The Tale of Two Sisters

CHAPTER FOUR

A droplet of dew, fall down onto Penelope's face, sprinkled on each drop of it. Later on, after she heard a faint sound of a chime of a bell, Penelope finally awoke from her slumber. 

Her eyes were wide opened, but the only things she saw was eternal black, surrounded her with no light exist in the space.

"Where am I?"

Though she was already fully aware of her surroundings, Penelope still could not get hold of her body. Someway, somehow, she felt a force was chained her down, limiting her ability to move her body freely.

"Are you awake?"

A sudden voice called out from her from the direction that she did not know where it came from. Penelope tried to roll her body around, to see if she can break free from the force that piled her down, but sadly it did not change anything.

"Who are you?"

Penelope screamed from the top of her lungs, demanding an answer from the unknown presence. Though in the darkness, Penelope can absurdly sense the presence, who is with her at that time.  

Not getting any response, Penelope shrieked with every strength left inside her to make the presence noticed her.

"Hey! Who are you? Let me go!"

"Such a brave yet reckless girl."

The voice continued to respond when Penelope acted like she was struggling to free herself. 

Penelope somehow felt like the presence is trying to make fun of her, watching herself struggled to escape from the unknown force around her. 

"I'll tell it again, let me go! Or-!"

"Or what?"

The soothing voice from the presence made Penelope felt scared for a moment, though she was trying to act tough around it. 

But, Penelope knew that, if she only keeps quiet and does nothing, she will never get to be free. 

Finally, Penelope remembered that she had fainted, during the first period of her class, after she looked at the thing in her possession.

"Right, the locket!"

Though she cannot move her body, she tried to make sure she had the control of her hands.

And it is work!

She felt her fingers were still in her control as she can move it freely. 

For that, she tried to feel if the locket was in her hand, and it was there!

Resting on her palm.

"Why didn't I feel this earlier?"

Penelope thought for herself. At that time, she held the locket tightly, hoping it can do anything, to help her in the current situation.

"Ah, it seems you had found your strength. But, I wonder, how will you use it? And how great it will be?"

The presence somehow knew what Penelope is trying to do, but it did not stop her, making Penelope felt like it was mocking her somehow.

Even so, Penelope actually did not know what the locket can do. 

Or how the locket even worked at the time to help her in the situation.

"Come on! Work something! Do something!"

Penelope screamed in her mind, begging for the locket to do something significant, but after a few minutes, nothing happened.

She was still in the same position, the same situation, as she did not have the full control of herself.

"Are we choosing the wrong person? This is nothing like we expected."

The presence sounded disappointed and frustrated with the result, as it was expecting more from Penelope. She sensed that the voice was about to leave.

As the last sentence from it seems like it was spoken at the greater distance from before.

From the tone, Penelope can sense that the voice is testing her and wanted a prominent effect from the situation. 

But at some point, Penelope felt angry with this.

She felt that the presence was somehow toying with her.

And only thought of her as an experimental tool for her.

"Stop it..."

A flame of rage started to engulf in Penelope, as she was irritated with the presence. 

The flame inside her, slowly resonated with the locket she held, making it glow in the brilliant red light, which somehow illuminated the space.

"Hmm?"

When the locket now glowed in the gleaming brilliance, the voice seems to take the interest back on Penelope.

"I said, Let me go!"

Finally, with the help of the locket, a burning flame, surrounded Penelope's body, helping her free from the unknown force around her.

She now was floating in that dark space, but she alone was glowing, in the brilliant light, illuminating the area.

"Impressive! And this is only her raw power?! Master was right!"

The voice seemed like it was talking to itself, but finally, Penelope can see the area where the source of the call was.

"You!"

Penelope now was no longer in her sane, as some powerful being inside of the locket, consuming her.

Her eyes began to glow in hot, flaming red colour eyes, and it was looking sharply at the voice. 

But of course, Penelope did not saw the exact figure of that voice, but only a grey smoke, with glaring eyes, watching her from afar.

"Ah, Miss Penelope. You're indeed the chosen one, but be warn, control the power. Or, you shall receive the consequences."

The voice somehow was trying to provoke her even more, or it was just in Penelope's thought.

Penelope clenched her teeth and raised her right hand until it was at the same level as her head.

