Celebration is fun,
Clearly,
Certainly,
Especially when one has gathered the whole important person in their life to celebrate it with them. It is a small birthday party, which lasts less than an hour, with just four of them, Horace, her mom, her father, and her younger sister, food, presents, and cakes. It is more than enough. They start with a birthday song for the birthday girl, cutting cakes, taking a picture together, eating, chatting, making a lot of memories, reminiscing about the lost time, and lastly, giving presents. The father starts by pulling a box from under the table and handing it to the birthday girl, and the others start following after the family leader.
"I'm not sure if you like it or not, Ciana." The father says, and the brunette-haired woman chuckles to see her father's nervous face,
"Don't worry, father, you have never disappointed me." Ciana says, she opens the present and her iris swells, "It's a book!! Yay!!—uh, by Lilian Due, title, People Or Person?" Ciana asks and the father stares with full expectation,
"I knew how much you like books, so I bought one that you probably like. What do you think?" The father asks, Horace and the mother peeks in the box,
"What is it about?" The mother asks,
"It's about politics and war, very educational!" The father says and Horace giggles, Ciana quickly dugs her elbow into Horace's abdomen causing the older to choke on her laugh,
"Thank…you father, you understand me so well," Ciana forces a smile,
The mother shakes her head and hands over a large box to Ciana, and the taller rips off the wrappers, revealing a pair of pillows, "Pillow?" Ciana asks,
"This is not just a normal pillow." The mother says, "Remember you always complain about neck pain, this is the same pillow as mine! It's a cloud pillow." The mother adds,
"Wow!! I wanted to buy this!" Ciana says,
"I only think that you might need it because you always complain about neck pain. This will help you get plentiful rest." The mother says in a proud tone,
"Thank you, mom." Ciana says, happily hugging the pillow and the book, "Thank you, you two, I'll treasure it." Ciana continues, and Horace comes forward offering her basket,
"My turn!" Horace says,
"What is it?" Ciana asks, and opens up the lids, "Apples??" Ciana utters,
"It's not just apples!" Horace says, "It is a honey apple, the old woman said, only the royal family could afford it! It is 10 bucks for each apple—er, I shouldn't have told you that, but I have successfully bargained for a discount." Horace says and Ciana glares at the older,
"Are you sure you don't get scammed?" Ciana asks,
"Uh…no! pfft, who dares to scam me?" Horace says,
"Scammer…?" Ciana says, and Horace shrugs her shoulder
The father stands up from the dining chair and pats both Ciana and Horace's back, "It's getting late now, your mom and I are feeling tired." The father says and Horace scowl,
"It's barely 10 a clock," Horace says,
"Shhh." Ciana hisses to Horace, and pulls Horace's tense shoulder down "Thank you for celebrating with me, dad, and mom." Ciana says and the parent smiles,
"Good night, everyone." The mother says,
"Sweet dream." Both Ciana and Horace says in unison, the parent bound to their rooms leaving their daughters in the dining room, for the after-party. Horace shoots a confused glare at Ciana, and the younger woman leaves an innocent smile before pulling herself up,
"I'm going to bath and sleep too," Ciana says and Horace's lip's part,
"It's barely 10 a clock!! What's wrong with you people?" Horace asks,
"There's nothing wrong with anyone, sis, collage is hard and it has been a hard year for me. Therefore, I need that before 10 a clock sleep." Ciana says, "Good night." She adds, before patting Horace's shoulder and climbing upstairs, leaving Horace alone in the dining,
Horace looks around and her eyes surrender, "But who's going to clean this mess?" Horace utters alone, looking at the after-party mess created by them, the confetti is all over the floor, the cake, and the unwashed dishes. She groans. After pouting for a few minutes Horace decides to take responsibility, and starts by picking up the plate from the table,
She sweeps the floor, washes the dish, and cleans the table to perfection in less than 30 minutes, and it is coincidentally the same time the little sister is done with her bath and comes downstairs to grab a drink. Ciana smoothly greets Horace with a friendly shoulder bump and the older didn't even spare a glance, "Mind if I grab some water?" Ciana says,
"I Mind," Horace says shorty, hiding her disappointment,
