Hello, everyone! Here is the next part of the story.
This is a shorter part because I felt this one scene offered a good enough premise by itself. I will work on other parts so they will be longer, but I wanted to tell you all about this part before you started reading it.
DISCLAIMER: The 'Amulet' series is created and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi, and published by 'Scholastic'. The author owns any original characters and custom elements included into the story.
Onward!
The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open. "Get moving, kid," Milo gruffly told Caleb, pulling the boy away from his view of Cielis. Reluctantly, Caleb followed the older man down a series of pristine-looking halls that slightly curved in a long circle. There were carvings on some walls, but they depicted creatures or people Caleb had no comprehension of. Therefore, they did not draw his eyes for more than a few seconds.
Milo stopped by a pair of arched metal doors, pulling on one of two golden doorknobs shaped like oval halves. He led Caleb into a large circular chamber sporting several offshoot rooms and a wide balcony directly across from the door. The balcony had its own set of sliding doors, currently pulled open to let in some of the cool outside air. Each of the offshoot rooms had a bed covered with white sheets and thin curtains that shone a brighter white in the sunlight. The only other furniture there was some large dressers and chests of drawers by one wall, able to accommodate multiple people's clothing with ease.
In front of the beds were a group of round tables and low chairs, all of those beneath the light of a wooden chandelier holding many tiny lightbulbs. The daylight from outside was enough to fill the room, revealing several golden frames holding various paintings depicting places and people Caleb did not recognize.
"Huh. Seems we got here earlier than the captain." Milo did not look fazed by this discovery. "They should be here soon, though, these are the quarters Miss Hayes will be staying in while training. You just wait here until they arrive, okay?" As he talked, he stepped out of the chamber and back into the outer halls.
"Okay, sure. And Milo?" Milo turned to look at Caleb, the boy wanting to speak a bit more before Milo left and likely never returned. "Thank you for doing this."
"Sure." Milo held Caleb's gaze with equal steadiness. But he was the first one to turn away, somewhere else in Cielis requiring his attention. Caleb saw Milo close the door behind him, the boy's few possessions held tight in his hands or on his person but not adding much to his mental frame.
Compared to the rest of the room, Caleb felt very small. Not insignificant, though; one of the beds here could be for him, another for Emily, a third for Navin, and a fourth for Karen. And there were still more beds available, each one shrouded by thin curtains and strongly supported in wooden frames.
After the cramped space of the Luna Moth, and the beds of Charnon House's aged interior, this place presented a clear air of luxury. Curious as to how far that luxury went, Caleb drew one of the bed's curtains aside and sat down on the edge of the white sheets. He felt the bed accommodate his weight with minimal depression, but it did not press against him like a hard mattress would. His bed at home didn't feel this soft.
Rubbing a hand along the bedsheet, Caleb felt a cold shiver pass through his entire body, down from his head to his toes. His wrists tingled, reminding him of past pains and current worries about his safety. So far, Cielis looked safe. It should be, considering it had lived in the clouds, alone, for years without ever needing help from outside. Caleb didn't know of any city on Earth that could live on its own like that. It was something to admire.
The large doors opened again. Caleb sprang off the bed just before the Hayes family and Max Griffin all entered the chamber, Max last of all. Karen looked around the area in shocked admiration, while Emily and Navin glanced at the beds and tables first. Then Navin saw Caleb and grinned. "There you are!" he loudly said, which got everyone else's attention in turn.
"Ah, Caleb," Max said, "good to see you. Your escort moved faster than I thought they would."
"Milo didn't talk much," Caleb informed him. "He thought you guys would have been done first, since you were at a different dropship hanger."
"No matter. We're all here now."
"Max, this is…" Karen's shock carried into her voice, the mother having to take a breath and regain her thoughts. "There must be a mistake. These can't be living quarters for a school, they're so… fancy!"
"Fancy?" Max took that adjective in stride. "Miss Hayes, Cielis holds your daughter in very high esteem. When it comes to providing for the saviors of Alledia, you must be willing to go the extra mile."
"There wasn't anything like this where we lived," Caleb said. "Or anything like Cielis."
"This was a shock for other students, too. Some of us don't have lives of luxury. But whether rich or poor, a Stonekeeper is what we need Emily to be right now." On bringing up Emily's name, Max glanced towards the balcony, farther behind Caleb. Turning around, Caleb saw both siblings were out there instead of listening in to the conversation. He then realized Emily hadn't said a word since she got here. She had seemed upset about something.
