Chapter Eight: Creeping Crystal

Ceres had fallen asleep a few minutes after she'd attacked Sokka with the pillow. She was sure he didn't know, and she was glad. He didn't seem like the type that would let something like that slide. She was sleeping soundly until light started to pour in through a small hole in the wall.

Her eyes slowly cracked open as the light penetrated her eyelids. She sat up and stretched her arms out. She reached in her pocket and took out a purple ribbon. She tied her hair with it as she did every morning. She stood up out of bed and looked around the room. She gasped when she saw that only she and Aang were there.

Ceres ran to Aang and started to shake him to wake up. "Aang! Aang! Wake up! Katara and Sokka are gone!" she cried.

Aang quickly woke up. He was groggy still but when he heard his friends were gone he jumped into action. The wall suddenly opened and a guard was there. "The king is now ready. Your staff, please."

Aang tossed him the staff and started to head out the door. Ceres grabbed Leslie and followed. She was worried for Sokka and Katara. She hoped that they were alright. The guard led them back to the throne room where the king was waiting for them. He was wearing a new purple robe.

"Do you like my new robe?" he asked them.

Ceres and Aang looked at it. It wasn't that fancy, but nice nevertheless. "Um, yeah, I guess." Aang said.

"Good! You pass!" the king said.

"That was one of the trials?" Ceres asked him.

"Well, not one of the deadly tests. Those are next. Want some candy?" he asked them.

Aang ran up to him and invaded his personal space. "Where are my friends?" he yelled into his face.

A wall nearby disappeared and Katara and Sokka were behind it. Two guards were holding them there, and they couldn't escape. "Aang!" Katara cried.

"Let them go!" Aang yelled at the king.

"I will once you finish the trials."

"And what if I refuse?" Aang questioned him.

The two guards held rings in their empty hands. They were small and hard to see. They looked like they'd just been made out of some kind of crystal. They slipped them onto Katara and Sokka's fingers and it shrunk to fit them. Sokka tried to rip it off wit his teeth but it didn't work.

"Those rings are made out of genamite. Also know as 'Creeping Crystal'. It'll creep up you're body until you're completely covered in it. I can stop it, but only if you complete my trials." The king said.

The crystal glowed and grew quickly. It covered Sokka's finger. "Ack! It's already creeping!" he cried.

Aang glared at the king. "What's the first trial?"

Creeping crystal! Oooh. And Ceres isn't a victim of it! Will she be of some aid to Aang? Maybe! Oh, and I couldn't remember what Creeping Crystal's real name was, but I'm pretty sure it's adamite. If anybody knows what it really is, please tell me.

EDIT: Thanks Dark Devotions for telling me the real name. And to answer her question on how you pronounce Ceres, you say it like 'Sears'. The real way is is Se-res but I call her by Sears. There's your answer for your question.