Ciana hurdling towards the kitchen sink, "Rare for you to be this diligent~ What changes after these few years?" Ciana asks and shoves her head inside the sink, turns her head towards the tap water and drinks from it. Horace huffs seeing the obnoxious view,
"Your awful personality can be a start." Horace says before placing away her cleaning utensil, "Please don't drink the tap water, it is unappropriated." Horace continues,
"Is it?" Ciana asks, and Horace tilts her head in confusion at Ciana's tone, "It is potable water, which means, it is safe to drink." Ciana says in confident tome and Horace groans,
"I meant, not drank it from the faucet like that," Horace says,
"Did I gross you?" Ciana asks with a teasing grin,
"You would if you weren't so pretty," Horace says,
"Aw~ if you want to say I'm pretty, just say so~ I'm sure you have been arching to call me pretty, I mean, I heard it every day but it's nice to hear anyway." Ciana says and Horace rolls her eyes before leaving the kitchen with a sore face, "Where are you going?" Ciana asks,
"Away," Horace answers,
"Come on, it's barely 11 a clock, you can't go to sleep yet," Ciana says,
"Nah, I think I'm good for today's bullshit," Horace says,
"Hey, that's mean." Ciana pouts, Horace gives a second glance at the younger before lamenting her defeat and recrudescing to the kitchen and pouring a drink for herself,
"You have something to say?" Horace asks,
"What—pfft, no." Ciana says, "Why? do I look like I have something to say?"
"I mean you just graduated—and your movement is shifty as always." Horace says before swallowing down every liter in the cups, "I'm not even surprised if you said you are pregnant or something, I mean, I have overthought about it." She adds,
Ciana glares, "Seriously, it's not like that. And you haven't change either," Ciana says,
"I haven't changed at all, precisely." Horace answered and Ciana gritted her teeth,
They both sit and stare at each other in the kitchen, quiet and awkward for a few hostile beats until Ciana decides to kill the tension by clearing her throat, "You are right, I don't have anything to say but I do have questions to ask." Ciana says,
"What is it?" Horace asks,
Ciana gives Horace a few hesitant blinks before exhaling the stuck in her throat. "If you are given a choice to live in a folktale, will you, do it?" Ciana asks,
"That's childish…" Horace comments,
"Just answer the damn questions," Ciana says,
"What kind of folktale? Cinderella?" Horace asks.
"No, uh, not Cinderella folktale per se. But yeah…bit more warlock, werewolf, Vampire, and fairies. A war against evil and stuff." Ciana says.
"Hm… Nah, I think I'll pass." Horace says without a second thought, and her answer baffles the brunette, "I think I am good with my tale right now." Horace adds,
"You'll pass? why? I mean, literally, why?" Ciana asks,
"Is it strange that I don't want to live in that folktale?" Horace asks,
"Yes, it's just so weird. You love folktales and yet you don't want to live in them. I mean, if I were given a chance to be a warlock, I'd accept it without thinking twice!" Ciana says, and she says it as if she is desperate that her wish will come true. Ciana turns her head towards Horace, anticipating to see Horace's response but Horace just smiles at her. All her hype drops to see Horace's impassive face. Horace seems to be in her bubbles, weird as always. "But why don't you want to live in folktales?" Ciana asks in a softer tone,
"Well, simply because I don't like to be in danger." Horace says, "If you are asking about princess folktales I would totally on it but war is never my cup of tea. I have a body size of a teenager and the strength of an old woman; I am not fit to carry any armor." Horace adds.
Ciana giggles "Well, I think you can be the perfect bait. I think it'll be very convenient to have a bait as cute as you." Ciana says, Horace, rolls her eyes she almost sees her nerves,
Before Horace could give her a sarcastic comeback, the doorbell suddenly rang and both of them stand in silence, hoping their quietness would save them from the bell. "It is almost 11 pm, who would come at this hour?" Horace mouths and Ciana shrugs her shoulder, it was a long pause before the bell rang again and both of them jump towards each other and hide behind the kitchen counter, giving each other telepathic conversation and barely breathing. Another bell rang and both of them start to feel bad if the bell would wake their tired parent, Horace stands up, and Ciana follows after the older, walking to the front door.
