Two: Pan & The Nymphs

"Huh," Love mumbles to herself as she looks out the window to find a giant mountain, smaller than Everest, standing tall by the small road they are currently driving on. "That's certainly not in New Orleans. Where are we again?" I ask.

"Mount Othrys." Nikolas answers, deadpanned.

"What! No freaking way!" Love gasps, turning down the window and sticking her head out like a happy pup. "You mean to tell me, our entrance to the Unseen Realm is in Mt. Othrys, where the Titans lived? I thought we were going to Lykaion."

"It is. Nik's just being a lying ***." Levi pulls the straps of her backpack up her shoulders carefully.

Love pouts before crashing herself back in. Cold wind blows into the car, causing her to shiver. "You're mean." She nudges the driver seat with her knee.

"Hey, both are in Greece and actually a cool place to visit." Nikolas chuckles, swerving the car toward a small lot where no cars are parked in. Love gets on the middle of the front seats, resting her elbows on the shoulder cushions.

She eyes him curiously, "you've been to Othrys?"

"Yes."

"Did you meet any Titans?"

He turns toward her, looking at her in the eyes. "And if I did?"

Happiness blooms in her heart. Love's always been a curious kind when it comes to new places, especially those that she only reads in the book. "You tell me everything." She grins, "please?"

"Nik, you met an earthquake." Levi groans, palming her face, "now come on, you two, the fairies aren't going to wait longer for us."

"That was the fun part. Earthquake doesn't always mean a catastrophe in our world, it could mean someone was finally awake."

"Finally? You mean, someone who was dead a long time ago?"

He shrugs nonchalantly. "Could be."

"Okay." Love takes Mark Antony's head from the front seat before grabbing her backpack and sling them over her shoulders.

They all get their suitcases out, each drinking a red elixir containing of herbs that allows them to enter the front gate. Love watches the mountain carefully when she notices the clouds hanging around the peak. It is way too dark for anyone to notice the lingering eyes that are watching them closely.

Love rubs her hands together, not from the cold, but from the nerves. "Have you two met Pan before?" She asks quietly. "Is he scary? I feel like he's inside right now, waiting for us to give him a flute as a greeting gift."

"No. Not sure though, he could be hiding behind a glamour." Levi says calmly. "From what I heard, he's a friendly God. No harm done. Also, he lives in a cave."

Love shrugs. "Maybe I can spot him."

"You can see through glamours?" Nikolas asks her calmly.

"I weirdly can. Not sure why though."

They stop infront of a golden gate, which can only be seen by both Love and Nikolas. As for Levi, it's a usual, silver gate without additions at all. A group of fairies approach them, Love narrows her eyes as one of them caught her attention. Fairies in children's books are beautiful creatures, but in real life? Their bodies are crooked, eyes shaped as almonds and the black pupils take up the entire eyes, their nose is mushed in; only two black holes are visible, and they have fangs and split tongues.

Love furrows her brows in disgust when she can finally see them in person. Exactly not as beautiful as she thought they would be.

"Love." Levi nudges her. "Say the mantra."

She quickly collects herself before inhaling deeply. It's a one word mantra, yet it needs a person's ten-year worth of energy just to cast it itself.

"Eleftheróno." She exhales.

The fairies nod their heads in approval as they fly back a little, and throw what looks like a handful of golden glitters. Love looks around, she hears the chant of incantations that she cannot seem to make out yet; but one thing she knows, they're in Greek.

The golden gate finally opens. Love takes Levi's arms in fear of getting attacked by the small fairies that keep chattering gibberish words all around her. It could be a curse, prayers, blessings... anything.

The forest, though, they give a sense of calm and peace. Owls watch them from a far. Trees are swaying with the cold breeze of Mt. Lykaion. As far as the book tells, they are communicating with each other as well as they are greeting the young casters that are about to enter the Unseen Realm.

The whispers among the trees can be heard, though many casters mistake them for wind. Love grimaces when it feels like her senses are becoming ten times stronger, it happens a lot when she enters a sacred place; especially when they are full of magic and ancient history.

Fireflies help them see in the dark, in fact, they are the light of the forest, along with the nymphs that protect and watch over the forests aside from the satyr and Pan himself.

Love yawns, a sudden urge to sleep washes over her. She wides her eyes in shock when she realizes. "That's weird, I'm sleepy." She says quietly.

"Yeah, they have that affect on you." Levi tells her.

