Chapter 08: The Golden Cicada It was 8:00 PM. Since Noelle got done with her homework many hours ago, she decided to chat with Caleb online on her laptop. “Hey Noelle.” “Hi Caleb.” “Whassup girl? :-)” “I haven't been feeling good. I think I have the flu. :-(” “I'm sorry to hear that Noelle. I hope you get better. (hugs)” “Thank you. BTW, how is Lucia?” “She's fine. She wants me to go see a movie with her soon.” “Really? Which movie?” “Humph! That dreaded Moonshine film that's coming out next week. She's so in love with those novels. :-/” Noelle made a sour face at her computer. “Seriously? SERIOUSLY?” “Yes indeed. How are they going to make a novel about nothing into a movie? Hell, it seems like they'll make anything into a movie.” “(LOL) I wouldn't be surprised if they made a film about watching grass grow.” “That wouldn't surprise me either. Well, I hope you get well soon and talk to you later. (hugs)” “Later...(hugs back). Bye bye!” While Noelle got done chatting with Caleb, she decided to play some video game ROMs on her computer. Even though the video games she's playing on her emulators came out before she was born, she had cousins and relatives that introduced her to these games, as well as other retro media that came out back then. So she plays some video games until her weariness takes over. She closes her lap top, gets under the covers and drifts off to sleep. --- Many ages ago, a divine teal colored raven of the Samjok-o clan has reached her 100th birthday. The chief of the Samjok-o village of Lefkahn told her that when a divine raven reached his or her 100th birthday, they have officially reached adulthood, thus, there was a coming of age ritual they had to go through. It was the ritual of transformation. The divine ravens were given a golden cicada to munch on, making them shape shift into their very first form: a humanoid god form. The divine Samjok-o maiden was warned that her first transformation will be very painful. However, after a while, once she mastered the ability of shape shifting, the transformations will be painless. So she took the golden cicada from her master, and flew away, looking for a place to eat the cicada in peace. The teal four clawed raven landed on the ground nearby a ruined and abandoned village, and started to munch on the golden cicada, pecking away and swallowing it down greedily. However, just as she got done eating the cicada, the Samjok-o maiden started to feel some very intense pain erupting within her body. She hopped and staggered around, screeching and cawing in pain. Her teal feathers were falling out as she clumsily tried to make her way inside one of the abandoned houses in pain. Her talons were slowly growing into a pair of humanoid legs, the bones making snapping and crackling noises during the transformation. Her spindly, talon-like arms were becoming humanoid arms that gripped onto the ground as she found herself inside the nearest house, making her way into an abandoned room full of hay. Her caws of pain then transformed into the blood curdling screams of a young woman that echoed throughout the valley. Nearby in the abandoned village, a greater Valkyrie named Eir, and a Aesir named Ve, were searching around the wrecked village near Walhalla to check for any surviving spirits. Ve had the appearance of a fit and athletic older man with short black hair and bushy mustache, silver eyes, and wore platinum armor with a red shawl, pale gray pants, a semi-pointy hat, and brown leather boots. Eir on the other hand, has long lavender hued hair that was tied up in a long braid, blue eyes and wore a gold winged headband, a green leotard with a long, poofy sleeved, cyan blue and yellow vest with a long white cape attached to it, some tight, cyan blue pants and gold high boots. The two Aesir were search around a ruined village when suddenly, they heard a young woman loudly screaming in pain. “Where is that horrid screaming coming from?” Ve asked nervously as he started to search around the village. Eir points to an abandoned house with a trail of teal colored feathers littered on the ground. “It's coming from this house! Come on, I think there is a survivor inside.” The two deities went inside the house and started to search in every nook and cranny within the house. But in one room they didn't check out, they heard a young woman softly sobbing and whimpering in pain. Ve perked his head up and started to follow the noise. “A survivor?” “I'll go check it out Sir Ve.” Eir said sternly. “Go upstairs and check for more survivors.” “Yes Madam.” Ve said back as he made his way upstairs while Eir followed the sounds of the young woman's sobbing and crying in pain. As Eir got to a room with a broken door and a trail of clustered blue-green feathers, she saw an attractive young woman, naked and sobbing on top of a mound of hay and feathers that were coated with droplets of blood. Her wavy hair was the same greenish-blue hue as the feathers littered around her and her skin seemed soft and fair, free of blemishes and scars. Her facial features had a resemblance to a human woman of Asian descent, only that her eyes were the same teal color as her hair instead of the common brown colored eyes found in Asians. Her figure was curvaceous, yet had some meat on her bones at the same time, indicating that the girl is well fed and not malnourished. “Hey young lady, are you okay?” Eir asked as softly and calmly as she could. The young woman jumped back in terror and started to panic. “Aaack! Please....don't....!” “Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm actually hear to help you.” Eir said calmly to the frightened girl as the Valkyrie reaches out a hand to her, proving that she meant no harm to this young woman. “We are searching for some souls to send to Walhalla. It looks like your are the only survivor here.” “Sur...sur...survivor?” The girl asked as she was testing out her voice box. “Survivor?” “Ve! Come here! I found a surviving soul!” Eir shouted out. “I'm coming my lady!” Ve replied as he swiftly climbs down the stairs. As he made his way to where Eir was standing, he looks over at the naked young woman and blushed. “Are you okay