Disclaimer: I don't own the song lyric, that would be Blind Guardian's.
Home At Last
Celaeno woke up confused. The last thing she remembered was finally being released from the spell that kept her dancing and passing out in her Angel's arms. So where was she now? She felt like she knew the strange room she was in, but couldn't quite place it. She started to sit up, only to fall back again by a wave of dizziness. Everything spun for a moment, then settled back into focus again. Unable to do anything else for lack of strength, she closed her eyes again. She didn't really expect to fall asleep again, but her eyes weren't finished resting. She didn't even open them when she heard a door open and someone-no, two someones-walk in.
"Still asleep then, Lae?" asked a familiar quiet voice. She opened her eyes and smiled up at Jonathan and Erik.
"Not really, just incapable of doing anything else at the moment," she replied. Her friends laughed. "What happened? Where are we?" she asked.
"What happened was that you passed out," said Erik. Celaeno gave him a look. "Oh you wanted to know what happened after that?" asked Erik innocently. Celaeno just looked at him, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "All right then," Erik said. "After you fainted, Seamus was still being scolded by the Muses. You can imagine that he didn't like that much. So he tried to destroy the Forest and all the dancers in it. We had precious little time, but Jonathan, Holly, and I, with the help of the Muses, managed to free the other dancers and send them home. It was kind of like one of your action/adventure video games, if you remember them."
"I remember," said Celaeno softly. Erik continued.
"Well, we were still in the Forest with nowhere to go and moments before the Forest was destroyed. You see, we couldn't go back to the manor where you used to live, it passed to your cousins when you disappeared and your sister never had children. And we were rather certain that your family wouldn't believe it if you showed up out of the blue after seven-in-fifty years, completely unharmed and without an explanation as to where you were the whole time. So we brought you here."
"I was gone for fifty-seven years?!" gasped Celaeno.
"I'm afraid so," said Jonathan gently. Celaeno looked at him, wondering why he didn't think this was a big deal. 'Oh right, Jonathan never raises his voice, I had forgotten,' she thought.
"Oh my God," she said faintly.
"That's what we thought you'd say," said Jonathan. "But I believe you also asked where we are, so I shall answer that for you. When you were little, and we were your imaginary friends, do you remember when we'd play Princess in the Castle?"
Celaeno smiled at the mention of her favourite make-believe game and said, "I never stopped thinking about it." Jonathan smiled and continued.
"Well then, you'll remember the castle of course. When you were little you thought it was real, but when you grew up you decided it was just your imagination. You preferred, though, to think of it as real. Well, it was. Is. This is the castle where we used to play. You see dearest, we are every bit as real as you." He paused to let all he had said sink in, then added, "We figured it was the best place to come, since we had nowhere else to go and it would be familiar and hopefully welcome to you. I hope we were correct in assuming so."
"You couldn't have made a better assumption," replied Celaeno. "Now I know why this place feels so familiar, so...homey. That's why I hear the delighted laughter of a small girl from many years past echoing faintly in this room. That's why, for the first time since I can remember, I feel like I'm home." Jonathan and Erik smiled at her.
"You are home," Erik said. "We are home. We are where we will be forever." Celaeno smiled again at the memory of the song Erik was reciting lines from. "We guessed that you might want to stay here for a while at least."
"I never want to leave, now that I've finally come back to this place. I don't want to lose it again. I don't want to lose you again," she said.
"In all accuracy, we lost you," said Erik. "But that's the furthest thing from important right now."
"Oh wait a minute, what happened to Holly?" asked Celaeno suddenly. "She made it our too, right?"
"Of course she did," Jonathan said reassuringly. "Don't worry about her, she's fine. We wouldn't have left her there."
"Good," said Celaeno, relaxing. She looked around and smiled at a private thought.
"What?" asked Erik.
"Just something I used to associate with this place," replied Celaeno.
"And what might that be?" asked Jonathan.
"A line from a song," said Celaeno, and sang, "I know where the stars glow! Skies unclouded. Sweet the water runs, my friend..." she let her voice trail off before adding, "The rest of the song is about the curse of an Elven race from one of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, and not so pleasant as the one line, but still an interesting song. When I was little, I always thought that the stars glowed brighter here than anywhere else. That's why that line made me think of this place. This place that's been in my dreams every time I dared to dream in the Forest."
