Chapter 34 - The Relic within

Before Atlas and Gil's fists reach Jasmine, Nyx's remaining sands nudge the shoulder and elbow of Atlas and Gil toward each other. No matter how hard and fast they try to punch Jasmine, the sands push their arms towards the other.

Gil could not comprehend what was happening and gave into the rage. Frustration, anger, and the spell that captivates his mind have finally broken him. He grew more extensive and robust. His teeth sharpness and his eyes turned bloodshot red. This was Gil's form when he and Kulog tried to take on the figure back in Antrian. He tried to hide it then, but this was something that his body could not contain anymore.

Gil then punches Atlas as he thinks that Atlas is intentionally hitting him. Atlas retaliated with a powerful blow, and the two ensued into a brawl that began to decimate the frozen sands around them.

Taking advantage of the confusion between the two giants, Jasmine makes a break for it. Jasmine jumps between alleys, across multiple buildings, and jumping between windows, narrowing and escaping the rampage from Tala's barrage of icicles, firebolts, and lighting.

The White Chronicle's bookmark also redirected Tala's attacks from hitting Jasmine, resulting in those fatal attacks to a near miss.

Nyx knows her sands cannot help anymore and waits to trap Tala. Once Tala lands on the ground, her sands will be ready to snatch her up. But as she was gathering her sands for the trap, she was disturbed by the building collapsing around her.

Gil threw Atlas across houses and collapsed near Nyx. Gil looked more like a monstrous merman than a gentle soul that Jasmine and the guardians knew of him. His teeth and claws grew sharper than before, and his skin turned from light blue to a darker shade, like the ocean's depths.

And a few moments after that, Jasmine was just around the corner, still running away from the Tala's attacks.

"Nyx, commence the second phase of the plan!" Jasmine yells while running fast as she can toward Nyx.

Nyx opened her bag so wide that purple, gold, and brown sands began to swirl around her. Jasmine then jumps inside the sand as she takes refuge from Tala.

Tala quickly reacted and cast her ice magic to freeze every surrounding sand. The sands began to shimmer and freeze before Nyx could use them. Gil then breaks the sand and grabs Jasmine and Nyx from within. He squeezes them tightly in his large hands and holds them up for Tala to deal a finishing blow.

Seeing that victory is at hand, Tala then points the wand at Jasmine and fires a powerful incineration spell to end her. But as she cast her spell, no magic emanates from her wand. Tala vigorously shakes her wand to no avail.

As she turns her sight toward Gil, they are all gone. The village, the sand, and even the town are gone. All she sees is darkness and the deafening silence of the world.

Unbeknownst to Gil and Tala, they are in a trance beside the other guardians. Jasmine remembered when she first met Shamir; she had to use these purple and gold sands that had the power to make the aswang fall asleep and change their memory.

"It has a range for its effectivity," Jasmine recalled what Nyx said when they discussed their plan of attack. Nyx doubted that Jasmine could lure them in, but she was glad that she was wrong.

Despite the hurdle they faced, Jasmine's plan worked! Nyx cannot put the guardians to sleep due to the brainwashing magic, but they are vulnerable to mental attacks. And those too powerful, like Atlas and Gil, are to be put into a trance.

Nyx then put all the guardians inside her sand and connected them with her mind. Jasmine joined Nyx inside the mindscape and began to unravel the mystery of the magic that holds their friends.

Huge holes above Nyx's mindscape began to open up as Nyx began to drag the consciousness of each of the guardians from their minds to hers. The guardians have arrived, all looking worn out and smelling of all old rotten wood.

"Uh, what happened?" Atlas says as he begins to look around. Curious to see this place for the first time.

"I believe this is the mindscape of Shamir? Oh man, what happened to our bodies then?" Juan says as he begins to assess the situation.

"You tell me! All I know is that you left me with Jasmine. Phronesians attacked us, and the next thing I knew, you lot were attacking us." Nyx says as she begins to close the portal to their minds as red electricity begins to pour from the infected guardians' minds to hers.

"We were scouting at a nearby Phronesians village. The Regis villagers heard rumors that an all-out attack from Phronesia was bound to happen. and the plan for their attack was involving Regis Village." Amihan says.

"They were planning on converting this village to an encampment to push their armies forward between Zeus and Athena's territory," Tala adds.

"We cannot let them take this village. Not after the hospitality the villagers gave us. I won't let that happen." Atlas said.

"So I gather the other guardians to see if the rumors are true. And if they are, we planned on sabotaging their forces. To their army before they reach the Regis village and maybe sometime before Athena and Zeus." Leshin says as he comes to clean about the secret mission.

"And not let me in this mission?! I am part of this team too!" Jasmine yelled. She is frustrated that she is being treated again as a kid. "Have I not shown you my dedication? My commitment to as the Chronicler?!"

"It's that we don't trust your skills to lead. But we fear our deaths." Gil says as he reminds Jasmine that all the guardians will die as well if she dies.

"And that is why we are training you with our magic and skill. To keep you alive and well." Tala chimes in as she tries to reason on the decision she made.

"I apologize for not telling you, Jasmine, but it looks like we made the right decision! We left Shamir with you as she has the best defensive capability. And it looks like she was able to defeat us." Kislap said as he began to congratulate what he thought was Shamir.

"First of all, I am not Shamir... Second, I didn't do it alone; the Chronicler was the one who made the plan to secure you. And How were you brainwashed in the first place?" Nyx replied.

"All I remember was we were scouting in the mountain plains when a red streak of lighting hit all of us from atop the mountain. The last thing I know is I feel angry all the time but cannot understand what I am seeing. It's all a blurry dream to me." Kulog replied.

