Mystical wish

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival to an Unexpected World

"I'm home!" A girl with bluish-brown hair called as she walked into the house and closed the door. The girl was about fourteen and had a few strands of hair braided behind her head.

"Hi, Emerald. How was school today?" Emerald's mom asked, turning around to face her daughter. Then she gasped, "What happened? You're all filthy!"

"Nothing really…I guess we just played too rough at gym," Emerald's voice trailed off as she eyed her slippers.

"Don't think you can fool me, young lady! You change for gym. It's probably that new girl again. Why does she have to have such a bad temper anyway?"

Knock it off, mom. I'll be fine…" replied Emerald.

"Before you do anything else, you'd better take a nice, long bath." said Emerald's mom, returning to her work.

Emerald sighed and went to get her towel and some new clothes. Then, she went into the bathroom and shut the door. As Emerald laid in the hot water, she thought of what had happened just after school…

Flashback:

Before school ended, it was raining hard. Emerald's class was having gym inside. It was spring, so they decided to play baseball. Emerald was in team A and the new girl, whose name was Alie, was in team B. The class played until team A came out as the winner because Emerald had caught Alie's ball before the game tied. Alie was furious.

After school, Alie went towards Emerald, who was walking on the field, and pushed her until she fell into the mud. Emerald tried to stand up, but Alie pushed her again. When Alie's temper finally disappeared, she smirked and started to walk away. Emerald then grabbed a rock and flung it high into the air. It hit Alie on the head, but before Alie could turn around, Emerald had already disappeared towards the road home.

End of flashback

The rain had stopped. Now that Emerald thought about it, she was glad she had thrown the rock at Alie.

"The best thing is to never see her again," sighed Emerald as she wrapped a towel around herself.

She then looked down and stared at the heart-shaped pendant her grandmother had given to her on her fourteenth birthday. Emerald had heard a lot of stories about it from her grandmother before it was passed down to her, but the most vivid one of all was a sentence, "It is a magic stone that will protect you when the time comes…" Emerald had always loved her grandmother and truly believed in the words that she spoke.

After taking a long shower, Emerald returned to her room. The room was of a simple nature, with a small wooden desk, a single bookshelf, and a small comfy bed. She walked towards her desk. On it was a leather bound black book, which her grandmother had given to her just before she passed away. Emerald had treasured it ever since.

Sitting down on the floor, Emerald leaned against her bed and opened the familiar pages. They were withered and yellow, but the warmth they brought never ceased to flow into her heart.

She remembered that there was a time when she would always visit her grandmother. They shared the best times together. As a child, she had become interested in that big black book. The book full of images of mysterious creatures: the nymphs, the devils, the angels. They had read through the book together, explored that new world together. Grandmother taught Emerald all she could about magic, and Emerald absorbed all that knowledge with utmost interest, never realizing how this knowledge connected with her destiny.

In time, Emerald had fully memorized the pages of the book so that it felt like the book was within her no matter where she went. Flipping through the pages, Emerald once again entered the world that she claimed her own. Those elegant creatures that only belonged in her world and hers alone, those that only she knew of, could not be taken away from her. This was her daily ritual.

Placing the book on her lap, she took out her pendant again. She missed her grandmother, the person who was always there to comfort her and give her strength. The one who could have chased away the despair brought on by Alie. Now, she was all alone, unable to wrestle away the anger she felt for such a foe. She gripped the stone tighter, wishing she could remain in her own world forever, a world where nobody could bring her harm, where a person called Alie did not exist…

Suddenly, the pendant glowed a pale blue in her hand and she felt a weird sensation. She released her grasp on the stone, but the blue light did not fade. Instead, it grew brighter and bigger…in a few moments, she disappeared.

A boy with dark blue hair and a grayish blue bandana walked across the rock-layered path near the lake when he saw a figure laying beside it.

He went to see who it was and saw a girl with bluish-brown hair, laying on the ground unconscious. Then he saw the pendant around her neck and gasped, "It's the mystic Kakunamiya stone!"

