Fan Fiction ❯ Caelestis ❯ Summoning ( Chapter 3 )

Caelestis 3: Summoning

 

Daddy has absolutely no sense of coordination whatsoever. Yeah, send four of your children to a foreign and unknown place, somewhere they've never heard of, without prior knowledge or information. This was going to be a challenge. I was going to miss flying around on Alaris' back.

 

I watched as the clouds up ahead floated eerily above one another. They dissolved into wispy strands of my memory as we zoomed past them.

 

“You know Aer, daydreaming about this isn't going to make it go away. I think you'd better get ready. Your father will be calling you soon.”

 

That was Alaris, my griffin. Bending down, I tried to cherish the feel of the wind as it hit my face. Yep, I was going to miss this.

 

“I know, but…I don't want to go. Daddy really has no sense of coordination. He could've at least been fair about it.”

 

Lowering my head so that it rested on her soft, white, feather coated head, I sighed. “I'm going to miss you.”

 

Alaris landed on a cloud. The white mist surrounded her great lion's paws, making her appear even more majestic than she already was.

 

“I know. But just stick to the plan of overcoming that challenge and you'll be home in no time.”

 

I know she was trying to cheer me up. I hopped off of her back, stroking the great white beast.

 

“Alaris, what am I supposed to do? I'm in charge of three younger siblings in a place I've never been to. I'm…I'm not sure I can do this.”

 

Alaris slid from under my hand. She turned her face to look up at me me. She stared, disbelief churning in her grey cat's eyes.

 

“Aer, don't say that. You can do anything you want. Nothing is impossible for the Princess of the North,” a playful grin formed on her beak. “Besides, who's going to control that wildfire of a brother of yours, if not you?”

 

I smiled despite myself. “Aside from Aquaticus, I don't think anyone else can,” the smile grew larger. “But…I'll try my best.”

 

“That's all I needed to hear.” Pushing the top of her head to the bottom of my palm, she closed her eyes and purred. I rubbed the top of her head, scratching behind her ears. The purring grew louder and I giggled at the contented look on her face.

 

“Why do you purr?” I asked, curious. It was something I always wanted to know.

 

Opening her morning-dew colored eyes, she murmured, “Well I am half lion, remember?” she closed her eyes again. “Well, that and it feels celestially wonderful.”

 

I laughed. “I suppose it does.” Plucking a silver-coated feather from her head, I tickled her ear.

 

“Ow! That hurts!”

 

“I'm sorry. But I've wanted one for the longest time, and I didn't know how to ask you.”

 

Snorting, she retorted, “How would you like it if I pulled some of your hair?”

 

“I'd like to see you try it.”

A mischievous glint entered her eyes. Backing away, I stepped off of the cloud and onto another. She followed and pounced before I could turn to run. Grabbing a mouthful of my silver hair, she tugged playfully.

 

“Gotcha.”

 

I pouted. “I guess you contradicted me successfully.”

 

“That's what friends are for, right?”

 

“No. Friends are for snuggling. They're not supposed to be used as pouncing practice.”

 

“Well, regardless of this,” she purred, lowering herself next to me. She covered me in a snowy wing, initiating a griffin's version of a hug. “We're still friends.”

 

“And we always will be, am I right?”

 

“You always are.”

 

A deep bellowing call filled the air. And it could only mean one thing: Daddy was calling us.

 

 

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SPLASH

 

Cetarius!”

 

A deep, contagious chuckle filled the grotto. I laughed despite being drenched with water. Curse that merman and his infectious laughter.

 

“Aw, come on Aquaticus! Lighten up,” Cetarius teased lightly. Flipping his deeply colored cerulean fishtail, he catapulted himself out of the water and onto the rock I was sitting on. Shaking himself like one of Terra's furry animals, he dispelled tiny droplets of water into the waiting air.

 

“Cetarius! Now look what you did; I'm all wet!” I grimaced.

 

Cetarius grinned; the water reflecting off of the walls glittered off of his even darker cerulean hair. “Oh stop complaining. All you gotta do is flick your finger and the water will freeze into crystals.”

