Prophecy
Council of the Sun

“Friggle sticks!”

I said ducking and covering my head as I heard a loud explosion coming from inside the house. “Mother, what is going on in there?” I asked turning to her still very stunned.

“Hades,” she said calmly and walked briskly towards the house.

“Hades? The real Hades, Hades?” Shifters had found creative ways of flaunting their abilities, without actually revealing their true nature. I wouldn’t be surprised if this Hades person was actually a shifter posing as the fabled Greek god of the underworld. Hell consists of fire, doesn’t it?

“No, it is just a nickname. The real name is Gregory Strauss, representative of the European shifter bloc. Your dad gave him that name because he is such a bloody hothead. It sorta caught on. But don’t call him that before his face.” she said stopping just in front of the door.

“Oh,” I said disappointed at the insipid explanation. I heard a soft chuckle coming from beside me. I turned to face Thorn. “What?” I asked softly.

“Nothing, it’s that you seem so excited about meeting the Devil.” he said as his smile widened.

“Shut up,” I jibbed which made him laugh again.

A wave of superheated air swept pass us as she opened the door. We dropped our bags as we stepped in and followed my mother up the stairs. I’d only bothered to venture past the second floor once, since all the rooms above us were kept closed. Not like I couldn’t change into an ant and crawl through the keyholes, but I just wasn’t interested enough to replace out what was behind all the doors, as there was ALWAYS something else more important going on in my life.

As we climbed the stairs the noise became amplified, as there was grunting and shouting coming from behind a door at the furthest end. I tried to understand what was being said, but everything was jumbled and sounded more like gibberish than actual words.

“It is best you two stay out here until I get thing cooled down in there.” suggested my mother. We nodded and then she pushed the door open.

I stepped back to allow her to pass and stood at the doorjamb waiting with Thorn. The presence of my mother caused immediate silence in the room and I thought it safe for us to proceed.

The first thing I noticed was how orange everything seemed. I first attributed it to the stained glass ceiling that covered the mansion, but my eyes were soon drawn to the thousands of small flames set on tiers, extending from the ground to the ceiling, which covered one corner of the room.

The rest of the room was covered with massive oak finished shelves, with endless numbers of books and manuscripts lining them. I soon took notice of the huge, wooden circular table, which had our spiral insignia engraved in gold, sitting at the centre. The whole room was something to look at, but I was more interested in the five robed men I saw standing rigidly around the table. One of them still had a small flame burning in one palm. I suspected that he was Gregory.

“Em nac es taht em licnouc sah on lortnoc tuohtiw em ecneserp. Em rednow woh ti si uoy era ereh siht gnol!” hissed my mother as she stood at the empty chair at the head of the table. I saw that there was another empty chair, but I knew to whom it belonged.

“We apologize for the disturbance, but some of us replace it hard to control our emotions.” said one of the robed figures as he glared in the direction of the man I suspected of being Hades.

Mother only lifted her chin deftly and sat. The others soon followed. I felt awkward just standing there, but I didn’t know where else to go. On a keener examination of our guests, I noticed that there was also a woman among the men sitting there.

“And who are those two?” spat Gregory, as he pointed with his chin towards us.

“I forgot my manners. I want to introduce to the council my daughter Aurora Summer Laeyx and her fiancé Rain Esor North.” The both of us bowed to the council. “And these are, starting from my left: Anjhad Onuatu from the African bloc, Xiang Fu from the Asian bloc, Carmen Moreno from the South American bloc, Tumal Singh representing the Indo-Australian bloc and of course Gregory Strauss from the European bloc.” as she went around the table each of the members gave a slight bow.

All but one face was pleasant. “So these are the ones stirring up all the controversy.” sniped Gregory in his Germanic accent. “Frankly I wish Ay had wiped the blasted lot of you clean from the beginning. It would eliminate the need for this meeting in the first place.” he said harshly.

The room was hushed, except for the clicking of the pendulums of an old grandfather clock sitting in a corner. No one was expecting Gregory’s obscene comments, although some of them may empathize with him, none would be brave enough to say what they really felt. Everyone’s attention turned to my mother, who like all of us were taken completely off guard.

I looked at Thorn. His face was calm, not the reaction I was expecting and definitely not the one I was feeling.

“It is a pleasure meeting you too Sir. I am both humbled and delighted by being the presence of one possessing such stately disposition, wisdom and restraint far beyond one’s age.” said Thorn wearing a mocking smile, as he bowed again to the man. The words although not offensive in themselves, were obviously not meant as a compliment.

I heard a small giggle coming from around the table which slowly grew louder and louder. I noticed that it had started from Carmen, but very soon the whole table was rocking with laughter.

“You mock me!” said Gregory turning an impossible red.

“Of course he is not mocking you Gregory, he was just listing some of your more pleasant attributes.” said Carmen in a soft Spanish accent, which sounded like a small stream bubbling as she rolled her Rs.

Gregory just sat up more defiantly in his chair, as he’d obviously seen that he’d met his match. The other members after they’d finished laughing took a second look at Thorn as if he’d been suddenly unveiled. There expressions were solemn, but you could see the approval and respect growing in their eyes.

