Chapter Twelve: Dream's Return

They spoke to me happily since I was their best friend. They asked me what I'd been waiting for, why it took me so long to finally listen. They said that they'd missed me for all these years. That long century. They said that I've changed. It might be because I've taken another form, that of a young girl. I like her friend, that Aang boy. I know who he is. He's the avatar. It's about time that we met. Roku was such a nice guy. I should try to speak to him sometime; it'll be nice to visit the spirit world again. Oh dear, it seems time to wake her up. Ceres wake up!

Ceres' eyes opened wide and she almost fell out of the bed she was in. She jumped out of it; she looked around the room. Nobody was inside. She was alone; it gave her a creepy feeling. She felt like she was being watched. She put her hands on her arms and held them tightly. She sat back down on the bed and put a hand on her head. It hurt like something was going on inside it, but she knew better.

Something caught her eye near the corner of the room. It was a door that was beautifully crafter and was painted with intertwining plants and flowers. Ceres walked over to it, entranced by the twisting and twirling petals of the flowers and blades of grass. At the very top of the door was a four pointed star that had colors on the end of each one. Red, blue, brown, and white. In the center was a tiny green star.

Ceres' eyes looked up and down the door before noticing the brass handle that was shaped like ivy. She reached to touch it, feeling all the small pieces of it. She turned it and it swung open. Ceres was disappointed with what she saw. Tall brown grass that looked like it had died long ago. She wondered why the king would keep grass like this, but her mind seemed to slow.

Without a second thought, or a first one at all; she ran off into the grass. She had no idea where she was going, or why she was. She just; was. She pushed the grass out of the way for such a long distance she was sure that she'd ran at least a mile by now. She was tired, but she didn't care. At least she didn't feel like she cared. She was on autopilot.

Finally the grass came to an end. Ceres was back in control. She wondered what to do, since she didn't have any idea where she was or why she was there. But she did notice the pile of rich soil. Something was familiar to her here, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She wondered why there was a pile of soil doing in the middle of the field of dead grass but what was she supposed to do?

She thought of the bag of seeds once more. She was afraid of them now; she'd seen them almost crush Aang. She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled the purple leather bag out. It was tied by a golden string that glinted in the dim light in the sky. She untied the string and reached into the bag. She pulled out a single seed and examined it. She couldn't find anything abnormal about it. It was just a normal, regular corn seed. She looked at the plot of dirt and decided to plant it. Since this place was so dead, she thought it would look nice with a large corn stalk in the center. She put it in and gave it a pat and turned to leave.

She stood up, her hand dragging behind her in the air. Just as she was about to go through the path of flat grass she'd made, she heard something that sounded like it was growing. She turned around to see a stalk of corn growing in the spot that she'd put it. As her hand turned around with her, the corn stalk grew faster.

Ceres stood there is utter shock. She moved her hand around in the air, and the stalk followed it like a trained dog. She noticed a large corn cob that looked like it was ready to be picked. She picked it off the stalk and peeled the leaves away. Inside the leaves was not a corn cob. A necklace was inside it. It was a chain with a small charm on it. The charm was a tree with four large leaves and two flowers on its trunk.

Take it, whispered a voice inside her mind. She took the necklace out of the corn and was surprised that the leaves dissolved out of her hand when it wasn't touching them anymore. She put the necklace on her neck, having some trouble with clipping it.

She turned to leave, this time the stalk didn't follow her. She stepped on the grass and it turned green again. She jumped back. She couldn't take this anymore. All this was too much for her. She closed her eyes and ran forward. She didn't want to see what she was doing; she didn't want to know.

After a while, she couldn't stand running around with her eyes closed. She opened them and gasped. The field was no longer brown and dead, but filled with life. The tall grass had become shorter and green, and she could see the entire field. It was abundant with life. Animals like squirrels and deer. She even was sure she saw a panda in a tree munching on bamboo.

She went on to run to the castle wall. She could see it, and she wanted to get back inside. She was scared and worried and she wanted her life to go back to normal. Unfortunately it never was going to be. She opened the door to the room and jumped back when she saw the king, Aang, Katara, and Sokka walking around in there, waiting for her.

"Ceres, you're okay. The king told us everything about you being a-"Aang started, but he was interrupted by Ceres who'd charged at the king.

"What is wrong with me? Why are plants growing when I touch them? Tell me! You knew all this!" she yelled at him. She knew it was a federal offence to yell at a king but now she didn't care. She wanted answers and she was going to get them.

Finally, done with chapter twelve. It's taking a while to get this finished. And don't worry my fans (if I have any)! When this is done a new story shall come! And after that, a sabbatical!