A/N: This will be my last update until June cause I'm having my mid-year exams throughout the month of May.

Tom Valor: Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad too that I can make full use of the critisms involved. It's always best to refer to critics (Good and logical ones i meant!) to polish up a story )

Happy reading!

Chapter 13: What Are You Protecting Me From?

"Alyssa…"

Startled, the alchemist spun back. She wondered where she was and who called her. There was absolutely nothing around her but darkness, and a spot of light on where she was standing, indicating a yellow, worn out path she was stepping on.

"Who's there?" she called out, looking in vain for the speaker.

"Alyssa…"

This time the voice came from behind her. Again, Alyssa spun around. No one. "Oi, stop playing games! Show your face, whoever you are!" she shouted out loud, her heart hammering fast. Oddly, she did not even felt a single twinge of fear in her chest. All she could think of was her anger with Shadow, and how he always found a way to destroy her path.

"Are you afraid, Alyssa…?"

"No, I'm not afraid! I'm mad with anger. And I want to know who am I talking to, now!"

She heard a soft chuckle nearby. Again, her head turned, trying in vain to figure out the location of the unknown stranger. She balled her fists in frustration. This was getting her nowhere.

"I admire your courage, Alyssa. You show great courage even though your prospect is indeterminable. Very well, I shall grant you your wish."

Thick swirling clouds of lavender motes erupted suddenly in front of the alchemist, causing her to take a step backwards cautiously. She could barely see anything in front of her, even though she squinted her eyes. Gradually, the motes disappeared, leaving behind a dazzling figure. Alyssa closed her eyes momentarily to adjust her eyesight and opened them again. She stared at the person in front of her.

She was beautiful.

Her silvery blonde hair fell till her waist, creating an aura of radiance that illuminated the darkness. Her eyes were fierce, but Alyssa sensed that there was wisdom and cautious in them. Her lips was full, but was set into a stern line at the moment. And her garment was one that Alyssa could not even describe, for it not only radiates power, it was also the handsomest set of armor she had ever seen. Bronze plates were her chest armor, with intricate designs that covered them. The lady wore pants that were made out of something gold, yet with a twinge of silver in it. Those too, were covered with their own set of designs. Some sort of armband decorated her arms, which were bronze as well.

"Who are you?" the alchemist whispered, awestruck.

The lady smiled, tossed her head and laughed. The silvery tinkle of her laughter rang into the darkness. As her laughter subsided, she looked at Alyssa once more and replied, "I, my dear child, am Athena, Goddess of War."

"Go-goddess?"

"Are you deaf, girl? I said I was a goddess, did I not? Now, we really have to do something with this darkness. Think you can shed some light for us, girl?"

Taken aback, Alyssa stared at the goddess and stammered, "But I'm not even a magician, just an alchemist. How can I create light for you?"

"My dear girl, it makes no difference whether you are a magician, an alchemist, or whatever foolish occupations you humans have created. Magic has always been in your blood, in everyone's blood in fact. You just need to concentrate on that magic more often. Tell you what, I'll give you a few guidelines, but you better hurry up. I'm getting sick of this boring black."

Alyssa nodded her head rather cautiously. Athena went behind her and instructed softly, "Now close your eyes." The alchemist complied, waiting for the next word.

"Listen around you and calm your senses. Never try to create magic when panicking; it will only lead to a disastrous result. Now listen to your own heartbeat. Feel the blood coursing inside your body, feel the warmth and heat that radiates from every single pore on your body. Now channel that warmth you feel to your hands. Slowly now, take your time. Never rush heat," the goddess whispered hypnotically into Alyssa's ear.

As Alyssa concentrated on both the goddess's words as well as her own body warmth, she could feel every single detail Athena had described. Forcing herself to calm down, she took a few deep breaths and resumed her concentration. She could feel blood rushing in her veins, as if desperate to reach a destination. Slowly, cautiously, she channeled what she felt towards her hands. She could feel a small circle of heat forming on her palm, and it grew larger at every second.

"That's it, girl. Concentrate harder. Now, raise both your hands in front of you, open your eyes, and call out, 'With the warmth of your master, I command you to light up the darkened areas.'," the goddess said softly, withdrawing away slowly as she watched the alchemist complied to her words.

Alyssa watched in amazement as the spell worked its way around. Instead of darkness, there was light everywhere. The alchemist suddenly found herself in a large room filled with books, armory, various types of equipments that any fighter could go wild for, and a table filled with pots of potions and unidentifiable liquids.

"Where am I? Did I do this?" she asked the goddess.

"Yes and no. You did generate the light but you did not create this room. As a matter of fact, you are in my room," came the reply.

"Your room? But what am I doing here?"

