Chapter 24: Cassandra the Seer

They finished telling the story at about midnight and then decided to talk about it in the morning because they are all tired of working all day.

"I'm really tired today. Hey Raffy, let's sleep together!"

"You're disgusting Francis. How about you and Paolo sleep together?"

"I'd rather die than to sleep with him!"

"Well, I'd rather sleep with anyone else in the world than with you!"

"That's it guys...enough...Paolo, just go to your room."

"Fine. Good night!"

Ramch, Jessie, Addison, Joed and Raffy stayed in one room and Pinggoy, Francis, and Paolo in another.

While everybody was sleeping, Raffy woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep. He decided to go to the garden to think about if who he saw was really Justine.

"I know that it is really her. I couldn't be wrong about it."

Then he heard a woman's voice coming from under a tree across him.

"You couldn't sleep either can't you?"

"Yeah. Excuse me, who are you?"

The person stood up and slowly walked towards Raffy. As she approached Raffy, the lamppost behind him lighted her, showing Raffy her face.

"J...Justine? Is that really you?"

"Sorry, but my name is not Justine, its Cassandra. I'm sorry if I bothered you, it's just you look lonely and need somebody to talk to."

"No, its okay. I'm sorry if I called you Justine, it's just you look exactly like my friend."

"Oh, well is she here?"

"Actually no, she's not. She is somewhere in another dimension...I think. It is just...it's so sudden that we came here. Wait, did you say that your name is Cassandra"

"Yes. What is it?"

"So you mean to say that you're the daughter of the late King Triton, and the sister of Queen Frella?"

"Yes, but I never did like the life of a princess. So I decided to live as simple as possible, far away from royalty."

"What's not to like in a palace? You have servants waiting at your every command. You can do whatever you want."

"You're wrong. I cannot do whatever I want. There are rules for everything. Rules for dressing, eating, everything. I am not even allowed to get out of the palace."

"So you mean to say that you were like a prisoner?"

"Yes, exactly. Therefore, I decided to live a life away from the palace. It's good to talk to someone who understands me."

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, my name's Raffy."

"You're one of the chosen guardians aren't you?"

"Yes, how did you know that?"

"Well, I saw you came out of the volcano when it was erupting. I figured that the spirit of the fire had already chosen the guardian when you tried to stop the lava from flowing out."

"Then I'm right. You were the one who saved me. But how did you get my friend's power?"

"I don't know exactly. When I saw you trying to stop the lava, I fainted. I don't know why but, when I regained consciousness, I was back in my room."

"That was weird. So you're saying that you were possessed by a spirit?"

"Maybe. Actually, I am a psychic."

"What kind of a psychic? You can read mind, move things psychic or future visions psychic?"

"I'm more of a future vision psychic. I am like a seer who can see into the future. I can also sense danger when it's about to happen."

"Wow, that's amazing. I can only make fire and make things burn up."

"Hehehe...you're funny."

"Well, I try not to be."

Suddenly, Cassandra became weak.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Yes, but there's something wrong."

"What is it?"

"Your friends. They’re in danger."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Nevertheless, I feel an evil force around us. I think it might be your friends who will be attacked for they are, as well as you, are the chosen guardians."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get to them before something bad happens."

Raffy and Cassandra hurried to the rooms where the others were sleeping. When they got to the floor where their rooms are, they saw a shadowy figure materialize in front of Raffy's room.

"Wh...what is that...that thing?"

"I don't know, but it's going to get hot in here."

Raffy aimed his hands at the figure and blasted fire from it. The figure smiled at them and disappeared before the fire could hit it. Raffy stopped the fire from hitting the wall to prevent the building from burning down.

"Cassandra, do you know what that thing is?"

"I think that would be one of Quirella's minions."

"Oh no, the others might be hurt."

Raffy rushed to his room and hurriedly turned on the lights. When the room was lit, nothing was destroyed or even moved. The room was exactly as it is when Raffy left. The others were still asleep.

"Why do you think the creature went here?"

"Probably to hurt them or something like that."

Suddenly, they heard a scream from Pinggoy, Francis, and Paolo's room. Raffy hurriedly went to their room to check on them. Cassandra stayed in the room for a moment wondering why the others did not wake up from the scream. The scream was loud enough to wake the people downstairs.

As Raffy approached the door, he heard another scream coming from the room. Then another. This time, three people were screaming at the same time.

When he came in the room, he saw Francis lying beside his bed crying, but he was asleep. He looked over to Pinggoy's bed and saw that he was rolling back and forth his bed shouting, "Get back! Get back!" Then he heard a scream that came from Paolo's bed. He saw Paolo looking pale and sweating heavily.

"What could have happened to them?"

"Raffy!"

"What is it?"

"I think I might have an idea what that thing is."

"What was it?"

"I think that thing is the Sandman. He put everybody under an endless nightmare."

"The Sandman? Don't you think that's a bit childish?"

"Well, it might be him or..."

"Or what?"

"The figure looked familiar to me...I think it might be Somnus."

"Somnus? Who is that?"

"He was once a great magician but he died."

"How did he die?"

"He was murdered...while he was asleep."

"But who would want to kill him?"

"Queen Frella, my sister, ordered for his death. He ordered one of her guards to kill him. He was stabbed in the chest three times. He couldn't even fight for he was asleep."

"But why would she do something like that?"

"He performed once at a gala formal at the palace. Frella requested for his presence personally because she knew that he was the greatest magician in the land. However, things went horribly wrong. One of my sister's friends volunteered to be part of the act. He died because of Somnus."

"So you mean to say that he died in front of everybody? Maybe it was just an accident."

"The trick Somnus was to perform was quite interesting. There were two boxes on stage. He asked Frella's friend to enter one of the boxes. He said that he will stab three swords on the box where the volunteer is in and he will be magically transported to the other box."

"But he didn't because he died. He died because Somnus put three swords in the box which hit his chest."

"It was really horrible. After that, he was thrown out of the palace. That very night, Frella ordered his guard to kill him."

"I think it was Quirella who brought Somnus back to life. But why would Frella do something like that?"

"The friend that Somnus accidentally killed was her husband-to-be."

"Oh...all right. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. He was a jerk anyway. I don't like him that much."

Their conversation was broken by a scream in the other room.

"Not again. Cassandra, please stay here, I'll go check on the others."

"Okay."

Raffy went into their room and was shocked with what he saw. Ramch was slowly sinking into his bed. Raffy tried to pull him out but he was too late. One by one, he saw Joed, Addison, and Jessie sink. He knew that he could not do anything so he left them and went to Cassandra.

"They’re gone. They've sunk into their beds!"

"Raffy...look at them!"

Raffy looked at Pinggoy and saw him sink into his bed also. Then Paolo also sunk into his bed. Francis, even though lying on the floor, also sunk into the floor.

"Cassandra, what is happening to them?"

"They're being sucked into the dream world."

Raffy gave her a very worried look and she did the same thing.