Celestia POV

The other side felt colder, and the winds were faster, too. That's not what got my attention, though. I felt it before I saw it. Turning around I saw my mother sitting cross-legged on the lake's edge - at the same lake I was talking to Janus moments before. Except this time, she wasn't alone. Beside her stood a little girl with blonde hair just like mine talking animatedly about something. My mother whispered something to the little girl and stood.

"Mom!" After everything, I'm finally with her again. She didn't waste time and hugged me the moment she was close enough.

"Oh, my sweet little angel. I'm so glad you're okay." Hugging her again felt like home. That feeling of peace you've never felt anywhere besides in your mother's arms was just like returning home after you've been away for a while. "We don't have much time Celestia, you need to return home." After a slight pause, she looked behind me and continued "You both do."

Ash! Looking back I saw my brother's shocked expression. He felt so much confusion. I probably didn't have until we came back from the trip to explain everything.

"Hello Asher, it's a pleasure to meet you officially!" My brother looked gobsmacked when Mom hugged him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She didn't respond to him. Instead, she turned toward me "Celestia, look at me. My beautiful daughter, I am proud of you. But your future holds so much more. That's why you need to go back to your time." What? My time... I didn't understand until a squeal from under the tree distracted me. I turned and saw the little girl and it hit me like lightning. That's me! Did we time-travel to the past?

I remember dancing under the tree the same way. I pretended that the lower vines or branches, still don't know the correct term, were rain drops and I was happy there were even leaves falling. It must have been autumn then... I mean now? Is that why I couldn't stay? My Mom answered my unspoken question "I'm sorry. I wish I could come to you in your timeline, but it's impossible right now. Was my riddle too easy? Did anyone follow you here?" Now I was confused.

"It wasn't that easy and I don't know if anyone followed us. It's not dawn either. Your friend Janus was there. He opened the doorway."

She nodded in understanding. Taking out a piece of paper from her pocket, Mom handed it to me. "Take this. It will lead you to something I made for you. It's hidden, but once you show this paper to the guardian, they will give it to you."

"I don't..." Not letting me finish, she continued.

"I know it's scary because everything around you isn't familiar, but you are special. You can handle it. I'm sure of it. Soon, someone will come, who will have more answers to give you. Now, we can't risk the other angels feeling an anomaly in the timeline. They would get suspicious. It's why you need to take your brother and go. Go back home and retrieve the object!"

I didn't understand what the hurry was. So what if the 365 second deadline passed? My Mom was an angel and I was pretty sure she could send us back to the right timeline after we had time to talk. "Angels aren't all-powerful like our Father, Celestia. Commanding time is complicated and forbidden for us. Others can do it freely though." Like Janus? Who was he?

"Will I see you again?" I couldn't help but tear up at the question. The prospect of never seeing my mother again was heartbreaking. I can't live on Earth and not see my mother again.

"I will always be here." She touched her palm to my chest. "And here, too." She pointed to my forehead. That helped me settle a bit, but a part of me couldn't stop thinking about it. My mother never outright lied to me. She might have led me to believe I was a regular angel, but she never outright said it. Just like she never said she would ever see me again.

From beside me, Ash held my hand. He was squeezing like I was about to disappear or something. My Mom told us "The time is almost up. Go back home and be careful. They will want to take you and turn you, but I know no matter how tempting, darkness can never dim your pure light, my sweet child."

The winds became louder and stronger. Looking behind us the butterfly doorway was closing. It started to flicker, too. Ash pulled my hand and we started walking toward it. Turning back one more time I didn't see my Mom anymore or myself as a child. They were just gone. I remember that we unexpectedly went home without warning that day, I just didn't know why. Now I do, I guess.

On the other side, Janus was waiting on the bench. When he saw us, he stood back up and said "It was good to meet you little Nephilim. Your story is just beginning." In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The piece of paper my mother gave me looked like some sort of receipt. It was from a place called "Pawn & Loan Brokerage Bazaar"

"So Weston knows everything. Is that why he insisted on picking where we went?" Ash was looking out to the water, he was feeling mostly confused, in denial, and slightly hurt. I didn't know what to say.

Feeling stuck I blurted out "I was going to tell you when we got home. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, please forgive me."

Like the pressure of a bottle of champagne right before the cork is blasted off the bottle, Ash was overwhelmed. I was expecting him to explode on me, but he surprised me with his next words. "Let's talk when we get home. I just need some time to process. When we get back home, we can have that talk you wanted." Turning around, he started walking back the way we originally came.

Around the corner, Wes ran toward us when he saw us turning. "Thank God! Where have you guys been? How about you answer your phones next time, eh? You had the whole family worried."

Ash said, "Maybe, you should actually call next time and we will answer."

Wes shook his head "Dude, everyone must have called you at least a hundred times. We've been looking for you guys for more than an hour."

At that statement, Ash looked at his phone and furrowed his brows. Shaking his head and shrugging he answered "Whatever, let's just go home."

We got to the main building in the garden, where everyone was waiting for us. Honestly, I didn't hear what they were talking about. My mind was occupied with the events from before. I remembered how Isabella and Gia found a B&B on their phones and even reserved rooms online. Maybe I can ask Google where this place from the receipt was.

