CELESTINA VILLARAMA’s POV

Years have already passed by ever since the world has started to crumble. Humans weren't able to find a cure for their world. They were already fortunate enough that their lives have been spared, that only a few among them lost their lives.

And luckily, I am one of those people.

I used to live in a small town and had met a man who has never failed to make me happy. His presence made my life glorious and he was willing to spend every moment he got with me.

He was called "Ice". He had been there through thick and thin, and never let anything get on his nerves. I loved him dearly as well. In fact, even though he left, I still remember all the things we did together. We used to play games, we read books together, we went out to eat and buy clothes; he was like a brother to me.

There wasn’t a single day that I didn’t pray and wish upon the stars that he would come back for good one day, after leaving me with promises that someday, he’ll come back home and stay alive.

“Celestina,” mom called me with such a faint voice.

My heart was skipping a beat, not due to excitement, I rather felt that she wouldn’t be giving me any good news at all.

I stood in front of her and she held both of my hands, her grip tightened at the same time that she bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to prolong what I have to say. Your boyfriend, Ice… he died while fighting in another war with nature. We saw him assisting other people to escape the continuous and unstoppable disasters. Your father tried to help Ice but it was useless.”

I couldn’t blink. I stared at her blankly as I tried to process what she had just told me. “That can’t be true, mom…” I wailed, as I couldn’t see any reason why I should still smile, not anymore. I refused to believe her, I just wanted Ice to come home so badly. I couldn’t stop myself from crying when she told me the news, it was as if something inside me broke.

My father came barging in the house and by the time that we made eye contact, he immediately embraced me. “I’m sorry, Celestina… I’ve tried everything to save Ice, but… it was too late. He really didn’t survive…” he said in between his voice cracks.

Days went by, I believed that Ice would come back that night, but he never did.

It was as if our whole world was crushed around us. I had barely spoken to anyone besides the people at the church, and the rest of our family wasn't talking either. Everyone blamed me for Ice’s death, that I was a woman who never cared about her lover. I knew they meant no harm, they just wanted their son back, but it was as if they were telling me that it would be better for me to replace Ice on his deathbed.

My mom eventually took me to see Dr. Vlad, she said I wouldn't get better if I didn't talk to someone about my situation. She offered me counseling services and I accepted. She explained the dangers of depression and the risk of not being able to return to the normal state of my mental health. I didn't want that, so I decided that it was best for me to try to get over it on my own. But it didn't end there, after all, I could see myself being depressed, to the point that I was able to see ghosts, dream of things which couldn't possibly happen. The last thing I wanted to do was go insane too.

So I worked hard to get better, to stop hallucinating, to sleep peacefully and keep myself away from the worst thoughts. And it worked! It worked for almost a year, until one day, one day, everything changed.

My world stopped spinning, the voices disappeared, and suddenly the ghosts became visible to me again. For the next couple of weeks, I saw everything differently, the darkness of the woods turned blue instead of brown. My mother started crying more often, and sometimes I heard my dad's voice too. At times it seemed like he wasn't really here, but I knew that he was.

One evening, I found myself in the woods. As soon as I stepped off the sidewalk to get closer to the trees, I felt the cold wind hit my skin. I shivered. What could make the air this cold? There had to be some kind of explanation, because nothing could cause such weather.

After that, I began walking more often, looking up at the dark sky. I didn't notice that I was getting closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. I wasn't aware that I was going to fall until I fell.

But when you know that you're falling, how can you be surprised?

As I looked down at my body, I realized I had fallen into the abyss, and I was floating in a white space without pain. For a moment, I closed my eyes, I didn't want to see anything anymore. It would be easier not to think about what happened, because then, I wouldn't have to suffer.

But the silence was broken by a voice whispering to my ear. "Are you really okay?"

The question made me open my eyes, and I saw a strange figure standing before me. Everything around it was pitch black, and yet its face remained lit up in reds, oranges and yellows. This was probably a person, but how could a person be here, floating in emptiness?

Suddenly, the figure moved towards me and touched my arm with its glowing fingers. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. My heart was beating so fast, I wondered if I was having a heart attack. Why am I here? And why would this person care?

"I'm glad," said the person as it turned itself towards me.

What was it? A shadow? A ghost? A spirit? No...it wasn't a real person, was it? Maybe an illusion? Or maybe I was dying and this is my death?

CELESTINA VILLARAMA’s POV

It continued, "I've been waiting for you, and I know that you wouldn’t believe me. You won't believe anyone, but I have been watching you for a long time."