madam? You look rather cold.” “Cold?” The young woman asked. “Yes...are you cold?” Ve asked as he started to feel a little flustered at the sight of this naked maiden. “Hmmm what is cold?” The young woman pondered. This girl was so used to her raven form, her body once being coated with feathers. Now, as a humanoid goddess, she was left naked. There were many things this young lady had to get used to in her new humanoid form. “Eh heh heh...” Ve laughed nervously as he couldn't take his eyes off the naked and confused girl. Eir started to feel a little frustrated with Ve, and elbowed him as hard as she could to get his attention. “Ve, stop dilly dallying and get this girl some clothing! PRONTO!” Eir said, trying hard to hide her frustration with Ve. “Clothing?” The young woman asked in confusion. “Very well my lady.” Ve said as he searched around the rooms for dresser drawers and closets. As he got to one bedroom, he opened a closet door. It was filled with dresses and robes that once belonged to a woman that lived in this house. He pulls out a white silk dress, a satin royal blue robe, a translucent white veil, a pair of leather sandals and a pair of underpants and a brassiere. “Hope this is good enough. Damn, I feel so dirty...” Ve takes the clothing and rushes back to the room where Eir and the young woman were at. “Here's some clothing my lady.” “Thank you Ve.” Eir said calmly as she started to dress up the naked girl. “Say young maiden, do you have a name.” “Name...name...Mmmmm....” The girl pondered. “A name is a title given to a living being.” Eir said as she was getting the girl dressed. “My name is Eir Gullmanen, and the man I'm assisting is named Ve. What is your name?” “Ah! Name...ummm.... my name is....” The girl stuttered as she tried to remember her name. Now, a small piece of her memory came back to her as she suddenly remembered her name. “My name is...Mist. Mist Elmbarn! That's all I remember.” “Well Mist...Ve and I will take you back to Walhalla and help you live a normal life amongst the Aesir and Vanir.” Eir said as she carried Mist into her arms. Eir looks over at Ve and gives the male Aesir a stern, serious glare. “Come Ve, we need to take this girl to Walhalla! We can't just leave her here. Not only did she lose her home, but she also seems to have a foul case of amnesia.” “Very well my lady.” Ve bowed as he followed the Valkyrie out of the ruined village and back to the kingdom of Walhalla. “We will do whatever we can to make you feel at home young Mist.” Right there, the dream ended and Noelle woke up. “Wow, what an odd dream.” Noelle thought to herself as she opened her eyes. “Who is this Mist Elmbarn lady? Why can't I stop dreaming about her?” Noelle then tries to brush those thoughts off to the side as she drinks a glass of water and tries to get more sleep. --- It was now morning. Noelle woke up once more and greeted her father as he was getting ready for work. “Hey Noelle, how are you feeling?” “I'm feeling a little bit better.” Noelle responds. “I don't feel as dizzy as I did yesterday.” Kai Fai goes over to his daughter and feels her forehead. “You are a little bit warm. A few more days, and you'll be fully better. Now, get some rest and drink plenty of water sweet heart.” “Okay Dad.” Noelle said as she shook her dad's hand. “Good luck at work.” “Thank you dear.” Kai Fai said as he kissed his daughter on the forehead. “Take it easy now. Later!” “Bye Dad!” Noelle replied as he dad walked out the door and drove off to work. “I wonder what's on the telly?” Noelle wondered to herself as she grabbed her water bottle and kicked back on the sofa as she turns on the television. On TV, there was her favorite show called “Unexplained Encounters”. It was a show about paranormal phenomenon, cryptozoology, UFOs and other unexplained mysteries of modern times. “Today, on Unexplained Encounters....” the TV show host announced. “An archaeological expedition stumbles upon a gruesome discovery inside a cave in the Carpathian Mountains. Plus, a series of UFO sightings that have been taking place in Asia recently.” The article about the expedition within the Carpathian Mountains drew in Noelle's attention. “Hmmmm...Carpathian Mountains...? I wonder what it was that shocked the Archaeologists?” On the TV set, there was a group of people lighting their lanterns and flashlights as they go traveling within one of the caves located in the Eastern European mountain range. When the flashlights illuminated the cave, there were shocked with what they found. Inside the cave, they found monstrous skeletons bound and gagged to various medieval torture devices. It was obvious these skeletons were not just mere humans with severe physical birth defects, but actual full blown monster remains. At the feet of the monstrous skeletons, there were bones that belonged to bears, wolves and other wildlife native to the Carpathian mountains. One skeleton the crew focuses on the most caught Noelle's attention. It was a skeleton of an avian monster nailed and gagged to a splintering wooden crucifix. There were bite and scratch marks on the bones, indicating that animals have eaten the creature alive many centuries ago. “When we found these skeletons...” one of the young male archaeologists explains. “We didn't know what kind of creatures they were. Were they demons? Medieval astronauts? Or some other being we humans know next to nothing about?” “It seems like whatever they were, these poor creatures were given some cruel and unusual punishments from the medieval townsfolk.” An older male archaeologist added. “They seem to have been punished for being non-human...thus, were instantly labeled as evil to them.” “Of course who knows...?” the announcer pondered. “Were these creatures that were tortured by humans for being monsters? Or was there something much more sinister going on back in the not-so good ol' days?” Noelle looked over at the TV, wondering about what she just saw. “That skeleton. It looked so familiar...Its like a monster out of one of my many, many strange dreams I keep having...” All those thoughts got into Noelle's way as she continued to sit down and watch the rest of the TV show.