Chelsea

Cody's POV

An hour later, everyone is spread out inside the White Cabin, food spread around all surfaces as everyone lounges wherever there's a seat.

On the way over, Sloan and Jessie have James and I back control, and the Alpha contacted the Warrior Commanders and Charlotte to meet us here. Now, as conversations dull and we dig in,  James goes to start to meeting.

"Okay, Charlotte has assured me that the cabin is secure. Taylor, Enza, and Chelsea, have you guys been caught up to speed by Jasper and Art?" He asks, and they nod, thankfully clearing away having to backtrack once more. "Okay then you have the floor to fill us in on what happened on your end."

It's Taylor who jumps in, he and Enza lounging on a love seat, the Hybrid tucked under his lovers arm. "We were heading home last night from training and we heard a scream. We weren't sure what was going on, but we went to check it out. Before we could even make contact with the scream, we got ambushed by a shadow. I trapped it but I underestimated the versatility of shadow magic, and it escaped. We had almost managed to maim it enough to capture it for questions and analysis since we've never seen one or even heard of any attach recently. At least not until today. But then four more shadows showed up to help. We struggled but ultimately we managed to pin them down. We were about to destroy and capture when someone suddenly showed up and killed them all-"

"Was it a Witch?" James interrupts, and we listen intently to the answer, hoping to get some lead on the mysterious magic user that crossed into our border.

But Taylor shakes his head. "No, it was the Commander of House of Water. I don't know his name. Never cared to. But he killed them all. Swiftly. Leaving no trace of them. He claimed he was nearby and wanted to help. But I keep thinking about it. We may be neighbors sure and maybe he was on his way home from the Royal Castle. I just can't help but feel like there's something he's hiding. Like he was cleaning up his mess." He surmises and it makes me start to realize that this whole thing might be a bit more serious than James and myself included would like to believe.

"His name is Kalium Pond. I've never liked the man. He's crass, spiteful, and extremely hateful and intolerant towards anyone that doesn't have Divine blood. His House doesn't hold any favor with me either. High Lord and Lady Mist have always had close ties to Vilin, the High Council and to the Royal House, but I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. I heard their eldest child deserted his title of next in line, deciding instead to live among the mixing pot of the Capital." Artemis discloses, her ties and status able to make her a constant vessel for gossip or little snippets of information such as these.

"Okay, well if no one else will address the elephant in the room, are you saying, Taylor that you think Lord and Lady Mist may be responsible for the shadows last night?" Johnathan asks, him and the other commanders settled around the large dining room table on the opposite end of Alex, Zee, James and I.

James is immediately shaking his head, though looks from the Faerie make me worry if James is digging his heels in the sand, anxiety stopping him from being able to assess and handle possible problems. "I don't think it's smart to jump to conclusions, we can't assume that because he was there, he summoned the Shadows. He could be telling the truth. They could have found a way in themselves." James offers, but I can tell that even he isn't convinced anymore.

"Sorry, James, but I'm not so sure." Zee says shaking her head as she thinks about it, her brows furrowed as she tries to puzzle out the problem. "Here in Autumn Falls, we can make the excuse that they found their way here. Maybe even Winter Moon. The Mind Province was a stretch. But there is no way in hell, a Shadow made its way all the way from the Southwestern tip of Kaulike to the Earth Province in the most north territory in Kaulike without being seen or spotted. There's no way in hell. The only explanation is that someone summoned the Daemon. Whether it was Commander Kalium or someone else, that Shadow didn't get there by itself." She finishes and I have to admit she has a point. Though something else bothers me.

"Okay, let's say it did get summoned. Who did it? It's not as if everyone can summon and control shadows." I add, my brain wracking all the information I've gathered to try to figure out what exactly is going on.

"He's right. I'm half sex Daemon and I can't control shadows at all. None of us can. As far as I know, only Daemons, Devils and Enchanted have been able to control or manipulate shadows in any way. Beyond that, there's no one." Enza answers, which narrows our search, though not by much. "Of course, the Devils are trapped in Hell with Satan so it's just Enchanted and Daemons to look out for." He adds.

"Is it just me or does this put us right back at the problem we started with?" Jasper speaks up unexpectedly and we all turn towards him, the lazy Faerie propping his head up in his hand, his ethereal beauty making even that small act one of regal perfection.

"How?" Alex inquires and Jasper sighs as if it should be obvious.

