraid I can't let you see her, for your safety." He says with anger in his eyes. "We were meant to kill her but now that you're here, we need to ask you first before doing anything to her and we still need some information from her that she refuses to say." Hwayatt's eyes grew big at this and worry consuming her system with just the thought of this people hurting her injured friend, the only thing that's stopping her for creating a scene is the fact that Zai is still alive and she needs this people to tell her where she is. "Lead me to her, now!" she orders, tone rising. The man opens his mouth to say something but he must have noticed the desperation in her so he only sighs and says, "This way, Princess."

The man leads her to one of the caves but unlike the other caves, this one is heavily guarded by elves and sylphs (she really can't see the sylphs but her instinct tells her that they're there). The guards bows to her and they were accompanied by one of the elves for safety precautions as they say when she asks why there should be someone to accompany her and the man to see Zai.

She sees Zai sitting in an uncomfortable bed at the cave's corner when they entered and she was about to run to her but the man holds her and steps in front of her when Zai looks at their direction. "Look down, Nebula." He says with such distaste. Hwayatt really can't find it in herself to care about these creatures around her so she pushes the man away and run towards Zai. "Stop! There's something in here!" Zai says quickly, standing up to make sure that Hwayatt won't come any closer. She stops right away and it's only then that she notices that there is indeed something in the air surrounding Zai and her instinct tells her that she would be poisoned if she crosses that barrier.

The guard that accompanied them went to her side quickly and tugs her away from Zai. "Your Highness! Please be careful, there are areas you shouldn't cross in here." He says in a worried voice.

"There's no need to point your arrows at me." Zai says that made her look back to her friend. "Stop!" She shouted. "What do you think you're doing? She's harmless." She continues, looking where the sylphs are supposed to be standing.

"Nothing is harmless in a Nebula, Your Highness. And this one is a powerful one because we are yet to meet someone who can easily tell where our sylphs are or where their barriers are. She might be one of the dark King's trusted men." The man from before says and stepping just in front of Zai who snorts at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that I know nothing about your accusations or what you mean by these missions." Zai says, glaring at the man. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I don't believe you?" he says back.

"I don't know what you did to her but I will never forgive you if you ever hurt her. I don't give a fuck if she's a dangerous one or not, you don't believe her? Then fine. But I'm telling you this, we don't know what all of this shit show is or what kind of world did we wake up into, she's my friend and I don't need any of you to tell me whether I should stay away from her or not because she's my friend and she saved me from all of those creatures that tried to kill me!" She shouted frustratingly before marching towards her friend.

Some of the sylphs gasps when she crosses their barriers but she ignores them and hugs Zai tightly, who in turn, hugs her back just as tight. "I'm sorry for not being able to protect you but I'm glad that you're still alive or else I'm going to jump in that cliff again." She says making Zai laugh at her and rests her forehead to her head.

"I really like this height difference between us." Zai says that makes her giggle in her shoulders. "You're saying something dumb again. Can you just atleast tell me that you appreciate the thought that I can't live without you?" she says. Zai hums, "Don't make me say something cheesy, our three-way relationship ended when Ayana decided to marry that wimp. And I decided to return to my cool self ever since." She says with a chuckle. Hwayatt laughs and pushes Zai away from her, "Hearing you say that now that Ayana is married is making all of those jokes weird." They heard another gasp behind them, making Hwayatt frown at how much gasping she has been hearing ever since she woke up.

"You're in a relationship?" The man says with disbelief. The guard gulps at this and they notice a few sylphs turning their heads away. "My apologies for treating you in such a way." The man says as he kneels in one knee, followed by the others. "So you're suddenly nice to me because I'm in a relationship with your princess?" Zai scoffs. Hwayatt pinches her arm so she shuts her mouth before she can say something stupid.

"Can you leave us for a while? All of you." She says. "Of course, your highness." The man says before standing up and ushers everyone to leave the two friends alone.

"Are you okay? Your wound, how was it?" She asks before trying to lift Zai's shirt that she swats. "I might have not corrected that man that we are not lovers but can you not? This stomach is still a virgin." Zai says as she crosses her arms in her torso. She rolls her eyes at her friend. "You say that as if whoever helped you tend to that wound didn't touch it or that one time Ayana accidentally saw you changing in your room. That stomach is no longer a virgin." She says and her friend smacks her arm. "I was unconscious! And that one time with Ayana is because she doesn't know how to knock."

"But on a serious matter. Wow, you have wings." She says as she looks at the two huge wings behind Zai's back, they're majestic, something that she can never imagine to see in person or even think that someone in real life could have, but instead of those normal white color, Zai's wings are pitch black with a little purple if she moves in a certain angel. Zai shrugs her shoulders as she opens her wings to show her how big they are when outstretched. "And you have pointed ears." She commented back and Hwayatt immediately touches her ears and she gasps when she feels her ears' newfound shape. "Your eyes are green too, and your hair has turned white, Granny." Zai again says with a grin. "Hey!" she smacks her friend and avoids the slap that Zai returns. "You talk as if your hair hasn't turned gray!" she says, offended.

It's only then that she notices her friend's new appearance. Her hair has grown longer, reaching her waist but she's sure that it would reach her ass if she pulls them all in her back, her eyes are purple now, a little brighter than the first time she saw them. "You've transformed. You're no longer my nerdy friend." She says. Zai smirks at her and shows her the fangs that she has now, Hwayatt stares at her in awe. "You've changed too, I don't know if you already saw it on a mirror or something but you have green eyes and there's a tattoo in your neck to your arms." It's only then that she notices the golden lines adorning the entirety of her right arm and according to Zai, her neck. "It looks like vines." Zai says and yes, they are vines. "Guess that's a royal's mark, someone who's meant to take the throne." She added that made her look at her friend. "How do you know this? Why are you not freaking out that we woke up in another world? Why am I not freaking out?" She asks, her breathes are getting heavier, it's only then that everything has finally sinks in her mind.

"Breathe, Hwayatt, just breathe." Zai says as she helps her sit in the bed. She breathes deeply, relaxing all of her nerves before she can have a panic attack.

"I kinda expected this already. I think all of those times that I seem to know that something will happen before has something to do with the fact that we're not really human and not just me having a connection to the moon that you always joke about, I used to always dream that I have wings and I thought those are just dreams but turns out, it was real. I'm a seraph, an aberration of my kind, and you're an elf, their princess." She says and all of the things that she has been seeing people do in her presence suddenly make sense.

"Did you saw this in your dreams too? Is that why you know that I'm a princess?" she jokes. "No. I only saw my wings but you being a princess is something that I learned when those guys interrogated me for something that I don't know. And I kinda saw something a while ago about a king that has golden lines like you, who I think is your father by the way and for some reason, I already knew that you're awake and you're on your way here." Zai explains.

"I don't know how we got here but those wings that I saw before I passed out are yours, right?" she asks and Zai nods her head. "And you opened the portal right after we hit the water." Zai supplies her. "I don't know why we're suddenly here or why those creatures attacked us out of nowhere, but I'll make sure that I'll find answers, and while we're at it, I want to find something that I know that only this world can answer." Zai continues and she agrees, she wants to know why they're here or why were they living in the human world if they're originally from here.

And maybe, this could be her chance of knowing about her parents too. Something that she always wanted to know while growing up.