Athena did not answer immediately. Instead, she walked past the alchemist and went straight to an antique maple desk and pulled out a drawer. From it she took out something before closing it back.

"Recognize this?"

Alyssa squinted as the goddess dangled something from her had. It looked like-

"Where did you get that?" she whispered. She moved closer to Athena, her eyes never leaving the amulet the goddess was dangling.

Athena smiled knowingly. "Ah, so you do recognize it, do you?"

"Of course I do, it's my sister's lucky amulet!"

"Bingo!" crowed the goddess. Then her expression suddenly turned serious.

"Listen to me, girl. Your sister is in grave danger now. I cannot tell you where she is or who captured her, but I can tell you that you must travel to one of the nine worlds that can be located somewhere between the living and the dead."

Alyssa looked confused.

"Huh? What worlds?"

"That you have to figure it out yourself. Ask your friend if you must, he might know about it. But you must never forget-"

Suddenly, the room jolted and quaked. Alyssa quickly found herself being tossed and turned like milk churning in the machine back home.

"Goddess," she gasped, "What's going on?"

The goddess ignored Alyssa. She raised both her arms above her and chanted something in a foreign language. The alchemist shivered as she listened for it was Old Language that the goddess was using. Old Language that was never spoken by anyone, as it was both powerful words as it is dangerous. Then, just as abruptly as it started, the room stopped quaking.

Alyssa sighed in relief. Her head was beginning to spin from the aftermath of the sudden shake. She glanced at Athena. Her pose remained still, almost as if she was turned into a carved statue.

'Umm, Goddess Athena?" she asked tentatively. No response. The alchemist shrugged her shoulders helplessly and sat on a nearby couch. Then she stared at her hands, hardly believing that she had just done magic not long ago.

"Hmm, I wonder if I could ever do that again?" she mused aloud. Consumed with curiosity, she glanced sideways at the frozen goddess and back to her hands, a smile tugging at her lips.

Quickly, she resumed a pose of a mediate; her legs crossed with both hands resting on each thigh. She took a deep breath and concentrated on relieving her mind from and stress or thoughts. It took her a few moments to complete this since her mind was still whirling with numerous possibilities and the goddess's revelation a while ago.

Finally, she could feel her body in deep relaxation and her mind stress-free. The next step was to 'feel' her body. She concentrated hard on each and every flow of blood in her veins, and directed the warmth and heat from her body towards her hands. Like before, she could feel the heat being generated on her palms.

She raised her arms midair, until they were shoulder-level. She didn't want to repeat the same spell as the room was already lighted up. But what was she to speak up?

"Fiery warmth, shall you be enchanted to follow and protect me wherever I go," she suddenly chanted. Then she stopped in surprise. Where did that come from, she wondered. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the bright illumination. It took her a few moments to realize that there was a reddish fireball about the size of her palm floating in front of her.

"Aah," she screamed, instinctively shielding her eyes with her hand. She braced herself for an attack. Nothing happened. Slowly, she peeked between her fingers only to find out that the fireball did not move from its place. Puzzled, she let her hand drop as she scrutinized the orb of fire closely.

"Nice one, girl. Summoning a protective orb," a voice nearby said wearily.

Startled, Alyssa turned her head to discover the goddess had unfreeze herself from her spot. "Protective orb?" she stammered. Then she noticed that the goddess looked tired and weary, almost as if she had just returned from a battle recently.

Athena nodded her head once. "From the looks of it you sure don't know what you just did," she commented, "but I'll tell you anyway. A protective orb requires the burning strength and need of the caster, and will only appear when needed the most. This means that the orb will be by your side all the time, but it cannot be seen by anyone else. Perhaps that sage, your friend, might see it, for he is one heck of a powerful sage, though I doubt he knows it. But apart from him, no one will see your orb."

"Now you must go, girl. Reality seeks you. Remember, you must find your sister before everything's too late. Ask sage-boy for help if you must, but whatever you do, never give up. Kapish?" the goddess continued sternly.

"Ye-es," Alyssa said slowly. "But what's going on? I feel like I'm being kept in the dark or something!" she continued, her head feeling heavy all of the sudden. Her eyelids began to droop against her will. Dimly, she could see the goddess smiling before hearing her saying quietly, "You will know when the time comes…"

And she blacked out completely.

Alyssa woke up with a jerk. She stared around, blinking rapidly. Her mind was still racing from the experience she encountered just now. Was it for real, she wondered, or did she dream the whole thing up? Then she realized that there was a fire orb about the size of her fist floating lazily around her. She stared hard at the orb.

"So it was real," she murmured. She looked around her, and noticed that her friends were already in deep slumber. She returned her gaze to the protective orb she had casted before. Wonderingly, she stretched out a hand to touch the orb.

"So you are here to protect me," she murmured, "but what are you protecting me against?"