Emerald Eyes

Chapter 40: Truth Behind The Gem

The moment I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the shining icy chandelier hanging from the ceiling of a strange room where I'm currently lying. I coughed and a flurry of smoke came out from my mouth because of the cold.

A head leaned on me, covering the light coming from the tiny holes of the frozen ceiling. His face was silhouetted but I can still recognize his familiar green hair.

"Vyl..." I called, stretching out my right hand to touch his face.

"You're finally awake." He flashed his familiar grin that made me feel so at home. I instantly felt relief.

I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Hinila niya ako paupo mula sa pagkakahiga habang nakayakap pa rin ako sa kaniya. I'm now sitting on his lap while he's also hugging me. I felt him buried his face on my chest.

"You did great," he said that made me confuse so I pushed him slightly, enough for me to see his face.

"You saw me? While I'm inside the trial?"

"Yes." He kissed my cheek and looked at me straight in the eyes. " I was with you the whole time but for some reason, you can't see me. I was also unconscious just a while ago."

That made me utterly speechless. Oh my god. He was right beside me and was watching me while I stressed myself out figuring what was wrong.

Well, that was embarrassing. But maybe that was what the trial is all about. Making us realize how it feels like to be away from each other. To be invisible. To be lost.

"I'm actually pretty confident that you'll pass it. You're not Heavenly Salazar for nothing."

That made me grin and hugged him again, tighter. Maybe that was the reason why something feels weird. He was beside me all this time. I smiled at the thought.

After a few more seconds of cuddling, we stood up and looked around.

"Where are the others?" I asked as I touched the wall with icy fractal designs carved on it. It's very detailed that made it look really majestic.

"I also don't know. We were already separated by the time I woke up," said Vyl while looking around the small room.

The place is empty. There's nothing in here except some big piles of snow on each side of the wall, small leafless trees made of ice standing on the four corners of the room. Small frost crystals were dangling on the upper part of the walls, giving life to the place along with a large ice chandelier on the ceiling.

At the center part of the room, a detailed drawing of a snowflake is carved on the floor. I bent down to touch the center of the snowflake where a strange symbol is located. I don't know what it means so I called Vyl who was just standing a few steps away from me.

He bent down to look closely at the symbol too. Actually, it's more like a logo composed of series of symbols and small writings that I can't read. It's in a different language.

He traced his hands on the writings and read it softly.

"Break the bond, face the tragic. Cleave the stone,
stop the magic," he read.

We looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows. Why does it sounds so familiar?

I gasped when I realized where we first heard it from. "It's from the Enchantress!" Malakas kong bulalas sabay tingin ulit sa sahig kung saan naka-ukit ang mga salita.

"What does it mean though?" He asked but I just shrugged because I also don't know.

Does the stone in the chant meant the severing gem? We must cleave it to break the bond? But what does 'face the tragic' mean?