CHAPTER 4.4: The Cottage
"Andrea, where are you going? I have made plans for us to do today. You know it has been a while since we had a mother and daughter date, so I was thinking…."
Before I could even let my mother finish talking, I told her I had already made plans. "I'm sorry, Mother. I have things I need to do today, but I will make it up for you next time. I promise." I kissed her cheeks and left our residence. I can see the disappointment on her face, but there is nothing I can do to erase that.
Having the peace of mind that my mother is not hiding anything from me is much more important to me now. I love her, but I need answers. Answers that will break the walls this wall between my mother and me.
She never once told me about her past, and whenever I asked her, she only told me the things I already knew. Moreover, my biological parents, whenever I asked her about that, my mother always got irritated. The stuff she only tells me about them is that they are the Heroes that the people of the Five Lands respect and that they died in the cause of protecting the people. As result of that, my mother adopted me.
Upon arriving at the cottage's location, I could sense an incredible magic essence from it. The pressure of that place is enough to make people not want to get inside this place. At the same time, I know this magic essence. It's clear that this is my mother's magic. She put such a great length just to make sure that no one would be able to get inside the place.
I wonder why Marcus thinks it is such a bad idea for me to know what is inside this place. From what I can tell, Marcus can never get inside because of the intense magic that was cast on it, so why is he talking as if he already knows what is inside?
"My mother may be a powerful woman, but the magic that she cast on that cottage is not enough to stop me from getting inside." What is so unique about this is to maker her cast this kind of barrier.
As I am about to break through my mother's magic, I sense someone approaching me slowly. Before they can even touch me, I pulled out my sword and placed it right next to that person's neck. I glared at that person, and then I was surprised to see who it was.
"Careful now. Killing me is not a good idea. After all, you still need me to get you your answers."
"You're that fortune teller from before. Why are you here?" I put my sword down, but I did not let my guard down just yet. She is mysterious, and I cannot tell if she is an enemy or not. She is way too mysterious for me to trust so easily.
"I've been waiting for you, Andrea. Although, I was kind of disappointed that your friends, Marcus, came here first. He did the same as you, almost killing me with his sword. You have no idea how it is to convince him that I am not an enemy to you. He even blames me that I'm the reason why you were so obsessed with this cottage." As she finished talking, she laughed, thinking about something. She must have found it funny that Marcus is so suspicious of him. Although, I can't blame him for that because this woman is suspicious.
"He has all the right to blame you because I also blame you for this obsession of mine. Because of you, I keep having nightmares every single night. I keep seeing Deviants in my dreams ruining all the Five Lands once again." Since this woman spoke to me, my nightmares about the Deviants kept visiting me every night. I have not gotten a good night's sleep since then. I figured that if I found whatever may be looking for in this place, I would be able to escape those nightmares.
The woman in front of me stopped smiling and stared at me as if what I said was something of an importance."Those are not nightmares, Andrea. Those are the images of the past. You are blessed with many elements of magic, with the sight of past, present, and future, and the most amazing blessing of all, you are blessed to be able to wield the weapons of the Gods."
"What are you talking about? Blessings? Weapons of the Gods? That's all just nonsense that you are saying." Everything that she is saying does not make any sense. In the first place, why am I even listening to her?
"Nonsense? Hearing it for the first time might be just nonsense to you, but once you know what is inside that cottage, everything will start to make sense to you." I watched her every move. She started to cast a spell that easily broke the barrier that my mother put. How did she do that? How can she easily break my mother's spell? Other than me, who is capable of breaking that spell easily, I had no idea that this person existed.
If she is someone who is this strong and is most likely on the same level as my mother, how come I don't recognize her, especially if her magic is similar to my mother? Observing her more clearly, I can see the similarities between her and my mother. Are they related? If so, then how come I have never heard of her?
"You seem to know a lot about me, and you are somehow familiar with my mother's spell. Tell me, what is your relationship with her? Most importantly, what do you want from me."
She did not answer my answer and went inside the cottage. I followed her inside. One step inside caused me so much pain. I feel like I am running out of breath just being in here. This place rejects my presence, but I do not understand why this is happening.
"W-what did you do? Why is this place rejecting me?!" Did she do something while breaking the barrier? Is she the reason why this is happening to me?
"I didn't do anything. It's because of that sword. That sword itself is almost as if it has a mind of its own. Whenever it sense a Deviant nearby, it will react, and its purpose is to reject any Deviants." I stared at the sword she is talking about, which looks very familiar. I remember reading an ancient book once and in that book, it tells about the weapons of the Gods and what it looks like. This sword in front of me is the same one I saw in the book. How is it possible that the blade of the Goddess Aster is here? Just what is going on?