It had been a month since Cayden left and Ariana regretted everyday that she didn't see him off. To make up for her lack of courage she decided to write Cayden at least once a week in order to mend their relationship.
Four letters had been sent out and not one reply had been received but it didn't make her depressed. She just thought that he was busy as he transferred so late into the semester. Christmas break was only 6 weeks away and according to the Academy's schedule it also meant examination time.
She asked Zula's girls if it was a good idea to make a homemade charm for Cayden's success in his exams and the girls went nuts trying to come up with the best charm design. They all finally settled on a simple red pouch with the golden phoenix embroidered onto the bag and to have an adder stone made of lapis lazuli inside the pouch.
Ariana quickly got to work and was able to purchase a lapis lazuli stone and learned from Becca and her team how to refine the stone to make it into an adder stone. It took weeks to finish the project and she barely made the deadline to send it in the mail so that Cayden would receive before his exams started.
She could barely contain her excitement as she counted down the days before the students were let out for Christmas break. She spent the remainder of her free time making everyone she cared about their Christmas gifts and planning the Christmas feast they would be holding at the cafe for anyone who was interested. The Lumas were excited to see Adonis again and could barely hold their excitement when their were decorating the Christmas cookies Ariana had baked.
'Master, it's only 10 more hours until Cayden and Adonis come back home!' Duko barked as his tail wagged vigorously, smacking Aroha and Lorelei. Ariana laughed as she picked Duko up. "I know! This will be everyone's first Christmas with us and I want it to be special!" She said as she scratched behind Duko's ears.
Vasu was busying himself by licking the left over frosting off the spatula. While Rahul and Davita curled themselves up by the stove. "I think all we need to do now is wash the dishes and then we can go up to bed. Can I count on you to help me out?" She called out to her Lumas. Instantly everyone started to get up and gather what they could.
Ariana beamed in delight as she let Duko go and walked over the sink. She rolled up her sleeves and started scrubbing away. It didn't take her very long to clean and put everything away but her body felt drained.
She half dragged herself out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. She placed one foot on the first step and felt a sharp pain run down her abdomen. "Ugh!" She breathed out and doubled over. 'Master are you alright?' Davita asked as she started using her bat wings to fan Ariana's paling face.
"I'm fine, I think. Just a really weird pain... I think... I think it's finally over." She said as she tried to stand up but instantly dropped to her knees as she broke out into a cold sweat. 'Master!' The Lumas shouted as they tried to give her body support. Her vision started to get blurry and the pain was starting to get worse. She wet her lip before she took a deep breath in. "Mom!" She shouted before she blacked out.
Ariana woke up to someone looking into her face. She blinked a few times to try and focus her vision. "Sammie... I'm sorry you must have been with your family." She started to say and was instantly surprised how weak her voice sounded. "You are my family too, so think nothing of it." Sammie said as he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Now can you tell me what happened?" Ariana nodded and found that she was feeling extraordinarily lightheaded. "I walked to the stairs and felt a horrible pain in my stomach. Like someone made me swallow a knife and it was now stabbing me." Sammie nodded his head. "Can I feel you stomach?" He asked and Ariana nodded her head very slowly.
Lady Zula watched closely as Sammie started pressing down on her abdomen but Ariana barely gave him a reaction instead she started sweating even more. "Lady Zula have you noticed Ariana acting strangely recently?" Lady Zula pondered a little and suddenly came to a realization.
"Mood swings, not bad ones just cries very easily. I just thought that because Cayden was gone it was the cause but now...." Sammie nodded his head. "You seem to be reaching the same conclusion." He then turned to Ariana and patted the back of her hand. "I'm going to leave this conversation with your mother but I can tell you in a couple of days there will be some changes in your body and it's perfectly natural."
Ariana had no idea what to think and watched Sammie get up, kiss the back of Lady Zula's hand before walking out of the room. Lady Zula sat on Ariana's bed and gave her a gently smile. "You are becoming a woman and I have mixed feelings. I feel like I hadn't had the child version of you for very long and in the next few days something will happen and you will start blossoming into a beautiful young lady." Ariana quietly waited to hear the rest but soon realized that the rest was not something she really wanted to know.
After Lady Zula explained what was going on and how it would repeat on a monthly basis, she kissed her forehead and decide to take her leave. "Rest for now, when you feel a little better get out of bed okay." Ariana nodded her head and felt her eyelids starting to get heavier. Soon enough Ariana was out cold and Lady Zula left the room, unknown to either of them that the Lumas were nervously looking at one another.
Morning came and Ariana felt ten times better. She hopped out of bed and got herself ready. She decided on wearing a satin, red tea dress that flared out from the the waist down into a glittering sea of waves that stopped above her knees.
The dress was tied with a sash around her waist and it was decorate with red and white roses. She styled her hair into soft curls and and tied half of it up. She wanted to wear her red ribbon that Roy had given her but after searching every nook and cranny of the building she had no luck finding it.
With a small sigh she cheered herself up again with thoughts of Cayden coming home. It was Christmas Eve and the plan was for anyone who didn't have somewhere to go were to come to the cafe where they would be welcomed with open arms and celebrate Christmas with Lady Zula, Roy, Rin, the Lumas and herself.
The girls were welcomed too but some had found romance and were spending it with their lovers. With a giant grin Ariana ran down the stairs and started to gather the gifts to hand out to all the neighbors and friends. They weren't going to start cooking until noon so they could have a hot meal by 6 o'clock that evening and keep eating until midnight when they could do their gift exchange.
Ariana saw that her mother was already ready and waiting for her downstairs. She was happily sipping a cup of tea and quietly stared out the window as the snow fell. "Good morning mother!" Ariana said cheerfully as she walked over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Lady Zula looked over her daughter and smiled back. "You look so beautiful today." Ariana giggled. "And as always you look even more lovely then the last." Lady Zula's smile slightly wavered as she looked at her daughter. "Sweetie, about today..."