“Now that all the introductions have been made, it is time we get down to the meat of the matter.” Thorn and I moved over to two empty chairs set at one corner of the room close to the candles and listened as mother continued. “I know that you have concerns about the current situation with my daughter and the media attention she has been getting, but I can assure you that everything is under control and that I can see this closing with a favourable outcome within a few months at the most.

“As you may all have heard by now, that the main person behind all the attacks on my family is Omayra, Ay’s daughter. She isn’t dead as we’d originally thought, but had reformed and made her escape. We know that her intention is to try and destabilize our clan from the inside out. First by making an attack on my family, she is hoping that it will send everyone else in a frenzy and that we’ll end up self-destructing. But we cannot make her succeed in doing that. This is the time we need to stick closer to each other.” finished my mother.

“And we will,” starting Anjhad. “But what if her armies starts attacking us outright. What do we do then, as our general has been missing for quite a few years now.” he said sounding concerned. The others seemed to share his concerns.

“Even if Omayra decides to attack, it will take some time for her to us to locate us as we are strategically scattered all over the world. And in any event our army will be ready, as Nafadres had left specific instructions for the captains of each squad before he went on our mission.”

“But she found your family.” countered Tumal.

“That was a mere coincidence. Unfortunately she was after my daughter’s fiancé. I am sure Omayra will not be seeking to mate with any of your sons.” jested my mother. I frowned. The idea of Thorn and Omayra together like that, had left me feeling sick.

“I think not.” he replied amused.

“And Nafad, how is he these days. That chair has been empty so long, I don’t know if he’s even dead or alive.” sniggered Gregory.

“Obviously not dead Hades as you can see for yourself.” said my father coming in as if on cue. “I can see you are still quite the hothead after all these years.” he took his place around the table. I looked at Gregory he didn’t seem as upset as I thought he would. “I am sorry for my tardiness, ran into a few travel problems. I hope I didn’t miss much.”

“We were just discussing if Omayra would attack us at this time.” said my mother filling him in.

“An attack is not imminent. She already has her hands full trying and failing, to prevent Mond’s prophecy from being fulfilled,” he said briefly looking into Thorn’s and my direction. “Also during her coup, she had to eliminate many of her best soldiers in the Guard, so her army is at its weakest right now. However, I’d sent secret correspondence to the captains in each bloc to be prepared in any case. So we are perfectly safe.”

“Well those in my region will be happy to hear of this news and of your return. If I may ask how long have you been in the island?” asked Xiang who had remained mostly quiet throughout the whole meeting.

“I’ve been here for two years. I was staying with Ay in the Blue Mountain region of the island. We were hiding out in one of the coffee factories. I needed to be closer to home, so I’d convinced him that there were Coronas living in the island, so he came here to investigate.”

Two years? He was here for two years and he couldn’t take a day to come and see me, although it might have proved dangerous, but still.

“I hope that we’ve addressed all of your concerns. I want each of you to pass on the news to our people that we might be experiencing a bit of turbulence, but we can assure them that it is only blue skies ahead.” said my mother addressing the council. “Meeting adjourned.” as she said this, all the small flames that flickered beside us disappeared. Creepy, I thought.

All the members were still scattered around the room having their own conversations. Most of them seemed to be delighted by my father’s return, as he’d been greeted amiably by each member, including Gregory, which came as an absolute shock to me, as I didn’t think the German could display such an agreeable countenance.

“That was interesting.” said Thorn breaking the silence between us.

“To say the least.” I said blankly. I’d learned something I could use, Omayra’s whereabouts. If she’d stayed there while dad was here, there might be a slight chance that she would probably still be hiding there.

“Is everything alright?” asked Thorn concerned.

“Yeah, the meeting just gave me a lot to think about,’’ I said smiling weakly. “We should probably get our things and settle into our rooms, because if I know my mother, I don’t think she brought us here just for this meeting.’’ he silently agreed.

I looked at the huge iron fridge and sighed heavily. I knew that I was in for a lot of work, because not only was there one of them this time but two.

“Two iceboxes, you must be trying to end my life.” I wailed.

“Actually dear, one is an oven. You won’t be the only one being tested today.” replied Seidon.

“What are you going to do with these oversized appliances?” asked Thorn.

“I think they are going to attempt to turn me into icicle and try to burn you crispy.” I replied dryly.

“This is more like a power sharing exercise. We want the two of you to try and keep each other alive in the extreme conditions that you each will be facing.”

“That sounds comforting.” grumbled Thorn.

“If I wasn’t sure if you two belonged with each other, that just confirmed it.” quipped my dad. “We have to start soon before it gets too dark, as both of you will be at about the same power level at nightfall. Thorn you might get stronger when it gets dark, but that will be forfeited as Summer will be getting weaker, and she will be the one keeping you alive in the oven.”

“How exactly are we supposed to do this power sharing?” asked Thorn. “Because the last time that happened was during the eclipse and I didn’t even know that I was drawing on Summer’s strength until you told me that I was, it all just happened.”

