Celestial Guardians: Uniting Dimensions (Celestial Guardians Series, #1)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nel's POV

The air crackled with energy that only I could feel, like an invisible current weaving through the mundane streets of Manila. Every time I walked into the university campus, a peculiar sensation tugged at me, something I couldn't quite explain. It wasn't nostalgia—it was older, more profound as if the ground beneath my feet whispered secrets only my soul could hear.

For as long as I can remember, I've been drawn to patterns, symbols, and the mysteries they carry. While others see scribbles or meaningless shapes, I see stories—fragments of a larger puzzle. Yet, no amount of studying or researching in this life could answer the questions that gnawed at the edges of my mind.

Today felt no different except for the heavy unease in my chest. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to change.

"Nel!"

I turned to see Maggie, my best friend and the only person who didn't think I was crazy for obsessing over things like sacred geometry and celestial phenomena. She jogged toward me, clutching a stack of books to her chest.

"You're not gonna believe what I found," she said, her eyes alight with excitement.

I smirked. "Try me."

She handed me a worn, leather-bound book. The cover was blank, but the edges were frayed and stained with age. "I got this from the archives. It's been there for decades, completely ignored. But look inside."

I flipped it open, and my breath hitched. The pages were filled with intricate illustrations of symbols, eerily similar to the ones I'd been sketching since I was a kid.

My hand brushed over the familiar shapes, my pulse quickening. "Where did this come from?"

"No one knows," Maggie said. "The librarian said it was donated ages ago, but there's no record of who brought it in. Weird, right?"

Weird didn't even begin to cover it.

"Nel," Maggie said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Look at this page."

She pointed to a diagram of three interconnected circles containing a glowing figure with wings. Beneath it, in faded ink, were the words: The Guardians of the Celestial Tapestry.

A shiver ran down my spine. "Guardians?"

Maggie nodded. "It's like they're some protectors. And get this—each one is tied to a specific purpose, a destiny. Doesn't that sound a little... familiar?"

Familiar wasn't the word. It felt personal, as though the pages were speaking directly to me.

Before I could respond, the air around us seemed to shift. A sudden wind whipped through the open corridor, scattering papers and sending chills down my spine.

Maggie frowned, clutching her books tighter. "What the hell was that?"

I didn't answer. My gaze was fixed on the book, where a faint glow now radiated from the page with the guardians' diagram.

"Maggie," I said slowly, my voice barely above a whisper. "Do you see that?"

"See what?"

The glow intensified, and the symbols on the page swelled, forming a pattern that seemed to leap off the paper. My heart pounded as the shapes morphed into a single, glowing sigil.

And then, in a flash, it disappeared.

"What just happened?" Maggie asked, her eyes wide.

I didn't know how to explain it, but something profound inside me had stirred—something ancient and powerful. For the briefest moment, I felt a flicker of recognition, like a long-forgotten memory trying to claw its way to the surface.