Chapter 25: The Beam of Light

"Agatha…!" A voice could be heard in the distance. Agatha felt herself struggle to open her eyes.

"Agatha…! Can you hear me…?!"

"Daliyah…?"

"You know, if she's dead, yelling won't bring her back to life." 

"I can figure out who that is…" Agatha thought to herself as she heard Myer's indifferent tone.

"If you are not going to be helpful then stop being a nuisance!" Daliyah gave him a nasty glare and pushed him away. 

"A nuisance? I'm not the one sounding like a wild animal right now." Myer rolled his eyes as he covered his ears, annoyed at Daliyah's yelling.

"You-!"

"(That's enough you two! Our priority right now is to make sure she's alright!)"

"Zaki is right. Arguing won't fix anything." Nerian checked Agatha's wrist to feel her pulse.

"Thankfully she's alive. Can you imagine what would have happened if she had drowned? We would all have been doomed. All of us would be on our knees praying and waiting for our unavoidable deaths!"

"(Jeez Nerian, so much for lightening the mood.)"

"But of course. It is my specialty."

"Can all of you please be quiet?" Arcane gave them a serious look as he pushed his hair back. Daliyah was still surprised by the fact that a real person's face had been behind that mask. A man with brown, curly hair, and olive skin. He looked quite young as well. Not younger than her, but not much older either. The fire's reddish color reflected in his serious eyes. The shadows of its flames dancing on his face made his demeanor more threatening than before. Daliyah felt shivers down her spine. 

"Ugh…" Agatha slowly opened her eyes. She felt a piercing headache as she tried to protect her sight from the fire's light.

"Are you alright?" She directed her attention to the cold, yet soft, deep voice that was talking to her. As her vision cleared, she noticed two hazel-colored eyes looking down at her. They seemed to be searching for injuries or for any signs she may have of discomfort.

"Well…I'm not dead…" She gave Arcane a small smile to confirm she was fine.

"Agatha…" Daliyah approached her and helped her to sit up. She then hugged her tightly and let her tears run down.

"What were you thinking? Why did you go into the river? Why…?"

Agatha hugged Daliyah back. She stroke her back gently as a way of comfort.

"I'm sorry Daliyah, I-" Suddenly, Agatha felt pain in her chest. She pushed Daliyah as the pain became more and more unbearable.

"Hey…!" Arcane reached out but Agatha signaled him to also stay away. She took deep breaths in an attempt to control the pain. Then, without warning, she felt herself throwing up. She noticed, by the light of the fire, that it was not regular vomit but…

"Blood!"

"She's throwing up blood!" Nerian looked at her with concern. She said she was fine, and now she had blood coming out of her mouth.

"(Nerian, go get some water so she can wash herself. Hurry!"

"Got it!"

Zaki took out a piece of cloth. She approached a terrified Agatha who, when she turned to look at her, seemed to be asking her if she knew what was wrong. Zaki kneeled beside her and gently wiped the blood from her mouth.

"I got some water!" 

"Here, let me." Daliyah nodded at Nerian as she thanked him for the water. 

"Daliyah…" Agatha looked at her with teary eyes.

"It's alright, we can talk once you feel better. Use this water to rinse your mouth." Agatha thanked her and slowly rinsed her mouth. She felt disgusted at the taste the blood was leaving in her mouth. She quickly spit the water out. Zaki once again used the cloth to help her clean herself up.

"Thank you…" Zaki gave her a gentle nod. 

"Are you feeling pain anywhere else?" Arcane asked her. His expression showed a mixture of confusion and curiosity about the situation. Agatha shook her head.

"Are you sure? Because you said you were fine and five seconds later, boom, we became witnesses to you throwing up your intestines." Myer crossed his arms as he looked at her with doubt.

"I just feel very weak. My head hurts. I don't think I will be able to stand on my own for a while. And…I feel cold." Daliyah touched her hand.

"Not only are you feeling cold, you are cold. Even your face looks pale."

Agatha touched her cheek and felt her cold skin. She wondered what was happening to her. Was it because of the nightmare? She would usually feel unwell after having one, but not the way she was feeling now.

"What were you feeling before you threw up blood?" Arcane asked.

