TheFallenHer0: She is. She really is. Selene is going to be really protective of her in the future, particularly at the academy. She's also going to try (and succeed) setting Philyra and Yukiya up, because we all know Selene can be meddlesome. And it did, jump up five levels, that is. The straw that broke the camel's back, if you will. Boom. And I love the combined name you came up with for the three of them. "Selestegel" (it's read, I believe, "celestial"). It's really cool, and it combines them in order, too! And you're completely correct about how things are going to get interesting.
"You've got a big heart.
The way you see the world
it got you this far.
You might have some bruises
and a few scars,
but you know you're gonna be okay.
Even though you're scared,
you're stronger than you know."
—Andrew McMahon
Chapter 6—(Chapter 57)
"Then she'll be different than she was before?" Klaus asked, not meeting Selene's eyes.
"She may be a little 'stranger' than normal because the two of us will be able to talk, but it's nothing really new. She often talked to herself to begin with. Perhaps it was because somewhere in the subconscious she knew someone was listening, which I was, in a way. Being under the seal really only muffled things." Celeste laughs softly, exhaustion clearly able to be heard in her voice. "And because we're half human, I look older when I'm in control because phoenixes, elementals, whatever you want to call them, reach adulthood faster and stay there far longer. I am also unable to fully transform into my element because of the amount of human in me. I will be as I am now, though hopefully not so weak in the future. Angel, as you saw, is the most dramatic in his transformation, though he cannot turn fully into a dragon anymore than I can into my element." She was swaying, and Philyra felt a sudden burst of a foreign emotion—concern—and ran up to Selene-but-Celeste.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
Celeste smiled, her eyelids starting to flutter, "Oh yeah, this is Philyra…she's my new sister, and is kinda shy and such...she's coming with me...not sorry..." She started falling asleep sitting there.
Klaus got up and went over, picking her up. Philyra shyly backed away, seeing his intentions. "I'll take her." He said kindly, "We need to go find Sienna and Blayze, so we can all go back to Myula."
"Thank you…" Celeste whispered a sigh, a content little sound, "Thank you for saving me. It'll be Selene in control once we wake up, so don't worry. I...I'll take care of...Angel...good ni-ight…" she muttered as she yawned again.
"Sleep tight." Klaus said quietly, but Celeste was already asleep. She almost seemed to shrink a little, like she was growing younger. Philyra noticed that Klaus held her a little tighter. "Come on, Miss Philyra, let's go find the fairy and the familiar. You're safe now."
Philyra nodded. This was Klaus, Selene's buddy. She could trust Selene, and Selene trusted Klaus. Therefore, she could trust Klaus, too.
He led her, still carrying Selene, and eventually they found a fire fairy, and a fire bird type thing. The bird was Blayze, Selene's familiar who'd been with her for longer than she could remember. The fairy introduced herself as Sienna, and magicked Philyra's chains off. Blayze used his own magic, and they left that horrible place.
And put them in front of a small castle, grand and empty, with no other buildings in site.
Philyra glanced at Klaus, and saw when a light of recognition turned on in his eyes, "I've only seen in it pictures, but I'm sure that this is the castle of Aless, a famous wizardess. She was originally from a small northern village, not even knowing about her magical talents throughout her childhood. But a near accident awakened her powers, revealing her abilities. She grew up to be a famed wizardess of immense power. But as she went on, she preferred to keep to herself, something which lead her to build herself a castle away from people...in a single evening, no less. That was hundreds of years ago, but the castle still remains, unchanged. No one has been able to enter it, either, for strong magic holds it yet."
"That's amazing…she was amazing...you must show me this book you read..." Philyra looked over to see Selene yawning, "I feel a bit better now, Klaus. I'm sorry for troubling you so much…you can probably put me down, now…" Philyra was pretty sure the girl was blushing. Regardless, Klaus did set her down, and she leaned against Philyra. Philyra knew better. She wasn't feeling better. She was still exhausted.
"I can feel such strong magic coming from it…" Sienna said in awe, cradling an exhausted Blayze in her arms, "This Aless, she was definitely not the average wizardess...she might have been of fairy-descent…she lived so long ago, yet you can still feel a unique magic just...pulsating from it. She might've even been a halfling like Selene. I feel some strong wind aura mixed in with it."
"Our one problem is the fact that it's also hundreds of miles from the academy. It's not even in Gedonelune, but the country next to it." Klaus pointed out, "And it just as far from Ms. Zana's home."
"Blayze was too tired to do more than transfer us to the exact spot on Myula that corresponds with Elementum. It makes sense that a castle would be in the same place as a castle." Sienna explained, "But at least we're in the same world."
As she and Klaus try and figure out what to do next, Selene started to move towards the castle. Philyra helped without her even having to ask. Slowly they made our way up the front steps. The large front door was made of sturdy, old wood carved with all sorts of symbols. Selene ran a finger down it, shivering slightly every time the chill of the new-night air stirred. Selene didn't like cold, Philyra remembered.
There brass doorknob on the door was in the shape of a lily. "I think we would've gotten along well, Aless." Selene whispered gently as she reached for it, stroking it with a single finger.
There was a bird-like squawk as the knob started to glow, and was fairly bright in the darkness. "Hmm?" Selene hummed in confusion. Klaus gasped and started to run towards the two, and felt the ground started to tremble slightly beneath their feet.
