"M-Mary? You're back!" I looked toward the voice — it was Nonno.
I guess I am.
I didn't even realize I was crying until I sniffed. I had just witnessed a tragic fate. Not only me, but everyone had been living in lies. She was a pure-hearted person despite everything, the cruelty of people towards her she remain kind.
Till her death she never put herself first she made magior for her daughter and everyone, instead for herself. She had all the means to go far along with her daughter using her magior but she did not. Speaking of, Emerald's daughter… I have to find her. If she's even alive.
"Mary? Here, drink this water. Your friends are on their way," Nonno said. I took the glass from his hand and drank it.
"Are you okay? What did you see?"
"More than I thought, Nonno," I said. "All of this… it's all lies."
He didn't ask anymore and just tap my shoulder.
I waited for almost half an hour until I heard a loud bang on the door. My friends were here.
"Mary… oh my—" Micah ran to me and hugged me tightly.
In her warm embrace, I finally let my emotions out—tears I'd been holding back for so long. I sobbed into the hug. Jad held my hand, Reign caressed my back, while RJ looked at me intently. Harmony wasn't with them.
"What happened, huh? Are you alright?" Micah asked, concern clear in her eyes.
"I am, Mic. Thank you."
We stayed like that for a while, our eyes speaking what words couldn't. I was only gone for days, but they looked so different. RJ had a haircut, Micah's hair was red now, and Jad… he looked lifeless. What happened while I was away? And where was Harmony?
I fixed myself and looked at them again before speaking.
"Micah… why did you color your hair?" I asked, confused.
"Well… Mom wants us to look like twins, so I did," she said with a smile.
"That's not the only thing that changed for the past four months you were gone, Mary…" Reina said, catching my attention.
"Four… four months? But I was only gone for days…" It felt like days.
"That's the consequence of taking that potion. Time in the present flows differently from the past," RJ said.
"By the way… where's Harmony?" I asked. They just exchanged glances instead of answering me. "Hello? I'm asking. Where's Harmony? Jad?"
"Let's not talk about that first, Mary. Tell us what happened during those four months you were away," Jad said, changing the topic.
I took a deep breath and started explaining.
"Emerald is… not cruel," I began. "She is gentle. A kind woman. But the world was too cruel to her."
"Tell us everything." RJ intently said.
So I did. From how Emerald and Harry met, to her sister, to how they purposely deceived her—everything. My tears kept falling as I recalled the painful things she endured. Micah stayed beside me, caressing my back. RJ watched me with sadness in his eyes, same with Jad. But Reina… she was unreadable, her face emotionless.
"So you're saying Astrid is not the name of her daughter?" Nonno asked.
I nodded.
"Yes… Astrid is the name of the necklace. Amira is the name of her child."
"I can't believe it. Everything we learned was nothing but a magiór Emerald created. Only she knew the truth—the painful truth," Micah said, looking away.
"Not just her. You said she had a friend who knew everything? The guy who mourned when she died?" Reina finally spoke.
"Drie. That's the name Emerald wrote in her diary. But he also went by the name Sevirious," I explained.
"Sevirious?" Nonno and RJ said in unison, shocked.
All our attention shifted to them. Confusion filled the room.
"Does that Sevirious happen to be this guy?" Nonno approached us holding an album.
He pointed to an old drawing. I examined it closely.
"He is. This is the same Sevirious who was Emerald's friend," I said. "How did you know him?"
Nonno and RJ looked at each other before replying.
"Are you sure, Mary?"
"I'm positive," I said firmly.
"He… He is our great-great-grandfather. He's the one who taught us about the history of magiór and everything we told you—it all came from him," RJ said. I was shocked. He lived his life, but he never forgot Emerald.
"He told us to look for Amira, who will exist when the blue moon appears again."
The blue moon.
Suddenly, I remembered Emerald's last words for Amira.
"Amira will exist in the next blue moon and live… That's what Emerald said in her last will! Jad—look up the date of the most recent blue moon."
Jad immediately took out his phone and searched.
"The full blue moon was January 12, 2002… but the last half blue moon happened last April 13," he said.
"2002? So that means… if Emerald's daughter survived until now, she's our age. We have to find her."
"How? Where do we even start? If we search every girl born that day, it will take us a lifetime," Reina said.
She was right—unless her daughter was the only one born then, this would be nearly impossible.
"If only I knew what place that was," I said quietly.
"What place?" they asked, curious.
"Emerald said Amira will exist in the exact place where she died… but I don't know the address." I rubbed my temples. "Didn't your great-great-grandfather tell you anything about where Emerald died?" I asked RJ and Nonno.
"Unfortunately, no."
I sighed, losing hope.
"But we have a book that could help us," Micah said. My face lit up as she handed me the book.
Right. But—
"Where is the necklace?" I asked.
Their expressions all shifted to shock and confusion.
"When you lost consciousness, the necklace vanished. We thought it followed you… it didn't?"
"No, I don't have the necklace—"
Then I remembered. That day I dreamt of the woman with the snake… I cast a spell. I held the book tightly.
"Jad… come here, please." His brows furrowed, but he approached. I whispered something to him.
He nodded in response.
I whispered the same thing to Micah and Reina. Then I called Harmonie—thank goodness she answered immediately—and told her the same thing.
I told them specifically not to tell anyone, not even each other.
"I hope all of them see it. I hope they bring it… or I need to prepare my heart for facing the same thing Emerald did."
"What are you saying, Mary? What did you tell them?" RJ asked, confused.
"Nothing, RJ… but do you have Emerald's diary? Can you get it for me?" I asked. He quickly went and retrieved it.
He handed me Emerald's diary and I held it tightly.Emerald, you were so kind despite all the betrayal. Even after everything, you still left them a gift.
But I can't. I can't do what you did. I wouldn't give gifts to those who would hurt me… or betray me.