"Cool," Love grins, "does that mean I can hang out here more often? So, I can sleep?"

"Over mom's dead body."

"What's wrong with your sleep?" Nikolas asks.

Love turns to him. "I'm insomniac."

"Sounds bad. Are you going to therapy for that?"

"Uh-huh. They make me do meditations which always, always makes me astral project into another realm or something." Love says nonchalantly. "I think I went to Mt. Olympus once. Kind of gave me the creep though. It was not as beautiful as I thought."

"Wait, you astral projected to Mt. Olympus?" Levi raises her brows in curiosity. "How? And what did you see?"

Love frowns when she hears a soft singing of lullaby from the depth of the forest, it echoes through the trees. "Just ruins." She mutters, looking down at her feet to make sure it isn't the sound of her footsteps. "I think, yes. They are ruins. I didn't see anybody though."

"And why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't important. I astral projected in my sleep! I don't even know whether I'm awake or astral projecting right now."

The singing and soft voices of women can be heard louder as soon as they headed deeper into the forest and toward the Ancient Gate. A few fairies guide them through the path, flowers are blooming, and streams of fresh, blue water are flowing on their left side.

Levi's writing down something on her journal. Love starts to get sleepier as some young nymphs begin to peek their heads out behind the trees, their pupils kind of glows in the dark which nearly knocks Love back to her state of insomnia. Her breathing grows ragged, the fear in her chest begins to rise!

Is that how they look like behind glamours? She thought to herself. Because as far as she knew, every kinds of nymphs and fairies are gorgeous.

"Let's walk faster." Love whispers to her two companions. She starts to walk a lot faster. The singing, women voices, wave of sleepiness, and the glowing eyes has overwhelmed her to her bones.

"Careful." Nikolas reminds her.

Love nods her head. She looks forward, a glimpse of two giant trees bending aside until they unite is finally visible. Broader path also appears. Maybe the forest is meant to lure people in, in a horrifying kind of way where they'd fall asleep in the middle of their walks and woke up becoming one of the nymphs.

"Phew." Love breathes in heavily when the atmosphere turns into a lot more lively near the Ancient Gate. "I am finding another way into the Unseen Realm, because the situation we were in? I'd rather have a siren lures me in to my death!"

Levi rolls her eyes. Of course any of the half-mortals who have gone through this path are already used to the creatures around. "They're just curious. You're new." Levi mumbles.

"You never told me your sister's a melodramatist." Nikolas smiles, his tone is teasing. "She'll definitely do well in Belhonor. Won't you?"

Love narrows her eyes at him. Nobody has ever called her a melodramatic before, despite many people deciding that teasing her to make her feel more of a freak.

"I'll do well, golden boy." She smiles. Finally able to see the kind of student he is in school; the kind that everyone expects to be the perfect one. "Or not. Damn. You need to make decisions on your own."

He furrows his brows. Levi hearing the conversation looks up from her journal and raising her brows in confusion. "How the hell did you-" Before he could continue protesting-

A figure appears not far from Love, which causes shivers to run down her spine. His presence itself surprises her, because not only is his physique is tall and gigantic, his aura and energy also feels maddening.

Love stops on her track, quickly taking a step back to stay next to her sister. The figure steps forward, looking menacing. Love blinks a few times, only to see the man before her is way shorter now; he has the same curly hair as Nikolas, only his has more volumes. He has a long beard. Half of his legs are no more human legs, they are hind legs of a goat.

"Greetings, young casters." His voice is deeper than what Love imagined. His eyes cast toward her straightaway, realizing that she has seen right through his glamour. "And who is this newcomer?"

"Argus." Levi nods her head politely. "This is my twin sister, Love. She's finally going to Belhonor to study."

"Of course, of course." He chuckles heartily. "It is good to see newcomers who aren't so new to our world. Caster born, aren't you?"

"Half." Love smiles at him. Part of her is still shivering, but she doesn't seem to want to look away. "Are- are you a caster born?"

"No. I am something else, as you can see." He says kindly. His tone seems amused. "Magic sure is common among us in Mt. Lykaion. But nothing as unusual as you ever appears in our lives."

Yes, he is. Love thought to herself. He is Pan, the God of the wild and rustic music. The protector of the nymphs in the forest.

"Oookay, Argus. We'd like to pass through now." Levi says, "we'd talk more when we aren't about to enter another realm."

Love caught Nikolas' curious eyes. But she decides to let it go by focusing on the ancient gate, and the fact that a God is standing infront of her right now; disguising himself as a bulky man.