Horace peaks the door hole and found two strange men in a hooded cloaks standing still at the front door. Both of them look identical. Horace quickly opened the door and greet the strange stranger with a coy smile. Ciana try to grab the older hand from making the haste decision but she was too late. They have been exposed to the odd stranger before Ciana could act upon it, "You twins seem lost~" Horace says in a flirting tone, and Ciana sighs,
"We are the concierge of the Liber, in behalf of the majesty, we are arresting you, Ellen Ciana O' Lyska, for associating with the pawn, hiding the pawn, and breaking the seven laws of Lilhymnie. You are accused of treason and anti-Soviet behavior." One of the hooded men says and Horace stupefied hearing the little sister's full name being called out,
"What—?" Horace utters with a confused grin. Ciana pulls out a red dust from her pocket and smears the glittering sand on the two strangers before pulling Horace's hand,
"Follow me," Ciana says before running off to the street, into the forest, and dragging the older sister with her. Horace looks back at the two-stranger, they are covering their eyes in the burning pain from the dust, and she looks back at her younger sister,
"What—?" Horace asks,
"It's a paprika," Ciana says, and Horace glowers,
"Why did you paprika them?!?" Horace asks, "Do you have debt?! Why are they arresting you…why are they wearing a cloak in summer?" Horace asks, speeding her step,
"Too many questions!! They are just friends from college." Ciana says,
"Friend from college? Why are we running from them?" Horace asks,
"Oh, they weren't friendly," Ciana says,
"How about our parents?" Horace asks and keeps looking back at the house,
"Don't worry, they won't hurt them," Ciana says,
"Are you sure?" Horace asks, seeing their home disappear from her view,
"I believe so," Ciana says, before entering the darker part of the forest and Horace quickly pulls back from the sudden chills running through Horace's veins,
"Where are we? Why are we here?" Horace asks and stops her movement,
"Come on sis, we don't have time," Ciana says and forces the older one to come with her, and Horace has no choice but to obey. For the most part, she can't leave Ciana alone, especially not in a moment of crisis like this. Also, Ciana is a lot taller, a lot healthier, a lot of energy, and a lot stronger right now, there's just no way, Horace could fight her, "I wonder how they find out? Did they put a tracker in my stuff?" Ciana utters alone,
"What?" Horace asks,
"Do you think it is the book that dad gave?" Ciana asks, ignoring Horace's question and Horace puckers her brow, "Or is it the pillow?" Ciana continues,
"What are you saying?" Horace asks,
"Where do you buy those apples from?" Ciana asks,
"From an old woman at the train station," Horace says,
"Let me guess, she is an old crone, with long white hair, and wearing a black cloak, looking like a creepy witch?" Ciana asks, and Horace stares in amazement,
"Have you met her?" Horace asks,
"No, I'm just describing Queen Grimhilde, from snow white." Ciana says, "I always thought snow white was dumb to trust a stranger that easily. Who would have thought, my sister, is as dumb as she is?" Ciana says,
"Hey! We are not dumb." Horace says, "That old crone knows how to do business more than businessman nowadays." Horace continues,
"Well, fine… I don't think it's the old crone, anyway." Ciana says, "Safe to say the apples are eatable and delicious. But there's someone who found out about my secret." Ciana continues and they both stops at a large tree in the middle of the dark forest, Horace feels crawling all over her body, it was nothing but her imagination, but still, it made her shiver.
