Chapter 42 First Steps (1/2)
”Sweet pea let's get you dressed first. Roy see if you can get some help to clean this mess up and Rin, hun go sit down we don't want you going into early labour just yet.” Lady Zula said as wrapped her arms around Ariana and helping her take a few steps forward. The Lumas were closely following Ariana as they cheered for their master's awakening. 'Master you've been asleep for too long, way too long!' Duko said as he jumped around in the air. Rahul had already found his spot on her head, Davita curled around her neck and Lorelei followed cosy behind.
'Honestly the whole lot of you... let Master have some space! She just woke up from the chrysalis!' Aroha chirped causing Ariana to blink a few times before looking at her mother. ”Chrysalis?” Ariana asked in shock while Lady Zula started to tear up again and rubbed Ariana's arms as they walked. ”Yes dear, you were inside a giant garnet chrysalis for two years.” Ariana stumbled over her own feet and Lady Zula tightened her grip, stopping her from falling. ”Two years?! What day is it?!” She shouted causing Roy and Rin to look at her. ”Yes... two years. As for the day... it's the first day of the New Year.” Ariana walked with Lady Zula in a daze. ”Happy 15th birthday to me.” She mumbled to herself.
After Lady Zula helped her find a set of clothes from one of the girls still living at the cafe. She called everyone down for a meeting. ”Alright I know a lot of you have questions and honestly I thank every single one of you for sticking with us. We may have lost a few of you but the ones here right now, I swear to you that I will protect you to the best of my abilities. I will also pass word to my mother and let her know of your plans if you choose to leave after finding out certain details today.... sniff... really all of you thank you.”
Everyone nodded their heads and looked at Ariana quietly. She looked at everyone's faces and gave them a gentle smile almost everyone stayed with her, there were only 4 girls missing from Lady Zula's group and only Becca, Clawdean and Sammie were the only ones to show up from the guild. Her heart ached a little, she couldn't blame the ones who stayed away. In their eyes she was a monster, as she was about to open her mouth the door to the cafe opened. ”Wait! Wait! Wait! We are here too! Sorry we ran here as fast as we could once we got word. Honestly it always happens the moment I give myself a break! You have to make your grand entrance and ruin my date!” Ariel shouted as she dragged Seeley in with her.
Ariana burst into tears and started running towards them. She jumped and landed on top of both of them, tears spilling like a river as she looked at them. ”Ariel! Seeley! I thought you left me! I knew you would be together but it hurt so much not seeing you here!” Ariel and Seeley hugged Ariana as tightly as they could. ”You've gotten so big, I don't think I can pick you up anymore.” Seeley said with a bright smile. ”Seriously brat! How can you keep us waiting for so long! You better explain everything!” Ariel shouted as she puffed out her cheeks.
Ariana nodded her head and walked back to her mother. With tears still brimming her eyes she looked at everyone. ”I am not normal... I am actually a being that shouldn't exist in this world... Something of a myth or legend but honestly anyone who knows of my existence is just frightened. Rin can you come here for a second?” With help from Roy, Rin got up from her chair and waddled towards Ariana. She looked at Rin and took a deep breath, she lifted her hand up, and placed it a foot above her chest. She closed her eyes and looked deep within herself until she saw the sparks she was looking for. A small smile appeared on her lips and she opened her eyes. Her hand started to glow a soft blue with whisps of white and Rin's eyes grew wide.
Ariana closed her fist and waited a few moments before flicking her wrist upwards with her index and middle finger pointing up. Rin could feel her body heating up, soon she broke out into a sweat and had a pained expression indicating she was ready to throw up. ”Ariana what are you doing?!” Roy shouted as he stood up causing his chair to topple over while everyone else watched with stunned faces.
Rin tilted her head upwards, opened her mouth with a scream and flying out came a strange metallic looking, liquid, ball. The ball floated over towards Ariana and Roy ran up to catch Rin as her legs gave out. ”This is what has been keeping you from living your life freely.” She said softly and allowed the ball to hover over the palm of her hand, reflecting Rin's horrified face. Rin covered her mouth, trying her best to muffle her crying. ”Try saying it.” Ariana cooed while Rin shook her head no but Ariana gently closed her hand and dissolved the liquid just as her hand stopped glowing.
”Rin it's gone now, it won't hurt you or the baby or anyone else. So can you please talk about your mission? Who was I staying with and why was I there?” Rin took a deep breath and steadied herself with Roy's help. ”What do you know so far?” Ariana gave a sigh of relief and looked at Rin. ”I was born the first day of the new year but was born as an empty vessel for the church's use. My mother paid for my existence with her own life while my uncle sacrificed himself to send me back to their clan.”
The room was eerily silent and Rin nodded her head. ”Do you know who your parents are?” Lady Zula said in a shaky voice that caught Ariana off guard. Ariana looked at Lady Zula and shook her head. ”I only know their titles, I have no idea who or what they look like...” Lady Zula placed a gentle hand on Ariana's face and gave her a sweet smile. ”From the moment I heard that someone was trying to sell a little girl with jewel like eyes and hair as black as the night sky, I had a feeling deep down inside... I hoped and prayed it was you and when I saw you I knew I needed to have you by my side, I wanted to experience my youth again. So I acted selfishly, acted like you were nothing and kept things from you but my love for you is real, even if it seemed to easy to get.”
”Mom?” Ariana had mixed feelings she knew that winning over Lady Zula was rather effortlessly but to find out she was played by her. She couldn't help but smile. ”You know you look just like her... even more so now that your older. My sweet, best friend Evangeline.” Ariana's jaw dropped along with Rin's. ”How?! There was no way they would have let her go to mingle with people?!” Rin shouted but Lady Zula waved away Rin's anger. ”Of course they would let her go to the Academy! Unless they wanted their followers to burn down the church demanding her freedom.” Roy started to scratch his cheek as he looked at the woman. ”Mom you got to explain it a bit more, I'm lost and I don't think I'm the only one.”
Lady Zula sighed. ”Ariana your mother was someone rather special. She original came from a clan of people who worshipped the elementals. She was their priestess who had a deep connection with the elementals, spirits, fairies and other magical beasts however her existence was found out by the church and people wanted her in their pockets for selfish reasons. She was someone so special that the balance of the entire Kingdom relied on it. Not even the Royals could touch her yet the church kept her locked away for a decade performing miracles. The community cried for her to become more advanced when one of her healings failed, the priests begged to have teachers from the Academy to come to them so she couldn't leave. In the end she was given three years of freedom.” Ariana let go of Lady Zula and looked at everyone in the room. She took a deep breath to stop her heart from shaking as she looked at everyone again.
”My mother was the jewel eyed priestess and my father was the Prince of the garnet dragons.” Everyone exploded in a frenzy. ”I thought the priestess was married to a royal in the neighboring Kingdom!” Jessica shouted.
”No, I heard she was still travelling around healing the cursed, sick and abandoned.” Gloria countered.
”No they said she went back to live with the elementals and magical creatures of our Kingdom!” Becca said as she slammed her fist against the table.