I typed the name in the search bar and waited for the results to load. There was a website with the exact name as the first result that came up on the screen. I tapped it and looked through their website. There was a button called "See where to find us," so I tapped it. A map loaded and a red ping was blinking on it.

Since I didn't know how to read a map, I had to ask someone for help. I didn't even know which city this was in. I chose to ride with Weston in Mateo's car, while Dad and Isabella rode with Asher. I was afraid to look my second-oldest brother in the eye. What if he didn't like me anymore?

On our way back to the hotel, I debated who to talk to about this and decided to go straight to the top. As Isabella got our luggage ready, I asked my Dad to talk privately since he was coming with me in the car. The rest of the family was taking the plane tomorrow morning, except for Grandma Gia and Leo, who were going to stay for a few more days to see more of their friends from Italy.

"Your brothers and Isabella are going to stay for dinner to see the Russo family tonight with your grandparents, so if you want to say goodbye to them, now is your chance. We will see them again tomorrow at home." Dad reminded me before we left. But I wasn't sure Ash would want to see me since he wanted time to process everything and Weston already knew what happened in the garden. I told him everything on our way back in the car. Mateo must have thought we were up to something because we were conspiratorially whispering.

"Dad, I wanted your help with something." I unlocked my phone and showed him the map on the shop's website. "I was wondering if you know where this is, I can't read the map."

"Of course, sweetheart. Let's see." Taking the smartphone from me, it took him less than ten seconds to figure it out. "It's a few blocks from the hotel actually. How did you find this place?"

"I... it was on this receipt." Nervously I handed him the piece of paper Mom gave me. It had her name on it and I wasn't sure if my human family knew my mother's name. Dad felt calculating and curious.

"Where did you get this?"

I decided lying was impossible considering how bad I am at it, so I opted to share a form of the truth. "One of Mom's friends was in the garden waiting for me. I got this from my mother, she meant it for me."

"Honey, do you know where your Mom is now?" Shaking my head I looked down. Even evading the truth felt awful. "Okay, let's get the bags in the trunk and we can visit the shop before leaving." I was surprised that he agreed. Why? Then I read his feelings and it became clear. He thought that doing this would give him more information on my past and angelic family. Well, it might. I'm not sure what my mother left for me.

We easily found the place, it was situated on a corner next to an antique tailor shop. When we entered the bell at the door had the most unique sound similar to the bells in a Christmas carol. The shop itself was full of interesting object and there wasn't even one empty shelve. Dad went straight ahead to the register, but I stayed looking around. Each of these objects had history, almost like we were inside a head full of hoards of memories from different people.

Not long after a woman came from the back, she had curly dark hair and Asian features. Her accent was plain American though. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"We are here to retrieve something with a pawn ticket." My Dad was confident but the woman looked almost bored.

"Can I see the ticket?" Dad handed the paper to her and she typed something into a computer. Surprise, fear, and urgency were the only feelings that I could read from her after she obviously found what she was looking for on the screen. "Since I'm a thousand percent sure you aren't the owner of the item, I can't release it to you. There are specific instructions left, and this item can only be given back to the family that owns it, which I am sure you aren't a part of, so I suggest you leave before I call the police."

I stepped up to the counter and voiced my thoughts. "The note is from my mother, she left me something, I'm sure of it." The woman looked at me for the first time and her defensive stance with crossed arms turned on a dime. She stepped back and looked down with her hands behind her back.

"Of course, Miss. I will be right back with the item!" She rushed out.

Not long after that, she came out carrying an old wooden box. It was larger than I expected too. It had some runes carved on the sides, while the top was inscribed with something written in a beautiful antique calligraphy font. "Lux tua coelestis nos omnes tuebitur." I read it out loud as I touched the exquisitely crafted box.

"What language is that?" Dad asked from beside me.

"Latin."

"You can speak a dead language?"

His question confused me "How can a language be dead? It's a tool for communication, it was never alive in the first place."

Smiling at me, he tilted his head in agreement. "True. Are you fluent in Latin?"

I noticed that the shopkeeper had been curiously listening to us, so I decided to cut the conversation short. "Let's talk more at home." I tried picking up the box, but Dad wouldn't have it, he picked it up himself and we left the shop. Putting the box in the trunk of the car, we started driving back just as the sunset.

On our way out of the city, my Dad gently stated. "Sweetheart, I don't want you to think I'm mad, but in the future, I want to know when something like this happens. We thought we were alone in the park and the employees let someone else in. Not only that, but you met with someone we don't know without telling us. I know you didn't mean to worry us, but not all strangers are friendly and we just want to make sure you're safe."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know Janus will be there. I was hoping my Mom would come."

"It's all right. Next time we just want to be included in the conversation." Nodding I turned around to look outside of the window. The movement of the car was lulling me to sleep and I ended up sleeping on our way home.

What's in the fancy box?

How many languages do you think Celestia Aurora knows?

Question of the day: Do you prefer writing or reading books?

P.S. This is what the box looks like. I also added the picture to the Aesthetics chapter.