A Little Secret

Althea sat under a tree on the beach. Of course, the beach was still part of Tabogon Base since she was technically not allowed to leave the place unless it was for mission purposes, but she wanted to get out f the stuffy building and found herself there. She couldn't help but sigh. She already promised them allegiance as long as she could stay with Percy, but they still did not trust her. Of course, she was aware of why they didn't trust her. She couldn't trust them for the same reason.

She watched the blue waters sparkle under the rays of the sun. Her mind wandered to the first time she became aware of her arrival on earth. Or at least the earth she was currently inn.

Althea wasn't aware of the exact date or how long ago it was, but after her grandfather put her and her two familiars inside the strange orb, she woke up in an island. She did not know how she got there or where she was but she found herself alone. Not even Ash or Grey was with her.

She tried to look for her precious familiars first, but she came up with nothing after thirty minutes of searching. All of a sudden, she found herself drawn to a cave she passed by during her search. She couldn't explain it but she wanted to get inside the cave. It was calling her, so she entered it.

Althea's foot brought her to a small pond where a glowing man was standing in the middle of it. Well, it was more like he was floating in the middle of the pond. Althea knew the man wasn't really human or any physical being. She was fully aware that the figure was a spirit.

"Hello?" she called.

The figure turned around and Althea saw the face of a handsome man.

"Who? Who are you and how did you get here?" asked the man, or rather the spirit.

"I should be the one saying that." Althea said with a slight annoyance in her voice. "Who are you and how did I get here? I can sense that you have the same aura as the island. Are you its land guardian?"

"What is your name?"

"Althea…"

"Are you a mage?" she nodded, although albeit reluctant. "But all the cardinal mages have already arrived and assigned their tasks."

"Hello? I'm still here."

"A fifth mage. But how? There's only supposed to be four."

"Seriously, are you going to tell me or do I have to make you?"

The spirit looked at her and floated closer to where she was.

"What are you doing?" she asked, stumbling back a little because of the spirit's sudden movement.

"Show yourself." the spirit growled in a low voice.

Althea was shocked and at the same time annoyed, but her face suddenly slackened and her jade-green eyes changed to gold ones.

"A land guardian?" the golden-eyed Althea questioned. "But not from my world. Mine has long been decimated. What is your name? I can sense you haven't been a land guardian for a long time."

"Will you tell me your name if I told you mine?" she nodded. "My name is Jonathon. I have recently become this place's land guardian."

"Jonathon. This girl's name is Althea and she is from the world of Siela."

"But I had already talked to the mage from Siela. He already accepted his destiny." Jonathon argued.

"But Althea's different. Yes, she is a stowaway and she's not supposed to be here, but Akeras sleeps inside the waters you are standing, or rather floating on."

Jonathon gasped. He was wondering how she knew of the weapon that was sleeping at the bottom of the sacred pond. All of a sudden, a sword emerged from the water and floated to the golden-eyed Althea's outstretched hand.

"Ah, Akeras. I have missed you." the sword seemed to respond by giving off a soft light.

"Who are you? No, what are you?"

"The world will find out soon. But for now, you know what to do Jonathon. Tell Althea of her destiny."

The golden glow on her eyes died down and reverted back to its jade-green color.

"What do you mean show myself? And why am I holding a sword?" Althea asked, confused.

"You don't… You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Althea-"

"How did you know my name?"

Jonathon was definitely taken aback. The golden-eyed Althea was definitely entirely different than the brat that was in front of him now. And somehow, she could not remember what just happened. He shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm a land guardian, it's easy to find a person's name that's on my territory." he answered as if stating a fact.

"Oh. Then what's your name?"

"My name is Jonathon and you my dear have a great destiny and burden on your shoulders." he pointed to the sword. "That relic is called Akeras. It is a rare weapon that can never be duplicated in any universe."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Akeras doesn't exist in other worlds. That one in your hands is the only Akeras in the cosmos."

"An original relic?"

"You could say that."

"But I'm a mage. I can't wield relics like wielders do." Althea defended.

"Do not fret. It is not your duty to wield it. Your duty is to accompany and support the one who does wield it."

"What does Akeras do?"

"It has the destiny of killing the warden king."

Althea almost gaped. The warden king was the strongest warden as well as their leader. Once a warden king steps out of its home dimension, the world it invaded was sure to perish. And everyone in it. It was what happened to Siela, her world.

"This can kill a warden king?"

"Not 'a' little girl, 'the'. Now listen carefully. Right now, the warden king is sealed in this world. It is sleeping and will not wake unless the seal is broken. The seal can only be opened by five keys, Akeras being one of them."

"But, I said I'm a mage. I can't use a relic."

"And I already said that is not what you will do. The five keys will choose their own wielders. It can be in this era or in a distant one, it depends. Once the key-relics have chosen their wielders, those wielders will be known as relic king candidates."

"Relic King?" Althea exclaimed. She remembered that her grandfather asked her to find the relic king. "The strongest wielder? The only person that could command other relics, as well as create relics?"

"The very one. Akeras will choose a candidate. Your duty is to ensure that the candidate can fully utilize the power and potential of his relic and himself or herself."

"But I don't even know how to use the relic."

"You will know soon. The will residing in it will teach you."

Back to the beach…

Althea was still a little miffed at Jonathon. He never gave her any other explanations. After saying Akeras will teach her, she suddenly found herself inside a dark void with no one. Not even her familiars. Well, she did meet the spirit of Akeras inside but that one was probably for another story. At the moment, she had to make Percy trust her so she can tell him what the hell was going on and what was his destiny.

"Remember Althea." Althea remembered Akeras' warning. "My chosen wielder doesn't always get a good ending."

She grimaced. Akeras really was as cryptic as Jonathon. Probably more.

All of a sudden, an alarm sounded. Her watch beeped, indicating someone wanted to communicate with her. She pushed the device that was resting on her left ear. Honestly, she was still quite amazed by such communication method but she had to catch up with times apparently.

"Special Officer Althea Niadgel here."

"Special Officer Niadgel, return to the base." she heard Percy's voice on the other line. "A rift appeared in La Paz Area. The Zero Squad is being sorted."

"On my way."