A/N: Hello again! As you guys can see, I'm going on a bit of a writing spree at this moment, so expect new chapters everyday!
Thalia's POV
"YOU STUPID BIRD GIVE THAT BACK!" Thalia shouted at one of many chickens on the farm. She'd been feeding them, ya know, so they don't starve, and then the rotten bird decided that ya know what? I'm going to steal this stupid girl's portscreen!
Chickens darted out of Thalia's way as she chased after the thief. With every step, she gained on the chicken who was screeching at the top of its lungs and flapping its wings. As she came around the side of the house, Thalia reached up and grabbed a towel that was drying on the clothesline. Even though clothes lines were very much second era, her mother liked to keep things 'farm like'.
Within seconds the chicken would be in the chicken coup where it would be infinitely harder to get her portscreen back. Before that could happen, though, Thalia sprung forwards and captured the thief in the towel. Pinning its wings to its side to prevent escape, she picked up the chicken and turned it around to face her.
"Do you WANT to be fed, you ungrateful brat? Don't steal my portscreen again!" Thalia ordered the chicken. Snatching her portscreen from it's beak, Thalia dropped the chicken on the ground. Sure, she liked animals, but still. It deserved to be just a little bit shaken up for thievery.
Stalking away from the stupid creature, Thalia entered the house after dusting off her filthy jeans. She was sure there were feathers in her hair from the chase. Thalia found her mother, Scarlet, in the kitchen baking some cookies.
"Hey, mom. Do you know when we are going to go pick up Fiona from the stables?" Thalia asked Scarlet. Fiona was her chestnut french trotter mare that she'd gotten for her 16th birthday, three months ago. They'd been boarding her at a friends stable while Wolf figured out how to build a stable and a paddock.
"Hello, dear. Did you finish feeding the chickens? I see you uh…. Got some um feathers in your hair," Scarlet replied, barely hiding a smile. Thalia glared at her mom. "We can get her this afternoon if you'd like." Thalia smiled before running up to her room.
Settling on her bed, Thalia turned on her portscreen. She decided to set up a group call between her friends, Celeste and Camille. It'd been awhile since they'd done a group call.
"Hey, Thalia! Ooh, a group call? Good decision! Actually, you won't need to do a group call. My parents are about thirty seconds from picking you up, then guess what? WE'RE GOING TO LUNA! On some like journey thing? Celeste can explain!" Camille exclaimed, happy as always. She was the optimist of the group, Celeste was the thinker, and Thalia was essentially the fire.
"Zane was kidnapped by…. The creatures your d… dad is," Celeste whispered, shaking. Thalia knew very well what her dad was, what the rest of his 'kind' were. Wolf was different, though.
"I thought your parents took them all back to Luna and even built a new sector for them where they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone….?" Thalia replied.
"We thought they did. Although…. Now we're worried that something much bigger is going on," Celeste murmured.
Thalia heard the sounds of the Rampion landing outside. Quickly saying goodbye, Thalia tucked her portscreen in her black sweater pocket before running outside. She arrived just in time to see the ramp extending along with three figures rushing out.
Before she could so much as blink an eye, Camille had her arms wrapped around Thalia.
"Hello! Oh my lord have I ever missed you! Come come, this is going to be exciting. I PROMISE. Mom said we could come to Luna but she ALSO said it would be too dangerous to actually you know…. Partake in the adventures, but Celeste and I have a plan," Camille winked, grabbing her wrist and tugging Thalia aboard the Rampion. They were going to go to Camille's room while they flew to Luna, although Thalia stopped her.
"Can we stay in the front? I want to see the stars," Thalia whispered, excitement building up inside her. Camille frowned for a split second before smiling again.
"Sure! I guess you've only been to space like what, three times? Yeah! Thats horrible. I guess living on this farm must be cool, to, though! The stars are pretty cool. Even after living on this ship my entire life essentially trust me when I say it NEVER gets boring! Have you ever seen a comet from space? I did once, five months ago…." Camille chattered on as they walked to the cockpit where Thalia heard the voices of their parents.
As they rounded the corner, Thalia was engulfed in another hug from Cress. Thalia rather liked Cress.
"Thalia! It's been to long! I see you've grown, taller then me, I'm afraid. Ah well, I've gotten over being short," Cress exclaimed happily.