Emerald's emerald eyes fluttered open and she found herself lying on a wooden bed. Sunlight was shining through the window and faint chirping could be heard from the outside. Sitting up, she pulled away the pink blankets. Her body ached as she shoved away the curtains that hung by the bedside. When had she fallen asleep? She tried to recall what had happened, but saw only blue. Closing her eyes tight, she tried to get the blue out of her eyes. When she opened them again, what she saw paralyzed her. In her mind, she was looking at an unfamiliar room with a dresser, a table, and a mirror.

She sank down onto the blankets, confusion was welling up inside her and she was beginning to panic. She shut her eyes tight and breathed in and out slowly.

"This is all a dream," she muttered to herself. "All a dream. I am asleep and when I open my eyes again, I will be in my room with my book in front of me…"

She opened her eyes. There stood the dresser, the table, and the mirror, as unmoving as ever.

Her heartbeat quickened. Where is she? How did she end up here? Surely this was not the result of her wish…not the magic of her pendant, right?

She got out of bed and stumbled forward uncertainly, lost in her own thoughts.

The birds continued chirping as she walked around the room, looking for hints that might tell her where she was when she heard the clinking of glass and the shuffling of feet outside her room.

Realizing that she was not alone both frightened and relieved her. For one thing, she wasn't sure if the person outside would bring her any harm, but she was glad that she was not alone.

Standing next to the round table, Emerald debated whether or not to leave the room in search of the mysterious person. She reasoned to herself that even if she were to stay in the room, that person would come in eventually. Also, that person may be able to answer her questions. Finally, she decided to face him.

Bracing herself, she went for the door. After hesitating for a minute, she finally opened the door and left the room.

Outside the room, a short hallway appeared in front of her. Sunlight brought in a glow to the hallway from the other side, illuminating the dark corridor as she walked through it and stepped into what seemed like a living room. In the middle of the living room was a large, round table a boy sat at that very moment.

The boy had dark blue hair, a pale blue bandana, and brownish red eyes. He wore a dark blue shirt with short sleeves. There was a yellow line stretching down the middle of his shirt as well. He wore sky blue pants and midnight blue shoes. He also had midnight blue gloves. Beside him was a sword with dangling red strings. Embedded on the brown head of the sword was a stone that looked the same as Emerald's, except in the shape of a crescent moon.

Emerald absorbed this sight from the entrance of the living room, trying not to show her presence until she had figured out if the boy was trustworthy or not, but the boy had seen Emerald.

He beckoned her over.

Emerald continued to stand at the entrance, but the boy continued to beckon to her and she finally gave in.

Standing in front of him, she found the boy staring at her, as if he was trying to analyze her. She stood stock still, not knowing what to do until her eyes caught the stone embedded in his sword. She stared at it.

The boy saw Emerald staring at his stone and said, "This is the mystic Tasunamiya stone."

Emerald looked up to stare at the boy again. The boy's eyes did not waver and he continued to analyze her.

Finally, he opened his mouth again. "I'm Edwin…and you are?"

"…Emerald."

"Very well…Emerald. Let me ask you a question… Where'd you get this"? Edwin asked raising his hand, where Emerald's pendant dangled.

Emerald looked down on her neck, and then tried to snatch back her pendant. "That's mine!" She yelled.

But Edwin pulled it out of her grasp and quietly said, "Not until you tell me where you got it."

Emerald clenched her fist. He had no right to take what belonged to her. She stood her ground, refusing to speak, but Edwin was also firm, making it clear that her pendant will not be returned until she did as he wished.

After a tension-filled minute, Emerald sighed and sat down on the chair offered to her, "I got it from my grandmother. She said it was special…that it came from another world far away and that it had very powerful magic."

"Well she's right about that. It is powerful. It is the Kakunamiya stone…" said Edwin handing back the pendant to Emerald. "I don't see anything special about you, so why'd your grandma give it to you anyway. You probably can't even control it."

Emerald stood up and exclaimed, turning a deep shade of red, "Who cares if I can't control it? I was transported here without warning!"

With her sudden release of frustration, she sat down again and put her head on her arm, which rested on the table. "Where am I anyway and how'd I get here?"

"Welcome to Mystallion, the land of mystic secrets. You are in the Punyo village. As for how you got here…well, the magic stone does mysterious things when it is being wished upon."

Emerald thought back to when she made the wish. "Yeah, but why would it bring me here?"

