Chapter 3
Once the portal cleared Lewis stepped to the gate as he saw Vincent come towards them. He knew he would have to defend his reasons now for keeping this Lunarian near him and his mentee which he was hoping would not become an argument. So taking a deep breath Lewis smiled towards the second Pareya.
“Welcome home Lewis, seems you have more than you left with returning,” Vincent said as he eyed the youngling in Lewis’ arms and the one standing just a step behind that clearly had been allowed to portal in with him.
“Yes, my new Mentee,” Lewis stated raising his arms. “And someone who can hopefully give me a bit of insight on her Inheritance and what to expect,” he said, nodding back to Deimos.
Vincent sighed this was not going to be a good thing right now. “Why don’t we bring him to the sitting room while we settle down your Mentee and talk,” Vincent said, trying to be polite to the stranger but let Lewis know that it was going to be a discussion now.
Lewis felt his shoulders drop at the and talk part of Vincent’s statement but nodded. He did want to get the youngling settled in a bed to help her realign better. So he let Vincent lead the way. They paused and had Deimos settle in a sitting room, he was not barred from leaving but he was warned not to try to go further than this room into the home until he had an escort or invite deeper into the home.
Once they left the sitting room Lewis could tell he was going to get a serious scolding. He didn’t like that he was being doubted at this time when he was just trying to do what he could to help him take care of his Mentee.
“Lewis, what have we said about bringing home strays? Just because you think that they are helpful does not mean that they need to come back to our place, our sanctuary,” Vincent said as he led the way to a room near the Pareya that they could settle the youngling into and have a talk.
“I understand you bringing home the youngling, your instincts would not allow anything else if we don’t know who her family connections are yet but the male is not understandable. Why did you decide to bring him back?” Vincent asked, looking back at Lewis as he found the room closest to Lewis’ room and opened the door.
Lewis sighed as he thought about the whole situation. Yes it had not been ideal and until his Mentee had passed out options were limited. He didn’t know exactly what her instincts would have allowed and with the language barrier he couldn’t get her to stand down and would have possibly gotten her hurt if she had pushed any further as it was down to a fight or flight, if she had fought there was a chance she would have ended up worse off then just magical exhaustion. If the Lunarian Pareya had not been there today so much would have happened that might not have been avoidable.
“I was thinking that he was able to help me communicate with her and seemed genuinely concerned about her that I let him come along so that his instincts would settle as well. He could speak both the Lunarian language and the language she had been speaking before she switched to Lunarian.” Lewis stated.
“Translation spells, that’s what they are for Lewis,” said a female voice as it startled the boys by how quiet she had walked up on them.
“Cora,” the two Pareya said in greeting as they turned to her.
“Hello dears, go lay down your youngling Lewis then we need to continue this talk,” Cora said which got a nod from Lewis as he moved carefully past Vincent.
“Is he in a lot of trouble?” Vincent asked Cora as Lewis used a little wind to pull down the covers and lay his very still Mentee down on the bed then carefully covered her with the bedding.
“Not if we can get an idea of where his thoughts were as well as how much access he was planning on allowing the unbonded one in the sitting room,” Cora said as Lewis rejoined them.
“Come along we need to get to Henry’s office,” Cora said as Lewis and Vincent both nodded.
The trio walked in silence to the office knowing that any questions might be asked a second time and repeating answers would do no one any good.
With a quick knock and enter between Cora and Henry the trio entered the Alpha’s office.
“Welcome my heart,” Henry said to Cora, “Lewis, Vincent,” Henry acknowledged them as they each took a seat. Cora leaned against the desk while Lewis and Vincent both found a chair to lean on as well, no one really truly sitting.
“Alright Lewis, those that are here are all here now, so why don’t you give us the full story?” Henry said as he knew there would be a knowledge transfer when the others got home about the new addition to their circle even if it was a temporary one.
Lewis nodded then took a breath. “It started with an alert of a broken portal at the Dive, since I am on call for those I was going to respond to. On the heels of that I also got the urgent message that my Mentor status was activated due to an early Inheritance and the meeting spot was also the Dive where the broken portal was. So I had a feeling it might be complicated so I went quickly to see what was going on after leaving a message that I was called for emergency,” Lewis looked at everyone who nodded remembering that they had gotten that notice.
Lewis looked down at his hands while he continued to talk. “When I arrived there I saw a defensive female with feather wings speaking in a language that was not one that I knew, without prompting the young Pareya came in and talked her down. Did not approach her but talked and translated. If we had tried to cast a translation spell at her with the agitated stance she was in I am not sure if she would have realized that it was a harmless spell or taken it as an attack. She was surrounded by Gheyo that were both doing their job in isolating her from the civilians but also impressed that she saved herself from a free fall out of a broken portal. She couldn’t communicate except with the young Pareya which talked her down and she… powered down? Into the form you saw when I came in Vincent,” Lewis said, pausing a little confused.