Ariana spun on her toes and made her dress slightly lift up. "I know! Today is going to be fantastic! Cayden and Adonis are coming home and we are going to spend Christmas Eve with everyone and play lots of games, tell stories, eat, drink hot chocolate and have so much fun!" Ariana could barely hold back her excitement but when she caught the sadness in her mother's eyes, she knew what was coming next.
"No... no... no... mom I don't want to hear it." She said as she hugged herself, she took a step back and slightly shook her head. "No, he's coming! He wouldn't skip the holidays! It's meant to be with family..." She said desperately but Lady Zula slowly stood up and tried to reach out to her but Ariana stepped away. "I'm sorry but he will be spending the holidays with his real family."
"No! We are his real family! Those people threw him away! They are monsters that don't deserve him!" Lady Zula quickly closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly. "Mom it's not fair! It's not fair!" She cried as giant tear drops rolled down her cheeks.
"I know... I know sweet pea." After Ariana calmed down, she walked around with her mother giving out their gifts and saying their holiday greetings. She tried her best to focus on the people in front of her so they could all enjoy the holiday. She wasn't sure if she was able to pull it off as it felt like there was a strange haze before her eyes. Soon the days blurred together and it to her surprise it was finally the last day of the year.
'Master are you feeling alright?' Duko asked as he was being absentmindedly petted by Ariana. "Yes." She answered unenthusiastically. 'Master, you are very pale.' Lorelei said as her and Davita looked up from above. "I don't know I feel so... blah. I just want to roll up in bed and sleep." Aroha flapped upwards and nestled herself onto Ariana's head. 'No Master today is the eve before the New Year! You must get ready to go downstairs and stay up to see the dawn of the new day.'
"Can I take a nap? I just feel so drained..." The Lumas looked at one another. 'Sleep, we will take care of you.' Vasu said and Ariana mumbled her thanks. Hours later Ariana woke up to horrible pains in her abdomen. She needed to go to the bathroom and struggled to get out, let alone up. The Lumas tried their best to support Ariana as she stumbled out of bed with a loud thud.
She started to sweat as she raised her head and looked at her closed door, she willed her body to push itself upwards, out the room and walked down the hallway to get to the bathroom. Downstairs she could hear everyone singing, laughing and dancing. While her body furiously produced cold sweat with every step she took before reaching for the bathroom door. "Ugh!" She said in a low voice as she hugged herself.
"No, this isn't right! I need to go outside. I need to be outside!" She said as her voice started to rise. The Lumas panicked and started overlapping their conversations to one another as they tried to come up with a solution. A warm pulse resonated through her body and Ariana could feel the pain starting to turn into strength.
'What time is it?' Aroha yelled and they had all looked at one another. Ariana could feel her breathing starting to get heavier and she suddenly felt hungry. She quickly turned around and ran towards the stairs. 'No!' The Lumas shouted but Ariana couldn't stop herself. She ran down the stairs and went right to the counter with a giant spread of food.
She jumped up and attacked the platter with the cooked turkey. Everyone around her gasped as she chomped down on a giant drumstick. "Ariana, sweetie are you feeling okay?" Lady Zula said as she slowly approached her. Ariana looked at her mother and the bells outside started to ring.
First ring, Ariana's eyes turned completely aquamarine and crystalized. Second ring, Rin yelled for everyone to get back. Third ring, "My body is burning!" Ariana shouted in voice that was resonating with something demonic. Forth ring, everyone is pressing themselves against the walls as Ariana jumped down from the counter.
Fifth ring, Ariana brings her hands upwards and places them onto her head as her nails start to grow outwards in an alarming rate. Sixth ring, Ariana releases her head and tossed it back screaming as fangs started growing out. Seventh ring, she starts cutting her own body with her claws and her blood starts to spill forward.
Eighth ring, ninth ring, tenth ring, eleventh ring, the blood quickly starts wrapping itself around Ariana's body. Forming garnet armor over her chest, neck, forearms, shins, and pelvic region. Her feet were also wrapped but started to take more of a hind leg with claws form, a long garnet tail springs forth from her lower back, more blood climbed upwards and covers her forehead, slightly dipping towards the bridge of her nose and upwards to form two giant horns.
Twelfth ring, Ariana looked at everyone, red tears running down her cheeks and turning into chunks of garnet the moment they drip off her face. The shock of everyone's faces caused her to cry out into the cafe. She looked towards the glass window and dashed towards it. Smashing through it and landing outside effortlessly. She looked up into the night sky and two giant bat like wings shot out from her back.
"Ariana!" Rin called out as she tired to get to her but everyone was holding her back. Ariana looked back with a blank stare before she flapped her wings and shot straight up into the sky. Rin pushed everyone back and ran outside just in time to catch a glimpse of Ariana flying through the night sky. "We need to bring her back!" She shouted towards everyone present but then saw their hesitant face. "She's not dangerous but if we don't get her back, they will find her and then we'll all be doomed!"
"No! How can you guarantee that she won't kill us the moment we get too close?!" Brian shouted as he stepped forward. "Your wrong! That is my baby, she needs to come home and I will help Rin track her down!" Lady Zula yelled as she pushed herself forward and went to stand next to Rin.
"If your gonna help then help but don't you f*cking dare try and stop me! I will bring her back home even if I have to drag her back half dead!" Brian looked at Lady Zula then his guild members. "I'm going too!" Caralee said with puffed out cheeks and Nafeza quickly joined in. Soon others stepped forward and Brian kicked a table. "That little sh*t owes us all an explanation!" He shouted bitterly and they all moved forward in search of Ariana. While others in dark cloaks were already in pursuit.