Calli Garcia knocked at the double door of Heaven’s Plain. It was raining really hard and it was quite cold because of the sudden storm that occurred minutes ago.

“Why of all days.” She murmured. “It wasn’t like this when I got out of the house…” She shivered a little as a sudden cold wind came by.

Suddenly, the door opened and Calli was greeted by an exotically beautiful lady. Calli’s mouth opened a little. The lady in front of her had long red hair with a pail complexion. She wore a simple white dress as she accessorized herself with jewelries.

“Hello, you must be Ms. Calliope Garcia.” The woman greeted with her soft voice.

“Yes, I am. How did you know who I was?” Calli asked as she got suspicious.

“A wild guess.” The woman answered simply as she smiled. “I am Beatrice.”

“Nice to meet you.” Calli nodded and bowed her head a little.

“Oh my. You must be cold. Come in.” Beatrice stepped aside to let Calli in and got to her back to help her take off her coat. “I’ll take care of this. You go ahead and make yourself comfortable. The others would arrive soon.”

“I hope…” Calli murmured absently as she noticed that the place was very beautiful and she saw no one in the said place. “Umm… Excuse me, Beatrice?”

Beatrice stopped in her tracks as she was about to go somewhere and looked back to Calli when she heard her call her. “Yes?”

“Can I go to the restroom?” Calli blushed as she asked this.

“Yes, of course. It is the second door on your right.” Beatrice answered as she smiled warmly.

“Thank you.” Calli smiled back as she made her way to the restroom.

The moment she opened the restroom, Calli gaped at what she saw. The room was really elegantly designed for just a restroom. It took Calli a few minutes to take everything in when she suddenly remembered why she was there. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned a little at her complexion.

Her hair was a little messy and Calli looked for her brush to straighten it once again. She also got her powder to retouch her light make-up. Once done, she looked at herself again and sighed.

There are times in life that you just find yourself ugly no matter how much you want to accept yourself. Calli thought.

With this in mind, she got out of the restroom and wandered around a bit. As she walked alone, something caught her eye. She turned her head to look at it and admire the wonderful painting that was hung on the wall.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Somebody said in an excited tone behind her back.

Calli gasped a little as she hurriedly turned around to see who said it and sighed in relief when she saw another girl looking at it.

“Hi, I’m Kylee Antonov.” The said girl met Calli’s eyes as she smiled widely at her.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Calliope Garcia.” Calli offered her hands to Kylee for them to shake hands and Kylee gladly took it.

 “Calliope?” Kylee tilted her head to one side. “Can I call you Calli instead?”

Calli was surprised at this and stuttered a little. “Of course.” She smiled as she was able to recover.

“Yaaay!!” Kylee jumped a couple times and finally settled down. “Say, how long have you been here?”

“I just got here a couple of minutes ago… But don’t you think the party should have started a long time ago? I didn’t see people except for you and Beatrice.”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. But I guess the guests are late because of the storm?”

“Probably…” Calli murmured.

“Oh, good. You guys already know each other.” The familiar soft voice stated as she unnoticeably appeared out of nowhere.

Calli and Kylee both turned their heads at the same time to see Beatrice walking towards them with a tray of white wine.

Why does she mysteriously appear out of no where? I can’t feel her presence at all. Calli frowned inwardly.

“Hi, Beatrice!” Kylee greeted once again.

Beatrice chuckled and smiled at Kylee. “Hello again, Kylee. Are you girls okay?”

“Yes~” Kylee nodded.

“Bear with us a little more. The others would be here soon.” Beatrice smiled apologetically but was cut as a knock was heard.

“Oh, that must be one of them. Please excuse me…” She stepped backward and made her way to the door.

Calli’s eyes followed Beatrice’s actions as she opened the door and greeted their guest.

“Mmm. This wine is very delicious.” Kylee complimented as she drank more of the wine at hand. “Calli, isn’t it delicious?”

“Uh… what?”

“The wine~”

“Oh, sorry.” Calli sipped the wine that she was holding and nodded. “Yes, it’s very delicious.” She smiled at Kylee who was expecting her answer.

“Hey girls, meet Yuna Elizabeth Lee.” Beatrice introduced as she walked towards the girls once again with the said girl behind her back.

“Hello there!” Kylee jumped in front of Yuna and gave her a big smile.

Yuna on the other hand was surprised by this and widened her eyes a little. “H-hello.”

Calli chuckled a little at Kylee’s actions feeling comfortable even just a little bit and went by her side. “Hello Yuna. I’m Calli. She is Kylee.” Calli greeted Yuna as she introduced herself and Kylee as well.

