Chapter 5: Chapter 4: the magical town and the elementals
Silence wrapped the insides of a 1969 Chevy Camaro after Shaianah had described to Asrial where she lived. No one dared to talk about what happened earlier at the restaurant but both had different reasons as to why. Shaianah was puzzled, overthinking things from last night 'til now, while Asrial was just unbothered of everything.
"It's strange..."
Asrial takes a quick side glance at Shaianah who had one of her elbows leaning against the door. "What is?"
"I didn't even touch the glass earlier, how could it fall?" Like most of her questions, this, too, remained unanswered. Asrial only purses his lips as he stares intently at the road, and so Shaianah sighs and sits back. He was struggling on how to explain that the glass was controlled by some sort of magic to a person whose identity he wasn't sure of still.
Asrial has probably memorized the whole town like the back of his hands. He was only given a sloppy description yet he knew exactly where the place was. Shaianah thought that perhaps theirs was the only house in town that looked like a castle. She was even wondering why their family weren't a part of that "royal family" Lila spoke of.
"Hey, thanks for the ride. I'm sorry for being a bother to you today. Perhaps I could pay you back sometimes." The Chevy Camaro stops in front of a ten-foot tall steel gate, and they both got out of it. Asrial couldn't tear his eyes off of the house, wondering how Shaianah could be related to the owners.
"Why did you come to Cassiopeia?"
"What?"
"You shouldn't have." Shaianah was taken aback by Asrial's words. It came off rudely to her.
"Excuse me?"
"It's not safe here." In that moment, all Shaianah wanted to do was to explode. She's never felt so frustrated in her life. She was just so pissed that everybody was so cryptic about everything when all she wanted was to know the truth.
"Why? Why wouldn't it be safe? What's going on in this town? I've only been here for a day yet many things have already happened. What's frustrating is that no one is willing to make me understand why they're happening!" She bursts out, looking straight at Asrial's eyes which seemed to show no emotions at all.
"I have many questions, too, Shaianah. It's not only you who's confused. No human is allowed to set foot on this town and yet you're here... and you live there." Asrial glances up at the house again and heaves a sigh.
"No human? Why? What are you people? Some kind of aliens that decided to live here on earth 'cause, hey it would be fun here, huh?" Shaianah says rather hysterically but stops when Asrial calmly raises his hand and aims it a nearby tree. Suddenly, ice flowed through his hands, freezing the trunk and leaving Shaianah in full shock.
Shaianah took a few seconds to process what she had just seen and when it finally struck to her that the person she was with wasn't "normal", she steps back in fear.
Asrial only sighs before hiding his hand inside his pocket. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"What are you?" Before Asrial could even utter a single word, the ten-foot tall gate behind Shaianah opens. A dusty red Impala, which was about to leave, stops in front of them.
"Shaianah, oh my God!" Christine got out of the car's backseat to rush towards Shaianah, with Lila following behind. "We were about to look for you again. The police wouldn't help us because you weren't gone for 24 hours and—wait who are you?"
"Christine, go back inside. Don't go near him."
"What? Why?" Christine looked so confused. She assumed that the guy Shaianah was with was the person who helped her get home, and yet she seemed angry or perhaps afraid of him.
"Let's just go, Christine." Shaianah glances at Asrial before pulling Christine back inside the gates. She was still in shock, not knowing what to do next or if she even wanted to stay in this town a little longer. She wanted to leave, take her siblings with her, and go back to Manila where life was hard but at least normal. She's not sure anymore if they're safe at Cassiopeia because based on what Asrial had said, it seemed dangerous. But why would their mother want them to come here if it's dangerous? It just doesn't make sense.
"Shaianah! Thank goodness you're back! Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you at the park." Mammy rushes to Shaianah with worried eyes as soon as they entered the receiving area. She immediately pulls her granddaughter into an embrace, but Shaianah remained rather impassive.
"We decided to go home for awhile so Mammy, Pops and the kids could rest. Jillian and Joseph are already upstairs." Christine said. She had already completely forgotten about the guy Shaianah was with earlier.
"Mammy, is there something you need to tell us about this town?"
"We were so worried about you and then you're just gonna ask that weird question?" Christine almost rolled her eyes at her sister, but their grandparents seemed to have taken Shaianah's question seriously. They both glanced at each other as though they were communicating through their eyes.
"It's not a weird question. If we're going to stay in this town, we need information, like what kind of people are living here. I just saw someone emit ice from his own bare hands!" To Christine, Shaianah sounded insane. She's always known her sister to be a bit different, but she never thought her sister would believe in such fictional things. Let alone say something as ridiculous as that.
"You're crazy."
"Lila, can you tell the twins to come down at the grand hall for a bit? We need to discuss something with them." Mammy finally said. This was what Shaianah has been waiting for since the moment they got here yesterday. Though she already had a bit of a headstart from Asrial, she still needed an explanation for everything.
The rest of them continued at the grand hall. Mammy and Pops sat on the couch as they waited, while Shaianah and Christine took time to admire the marvelous design of the castle's interiors. A fireplace was standing near the couch and the windows were covered with beige curtains that matched with the gold accents. Everything screams of elegance and beauty.
"Shaianah! You're here! We were worried!" The twins exclaimed, running towards Shaianah and hugging her legs. Shaianah smiled a bit before patting their heads.
"I'm sorry I made you worry." She says softly.
"Now that you're all here..." Mammy started, getting the attention of everyone in the room especially Shaianah. Her eyes drifted from the twins to their grandparents who seemed calm about everything. They were preparing for this. They were supposed to tell the siblings about this when they get home from the park but Shaianah got lost. "We do plan on telling you this but I guess Shaianah has already found out about it."
"What is it Mammy?" Jillian asks innocently.
"Cassiopeia is a magical town full of elementals—"
"Hold up. Is this serious?" Christine tried to hold back her laughter. "Are we really doing this? Are we really talking about this? Come on! We're not in some kind of a fantasy world."
"Christine, let's listen to them first." Shaianah calmly says, determined to learn everything no matter how impossible it sounded. After all, her experiences were already evidences that Cassiopeia truly was a magical town.
"Elementals are creatures who possess magic that are mainly related to elements. We can either control the elements or create them by using the energies in our bodies." Pops continued what Mammy was explaining earlier. "Your mother was an elemental. She kept it hidden from you to protect you. She wanted you to live a normal life in Manila but she knew this day would come. You were all destined to come back here someday."
"I hope you don't get mad at your mother for keeping this from you. It would've brought you danger if humans found out it." Mammy added.
"You mentioned that our mother was an elemental. How about dad?" Shaianah curiously asks while her siblings were silent. Christine was still a bit puzzled while the twins found it amusing.
"Your father was human, dear." Mammy answered. "Your mother wanted to know about the human world so much that she decided to go to Manila for college. That's where they met and fell in love."
"This is still hard to believe, you know?" Christine crosses both her arms in front of her chest as Mammy smiled before raising her hand and letting water flow through her arms. She formed it into a ball-like shape and let it disappear right after. The twins clapped in excitement while Christine was left shocked.
"Do it again! Do it again!"
"Excuse me, but I think I have to go and take a rest now. Today has been... too much." Shaianah says before making her way to her bedroom. One of her questions already got answered, but something else was bugging her. She knew she had a lot to learn about this town and perhaps she still has to rethink about leaving and going back to Manila.
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