"I don't know…but if you are the chosen one to bear the stone, then with a few incantations, you will be able to summon magic and spirits according to your magic level-" Edwin was cut off by a sudden rumble from outside.

The two quickly ran towards the window. Peering outside, they were shocked to see a ghastly sea of fire blazing among the town at sunset.

Then, there was a knock on the door. Edwin went to open it and Emerald followed. Behind the door was a worried man.

"Edwin!" the man said. "The fire creature, Yali, has come to claim the stone!"

"Be right there!" Edwin yelled and snatched up his sword. Before running outside, he turned around and said, "Emerald! You stay right here! You have no magical powers and will only get in the way!"

Emerald could only stand there as Edwin ran closer and closer to the blazing flames. She wanted to run after him, to do what she can to help. It only felt right that she did that…wasn't she one of the "chosen ones"? But he had told her to stay put, and furthermore, she had yet to learn how to use her stone, so how could she be of help?

She gripped her pendant tightly, frustration welling up inside her once again. What could she possibly do to help these people? Why was she sent here if she was just simply in the way?

Tears began to streak down her cheeks and she wiped her tears away. Suddenly, she felt warmth surge into her body through the stone. It felt like a familiar warmth…the warmth her grandmother used to give her. It was as if her grandmother was there beside her, urging her on, telling her that she's not useless, that she can help.

It was then that Emerald knew, deep inside her heart, that going after Edwin was the right thing to do and that her grandmother would always be there to light her way. She ran out the door.

As Emerald came closer to where the fire creature was, she hid behind a tree. In the dark, she saw Edwin jumping up into the sky with his sword, trying to block the flames the creature threw at him.

The creature had an appearance of a young woman with neck-length red hair and bright yellow wings. The creature Yali wore an orange skirt and was barefoot with long orange claws on her hands.

By the time Edwin had finally blocked off the last of the fireballs, Yali had flown towards him. Stretching out her hand, she prepared to swipe at him with her claws. Edwin tried to move away, but it was not good enough. He fell to the ground, his right arm searing with pain.

"Oh no! Edwin!" thought Emerald. "I have to help."

Emerald looked down at her stone pendant. She wished desperately for something to happen, for her to somehow help Edwin. Closing her eyes, she called upon the stone to shelter her and help her. Then, she saw an image of her pendant. The stone shined brightly, but it was not the same blue light as before. This time, a pink light surrounded the stone and transformed it into a staff with the Kakunimiya stone embedded inside the ring on top.

Emerald opened her eyes and found herself staring at the very same staff that she had envisioned just a second ago. But this time, it was not a vision. It was real and it was in her hands: the staff that has the power to help her fight against this creature.

Emerald closed her eyes again and tried to think of how to use her staff. This time, the black book appeared in her mind. She continued to envision it, the texture of the pages as she turned them one by one in her mind until she stopped at the page she wanted. She opened her eyes again, the image of the page fresh in her mind.

"Here goes nothing," said Emerald. "Grant me your power, water!"

A string of water shot out at Yali, but it wasn't strong enough to extinguish all the fire from Yali. As Yali turned, she saw the stone embedded in Emerald's staff and grinned, her eyes forming slits, "You're mine!"

Then, Yali dove towards Emerald, reaching towards her with extended claws. She clawed the earth as Emerald rolled away, barely able to dodge the sharpness of Yali's claws.

"Oh no! It isn't strong enough! What should I do?" Emerald thought, as she stood in front of the now furious creature. She eyed Edwin and saw him starting to stand up. Then she remembered something.

Flashback:

"I don't know…but if you are the chosen one to bear the stone, then with a few incantations, you will be able to summon magic and spirits…"

End of flashback

"Spirits…spirits…" Emerald mumbled, eyeing Yali as the creature advanced towards her. She envisioned the book again, flipping through the pages, trying to find the right page before Yali can launch her next attack.

As Emerald continued to step back, she became desperate. Which page was it? Which page contained the answer to her problem? She was running out of time…

Finally, the flipping stopped. The answer was now in front of her.

"Now I know what to do, but…do I have enough magic? …I have to try!" thought Emerald as she extended her staff. "Guide me grandmother…"

"Come to my aid, the water spirit Nymphion!" Emerald shouted as the stone glowed blue and the water spirit came out.

