Chapter 5
In the morning when they woke, the sun was shining with new exuberance. The air smelled fresh and clean, as I had not in several decades. Gaea could hear birds singing, and other animals calling out to one another. There was a feeling of peace and happiness that warmed her better than any fire ever had. She got up from her place next to Athena, careful not to wake her, and went to the window. Over night the planet had changed drastically. There was life all around, not one plant had been destroyed or drained of its life force. {It lives!} Now all there was to do was make breakfast for herself and her bonded and wait till Athena was awake and able to mind speak the mysterious feline named Luna of the Moon Court.
Around mid-afternoon, Athena awoke to find Gaea next to her cooking eggs on a hot stone in the coals of last night's fire.
:Where did you get those? I hope that you didn't gain any enemies getting those.: They had just finish creating this planet, they didn't need enemies on this planet already.
:Of course not!: Gaea replied in a tone that indicated that she had known that Athena would say something along those lines. :I asked for them and the nightingale gladly gave them up for "Her Highness Gaea and her faithful Athena".: She said chuckling remembering the small bird who was so dark she shone blue/black in the sun. Gaea sent Athena a mental picture of the bird graciously giving Gaea her newly lain eggs. Athena laughed as well.
:So we have become quite the hero's eh? Hmmm. Well those look tasty. Are they finished?: Athena eyed the eggs while her stomach grumbled she had done a great working on an empty stomach the night before.
:Yes Smallone, they are your to eat. When you are finished, we will contact the Moon Court. They have been waiting, Luna came to checkup on us a while ago. I told her it would be just a short while longer.:
:Yes, you are correct again, like always.: Athena chided, Gaea had a habit of 'I told you so' whether she said it or if her silence implied it, she was usually right and absolutely basked in it.
It was not long before Athena had devoured her meal along with drinking half a creek (not literally). Gaea and Athena linked minds and called out a formal greeting to the mysterious cat that would hear.
:Luna of the Moon Court, Gaea and Athena of the planet Amitie, are awaiting to be taken to the Moon Court.: Gaea "said" in her most diplomatic and royal voice. Silently she shielded her next thought, one only meant for Athena. :One has to show that you are equal to these type of people, or they might get the impression that they can walk all over you.: She unshielded her thoughts again slowly, so that Luna wouldn't notice, hopefully.
:It will take a moment for our mages to relocate the gate to your home.: It was only a few seconds before Gaea sow the mages energies begin to waver. She could see them even with out her mage sight, but not in the Elemental color, just as fluxes in the natural world. She watched as the gate appeared in their doorway. It was an arched mass of blue swirling gate energies that anyone, mage or not, could see. In a short moment it stood steady. On the other side, she saw Luna, a small black cat no taller than Athena's shoulder, with a crescent moon on her forehead. Next to her stood a young woman, about 20 years old with long hair that was kept in pigtails that hung down to the floor and buns that looked like meatballs atop her head. Next to her stood a younger girl that appeared to be Gaea's age, maybe younger. She looked surprisingly like the tall blond woman but with light pink hair to her waist. They were dressed in elegant gowns of white with gold trim, their tiara's shimmered gold and jeweled marking them Queen and Princess. {That's funny, Luna never mentioned the Princess. But then again she didn't mention much at all.}
Gaea had cleaned up earlier that morning, including washing her only out fit. A simple dress that hung off one shoulder and went down to her knees. It was made of died silk in light blue, pink, and purple that stood in patches that blended together creating a sunset look. It was studded with flat diamonds since its original purpose was for sleeping, but the people of the Moon Court would never know that. Athena had cleaned her self up following her lunch as was customary for felines.
They stepped through the gate and into the Moon Court. A sea of faces greeted them with warm, true smiles. Luna stepped forward to introduce the envoys to her royal court.
"May I present Her Goddess Gaea of Amitie and her Bonded one, Athena, to her Royal Highness Queen Serenity and the Princess Serena of the Moon." Gaea curtsied in her most dignified manner, going as low as was permitted without looking retarded, as was proper protocol for greeting royalty.