“Nice to meet you all.” Yuna gave a polite smile.

“One last guest and we’re gonna start.” Beatrice announced as she stepped back to go somewhere else once again.

The three girls looked at her. “Wait…There would be just four of us?” Calli asked.

“That’s weird…” Yuna frowned as she murmured the words.

“I wonder if they have melons in this place…” Kylee murmured as well as she looked around if she can find any melons.

“Wait what?” Yuna asked at Kylee as the latter randomly said something about fruits.

Kylee looked at Yuna straight in the eyes. “I like melons~!”

“Uhh… Okay. I like them too…” Yuna agreed as she smiled at Kylee.

Calli just looked at the two of them when she noticed another person in the room. She turned to look at them and noticed that it wasn’t Beatrice.

“Hello.” Calli greeted the newcomer.

Yuna and Kylee turned their heads as they heard Calli greeting someone and noticed the newcomer.

“Hello, I am Arianna Cho.” The girl introduced herself politely.

“Pleased to meet you.” Calli bowed her head a little. “I’m Calli Garcia.”

“I’m Kylee~!” Kylee piped in and raised her right hand to be noticed.

“And I’m Yuna…” Yuna introduced herself as she stepped forward of the group.

“A pleasure to meet all of you.” Arianna said politely.

There was awkward feeling after that but it suddenly broke when Beatrice popped into the image once again but this time, she was with a man.

“Good evening ladies.” The man greeted as his arm was around Beatrice’s waist. “My name is Peter.” He introduced himself as he released Beatrice with his hold to stand in front of Arianna.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Cho.” Peter said as he gently took her hand and kissed it lightly then carefully placed it back down and moved to Kylee who stood beside Arianna.

“Nice to meet you, Miss An.” Peter smiled warmly at the girl as he repeated his actions and same with Yuna and Calli. After he was done, he came back to the side of Beatrice and held her hand.

Beatrice looked at her side to meet Peter’s gaze and smiled at him.

“You two are so in love.” Kylee blurted out at this as she grinned at what she was seeing.

The couple blushed at this and just laughed awkwardly.

“N-Now that we are all complete, let’s all go to the dining area. The food had just been served.” Beatrice smiled warmly at the four girls as soon as she recovered from the embarrassing moment and both her and Peter guided them to the dining room.

Dinner was already on the table when they went inside the dining area. Peter was a gentleman as he insisted to pull back each of the girls’ chairs and made sure that they were comfortable. The food was really good and the girls enjoyed it especially Kylee as she was very happy that she liked the food that was being served.

“How is your little brother, Miss Lee?” Beatrice asked in the middle of dinner.

Yuna froze a little at the question and was wondering how she knew that she had a little brother. She frowned and asked Beatrice. “He is fine. But why do you know that I have a brother? We have just met but you seem to know us very well…”

“Ooohh… Yuna has a little brother?” Kylee asked exited. “How old is he?”

Yuna just looked at Kylee and transferred her gaze to Beatrice to meet her eyes. Yuna wasn’t planning on answering Kylee’s question but rather urging Beatrice to answer instead.

“16… Not a little brother now, isn’t he?” Beatrice answered as she smiled politely.

“See what I mean?” Yuna raised her right eyebrow.

“Are you stalking us?” Arianna asked bluntly as she sliced some of her food into tidbits.

“No. We’re neither stalkers nor bad guys.” Peter said firmly.

“We can explain…” Beatrice said.

“Later, after this wonderful dinner.” Peter continued, dismissing the topic for now.

No one said another word after that and just continued eating. Some lost appetite and just continued to swallow slowly the food while some still enjoyed eating as they loved the food especially when Beatrice excused herself for a moment and came back with melons. Kylee was incredibly happy as she thanked Beatrice and happily helped herself with the melons, not even disturbed as to how Beatrice knew that her favorite foods were melons.

After everyone finished eating, Peter and Beatrice now guided the four girls to a big room where there was a warm fire that awaited them for them to be warm for the cold night.

“Wow. This is a very comfortable room.” Kylee murmured as she circled around to see the whole place.

Peter chuckled at her. “Yes. This will keep us warm from the bad storm that we’re having.”

“So… Why are we here?” Calli asked as she sat down and made herself comfortable.

“Hmmm… How should we start?” Beatrice wondered aloud.

“Maybe you should start as to why you know us even though we don’t know you guys?” Arianna suggested as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“This should be interesting…” Yuna muttered as she sat beside Arianna and smirked at them.