There was a bang, and a force pulled Philyra and Selene in, and just as Klaus and Sienna (still carrying Blayze) reached them, grabbing hold of part of them. Selene gasped and everything went far blacker than the night they had been in.
Philyra yelped as she landed, and then Selene landed on top of her. She heard Klaus grunt as he, too, fell. But he came and lifted Selene off of her, setting her tenderly on the floor. He tried his best to look calm, but Philyra could see the panic in his eyes as she wasn't waking up immediately. "Selene! Selene, wake up!" He shook shook her carefully.
"Klaus?" Selene reached up and rubbed her eyes, "Did you hear that? And I'm hungry…"
Klaus sighed, "You pass out and the first thing you ask for is food. The answer is yes, we have a little food." He took her hand and helped her up. "You weren't out for long, though, just a few minutes." He dug in his bag and handed her a bundle, which she promptly unwrapped.
"If what you said is true, Klaus, then we must be the first ones to be in here since Aless herself." Sienna said.
"She called me sister. The voice I heard before I woke up." Selene said softly before putting a few more of the berries in her mouth. That's right, Philyra thought, she mentioned hearing something when she first woke up.
"Selene," Klaus began, shaking his head, "I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth."
She snorted, "If you're really the genius they say you are, you would've figured that out a long time ago, Emperor." The two of them glanced at each other, then started to laugh. She was laughing so hard she had to sit down on the ground, so hard tears began to stream down her face.
What was so funny? Philyra didn't get it.
Klaus helped her back up once she calmed down. She wiped away tears as she said, "We should probably get going. The voice—she—said we could rest here if we figured out the secret of this place." She leaned on Klaus' arm this time and they started walking. After a few slow steps, Klaus just scooped her up and continued on.
"K-klaus! There's no need!" She cried, "I can walk by myself."
"It's faster." He said.
"Well thank you for your response, Yukiya." Selene grumbled. "And I don't know if it's just me, or what, but we've been past this place before. At least a few times. Are we going in circles?"
"We are!" cried Sienna, "I can't believe I didn't realize that!"
Philyra noticed something, something that was different among the other things in the hall. She tugged on Selene's arm, and pointed to a suit of armor. One just like the other's lining the wall, the lily on the ends of the sword hilts and all, except for it's arm was raised up.
"Do you think it has something to do with it, Lyra?" She asked Philyra. She nodded. Selene hopped out of Klaus' arms before he could stop her and hobbled over to the suit of armor. She reached up and tried to pull it down, but didn't have the strength. She lifted her feet and hung on. It was almost comical, because it still didn't move. She wasn't heavy enough to bring it down.
Klaus sighed, "Let me help." He came over and helped her pull the armor's arm down. With a loud click, the hallway in front of them swirled and shifted into a stairway.
She groaned, "It goes up...ugh…"
And yelped as Klaus suddenly, once more, scooped her up like she weighed absolutely nothing. She sighed, "You're so stubborn sometimes."
"Pot." Apparently it was some sort of inside joke between the buddies, because Philyra didn't understand it.
"If you want to climb all those stairs while wearing a bag and holding a person, be my guest. Less work for me." Selene retorted.
He smirks, "That was the point, shortie."
"Well, your Rudeness, start climbing then."
He chuckled and began climbing, being trailed by the rest. The second floor was one giant garden.
"The most beautiful thing about nature is that it can take care of itself." Selene said, awed.
The walls were covered luminescent moss, and the glow gave the garden a magical feel. Even more so that it normally would have in the daytime. It was beautiful.
"How do you have a garden like this even when it's not on the ground?" She continued.
There were far more kinds of plants than Philyra ever could hope to name, the biggest variety of a single kind of plant, as far as she could see, were the lilies. Every kind imaginable. There were other flowers, loads of them, but none so much as the lilies.
"Wind and earth magic." Sienna said, "This confirms it. This Aless woman was definitely a halfling, probably a mixture of wind and earth.
"She was worshipped as a great witch," Klaus said, "and feared just as much. I can't imagine, from everything we've seen so far, that she wished either. I suppose that's why she lived out in the middle of nowhere, all by herself."
"I guess secluding yourself is the easiest way to avoid people treating you in such a manner." Selene said, "I personally would've resorted to other methods, mostly because I don't think I could keep my sanity without other people, but perhaps it got so bad she felt this was the only way. I'd bet, if she did have earth magic, she built this garden to keep her company"
"And I'd bet most anything that there's people who couldn't live without you either." Klaus said, "I for one know more than I can count in your immediate family alone."
She smiled, "I do have an abnormally large family."
Selene paused, and her eyebrows furrowed. She peered over Klaus' shoulder towards a dead end. "Hey, let's go that way."
Klaus turned to look where she pointed, "That's a dead end, Selene."
"Trust me. Just trust me."
"I can see it too, Selene. Klaus, listen to her. Let's go that way." Sienna added, nodding at Selene. Philyra didn't see anything, but if both Selene and Sienna saw it...she'd believe it's there.
He sighed and started walking a different direction. Selene made him put her down as they approached, and she walked over shakily. Philyra saw the door now—it had a lily-shaped doorknob. Selene put a finger to it, waited a second, then gripped it and turned the handle.