"Don't try to lecture me!"

Suddenly, a massive fireball appeared on her right hand, and it glowed even brighter and grew even more prominent. 

Penelope's skin was burning along with the flames around her, touching her skin, but she did not even whine in pain. 

Like the flames were her friends and she welcomed them as her own.

"Begone!"

Her voice suddenly grew louder as it had been amplifying along with the sudden strength she received. 

She was no longer in the mood to negotiate as the voice was the one who started it.

Finally, she threw the massive fireball on her hand, directly at the smoke-looking person direction.

When the fireball hit the ground, it exploded with a massive impact, causing the space to become bright for a moment, until the fireball slowly extinguished.

At one point, Penelope felt that her body was getting tired from the power she awakens, and she loses the will to keep floating on the space.

Slowly, she began to land on the unseen ground, as she thought she had finally eliminated the voice, who kept disturb her.

"Is it gone already?"

Feeling the sudden exhausted, Penelope loses the balance to stand, and kneeled to the ground with all the strength she had left. Though she thought that she had won, one thing popped out in her mind.

"How can I return?"

Gradually, she began to feel extremely tired and wanted to doze off again, but she knew she cannot do it right now, in this unknown place.

"Haha, splendid! That was quite a show!"

Listening to that same voice, making Penelope have a cold chill in her spine. 

"It can't be true..."

"Yes, miss Penelope. It is true."

The voice now was walking toward her, as Penelope looked at it, with her all might she had. 

She had no much power to fight with it, as her strength somehow been drained from an unknown thing. 

"You clearly have those power that we need. I'm sorry for doubting you."

Penelope looked shocked with the voice's statement. It sounded like it regretted on its action, which finally made Penelope did not have any remorse against it.

"But as I said, be warned, Miss Penelope. Your power holds too much force, it somehow can harm you in the way you cant think of."

Penelope can no longer listen to the voice, as she began to lose her strength and slowly felt that her body began to have a rest.

"What...who are you?"

The voice patted Penelope's head and closed her hand, which held the locket, tightly.

"Take care of this. It is your symbol. Never lose it. You will be recognised with it."

Penelope felt the hand that touched her. It was wrinkled but smooth and soft. 

Penelope gave it a slow nod, and finally, she was about to rest again.

"Remember, choose. And please, save our Juridria Kingdom. You are our only hope."

With those last sentences, Penelope now lost in her sleep.

"Pe...n..."

"Urgh..."

"Omg! She's awake! Call the nurse!"

Penelope can hear someone is shouting, though she did not know who. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see where is she now.

She tried to speak, and luckily, she had the voice to do so.

"Where...am I?"

Her slow, faint voice notified Blaire, who was there when she was awake.

"Omg! Penelope! You scared us!"

Blaire hugged Penelope, with a slight tear on her eyes. Penelope tried to straighten her back, to lean herself on the bed. Blaire helped her by putting a pillow on her back.

"What happened?"

Penelope asked since she did not remember much about what happened. Her head was still messed up from vague things that happened just now.

"You fainted in the class, so we had to bring you here. Are you sure that you're okay?"

Blaire explained everything to Penelope since she did not have a clear image of what happened to her earlier.

"I...fainted? Oh!"

Penelope immediately remembered about the incident inside the dark space, and her encounter with the voice. She then tightens her right fist, and it was there.

The locket.

But when Penelope looked at it, the locket now was embroidered with some flames around it.

And it was glowing in red.

Blaire looked at the locket in Penelope's hand.

"What was that? You know, when you fainted, we tried to take it away from you, but somehow, it was hot, like super hot. Nobody wanted to touch it as it was burning, but you seem to like, you were not affected by it."

Penelope looked at the locket, and then she looked at Blaire again, with a worrying look on her face. Somehow, Penelope knew, she needed to talk to someone about it, although it sounded ridiculous.

She took a deep breath and turned to look at Blaire, with her determined looks.

Blaire had mixed feelings, between worried and puzzled when Penelope stared at her, with an earnest face.

"Blaire, can you listen to me, for a while? And promise me that you will not laugh at it, though how stupid it sounds. Deal?"

Blaire gave her a small nod.

And after that, Penelope told her about everything and all.

Remember, chosen One.

Choose.