"Well you needn't be afraid to dream now," said Jonathan soothingly. "We'll chase away your nightmares. Seamus will never find you again. He can never torment your sleep ever."
"I know," said Celaeno, smiling gratefully at her guardian angels. Then she realized something that she wondered why she didn't realize before. "I sound different," she said. "Why?"
"Because you are different," replied Erik. "Look for yourself." And he handed her a black and gold hand mirror with gold roses painted on the back. Celaeno looked at herself and saw the reflection of a woman, not a teenage girl. "We didn't want to make you look as old as you really are, but we weren't quite sure how you wanted to look, so we settled between the teenage self you were trapped in and early adulthood. You, of course, make the final decision as to what you look like."
Celaeno thought for a moment before saying, "Right now, I'd just like to be an exhausted teenager who's ready to sleep for another fifty-seven years." Jonathan and Erik laughed together, their laughter blending into a song more beautiful than any sound Celaeno had ever heard, not unlike the way a mother's calming voice sounds to a child in the middle of a horrific nightmare.
"We can do that," Jonathan said, as he bent down and placed his cool hand on Celaeno's forehead, closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled his hand away. She felt a strange tingling throughout her body, then a pulling, shrinking feeling. When that stopped, she looked into the mirror again and saw her fourteen-year-old self gazing back at her with sleepy eyes that still held the wisdom that Holly had seen, but the pain had now faded to a mere memory. She sighed and settled back against the pillows she was lying on.
"Why don't you go to sleep, sweetheart," said Erik gently. "There will be time enough to talk about everything tomorrow. And you'll have more energy then as well. Go to sleep."
Celaeno nodded tiredly. She couldn't remember what it was like to sleep in a bed, a real bed, but it felt wonderful in waking at least. "Please sing for me Angel," she murmured.
"Of course," said Erik. He bent down and kissed her forehead, Jonathan following suit.
"Good-night, little one," Jonathan said softly. Celaeno fell fast asleep smiling and listening to her angels sing an old, familiar lullaby to her. All night, she dreamed of walking away from the past with her angels beside her, walking on to a brighter future.
~THE END~
Home At Last
Celaeno woke up confused. The last thing she remembered was finally being released from the spell that kept her dancing and passing out in her Angel's arms. So where was she now? She felt like she knew the strange room she was in, but couldn't quite place it. She started to sit up, only to fall back again by a wave of dizziness. Everything spun for a moment, then settled back into focus again. Unable to do anything else for lack of strength, she closed her eyes again. She didn't really expect to fall asleep again, but her eyes weren't finished resting. She didn't even open them when she heard a door open and someone-no, two someones-walk in.
"Still asleep then, Lae?" asked a familiar quiet voice. She opened her eyes and smiled up at Jonathan and Erik.
"Not really, just incapable of doing anything else at the moment," she replied. Her friends laughed. "What happened? Where are we?" she asked.
"What happened was that you passed out," said Erik. Celaeno gave him a look. "Oh you wanted to know what happened after that?" asked Erik innocently. Celaeno just looked at him, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "All right then," Erik said. "After you fainted, Seamus was still being scolded by the Muses. You can imagine that he didn't like that much. So he tried to destroy the Forest and all the dancers in it. We had precious little time, but Jonathan, Holly, and I, with the help of the Muses, managed to free the other dancers and send them home. It was kind of like one of your action/adventure video games, if you remember them."
"I remember," said Celaeno softly. Erik continued.
"Well, we were still in the Forest with nowhere to go and moments before the Forest was destroyed. You see, we couldn't go back to the manor where you used to live, it passed to your cousins when you disappeared and your sister never had children. And we were rather certain that your family wouldn't believe it if you showed up out of the blue after seven-in-fifty years, completely unharmed and without an explanation as to where you were the whole time. So we brought you here."
"I was gone for fifty-seven years?!" gasped Celaeno.
"I'm afraid so," said Jonathan gently. Celaeno looked at him, wondering why he didn't think this was a big deal. 'Oh right, Jonathan never raises his voice, I had forgotten,' she thought.
"Oh my God," she said faintly.
"That's what we thought you'd say," said Jonathan. "But I believe you also asked where we are, so I shall answer that for you. When you were little, and we were your imaginary friends, do you remember when we'd play Princess in the Castle?"
