Okay, so apparently you were waiting for Chailey longer than I realized...
I'd say about 1/3 of the comments on last chapter were about the kiss;)

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Chapter 38

Sperodyfis was great, but it was absolutely impossible to get a private moment. More precisely, it was impossible to get a private moment with the boy who just kissed you the night before.

Autumn and I hadn't slept much as we had spent half of the night talking about Chase and boys in general, but Aiden was obviously well-rested and more excited than ever. He was also completely clueless about Autumn's efforts to get Chase and I alone.

He seemed to calm down once we'd eaten lunch, and the four of us went to sit down on the dew-covered grass, each in our own thoughts.

"I hope they're all fine back in Sol," Aiden was, unsurprisingly, the first one to break the silence.

Autumn nodded. "Yeah, I hope my family's okay."

"Mine, too," Aiden said.

"They wouldn't go to the human world, now that I'm gone, would they?" I inquired.

"Don't worry, about your father," Chase reassured me. "All enemy troops are focused on Aeolus, and there hasn't been sight of even one of them since I brought you back here."

Autumn put her hand on my arm. "I'm sure he's fine. If anything had happened it would have been reported immediately."

"Do you think your mother's still alive?" Aiden asked, receiving a look from Chase. His eyes widened, "Sorry, didn't think. That's probably a bit insensitive."

I waved it away, "It's fine. Yes, I do think she's alive. It's as if, if she wasn't, I'd know. Or at least that's what I want to believe. My dad and my grandpa seem to think she's still alive, though. I want to find her, you know. I'm not sure how to yet, but now that I know she's a Winged, I'm already so much closer than when I made myself a promise to find her, two years ago. I want to know why she left, the way she talks, the way she laughs..." I trailed off, feeling my eyes sting a bit.

"Even if you find her, how do you know she'll want to talk to you, though?" Chase asked. Aiden sent him a 'look who's being insensitive now!'-glare.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. If she left, she probably had a good reason."

"She's her mother!" Autumn seemed a bit taken aback by Chase's reaction, but then so was I. "Of course she'll be glad to see her. Even if she had a good reason, she probably was crying the whole time, thinking of leaving her baby girl."

Chase snorted. "What do you know about that?"

Aiden sat up, an anxious glint in his eyes. "You guys, look! Isn't that rock beautiful? I'm gonna name it-"

"I know because all mothers love their children," Autumn ignored Aiden.

Aiden gave up trying to distract them. "Okay, Chase, you have mommy issues, we get it. Both of you calm down."

"I don't have mommy issues. My mother is the one with the issues." Chase unconsciously proved Aiden's point.

"Come on, Chase. Your mother is trying to be forgiven. I know you threw away the stuff she sent you for your birthday without even opening it," He said accusingly.

"So what if I did? I do what I want. And if she regrets what she did, then good, but maybe she should have thought of that before."

"Come on," Aiden started.

"You have no idea, Aiden. Your mom is a sweet lady who always goes out of her way to find me birthday presents even thought she knows very well she doesn't have to. She was there when I was named Second in Command. My mother wasn't. So stop pretending you understand." Chase was standing, now.

"Okay, don't be a butt-hole now." Aiden narrowed his eyes.

"A butt-hole? You know who's a butt-hole? My stepfather. That's who. And my mother for marrying him."

"Okay," Aiden stood up too, "Stop acting like I'm against you, 'cause you know I'm not. Just go punch a rock or something and stop ruining everyone's day."

They glared at each other for a minute, then Chase strode off looking murderous.

Aiden sighed. "Just ignore what he said, he'll cool down soon enough."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and left the opposite way, kicking a random rock.

Autumn and I stayed quiet for a moment longer, then exchanged a look.

"It's always so lovely to be caught in the middle of a private argument," Autumn commented.

I grimaced in answer. "I think I should go talk to him."

"Nah, you heard what Aiden said, leave him time to cool off." Autumn plucked a few blades of grass, twirling them between her fingers. "I give them an hour before they're the best friends ever again. Come on, there's something I want to go see." She threw the grass at me and stood up.

"What is it?" I brushed the grass off me.

"The Sielg."

"Oh, yeah, the magic rocks. I remember them."

***

"Autumn, I think gravity just broke."

Autumn gave me a look.

"Okay, true," I conceded, as my feet were still firmly planted on the ground. "But explain this, then."

Autumn returned her attention to the Sielg. She shrugged, "Sometimes, you can't explain magic with logic."

Sielgs were actually a bit like standing stones, except they were engraved with curious, glowing symbols. It might also be noted they were floating a good foot off the ground. Because rocks do that here, apparently.

"If I passed my hand under it, what would happen?" I was curious to know.

"No idea, so don't. The Sielg are propelled up by a continuous flow of magic, and so much magic at once can be unpredictable."

As if to confirm her words, the air under one of the Sielg suddenly sparked blue.

I pointed to the top of another Sielg. "I keep seeing these butterflies. They're really pretty."

"Beautiful," Autumn agreed, admiring the bright blue wings, "but they're not butterflies."

