Chapter 6
Halley couldn't help but stare at the small child trembling behind Kiara.
Her head was slightly below Kiara's shoulder, but she grabbed onto the princess as if she was hiding behind a giant.
How can someone be so small and timid? Halley wondered as she eyed the little girl's clothing.
There was just something about rich people's clothing which set them apart from everyone else. Halley established the little girl was rich, and the more she stared at her, the more familiar she started to look.
"Who's that?" Rebecca asked the little girl's protector. "Hey, Kiara," Brandon said in a serious tone, "Don't tell me that's your kid."
Halley took the liberty to land her whole fist in the middle of Brandon's head as she scolded him for being a turd.
How could an 11 year old have a kid anyway? Was he dumb? That wasn't supposed to be a question. He was dumb.
"This is," Kiara said right before Brandon could retaliate, "My little sister, Celestia."
Her little sister?
"She saw me going out and threw a fit, so I brought her along. I hope it's alright with you guys."
Halley's eyes went back to the little girl as Kiara told them she was 7 years old, but she really didn't look it.
Were all 7 year olds that clingy?
Halley doubted it as she tried to remember how she was at 7 years old, and all she came up with was the annoying nickname Brandon gave her.
"So you're telling me," Rebecca asked excitedly, "That we get to spend the day with two Kiaras? Score!"
Huh?
Halley once again found herself staring at the little girl until she started to see the facial features she shared with her older sister.
They both had those soft brown eyes, which sucked those lucky enough to make eye contact into a world of comfort unknown to themselves. Maybe everyone in the Myra family shared those eyes-
Huh?
Halley snapped back to reality when she heard Celestia begin to cry.
Why was she crying?
"You were glaring at her, Hall." Britney said quietly as Rebecca picked up the little kid, but Halley didn't mean to!
"Wow Hall," Brandon said smugly, "I guess those Medusa eyes of yours can make kids cry too."
If he didn't shut up, she would've made him cry as well.
Ah!
Halley tried smiling at the child to make her stop crying, but nothing seemed to work.
"May I?" Kiara said while holding her arms out to Rebecca.
She handed her her little sister, and the moment Celestia realised she was in Kiara's arms, she stopped crying.
The four of them were impressed and in awe of her magic touch with children as she gently told little Celeste, "They won't hurt you. They're kind people."
She looked up at her sister and wiped her tears away before turning back to the rest of them.
"What do you say?" Kiara asked, leading to Celestia apologising to Halley, Britney, Brandon, and Rebecca, "I'm s-sorry for c-crying like that. I-I don't think y-you're mean people, b-but I got s-scared. I-I'm sorry."
Halley found herself smiling as she crouched down to the princess's line of sight and introduced herself before telling Celeste how a princess like her shouldn't have to apologize for being scared.
"Yeah," Brandon added, "Especially when an ogre like this one is the one scaring you."
This time, Rebecca dropped the side of her hand on top of his head before saying, "Don't go around starting fights you can't finish, you idiot."
Halley started to laugh at the altercation as Brandon tried yelling back at Rebecca, forgetting she was taller than him. She couldn't help herself as she watched the personification of a dog barking at a tree.
Neither could Britney and Kiara, but Halley saw Celetia's resemblance to her older sister the most when she smiled.
Both their smiles were so warm, but Kiara seemed genuinely happier with her sister around.
She seemed miserable when Celestia was missing, so she couldn't understand why her voice sounded so cold and stern as she ordered her little sister not to help Britney and Rebecca.
She couldn't understand how she could stand seeing her little sister so terrified and depressed.
So what if she was right about them not having to help the little girl? She could've just told them about the space dragon instead of scaring everyone to that extent and hurting Celestia like that!
Was Kiara really back to normal? The fire dragon's flames apparently broke the curse of the Fountain water, but was this the Kiara they needed?A cold, stern princess without a care in the world for the feelings of her own little sister?