"Oh please!" Said Serenity, much to everyone's surprise, Serena had a big grin on her face also. "Enough with the formalities! Let's consider us long lost friends. And call me Serena no Queen either."
"Call me Rini!" The princess said before Gaea could question the name changes.
"Come to my audience chamber where we can talk some more." Gaea nodded, she along with everyone else relaxed completely. There was no doubt in her place here, Serena made that know right off with inviting her to her audience chamber. That privilege was only given to family members and very trusted friends. Everyone else was spoken to in the royal office, a comfy sort of room with couches and chairs set in front of a wide fireplace and wall to ceiling bookshelves full of books of various genre's.
When they reached her suit she heard the trickling of water as she entered the audience/receiving room. I the center there was a fountain that bubbled over into a marble basin the contained floating flowers, types that Gaea had seem in the palace back on Douleur and other types that she had never seen.
Serena noticed Gaea's interest in a white flower that had so many petals that one could not count. They grew to be a light bluish in the center. {The exact color of my family's given color.} (Every family had a color that identified them as part of an original Element. Blue for Water, red for Fire, so on.)
"Your mother gave me those on my 16th birthday. That was the day before she died." She said as she took a place on a low couch, Gaea followed her example but sat down n the edge of the pond so that she could study the flowers more carefully. {My mother gave her these? I didn't know that she ever left our home!} Gaea was completely taken aback by this new information. Right, now she remembered, her mother had left that day. {So this is the secret she and father had promised to tell me when I was old enough. Interesting.} Serena saw the surprised look on Gaea's face that was quickly replaced by a thoughtful, not painful as she had expected, look. She was about to say something when Rini walked in.
"Mother, may I stay to talk to Gaea with you?" Rini asked in all innocence.
"Yes Rabbit, you may stay and chat with us. No doubt you to have much in common." Serena answered with a feigned sigh of annoyance. At this Gaea looked up and smiled at the princess. Rini was beautiful, she was tall and skinny, but muscular at the same time with a slender face and graceful hands. She reminded Gaea much of herself. She looked into Rini's deep crimson eye's and saw the same glint that was in her own eye's, a suffering close to what Gaea had gone through. {I'll talk to her later, when Serena isn't around.}
"So Gaea, what were you doing reviving that planet anyway?" Serena asked, unaware of the closeness her daughter and Gaea would share.
"Well, I was taken out of Douleur by Athena, after being attacked and almost killed. I woke up to find myself on the planet I now call Amitie- Friend. It was completely drained when I got there and I restored all it's life forces. I had to have a place to live, far away from Douleur." Gaea said remembering what the place had looked like to her mage sight…dead. She shuddered and turned her attention back t the royal pond and the beauties held within.
"Ah I see. Well that makes a little more sense now, we had wondered why someone would do in 2 days what normally took millions of years. Well it's almost dinner time, you don't have any other clothes other than that, do you?" Rini asked looking her over, judging Gaea's size. "Well I have extra dresses that don't fit me any more, they can be altered to fit you. You can keep them if we get them, I won't be wearing them anytime soon." Rini said trying to picture the dresses in her mind as she stood from her place on the floor next to her mother. Gaea forced a smile while trying not to scream. Rini had mind speech! And she wasn't shielded, Gaea shot up her shields, which she had left open for the Gate travel, one's shield could be shattered in a gate, and that hurt! She quickly recovered and looked over at Athena, which had apparently experienced the same thing.
"I'm very grateful of you Rini! Let's take a look, shall we?" Gaea said as she spoke to Athena. :Talk to Serena or Luna about this, see if either of them knows about her gift. I'll see you at dinner. You do still remember how to speak, right. We haven't done it in so long.:
:We haven't had the need to, but yes, I remember. No worries. Go have fun dressing up.: Athena said, sending her a mental picture of her when she was little, about 5, dressing up in her mothers clothes. She saw Gaea smile as she walked out the door.
:Well all I can do is shield her myself, it'll have to wait till dinner though, when I can concentrate some.: Gaea said as she walked down the hall to the princess's rooms. All she received was a mental nod for an answer.