"I don't like this, Ciana, it is dark and creepy out here, why are you here? Where are we anyway…? I think it is safer if we go back." Horace says,
"I don't know what's wrong with your sixth sense, but there's nothing safe with those two. They only appear at the moment when things are the real deal and this is the first time, I've met the concierges, I still feel goosebumps on my skin." Ciana explains,
"Concierge? What? Or whatever that is. Fine, I get it. It's complicated. So, hurry up, just do whatever you want to do, and let's get out of here." Horace says,
"You are ever understanding is, I don't know how you live your life ignoring the odds on your way," Ciana says before pulling out a bag of dust from her other pocket and sprinkles on the trunk of the large tree, and the tree shines like a Christmas tree,
"Who would have thought paprika can do that...?" Horace utters and Ciana giggles,
"This one is not paprika, it's sun dust, rare but you can buy it with 5000 gold from the pawn shop." Ciana says and pushes Horace a step away when the tree suddenly rips open creating a large hole for them to enter, "Mind your step." Ciana says,
"What kind of sorcery is this?" Horace utters, her body jolting to every bark of tree sound cracking and admiring the magic before her eyes, "Oh, shit… are you a witch? are you in a cult…? Since when have you been hiding this?" Horace asks,
Ciana's lips open slightly to answer Horace's question but instead, all she mutters is "Résta" and a golden sword appears from the air into her hand. She pulls Horace behind her, as she points her swords towards the hole, and a golden vein crawls from her head to her eyes, her eyes tint and glow in gold, "Stand back, we got company." Ciana says,
"Company?" Horace asks,
A black grim, flew out from the tree hole, aiming straight into Ciana's sword and shattering, ink smearing onto Ciana's cloth and face. Horace grips Ciana's arm tightly, crawling run all over Horace's thin arm, and her heartbeats become inconsistent. "Are you alright?" Ciana asks, the golden sword vanishes and but Ciana's eyes are still glowing golden,
"What was that…? What was that?!" Horace asks, and Ciana smiles, Ciana wants to answer all Horace's questions, but she couldn't, at least not right now. She heard a loud stomp from the place they came from and push Horace into the tree hole, "No! I'm not going in there! There's a freaking monster that just came out of there!" Horace says,
"There's no more monster in there, I've killed it, but the monster behind us is very alive," Ciana says as push Horace into the magical hole, before following after the older. The hole closes in instance and they both squishes inside the narrow path towards the south,
"What is that dark-looking creature? What is that loud stomp?! Why are we being haunted?! What have I done wrong?! Don't tell me…that… that dark creature you killed…it is your college friend too; I won't buy it." Horace complains,
"Well, the black grim is 'the studies." Ciana tries to explain,
"What—?" Horace utters, "So what, you are some kinds of a magical monster researcher or something?" Horace goes on and Ciana purses her lips,
"Sis, can you shut up? You are taking too much air." Ciana says, "This artificial path doesn't have oxygen in it. We need to reduce air consumption." Ciana continues,
"Now you tell me?!" Horace growls,
"Hush." Ciana hiss,
Horace sulked for a second before they both quietly bore into the light that slowly appears and Horace quickly pushes through the narrow space, and toward a bright hole. Horace pushes out the end of the narrow space and falls on her face. While, Ciana follows after the older but she is exiting the door like normal people do, and pull Horace off the ground,
"You are embarrassing me," Ciana says, and Horace stands up in faze,
"No… I am not embarrassing you. I am embarrassing myself." Horace says before patting her knee and her eyes fall on a small talking yellow frog, just below her feet. The frog is wearing a shirt, and selling small tomatoes, "Am I seeing things?" Horace utters,
"Miss? Tomato? For your face?" The frogs say offering a tomato to Horace,
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Horace glares,
Ciana drags the older sister from the strange frog, "No thanks." Ciana says, and Horace growls, "Come on, sis. We got no time for tomato." Ciana says,
"It just called me ugly!" Horace says,
"It—is pronouns is a 'he'," Ciana says,
"I don't care," Horace says,
"He is not calling you ugly, he is just trying to sell," Ciana says,
"Ugh, Why are you taking his side?!" Horace groans,
Horace's eyes wander around the place, her iris extends to the sight of nebula sky, and glittering street. Everything seems so old yet futuristic, the building, the street, feels like in anno domini era. Their cloth and civic are different. She sees a man using magic to grow a beard, other men, using magic to shapeshift into a car, and some other man using magic to reach for books. One noticeable familiarity about all of them are, they are all men, and they all look bored with their life. As if that magic is just nothing but a hand for them. Maybe if they don't have the magic, they might appreciate it more. Still, Horace admires those rare sights,
"Why are they all men?" Horace asks,
"I didn't expect that to be your first question." Ciana says, "I thought you would ask, 'where are we?', 'how did we get here?', 'What is this place…'" Ciana says,
"Right, but I already asked that question when we are in the forest," Horace says,
"That is just a forest at the back of our house, sis," Ciana asks,
"Yeah, and you didn't answer then," Horace says, and Ciana sighs,
"We are in the Aldo Land, we entered from a hidden gate between sea pacific and southern, or should I have said, welcome to the Lilhymnie," Ciana said,
"Lilhymnie?" Horace said,
"Lilhymnie is a preternatural realm. It is located on the horizon just between two oceans, while its bare existence is located on the heart of the earth, so we are the prehuman. The real inhabitant of the earth." Ciana continues explaining in a high tone and Horace nods,
"Oh, cool… so, why are these people—all men? And they all seem bored with their life like everything is nothing to them." Horace asks looking around the town,
"They are a species, Aldo, Aldo is a land of ancient magical man, that's why they are presumed to be extinct soon. There aren't many of them left. They can't breed with other creatures or within themselves. They had everything, yet, they suffered for one thing that they can't have. It's sad, their millions of years, of life, become meaningless by just one thing." Ciana explains and Horace gasps, her gaze becoming soft, "Are you alright sis? we should take a break. You must be tired, and confused." Ciana adds,
"Yes, it is plain to see—" Horace says.
