Zaya sat at the frontal part beside her white bed's pillow, her elbow resting on it intently, her hands pressed against her chin, face reflecting a pondering look, she was clearly lost about something.
Her friends who gathered around the bed seemed to be drooling over a golden glittering map, all including Zoey, Natasha and Pauline who were called back by Zaya after the emerald had chosen them.
Pauline and Zoey were amongst the few people who were never affected by the plague as their parents were one of the richest in the city, they were immediately protected during the outbreak. While Natasha was an opportunist, she immediately took the chance to leave the hall and enter Pauline's new car unnoticed in an instant after the goblin appeared.
June was still trying to reject the fact that all of this was real while Pauline seemed to be caressing the shimmering flat scroll like it was her newborn baby. Ashara's mouth was constantly dangling wide open as she glanced at each word, pictures and their locations; to her, they were like clues to a secret ancient prophecy.
While Zoey and Natasha had their eye glued to some part of the map stating, "Mirror of infinite beauty." To them, time had stopped at that moment and they would stop at nothing but to find the mirror.
They began arguing on who would get to it first.
A thoughtful look appeared on Zaya's face as she stopped pondering, she then called for their attention.
"Let me tell you what my theory is," she spoke, adjusting on the white linen. "This plague isn't a virus. I think it's a cover from something the creators of the Marine Virus have been working on, something powerful.
Strong enough to bring magic that was once lost back to our world."
"What do you mean?" asked June, slightly confused.
Zaya hesitated, she wondered if it'd be right to tell them about this, but eventually she gave in. She told them about the emerald and the voice that had spoken from it and why she thought it was not a virus at all but they were all restored to their innate forms.
Natasha then interrupted, "Are you saying my ancestors were birds?"
Zaya then responded, gazing at the sunset outside of the window. The bright light illuminating on her face.
"I'm sure we all have questions but we'll be able to figure out a thing or two when we get to the Foxes Den."
They all walked out of the building, Zaya included. She waved goodbye to the girls and they all responded in unison as they entered the car.
Zaya walked towards the car as she stared at the back seat, towards where Natasha had sat. Natasha simultaneously gazed up at Zaya who was outside of the car with a questioning look, Zaya raised her hands up as she gestured her fingers to snap.
A golden map appeared on her hand like she had casted a spell to make it happen.
"What the?" said Natasha, looking dumbfounded. "How did you do…"
"Oh, Natasha," said Zaya, smiling. "Don't you know you can't steal from a fox."
"-_-"
She chuckled then said, "See you soon, we don't have much time."
–2000 Years Earlier–
– Around the 73 BC –
Somewhere on the Northwest Coast.
Water splashed across the near ground surface as she was rinsing what was left of the washed dishes. She hurried as she wasn't going to miss spending a lot of time with her orphan friends.
Because of her mother's chore rules and her sister's absence, she was stuck up doing the dishes again.
"Edeth!" her mother called.
Her mother yelled from inside the cabin a split second after she finished the dishes.
"Ugh!" Edeth groaned, frustrated. It was like her mother had possessed hyper‑instinct senses that were better than her.
"Come! Edeth!" Her mother yelled again, Edeth became furious, strutting into the little cabin. Leg stomping on the ground hard, trying to calm herself down, she entered the room where her mother was, she sat in a corner knitting sweaters for the coming winter.
Her huge white hair gently glittering in the dark room covering most parts of the room, overshadowing Edeth's slightly long white hair.
"Edeth," her mother called, "yes mother."
"Wait, do not speak yet," she suddenly winced. "You have a chore you want to give me, I know mother, but I need to visit my friends, I need to know how they've been doing."
"Yes, Edeth, I understand," Edeth's mother said, holding a clear white emerald necklace in both of her hands.
"What's that for, mother?" Edeth asked.
"It's my emerald necklace, Edeth. It is yours from now on. It will reflect the great gift you had when you protected this village."
"Thank you, mother," Edeth appreciated gladly, her face slightly dampening as she remembered the fateful night that their town was invaded. Magical creatures scampered around the surroundings, animals of all strange species. The atmosphere beamed magic.
There was a loud celebrating noise as the floating golden lamps were let into the air, in their village this signified the beginning of the new year celebration.
In the midst of the crowd you could see a silver‑haired girl with a long ponytail. Smiles and laughter swept across her face continuously as she danced with her friends Gwenneth and Olivia, twirling, turning, and jumping.
Edeth doesn't really love the New Year's celebrations like others did but the excitement all her friends simultaneously portrayed always kept her spirit up. After the dancing was over, it was time for the annual fighting contest.
Everyone began to rush to the village square where a lush field could be found, it was where they originally practiced their fighting skills. Women and girls in the town however were never allowed to take part in the battles.
In their village it was a part of tradition that they saw the female as sacred beings who should be protected by the masculine gender.
That rule was exempted from the New Year's talent celebration, making all the villagers with the female gender crave to show off their sword skills, this did not exclude both of Edeth's friends.
Gwenneth and Olivia rushed to their respective houses with utter anticipation. For the past few years, Edeth had not participated in the games because to her it was disrespectful to the ancient traditions. But after constant persuasion from her friends and a sincere promise she was left with no choice, she waved to her friends as they went back to their cabins to gather their fighting equipment.
Edeth was an archer, she hurriedly grabbed her bow and her arrows, tucking it gently at her back as she hurried to the Nyk Mountain, which was what served as a temporary barrier that shielded the village from the Kingdom of Britannia.
Sprinting at ultimate speed she always went there to get a view of the great midnight star, it felt closer from the mountain.
When she arrived, just as she had thought, her little silver‑headed sister Odeth was already there sitting close to the edge of the cliff staring at the great midnight star which only came out every New Year.
Odeth gestured for her sister to come sit beside her, a smile plastered across her face. Odeth couldn't walk and she was always carried around by her horse "Manny."
Edeth sat beside her sister as they were both soon engrossed, staring at the twinkling objects in the sky. It was beautiful. Edeth had always loved the view of the stars; she had always had some sort of connection to them.
Their focused gaze was distracted from a loud bell sound that came from the town below, they both began to panic as they knew their town was under attack.