I kept on attempting to speak, but no words came out of my mouth. The only thing that I was capable of doing was to think as I listen to this person blabbering.

"But you will believe me now. I've waited a couple of years for this moment to come." The stranger stared directly into my eyes. Then, it reached out a glowing hand and placed it in my chest. I gasped at the shock of electricity that ran along the hand, making me shiver. "I can't say when I'll be able to visit you again. So please forgive me, I wish for your safety and a magnificent life. Though, it would be best for the both of us to forget each other."

Before I knew it, the stranger vanished into the darkness. He was replaced by a shining portal that emitted an aura that contained the same color as the sky, as if it was the pathway for me to go to heaven. Even if I didn’t want to cross over the portal, it was as if there’s some sort of gravitational force which was pulling me in.

A few seconds later, I couldn’t see anything anymore. None of my senses were working, I couldn’t even hear any sound nor feel anything touching me. As I stood there wondering what the heck just happened, the same voice spoke once more, whispering into my ears.

"Welcome to the Realm of Xenon!"

The Realm of Xenon, huh… That's a rather interesting name.

Everything around me turned white, I covered my eyes with one of my palms to block the light. Even if it felt warm and welcoming.

I turned my head and noticed I was surrounded by people, they didn't seem to notice me though. They had all different shapes and colors of hair. I didn't recognize most of them at all, as if it was the first time that I have ever seen them in my entire life. I felt confused at first, but then I realized I hadn't moved at all since I came here. The only thing I saw were these people, each one of them had significant appearances. Some had sharp teeth, others looked soft like a puppy, most of them wore clothes that resembled mine. They were chatting with each other like they knew each other quite well.

"Where is this place? Where am I?" I asked in a loud voice but no one answered me.

I walked through the crowd, trying to find my way. I ended up near a fountain where a beautiful lady dressed in a black robe with gold accessories, a white cloak and black leggings, with long, flowing red hair and pale lips stood in front of a tall building made of stone bricks. As she watched me, she smiled.

When I walked up to her, she nodded and motioned for me to follow her. When we arrived in front of the door of what seemed to be a castle that belonged to the royalties, it opened and she entered.

Inside the castle I was greeted by rows of silver chairs facing a stage that faced me. There, sitting on one of them was a boy wearing red clothes with black stripes. He was staring directly at me, and somehow it felt as if we met before, although I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen him before. He looked familiar.

Did I know him from somewhere? He also seemed lost at what to say. After a few seconds, he simply stood up and walked slowly over towards me. "Your face is unexpectedly identical to someone…"

I froze, unsure if I wanted to hear his answer. "Who are you pertaining to?"

He hesitated for a second, but still, he continued, "your parents." His words rang clear in my mind. His expression showed his sadness, as if he was reliving memories that we have left forgotten long ago.

Suddenly, I was taken aback by the fact that I don’t even recall having anyone to call as mom or dad. It sent an aching sensation to my heart as the veins on my brain somehow pumped.

"Do you remember them?"

I didn't answer. I had no idea who he was referring to, if I did, I definitely wouldn't have ignored him.

When both of us no longer spoke, the woman who guided me in earlier intervened. “It seems like there’s still a connection between the two of you,” she said with a cheeky smile.

My eyes winced, wondering what they know about me.

The suspicious woman held her golden necklace as tight as she could before showing it to me. “This is the symbol of our realm. I’m the only one who has this version, but I am giving this to you until the day comes wherein you would be in need of my presence,” she explained. Just as she said, she removed her necklace and gave it to me, which I unconsciously wore without any rebuttals.

The golden necklace was somehow heavy for me to hold, but it felt like it wasn’t there at all when I wore it.

“Before anything else, I would like to tell you that I am the creator of the Realm of Xenon and also the Moon Goddess, Sarina. I’ll be more than willing to teach you the basic knowledge about this realm,” Sarina introduced herself as she bowed in front of me while holding onto both sides of her black robe.

To be honest, I don’t feel good about this. It seems to me like I was just born today, I don’t even have any memories of what happened yesterday or from a year ago. My mind’s all fuzzy as if I have just woken up from a deep slumber.

“I also want to tell you in advance that you should be careful. The ‘people’ that you see aren’t really humans. Most of them are what you call werewolves, ferocious beasts that wouldn’t give you any mercy once you get on their nerves,” Sarina warned me and from that point onwards, I knew that I really was in huge trouble.

CELESTINA VILLARAMA’s POV

Quite a lot of hours were spent in Sarina’s explanation about the existence of this realm and everything else that I needed to be aware of.