Celaeno smiled at the mention of her favourite make-believe game and said, "I never stopped thinking about it." Jonathan smiled and continued.
"Well then, you'll remember the castle of course. When you were little you thought it was real, but when you grew up you decided it was just your imagination. You preferred, though, to think of it as real. Well, it was. Is. This is the castle where we used to play. You see dearest, we are every bit as real as you." He paused to let all he had said sink in, then added, "We figured it was the best place to come, since we had nowhere else to go and it would be familiar and hopefully welcome to you. I hope we were correct in assuming so."
"You couldn't have made a better assumption," replied Celaeno. "Now I know why this place feels so familiar, so...homey. That's why I hear the delighted laughter of a small girl from many years past echoing faintly in this room. That's why, for the first time since I can remember, I feel like I'm home." Jonathan and Erik smiled at her.
"You are home," Erik said. "We are home. We are where we will be forever." Celaeno smiled again at the memory of the song Erik was reciting lines from. "We guessed that you might want to stay here for a while at least."
"I never want to leave, now that I've finally come back to this place. I don't want to lose it again. I don't want to lose you again," she said.
"In all accuracy, we lost you," said Erik. "But that's the furthest thing from important right now."
"Oh wait a minute, what happened to Holly?" asked Celaeno suddenly. "She made it our too, right?"
"Of course she did," Jonathan said reassuringly. "Don't worry about her, she's fine. We wouldn't have left her there."
"Good," said Celaeno, relaxing. She looked around and smiled at a private thought.
"What?" asked Erik.
"Just something I used to associate with this place," replied Celaeno.
"And what might that be?" asked Jonathan.
"A line from a song," said Celaeno, and sang, "I know where the stars glow! Skies unclouded. Sweet the water runs, my friend..." she let her voice trail off before adding, "The rest of the song is about the curse of an Elven race from one of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, and not so pleasant as the one line, but still an interesting song. When I was little, I always thought that the stars glowed brighter here than anywhere else. That's why that line made me think of this place. This place that's been in my dreams every time I dared to dream in the Forest."
"Well you needn't be afraid to dream now," said Jonathan soothingly. "We'll chase away your nightmares. Seamus will never find you again. He can never torment your sleep ever."
"I know," said Celaeno, smiling gratefully at her guardian angels. Then she realized something that she wondered why she didn't realize before. "I sound different," she said. "Why?"
"Because you are different," replied Erik. "Look for yourself." And he handed her a black and gold hand mirror with gold roses painted on the back. Celaeno looked at herself and saw the reflection of a woman, not a teenage girl. "We didn't want to make you look as old as you really are, but we weren't quite sure how you wanted to look, so we settled between the teenage self you were trapped in and early adulthood. You, of course, make the final decision as to what you look like."
Celaeno thought for a moment before saying, "Right now, I'd just like to be an exhausted teenager who's ready to sleep for another fifty-seven years." Jonathan and Erik laughed together, their laughter blending into a song more beautiful than any sound Celaeno had ever heard, not unlike the way a mother's calming voice sounds to a child in the middle of a horrific nightmare.
"We can do that," Jonathan said, as he bent down and placed his cool hand on Celaeno's forehead, closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled his hand away. She felt a strange tingling throughout her body, then a pulling, shrinking feeling. When that stopped, she looked into the mirror again and saw her fourteen-year-old self gazing back at her with sleepy eyes that still held the wisdom that Holly had seen, but the pain had now faded to a mere memory. She sighed and settled back against the pillows she was lying on.
"Why don't you go to sleep, sweetheart," said Erik gently. "There will be time enough to talk about everything tomorrow. And you'll have more energy then as well. Go to sleep."
Celaeno nodded tiredly. She couldn't remember what it was like to sleep in a bed, a real bed, but it felt wonderful in waking at least. "Please sing for me Angel," she murmured.
"Of course," said Erik. He bent down and kissed her forehead, Jonathan following suit.
"Good-night, little one," Jonathan said softly. Celaeno fell fast asleep smiling and listening to her angels sing an old, familiar lullaby to her. All night, she dreamed of walking away from the past with her angels beside her, walking on to a brighter future.
~THE END~
