Premonition
The once beautiful land of Elysion was shrouded in darkness. The only sounds that could be heard were the agonized screams from its citizens as they took their final breaths. Inside a small cottage, a young boy quivered in fear in his mother's arms as he watched the terror unfold before his eyes. Suddenly, he could hear someone pounding on the door, trying to get inside.
"Go hide, Jadeite. Quickly!" his mother ordered. He scrambled off her lap and scurried into the bedroom, hiding under the bed. His body shook in terror as he watched what happened next. The woman then rose and walked to the door, opening it. Her eyes darkened once she saw who was there.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice cold and emotionless. The man standing in the doorway raised his sword.
"Surrender to Metalia or die!"
"NO!" Jadeite screamed, bolting out from under the bed.
"No…NO!" Jadeite sat up, realizing that he was safe in his bed. He exhaled shakily and looked around the room. A moment later, Phoebe appeared in the doorway. Jadeite turned his head and looked at her, his eyes filled with tears. Without a word, Phoebe walked over and sat on the bed next to him, and began gently rubbing small circles into his back.
"Mama, I had a bad dream" he sniffled, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Phoebe asked. Jadeite nodded.
"I think something bad is going to happen." Phoebe looked at him, her eyes filled with confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone was fighting, and saying bad things" he explained, in the best way that a seven year old could. "There was a man at our house, and he was going to hurt you…" Jadeite sobbed, thrusting his tiny body into Phoebe's arms. She stroked his hair and did her best to comfort him, to assure him that everything would be okay.
"It was just a bad dream" she said soothingly. "We're safe, I promise. Nothing bad will ever happen to us" she said with a smile. In the years that had passed since Frederick left, Phoebe raised Jadeite on her own, becoming more proud of him with each passing day. At only seven years old, he was already more of a man than his father ever was. Once he calmed down, Phoebe tucked him back in and kissed his forehead.
"Try to go back to sleep" she said calmly. Jadeite nodded.
"I think I'll be okay now, mama."
"That's my brave boy" she said with a smile. "Good night."
"Good night, Mama." Jadeite watched as Phoebe left the room, and once she was out of sight he rolled over on his side to look out the window at the stars. He smiled to himself and was about to drift off to sleep, when something caught his eye. A golden star twinkled in the sky and Jadeite watched as it floated down from its place and came into the window, stopping in front of Jadeite. Jadeite's eyes widened as the star began to speak.
"Greetings, young one."
"Y-You can talk?" Jadeite stuttered. "W-Who are you?"
"There's no need to be afraid, Jadeite."
"How do you know my name?" Jadeite asked, slightly less afraid.
"Your name is your destiny." Jadeite wrinkled his nose in confusion. Before he could ask what that meant, the star continued speaking. "My name is Helios. I am the guardian of Elysion. I have known you since you were born, and I've been watching you." Jadeite nodded, though he was still confused.
"What do you mean, 'my name is my destiny?'" Jadeite asked.
"When I came to see you, I gave your mother a Jadeite stone. Jadeite symbolizes patience and harmony, which are two very important traits that not everyone possesses. However, you do, young one. You will use these things later in life. I cannot explain everything to you right now, but you will know soon enough." As the star began to fade away, Jadeite cried out.
"Helios, can I ask you something?"
"Yes, but I may not have the answer" Helios replied.
"Do you know where my father is?" The star began to change form, and suddenly Helios' true form was standing before Jadeite. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Jadeite's, his face filled with sorrow.
"You already know" he said simply, offering no further explanation. With that, he began to fade from sight. Jadeite watched him disappear, and once he was alone again he laid down and stared up at the ceiling, pondering what he had been told. Finally, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep with no further interruptions.
The next morning, Jadeite woke up thinking nothing of the nightmare he had the night before. He walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where he found Phoebe cutting up strawberries.
"Good morning mama" Jadeite greeted her cheerfully. She looked up from her task and smiled.
"Good morning, Jadeite. How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good" he said, grinning. "How about you?"
"I slept fine" she said softly as she continued cutting up the berries. Once there were enough, she divided them onto two plates, along with various other fruits and slices of fluffy white cake. She set them on the table and sat down, with Jadeite following closely behind. He climbed into his chair and glanced over at the third chair, which had been empty for so long he wondered why it was still there. Brushing the thought away, he began to silently pick at the berries on his plate. The two of them ate in silence, until Jadeite suddenly had a thought.
"Mama, do you know who Helios is?" Phoebe stopped eating for a moment and looked at Jadeite.
"Yes, I've heard of him" she said finally. "He's the guardian of Elysion. Do you know what else?" Phoebe asked. Jadeite's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"What?" he asked, excited.
"It's been said that he can change himself into a Pegasus" Phoebe said, smiling as Jadeite's eyes grew wider.
"A flying horse? Really? Wow!" he exclaimed. The two then continued their conversation as they finished eating. Once they were done, Jadeite turned to Phoebe. "I'm going to go play outside, mama."
"Okay" Phoebe chuckled. "Be safe, and stay where I can see you" she instructed.
"I will!" Jadeite called to her as he bounced out the door. Phoebe watched him from the window, overwhelmed with feelings of happiness. Outside, Jadeite giggled to himself as he climbed trees, watched the ants and other bugs crawl through the dirt, and chased butterflies. A white one with blue spots fluttered past him, and he called out to it as he chased after it.
"Hey, come back!" he called out, chasing the butterfly into the trees. He slowed his pace to a walk, looking every which way to try to find where the butterfly went. After walking for some time, he came across a stream. The water sparkled in the sunlight and flowed gently over the rocks. On the other side, Jadeite could see what appeared to be a horse drinking from the stream. He crept as quietly as he could so as not to scare it, accidentally stepping on a twig. The horse looked up and saw him, but did not run. Jadeite sucked in a sharp breath and carefully began to approach the horse, and as he came closer, he noticed a magnificent golden horn on the horse's head.
"Pegasus?" Jadeite murmured, never breaking his gaze upon the creature. The horse nodded.
"Hello, young one" he said. Jadeite took a step back.
"Helios?" he asked. "Is that you?" The horse nodded again.
"Yes, it is."
"You mean, you're real? I thought I was dreaming!" Jadeite exclaimed, amazed.
"I am very real. This is my home. No one knows about this place, except for you." The horse then began to change form, turning into the human that Jadeite had seen the night before. He walked over to Jadeite and sat down in the grass, motioning for Jadeite to do the same. He sat, and the two began to talk as though they were old friends. After quite a while, Jadeite could hear Phoebe calling for him.
"I should go" he said, standing up. "I don't want my mama to worry about me." Helios nodded and stood up, turning to face Jadeite.
"I hope you will come back to visit me soon. Just know that if you ever need me, I am always here." Jadeite nodded, then turned to leave. Before he exited the trees, he turned to wave goodbye to his friend, his guardian.
"Bye Helios!" he called out. Helios waved back, then brushed a lock of silver hair from his eyes as he watched the young boy fade into the distance.