In the morning when they woke, the sun was shining with new exuberance. The air smelled fresh and clean, as I had not in several decades. Gaea could hear birds singing, and other animals calling out to one another. There was a feeling of peace and happiness that warmed her better than any fire ever had. She got up from her place next to Athena, careful not to wake her, and went to the window. Over night the planet had changed drastically. There was life all around, not one plant had been destroyed or drained of its life force. {It lives!} Now all there was to do was make breakfast for herself and her bonded and wait till Athena was awake and able to mind speak the mysterious feline named Luna of the Moon Court.
Around mid-afternoon, Athena awoke to find Gaea next to her cooking eggs on a hot stone in the coals of last night's fire.
:Where did you get those? I hope that you didn't gain any enemies getting those.: They had just finish creating this planet, they didn't need enemies on this planet already.
:Of course not!: Gaea replied in a tone that indicated that she had known that Athena would say something along those lines. :I asked for them and the nightingale gladly gave them up for "Her Highness Gaea and her faithful Athena".: She said chuckling remembering the small bird who was so dark she shone blue/black in the sun. Gaea sent Athena a mental picture of the bird graciously giving Gaea her newly lain eggs. Athena laughed as well.
:So we have become quite the hero's eh? Hmmm. Well those look tasty. Are they finished?: Athena eyed the eggs while her stomach grumbled she had done a great working on an empty stomach the night before.
:Yes Smallone, they are your to eat. When you are finished, we will contact the Moon Court. They have been waiting, Luna came to checkup on us a while ago. I told her it would be just a short while longer.:
:Yes, you are correct again, like always.: Athena chided, Gaea had a habit of 'I told you so' whether she said it or if her silence implied it, she was usually right and absolutely basked in it.
It was not long before Athena had devoured her meal along with drinking half a creek (not literally). Gaea and Athena linked minds and called out a formal greeting to the mysterious cat that would hear.
:Luna of the Moon Court, Gaea and Athena of the planet Amitie, are awaiting to be taken to the Moon Court.: Gaea "said" in her most diplomatic and royal voice. Silently she shielded her next thought, one only meant for Athena. :One has to show that you are equal to these type of people, or they might get the impression that they can walk all over you.: She unshielded her thoughts again slowly, so that Luna wouldn't notice, hopefully.
:It will take a moment for our mages to relocate the gate to your home.: It was only a few seconds before Gaea sow the mages energies begin to waver. She could see them even with out her mage sight, but not in the Elemental color, just as fluxes in the natural world. She watched as the gate appeared in their doorway. It was an arched mass of blue swirling gate energies that anyone, mage or not, could see. In a short moment it stood steady. On the other side, she saw Luna, a small black cat no taller than Athena's shoulder, with a crescent moon on her forehead. Next to her stood a young woman, about 20 years old with long hair that was kept in pigtails that hung down to the floor and buns that looked like meatballs atop her head. Next to her stood a younger girl that appeared to be Gaea's age, maybe younger. She looked surprisingly like the tall blond woman but with light pink hair to her waist. They were dressed in elegant gowns of white with gold trim, their tiara's shimmered gold and jeweled marking them Queen and Princess. {That's funny, Luna never mentioned the Princess. But then again she didn't mention much at all.}
Gaea had cleaned up earlier that morning, including washing her only out fit. A simple dress that hung off one shoulder and went down to her knees. It was made of died silk in light blue, pink, and purple that stood in patches that blended together creating a sunset look. It was studded with flat diamonds since its original purpose was for sleeping, but the people of the Moon Court would never know that. Athena had cleaned her self up following her lunch as was customary for felines.
They stepped through the gate and into the Moon Court. A sea of faces greeted them with warm, true smiles. Luna stepped forward to introduce the envoys to her royal court.
"May I present Her Goddess Gaea of Amitie and her Bonded one, Athena, to her Royal Highness Queen Serenity and the Princess Serena of the Moon." Gaea curtsied in her most dignified manner, going as low as was permitted without looking retarded, as was proper protocol for greeting royalty.