“Do you believe in Gods? Magic? Power?” Peter started. He looked everyone’s eyes as he asked the question.

“What kind of explanation is that?” Kylee frowned at Peter.

“It’s not an explanation but a question.” Yuna said. “Yes I think gods are real. Why do you think there are stories like Hercules or Thor?” She asked back.

“Point taken.” Peter said.

“So your point is…?” Arianna asked.

“So I hope that you will be entertained with what I am about to tell.” Peter grinned.

“Ooohh~ I love story telling!!” Kylee grinned as her eyes twinkled with delight.

“Alright then~”

Calli just kept silent as she focused her eyes on Peter.

Peter cleared his throat as he started the story.

“Long ago, in a land of great mountains and rich forests, lived a young god. He was his parents’ only child, and well-loved. He was gifted with a handsome face and strength of heart and muscle. He was destined to rule one day, as his father before him, and so he was reared to be the god-king, cool in judgment, swift in action.” He started as he looked at Beatrice for a brief moment.

“There was peace in this world, since gods had walked there. Beauty, music and art, stories and dance were everywhere. For as long as memory—and a god’s memory are infinite—there had been harmony and balance in this place.” He paused to sip his drink as he leaned more on his chair for him to be more comfortable.

“From behind the Curtain of Power, through the veil of the Curtain of Dreams, they would look on the world of mortals. Lesser gods were permitted to mix and mate with those of the mortal whelm at their whim, and so became the faeries and sprites, the sylphs and other creatures of magic. Some found the mortal world more to their tastes and peopled it. Some, of course, were corrupted by there powers, by the world of mortals, and turned to darker ways. Such is the way of nature, even gods.”

Peter eased forward to get himself something to eat. “Miss Lee, why do you think that there are stories about magic and sorcery? Do you consider them to be a part of culture?” He asked as he took a bite from the food and looked at Yuna for answers.

Yuna shrugged. “To give someone or something a power greater than our own. To feed our need for heroes that would save our day or villains that gives the excitement in our lives.”

“Good answer Miss Lee.” Peter grinned. “From my question earlier that was left unanswered… Do you believe in magic?”

“I think…” Calli said but stopped herself.

Peter looked at her and waited for her to answer but got nothing. “Please, go on Miss Garcia.”

“I was thinking that maybe there was indeed magic within all of us, until we educated ourselves, that is… I didn’t mean that education is bad or anything… But maybe, we just locked our own powers for logical reasons?”

“Well said.” Beatrice smiled at Calli. “A child often tucks his toys inside his closet and forgets the wonder of those toys when he would reach manhood. Do you believe in wonder, Miss Cho?”

“There is wonder in everything around us.” Arianna replied. “In every stage in our lives, I believe that we wonder in many things.”

“Thank you.” Beatrice face lit up and turned her head to look at Peter. “Peter?” She asked, motioning him to go on with the story.

“Yes… to continue the tale… As was the tradition, upon reaching his majority the young god was sent beyond the Curtain for a week, to walk among the mortals, to learn their ways, to study their weaknesses and strengths, their virtues and flaws. It happened that he saw a young woman, a maid of great beauty and virtue. And seeing, loved, and loving, wanted. And though she was denied to him by the rules of his world, he pined for her. He grew listless, restless, and unhappy. He would not eat or drink, nor so distressed, weakened. They would not give their son to the mortal world, but they brought the maid to theirs.”

“They took her?!” Kylee interrupted as her face told everyone that she was in utmost shock.

“Yes, Miss An.” Peter calmly affirmed the statement. “But it’s a secret. We can’t let them know that we know the secret now, could we?” His eyes held a slight glint of mischievousness.

“I don’t believe you.” A voice was heard nearby. But Peter knew who it was very well and didn’t need to act surprised.

All eyes were on Calli.

“You don’t believe in what?” Yuna asked.

“That the girl was actually kidnapped by them.” Calli answered back.

“Why is that so?” Kylee asked innocently as she tilted her head to the side as she gazes at Calli curiously.

“Because the entire time that he was story telling, he was serious, as if he encountered the situation himself. But when he approved that the girl was taken, his eyes changed with a slight mischief included.” Arianna was the one answered this time as she studied Peter more closely when his eyes found hers.

“You’ve been studying me.” Peter said with a slight humor in his voice.

“Love, stop teasing them.” Beatrice ordered Peter as she looked distantly. “The storm is getting stronger.” She murmured.

Just in time as Beatrice finished her sentence, a loud thunder was heard.

A slight chilly feeling came up as Arianna’s back straightened.

