Overview:

Topher experiences déjà vu as he sketches a board game and several characters, only to be haunted by a strange dream foretelling the Seven Days Prophecy. Meanwhile, chaos erupts in Sophie’s classroom when she unexpectedly shrinks into a tiny, literal bee girl.

What should have been an ordinary swim day takes a surreal turn for Roanne when she transforms into a mermaid and encounters talking sea creatures—her only hope of returning to human form. At the Avon children’s fashion runway in the mall, Allison panics and flees after her love magic is accidentally exposed while preventing a disaster.

James discovers his ability to conjure illusions through music when he plays his guitar, while ROBO3000 closely monitors the children’s awakening powers.

“Seven days and monsters of old times

Shall roam your world in the new age.

On the first day, the Sirens of the Sea.

On the second day, the Beast of the Labyrinth of Crete.

Slithering snakes with a gaze that turns to stone,…

–Opening and first part of the “Seven Days Prophecy”

In the study, Topher sat engrossed in his work, sketching a board that felt both strange and oddly familiar to him. His eyes were laser-focused, his right hand moving swiftly as he held the pencil. Scattered across the table were Faber-Castell colored pencils, messily strewn outside their box.

Topher reached for the navy pencil, then followed with the blue and white, carefully blending the two. He was completing the crystal ball at the center of the board, which now sparkled with a blue-white shooting star inside. Next, he picked up the golden pencil and began shading a panel of sky and clouds, illuminated by a holy, golden light. With a teal pencil, he traced the platforms and the sprawling lines that connected the panel, which depicted an underwater scene.

He turned his attention to a leathery brown START space, which he placed on a panel illustrating an army of superheroes battling at dusk. Above the battlefield panel, a kaleidoscope of floral patterns bloomed. Using a black pencil, Topher filled in the shadowy silhouettes of concert-goers, accentuated by their cyan, magenta, and yellow glowsticks waving in the crowd.

Satisfied with his creation, Topher surveyed the completed board. It resembled a pizza, though instead of being round, the board was a flat square divided into seven slices or panels. In the center of the board sat a crystal ball containing the star. From the top panel and moving clockwise: Heaven, Kaleidoscope, Battlefield, Beehive, Concert, Sea, and Nebulae. There were two doors on the board: one labeled “The Rules” and the other “The Prophecy.”

After a moment of reflection, Topher wrote down the title of his artwork beneath the drawing: The Star of Vis – Seven Acolytes & Seven Worlds.

The study was filled with various sketches, many of them pinned to a tall board. Each drawing depicted different characters along with their backstories: Spartan, a superhero; Love Fey, a magical girl; Bee Girl, a cartoon character; Oppa Rockstar, a K-pop idol; Princess Ruana, a mermaid; and Captain McKinley, a space commander. Among them was a sketch of numerous gray, clay tokens.

Bookshelves lined the left and right walls, packed with books. A globe and a chess box sat on the table where Topher worked. Sunlight streamed in through an open window, the parted white curtains fluttering gently in the breeze.

That night, in Topher’s bedroom, the boy lay sleeping beneath his blanket. Moonlight filtered through the window, casting a soft glow across the room. As he drifted into the dreamscape, the moon appeared once more, illuminating a dark cave in the distance. Drawn toward it, Topher entered and walked deeper into the dim tunnel until he reached a cavernous chamber.

In one corner of the chamber sat an old woman. She was frail, her long, loose gray hair streaked with white and tangled in knots. Her skin was leathery and wrinkled, her face etched with age. Her long fingers ended in cracked nails, and she wore a tattered, withered dress. In the center of the chamber, a pit in the ground emitted steam and glowing embers that rose from the chasm below.

“Come to me, child, and heed my words,” the old woman beckoned, her blue eyes glowing eerily in the darkness.

Topher, brave as ever, stepped closer without hesitation. Unbeknownst to him, his usual clothes had transformed into a suit of silver-and-gold armor, complete with a white cape.

“Oh, holy knight and mighty crusader,” the Oracle intoned as the steam and embers swirled before Topher’s eyes, conjuring vivid images.

“Seven days and monsters of old times

Shall roam your world in the new age.

On the first day, the Sirens of the Sea.

On the second day, the Beast of the Labyrinth of Crete.

Slithering snakes with a gaze that turns to stone,

Guardians of the Underworld baring their fangs.

On the third day, divine retribution

Spreads its wings and tears with its talons.