“Well I guess you will have to just let it happen again, the both of you.” said Seidon blankly. “We will intervene if we deem it necessary. And I believe that you two love each other enough not to make harm come to one another. So, if we can begin.” he finished.

I sighed heavily as I knew that it meant they wouldn’t help us until I had become hypothermic and Thorn suffering from a pretty bad heatstroke.

I looked up at the western skies. There were hints of purple, pink grey and golden clouds spotting the mainly azure sky. The sun was still fully visible, but the very tops of the blackening trees seemed to be touching the bottom of the burning orange ball. The silence of the evening was disturbed by squawking parakeets flying haphazardly towards their nests, hidden in the surrounding hills.

As I stepped into the fridge, small goose bumps shot all over my skin as it was already minus seventy in here. Lucky for me, there was no ice bath this time. My first reaction was to allow the warm energy to serge from my core, out to the rest of my body, but I quickly reminded myself that I was supposed to be helping Thorn.

“Thorn, how are you doing over there?” I asked looking into the gem.

I’ve had better days. I heard his voice echoing in my mind. I could see that his initial reaction was to start cooling down operations, as he was encased in thick cage of ice, which was melting rapidly due to the intense heat given off by the raging inferno. And how are you?

“Cold,” I said shivering.

That isn’t too bad.

“I could say the same thing about the heat you are experiencing. I could so switch places with you in an instant.” I said starting to jog in place.

Maybe that is it. Summer you are a genius.

“I am?” I tried furrowing my brows, but the intense cold seemed to have frozen my skin in place. “How?”

When we made our vows to each other, it made us connected in many ways. We have been able to feel each other’s pains and fears. We were made a unit in all ways but one. I could feel a trickle of sweat creeping down my neck and I felt strangely warm inside. In those same vows our powers were made one. I think that our reaction to the conditions we are facing are only reflex actions, due to our innate natures as Coronas and Lunes.

“So you are saying that I should be able to override my own nature and be able to replace these conditions favourable, due to the fact I share your power?” I said finally reining in my hormones and bringing myself from the fantasy I had in a warmer place.

Exactly,

“But how do we do that?”

How do you fire bend?

“It is like pulling on energy from deep inside my torso, which then spreads quickly to the other parts of my body.”

Water bending is the same for me except I take my energy from my feet upwards. So if we try pulling from these other places, we’ll get the desired outcome. It is a long shot but we could try.

“Well here goes nothing,” I said allowing the gem to fall back around my neck.

I closed my eyes, and tried pulling on the energy from my feet. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, then I felt like a small tingle was flowing through the soles of my feet. I felt the cold energy wrapping its way around my ankles and up my legs. As soon as it climbed to my shoulders, there was a sudden explosion of cold air swirling around me.

The small icicles that had formed in my hair disappeared along with the stiffness and dryness brought on by the cold. I thought I would have started shivering even more, but the cold seemed nothing more than an extreme fresh tingle, one felt like after eating a mint or using toothpaste, but now it was spread all over my body.

“Wow, it worked. Thorn how are you doing?” I asked bubbling with excitement.

Check this out, he said forming a small flame, which soon disappeared on his finger. “I can’t keep it for long but, I’m sure I can work it out.”

“Mom, I think it is okay to let us out now.” I said turning to the thick glass panel. I couldn’t see anything or anyone else except my own reflection. There was a slight creaking sound followed a rush of warm air coming from outside. I frowned at the sudden jump in temperature. “How the hell do I stand the heat.” I said stepping outside into the warm night air.

“How could you not like it.” said Thorn as he walked up to stand beside me.

“Amazing,” said my father pulling closer to the two of us. “It was only a hypothesis, but see it actually happening is nothing more than amazing.” he gaped.

“You mean this was all based on a guess.” said Thorn sounding a bit baffled.

“Not just any guess, an intelligent one. With the two of you, we don’t really know much about what should happen. We have to make things up as we go along. Face it guys, the two of you are unexplored territory.” said Seidon. “There is just one more thing I would like to try. Thorn I saw you hold a small flame for a short time, Summer I was wondering if you could do the same. With water I mean.”

“I don’t know, but I could try.” I held out my palm and focused and pulling the energy from my feet as Thorn had told me. The cool energy flowed more swiftly and easily this time. And as it rushed towards my palms it left a slight tingle wherever it touched.

I could feel as if small ripples were being made just below my skin. The ripples then broke the surface and water started pouring out through my pores. At first, it came out as drops, then there was a sudden burst, spouting several feet in the air, before disappearing all together. “I did it!” I gushed. I still held out my palms in wonderment. Thorn smiled.

“And you will get better at it once we start working on your newly acquired strengths.” said my mother as we started towards the house.

The night had come down suddenly upon us, but it was not enough to dampen our spirits. For a while my hope of becoming something more was burning very low. But with the new bonds being formed and the old ones being strengthened, I was starting to believe that somehow we would get through this.

Before this moment, the prophecy to me were just words. Now it was words being transformed into life. It had become my life.