The second card held a woman with a crowned veil on her head. The veil's material was thin enough to show the peaceful smile on the woman's face as she cradled a bundle in her hand that had to symbolize a newborn. Below the wrapped baby was a fountain like a cup, one with stars that seemed to be aligned and joined by golden lines. The cup was on the verge of overflowing with whatever the liquid was within the gorgeous chalice.
The first card read COURAGE beneath while the second read REJUVENATION. The presented images had to connect to the single words in some way, but I wondered what their purpose was.
She offered me the cards, which left me shocked by her gesture.
"One is for you and the other is for Bianca. I barely know either of you, but my instincts tell me these will assist the two of you sooner rather than later."
"But...I can't keep them. How will I return them to you?" I inquired.
"They're from my personalized deck. They'll know how to locate me once they've served their purpose," Silver said with a smile. "You'll need them. I won't ignore what I feel is right, and I suggest you don't either. Ignoring one's instincts never ends well."
"That's the truth," I mumbled and accepted the two cards.
My body shivered at the intense dose of magic in each of them, and I looked back up at her to see she was already back at Yuriel's side and looking at Shadow Jade with added curiosity.
"So you're not twins?"
"Nope. Jade is like my mommy! But also, me!" Shadow Jade reasoned with pride.
That merely made Silver's grin widen. "You're of darkness and yet there's so much love within you."
Shadow Jade blinked innocently before looking over to me as if to seek an answer to Silver's words, but Yuriel took a step forward.
"It's time," he announced, grasping our attention.
"Time for what exactly?" Lisette asked in seriousness.
"As you would have noticed, Charles isn't moving from his spot because he's actually frozen in time," Yuriel declared.
"What?" Lisette and I said in unison, and I looked over to Alaric. "Is Alaric frozen as well?"
"Yes," Silver replied. "We were rather lucky to sense the intrusion into our universe and were able to send someone here to freeze them in time for a short period. That time limit is running out in two minutes, and we aren't in our positions."
"What are we going to do?" I asked. "How are we going to get him back into our universe in a spinning whirlpool?"
"That's going to require Yuriel and me," Silver revealed, and she clapped her hands together to summon a wand into her possession.
"We're going to open the portal and trap you guys into the vortex to warp you back, but you'll have to survive whatever tricks Charles has planned while protecting Alaric over there. We won't be able to interfere or do anything further than that," she explained.
"So we'll be teleported back to our world before we know it?" I clarified.
Yuriel nodded. "We have our gatekeeper, who's going to aid in sending you back. She's further up in the skies and thus the reason why we have to separate. We can't risk her getting injured in battle."
We nodded in understanding and I glanced over to Silver.
"That means we won't see each other again?" My voice revealed my worry regarding the matter, and it was like my same interaction with the Alicia girl. This woman gave me the vibes that she'd understand me.
Maybe more than I understood myself.
Aside from Lisette, I didn't have female friends, but meeting this woman when we needed aid made me wish to know more about her.
"We will," she said with much determination, and her lips curled up to give me a marvelous smile. "We're destined to meet again. It just has to occur when the time is right. I've been pulled into aiding you and another when you needed it the most. I'm sure there will come a time when the tables are turned."
She glanced over at Yuriel. "I'm going to leave Star here until the spinning portal is ready."
"Are you sure?" Yuriel seemed worried by the new idea, leaving me to wonder who Star was.
Silver nodded. "She has a purpose to fulfill here, or at least, that's what she's telling me."
The woman shrugged and returned her gaze back to us. "Regardless of what happens, do your best to survive. Once the teleportation process happens, my familiar, Star, will disappear."
Her word kindled the appearance of a small creature, one that poofed and landed on top of Silver's head. She blinked a few times before she reached over to pat Silver's nose as if it was their usual greeting.
The way Silver smiled in return as she glanced up to look at the majestic kitten with a golden horn was full of compassion that felt almost rare in origin. It was different in comparison to how I looked at Minx or Shadow Jade.
It's as if this uni-kitten was of extreme importance in this woman's life.
"A uni-kitten!" Lisette squealed and clapped her hands. "Can I pet her?"
"Sure," Silver replied as Star hopped off Silver's head and floated to us. Lisette seemed enthralled with the kitten as she landed in her offered hands.
"So cute!" Lisette shrieked.
"This may sound rude, but your girlfriend seems to get distracted easily," Yuriel pointed out to me as he stared at Lissette, who was clearly in another world as she began dancing with the uni-kitten familiar.
"Lisette is just...Lisette," I concluded with a small smile. "She's serious when she needs to be. Seeing as time is still on hold, I guess it's alright," I defended.
Silver was also grinning and watching the two interact.
"She sees far more than you'd think, Yuriel," Silver complimented and reached for his hand. "We have to go."
"Right," he replied as they exchanged a loving look.
They have to be lovers from the way they looked at one another.
Their gazes returned to me before Silver gave me one more long glance.
"It's time for us to depart but remember, Jade: you are stronger than what holds you back. Allow your emotions to be freed and trust someone will be there to bring you back to reality."
All I could do was nod and give them a determined look. I wasn't acting like myself and it was time to get out of this funk.
"Thank you," I said with admiration.
"Good luck, Jade and Lisette," Silver stated and looked at Star. "Star. Nothing too dangerous."
"Mewr!" she responded happily and began to purr in Lisette's hold.
"Mawe?" We all looked down to see Minx, who was sitting next to my feet and staring up at Star in curiosity.
"Mewr?!" Star jumped right out Lisette's hand and began prowling around Minx happily before brushing her head against hers.
"Aww, they get along!" Lisette cheered and clapped. "That's extremely good. Minx, watch Star carefully, okay? You can learn a lot from her."
"Mawe." Minx stretched and began to pat Star with her paw.
Silver snickered while Yuriel was grinning from ear to ear. The two of them exchanged one more look before they gazed over at Charles.
"Let's get this over with," Yuriel encouraged and let go of Silver's hand as he closed his eyes. He began to mumble an array of words, his hair beginning to levitate with golden energy while his wings shifted from white to pure black.