That wasn't the Kiara she knew, so with all her courage mustered up into her head, Halley asked Kiara what happened while she was in Magiterra.
"Magiterra?" Awan asked questioningly, "You went to Magiterra, Your- Kiara?"
Kiara remained quiet for a moment before saying, "Yes. That's where I was the six months before my birthday."
What happened there? Why had she changed so much?
"Halley-" Brandon protested, but it was true. The Kiara they knew would never speak to anyone the way she did to them at the ball nor would she deliberately hurt her friends.
"What are you trying to say?" Kiara asked eerily as she stood in front of Halley. "Are you trying to imply that someone else has placed a spell on me, forcing me to behave like my 4 year old self?"
Halley didn't know about the water! She didn't know the guys had planned such a thing. She would never hurt Kiara like that!
Everyone stood in silence as the wind steadily blew through the trees as their leaves remained static to the Time Curse on the land.
"Time works differently in different worlds." Kiara finally said, "One day in Magiterra is one month in Wisteria. To you guys, I spent 6 months away, but to me, it was only about a week."
Huh? That was why she was so different? Because of the time difference?
"Yes. I was trained to control my power while in Magiterra, and I guess that also made me more mature than when I left Wisteria. Does that answer your question?"
Not yet, Halley replied confidently. If that was all true, then why did she hurt them? A mature person wouldn't just hurt someone because they were being persistent.
"I was slightly annoyed that day. Sorry for what I did." the princess replied in the same cold tone, pissing Halley off.
She walked up to Kiara and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to face Halley as she demanded Kiara to apologize properly.
To apologize while looking everyone in their eyes!
The solemn princess remained silent as her gaze slowly met Halley's, leaving her trembling in fear as Kiara said coldly, "Sorry about that."
She then effortlessly picked up Halley's hand and dropped it off her shoulder before turning and continuing their journey.
Halley's knees finally gave way, but Celestia and Chayse caught her before she could hit the ground.
"I know you don't want to hear this now, Hall," Rebecca started, "But now is not the time to figure out what happened to Kiara while she was gone. We all need to focus on getting home, so be sure to catch up when you're ready."
Halley watched as Awan, Brandon, Rebecca, Britney and Michael went ahead of them to catch up to Kiara, and her brain overlapped the image with a nightmare she had about them leaving her. That dream, along with countless other nightmares, thoughts, and fears, is what got Halley her power, but she began to doubt it was remotely enough as she remembered the look of indifference in Kiara's eyes.
No, it was more than that. She saw more than just a frigid, blasé look in Kiara's eyes. She saw power, an infinite amount of it too. Her mind immediately froze in panic as she observed such dark magic flowing inside of Kiara. There was no way she could ever beat her-
"Thank you."
Huh?
Halley turned to Celestia, who was carrying her with Chayse as they lagged behind a bit.
What was she thanking her for? She was frozen in fear, or did Celestia not see?
"I did, and you were worried about Ara too."
What?
"I don't know what happened in the years I was gone, but I think Ara knows something that she might be trying to keep you guys away from."
What? What could she have possibly found out while in Magiterra to make her behave this way?
"I just told you I don't know!" Celestia said while giggling, cheering Halley up a bit as Chayse became fidgety.
What was wrong?
"It's getting pretty dark. Shouldn't we find shelter soon?" he asked, and he wasn't wrong.
Halley hadn't realised, but there was only a few minutes left until the sun was completely gone.
"Let's make camp then." Michael declared, but they didn't have anything with them.
"We don't need it!" the space dragon girl said proudly as she jumped down from Rebecca's shoulders onto the floor.
"I control space, remember?"
How could they forget when she was so colourful? Literally and figuratively, Halley thought as the space dragon girl snapped her fingers and created a campsite around them. To be precise, it was-
"My home!" Chayse exclaimed, "B-but how?" "You folded space and moved the camp here! That's incredible!" Awan said excitedly, polishing the space dragon girl's ego, but that really was incredible.