"Very well." He nods calmly, stepping aside from their path. "Make sure to visit often. Many people who comes through here always litter, make fun of my nymphs, and aren't even a real spellcaster." He whispers the last words.

Love can't help but chuckle. Already feeling the warm and fun connection from Pan himself.

"I can never sleep, so, I'll make sure to pay you a visit. Mt Lykaion sure is a hell of an enormous place." Love smiles which earns a laughter from him.

He begins to walk them toward the ancient gate. Love has to lift her head up high to watch the gigantic trees that looked like it had struck the sky.

"Sooo cool." She mumbles to herself.

"You've missed out on a lot, sis. Just you wait until you get to see the actual crimson cove." She tells her, placing a hand on her arm and squeezing gently. "Eleftheróno." Levi whispers, lifting her hand up to direct the magic toward the gate.

The nymphs finally come out of the hiding, startling Love to her bones. They curiously look up the gate. Pan carefully ushers them closer to him, not wanting them to accidentally enter the Unseen Realm unattended.

Levi grabs Love's arm. "Ready?"

"No?" Love's eyes still fixated on the nymphs who are looking straight into her soul. "I mean, will it hurt?"

Levi sighs. She looks over at Nikolas who shrugs: "I'll go through first." He says, "and if I come out of the other side all wounded, it's probably because-"

"Nik, just get your *** through." Levi demands.

Love snorts out a laugh. She holds Mark Antony's head closer to her side, fearful that it might slip out of her arm and fall to pieces inbetween realms.

Nikolas salutes Argus before stepping through the gate, Levi goes next confidently. The forest bids them goodbye through breeze, just like they always do to other friendly casters as well.

A few glowing-eyed nymphs approached Love. Her brows furrowed, unsure of what will happen to her as soon as she steps through the gate.

"It is okay, dear," Pan smiles reassuringly. "You needn't be afraid of what's behind the gate. Four Lands may be unpredictable and complex, but I can tell it is where you're meant to be in."

Love stares up at him curiously. His gaze alone bewitches the fear that was once inside her, even her fear toward his nymphs. "Have you been there?" She asks.

"I am a God. Of course I have been everywhere."

A couple of nymphs hold her arms gently. Their touch feels like a cold graze of air. "Will I see you around?" Love frowns.

"I do not know what kind of caster you are, Love," he looks down at her, smiling gently. "Right now, I will try my hardest to figure out how you can see right through my glamour, even elven themselves cannot see who I am."

Love grins. "Every casters have their own thing. Mine's able to see through everyone's masks."

Pan nods his head in response. His gaze still fixated on the newcomer caster right infront of him. It is impossible for a caster to be able to see through glamours as it is one of the strongest spell anyone could ever cast.

Love starts to inhale deeply before attempting to collect herself and walk slowly toward the gate. The nymphs speak in Greek, surrounding her with mantras and also... a soothing tune coming from a flute.

She steps through the blinding light of the gate. She quickly turns her head to look at the forest, the nymphs and Pan one more time. And before the gate closes in behind her, she catches a sight of Pan playing his flute.

***

Love nearly drops to the ground when she passes through. Her breathing is ragged, chest pain that radiates to her back that almost feels like a serious medical problem just hit her in under a second. Levi carefully places an arm around her shoulder as Love attempts to fight off the wave of exhaustion that instantly hit her all at once.

"You're okay." Levi says softly. "Just a slight motion sickness is okay. You made it through is what's important."

"Here." Nikolas hands her a water growler. "It's not much, but it'll help your nerves."

Love looks up at him, taking the container from his hand, "is this an alcoholic beverage? Because if it is, I'll reward you."

He chuckles, shaking his head, "no. Alcohol is banned in Four Lands."

"What?" Love whines, "oh, man, I agreed to get out of New Orleans, just so I can drink my *** off every weekend. But nooo, of course alcohol is banned in the one realm that I am suppose to have fun in."

She sips the drink from the growler and smacks her lips constantly when the sour taste of liquor can be tasted in her tongue. "Hold Marcus, please." She hands the head to Levi, and she gladly accepts it.

"What? I didn't do-"

"Shut up." She snaps her fingers and in a second, all voice is gone from Nikolas himself. He wides his eyes in shock, nearly falling down to the ground from panic when he cannot seem to form a word or even let out a single noise out of his throat. "That's what you get." Love laughs, "I'll reverse the spell when you don't annoy me anymore."