"That's a lie, actually, just this morning you were complaining about not being able to reach the top shelves in the cargo dock-" Thorne informed Cress before she cut him off with a glare.
"Well, you girls can do whatever you want. It'll be at least say…. A good half hour before we reach Luna at the very least," Cress said.
Thalia pressed her hands against the glass, her mouth open in awe at the sight of Luna. Like the last three times she'd been lucky enough to come here, she was always amazed at the glittering domes and the sparkling cities beneath. Camille was pointing out all the newest additions in the main dome that held the city of Artemisia.
The Rampion glided towards one of the open ports in the dome, landing smoothly. Opening the ramp. Have a safe trip and I look forwards to your return, Master! Exclaimed the intercom. Her first time aboard the ship, Camille told her the story of Darla, now the ship's autopilot. She'd been amazed at how Thorne had been blind for a while before Cress's now deceased father had cured his loss of vision.
Overcome by excitement to see her other friend, Celeste, Thalia and Camille charged ahead of the adults and down the ramp. She stopped, confused, at the bottom of the ramp when she didn't see her friend or Queen Cinder, or Emperor Kai. They were always there when they came, waiting open armed for their friends.
Sharing a look, they took off through the winding passage up to the palace. Thalia didn't quite know the palace layout, so whenever she almost took a wrong turn Camille corrected her. They made there way swiftly through the palace, Thalia feeling slightly guilty that her filthy boots were probably mucking up the palace floors.
Before they could crash into the doors to the Throne Room, the guards swiftly opened them. Thalia burst through followed by Camille. Just like they'd thought, Cinder was holding court.
Sitting on her beautifully carved white throne was Queen Cinder of Luna. Beside her, to her right, was Emperor Kai of the Commonwealth. To her left was Thalia's friend, Celeste. Immediately she knew something was very wrong, judging by the mood of the court.
It also made Thalia even more guilty at well…. Being a farm kid, to see the court dressed in beautiful gowns and fine suits. Cinder was wearing a shimmering silver gown with a v-neck and long sleeves, her hair looking even worse than usual. Kai was wearing a formal Commonwealth design suit, his hair looking as though hands had run through it many times that day. Celeste had a simple midnight blue dress with the straps tied around the back of her neck, a shimmery silver belt and a skirt that ended above her knees on the front and half way down her calves in the back. Thalia guessed it was an open back, as well. Her friends face lit up when she saw her friends.
"Camille! Thalia! It's so good for you guys to be here! Just in time to be caught up with the news, as well! Come, sit in the front row, there," Celeste exclaimed, pointing to two empty seats.
"Your Majesty, we are very sorry for the interruption, we beg your pardon," Thalia said to the Queen, both her and Camille dipping into a curtsy. Thalia would even admit her curtsy was questionable at best. Cinder smiled, nodding. They hurried to their seats.
"As some of you might know, there has been an attack on AR-4. We have been working tirelessly to put out the flames in order to stop further destruction of both buildings and our precious air. Unfortunately, we have no proof of who is responsible for the attack, however all we know is that it may be safe to say the same creatures responsible for the kidnapping of my son may very well be responsible. I urge you all to return to your sectors, and inform everyone to be on high alert. We will be doubling security on all exits and entrances to every sector, as well as around the palace. Court dismissed," Queen Cinder announced with a wave of her hand. As soon as everyone had left, Cinder descended from her throne and strode towards Thalia and Camille.
"It's been awhile since I've seen you girls! I'm sorry you've had to come at a bad time such as this. Where are your parents?" Cinder asked.
"They should be coming, any minute now," Thalia replied. She knew it was best for her to talk to the Queen as opposed to Camille who had the potential to go on some long story or whatever.
"Thank you. Go with Celeste, she will show you to your quarters. Try and find something to do. Although it is safest to stay within the palace right now," Queen Cinder added before she and Kai left.
"Ok, I'm hoping you guys are on the same page, but I'm not staying here while people are killed by these beasts and my brother is out there somewhere," Celeste exclaimed as soon as they were alone in her royal chambers.
"Stay here? Hell no," Thalia replied. Camille nodded in agreement after scolding Thalia's use of 'language'.