After a moment's consideration, Caleb decided to join his honorary siblings rather than stay with Karen and Max. Emily and Navin were standing near each other, the sunlight coming down on both their faces and their cloaks rippling in the wind. Emily had her hands on the stone railing in front of her, looking at all the airships and smaller aircraft moving in rings around Cielis. Navin stayed a few paces away from Emily, hands in the pockets of the clothes beneath his cloak. He looked at his sister with more worry than anger, but both emotions were there.
Caleb didn't want to ruin any silent moment the siblings were having, but he still spoke up: "Good to see you're alright. Did you see the Council about our, uh, situation?"
"No, not yet." This came from Emily, who sounded dejected and a little tired. "Max says we can't just go and talk to them. Something about "how things work" here." It was clear from Emily's emphasis on certain words that she did not like being unable to get the answers she wanted.
Navin came two steps closer to his sister. "Em, I don't like this place." He kept his voice quiet, but Caleb was close enough to hear him clearly. "Everything seems so… strict."
"I see that too, Navin. But where else can we go? The Council are the most powerful people in this world. They are our best chance to get home."
"We didn't need anyone else's help to save Mom. I mean, beyond Caleb being there." The ten-year-old looked at Caleb in worry he had offended the older boy, but Caleb was not upset by the comment.
"You're right, Navin," Caleb said, "I did help you guys at the start. But you both took it from there, on your own. As Karen has told you guys, that's a sign you are growing up."
Navin's gaze moved to the horizon, looking at the variety of flying vehicles in the distance. "We were growing up already, without all this war and stuff."
"War makes everyone grow up quickly, Navin." Max slid into their conversation with quick ease, just as he slid out onto the balcony and right past Caleb. "I understand your hesitation and lack of trust towards us, given the circumstances. But everything we have done for you and Emily, from using our agents like Leon to the safeguards against the elves finding us, was done for your benefits."
"I don't see Leon, Enzo, or Rico getting the same benefits," Emily stated after she had turned around to face Max, her back against the balcony's railing. "And I'm sure you put Trellis and Luger somewhere else, didn't you?"
Max managed to keep his cool as he softened his voice like Navin had. "I had said the elves would be watched very closely, remember? If word spread that we were letting elves into Cielis, everyone would panic and think the war had come to their doors. That is far from the case. As for your friends, they have not been allowed to join you here because you must focus on your training. They are being treated as honored guests, just like you all."
"I doubt that." Caleb drew the eyes of the other three people with that comment, that interpretation of Max's statement bringing up a few harsh moments he had observed in his high school on Earth. "Leon, Enzo, and Rico are all "cursed" people. Trellis and Luger are elves. We are all pure humans. Where has everyone been sent?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked critically at Max. "Where we come from, Max, there are certain bad words that can be used for treating one race or group of people more harshly than others."
Emily nodded in agreement; Navin just widened his eyes, the implications of Caleb's comment apparently not clear to him. Max's smile receded to a tiny smirk; when he next spoke, his voice carried an underlying rumble. "It would be very helpful if you did not mention those words, Caleb. I could have you arrested for even implying them, in fact."
"Arrested?" Caleb didn't believe that was possible. "You're not the Captain of Cielis's entire military, just your own airship."
"I am the Captain of Cielis's military. Well, until I am replaced by orders of the Council, which won't be until it is refilled with Stonekeepers like Emily and me." The deadpan way Max said this made Caleb visibly pale. Max wasn't lying.
"I may not appear as strong as Duncan or Donovan," the Stonekeeper continued, "but I am powerful where it matters. And I, just like Cielis, have coped with much worse things than what you are accusing me of doing."
Caleb felt another cold shiver travel through his limbs. Oh, he's mad at me. Why did I make him mad at me? But he should know how I feel about this, I have freedom of speech here! He can't arrest me for saying what I want!
Hold on, this isn't America. The Bill of Rights doesn't apply here. I really could be arrested for speaking what's on my mind!
Max's smile snuck back on his face as he saw Caleb exhibit a momentary mental panic about being dragged to whatever prison Cielis had. Then he turned to the watching children. "Emily," he said, "your first day at the academy begins tomorrow. You will join the rest of us Stonekeepers in the Council's tests. The Council is as excited to see what you can do as any of us."
Emily was not happy about what was to come. "Max, my family and I came here to ask for the Council's help. I don't want to join them."
Max did not look sympathetic to Emily's cause. "Oh, I see," he sarcastically commented as his smile dropped again, "you think this is all about you, right? Your Stonekeeper powers are only a tool for you to get what you want? That's how you've used them until now, isn't it?"
Emily said nothing. Nothing needed to be said to show it was true.
"You need to take the larger picture seriously," Max lectured to the younger girl. "You are a Stonekeeper; powerful, but not immortal. No one of us can stop the elves alone. The Guardian Council is testing our strengths, both on our own and as a team. Even though one of us will be seen as the strongest and lead the fight against the Elven king and his minions, the new Council must have a group of Stonekeepers to govern Alledia when the war ends.