"Thanks, …-" Rebecca started before realising she didn't know the Space Dragon's name.
"My tamer usually gives me a name when we make our bond," the little girl said enthusiastically, before the excitement melted away to confusion and hard thinking as she admitted, "I can't remember the name she gave me."
She? Who was this she?
"My last tamer!"
Tamer? Someone tamed the space dragon?
"Don't you guys know anything?"
Not in the slightest, no.
The little girl sighed dramatically before she ordered everyone to sit around the campfire as she explained, "Our world. Between the six of us, we call this world Donum."
Donum?
"That means home, doesn't it?" the brainiac asked, and he wasn't wrong either.
"Yes, this world is where Isra and Esros created us, so we called it our home."
Isra and Esros?
"The ancient names for the Creators," Awan explained, "Esros is the Light Creator, and Isra is the Dark Creator."
Oh.
"That's what you call them now? How boring," the space dragon said, "but yes, they created us to govern life on the worlds they made, but, you see, Donum is special."
Special? How so?
"Other worlds have one distinct species which rule over the rest regardless of the environment, but Donum is more of 4 different worlds smushed together."
"Four different worlds smushed together?" Michael questioned as the Space Dragon vigorously nodded her head. "We couldn't agree on what it should look like, so we decided to put the worlds together on one planet."
She suddenly paused for a moment before dropping her fist on her hand and declaring, "I figured out your names for us. If they are based on what we mainly control, then Water Dragon is the one who made the first Magi."
What?
"Even the terminology is the same!" Celestia exclaimed. "Well of course it is," the Space Dragon said smugly, "We're the ones who named them, and they're the ones who told you their names." "What was the name of the first Magi?" Michael asked, and Britney said, "Poseidon, followed by Demeter, then Aeolus, then Ares and finally, Andromeda. There are the five pillars of magic, are they not?"
"If that's what you want to call them." the Space Dragon said as she shrugged. "I thought there were 6 of you. Why are there only five pillars of magic?" Rebecca asked, but Halley reminded her how time is beyond the reach of even Magis.
The closest a Magi could get to controlling time was by manipulating a person's perception of it, which ultimately fell into mind control. What? Halley wasn't the dumb twin.
"Wow, things have changed a lot since then," the Space Dragon continued, "But you guys are right. Time Dragon never made a magi, and so doesn't have a tamer." "So your Magis are your tamers?" Michael asked, confused, but apparently he was wrong. "The people who harness our children's power are our tamers."
Magicians were dragon tamers? "Not all of you." the Space Dragon corrected, "Only the original five."
"Why didn't the Time dragon make a Magi?" Awan asked. "Time dragon and I are the oldest as we were created first, so dwellers of all worlds fear the two of us the most. While I'm able to get by looking like this, Time Dragon preferred to work on the minor details, like contracts and such, and spent most days alone. Those four were lucky to have their own worshippers, but Time Dragon was too feared to be worshipped until a little girl entered the picture."
A little girl?
"A human," Space Dragon clarified, "She was abandoned by her parents, so Time Dragon took her in. We expected Time Dragon to give her power or lengthen her life span, but Time Dragon simply watched over her and bestowed a gift upon her child."
What was this gift?
"I wouldn't know. The day Time Dragon planned to tell us, Isra and Esros used that opportunity to separate all humans from Donum and trap us here."
What?
"The trap itself was a test," Space Dragon explained, "To see if we can work together by combining our powers to break the barrier, but my brethren simply raged as Time Dragon grieved. In Time Dragon's grief, a spell covered the land, freezing time for all weaker than Time Dragon."
"One day, a dragon slayer's horn woke Time Dragon, but I have not found Time Dragon's hiding place yet."
Dragon slayer? What was that?
"D-d-d-dragon slayer?" Chayse trembled at hearing the word, but just barely managed to say, "D-d-dragon slayers are humans who kill anyone with magic."
"T-t-t-the name dragon slayer was given to them because they k-k-killed even dragons, the scariest beasts in the lands."
