The Summon!

While Selene stood frozen, thinking about what to do. There was a summon for her. It was the first summon she had gotten ever since she was here, and it was from Aetherius.

She clenched her fist and pressed it against her chest. It started to beat rapidly. Memories of her past life when she was thrown out of the house flashed across her face.

"Are they going to send me away?" She asked herself. She was found in the dungeon when she was born. There was no one around, not even a corpse that could be claimed to be her mother's. They were able to deduce that she was abandoned by her parents, in a dungeon. They left her there to die.

"Did you hear what I said, Celina?" The messenger asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can", she replied, and he walked away.

Celina slipped her book into the cross bag that was sewn by Eria. It was given to her as a birthday present.

The bullies that were pestering her also stopped when they heard she was summoned by Aetherius.

"Is she finally going to get thrown out?"

"She doesn't belong here anyway!"

Celina shook her head and walked away. It was a long walk from the elf's tree house to Aetherius' house. She remembered when she entered there in Eira's arms. The house was gloomy and had a stench of blood. She was just a child and was unable to see much, but it was enough to tell her how dangerous Aetherius was.

'Is he going to eat me? Should I just run away?'

She wondered.

.

After ten minutes, she arrived at the front door. Her heart started racing even faster. She had clenched her fist since she started her walk, and her palms were already sweaty.

'Go on Celina! He's not going to do anything to you'

She pushed the door open and to her surprise, it was different from what she saw when she was a baby. The place that was dark and gloomy was well-lit, decorated and looked more like a palace.

There was a round conference table and over ten people were seated there. She stood there, unable to see their faces because of how short she was, but they were able to look at her.

Their gaze pierced her as if she were the cause of their hatred for humans. But, when she saw the smile and calm look on Eira's face, her racing heart calmed.

"White hair and crimson eyes, what does it signify?"

Someone appeared in front of Celina. It was so quick that she didn't notice the person immediately. She raised her head and saw the familiar tall figure with a piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes.

It was Aetherius. Celina was still puzzled about how he was able to locate her when he was blind and was even able to know the colour of her hair and eyes.

"Albinism?" One of them gave a response. Celina looked to see who it was and met a beautiful lady with blue hair and in her hair was blue...

'Are those fins? Is she a mermaid?'

She shot her eyes wide open.

Aetherius turned his head and shook his head at Calypso's odd response.

"It's not that, Calypso. According to my knowledge, it stands for evil and also, strength. I'm sure this child will have a lot of magical abilities" Aetherius said.

"What are you talking about Aetherius?" Eria furrowed her eyebrows, but he ignored her and knelt in front of Celina.

"Do you remember me, child?" He questioned, in a calm voice. It was different from the way he sounded when they first met when she was a baby.

'Of course, I remember you. You almost threw me to those goblins to gobble up'

It's not like she could tell him that. She just shook her head like an obedient five-year-old child.

"Of course, you shouldn't be able to. I sense a lot of potential from you, and you're perfect for our mission," he said.

"Aetherius! You can't do this. She's just a child" Eria banged her hand on the table, jerking off her seat.

'What mission is this that Eira is upset? Is it... dangerous? Are they throwing me away?'

She thought to herself. She started to tremble in fear as her little heart twisted in pain just at the thought of that.

"Not another word from you, Eria!" Aetherius spoke and Eria immediately kept quiet. She fell back on her chair and grabbed her head, her worried eyes meeting with Celina's.

"Celina Sawyer. I remember that name like it was yesterday when I gave it to you. I've been preparing you for today and that's my main reason for keeping you. You... you're going to train very hard till you're ready for your mission" He said.

'Train? They aren't throwing me out? That's a relief'

She heaved a breath of relief and looked at Aetherius's face.

"What is the mission you're giving to me?" She asked with a firm voice and everyone was shocked to hear her response. They thought she would cry or pee on herself like normal five-year-old humans do, but she wasn't five years old. She died at the age of ten in her past life, if it's added to her real age in her new life, she's fifteen years old.

'Well, I'm almost an adult' She secretly grinned but flinched when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"I commend your bravery, Celina. I doubted you and called you weak. Every day till you're of age to take the door sign, you'll receive training from everyone here. When you're done, you'll receive your final training from me, Celina. Do you understand?"

"Yes," She responded.

"It's going to be difficult and tiring but as long as you work hard and complete your training, then, I'll see you as one of us"

"Thank you, my lord" Her lips curved into a smile. She was happy that she wasn't getting thrown out. She was going to stay with Eria, Clyde and the others.

Her eyes met with Eria, who was still worried about her.

Suddenly, the lady with blue hair appeared in front of her, touching her cheek.

"Why don't you start your training with me first?" She asked.

"Huh?" Celina furrowed her eyebrows.

"What does she want to learn from a mermaid?" Lyra mocked, flinging her hair to the back.

"How to stay one hour underwater? Or two at most..." Calypso clasped her palms together, as her eyes twinkled with excitement.

'Uh... no thanks. I think I'll die if I stay twenty minutes underwater', Celina thought to herself and stepped away from Calypso.

"I'll take her with me first. The elves will train her on how to use any kind of weapons and how to use sword aura before any kind of training will commence" Eria spoke, taking Celina in her hands.

"It's going to take forever to learn sword aura, once you're done, bring her to me. We have just five years to fill that tiny and immature brain of hers with everything we know. I still can't believe we are giving our teaching to a human. Tsk! Such a hassle" Lyra frowned and flew away through the window.

Celina was still aware of Lyra's hatred. Not just her; everyone was still furious that their teachings and secrets were going to be passed to a human.

They started to leave one after the other.

They were all gone and it was left with Aetherius, Celina and Eria. Eria glared at Aetherius as she held Celina's hand.

"This is not what we discussed. You promised to let her stay"

"I didn't break my promises now, did I? I'm only going to give her a mission to make her useful and also pay us for saving her life. She's the only way for us to get our revenge on those filthy humans"

"You're making a child kill her kind. How mean of you, Aetherius. She's just a...child. You're doing this only because of her, aren't you? You're trying to get your revenge on Celina and also using her" Eria was about to cry, but she held herself back since Celina was still there.

"We'll have this conversation later," she said and walked out of there with Celina. Celina looked back and saw Aetherius watching them as they walked away. She saw the white piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes stained with red.

'Is that blood?'

Celina wondered.

———

After a few minutes, they arrived at the tree house. Eria entered her room and threw herself on the chair.

"Are you alright, Eria?" Celina held her hands.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you till the end, Celina. I'm so sorry" she cried.

Celina used her small hands to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I can do it, Eria"

"Nice try, sweetheart. You're still a child. But still, we can't disobey Aetherius now, can we?" Eria let out a nervous laugh.

Clyde walked into the room and pulled Celina's pigtails.

"Ahh!" She cried out.

{Number of unlucky points: Max (+1)}

"Clyde! That's a rude way to say hi to Celina. She's just a child" "Are you alright, Sweetheart?" Eria said to Clyde and then asked Celina.

"Greetings, Your Majesty", Clyde greeted her and ignored Celina.

"Keep your greetings. But, it's a good thing you're here. You and the others will teach Celina how to weird a sword, archery, and a spear. I'm sure she's too little to hold a weapon, but you should go easy on her. Do you understand, Clyde?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Don't worry, I'll teach her a lesson that she'll never forget" Clyde answered, but his tone said otherwise. His eyes were fixed on Celina, secretly telling her how hard her training was going to be with him.