A yellow rose suddenly appears before Horace's eyes and turns her head to greet a ginger man, taller than her, wearing the same cape as the two concierges from before, but his look brighter. He has freckles on his white skin and a plain typical brown eye. He is smiling at her and she greets him back with a hesitated smile,
"A token of friendship. You must be Horace, I'm George Blue, you can call me George." The ginger man says and Horace takes the flower from his hand,
"You are fast George. I haven't contacted you yet." Ciana says,
"No need, the news spread all over our kingdom, I'm sure you will be here. But so, as the whole Lilhymnie right now. We need to get out of here." George says,
George reaches for Ciana's hand and pulls the woman forward, and Ciana grabs her older sister's hand and pulls Horace with her, "How did they know?" Ciana asks,
"The magic that hides the pawn has died; the pawn appeared on radar. Now, the whole Lilhymnie can see its location." George says, pulling out a device that shows, one red dot with two blue dots near the red dot, and other green dots around the radar screen. Horace grimaces seeing the odd-looking device before moving around Ciana to see herself on the radar,
"That's blue is us, and the red is the pawn? That looks bad." Ciana says,
"Bad? It is a disaster; we need to find that Aldo quickly." George says,
"Wait." Ciana pulls George's hand and the taller guy stop, waiting for the brunette to speak, "I don't think it is Aldo magic which hides the pawn." Ciana says,
"What do you mean? As far as I know, Aldo is the only creature who can do magic." George says, "We got no time to waste Ciana, we need to go." George continues,
"But where are we going?" Ciana asks,
"Here." George looks around before opening a door into a narrow path, "Get in." George says, Horace enters first before Ciana, and George is the last one to seal the door. All of them walk towards the narrow path, "Remember when our master told us that the oldest Aldo live among the human, I found out, his hiding place, and his dwell are off the radar. Which means, the concierges won't find us there. It would buy us sometimes." George says,
"How about the Quinlin?" Ciana asks and George swallows his spit,
"What about them?" George asks,
"Did they know…?" Ciana asks and George gives a silent answer,
"Guys, this place is tighter than the earlier, my head barely made it," Horace informs,
"I'm sorry, I must have picked a thin tree." George says, "But I'm doing fine. You must have had a big head." George says before giggling on his own,
"I don't have a big head, yours are just small, everything about you is small Mr. George, you barely fill any hole on your own," Horace says, George gasps,
"You are heartless for someone I just met," George says,
"Do you see light, sis?" Ciana asks,
"Which light? I'm seeing two now." Horace says, and Ciana giggles,
But George thought it is very alarming, "Are you alright Horace? Do you feel like a hyperventilating or panic attack? A normal humans would have cold feet and hard to breathe after going to our Lilhymnie." George asks and Ciana agrees with the question,
"Yeah, sis, are you alright?" Ciana asks before tilting her head a bit to see Horace's face but failing in the attempt, "The Lilhymnie air is very low in density… we prehuman don't need much oxygen to breath, unlike a normal human." Ciana continues,
"Yeah, I do feel cold on my feet." Horace says, "But if you ask, honestly, I think I feel fine, but I am far from relaxed… I don't have time to react to anything. You guys are moving too fast and I need to catch up or I might get eaten alive, or worst, left stranded on some unfamiliar magical island with only a pair of clothing." Horace adds and Ciana chuckles,
"Wow, you do have your priority set," Ciana says,
"Yeah well, being dead is better than being stranded in enemy territory..." Horace says,
"What? Enemy, What do you mean?" George asks,
"You people are not fond of humans." Horace says, "I can understand, for I am not fond of mankind either. That's why your people are hiding from us…we could have caused a lot of trouble to your lands if we found out about the richness and power your world has in possession." Horace continues, George puckers his brow not understanding a word,
"I think she is losing her mind," Ciana says and shaking her head,
Horace meets the end and withdrew from a hole. As expected, she falls on her face as she steps out from a tree, while Ciana and George walk out with ease. The tree quickly sealed itself and they are in a different forest. It is noon and it is snowing. "Shits, I can't get used to that.", Horace says, as she pulls herself off the ground, and her lips part to see the younger sister already have a golden color cloak on, the same cloak as George and she wore a leather catsuit under the cloak. "When did you change??" Horace asks, and Ciana frowns,
"It's our kingdom attire, I'm always wearing it although you can't see it," Ciana says,
"Let's share it. It's cold." Horace says and pulling the cloak from the younger,
"Share?! No! It's not meant for sharing!" Ciana says and pulling her cloak from Horace before whispering, "Résta" and throwing a larger golden cloak out from her tight pocket onto Horace's head and Horace stands still, like an offended hamster.