How could they kill the creatures that created Mytherra?
"Not us. The first creatures we all made were dragons, and we didn't make anything stronger until the younger four made humans, but Earth Dragon's humans were different. Some sought the destruction of magic and anything related to it."
"How can they destroy magic?" Brandon asked, angrily, but Space Dragon simply looked around at the group before turning to Kiara and asking her, "Haven't they almost succeeded?"
Huh?
"Almost." Kiara replied, making Rebecca question her response, but she didn't say anything.
"How many," Space Dragon asked instead, "mermen, demons, and angels are left in your world?"
What? Those were fairy tale creatures.
"The Great Magicians War," Kiara finally said, "Is the only time where the magic bearers won."
Only time? There were more wars to get rid of magic?
"Probably, judging from your faces." Space Dragon replied. "How do you know this, Kiara?" Michael asked, but she didn't reply, so he yelled his question at her, and they glared at each other for a split second before Kiara admitted, "The royal archives in Magiterra."
"Humans," Space Dragon added in her most serious tone, "Have always been the best recipients of magic, and that made them arrogant and bloodthirsty towards the weak. Of course not all of you are the same, but the most dangerous creatures we ever created were humans."
She then perked up into a smile before asking Rebecca and Britney, "I like you two, so in exchange for lending you my power, why don't you give me a name?"
"A name?" Britney asked while stroking the little girl's hair, "You'd have to give us more time to find the perfect name." "That's right!" Rebecca declared, "but for now, I think we should sleep a bit, after all we have a long 3 days ahead of us."
They all agreed as almost everyone moved around until they were all comfortable to go to sleep.
"Hall," Michael called right before she was about to fall asleep, "Celestia wants to talk to us, c'mon."
Celestia?
Halley wondered what she could have wanted to tell her and Michael as the two of them walked deeper and deeper into the woods until they found the young princess staring into the night sky above her.
She really did look breathtaking in the moonlight, but her expression worried Halley.
What was bothering her so?
"U-um," she started, clearly scared of them, but they assured her she had nothing to worry about.
"I-I don't really remember how I became a magician," she said, "But it was probably while I was in Richard's custody. I know you don't remember much either Michael, but I thought telling you may help jog your memory a bit."
Telling him? Telling him what?
"We're going to the Air Dragon, right?"
Well, the Time Dragon was nowhere to be found, the Water and Fire dragons were in Wisteria, so the Air Dragon was the only one they could semi-safely go to. What of it?
"My Magi's name is Aeolus."
What? That would've made Celestia-
"A dragon tamer," Michael said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and reassuringly added, "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with us."
Celestia stared into his gray eyes as he said that and looked to Halley as she smiled at her.
She hugged Michael as her tense expression relieved into happiness before Halley sent her to sleep.
"You know why we have to keep it a secret, don't you?" Michael said seriously to Halley after Celestia was out of sight, and Halley knew.
The three of them all knew Kiara wouldn't be so pleased with her little sister possibly making a bond with the Air Dragon, but it had to be Celestia's decision and hers alone.
"By the way,"
Huh?
"Don't try to pick a fight with Kiara. She seems rather on edge lately."
Halley said okay, but she didn't heed Michael's words. She didn't even care for his words as he returned to camp while she "admired the night sky".
Kiara wasn't just in a bad mood. Halley knew she had changed for the worse, but she didn't know what to do about-
Halley turned at the sound of someone whistling, but she didn't see anyone anywhere near her. The whistling, however, continued on and on until she realised the tune in the notes.
It was a lullaby Mama used to sing to her and Brandon, but who could be whistling a song like that?
As Halley's mind wondered who could be whistling such a warm part of her past, the wind carried her ponytail round and round until the tune came to an end.
She had received the message loud and clear and walked back to camp, ready to learn more about bonding between a dragon and their tamer.
*****
Over the course of their 3 day journey, 3 major things happened.