Nymphion had the appearance of a beautiful young lady with glowing blue skin and waist length glowing blue hair. She wore a robe and had two orbs embedded on the crown on her head. A faint blue glow surrounded her whole body.

Looking at the blue figure in front of her, Emerald was filled with relief. She had done it. She had finally summoned a mythical spirit. A spirit that had existed in her world ever since she had explored the depths of that book, a spirit that she found both familiar and strange.

Nymphion prepared to attack. She called forth the water from the town fountain, shaping the liquid into a huge ball. Then, she sent it flying towards Yali. As the ball exploded into streams of water, it extinguished Yali's fiery body, leaving her half weakened, but it wasn't enough to kill her. Yali was angry. She got ready to attack, but Emerald was faster, she used her magic again.

"Grant me your power, water!" Emerald called. A shot of water flew out of the stone, drowning what was left of Yali's fiery rage. Nymphion and Emerald had defeated Yali. Soon after, Nymphion disappeared. But Emerald had used too much magic and she fell to the ground, slipping once again into a state of unconsciousness.

When Emerald woke up, she was back in the room where she had first awoken. She went out into the living room again and found Edwin sitting there staring at her.

"So…you do have magical powers after all…but how did you manage to summon such a powerful spirit?" Edwin asked.

"I…had read a book once about the spirits and…I remember everything about it… Rather, I had grown up with the book. It had always felt like it was inside of me, that it was a part of me…" Emerald blushed; embarrassed both by her words and her inability to express her thoughts, but Edwin did not seem to mind.

"You are a good sorceress…that's why you were transported here. You are here to help us protect the stones and stop the war…"

"What war?" Emerald asked, confusion welling up inside of her once again.

"Sit down and I'll tell you all about it," Edwin said. "There are seven stones in all, each with powerful magic. When the stones were first found, only the destined seven people could control it. But right now, people have invented machines to use the stones for their selfish purposes and people and creatures are all fighting for it. The creatures on the other hand are different. They are immune to the spells in the stone. They can use them whenever they want. That is why people like us have to go and stop the war and defeat this evil…" he trailed off. "I was planning to set off tomorrow to do what we were destined to do, but…"

He looked at her, waiting for an answer to his silent invitation to join him in this quest. There was a moment of silence. Emerald hesitated, but she finally made up her mind. "I'll come with you." Edwin's eyes remained glued to her. Emerald continued, "If I really am destined to do this, then I will! …I mean, I was the one who was sent here to help, so I have the responsibility of carrying out my duty…" She blushed again.

Edwin smiled. He placed his hand on her shoulder, "Thank you, Emerald."

The sun was shining brightly when Emerald woke up. When she walked out into the living room, she found Edwin sitting there waiting for her. On the table was a set of clothes and a pair of boots.

When Edwin saw Emerald enter, he handed her the clothes and the boots.

"Put this on," Edwin said. "This way, you'll blend in better with the people of this world…I don't think the clothes you're wearing now will help us much if we want to maintain a low profile."

Emerald returned to her room and unfolded the clothes. The outfit was a shade of magenta. It was sleeveless and had a yellow line that ran from the top to the bottom in the middle of the shirt. Under the shirt, there was two large cloth tails sticking out on either side and under that, there was another skirt with the same color. The boots were also of the same color with low sides. There were also magenta gloves with yellow borders.

After looking at them for a while, she finally put them on. She carefully folded her other set of clothes and placed them in the drawer. If there is a time when she will return to this village and to this very room, she will see them again. But until then, she will not carry them with her. It was time she left her old life behind…it was also time she accepted her newfound role.

Smiling, she walked out of the room, prepared to accept what fate had in store for her and learn all that she could about the meaning of life…and the meaning of her destiny.

End of Chapter…to be continued

A/N: Hey, so I decided to go for a new start for this story because I realized the original concept just wasn't detailed enough...rather it was lacking. I have Shang to thanks for that...you were the one who reminded me that I needed to go back and re-edit my old work, hehe. Although I had to admit, your review rather stung, I really appreciated it! It made my want to try harder to let the readers gain a deeper understanding of the story and now that I have a motif, it will by much better (I hope).