It's Those Damned Pancakes

My mind is buzzing. 

Everything in front of me is gone. Everything.

The sight that had greeted me ever since I was a teary eyed girl, had vanished. Blown off from the face of the Earth.

"H- How..?" I couldn't help but step up, wanting to take a closer look. But someone gently held my arm, preventing me from taking another step. I looked back and saw that it was Nova, she's shaking her head. 

It's like my lungs are not willing to accept air, and the fluid inside my body desperately wanted to escape through my eyes. It stung. I could feel my lips trembling, words failing to come out of my mouth.

Nori pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around me. Mara, usually so shy and reserved, tenderly held my hands. They practically carried me inside. I was placed on my usual spot inside the kitchen, at the head of the table. Then Mara handed me a glass of water which I gulped in one go.

Nova sat beside me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"How did that happen?" I asked after finally regaining some of my bearings. "A bomb would not result to that. It's impossible!"

"You're not going to ask if it was real?" Nova asked, causing me to look at her incredulously. "Or question whether this was just a dream?"

"I know what I saw." My voice was a bit raised as I slammed the empty glass on the table. Mara flinched at my actions, but I chose to focus on Nova. "I'm not blind, or in denial. I know what I saw, N- Nova."

I buried my face in my hands. "Everything's gone."

My voice ended up cracking. It feels like there was a lump in my throat that I could not spit or swallow. It's hard, and it's bitter. 

"... Not everything. Not yet."

I looked up from my hands and looked at Nova in disbelief. 

"What do you mean by that? You know that this would happen?"

Nova looked away and would not meet my eyes. So I reached for her cheeks and forced her to face me. She continues to avert her eyes.

Damn it.

"Nova."

"... You said you don't want it." She mumbled, and I saw Nori and Mara freeze. They looked at me in disbelief. "If you had said yes, I would do everything in my power."

I said that I didn't want it? Want what? 

"If I knew that this is how you would react, I would have fought them even after you said no." Nova said, finally looking at me. She looked sad, and it breaks my heart to see it. She had never looked this sad before. "I would have prevented this from happening."

That...

"That wasn't a dream?" I asked in disbelief. "You were in my dream? How?!"

I already know that there's something wicked and wrong with Nova, she just has that weird aura around her that screams danger to me. But I never thought it would be this wicked. I thought that I was just overreacting because I don't like her.

"... Is it witchcraft?" 

Nova's solemn aura finally changed as she laughed at my response. Her voice sounds like small chiming bells, so melodious and high. Even though I don't like to hear her laugh, I still prefer this rather than her sad look. Her face was sculpted to be stretched into an expression of joy. A sad look doesn't fit her.

"Oh, if only it was witchcraft."

"Then what is it?" 

I took the pancake that Mara handed me and started chewing on it. It's soft, and not too sweet. Exactly how I like them. But there's something in it that made it taste a bit weird. It's so subtle, I barely even noticed it. I looked at Mara and saw that she's also focused on me while eating, as if she's gauging my reaction. 

It made my hair stand on end, so I turned my focus on Nova instead.

Nova smiled at me and flicked her fingers, then a red rose appeared on her hand. She brought it to her lips and kissed the petals, "It's magic."

I looked at her in disgust as she started chewing on the petals, along with the thorny stem and the rough leaves. 

Urgh. 

"What's the difference between Witchcraft and Magic?"

"Well..." She continues to chew on the poor plant. "The main difference between them is that: Witchcraft focuses on the body and the flesh, while magic encompasses the mind and everything else outside of the body."

"Oh, and Magic is more powerful, but witchcraft with much more difficult."

"How so?"

I looked directly into her eyes as she finally acted seriously, saying, "Magic, a power that can flatten the earth and make things vanish into this air, IS reversible. It's easy."

Hearing her words, I felt a bit at ease. But it also caused me to frown.

So magic is the cause of what happened outside? Am I really accepting this information?

"Witchcraft, on the other hand, is a darker power that corrupts the body through spells and potions. One wrong movement, even for just a tinsy bit, can result to catastrophic events. And it's permanent."

Mara roughly slammed her utensils on the table and glared at Nova. Her hands were shaking with how tight she gripped her spoon and fork. But instead of throwing them at Nova like I expected her to do, she scooped a spoon full of rice and aggressively stuffed it inside her mouth. Then she stabbed a chicken wing using her fork and took a large savage bite from it. It's like she's imagining that she's eating Nova. And it appears to be quite effective.

Maybe I should do it too.

I looked at Nova, and then at my pancakes. 

On second thoughts, maybe I should not do that. I'm just disgusting myself.

"So what are you? A witch?" I asked, taking another bite from my pancake.

"No! Goodness, no." She denied, rapidly shaking her head, acting as if being a witch was a bad thing. Knowing her, she's just exaggerating. "I'm something better than a witch, darling. Please don't compare me them."

I looked at her suspiciously while she flashed me one of her brightest smile.

"So why is the world ending?" My question made her frown.

"The world's destiny is to die, so of course it would happen. The question had always been: 'When will the world end?'"