"This is your duty, Emily, just like it's mine. We are Stonekeepers; we carry the fate of this world around our necks." He patted his own amulet with those words. "We must not let that weight drag us down, or everyone will fall with us."
The air grew thick with tension, mixing with the sunbeams slamming down on all four people's exposed skin to weigh them down ever so slightly. Caleb swallowed hard, remembering his worries when the assassin Gabilan had held Karen hostage at the beacon. His confidence had been so strong then, and Max was so confident in his and Emily's strengths now.
Was Cielis still safe? Was Alledia?
Max turned around, back towards the indoor quarters. "You all get some good sleep tonight," he said back to them all. "You are going to need it."
Emily waited a few moments after Max had gone back inside before she went in herself, Navin right behind her and Caleb behind him. They all saw Max nod to Karen before he went out the main doors, which he closed behind him.
"Well, that was nice," Karen commented before she looked at her children, Caleb included. Karen's ease with the situation did not carry over to them.
"We should look for Leon and the others," Navin immediately suggested, bobbing back and forth on his feet as he spoke. "They're probably trying to find where we are too."
Emily seemed to agree, walking fast to the door before she tugged on the knob. There was a "Ka-chink". The door stayed shut. "Locked," she grumbled. "Of course."
Navin wasn't panicking yet. "Em, just use your stone to blast through the door."
"I can't, Navin. Ever since we got here, the stone's power has been very weak." The mere act of lifting it off her neck without her hands, which she did at that moment, took noticeable focus from her. "I think something here is affecting it."
Karen stepped in between Emily and Navin, concerned about what plans they might be forming. "Well, maybe we shouldn't push things too far. I'm not going to let you guys do something silly just to be with your friends."
"Mom," Navin urgently said back, "I'm getting a bad tingly feeling about this place! We should get out of here."
"Navin's right, Mom," Emily joined in, her eyes locked on her faintly glowing amulet as it bobbed before her face. "I don't like it here."
"But we've come so far to get here! Don't be so quick to judge things, you two. There are just some more rules here than we've had since all this began."
Emily's amulet fell back down, its glow gone in an eyeblink. She blinked rapidly to clear spots from her eyes. Caleb stood still and silent, not wanting to get involved in this argument unless he absolutely had to. If punches started being thrown, for example.
Karen gave a sigh like she had been over this same topic far too many times before. "Listen, let's talk this out one point at a time. Defeating the Elf King is the only way we're going to get home, right?"
"Right," Emily agreed.
"Well, these people seem like they will be strong allies. We can use their help. So, we don't want to make them angry at us by going against the rules here."
Emily spun to face Karen head-on. "Mom, there is something seriously wrong with this place. You must see it, too."
Karen's anger at Emily's stubbornness flashed in her eyes and the thick lines that formed on her forehead. "Emily, I am not blind. I know this city is not everything we wanted it to be. I had the hope we could go and meet with this Council straight away and be home in time for a late dinner, but it didn't happen."
"Mom, that's a stupid—"
"I know it's a stupid hope, but I still felt it! I still wanted things to go perfectly, and they didn't. And I am okay with that. Part of growing up is being able to adapt, roll with the punches and get back up again. We've been doing that for two years now, haven't we?"
Caleb winced. What was Karen doing, mentioning so specific a tragedy like that to people who had experienced it firsthand, like she had? But Karen wasn't done speaking.
"Emily, everywhere you go will have "something wrong" with it. It's not your home, it's not what you are used to. That's just a part of life. You just follow the rules of where you are right now, and if you are trying to make things right everything will work out in the end. In fact," she added while looking at Caleb with a glint of humor where anger had just been, "you might even help other people along the way."
"M-Miss Hayes, I…" Caleb didn't know what to say or do when put off guard like that.
"Karen, mister. Don't try to back out of this, you matter just as much as the rest of us." Caleb quickly nodded, glad that Karen wasn't angry at him for not calling her like she wanted.
Emily looked calmer, but still not happy. "We don't have much choice in how we make things right here, Mom."
"Sweetie, sometimes that's for the best." Karen opened her arms towards her children. "Come here, it's going to be okay."
Emily and Navin embraced their mother, but Karen kept one arm free so she could gesture for Caleb to join them. He did so after a moment's hesitation, Navin making room for him to participate in the huddle without any awkward passage of arms.
"As long as we stick together," Karen told them all, "this little family right here, we'll be all right."
That promise was something Caleb could accept.
Alright, that's all for now.
As usual, any feedback and/or constructive criticism is appreciated.
Draconos is taking off!