The Next Morning- 10:00 AM

Busy in the kitchen, Cassia placed four pieces of burned toast on a plate. She then served it with orange juice and butter to Mina and Angel at the table. 

“Sis, the toast is burnt,” Mina muttered with her eyes half-closed. 

“Yes, the charred part will filter the booze in your system. Plus carbs in the morning are good after drinking.”

“Who taught you these remedies?” Angel asked, sipping the orange juice. 

“Online, see!” Cassia displayed an article called hangover cures on her phone. “Anyway, I’m meeting Toska and Suyeon at noon. We’re going thrift shopping. Afterwards, we’ll have cakes at that outdoor cafe in town.”

“Are we invited?” Mina asked. 

“It's just us this time, since you two need to recover. That means no more alcohol.”

“Why are you so cruel, sis?” Mina cried. 

“My cruelty is love, dear sister. And besides, you both need to complete your homework. Mina, I know you still have those equation problems to do. And you, Angel, did you even write the results of the lab experiment from Friday’s bio class?”

“Well, I, uh.” Angel turned away.

“Yes, that’s what I thought.” Cassia nodded. “So, no excuses from either of you, let’s get it done, okay?”

“We won’t disappoint you, sis,” Mina said, gently holding Cassia’s hand.

“I know you won’t.” Mua! Mua! Cassia kissed both of their foreheads.

“Cassia, wait. Let’s get back to Emilia’s dream,” Mina said. “Did she describe how I fought that thing on the softball field? Like, what I was wearing?”

“No, she wasn’t that specific. I think in her mind she’s seeing it as an event, and not a detailed image, per-se.” 

“Hmm,” Angel grunted. “That leaves a few answers. One, Emilia is psychically linked to the demon. Or she’s in our heads and seeing what we see.”

“Possible,” Cassia said. But I suspect she's seeing events unfold on a grander scale. And yes, I also believe she has a psychic link with the creature. I have a theory about why that is, but we need more information.”

“It’s not like we can do anything with the little we know now anyway,” Mina said. “I just hope we don’t wait too long and that thing brings friends or something.”

“How troublesome,” Angel nodded.

“Yes, well. So far I haven’t detected anything,” Cassia said. “And I can’t keep the mist over the city indefinitely. It’s a power drain. But let’s all stay on guard.”

“We will.” Both Mina and Angel agreed while taking bites of the toast.

“Alright, so I'm gonna shower and get dressed.” 

Cassia then exited the kitchen. But as she departed, she recalled what Emilia said to her: ‘You were outside and that creature tried to talk to you.’ But Cassia couldn’t tell her sisters this information. Because if she did they would remain on edge and would never leave her side. Hee, hee, I love my sisters. But they’re annoyingly protective if they think I’m in the slightest danger. So I’d rather not give them a reason to worry.

Sunday

Cassia met with Suyeon and Toska at noon. The trio then laughed and gossipped as they shopped for bargain-basement deals in thrift stores and a few discount outlets. “Can you believe I bought the blouse and the belt for ten-dollars? I know, and I almost bought that yellow dress too. Why did you put it back? Because I’d look like a banana in that thing! Hahaha!”

By two pm, the fashionistas ran out of steam. Craving sweets, they then visited the trendy cake shop and took a table in the shaded backyard dining area.

“You should try the cheesecake, Cassia. It’s the best here,” Suyeon said. 

“I will, but I’d prefer one without the fruit spread on top,” Cassia said, reading the menu. But just as she made her choice, the hair tingled on the back of her neck. This caused her to look up at the sky. Less than a minute later, the sun disappeared. 

“Hey, when did it get so dark?” Toska asked, eyeing the clouds. But before Toska could turn around, a coffin of water surrounded and consumed her, Suyeon, and three other patrons in the outdoor area. All of whom, now suspended in fluid, sat still in their seats with their eyes closed. 

“Please forgive me, everyone. And I promise you're not in danger. I just need to suspend you all for a moment,” Cassia said as the entire backyard of the cafe went dark from a space distortion. Unfazed, Cassia walked out to the cafe’s backyard grass. Once there, she gazed out past a row of trees and spoke. “Hello, I know you’re here. And from what I was told, you have something to say to me.”

But as Cassia walked, her first act was to secure the innocent patrons, “Fort.” And with a wave of her hand, the cafe was submerged in a giant cube of water, resembling a castle. And all four sides were guarded by ten-foot-tall water golems. Grim-faced goons, complete with shields and spears. Now, with her friends protected, Cassia stepped further out on the grass and spoke. “Armor on.”

In a millisecond, white-gray armor and a helmet covered Cassia from head to toe. A silver spear formed in her right hand, and a black shield with rune markings formed on her left arm. And as she marched forward, she spotted a hole filled with celestial energy erupting from the ground. And in moments, a giant burned claw attached to a burned arm sprung up out of the hole, before smashing at Cassia. 

“My, my,” Cassia uttered while dodging and then slashing the giant arm with her spear. And as her weapon cut into the blackened rock arm, the appendage filled with water and exploded.