"But why now?" I asked. 

Why not yesterday? Or a week ago? Why now? What's so important with today's date?

Nova chuckled, "You're always asking the right questions. It's a bit scary."

I glared at her and she shrugged as if saying: 'What? I'm just stating the truth.' I don't like her for that.

She took a deep breath and stared outside of the window, then at the sky, "Starting today, the moon will start to split."

???

Nova pinched my cheeks when she saw my reaction. "Yes, darling. You heard me right."

I slapped her hands away and rubbed my aching cheeks. It hurts, she didn't even bother to hold her strength back.

"A thousand years ago, it was rumored that the sands of time was touched by a mortal hand. And as a punishment, the Deity of Time had send a warrior who will cut the moon into three pieces and send it towards the Earth."

"But the Deity of Life asked the Deity of Time to reconsider. And he did. He cursed the warrior that he sent to move slowly. Fast forward, a thousand years later, which is today, the warrior's sword will reach the moon."

I felt ridiculous. The Deity of Time? The Deity of Time? 

"That's not true at all, is it?"

"Of course not!" Said Nova, shaking her head. "It's just a rumor."

"... But you said the moon will start to split."

She nodded, "Yes, so the rumors must be true after all." 

I was speechless. 

This girl. This annoying friend of mine is playing with me. The mischievous light on her eyes tells me that she is. But I also have a gut feeling that she's serious. So she must be mixing it all together to confuse me, to make me work for the true answer. Being cryptic 'n all.

I really don't like her for that.

"You're truly committed to the role of being a headache, aren't you, Nova?" I said, as I rubbed my head that's starting to hurt.

She grinned in response, "You know me so well, and yet you still love me."

I sighed. 

My gaze was drawn outside, towards the flat land, and it slowly feels as if a boulder had been dropped on top of my chest. It's heavy, and it made it hard to breathe properly. My head is spinning. "The world truly is ending."

"Hey, look at me." She placed her hand on my shoulders and gesture me to look at her. "It will be destroyed, but not if had a say in it. I'll reverse what happened outside, like it was just a figment of your wild imagination. So stop looking like that."

I opened my mouth, wanting to say, 'Looking like what?'

"Looking all sad and dazed, like you're so far away. Imagining and hearing things." Her grip tightened on my shoulders, so I held her hands on mine to console her that I'm fine.

But then, she continued, "... It's like you have psychosis."

Nova acted all serious, but the corners of her mouth were quivering. And she's holding her breath. Holding her laugh.

Damn, she's making fun of me. 

I slapped her hands away, and throttled her, "Damn you! Can't a girl be sad that her hometown was destroyed?!"

This was her hometown, too. Can't she act a little bit affected? It's irritating. Just thinking about it makes my muscles tremble and lose almost all of it's strength. I leaned on her for support. "... What is happening to me?"

From the corners of my sight, I noticed Nori standing up from his chair. My vision was spinning. It's making me nauseous, so I closed my eyes.

I could hear Nova grumbling, "... I told you to lessen the dosage. Did you listen to me? NO! This is why I don't like dealing with wit..."

Who is she talking to? And why so loud? She's making my headache worse. Urgh.

"... Very sorry, darling. I'll make sure that everything returns to normal once you wake up. Just rest for now..."

I opened my eyes and saw Nova's face close to mine. She's giving me head pats and kisses, as if that could make me feel better. In fact, it only made it worse. Now I feel like throwing up.

This is unusual. I don't get sick, not like this.

Nori approached us and took me from Nova. He lifted me in his arms and carried me somewhere, probably my bedroom. I wanted to resist, but my arms felt like it had been turned into jelly. My whole body felt like it had been turned to jelly.

I felt like I'm a jelly bean.

From the back on my mind, I knew that I was either poisoned or drugged. But I could not put the pieces together, my thoughts are too scattered. The more I tried to focus, the more dizzy I get.

But I know for sure: It's because of those damned pancakes! 

Those are my last thoughts before I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, it was already morning, the next day. Nori had informed me after a long time of contemplation.

"There's, um, there's a note on my bedside." He handed it to me. "It said to tell you that a day had passed."

On the note was the said words, it was written in Nori's hand writing. He must have written it to himself, knowing that he'd forget it the morning after.

There was a shadow peeking behind him. It was Mara, fidgeting and looking all sad and guilty. She's peeking at me from time to time, flinching back when she saw my expression. 

"I'm sorry." She gestured.

"... Where's Nova?" I asked instead of lashing out on her. 

Nori tilted his head in question, "Who?"

Mara tugged his clothes to catch his attention, and then signed, "She's the spare human."

But Nori could not understand her, not with his memory capacity. He only tilted his head and blinked, both baffled and fascinated by the hand movements in front of him.

"Nova left yesterday, saying that she would fulfill her promise to you." Mara gestured to me, finally giving up on trying to communicate with Nori. "She won't be be back for a long while."

I hastily escaped the confines of my bed and ran through the door, Nori and Mara followed behind me. My heart was pounding on my chest, like it wanted to break my ribs and escape. Just as I was about to open my front door, I hesitated. 