"Dang, Love." Levi chuckles. Nikolas looks at both of them in fear. "I see taking a gap year made you learn a few rare spells."

"Mmhm." She nods.

She finally gets to see her surrounding. The long, wide sea before them, and the sun slowly rising from the East. It glows like a golden hour on Earth. The trees around them speak in whispered words, enabling the soothing sensation that scorches through Love's veins and heart.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here." Levi says softly, taking the liquor growler from her hand, "I can introduce you to my cat, Sushi."

"You have a cat?" She grimaces in disgust.

"What? Sushi is very nice. Useful in Spell & Incantation class."

"Does everyone in Belhonor have pe-"

Nikolas snaps his finger as well when he regains his energy. Love tries to speak, but no words or voice comes out. "Oh, god, you two need to cut it out!" Levi bursts out laughing when she realizes what's going on. She hands Love back the growler.

Love wides her eyes, trying to express her anger by yelling but nothing comes out. Nikolas only chuckles in response, giving her a thumbs up.

"I can't believe I'm babysitting two infants. Come on." She starts to walk down the path toward the dock where the boats and fishermen are.

As Levi walks away, Love glares at Nikolas while slowly handing the growler back to him. How is she suppose to thank him when she is practically mute right now? He takes the glass from her as he waves his hand.

"Thank- thank you?" She grimaces.

"You're welcome."

"Wait! How'd you...?"

"Love, I have been around ancient magic since before I was born. A mute spell is pretty easy to do." He heart-stoppingly smile as he begins to walk. "And reversing a spell that was casted by another person is also easy. It's one of the first things my mother taught me to do."

"So, your mother is the elf?"

Nikolas sips the liquor, "she is."

"Fun." Love grins, taking the liquor from him and sipping the content a little.

"So, who was he?"

"Who was who?" She swallows the liquid, yet it feels stuck in her chest. Therefore she smacks her chest gently a couple of times with her fist.

"Argus. You seemed pretty shocked to see him."

She grabs her backpack's strap as she looks down the ground. "You couldn't see through his glamour?"

"No, I couldn't."

"What about the nymphs?"

"They were young, beautiful women."

"My god." Love frowns, "that's not at all how I see. They were-their eyes were glowing and dead. They weren't like what I imagined at all. And Argus? He is Pan. Well, his physique may be big-not sure how much bigger he can get since he's already almost half as tall as the Ancient Gate, but he's actually really kind and soft."

They arrived at the dock. Levi already left the dock and stopped by the fresh market, and by the look of it, she was buying fruits.

"Pan? Argus is Pan?"

"Yeah. Don't tell anybody, though. He's wearing glamour for a reason." Love sighs.

"Holy shit, I've been talking to a God all this time? Did he play his flute?"

"He did."

"Well, how was it?"

"It was alluring. It probably will be the reason why I can fall asleep tonight because the tune is still somehow lingers in my head."

"CATCH!" Levi yells, earning Love's attention. Too late, her reflex is not as good as many people.

A blue-ish apple-sized fruit hits Love on the chest. She yelps in pain, letting the fruit fell to the dock. Levi bursts out into laughter before jogging toward her sister to check on her. Love rubs her sternum gently, still a little taken back by the sudden attack.

"You okay?" She still laughs. "Guess I still got the arms of a pitcher."

The time Levi was a great pitcher in highschool they attended was no way something their parents could ever make them forget. "Ha-ha. Very impressive, sis."

"The Dew of Cobalt? They still import fruits and vegetables from Gardenia?" Nikolas bends down to grab the fruit from the ground. He wipes the surface with his shirt.

"Yeah, why?" Levi asks.

"Nothing. I just heard that Queen Artemis is currently banning outsiders to visit Gardenia. Not sure why."

"Wait. Really? That's big." Levi mutters, "maybe once we get to Belhonor, we can ask Dean Laveau about it. She always knows what's up."

Love takes Mark Antony's head from Levi's grasp. "Can we leave now? I want to get settled in to my dorm and relax."

"Okay. But you've got to try the Dew of Cobalt first." Levi snatches the fruit from Nikolas' hand before handing it to Love.

They begin to walk again. Love inspecting the odd, blue fruit in her grasp that she has never seen in her life before. Gardenia is where Goddess as well as Queen Artemis lives; she hunts those who hunts the innocents and is the guardian of the citizens of Gardenia.

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