 

“Well, that's not the point,” I countered, flicking my index finger and collecting the resulting crystal droplets. “It's the principle. It's not polite to throw water on someone; especially when they have to go somewhere important.”

 

Cetarius' face fell. “It's not fair. Why do you have to go?”

 

I wrinkled my nose. Closing my hand around the crystals, I watched as the resulting water trickled from my fist. “Papa says that I need to learn to control my emotions, whatever that means.”

 

Cetarius pouted some more. “It's still not fair. And I still don't see why I can't go. I'm sure they have mermen on earth, swimming around somewhere,” flipping his long tail, he continued with a smirk, “although I doubt that they're as sexy as I am.”

 

I smacked his darkly tanned shoulder, grinning. “I doubt there are any at all. Itio tells me that, on Earth, creatures like you are considered `fairy tales'.”

 

“Yeah well…whatever,” he sulked. Hopping off of the rock, he slid back into the glistening water, allowing it to engulf him.

 

“I'll be back,” he said, arching under the glassy-like surface of the water. I watched as his dark form glided through the crystal surface.

 

As I waited for him to return, wondering what he'd come back with, I closed my eyes sinking into deep thought. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I speculated what it would be like on Earth. Would there be lots of water? How would my siblings and I fare? What was I going to do?

 

I could feel the deep surge of my power waiting to burst free, but I didn't care. Papa wasn't being fair! How could he do this to us? Wasn't he concerned at all? My head felt like it was ready to explode from all of my thoughts.

 

“Hey! What's your problem?!”

 

I opened my eyes. Cetarius was bobbing in cloudy water. “Cetarius…I uh…”

 

“I was just leaving my cavern when the water started swirling. Are you okay?”

 

I took a deep breath. Puzzled at what he was saying, I looked around the grotto. I understood at once what he was talking about. All around me, the walls glistened with displaced water. The large, deep pool in the center of the grotto was dark and cloudy, as if a storm had passed through it.

 

“I'm sorry; I guess I must've gotten a little upset. I didn't hurt you did I?”

 

Seeming to check himself over, as if he might've been hurt in some unknown place on his body, he pouted, “No, but you could stand to be a little bit more careful couldn't you?

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

“You know, it got really cold down there. I almost froze to death.”

 

“I'm really sorry.”

 

“And the water got so dark and murky. I almost swam into a wall.”

 

“Cetarius…” I warned. He was trying to make me feel bad; stupid Cetarius.

 

Hastily sensing my changing mood, and the darkening water, he changed the subject. “Look, I brought you something to remember me by.”

 

Unfurling his long fingers, I stared at what lied in his hand.

 

I picked up the tiny, tear-shaped gem from the center of his outstretched palm. It flashed iridescently as different points of light hit the smooth surface. “Oh, Cetarius…a mermaid's tear?”

 

“Its something you can take with you. So you don't forget me while you're gone. And don't lose it!”

 

“It's beautiful. But…where did you get it? Mermaids don't cry very often.”

 

His cheeks darkened. “Well, it's not exactly from a mermaid, per say…”

 

“But if not from a mermaid, then…” suddenly, it dawned on me. The knowledge nearly blew me away. “Cetarius…you—you…cried?”

 

His cheeks darkened even more. “Don't say it like that! You act like—like I'm a merpup or something.”

 

“Why…what made you cry?”

 

His eyes shifted nervously.

 

“Well, when you told me you were leaving, I…well I, kinda got a little…upset,” at the amused look on my face, he added quickly, “but not for long! Just enough to…well, you know.”

 

I smiled. “Thank you, Cetarius. I'll never forget you.”

 

“You'd better not. Are you sure you're okay?” Worry was evident in his tone.

 

I grinned. “Yeah. Don't worry.”

 

A deep bellow filled the air, cutting off Cetarius' chance of replying.

 

It was time to leave.

 

 

 

 

-Glossary-

 

Alaris- Aer's griffin. Means `wings'

 

Cetarius- Aquaticus' merman friend. Means `fish manager'