"Tell me… this large hoodie just came out from your tiny pocket, right?" Horace asks,
"It is a cloak, and yes, it does come out from my pocket," Ciana answers with a smile,
"That's so cool!!" Horace yells before pulling off the cloak from her head and wrapping it around her shoulder. "How did you do that?" Horace asks,
"It's our ability. Watch." Ciana says, Horace stares at the younger, "Résta" Ciana mutters and the golden cloak on Horace's body transformed into a golden apple, "Résta," Ciana mutters again, and the golden apple transformed into a winged horse, "Résta" Ciana mutters again, the winged horse transformed into a golden cloak on Horace hand and Horace have different reactions on every magic happen, excitement and fear, both at the same time,
"So, you are an Aldo! But I thought you said Aldo is all male…" Horace said and slide the cloak around her shoulder back and rubs her freezing arm with the fabric,
"We are Liber, we are a different species, different ability..." George says, and he pulls out a blue tome from his pocket, "We are the walking decipherer and plotter." George says, and he mutters, "Résta,". His blue tome transforms into a blue pen, and he mutters again, "Résta," and the pen transformed into a tome back, and Horace tilts her head,
"So, it originally is a book? So, you can only transform only that?" Horace asks,
"We called it a tome, and yes, we liber, we only work with our tome," George says,
"Oh! So, Your species is weaker than the… Aldo?" Horace asks,
"Don't be such a bully, sis," Ciana says,
"It's just a calculated observation," Horace says, Ciana sighs,
"Is she always that obstinate?" George whispers in a cynical tone,
"It just keeps growing as she ages," Ciana says with a sigh, and George nods. Ciana gives another thought after watching Horace's movement, "The heavier the head there is a crown, give her a time, uh…you'll get used to it." Ciana adds,
"I wish I don't have to," George says,
Horace sighed, hearing their whispers, which they thought she didn't hear, or maybe they did it intentionally. "I will ask this since you both like these types of questions so much, where are we now, and why are we doing here?" Horace asks, George gives a silent look at Ciana, and Ciana nods, Horace notices the dynamic between them and rises one brow, "And what is the relationship between you two?" She adds,
"We are friends." Ciana says, "Also, we are on earth, Greenland, there's not much here except snow and if we are lucky, we might see a polar bear." Ciana explains,
"We are looking for the strongest Aldo because the world is ending," George says, before walking past Horace, Ciana reaches and holds the older sister's hand,
"The world is ending?! What?! I barely live!" Horace groans,
"Don't mind him, sis, he's just trying to scare you," Ciana says,
"Ciana, you are the one who is lying right now," Horace says,
"Are you still cold?" Ciana asks as she draws closer to Horace,
"A bit," Horace says,
"We'll get out from her as soon as we found the Aldo, okay?" Ciana says,
"But—" Horace tries to batter but the worried looks on Ciana's face made her exhale in defeat, "Yeah, I'd like that," Horace says,
In the heavy snow, they can only move east—following the wind's directions hoping it will get them to the destinations they are pursuing. Neither of them says a word, they are scared, cold, worried, and confused, mostly Horace is the one who feels all those emotions at once. She is very new to the world, knowing nothing to expect from it.