All of them began to take a breather. The guardians and Jasmine need to take in what just happened. Jasmine was rightfully angry at them, but she could not deny the danger if she died. If a guardian dies, another guardian can replace their rank. But if she dies, every guardian will suffer the same fate, and most probably, the Ritual of Power will not work, effectively killing the guardian right off the face of this world.

"Despite this setback, I am still glad that Chronicler and Not-Shamir could pull us from our minds, but how are we going to get our bodies back?" Kislap asked.

"I have encountered this red lighting before. It is old magic from the continent of Ruks-Bel..." Juan says as he recalled the time he fought alongside the Aswangs against Rion or Rayong, as the Aswang called him. "I believe that Phronesia is working with the Ruks-Bel."

"Anyway, to expel this magic from our bodies?" Tala asked.

But as the guardians were all discussing the next plan of motion, Jasmine was busy finding a way to make the guardians respect her. She doesn't want to lead them like a boss; she wants to fight with them like a leader. Frustrated than ever, Jasmine wished that Jasmine would instantly grow stronger to fight the battles with them. And it was at this moment she felt a whisper—a faint tingling sensation in her ear and fingertips.

She gazed upon the hourglass in the middle of Nyx's mindscape. The hourglass looks pristine, and yet there is something that calls to her.

"Chronicler, do you hear it?" the lady from the bookmark appeared beside her.

"Yes, but it's a strange sensation. It's a familiar feeling and yet foreign. Is it safe to follow it?" Jasmine asked the bookmark for guidance. But the White Chronicle answered for her as it shook, demanding Jasmine to follow her feelings. She reached the hourglass in the middle of Nyx's mindscape. Inside is a silhouette of a person in a fetal position. The person is hugging something, never letting it go. As Jasmine looked deeper into this huge hourglass, the faint voices got louder.

"Nyx, you share a mind with Shamir. Since we are inside your mind, where she?" Atlas was just curious to see his Tymarian friend.

"We cannot be awake simultaneously, but she is here, sleeping soundly. I assure you, Atlas, whatever jokes you share with her, I know it as well." then Nyx began to speak in the Tymarian language and began to share the same jokes Atlas told Shamir a week ago. Atlas was surprised yet happy to see that Nyx was telling the truth. Atlas is satisfied that his friend is still deep inside Nyx.

Jasmine realized that person inside the hourglass was Shamir, but that thing that she was hugging was still pushing her to touch it, to see it. The White Chronicle shook, forcing her to get closer. Jasmine cannot see whatever Shamir is hugging, but her curiosity compels her to see what's inside her arms.

"Jasmine, can you see us?" The voice beckons to her.

"Jasmine, free us.", "Reunite us," "Have us back to your arms."

The voices have finally pushed Jasmine. When the other guardians were busy discussing how to remove the enhancement on their bodies. Jasmine shakes the hourglass to nudge Shamir's body into the proper position so she can see what she is holding. And once Shamir rolled over to the right angle, a bright light blinded all of them.

What Shamir was holding was an artifact. A powerful artifact that the likes of a Dogon would have. It was the same as what Daija had but also different. It was a leg of a human.

The bright light ended and began with a vision of a man traveling across the world. The man took himself to different civilizations that would take him in, from the high mountains of the harpies, the seas with the merfolk, the caves of the dwarves, and the forest of the elves. He had nothing, yet he enjoyed every moment this world had given him.

The man grew to understand these creatures and began to spread his message of love and peace thru his journey. Thru his wisdom, all races started to praise him, and he asked them to be their leader.

The man rejected their offer and instead taught them to be kind, not to fear each other but to learn how to love each other, regardless of their looks, race, or status.

The man has no name, yet they all knew him by his presence. Many of the races wanted to be him and began to follow his principles and teachings. The man had plenty of students; they attentively listened to him, yet none could come near grasping his teachings.

And in the twilight of his years, he vanished without a trace or a successor. The world wept for the loss of this man but is forever grateful to the world he left.

On the day the man disappeared, the sky was filled with beings of light franticly dancing across the sky. A loud crackle of voices echoed from above, repeating the exact words, "Bathala."

As the vision comes to an end, the guardians and Jasmine are stunned by what they saw. But as soon as they came to, they all began to look at the hourglass and Nyx.

"Nyx, what is that?" Jasmine asked calmly. Jasmine pointed at the leg that Shamir was holding.

"That is near to Shamir and me." Nyx began to feel that her answer averted all eyes to her.

"The last time we saw a vision like this, an artifact like this, was in Antrian. When Daija revealed that he was a Dogon and took what he called a body part of Bathala." Juan says as he begins to walk towards Nyx.

"Not a step closer!" Nyx's sands began to engulf everyone. She began to defend the hourglass fiercely and will prevent anyone from getting near it.

"Nyx, let us go," Jasmine asked Nyx again, but she was not listening. Nyx began to flood the area with her sand and threatened the guardians to back off or else she would be forced to harm them.

"Nyx! Let them go!" Jasmine yelled once more. And this time, her voice carried power. As the guardians looked at her, they began to see that Shamir inside the hourglass was awake, holding the artifact towards Jasmine. The leg emanates a light hue that is slowly being transferred to the White Chronicle.

"Nyx, I think it's time we let them know the truth," Shamir says while asking Nyx to stand down.

"But we might-" Nyx stopped when she saw Shamir's reassuring smile. She knows it. She can feel that Shamir trusts Jasmine more than anything in this world.

"Do you think it's time?" Nyx asked Shamir.

"I'm sure the Chronicler...Jasmine can be trusted." Shamir broke the hourglass and began to walk toward Jasmine with the leg in hand.

"The truth then." Jasmine turned to Shamir as she held on to the leg.

"Then let us begin in the beginning. Before I was called Shamir, before I founded Phronesia, there was my Dogon empire. My real name is Phrone, one of the seven lords of Dogon."