Aliyah slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see the endless horizon of a clear blue sky. She was lying on a mound of grass and the cool breeze of the wind softly touched her face. The soft chirping of the birds and squeaking of small animals could be heard in the distance. The rustling of leaves from the trees permeated the air.

“Where am I?” she slowly got up as she looked around her surroundings. “I guess I’m dreaming again. Might as well enjoy myself before I wake up.” A playful smile appeared on her face and started to run, “Woah! This wind is so cool, so nice!”

Aliyah started running around, climbing trees and eating fruits. She had always wanted to experience something like this, to be in a place embraced by nature, where she could roam around however she wants. After climbing various trees, she decided to rest under one of the trees for a little while. After a few moments, she heard footsteps behind her. When she turned around, she found a very beautiful lady with long silver hair standing before her.

“Who are you?” Aliyah was surprised to see her. Even though she can’t remember, she felt like she had seen her before, like they’ve known each other for a long time.

“I am you, and you are me. But you may call me Eri.”

~o~

“Has Aliyah woken up already?” Zhef asked Nyk who just came out from Aliyah’s room.

“Not yet dad. Grandma tried to wake up her up already but it seems that she’s still in a deep slumber. How about mom, how is she?” Nyk asked back. His mother refused to eat a while ago and didn’t want to leave Aliyah’s side. Only until they confirmed that Aliyah was only sleeping that they were able to persuade her to eat.

“She’s fine now. She’s taking a shower at the moment. She’ll come here and check on Aliyah later. This is going to be a long night.” Zhef sighed.

“Ah!”

They heard a sudden cry inside the room so the two immediately rushed in. They saw Aliyah levitating on top of her bed as streaks of light swarmed around her.

“Her awakening has started.” Kheifa who was standing nearest to Aliyah started to chant spells to surround Aliyah so that her awakening wouldn’t be interrupted. The two also cast protective barriers around the house. When Cleigh-an came into the room and saw what they’re doing, she also closed her eyes and started to chant spells to mask the house from any human’s view.

When one would undergo awakening, that person would be surrounded by swarming streaks of light. There would only be a few streaks of lights at first, but gradually they would increase in number until that person’s body would be fully enveloped by light. This initial stage of the awakening may take a few hours. Zhef’s awakening took more than 4 hours while Nyk’s took more than three. Kheifa’s awakening, on the other hand, took more than 6 hours before it reached the final stage.

~o~

Aliyah listened to a lot of Eri’s story about her past life. She believed that it’s only her dream at first, but when Eri pinched her and made a small cut on her finger, she felt the pain.

“This… how could this be?” Aliyah was so surprised.

“I know it’s hard to believe but right now, you are currently awakening your powers. Your mortal body has now changed into that of an ethereal body through the contract. You’re a Halfling now.” Eri pat Aliyah’s head.

“So Nephylaria and the Celestial Kingdom… they are real?” Aliyah frowned. Everything that she told her flooded her head.

“Yes, they are. And you once lived there. Now you need to wake up, they are waiting for you.”

Aliyah saw Eri waved her hand as she got enveloped with light, then as her vision darkened, she heard her say, “Soon you will remember everything and by that time, you will understand.”

When she opened her eyes again, she saw an extremely beautiful lady floating before her. Her eyes were like dark gems full of luster and life as it stared at her. “Who are you?” Aliyah asked. This was a very disconcerting experience for her. She just met a very beautiful lady a while ago who claimed to be her in her past life, and now, there’s another lady that felt very familiar to her, yet she couldn’t remember when and where she met her.

“We were the best of friends in your first life and I am here to fulfill my promise to you.”

“Promise? What promise?” Aliyah remembered that Eri mentioned she had a bestfriend whom she loved the most but she died to protect her.

“To help you fulfill what you weren’t able to accomplish before, to ‘end’ the curse immortal.”

“Cursed Immortal? Why do I have to end this cursed immortal?” Aliyah tried to remember if Eri mentioned anything about the cursed immortal but there’s nothing mentioned about him in her stories.

“To maintain the balance of the realms. The cursed immortal has traversed through time and realms, this caused ripples that affected the balance between realms. Once the balance gets destroyed, chaos will break out. You must prevent that from happening. That is your duty as a Holy Maiden. I have bestowed the Halfling contract upon you to help you overcome your awakening. Now it’s time for you to finish it.” The lady started to gradually disappear.

“Wait! I still want to ask – ”

Before Aliyah could even finish, extreme radian of light blinded her sight.

“Ah!”

~o~

Inside Aliyah’s room, worry was written all over their faces. It’s been 8 hours since Aliyah started awakening there was no sign of it ending yet. Suddenly, surges of magic essence erupted from her body.

“We’re on the final stage, you must cast your strongest protective spells now.” Kheifa told the group as she chanted more spells. Among the four people inside the room excluding Aliyah, she and Cleigh-an held a greater amount of magic essence that’s why the two of them had been casting more powerful spells from the beginning. Now that the awakening entered its final stage, the greater magic essence they have to spend in order to hide the phenomenon from the normal humans.

As the magic essence around Aliyah increased, a large beam of light penetrated the roof and showered down Aliyah. If any normal human being saw this, it would cause a huge commotion because they would see that the light came down from the skies as if an opening was created so the light could pass through.

When the light died down, the four rushed to Aliyah’s bed. “Was it successful?” Cleigh-an was worried because Aliyah still doesn’t show any sign of waking up.

“Let’s wait for a bit. I’m sure it was successful.” Kheifa assured her.

After a few moments, Aliyah carefully opened her eyes. When she looked around, she was astonished to see her parents, her grandma and her brother around her. But what surprised her more was that she could see the flow of magic essence in their bodies. She also noticed that the amount of magic essence coursing through her mother and grandmother are greater than that of her father and brother. “You… all of you have magic essences?”

Her question surprised all of them. They have already stabilized their magic essence so it’s not visible right now. “You can see the magic essences?” Kheifa asked.

“Yes, it’s coursing through your body and it’s converging near your heart.” Aliyah replied. She could see that the magic essences clustered at the center of their body near their heart, while some of it were circulating through their whole body.

“You’ve really become a Halfling.” Kheifa muttered in shock.