A flash of green light appears above a trash can, and both Nicholas and Elesia fall on the multiple layers of trash. Nicholas stands up and looks around him.
"We lost her!" Nicholas groaned while clenching his fist.
Elesia's green eyes are shining, and Nicholas crouches in front of her, shaking her shoulders back and forth. "What's happening to you?! Hey!"
Elesia's consciousness takes her to another world. She looks around her, seeing the trees, grass, and flowers everywhere. Then, her eyes land on a young woman with green short hair whose back is facing her.
"Aya?" Elesia called out to the young woman with short hair.
The short-haired woman turns around, her lips curve upward. "Elesia, you've done well! You initiated a connection with me."
A wide smile manifests on Elesia's face, and she runs toward Aya but that smile ends as she slowly stops running. Elesia speaks lowly. "I didn't make this connection. It's you who made this connection."
Aya continues to smile but light sparkles in her eyes, and Elesia says, "Because you want to say goodbye to me."
The sparkle in the eyes of Aya turns out to be light reflecting on her tears, and they flow gently downwards to Aya's chin. She sniffs, and her eyes fall. "You're so smart, you've already found the truth even if I haven't told you about it."
Elesia's lip shakes but she closes her hands and her body doesn't stop shaking. Her eyesight becomes blurry with the amount of tears flowing from them.
Suddenly, Aya wraps her arms around her. "I can't leave you without saying my goodbyes."
Elesia's shoulders jerk as she shakes her head. "Stop telling me your goodbyes, it hurts like something is stabbing me."
Aya pulls her sister away from her body, and Aya rests her hands on her younger sister's shoulders and tells her. "How can I cross the other side if I just left without saying a word, hmmm? I taught you everything that you need to know, I prepared you to be stronger."
"But you didn't prepare me for this moment," Elesia stared into Aya's eyes with a lot of tears in her eyes, "this moment that you will be gone from my life. No sister or brother is strong when their younger or older siblings die."
Aya shows Elesia a smile, and her finger draws a heart shape on the chest of Elesia. "I will not vanish as long as you keep me in here. I may not have any physical body anymore but as long as you cherish our bond, our memories, I won't disappear."
Elesia shakes her head and cries. "L-Let me go with you."
Aya pulls Elesia closer to her body as she too begins to cry, driven by the heavy weight on her heart.
"You still are the little Elesia that I carried in my arms." Aya sniffed, remembering the day she first met Elesia after their mother gave birth to her.
"Don't go, Aya."
"I love you, sister, with all of my heart."
Aya's body breaks into pieces of green energy, and the air carries her remains away but Elesia remains clutching onto Aya until she completely disappears. Elesia looks up at the air as her tears fall from her eyes.
A strong sensation of something shaking her breaks her from her trance, and everything around her turns to buildings, and vehicles going in different directions. Nicholas is kneeling in front of her while holding her shoulders with such concern in his eyes.
"Nicholas?" Elesia spoke weakly.
"What happened to you?!"Nicholas asked.
Elesia suddenly lunges at him, embracing him tightly. Her cries fill his ears, and he slowly raises his hands on her back, rubbing them.
"Hey, it's okay." Nicholas closed his eyes while patting her head.
The tears from her eyes stop falling. Now, she's sitting beside Nicholas inside a public jeepney. Nicholas counts the money in his wallet, and he couldn't avoid glancing at her, and her eyes are facing outside the jeepney.
"I don't know what happened but it seems she's in so much pain," Nicholas spoke in his head.
"Hey."
At his low voice, Elesia turns her head over her shoulder. "Why, did something happen?"
Nicholas closes his mouth and looks directly into her eyes. He clearly can see the sadness that her green eyes convey. The journey of the jeepney continues, and throughout the entire journey, no words come out from the mouth of Elesia.
The jeepney stops, and Nicholas steps down from the jeepney. The sight of a tall red apartment welcomes him, and Elesia steps toward his side. Her eyes flinch after seeing the sunlight, She shakes her head, and she hovers her hand above her eyes.
"Where will we go now?" she asked.
"To my home," Nicholas answered her, and he gave her a slight smile.
The door creates a creaking sound after Nicholas pushes it. Her eyes widen as her nose crinkles, and she waves her hands in front of her nose in disgust.
"It smells bad in here."
"It sure does but the bad smell disappears after we reach my room." Nicholas pointed at the stairs made of cement.
"That's a stair?" Elesia blinked while staring at the staircases.
She looks at Nicholas, watching him step on each step of the stairs, and she does the same. Each step she takes only results in her breathing deeply while her thighs are shaking.
"When will this end?!" Elesia groaned.
"After we reach the 7th floor." Nicholas looked at her from his shoulder.
Her groans echo in the empty floors, and her sweat flows from her forehead. Her eyes lifted, and she let herself sit on the cold ground. "Finally, we reached the seventh floor!"
Standing near the railings of the seventh floor, Nicholas turns his eyes toward her, and seeing her sitting on the ground causes him to smile. "You're new in this world, right?"
"What do we do now?"
At her question, the eyes of the young man began to sparkle from the little fluid forming in his eyes. He sniffs and nods. "I've made my promise with your sister–!"
His eyes grow wide. "Where's the crystal?!"
A bright green light appears on the palm of Elesia, and Nicholas slowly relaxes while staring at it. He stares at Elesia in shock, and she says, "Nicholas, my sister and I talked even before the attack existed.
"She entrusted me with the fate of the crystal, and she wants me to find you, and the other special chosen guardians which she calls 'Tagapagmana' in Tagalog."
Nicholas tilts his head, his brows furrowing while taking a closer look at the crystal. "So, the shard that was found in the chest was one of the crystals? Then, it means..."
"It means that the chance of monsters appearing in this world became a reality," Elesia made the crystal disappear from her palm, "the Guardians and the tagapagmanas need to work together to stop the incoming evil beings."
She inhales deeply with a sad look in her gaze. "I am still grieving for my sister's death but I need to accept her death immediately. We need to train together and find where the other guardians are residing."
Elesia looks at Nicholas, and she sees him shaking his head which causes her eyes to grow wide. He turns his eyes toward her with such determination.
He speaks to her. "I need to go back to the sisters who found me when I was still a baby! Maybe they have the answer that can connect us with the guardians."
The door of the room opens, and its sound steals their attention. Nicholas looks at the door, only to see a tall man with muscular biceps, and dark short hair.
"Nicholas," Juan spoke, "I think, I can help you."
"You know something about the crystal?!" Nicholas asked.
Juan steps aside, showing them the living room. "Please, I don't want the other residents to hear what we will say."