(1) Space Dragon was officially named Sky by Rebecca and Britney as she explained how, "My appearance reflects my favourite humans. Since my daughter doesn't have a magician, I'm free to hang around anyone I wish until she does get one."
Though Halley had never met her, she began to feel a bit of pity for Andromeda, but she didn't exactly know why.
The second thing was the requirements to become a tamer.
A magician must be in their highest stage of power, and their Magis can induce a second or third Obrussa because of this requirement.
"The magician must also have a desire for the power."
A desire?
"That's right," Sky explained, "If they don't want the power, then a bond won't form. Simple."
However, the most surprising news was revealed the night before they arrived.
"I want to become the Air Dragon's tamer." Celestia admitted to Halley and Michael, leaving them shocked.
"I want to prove to everyone that I can also help and you don't need to protect me all the time."
Celestia really wasn't the small 7 year old who hid behind her older sister anymore, was she? She had really grown up since the last time Halley saw her, but her smile was still the same as Michael and Halley promised to help her in any way they could.
Little did they know "any way they could" would entail them somehow penetrating a giant hurricane-tornado covering an entire quarter of a planet.
"What is that?" Brandon asked as Sky bound everyone's feet to the floor in order to keep them there as they stared at the giant, violent column of wind in front of them.
"That," Sky said awfully cheerfully, "Is the Air Dragon or Airizul's guardian spirit. As you can see, not in the best mood."
"No kidding." Rebecca said sarcastically as a bolt of lightning suddenly flew in their direction.
Awan's eyes turned midnight blue as he held onto Michael's shadow while he caught the bolt heading straight for Halley.
"I think the spirit knows we're here." Chayse said, trembling as Britney added, "If we can somehow get to the center of it, we should be able to get to the Air Dragon since this seems more like a defense system than anything."
She was right, but the center had to be miles upon miles in the storm. There was virtually no way to get to the center of the storm without getting torn into pieces, Halley thought as a series of lightning bolts headed for the group.
Everyone managed to defend themselves or destroy the bolt, except Celestia. She looked to Halley as soon as they realised the same thing.
The lightning avoided her!
Halley immediately turned to Michael and told him the news, but he was still, rightfully, unsure about letting Celestia go into the storm alone, so Halley said she would go with her.
Michelangelo eyed them both before deciding, "We need to deactivate Sky's grounding spell first before we do anything."
He was right. They needed an excuse for her to get rid of the spell and Kiara was the perfect excuse.
"Guys!" Michael yelled to the rest of the group, "The lightning avoided Halley and Celestia, so there might be a chance for us to overpower the storm by combining our powers!" "That's not going to work!" Brandon replied, but Halley backed Michael's plan up by explaining how Kiara's power could pierce the storm clouds.
"The unawoken one?" Sky questioned, but Halley ignored the confusion it brought as she convinced Sky to release her spell.
As everyone prepared to blast a hole through the clouds, Michael secretly placed a cage of lightning around Halley and Celestia as they tightly grasped each other's hands.
"We attack on three!" Rebecca declared as Halley and Celestia jumped towards the storm on 2.
Halley was barely able to keep her eyes open enough to see Celestia stretch her hand towards the storm, as it parted to make a path for the cloud white-eyed magician.
The trip to the center of the storm, however, was the exact opposite of their entrance as the wind currents pulled them through the storm at a supersonic speed. Michael's cage caught a few bolts headed for Halley, but no projectile attempted to attack Celestia as they arrived at a palace made of dark storm clouds.
The storm was surrounding the palace, which meant the Air Dragon was somewhere inside.
Celestia used her magic to carry the both of them to the palace as Halley was left mesmerized by how she was standing on a cloud.
Quite literally.
Unsure of where to go, Halley offered to split up, so they could find the dragon faster, but she did feel a bit guilty lying about the reason for them to split up.
The fact Celestia didn't question her or heard the whistling meant someone was calling Halley from inside the palace.