"You guys kept saying how a shadow would be noticed. I'm pretty sure an Enchanted or Daemon would be highly noticeable in Vollmond, not to mention Melamar. A Daemon Nightly wouldn't be able to step foot into that Kingdom without everyone knowing about it. Vilin would be all over it. So if only an Enchanted or Daemon can manipulate shadows, how did those Shadows get loose last night? Or any other time for that matter." He asks and the room is silent stunned by his astute observation but also stumped, unsure how where to go now that Jasper has pointed out another glaring flaw.

There's a few beats of silence as everyone thinks before finally Titan gives us all a clue. "What if the Enchanted illegally hid their tail and horns and or tails? Like they made themselves look like a random werewolf. Or Faerie." He says, his voice deep and gravelly.

"Or a Witch." Timari exclaims, referring to the random Witch she and Johnathan found a few weeks ago, no one being able to locate her since.

"You know, that's a good point. Well we know the how. What about the why? Does anyone know what whoever is behind this wants?" Chelsea questions and there's a collective silence that meets her.

"The only indication of wanting something was during a murder a few weeks ago. Written in blood was "Revenge Shall be Had." James finally admits, clearly working against his own case of everything being just fine.

"Not to sound any alarms, but it sounds like we might be facing an impending Daemon War." Artemis says cautiously causing James to groan though almost everyone seems to agree. "I'm sorry, James, I'm just saying it does. Possible spies deeply infiltrating our homes and territories, terrorizing our people, killing and raping them, and probably even information gathering. Who knows what else they can do!" She argues, worry lining her mouth, and I have to admit that a part of me shared the same sentiment.

"Let's be real." Alex says, jumping in on James' behalf. "It's been over a thousand years since Satan was last spotted. And three hundred since the last Daemon War. Who would want to avenge Satan and why? It doesn't make sense." He argues and he's right, we can't argue that.

"He's right." Jasper says, shrugging as he goes to lay back in his chair, a disinterested look on his face though his eyes clearly miss nothing. "As history tells it: Satan led her own children to war and ruin, forcing them to betray her for their own self interest and survival. They say that Satan was jealous of Celeste's throne in Heaven and the blessings and Soulmates her children received. So she fought to take them from Celeste, fighting until there was nothing left, her children betrayed her and she was locked away, along with her Devil Generals inside the Gates of Hell. Blah blah blah, happily ever after. I doubt anyone would want to save her from the consequences of her own actions. Wouldn't they want her to rot now that there's peace?" He asserts as if it's obvious, but the set of his jaw tells me he's just as worried as the rest of us.

Even so, assurance helps soothes me a little, that is, until Artemis brings up something I somehow managed to forget.

"What if this is what that prophecy was about? I wrote it down that day and have been carrying it with me ever since." She admits as she reaches for the gold locket at her throat, the Melamarian crest embedded into the charm. With some too small to see latch, she pops the charm open, turning it over to reveal a rolled up piece of paper.

"Spatial magic, holy shit." Timiari breaths, her brows raised, clearly impressed.

Artemis reads it aloud, the words just as eerie and heavy as the first time I heard them.

"Fangs, paws, mana, horns, and magic
if these cannot become one, the result is tragic
blindfolds, missing pieces and keys
the official story isn't the one to seize
after three hundred moons, darknesss persists
uncovering of history will cause hearts to shift
All as one the united stand tall
As the oldest source of evil finally falls
wait for the dawn breed by the briefest of nights
for the fifteen warriors that show the world their might.
the ages long fight will come to a close
As a phoenix from the ashes, a new age rose."

The air is still and quiet before like a spell, it's broken with a sharp gasp and giggle of glee from Timari. "Guys, the first line. We have everyone but the Fangs and Magic now. I would assume that would be Vampires and Witches?" She asserts, looking around for confirmation.

"Yeah, Faeries seperate themselves by saying they have an affinity to natural mana which allows us to use our connection with nature to manipulate it as we please. To Faeries, magic castors are accused of abusing and manipulating the mana itself, bending and changing its will to fit the user rather then working together. Hence, potions and the occasional spell. Faeries say it makes it forced." Taylor explains.

"Then horns would be Enchanted, I would assume. Paws and Mana are clearly wolves and Faeries. Question is, why aren't the rest of the species there? Why just those? Faeries, Magicians, Wolves, Enchanted and Vampires. Why not Hybirds, Incubi, Angels or even Daemons?" Johnathan concludes. It seems like the more we try to figure out the more questions that seem to arise.