“Graaah!” the creature screamed from inside the hole. And right after that, it emerged. And when Cassia gaped at the building-sized thing, both of its arms were missing, and its face and body were severely burned. The creature's head also appeared sliced in half, but somehow remained together. 

“Wow. My sister really hurt you,” Cassia said, as the armless thing stood in front of her, scowling. 

“You cannot be here!” The thing growled in a pained voice. “I blocked the sky to stop them.”

“You blocked the sky to stop who?” Cassia asked while taking a defensive stance. But as she gazed at the damaged creature, it appeared to smile at her before answering.

“You are with them. You are here to steal the girl’s power. But she is mine. The girl is mine! And I'll kill you all!"

The creature then reared back to step on Cassia. But when it raised its leg, twenty more legs popped up all around Cassia and violently smashed down at her. 

“Water Cage!” Cassia screamed and formed a three-sixty bubble of water all around her, blocking the savage attack of floating giant legs stomping and kicking at her. Cassia ducked down as the blows continuously struck the cage. But when she looked behind her, her four water golems were fighting with four floating legs that attacked the cafe. Ah, so it seems killing our companions is also what you do. Just like when you attacked Stephanie. No matter. Cassia stood up and yelled, “Repel!” The water bubble around her suddenly expanded. And when it did, it burst up and smashed all of the floating legs up against the wall of the space distortion. To include smashing the armless monster, who still tried to attack.   

“Graah! I blocked the sky. So you cannot be here!” The thing swore as its face and body were pushed up against the wall of the space distortion by a wall of water. But as Cassia squashed the thing, she felt its power shift back down the hole from where it came. 

“I see now. You’re using energy cast in a different place. And that means.” She looked up at the creature. “That you're actually a manifestation. And your real body is not here. Grip!” Upon command, the water wall changed into a water sphere that consumed the giant creature. And once its whole body was inside the sphere, Cassia then commanded, “Crush.”

"Graaaaah!” The creature howled in agony as the sphere began to shrink, compressing its rock body. But Cassia watched the thing with caution while pondering. 

“I suspected you were a manifestation after my sister burned you in the hallway, and yet you re-appeared on the softball field. However, even though you can regenerate this astral form, you still feel physical attacks. And since you hurt my sister, I can only offer you my cruelty.” She tightened her fist.

“Graaaaah!” The thing screamed as the water sphere crushed it ever tighter. 

“However, the real question is, where is your real body? It has to be nearby. Because even if you occupy a distortion inside this realm, I should still be able to sense you. Yet I can’t. So answer me creature, where is your real body?”

“My body?” The thing, totally compressed inside the water sphere, gazed at Cassia before replying. “No! You all want to steal my power. But the girl is mine! Raaaaaah!!!” 

As the creature howled, its two arms regenerated inside of the sphere before bursting out to smash Cassia. 

“Ah!” Cassia jumped back in surprise, dodging the blow. And as she evaded the strike, two of her water Golems rushed forward and grabbed the creature's giant arms, stopping its attack. Now holding the thing’s arms, the golems exploded into two spinning water spheres that consumed and crushed the rocky appendages. The spinning spheres then merged before enveloping the entire creature once again. 

“Raaaar!” The thing howled as the sphere then collapsed to the size of a beach ball. And then collapsed again to the size of a marble. Thus, squashing the creature to nothing. “Aaaaaah….” 

And as the thing’s roar trailed off, the hole in the ground and the space distortion vanished. After that, the sun and the sky emerged from behind the trees. And once the area was free of celestial energy, Cassia spoke a command, “Disperse.”

Moments after, the cafe, its patrons, and the fashionistas were all freed from Cassia’s cube as the water covering them dried out. Along with the golems, and Cassia’s armor. Cassia then sat back down at the table as Toska’s eyes opened. 

“Ah?” Toska glanced around. “Hey, did I just black out?”

“Huh?” Suyeon looked at her. “I was going to ask the same.” They both then looked at Cassia, who read the menu.

“Hmm?” Cassia peeked up. “Well, you both got quiet, but that was only for a second. I wouldn’t say you blacked out.”

“Uh…” Toska looked at her hands. “Really? Because I think I just lost some time.”

“Me too,” Suyeon said.

Cassia shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. You’ve been here all the while.” 

Just then, a waitress in her thirties walked to the table while shaking her head. She then asked, “I’m sorry guys. Did I take your order yet?”

“No, we were still looking but we’re ready now,” Cassia replied. 

“Oh, ok.” The waitress shook her head again. “Wow, I seem out of it all of a sudden.”

“Us too!” Toska said. 

“It must be the season for it, heh!” Cassia joked.

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, may I try the English custard?” Toska asked the waitress. 

“Yes ma'am.” She wrote it down. “And for you ladies?”

“Strawberry shortcake, please,” Suyeon said. 

“And a plain cheesecake for me,” Cassia said. “Oh, may I also have a cup of espresso coffee.”

“An energy shot, huh?”

“Oh yes. So please make it strong.”

….

 

Cassiopeia by Reverie Reine