Halley ran through the halls as the storm began shooting lightning bolts at her the second she let go of Celestia's hand. Halley thought of different ways to thank Michael for his barrier as she followed the sound of the whistling until she entered a room of darkness.
She watched as the room lit up with lightning, but she found herself walking through the strikes as the barrier around her steadily reached its limit.
She kept on walking until she was in, what felt like, the center of the room. A massive bolt of lightning hit the barrier first, shattering it into pieces as five more bolts grew in size before going to attack the young magician.
Halley went to close her eyes, but she spotted a little boy next to her and instinctively grabbed him in her arms as she braced for impact. She felt somewhat satisfied with ending her life protecting someone as it was all she ever wished for.
All she ever wanted to do was protect others.
"Really?" the little boy asked in Halley's arms, making her look at his gray and turquoise colored eyes.
She went from wondering why one eye was gray and the other turquoise to wondering why she hadn't died yet. She lifted her head and saw all the bolts of lightning frozen in the air.
Amazed, she turned to the little boy as he began to sing her mother's song.
Who was he?
She wondered as she stared at the little boy's skin. It was like Sky's, but he was made up of a dull gray and a colourful turquoise. What was his name?
"What is my name, child?" he asked, and Halley suddenly realised who he was as she said the first name that popped in her head.
Tim.
"Tim?"
Yep.
The little boy smiled as he pulled Halley along and out of the room to the static world outside.
Everything was frozen in time. Was it Tim's doing?
"Good Question."
Was he who Halley thought he was?
"Good Question."
Was he going to give her any straight answers?
"Good Question."
Halley's awe turned to slight annoyance at the little boy deliberately avoiding her questions, but the awe quickly returned as Tim showed her Celestia with her head placed on a bird's as it rested in her hands.
Halley had never seen something so beautiful as she turned to see a lonely expression on Tim's face. She crouched down to his height before hugging him and telling him she knew what to do, but she needed his help.
Tim hugged her at her follow up question and finally replied, "Okay." before she let go of him and turned back to see Celestia and the rest of the world in perfect animation. As time began, the dark storm clouds turned to match the shade of Celestia's eyes as the clouds spread out.
The two of them watched the land of clouds form around the palace as the inhabitants of the Air Dragon's land returned to their normal static positions.
Halley turned to Celestia and asked what she named the dragon, but before she could answer that, Kiara's cold voice cut into the lively atmosphere with, "Yes, Celestia. What did you name your dragon?"
Halley squeezed Celestia's shoulder as they turned to face the 6 magicians, deer boy, and dragon girl they had left behind.
Celestia held out her hands and revealed a small cloud white bird resting inside of them before saying, "This is Cloudy. Cloudy is my dragon and I am Cloudy's tamer."
Halley knew Kiara had changed enough to hate her, but she distinctively remembered how the cold princess mentioned, "There are only 12 people on this planet who love me. I have killed one with my own hands and lost another."
Kiara could never hate Celestia. It was simply impossible for her.
Halley tested her hypothesis by encouraging Celestia to go give Kiara a hug, and she did so willingly, leading to Kiara asking, "Do you not fear me?" "Not anymore," Celestia replied, "I now have the power to help you. Why would I be scared of you?"
Halley began to doubt her idea as she watched a warm smile spread across Kiara's face as she embraced her sister.
Maybe Michael was right. Maybe she was just "not in a good mood" during the ball.
"You're lucky Sky was able to tell whether or not you guys were alright." Awan said to Halley and Celestia, "Michael too."
Halley laughed a bit at Awan's surprisingly dark joke as Rebecca told Halley, "While you were away, stealing our glory, we figured out how to tame the Earth Dragon without William."
They did?
"Not tame," Brandon clarified, "But more like calm it down to the point of usefulness."
Halley asked what the plan was and if it could be used on Brandon too, and Britney replied, "It's worth a shot." getting everyone's attention off Halley as she tried to figure out her own plan.