Mixed emotions—that's what you call it when you've felt not just one, but a lot of emotions in a short period of time.
And these past few days, I've felt every kind of emotion, and right now, they flash before my eyes. My body is in the air, fighting against the grip of my own biological mother. This isn't the mother-daughter reunion I wanted. I felt undeniable happiness—the feeling that the long-empty space in my heart had finally been occupied and that my whole identity had become complete.
They said a mother's love is the greatest of all, that no matter what, even if the world turns its back on you, your mother is the only person who would stay beside you.
But could that still apply if your mother doesn't know you?
And in my situation right now, could my mother feel the hardships and the pain I had been carrying all this time in her own hands as she strangled me?
"That's right, Mother. She deserves it after all she did to me," Reina added, fueling my mother's anger.
So that's what happened.
Emerald was so desperate to find me and unfortunately, Reina found her first and deceived her, making her believe that she was the real Amirah.
But it's a lie.
Because I am the real Amirah!
That doesn't matter now.
My life is on the edge of death.
"L-Let g-go…" I said, barely audible.
Please, Emerald, you have to see. This is me. I am your daughter.
But I couldn't say it.
I'm losing my strength.
All of my strength had been exhausted trying to fight her grip. I slowly closed my eyes, and as my body gave in—
"Mother…" I uttered lastly before I fell.
The last feeling I felt before I lost consciousness was the hardness of the ground as I hit it.
"Mary! Please wake up!"
I heard it but I was too dizzy to hear it clearly.
"You have to wake up!"
I slowly opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was the clear sky visible through the open ceiling.
"Am I… dead?"
"No, and thank goodness you're alive."
That voice.
I still couldn't move freely, but I was able to recognize it.
"Miro?" I uttered.
"Are you alright?" he asked, touching my forehead.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"We're at the school library. This was the only place I could think of when I did the teleportation magior," he said. "Here, have this. It's guava leaf tea. I heard it will help ease your head."
I accepted it and immediately drank it.
"You saved my life. Thank you," I said softly.
"Don't. I just helped you get away from there. The real people who saved you were your friends—they saved me as well."
Oh right.
My friends.
What happened to them?
"My friends? Where are they? I-I lost them, they vanished—"
"They were captured like me," he answered, sitting across from me. "Who is she, Mary? Why is she capturing people?"
People.
So that's the reason why it's insanely quiet.
Because she had already captured them.
"I'll tell you, but first, let's not stay here."
I stood up and reached my hand out to him.
"Hold my hand, and let's hope I still have a bit of magior left in me."
I breathed in.
"Teleportia!" I said.
I thought it didn't work.
But it did.
We were now in my father's old office.
I used his septor to keep us hidden until it was safe enough not to.
"We can rest assured now."
"You have a natural magior, Mary," he said.
It's not.
Maybe there's just a little left behind by the necklace.
"She isn't just some crazy woman kidnapping people, right?"
"No. She is a mother who got betrayed, lied to, and unjustifiably killed," I answered.
"You know her?"
"She is Queen Emerald."
"The Queen Emerald?" he asked in shock.
I nodded.
"It's hard to explain, but that's what happened. She was killed. The only thing I don't know is how she resurrected from the dead."
"Well, if that's true, then we are no match for her. She is the one who gave our magior—she knows how it works."
I nodded in agreement.
"You're right. But even so, we have to save them. I cannot let my friends remain captured by her, and the innocent people too. We have to help them."
"Yeah… but how? We are no match for her."
I inhaled, trying to process reality.
How would I tell Emerald that I am her real daughter and not Reina?
I suddenly remembered the video.
It was him who got kidnapped first by Emerald.
"What did Emerald need from you? Why did she only take you? That's too specific to be a coincidence," I asked.
"I don't know either, but she kept asking me where her daughter was. I-I mean, I didn't even realize who she was until she said her name, and I know nothing about her daughter… does she even have one?" he asked.
"Yes. She has a daughter," I said.
"Yeah. I realized that when Reina—whom she also kidnapped—said that she was 'the daughter' she had been desperately looking for," he added.
"She believed her?"
"Not at first, but when Reina made her see some book, she gave in instantly."
Reina must have made her see the Book of Magior.
She fell for it, knowing she left it with me when she threw me into this world.
"That's all?" I asked, making sure that was everything I needed to know.
"No… actually, there's one more thing—"
My brows furrowed.
"The moment she saw me, she instantly called me 'Harry.' She wouldn't budge even after I denied it."
"Harry?"
Isn't that Emerald's ex?
"Why would she call you by her ex's name?"
"Her ex's name? She called me that. I know I have a common face but please," he scoffed.
"I don't know about that, but all of it is true. Except for the part where Reina is her daughter. That's a lie because that would be me. I am her real and biological daughter. The Book of Magior was mine, and Reina stole it from me. That traitor!"
"How do you know you're her daughter? I mean… you have parents."
"It's a long story, and I can prove to Emerald that I am her daughter if only I could get close to her once more."
"Woah… Gem City really has more things to dig deep into."
It does indeed.
And I'm not going to stop digging until I uncover the real gem of Gem City.