My hand just hovered on top of the doorknob; not daring to turn it, not even daring to touch it. 

But I quickly swallowed that hesitation and opened my door.

I didn't know what to expect. I didn't think deeply of the things that I might have been expecting. But I trust Nova, enough to know that she will keep her promise. I trust her, no matter how many times I think that I didn't like her. 

And true to her words, everything was back to normal. The tall green mountain stood proud in front of me, like it had never disappeared. I could hear the birds chirping, how the leaves rustled when the wind passed by. I could vaguely hear cars honking from the town behind the mountain. All of it, it's here. It's not a flat empty land anymore.

Everything's back.

... But Nova's gone.

I waited for her to come back; for days, weeks! Now, a month had passed but she still hasn't returned. I was beginning to feel restless, worried for her. It's the first time that we had been apart since she and I had started our weird relationship. I can't help but think of her and the kind of hardships she might be facing.

Is she fighting with vampires and werewolves? Slaying dragons and saving a prince? Defeating an evil Dark Lord? 

My thoughts wander to the fairy tales that I had read when I was a naive little child. It's strange, knowing that some, if not all of them, are real. Magic and witchcraft. Witches. All those wicked stuff.

'I hope she's alright.' I thought while eating.

Since the poisoning-slash-drugging incident, I no longer eat the food that directly came from Mara's hands. If she really wanted me to eat what she gave me, she has to eat it first and Nori has to try it too. Finally then, will I eat it. It's better safe than sorry.

"Where did she go?" I asked Mara, knowing that Nori is unable to give me the answers that I wanted.

"You mean Nova?" She gestured.

"Yes, Nova. Do you where she went?" 

"Why do you want to know?"

Nori looked at us, confused, "Who's Nova?"

"She's a friend." I smiled at him. "I want to know where she is because I want to follow her."

"NO!" Mara gestured heavily, her eyes was screaming at me. She banged the table twice to emphasize her opinion. "You shouldn't! It's dangerous!"

"That gives me more reason to go."

"You really shouldn't." Mara shook her head. She looked towards Nori for help, but he did not understand her look so he turned to me in question.

"It's nothing." I said. "Finish your food, then we will go and find my friend."

He nodded.

Mara hastily stood up from her seat and took out a suspicious bottle from her cloak. The bottle was filled with blue liquid that moves like oil and shines like glitter dust. It looks beautiful, and I don't trust it.

She popped it open and was about to throw it at me, but I slammed my hands on the table and stood up, glaring at her. She flinched at my actions, but didn't lose her grip on her wicked concoction. 

So I warned her, "Go ahead, do it. But I'll make sure that Nori won't give you any more of his cooking."

Her hands trembled and she's looked at me like I just killed her most beloved. Right then, I knew that I won.

She closed the bottle and tucked it inside her cloak. Gesturing, "You win. But I won't tell you where Nova went."

Oh? But I'm not done yet. "I will let you borrow all the books that Nova gifted me."

I barely saw a change in her reaction, so I continued to push, "The ones in my secret library, below the house. I know that you've been trying to sneak inside, for years now."

There was a twitch. Just a little bit more and she'll give in. "You failed, right? I will give you access to that."

"There's books about rare herbs, strange creatures, alchemy, and autobiographies of famous scientists. There are also books about witchcraft, curses, non-verbal spells, and ancient languages."

Mara jumped at me and covered my mouth, stopping me from saying anything more. Her face was so red that I fear she might turn into a tomato.

Got her, haha.

Back then, when Nova gave those books to me, I thought it was just to piss me off. She knows I love books but don't associate myself with those kind of wicked stuff. Now, I know that it's really because she wanted to piss me off! 

"Will you help me now?"

Mara nodded, gesturing, "ALRIGHT!!! I'll help you."

I smiled, satisfied.

After we finished our food, I told them to pack up. Nori wordlessly complied while Mara reluctantly followed after him. She looked at me longingly, and I know exactly what she wanted. 

"You can bring what you can carry." I told her, "And you can read the rest when we get back."

Mara smiled at me. It's a timid smile, a small arc. You could barely notice it. But it was enough for me.

An hour later, we departed our home. 

Nori carried a large luggage on his back, full of his knick knacks and all his kitchen and garden paraphernalias. Mara, on the other hand, only carried a small sling bag. The books that she wanted are nowhere to be seen on her, but I knew that she had taken them with her. My almost empty library under our home could attest to that.

It must be some kind wicked power that she possessed. Whatever, I don't wanna ask.

"Lets go." I said, securing my backpack.

They nodded at me. 

For the last time, I looked back at the house where I grew up. I'm gonna miss it, but we're just leaving for a little while. 

Our journey is not going to be long.

Unbeknownst to the trio, once they had departed, someone arrived at their home and found it empty. 

The house was turned upside down, and all the doors were wrecked. 

"Where are they?!" The perpetrator then started smashing the tables, followed by the chairs. But with a flick of his fingers, all of the things were reverted back to their initial states. 

"... Damn it! Was I too late?"

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