“We should get you girls warmed up.” Beatrice stated as she got up from her seat. “I’ll adjust the temperature of the fireplace to keep us warm. Just continue with the story, Peter.”

“So, the girl wasn’t really kidnapped?” Kylee asked to return back to the story.

“No, Miss An.” Peter answered as he looked at her, now serious. “They could’ve done it, but they knew that she cannot be stolen. They knew that. It was a choice. And the young god wished for the maiden’s love.”

“So did he get it?” Yuna wondered.

“The maiden chose, and loved and gave up her world for his.” Peter rested both his hands on each of his knees.

“There was anger in the worlds of gods, of mortals, and in that mystical half-world of the faeries. No mortal was to pass through the Curtain. Yet that most essential rule was now broken. A mortal woman had been taken from her world and into theirs, married to and bedded by their future king for no reason more important than love.”

“What’s more important than love?” Arianna asked and earned a slow look from Peter as his hands reached for his wine glass once again.

“Some would say nothing could be more important than love, others would say honor, truth, loyalty. The balance was shaken. The young god-king, crowned now, was strong and withstood this. And the mortal maid was beautiful and true. Some were swayed to accept her, and others plotted in secret.”

There was a whip of outrage in his voice that made his face grow scary, something that they didn’t want to see or think about if he ever does get angry.

"Battles fought in the open could be quelled, but others were devised in secret chambers, and these ate at the foundation of the world. It came to pass that the god-king's wife bore four children, four daughters, demigoddesses with mortal souls. On their birth, their father gifted each with a jeweled amulet, for protection. They learned the ways of their father's world, and of their mother's. Their beauty, their innocence, softened many hearts, turned many minds. For some years there was peace again. And the daughters grew to young women, devoted to each other, each with a talent that enhanced and completed those of her sisters."

He paused again as if gathering himself some control from his anger that he showed a little earlier. "They harmed no one, brought only light and beauty to both sides of the Curtain. But there remained shadows. One coveted what they had that no god could claim. Through sorcery, through envy, despite all precautions, they were taken into the half-world. The spell cast plunged them into eternal sleep, a living death. And sleeping, they were sent back through the Curtain, their mortal souls locked in a box that has three keys. Not even their father's power can break the locks. Until the keys turn, one, by two, by three, by four the daughters are trapped in an enchanted sleep and then-souls weep in a prison of glass."

“Where are the keys?” Calli asked. “Why couldn’t they be opened when magic itself was the reason why they were locked?”

“The location of the key is where no one knew of. Many magic spells have been casted to unlock the box, all have failed. But there are clues. The souls are mortals, and only they can turn the keys.”

“The invitation that you sent to me said that I am the key.” Arianna glanced at Yuna, Calli and Kylee and they nodded in confirmation as they too, have read that part of the letter. “What do we have to do in some myth story?”

“I have something to show you.” Peter said as he stood up in time with Beatrice as she mystically appeared out of nowhere once again. “I hope this would answer you’re question.”

“What is it?” Calli asked as she hesitated to stand up from her seat not like Kylee who immediately stood up when the rest of them did.

“Please indulge me and give me this opportunity to explain it to you with a certain portrait nearby.” Peter said as he lends one of his hands out for Calli to take.

Calli stared at it for a few seconds and eventually gave in and accepted the offer.

“Ladies.” Beatrice called out as she nodded and led them outside the room and to another one where a big portrait was seen immediately as they entered the said room.

The colors were so vivid, so rich, the style so bold and strong, that Kylee’s art lover's heart took one fast leap. The portrait was of four women, young, beautiful, in flowing gowns of sapphire, of amethyst, of emerald and of pearl. The one in blue, with golden-brown curls rioting to her waist, sat on a bench that circled a pool. She held a small gold flute. Seated on the silver tiles at her feet, the girl in pearl white had a scroll and quill in her lap and her hand on her sister's— for surely they were sisters—knee. Beside them, the girl in amethyst stood, a chubby black puppy in the crook of her arm and a short silver sword at her hip. And the last girl in emerald sat on the grass with utmost gentility in her smile. A heartbreak of flowers spilled around them. There were trees with jeweled fruit dripping from the branches, and in the cerulean sky both birds and faeries were on the wing.

Enthralled, the four girls took a couple of steps forward for a closer look when all of them gasped at the same time.

Shocked that they heard each other’s gasps, they looked at each other with pure disbelief. There was a moment of silence, broken only when one of the girls voiced out her thoughts.

“She looks just like me!” Kylee pointed at the girl in emerald on the painting.

Hello everyone!

The first chapter is finally up!!