The Lion, the Goat, and the Serpent.

On the fourth day, The Riddler of Thebes.

On the fifth day, Hercules’ First Labor—

Echidna, She who bore Four.

She sees through them and commands thee.

On the sixth day, Twin Terrors of the Sea Strait.

On the seventh day, a Behemoth—

Serpents of the Sea shall rise

And destroy the land and life within it.”

Steam rose rapidly from the ground, twisting and swirling around Topher as he stood frozen in place, overwhelmed by the vision unfolding before him.

The Oracle’s voice grew grim as she issued a final, ominous warning:

“O Keeper of the Star,

The Wretched Mother covets the Meteor

To resurrect the Father of All Chaos and Destruction,

Who seeks to rule and conquer your world.”

The twister of steam and embers engulfed Topher, burning brightly around him. He gasped and awoke, drenched in sweat. What was that dream about? he wondered, his heart racing.

Whoosh. The sound of a flushing toilet echoed from behind the cubicle door.

The door creaked open, and Sophie stepped out, heading toward the sink to wash her hands. As she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, a strange sight greeted her—everything, including the restroom, was bathed in ultraviolet light.

Startled, Sophie squeezed her eyes shut and slowly reopened them, hoping her vision would return to normal.

What is happening? What’s wrong with my eyes? she wondered, her confusion growing.

She glanced around the restroom. It wasn’t just the mirror; her entire surroundings seemed drenched in this eerie UV glow.

Is it the room? Or is it really my eyes? A sense of unease began creeping through her, worry and fear tightening in her chest.

Please, let this go away. Please… Sophie silently pleaded.

Opening her eyes again, relief flooded her as everything returned to normal.

With a deep sigh, she hurried out of the restroom, convinced that lingering any longer might trigger another unsettling experience.

Sophie’s class went on as usual. The teacher delivered the lesson while most of her classmates listened—well, some did. Others were busy chatting with their peers. A few students raised their hands to answer questions related to the lesson, while the rest took notes in their notebooks. Afterward, the teacher assigned some seatwork. Ms. Manalastas watched her students quietly as they worked through their handouts at their desks.

Sophie, however, spent the time doodling in a spare notebook, her mind wandering.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, her classmates rushed toward the door, eager to escape into the hallway. Sophie, as always, waited patiently. She wasn’t the type to get caught up in the chaotic race to leave. After all, as the saying goes, “Nice guys finish last.” Or in Sophie’s case, the nice girl.

Once the classroom emptied, Sophie finally stood up from her armchair, ready to leave. Humming a cheerful tune, she swung her arms playfully as she walked down the aisle between the desks. Caught up in the rhythm of her humming, she closed her eyes, unaware of the 2.5D animated bright yellow pollen swirling around her, shrinking her down to the size of a honeybee.

In an instant, Sophie sprouted two antennae on her head, insect wings on her back, and a bee’s abdomen, complete with a barbed stinger, from her lower body.

When she opened her eyes upon reaching the platform in front of the blackboard and teacher’s desk, she froze in shock. Everything was enormous—the board, the desk. She turned around to see her classmates’ armchairs towering like skyscrapers.

“I’m flying… and these wings—they’re flapping so fast!” Sophie gasped, her voice filled with disbelief at the surreal experience unfolding before her.

“Oh my… there’s an insect abdomen growing from my butt!” she exclaimed, noticing the strange, unfamiliar addition to her body.

And that buzzing… is that me buzzing? Sophie realized with a mix of confusion and panic.

Overcome with fear, Sophie zoomed toward the lockers at the back of the classroom. All were tightly shut—except for one. Without thinking, the tiny bee-girl darted inside, hiding behind a stack of textbooks, trying to make sense of the bizarre transformation she had just undergone.

Sophie huddled nervously in the darkness behind the stack of textbooks, her fear growing as time passed. Eventually, she heard the familiar noises of her classmates returning from recess, settling in for the next class.

“Kindly take out your textbooks and we’ll read Chapter 8,” Sophie faintly heard the teacher say, though her mind was preoccupied with her strange predicament.

Suddenly, a boy stood up from his seat and made his way toward his locker—the very one Sophie was hiding in. He peeked through the small opening and retrieved the textbook he needed.

“Bummer, my pen just ran out of ink. Let me grab my spare,” the boy muttered, rummaging around inside the locker. Sophie panicked and began flying around to avoid being discovered. In her frantic state, she accidentally jabbed the boy’s hand with her stinger.