"Good. I've gathered supplies for what we need to do, and I might even know where to start," Celeste said. She jumped off her bed where she'd been sitting and ran over to her huge wardrobe.
"I gathered some clothes that would be useful, and should hopefully also help to hide our identities seeing as I'm a Princess and you guys are basically celebrities," Celeste explained, throwing clothes onto the floor. Thalia walked over to examine the three piles of clothes. It was obvious to tell who they were for, Camille had the smallest clothes seeing as she was the shortest, then Thalia, followed closely by Celeste.
Celeste had picked out black, loose tank tops for all three of them. Thalia carefully picked one up to examine it. It had a fairly low neck, with small jewels sewed around the neckline. The fabric was very soft and light, so Thalia guessed it was made of silk. Next Celeste grabbed some dark grey shorts that would probably reach slightly above mid thigh. Thalia wondered why Celeste had grabbed clothes for warm temperatures however she figured she would have it explained to her soon.
"Lastly, I thought it would be best if we all had black leather boots that were slightly below mid calf. When I tell you where we're going you'll understand," Celeste pulled out three pairs of boots from deep within her wardrobe. Thalia and Camille waited patiently sort of for the explanation.
"We are going to Mexico. We need boots seeing as there's well…. Cacti, scorpions, what not. Stabby things. I had a vision of the beasts hiding in one of the ancient temples of the Aztecs," Celeste explained. They both nodded in understanding of their task.
"Well…. I guess we should get dressed now, we can take turns in the bathrooms," Celeste added.
Thalia was surprised at how well her outfit fit her. Celeste sure knew how to dress people. She thought they looked a little bit ridiculous, all wearing the same thing. A question came to mind though when they gathered back at Celeste's bed.
"We are going to need weapons, surely. I... I know that your powers should be able to get us through, but you said you could only barely control five of the creatures, right? We should at least all get a gun, and a knife," Thalia suggested.
"That's right! Here, I know exactly how we can get those. I'm going to glamor all of us as guards, and we're going to go down to the armory. There we'll find belts to hold our guns and knives. Good thinking, Thalia," Celeste said before leading them out to the halls.
Thalia liked watching as her body changed as though a wave rippled along the edges, changing her size, shape. This time she was a tall, broad-shouldered guard with cropped brown hair and glittering onyx eyes.
They fell in behind Celeste, copying the way she marched. After going down, down, down, they reached two big iron doors.
"Identity and what is your purpose for coming to the armory?" One of the two guards guarding the entrance ordered.
"You want to open the doors for us. You never even saw us, we were never here," Celeste replied in a different tone of voice. Even Thalia felt the need to open the doors for them, wanted to forget about them being there. She shook it off.
The guards hastily pulled open the doors, allowing them passage. Quickly and silently, they followed Celeste to the armory. Thalia rather liked the sight of all the weapons. Not to be weird, she just generally speaking liked knives. And there were lots.
On the wall were multiple racks with guns and knives, ready for the taking.
"Ok…. You guys know what to do, I suggest we hurry," Celeste whispered. Thalia went through the guns, seeing if there were any different kinds, however they were all the same. Taking one of them, she put it in the gun holster on her belt. She was glad to see the knives varied. Her belt had room for two, so she chose one pair of medium sized knives that felt balanced in her hands. Strapping them to her belt like Wolf had shown her a while ago, because why wouldn't a teenager need to know how to strap a knife to their belt, Thalia turned to see if her friends were ready.
They nodded, and again they took off, following the Princess back through the palace. Every time they ran into a guard, Thalia heard Celeste mutter something and they turned their attention away from the guards running through the palace.
Eventually they started descending towards the royal ports. Slowing their pace slightly for the spiral stairs, they wound down down down until they heard the sounds of people talking and ship like sounds. You know, port sounds.
Ahead, Celeste screeched to a stop and Thalia nearly bowled right into her. Camille stopped without almost incident. Thalia looked up to see why her friend had stopped, and her gaze met that of the Queen's.
A/N: Hi guys! Sorry that was stupid long! Or if you like long chapters then your welcome! I guess maybe tell me in the review area if you want longer or shorter chapters next time? Anyways, here's the replies to the reviews so far!
light-and-Shadows-Mist-and-ice: Thanks! And that's a bit of a weird review but i dig it! :)