"Of course they're not. I should have known, after all it would be too easy to have normal, non-floating rocks and normal, butterfly-like butterflies." I dead-panned. That thing definitely looked like a butterfly to me.

"Welcome to Sperodyfis," Autumn smiled. "I told you the magic was stronger here."

A resounding boom made me wince and look up at the sky. "Hopefully their storms aren't magically enhanced."

Autumn frowned. "There are about five clouds in the whole sky. I don't think that was thunder."

"Awesome," I muttered. "I bet you whatever you want that something nice and cuddly is coming right our way."

Autumn chose not to pick up on my sarcasm. "The sky's darkening."

"Yep, I saw. I guess it is a storm after all."

She shook her head, "No. Wait, what's that?"

A black figure emerged from the clouds.

"Loyal followers of Alaris," his voice was magnified enough for us to hear him clearly, "Our beautiful goddess has sent me-"

"Listen, oh faithless impersonator." Another voice cut him off. These people's megaphones certainly worked better than the one my gym teacher used. "The goddess does not speak through your mouth."

Autumn pointed to the top of the temple, to show me that it was the High Priest speaking.

"Call back your shadows, do not taint the waters of Sperodyfis."

The newcomer, his features hidden under the hood of his cloak, seemed unflustered. "Or what? Come on, friend, you know what I seek. Just hand it over, and you'll all be safe."

"I am neither your friend, nor am I foolish, fiend." The High Priest's voice was cold.

Someone tugged at my arm, "Come on, Princess, it is not safe here," a young girl whispered.

I was too taken by the events unfurling around me to answer.

"Princess!" She insisted, louder.

In the mass of clouds, the newcomer froze mid-sentence, turning slowly towards us.

I gasped, feeling as if he was looking straight at me. He couldn't have heard; it was impossible.

"Ah, so the rumors are true," he said smoothly. "There is indeed a new heir to the kingdom. A shame you were taken too fast to be shown who the real enemies are. But it is not too late, after all. My Prince will be delighted to see you."

The High Priest's voice echoed around me distantly, but no one seemed to pay much attention.

"Well, what do you say, sweetheart?" The stranger moved closer with a few wing beats.

My mouth opened, but fear stole any words I might have.

"I don't know what she says," A masculine voice spat, "But I say you can shove your proposition up somewhere dark and mysterious."

Chase appeared from one of the smaller island, flying up to the man's level.

"Who are you to dare speak to me that way?" The man seemed more surprised than offended. "Never mind, you shall serve as an example to show what will happen to the rest of you if you don't give me what I want immediately."

He rose his hand, revealing a curious weapon: a short staff.

Chase unsheathed his own sword, his features calm.

"Bring it on, fish-face."

The man grinned, and two sharp blades sprang out at either side of his staff. To his disappointment, Chase didn't even flinch.

Suddenly, the sharp clang of metal against metal rattled my teeth, and the fight began.

Despite the stranger's previous cockiness, Chase was holding his own remarkably well. Unlike his opponent who was impaired by his long cloak, Chase's movements were quick and light.

On land, everyone seemed to be coming to their senses.

A whispered rippled though us. "All fighters at the ready."

Yet, they couldn't fire any arrows without risking hurting Chase, and I had not seen any sword-fighters in Sperodyfis.

Up in the air, the battle showed no sign of slowing down, until Chase succeeded in nicking his adversary's arm. The latter roared in fury.

"Enough!"

His weapon sparked with electricity, but it seemed controlling the magic took more effort than he could spare at the moment. Chase's sword absorbed all the sparks effortlessly, while the man's movement became slower. Seizing the opportunity, Chase disarmed him with a clean swipe.

His opponent watched his weapon fall through the air, stunned.

"There is no honor in fighting a weaponless man," Chase spoke, a bit breathless. "Surrender now."

"Oh, but I am not weaponless," The man smirked.

With a snap of the finger, a ball of electricity the size of a boulder came hurtling at Chase. The boy was too slow to duck out of the way, and took the full strength of the attack. The blow propelled him backwards, making him crash into the rocky cliff.

My mouth opened in a silent scream. I was too shocked to make any sounds.

'The key,' a voice whispered in my mind.

I didn't waste time reflecting about the strangeness of it. I immediately took it off my neck, and then I somehow knew exactly what to do. I whipped around, straight to the nearest Sielg, and pushed the key to the rocky surface, startling the blue butterfly still perched on top of it.

The rock closed around the key as if it was made of play-dough. Slowly but surely, the Sielg swallowed the key, and the butterfly-shaped gem glowed brighter and brighter.

Spooked, the blue butterfly flew right into my face, obscuring my vision momentarily. Yet, in a way I didn't mind, because thanks to the distraction I hadn't been able to see the boy I had kissed under the stars just yesterday falling down like a limp rag.

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And now the weather. :)

Remember how you loved me for making Chailey happen last chapter? That was nice. Let's focus on that, shall we?
I will now proceed to lock myself up in a bunker and try to not be killed by angry fangirls. :D Yay!
(Will you think I'm a bad person if I say writing this chapter was more fun than writing the last one?)