As much as possible, I really didn’t want to believe what Sarina mentioned earlier. But now that I am stuck in a dim forest after letting my feet bring me anywhere it desired, I had no other choice but to believe her. Even from afar, I caught a glimpse of the body shape of a werewolf that seemed to be feasting on a person or an animal. It might even be of the same kind as it.

I immediately covered my mouth with both of my hands and attempted to step backwards to start dashing out from the woods, but my feet were completely frozen and there was nowhere else that I could possibly go to at this point.

“Somebody, please help me…” I begged within the depths of my mind and soul, knowing that no one would be able to hear me. Even so, I had a faint hope that I’d be saved.

My shoulders were continuously raising as I was literally gasping for air.

The wolf roared which echoed throughout the entire place. There were crows which rampaged out from the branches of those trees and flew away together, heading over to the direction where the wolf was. It’s like they were able to communicate with one another with just a simple roar.

My conscience has been telling me to get out of this place right away, but my body betrayed me. I instantly lost focus on the crows, and the next second that I blinked, all of it was coming at me. “A-ah!” I blocked those with my arms as I crouched in my position.

“Who are you?” An unfamiliar voice asked, which is most probably a man based on the tone of his voice.

I didn’t have time to answer. I simply tilted my head upwards to glance at him, but he was already gripping onto my cheeks with just his left hand. Our faces were only a few centimeters apart from one another, I could even feel his cold breath touching the tip of my nose.

“Don’t make me repeat my question.” He taunted me with his deadly gaze.

“C-Celestina Villarama…” I unconsciously told him my name.

He let go of my cheeks as harshly as he could. I almost had my head banging on the ground, fortunately I was able to control the weight of my body.

“There’s no one named Celestina among my pack. Who sent you here?”

“I-I wasn’t sent by anyone… I have just arrived in this realm a few hours ago,” I replied with pure honesty, I even raised my right hand just to show my sincerity. It wasn’t difficult to notice the change in his facial expression because of his unnatural paleness. It was as if he’s dehydrated. “A-are you thirsty..?” I bit my lower lip due to utter humiliation of myself.

A smirk appeared on his lips. “You’re quite an amusing woman,” he commented.

Just like the clock ticking its hand, he stepped forth in a heartbeat. He knelt one of his knees as he stepped one foot on the ground. Raising my face with the usage of holding my chin, he stopped moving closer when our lips were a millimeter away.

Despite that, I was able to get a grasp of his tongue as he playfully wet his lips. I couldn’t maintain my eye contact with him, he was way too daring and I felt like my bones were about to collapse if I stared any longer.

“Look at me, Celeste.” He ordered me with a nickname.

His words were absolute. I couldn’t defy him. He was beyond superior to me and there wasn’t anything that I could do to get out of this situation.

“Didn’t you know that I can seriously drink your blood until its last drop?” he inquired.

Before I could even shake my head as a response, he was able to secure my lips. In that spur of the moment, my eyes widened due to shock as he immediately moved away from me.

The man wiped off his lips and I noticed how his forehead was filled with sweat.

“W-what’s wrong?”

He pointed at my face, though I have no idea specifically which part of my face he was trying to point out. “That necklace… It couldn’t be…” he mumbled.

I grabbed on the golden necklace which I got from the moon goddess herself. “Do you…” I was about to ask him another query, but he was already nowhere in sight. That man didn’t even bother to introduce himself to me. He freaking stole my first kiss and now, I don’t even know where I should go just to search for him.

The darkness of my surroundings wasn’t enough to hide his emotion. I know for sure that there was a hint of rage and sadness that was hidden in his eyes. There wasn’t any need for him to explain himself, I can read his expression just like an open book.

I glanced over the golden necklace. “I should head back to the castle and ask Sarina about this.” It was supposed to be my plan, but I failed once more.

There were no castles nor was there any evidence left that the kingdom of Sarina existed.

I frowned in confusion as I clenched both of my fists. I tried to call Sarina out from the golden necklace, but it was no use.

“Excuse me.” A child approached me. “You’re being summoned by the beta of the Crimson Moon Pack, and I was ordered to look for you. You’re Miss Celestina Villarama, right?”

I nodded. “Yes, you’re correct. But, I don’t remember having a scheduled appointment with the beta of your pack. I don’t even know who you are, why should I trust a child?”

“Even as a child, I knew much better than the rest of the pack wolves. You’re not from this realm, that’s the only thing that I can give as a reason for you to trust me.”

I was completely speechless, I haven’t even told anyone yet that I wasn’t really born in this place.