"No, you guys, listen to the next part." Artemis says reaching for the paper though the words have been seared into our minds since we've heard them. "Right here, it say: 'blindfolds, missing pieces and keys; the official story isn't the one to seize; after three hundred moons darknesss persists; uncovering of history will cause hearts to shift'- that's the next part. What if it's referring to what we were just talking about?" She questions hesitantly and she's  met with a sea of confusion.

"What do you mean?" Zee prompts and she considers it for a moment before answering, her voice understandably no when we hear her words.

"Well what were we just talking about? The official history, aka, story of what happened between Nightlies and Divine Children. About the War and Peace Treaty. What if the blindfold means we're blind to the truth- the missing pieces. The key to the truth! It says the official story isn't one to seize. And here, right after that, it says that after three hundred moons- three hundreds years, hearts will start to shift once the true history is uncovered." She claims adamantly and the room is quiet.

No one looks at her, I'm not even sure anyone breathes.

Because what Artemis just said is enough to have Vilin breaking down our doors and locking us up for slander against Vilin and therefore, Celeste. What she just said would mean that our entire life and society was built upon lies and cover ups so big, it could change our loyalties. It's a possibility so terrified so pervasive, I don't even want to consider it, the level of perversion, manipulation and control that would be needed to complete such a feat so immeasurable it's almost laughable. And James does before Jasper, Alex, and Taylor join in.

"Celeste, Art, I know we're in the White Cabin but that was a reckless reach even for you." He jokes with others agreeing, but the weight of her question doesn't go away, and underlying sense of unease there as we try to move on.

"Okay, well, right now all we're doing is throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. We're wasting time and stressing ourselves out more than needed We have too many unanswered questions to be able to act on anything." Alex says, joining James' attempt to redirect and diffuse the situation.

"Exactly. We all have a trusted spy we can have keeping an eye on these things, and I'll be sure to get this information to Winter Moon & Lord Azrin. In the meantime watch for anymore shadows. Maybe you and Jasper, Art can check into House of Water. Like Alex said we don't have enough information yet to make any moves, and we don't want to start accusing people of things and end up in an entirely different war due to a misunderstanding. Let's keep an eye on things and meet back here in about a month." James decides and everyone agrees, though some a little more reluctant than others. Finally the mood in the room dissolves as we find ourselves talking about other things, just shooting the breeze before Enza checks the time, snapping us all back to reality and our responsibilities.

"Oh shit. I have to go you guys, I promised my twin we would spend tonight together." Enza says starting to get up, and Taylor immediately moves with him. Everyone else starts to move as well, realizing it's later than we had initially planned to stay out.

Taylor and Enza comes towards me, passing Jasper and Art who stop to talk to James by the door. "It was good to see you. And Jessie and Sloan looked amazing. It was so nice of you to set that up for them." Enza tells me while stretching out his hands for me to grab which I do with an easy smile.

"Thank you. And thank you for your help I couldn't have done it without you." I remind him but he waves me away.

"It's nice to see at least someone get their dream. I have yet to get my face quite right to go myself." He mutters and Taylor rolls his eyes though plants a kiss against his temple with a loving smile.

"Let me get this one home before Fiona tries to kill me again. I'll see you at school, Cody." Taylor offers before leading them away with a wave over their shoulders. I wave in return, and catch the attention of the last of the Faeries who are leaving as well. Artemis and Chelsea wave in return and Jasper nods before the three disappear out of the door leaving only our inner Autumn Team, Charlotte stepping through the door of the Cabin a few moment later.

"Oh man after all that brain activity and all that food, I think I'm ready for a nap." Alex yawns, and I'm thinking the same, that is- until I notice that everyone conveniently left behind their take out trash for us to clean.

There's a collective groan as the eight of us get started on clean up. Ten minutes later we're locking up and heading towards the Limos that Artemis gracefully left behind for us.

Full, content and ready for sleepy time cuddles, I revel at how full and filled my life is after all that time of feeling so alone and alienated.

This is what it's like to live. To care about something greater than yourself. It's intoxicating. And refreshing.

And I make a promise to myself to never lose it again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really am falling in love with this series. I can't wait for when it's finished. Just in time for summer. I hope it picks up traction even though I'm on a new page. We'll see

Thoughts?

Comments?

QOTD: Do you build legos?