“Ouch!” the boy yelped, clutching his hand in pain.

His cry immediately drew the attention of the teacher and the rest of the class. The boy examined the sting on his left hand. Within moments, his eyes grew watery, his cheeks flushed red, and he began to wheeze, clutching his throat. Then, to everyone’s horror, he collapsed onto the floor.

“Anthony! Anthony!” the teacher shouted, rushing to the boy’s side as hives quickly spread across his skin.

The classmates gathered around as onlookers, anxiety rippling through the room.

“Jonathan, as class president, take charge for now. I’ll get Anthony to the clinic. Don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as possible,” the teacher instructed, trying to maintain calm amidst the chaos.

BACK ON THE PEREGRINE SPACESHIP

On the large screen, Sophie’s rectangular profile—once gray and labeled “DORMANT”—switched to a glowing yellow, now labeled “AWAKENED.”

BACK IN THE CLASSROOM

It was past noon, and the classroom was empty once again. Sophie emerged from the locker, visibly devastated, and drifted toward the open window.

Perching on a nearby tree branch, she wiped away her tears with a trembling finger as she gazed up at the sky. I’ve hurt that boy, she thought, guilt weighing heavy on her heart.

As Sophie sat on the branch, something unexpected happened. The bright yellow 2.5D animated pollen returned, swirling around her. It restored her to her normal size, though her honeybee features—except for the abdomen, which had vanished—remained. Unfortunately, the branch couldn’t support her full weight, and it snapped, sending Sophie tumbling into a nearby shrub.

“Ouch!” Sophie winced, rubbing the sore spot on her rear.

But then, something even stranger occurred. Nano-molecules began tracing a pentagon in the grass below her. The large, futuristic off-white pentagon filled with a cyan glow, and a portal emerged at its center, roughly pulling Sophie toward it.

Floating white pads rose mid-air, releasing cyan lasers that coalesced into the form of an android. Using nanotechnology, the android took on the likeness of Sophie, standing before her in a surreal replication.

BACK ON THE PEREGRINE

Good thing I planted portals at all the children’s locations, ROBO3000 thought proudly, his gaze fixed on the marked coordinates near Sophie’s school displayed on the large screen. The off-white humanoid robot lifted his metallic finger from a cyan-glowing button labeled “ACTIVATE,” which then dimmed back to its usual blue.

Before him stood a complex console, its array of buttons and controls rising to the robot’s waist, each carefully aligned for precision. The command center was brightly lit, its titanium walls gleaming in the light, giving the room a stark, futuristic feel.

Daytime on the tranquil shores of Laiya. Beneath the surface, the underwater world was bathed in a serene aquamarine glow. Roanne swam gracefully along the sandy seafloor, her movements smooth and practiced. She glided past vibrant corals, where colorful fish darted about. Despite her usual white dress flowing around her, bubbles streamed gently from her nostrils and mouth as she swam.

As Roanne pushed forward with a powerful stroke, she suddenly found herself engulfed in thick seafoam. It swirled around her, obscuring her completely before dissipating—and when it did, Roanne was no longer the same.

Her long, straight black hair had transformed into bright copper curls that bounced with the motion of the water. Her white dress had vanished, replaced by a lavender seashell bra. Her two legs had fused into a shimmering, sea-green fish tail, adorned with gleaming scales and prominent dorsal fins.

Why does swimming feel so effortless now? Roanne marveled at the change in her body, her movements smooth and natural.

Looking down, she gasped in shock. What am I wearing? This is so indecent! The sudden loss of her modesty startled her, but what truly shocked her was the absence of her legs.

No, my feet! Where did they go?! she thought, stunned as she gazed at the mermaid tail now replacing them.

Roanne froze, unsure of what to do, when a small blue-and-yellow pufferfish floated toward her.

Are you okay? What’s the matter? the pufferfish’s voice echoed in her mind.

What? Are you talking to me? And why can I hear your thoughts? Roanne was bewildered, her confusion growing at the realization that she was communicating telepathically.

Why wouldn’t I be? This is how it’s always been between merfolk and marine animals. Did you forget? I’m your pet, Yonder, the pufferfish replied, finding her behavior odd.

Follow me, I’ll take you to Christian and Galileo. They might know what’s happening to you, Yonder urged.

With no other option, Roanne reluctantly followed Yonder through the aquamarine depths, still grappling with the strange transformation she had undergone.