The Seventh Moon

This Is A New World Now

Even if it is a dark and hard time for me, I don't wanna give up my hope… ~ New World, Charice

xxxxxx

"Your appearance has changed? What are you talking about?" Jehan asked before any of the older mages could do so.

Risa looked at her reflection in the mirror once again and studied herself. Without a doubt, this wasn't how she was mainly supposed to look like. At least, in terms of the hair and eye color. But she knew that this was still her somehow.

And she could prove that.

The scar on her left upper arm from a surgery she got because of the wound she sustained when she was 21. It was still there. She got it from saving Mai from a pole that was about to hit her friend when an earthquake hit the town at the time.

If she was indeed summoned here, then at least she should have maintained her original appearance. But why did her hair and eyes change? What had transpired for that kind of drastic change to occur?

"Something must have happened for my hair and eye color to change like this all of a sudden. What's going on?"

Risa could see the three people in that room looking at each other in distraught from the mirror. Even she couldn't understand what was going on with her at the moment. But she had to stay calm.

Not long after, she could see Lady Enlari approaching her and making her face the woman as soon as they were just a few steps apart.

"Risa, look at me."

She did as the lady mage had said. But even she could tell that Lady Enlari was worried for her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to panic or anything."

"I understand. But as I said earlier, the answers will come in time. And we'll help you look for them. But for now, you must focus on recovering and healing your injuries for you to be able to do that."

Risa looked down and took a few deep breaths to calm her fast-beating heart because of what she saw. It took a while but she managed to do so. After that, she faced Lady Enlari and smiled at her.

"How could I ever thank you?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "We'll think about it once you recover. In the meantime, we'll leave Jehan here with you to be able to assist you while you're recovering."

"But... I can't possibly let him do that." And then she faced the said young man who was only smiling at her.

"There's nothing for you to worry about. I have nothing better to do at this time of the year, anyway. And I know it's going to help you recover faster if you have someone to talk to and help you change the bandage on your head. Along the way, I'll teach you things that would help you adapt to living in this kingdom since I figured that it would take a while before you manage to find your way home."

Tears accompanied the smile on Risa's face. She had never expected these people to be so open in accepting a stranger like her. She nodded later on in response to Jehan's words.

"Thank you, Sir Jehan."

"Call me Jehan. I may be someone from a noble family, but I don't think you need to call me formally like that. Not to mention, you have a similar name to my late cousin. I'd like to think of it as a connection that she made for both of us."

She decided to agree on that as it appeared that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Moments later, Risa changed her dress with Lady Enlari's help while the two men went outside the room.

xxxxxx

The Master Mage and Jehan decided to step outside of the house while Lady Enlari helped Risa get dressed properly. Even though they casually allowed Risa to stay with them in that house, the look on the two men's faces appeared to hold more meaning than what could be seen at the moment.

"My lord, could something sinister have happened for that kind of change to occur to Miss Risa? I can only think of a few magic rituals that could create that change. Could it be that she was a part of that ritual?" Jehan asked when he couldn't hold it in him much longer.

But the Master Mage sighed first and looked at the sky. It was clear and there were even birds flying around. And yet the sight of the two dragons under his command hovering above his property meant something else.

"There's only one ritual that I know could bring such a change by force. The head injury that the young lady sustained is proof of that. They must have attempted to use Dark Soul Summoning as part of the enemy's plan to wage war against the kingdom. Another part of their plan was to kill the Crown Prince. If they tried to do both at the same time..." The Master Mage's voice trailed off before he could say more to Jehan.

But the young mage-in-training already knew what the Master Mage was meant to say.

"But Lady Enlari said that the magic presence she felt was unlike anything she had ever sensed before. If it was Dark Soul Summoning, then the energy presence should be something familiar to her. And yet ㅡ"

"Something must have happened in the middle of the summoning ritual." The Master Mage looked at the house with a stern expression before letting it turn soft. "But if she was helping Risa like this, that means that woman isn't a threat to the kingdom."

"Should we let it be until Miss Risa finally recalls what happened to her to end up here and experience such physical changes?"

Then again, even the idea of letting time pass by and allowing things to happen as they should be doesn't sound safe to Jehan. But he had not felt anything malicious from Risa even when they saved her and she had woken up from her three-day slumber. The injury she sustained on her head was deep enough that she still felt pain because of it.

At the moment, all he wanted to do was to find out what truly happened to Risa. In a way, maybe he'd be able to help her return to her homeworld.

"Let's leave it to fate for now. That's all we can do."

xxxxxx

The Angarth Palace was surrounded by a tense atmosphere after the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince the other day after the celebration of the Queen's birthday. But even when they deployed the majority of the guards and soldiers to find the culprit and even managed to kill her with the help of the second prince's bodyguard, the King was still restless.

Only this time, it wasn't about the lurking threat toward the royal family --- especially his heir. It was about the presence he felt around the time the witch nearly killed the Crown Prince.

"Could it be that I'm mistaken?" he mumbled as he paced in his room and would watch the clear sky to think.

"My King..."

It appeared that even his queen consort was worried about the turn of events since the assassination attempt happened.

The King soon faced his queen consort who was only waiting for him to speak his mind.

"You sensed it, didn't you? There were two of them, but I wouldn't mistake what I felt that day for anything."

She nodded because she knew what her husband was talking about.

"That person had arrived in our kingdom, at last. After 183 years..."

"And yet... we don't know where that person is. But we must find that person. We need that person to help us protect our kingdom from the dark entity."

But the queen consort remained silent even after seeing the desperation on the king's face. Once she regained composure, she approached her husband and asked him to look at her.

"We have to trust the swords about this. If indeed, the Spirit had summoned that person, then all we can do is entrust our faith to it. The Spirit had not failed the Revian royal family since the last time it appeared to us. That person will come and be drawn to this place. I believe in it."

At that point, the king couldn't help but thank the heavens for giving him a wise and understanding wife. He held her hands and smiled at her.

"Thank you, my queen."