"Oh please!" Said Serenity, much to everyone's surprise, Serena had a big grin on her face also. "Enough with the formalities! Let's consider us long lost friends. And call me Serena no Queen either."
"Call me Rini!" The princess said before Gaea could question the name changes.
"Come to my audience chamber where we can talk some more." Gaea nodded, she along with everyone else relaxed completely. There was no doubt in her place here, Serena made that know right off with inviting her to her audience chamber. That privilege was only given to family members and very trusted friends. Everyone else was spoken to in the royal office, a comfy sort of room with couches and chairs set in front of a wide fireplace and wall to ceiling bookshelves full of books of various genre's.
When they reached her suit she heard the trickling of water as she entered the audience/receiving room. I the center there was a fountain that bubbled over into a marble basin the contained floating flowers, types that Gaea had seem in the palace back on Douleur and other types that she had never seen.
Serena noticed Gaea's interest in a white flower that had so many petals that one could not count. They grew to be a light bluish in the center. {The exact color of my family's given color.} (Every family had a color that identified them as part of an original Element. Blue for Water, red for Fire, so on.)
"Your mother gave me those on my 16th birthday. That was the day before she died." She said as she took a place on a low couch, Gaea followed her example but sat down n the edge of the pond so that she could study the flowers more carefully. {My mother gave her these? I didn't know that she ever left our home!} Gaea was completely taken aback by this new information. Right, now she remembered, her mother had left that day. {So this is the secret she and father had promised to tell me when I was old enough. Interesting.} Serena saw the surprised look on Gaea's face that was quickly replaced by a thoughtful, not painful as she had expected, look. She was about to say something when Rini walked in.
"Mother, may I stay to talk to Gaea with you?" Rini asked in all innocence.
"Yes Rabbit, you may stay and chat with us. No doubt you to have much in common." Serena answered with a feigned sigh of annoyance. At this Gaea looked up and smiled at the princess. Rini was beautiful, she was tall and skinny, but muscular at the same time with a slender face and graceful hands. She reminded Gaea much of herself. She looked into Rini's deep crimson eye's and saw the same glint that was in her own eye's, a suffering close to what Gaea had gone through. {I'll talk to her later, when Serena isn't around.}
"So Gaea, what were you doing reviving that planet anyway?" Serena asked, unaware of the closeness her daughter and Gaea would share.
"Well, I was taken out of Douleur by Athena, after being attacked and almost killed. I woke up to find myself on the planet I now call Amitie- Friend. It was completely drained when I got there and I restored all it's life forces. I had to have a place to live, far away from Douleur." Gaea said remembering what the place had looked like to her mage sight…dead. She shuddered and turned her attention back t the royal pond and the beauties held within.
"Ah I see. Well that makes a little more sense now, we had wondered why someone would do in 2 days what normally took millions of years. Well it's almost dinner time, you don't have any other clothes other than that, do you?" Rini asked looking her over, judging Gaea's size. "Well I have extra dresses that don't fit me any more, they can be altered to fit you. You can keep them if we get them, I won't be wearing them anytime soon." Rini said trying to picture the dresses in her mind as she stood from her place on the floor next to her mother. Gaea forced a smile while trying not to scream. Rini had mind speech! And she wasn't shielded, Gaea shot up her shields, which she had left open for the Gate travel, one's shield could be shattered in a gate, and that hurt! She quickly recovered and looked over at Athena, which had apparently experienced the same thing.
"I'm very grateful of you Rini! Let's take a look, shall we?" Gaea said as she spoke to Athena. :Talk to Serena or Luna about this, see if either of them knows about her gift. I'll see you at dinner. You do still remember how to speak, right. We haven't done it in so long.:
:We haven't had the need to, but yes, I remember. No worries. Go have fun dressing up.: Athena said, sending her a mental picture of her when she was little, about 5, dressing up in her mothers clothes. She saw Gaea smile as she walked out the door.
:Well all I can do is shield her myself, it'll have to wait till dinner though, when I can concentrate some.: Gaea said as she walked down the hall to the princess's rooms. All she received was a mental nod for an answer.