ADAMAH - BOOK I: THE AWAKENING OF THE ASTROS

Chapter 21: Sakura's Awakening and the Forgotten Gift

I. The Frozen North

In the northern mountains, far from the green landscapes of Gaya, the wind blew with a freezing fury that cut the skin.

Sakura O'Connor had been climbing among the rocks for days, following a trail only she could see. She was twenty-three years old, though her violet eyes reflected a much older wisdom. Her body, agile and strong, was accustomed to the harshness of these lands. She had spent years training, surviving, waiting.

Waiting for something she didn't even know what.

That night, as the wind howled outside the small cave where she had taken refuge, Sakura wrapped herself in her blanket and closed her eyes. Exhaustion quickly overcame her.

And then the dream came.

II. The Prophetic Dream

Sakura floated in a timeless space, a dimension of light and shadow where stars spun around her like celestial dancers. She felt no fear. Only a strange peace, as if someone were rocking her.

And then she saw them.

Three women, standing in the center of a circle of light.

The first wore silver armor, a sword shining like the sun in her hands. Her violet eyes, identical to Sakura's, looked at her with pride.

The second held an ancient grimoire, its pages illuminated by their own light. Flames danced around her without burning her, and on her wrist, a seven-pointed star mark glowed brightly.

The third... the third was different.

She floated a few inches off the ground, with wings half white, half black. A strange light enveloped her, a mix of purity and darkness that was hypnotic. Her face was serene, but her eyes... her eyes contained centuries of wisdom and pain.

"You are not alone," the three said in unison, their voices merging into one. "Seek us when the time comes."

Sakura wanted to speak, to ask who they were, what it all meant. But before she could utter a word, the vision began to fade.

"Wait!" she shouted. "Who are you?"

The last to disappear was the winged woman. Before dissolving into the light, she whispered:

"We are you. We are them. We are your sisters. Seek us in the south."

Sakura woke with a start.

Her heart was beating so hard she thought her chest would break. The moonstone she always wore around her neck glowed more brightly than ever, illuminating the cave with a silver radiance.

"My sisters?" she whispered. "Amelia? Serenity?"

It had been sixteen years since she had spoken those names. Sixteen years since that terrible night when she had fled the palace with them in her arms. Sixteen years since she had left them, one in a mansion in Gaya, another with an elderly couple in the forest, to protect them.

Were they still alive?

She left the cave and looked south. The stars shone with unusual intensity. And on the horizon, a light flickered, as if someone were answering her.

"Something has changed," she murmured. "Something is happening."

And she knew, with a certainty she couldn't explain, that her life was about to turn upside down.

III. The Road South

The next morning, Sakura began the descent of the mountain.

She didn't know exactly where she was going, but something guided her. A feeling in her chest, like an invisible thread pulling her south. Toward where she had seen the light in her dream. Toward her sisters.

She walked for hours, without rest, without hunger, without thirst. Only with a growing urgency in her heart.

"Survive," she whispered to the wind. "Please, survive. I'm coming to you."

The wind did not answer, but she felt her words reached somewhere.

Somewhere.

Someone.

IV. The Forgotten Gift

While Sakura walked south, far away in a clearing in the Gaya forest, Serenity's group camped by a lake of crystalline water.

They had been walking all day, and fatigue was beginning to show. Amelia sat apart, reading one of her books by moonlight. Jenny meditated near the fire. Ángel watched the perimeter. Kaito, as always, had disappeared into the shadows, though everyone knew he was nearby, watching.

Serenity approached Amelia.

"What are you reading?" she asked, sitting beside her.

"A history book," Amelia replied without looking up. "It talks about the ancient kings. About O'Connor, the last emperor."

Serenity felt a knot in her stomach.

"And what does it say?"

"That he was a good king. Just, wise, loved by his people. And that his death was a tragedy for everyone."

Amelia closed the book and looked at Serenity. The moonlight illuminated her face, and for an instant, Serenity saw a resemblance she hadn't noticed before. The shape of the eyes, the curve of the smile.

"It must be strange for you," said Amelia. "Knowing you're the daughter of someone like that."

"It is," Serenity admitted. "Sometimes I feel I'm not up to it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know anything about him. I don't remember him. I only have this medallion and the stories they tell me. Sometimes I think that perhaps... perhaps I'm not who I think I am."

Amelia placed a hand over hers.

"I don't remember my parents either," she said softly. "The ones who raised me, the Thermopolis, were good people. But I always felt I didn't belong there. That there was something more. Something they didn't tell me."

"And how do you cope with it?"

"By reading," Amelia replied with a sad smile. "Books are my refuge. In them I find answers. Or at least, better questions."

