I don’t want to wake up. I wanted to just sleep forever rather than to face the reality that they are all gone because of me. I shut my eyes close as much as I can but my awareness is already active and I am in no place to pretend that I am still on deep slumber. I opened my eyes with tears falling on my cheeks as I stare at their curious faces watching me on all sides of the bed.

“Chelsea – how do you feel?” Andy’s eyes looked so worried about my condition but all I did was stare at him for a very long time to scan if he is fine. His skin is as healthy as the first time I saw him upfront. The rest of them are with the best complexion that I ever saw. Even their eyes are back on their usual shaded colours.

“What do you mean? I should be asking you that question. What happened? Why am I here?” I woke up in the same room where Eric brought me when I slept in the castle. They are all there with me perfectly unharmed and in good condition.

“You must have thought that everything you had been just a dream or you must be really confused right now.” Junjin followed up. I don’t know how he does that. He’s like a mind reader.

“Chelsea, that unfortunate encounter with the witch happened in real life. It is sad but true. Sorry if we cannot protect you from the trauma it caused you. You might be really scared.” Hyesung answered with a brief apology but I need to know the rest of the story right after I passed out.

“Are we all dead now?” I am still trapped with the last scene that I saw.

“You see as the heir of our mother queen you had a gift too. Remember how Junjin have his mighty dragons, Dongwan has his sophisticated elk, Andy has zombies for his minions, Eric has faceless loyal secretaries, Hyesung having mermaids and me with beastly creatures by my side – you have your own too; the greatest of them all, the one that only you can summon.” Minwoo explained with such huge fascination in his words.

“It was also our first time to see the Adarna. Our mother owned that bird you see. It can turn every creature to hard stone with its droppings and yes, sing a song that heals all sorts of wounds and illness. Ever since our mother queen died, it was never seen again, we only heard about it from Kulog, Kidlat and Asin. I think your scream awakened the Adarna and it soared right away from where we were to aid us on our hopeless situation. I think it was our advantage that the witch didn’t expect it too.” Dongwan described with so much appreciation for sudden appearance of that supernatural bird.

“Please tell me everything that I need to know.” I begged for a proper narration and with this, Eric nodded and reached out for my hand to hold it firmly along with his.

“This will be very complicated for you to understand but please bear with us. You are Makiling’s daughter and your real name is Mayumi. The witch who’s after your life pretty much told you everything that you should know about your past. She even explained some of the shady parts that we can’t do from our end. Hahaha!” He smiled at me like he was teasing me. I thought he’ll say something lengthy and serious. This made me verify that they are all okay.

“We should have recognized you on our first encounter. It was really odd to be honest but we just shook it all off. I remember when Eric Hyung told us about you when you first followed his trail. His secretaries were there to scare you off in the forest but they were unable to get nearer to you that’s why you got the chance to follow him until he reached the orphanage’s gate. We were also surprised when we sensed your presence back then. We almost thought we’ve been compromised.”  Andy suddenly confessed. This makes me understand why they looked at my direction coldly but it was Eric who found it fascinating in such way.

“Since you mentioned it Andy, my dragons are so fond of her too just like how your zombies obeyed here when she had been to your lair! It was the first time I saw Podo and Jackson liking the same thing. They were the complete opposites but when she came, both of them suddenly became friendly to one another.” Junjin sounded happy with his pets’ reconciliation.

“My lair’s protective vines started to bloom with flowers right after she set foot on it. I got surprised when I returned to my territory and see all the abundant ornaments greeting me. Hahah!” Dongwan mentioned with pure delight.

“So this explains why we easily went through Kidlat’s maze and the reason why Kulog asked her to stay. They might be feeling something special about her already but can’t tell us right away. Even the castle’s gargoyles didn’t move an inch when Eric performed a test on her. They didn’t find her as a threat at all.” Minwoo added some more details about their observation.

“Ahh! Yes – Asin also mentioned to me about our crablets alarm. It didn’t work on her too. Even my sharks went hiding when she dived in my lagoon. We should have perceived who she was. She had the same reaction from the beings here just like how they did towards our mother.” Hyesung clapped his hands with disappointment among themselves for not being able to realize it sooner.

I am still yet to recover but I need to ask about something more important than my own life. My guts are telling me to know what happened to the one who threatened our lives.