"Well…I felt immense pain in my chest. I've never felt that way before. It was like the inside of my heart was being torn out. I…feel like something has left me."

"Like something has left you?" Nerian asked.

"I don't know how to describe it."

"(Do you think it has to do with that light?)"

"That's right, the light," Arcane nodded as he remembered what he had witnessed earlier.

"Light? What light?" Agatha asked as she looked at them.

"How do you think Arcane found you? With the moonlight? Out of the question. There was this huge beam of light that came out of the water from where you were. It was like some powerful force had shot it right up. We all saw it. Arcane was trying to find you in the water when it suddenly appeared. He then swam towards it and that was where you were," Myers explained as he summarized the events that had taken place.

Agatha felt her eyes widened. A beam of light that signaled them where she was? But how? Or a better question was, from where? She then thought about what Myer had said. She turned to Arcane.

"Wait, why did you jump into the water if you didn't know where I was? And also…" Her eyes widened even more.

"Where is your mask?!"

"That's what concerns you right now?" Arcane asked as he looked for his mask, realizing he had not put it back on. Zaki walked over to him holding it.

"You will put it back on?" Agatha found herself asking as the young man started to place it over his face. Arcane stopped for a second and raised his eyebrow, wondering why it would matter to her whether he had his mask on or not.

"Yes, why? Does it scare you?"

"Um, no, I mean…" Agatha could not find the words to explain herself because even she didn't know why she had asked such a thing. It was none of her business what he did or did not do.

"Maybe she will miss your handsome face," Nerien said while chuckling.

"No!" "Don't be ridiculous," both Agatha and Arcane said at the same time. 

"Ahem, anyway, so that light guided you to where I was. Do you know where it came from?" Agatha asked as she tried to get things back on track.

"We were hoping you would answer that for us," Nerian expressed, showing none of them had any idea.

Agatha closed her eyes for a moment, thinking back to when she was in the water. She remembered the currents pushing and pulling her underwater and her struggle to hold her breath while her lungs burned, longing for air. She wrapped arms around her body as she felt the fear engulf her once again. Her head started to pound again as fragments came back to her one by one.

"Take it easy, you don't need to tell us now. You've had a tough night." Daliyah noticed Agatha's distress and held her hand to comfort her. Agatha shook her head.

"A voice…I remember a voice talking to me…"

"A voice? What did it say?" Arcane asked.

" ' Don't you dare let go.  You can't die yet. Your time is yet to come. Use that power that has been bestowed to you.' "

"Power? What power was it talking about?" Daliyah asked as she didn't remember any records of Agatha ever using power of her own. After all, she was just a vessel.

"I don't know. It said 'You know what to do. Just calm your mind and remember!' " Agatha opened her eyes after the memory became more vivid. So it had not been a dream nor had it been her mind playing with her before death. She had heard that voice very clearly.

"What happened after that?" Myer asked now giving her his full attention.

"My body just moved on its own. It's like a memory from the distant past came back to me. I just moved my body like I was doing some strange dance or formation. It was like I was in a safe space after because I no longer felt the currents hitting me. I felt at peace. My mind was no longer focused on drowning but on what I was doing. I felt some kind of energy bottling up, ready to be released. Then, I remember doing some sort of sign with my hands. That's when I felt some sort of heat building up. The voice then told me 'Do it!' and…"

"And? Then what?" Nerian asked, sitting down like a child listening to the most amazing fairytale.

"Um, then I lifted my hands and felt that heat being released above me. My eyes were closed the whole time though. After that, I felt weak and started to drown once again. I remember a light, but I thought that was just death welcoming me with open arms. And…that is when I felt someone pull me out of the water," Agatha looked at Arcane as she said this. He had his mask on once again, so she couldn't see what expression he was making anymore.

"So in summary, the one who made the beam of light appear, was you." Myer held his chin as he thought about this.

"But how is that possible? She has never been able to do that before." Daliyah stood up as she also tried to process what was happening. For as long as she had known Agatha, she had only been able to perceive spiritual energy but was never able to use it. That was for the priestess to do when she came back. The priestess…if that were the case then…

"What if the one who did it was not Agatha…but the White Lotus Priestess herself?"