At that moment, something happened.

Serenity felt an electric current run through her arm. An image appeared before her eyes, sharp, clear, as if she were watching a movie projected in her mind.

She saw a little girl, about three years old, playing in a garden full of flowers. A young woman, dark-haired and with green eyes like emeralds, watched her from the door of a great mansion. The sun shone, birds sang, everything was peace.

But then the image changed.

She saw that same girl, years later, locked in a room full of books. She saw her grow up alone, without friends, without company, only with yellowed pages and dust from the shelves. She saw her magic awaken without her being able to control it: books flew, candles went out, walls trembled. She saw her father, frightened, order the windows boarded up. She saw her mother die, and loneliness grow even deeper.

She saw Amelia.

Serenity pulled her hand away suddenly, gasping as if she had run a league.

"What's wrong?" asked Amelia, alarmed. "Are you alright?"

"I saw you," Serenity replied, her voice trembling. "I saw your past. Your childhood. Your loneliness. Everything."

Jenny, who had been listening by the fire, quickly approached.

"What are you saying?" she asked, kneeling beside them.

"When I touched her," Serenity explained, looking at her own hands as if she didn't recognize them, "I saw things. Memories that weren't mine. They were Amelia's. As if I had been there, inside her head, seeing her life."

Jenny opened the book of stars. The pages glowed brightly, and one of them showed a symbol they hadn't seen before: an eye surrounded by flames.

"The forgotten gift," Jenny whispered. "It's here, in the book. It speaks of a star capable of seeing people's past by touching them. Of connecting with their memories, their emotions, their pain."

"Is that me?" asked Serenity.

"Yes," Jenny replied with a smile. "That is your power, Serenity. The Star of Love, but also of connection. You can feel what others have felt. You can see what they've lived. It's an incredible gift."

Serenity looked at her hands, amazed.

"I... I didn't know."

"No one knows until it awakens," said Jenny. "And it just awakened in you."

Amelia looked at her with admiration and a little fear.

"Can you see all my past? My secrets? My shames?"

"Not all," Serenity replied honestly. "They were fragments. Like flashes. But I saw enough to know you haven't had an easy life. That you've suffered. That you've been alone."

Amelia looked down.

"Yes," she whispered. "I've been alone for a long time."

Serenity hugged her tightly.

"Not anymore," she said. "You're not alone anymore. None of us are."

Amelia returned the embrace, and for the first time in years, she felt the tears that flowed from her eyes were not of sadness, but of something new.

Hope.

V. The Revelation

When they separated, Jenny pointed to the book.

"This explains a lot," she said. "Why the group works. Why we understand each other without words. Serenity, your gift is not just seeing the past. It's connecting. Creating bonds. Making others feel understood."

"And what is that for?" asked Ángel, who had approached silently.

"To unite us," Jenny replied. "So that when the time for battle comes, we fight as one. That is the power of love, Serenity. It is not a power of destruction, but of union."

Serenity nodded, though she was still processing everything.

"And now what?" she asked.

"Now," said Jenny, "we continue north. Sakura awaits us. And when you find her, your gift will help you recognize her. Connect with her. Heal wounds that have been open for sixteen years."

"Sixteen years?" asked Amelia. "That long?"

"Yes," Serenity replied. "The night we fled, Sakura separated us to protect us. She left you in Gaya, me with an elderly couple in the forest. And she... she went north, alone, to become strong."

"It must have been very hard for her," said Amelia.

"It was. And now, when we meet, we'll have to help her heal too."

Ángel smiled.

"That's what sisters are for, isn't it?"

Serenity and Amelia looked at each other and smiled.

"Yes," they said in unison. "That's what they're for."

VI. Epilogue: The Path Draws Near

That night, while the others slept, Serenity stayed awake by the fire, looking at her hands.

Her gift. Her power. She could see people's past. She could understand their pain, their joy, their fear.

"Can't sleep?" asked Kaito, appearing from the shadows with his usual stealth.

"I can't," she replied. "Too many things on my mind."

Kaito sat beside her, his red tail moving slowly.

"Tell me."

Serenity told him what she had discovered. Kaito listened in silence, and when she finished, he nodded.

"It's an incredible gift," he said. "But also a burden. Seeing others' pain... it can't be easy."

"It isn't. But I also see their strength. Their hope. And that makes up for it."

Kaito smiled, showing his fangs.

"You're stronger than you think, Serenity."

"Thank you, Kaito."

They sat in silence, watching the stars.

Somewhere in the north, a woman with violet eyes walked toward them.

Destiny was drawing near.

And nothing would ever be the same.