“The witch? Where is she? What exactly happened to her?” I need to feel secure about this fact.

They all became quiet after hearing me speak of her. They just stood up from my bed and Eric pulled my hand as a sign that they will lead me to where she is. I took a deep breath and followed them on the hall way to the main area of the stone cold palace.

There, right where she grabbed me stood a statue of an exact replica of the evil witch who tormented us. She was still on her laughing ceremony which gives me the idea that she didn’t even know that she already got defeated. A golden bird was in the same location too hovering around and its rainbow coloured wings and tail made it look so beautiful than all the other birds that I’ve ever seen before. It must be the Adarna.

As soon as flying creature saw me, it transformed into a beautiful young girl with a dress of gold and colourful feathers alternately showing along with her black shiny hair. She greeted me with a pleasant smile on her face and approached me as she descended to our spot. She spoke to me without opening her lips.

“Mayumi, welcome home my princess. In front you stand your chance to defeat you enemy but it will cause you a greater responsibility. You may leave it as it is but this opens your vulnerability of being harmed again since statue will be kept in an unexplored area in Vayanhan that is unknown to your knowledge. You may also keep your freedom of being able to go back and forth within the two worlds as you like.” The Adarna had a long pause, it sounded like a clear advantage if I am too greedy with existence on both realms.

“Shattering the statue will serve as your proclamation of regaining your throne. If you choose your crown, you will never be able to go out of Vayanhan once more since accepting your duty means a lot to this place. The memories that you left outside this town will be erased from the individuals that you encountered. Once you decide to stay, the plates will stop from moving, the weather will go back to normal and the time will be as constant as your immortality.” Her eyes flickered as she gave me the last conditions if I choose to destroy my enemy forever.

Knowing this made me think of the movie clichés that I have witnessed in the human world. You know the part when the protagonist does that kind of mistake of being “sympathetic” towards the enemy and regretting everything all over again afterwards? I’ve been there earlier. My mother and father have been there too and now I will make sure that I won’t make the same mistake twice. Since I belonged here from the very beginning, I shall remain here with the family that my mother left me. I passed my thoughts to her as soon as I made my mind and the Adarna just gave me an adorable wink. Maybe she knew it’s the best decision too. I admire my mother for giving me such capable creature to be with.

The statue dissolved into dust right away as it burned into flames altogether. The Adarna went back to its bird form and flew out of the castle with a message exclusively given to me that sounds “Summon me whenever you need me my queen”.

The six of them stood there clueless about the conversation but there was an obvious relief in their faces when the statue disintegrated in front of their eyes. If my mother left them to take care of me, I better stay here to take care of them for her.

“Aaah! Chelsea, we’ve been discussing about something while you were sleeping but we don’t know if you will agree. We would like to ask you first if you will stay.” Junjin opened up all of a sudden.

“Tell me first about it.” I replied to him with a teasing tone.

“Eyyy, that’s not fair! Hmm, but since it’s not a big deal we should just tell you about it. Hahaha! Can we call you by your real name? Can we – call you Mayumi instead of Chelsea?” Andy revealed. They must have been so excited about that name ever since I was in my mother’s womb. They can be talking about me too all these years, addressing me with that name. To this, I won’t say no since it will mark the new start of my life as a Diwata.

“I have no problem with that to be honest but before I forget I’d like to ask about the raincoat. What’s so special with it?” The thought almost escaped my mind. If I won’t be able to go out and retrieve it, I better make sure of what it does.

“Oh, that item is spell proof. The witch’s arrows were wielded with a spell right? It means that even if she attacked you by it, it won’t hurt you at any cause. It was mean for defence. May I know why you asked about it?” Dongwan explained its importance and followed it with a curious statement.

“Ahh, that is because I left it in the orphanage. I’m just worried that it might get us in trouble in the future.” I admitted. I think my mind-set became protective all of a sudden after seeing them get hurt.

“You don’t have to worry about that since the items that were made here only works inside Vayanhan.” Hyesung reassured me with a comforting remark.

“So may we know you final decision?” Minwoo made sure for me to answer their original question.

“I will remain here together with all of you.” I answered him with no regrets. This is the place where I should belong and I will never leave again. I will stay here, forever.

“We are beyond happy to hear that! Let’s have a banquet for our princess!” Eric declared right away.