“So you are saying she had a magical fighting form?” Cora asked, eyes sparkling a bit as she thought about that.
Lewis nodded. “When she powered down into her civilian form she began to talk Lunarian which I know a little of due to working with the Lunarians a bit to get them used to Nevarah and our language,” Lewis said then worried his lip a moment then continued.
“As the Pareya saw her civilian form he seemed to recognize her to an extent he knelt before her and called her princess and then she lost the battle with consciousness and I had to catch her with my wind while I made my way to her and scooped her up. After that I was not sure if it was a normal unconsciousness or if it was her realignment that had been waiting for her to power down so I took her to the Clinic with Master Healer Kadel. She ran a few scans on her to get a bit of a baseline,” Lewis said as he looked at Henry who nodded and motioned for him to continue.
“I became aware that she has two seals on her still, ones that have not been seen in over 10 thousand years, so we will have to see if we can find any of her relatives to be able to remove the seals from her. Second was that after her Inheritance she was magically exhausted but she still has reserves that are vast and nearly endless which is something that Gaelyn was worried about. How can one have reserves but be magically exhausted, it makes no sense. But physically she is healthy with nothing that seems to be wrong,” Lewis said as he looked at Henry, Cora and Vincent.
“So do you have sketches of these Seals?” asked Henry as he looked at Cora and Vincent it looked as if they would have a few mysteries to solve for the new Mentee of Lewis.
“I do, but I did bring the young Pareya here so that we could get to know a bit more about Lunarian Dragel Inheritance so that we can be prepared for the quirks before they arise,” Lewis said, trying to defend his bringing of the clearly unbonded Pareya.
“That is understandable but maybe he should come back another day while we all settle and before the Gheyo get back from their patrols. We will contact him when your Mentee wakes so that until we can get her keyed with translation spells she won’t have to mime what she wants. Also see what language it was that she spoke when you first arrived if the Pareya knows its name, maybe we can figure out where she came from by that,” Henry said as he looked at Lewis.
“I understand Alpha,” he said as he straightened up from his leaning position on the arm of the chair.
“As for the sketches I do have them, right here,” Lewis stated as he laid down the sketches before turning to leave. He would have to ask Deimos to leave while his Mentee was unconscious for now, and get his information so that he could be contacted if he wanted.
Lewis went back to the sitting room and saw the Pareya sitting there waiting patiently.
“Well, she’s settled now,” Lewis started with smiling tiredly at the young Pareya.
“That’s good, she probably won't wake until she gets a dose of the full moon energy here. She will need to acclimate to the new moonlight,” Deimos said as he looked at Lewis.
“So at least a week then,” Lewis said after calculating the moon cycle for a moment. Deimos nodded. “I understand not wanting anyone to hang around that long to make sure someone is safe,” Deimos said standing up.
“We have a few discussions we can have but they are not as pressing today as I thought they might be, I need to keep her safe and will have to make sure she has access to the moonlight when night falls,” Lewis said as he thought about the information that Deimos had given him.
“I understand, here is my contact information if you need it,” Deimos said, offering it to the older Pareya.
“In case you have questions,” Deimos added as he saw Lewis take the information.
“Thank you Deimos for being so understanding,” Lewis said
“For my Princess I would do anything required,” Deimos said as he bowed to Lewis.
“Oh one last question, what was the first language she spoke when she arrived here?” Lewis asked
“I believe it is called Japanese, from Terra. Before you ask, no, I have not been there before but Lunarians always know the language of their Royal so we innately know the languages,” Deimos said.
“I see, thank you for the information. I will let you know when she’s awake,” Lewis said as he led them to the gate.
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Peryton had to get out, so many things were not going the way they needed to this hunt and he needed time to think before he lost his cool and caused a scandal. So he took one of his guards and began to walk the different shops of the Hunt. He greeted different acquaintances as he passed by them. It was sometimes harder to be looking through things, nothing seemed to fit what he was looking for as he thought about the silver haired female again.
As Peryton walked the main roads of the district he found himself bombarded by the classic tokens, small trinkets that were made of various materials most held magic of strangers in them that were probably abrasive or clearly present even after they were made.
Glass beads, small charms, trinkets that had no meaning all passed under the Prince’s gaze as he was about to give up. So many of the items here would not make sense to the youngling he could tell. No one had told her yet why certain herbs were symbols of good fortune yet or how to read them when given as a favor. He shook his head. This had been pointless, why had he decided to go out looking for anything when he knew he would either end up disappointed or having to make it himself.
As Peryton thought about the blue eyed youngling he wondered if she was like the refugees from before, the Moon children, the Lunarians. What would his sister think if she saw him now he wondered as he wandered the streets not sure where his feet were taking him now.
As Perry walked he made a turn and went into the Lunar lane and felt a wash of hush happen as if he stepped through a ward that quieted the street sounds, as he left from the main roads. He looked at the tokens here and found them of a different quality. So many more seemed to be hand crafted but with only the hint of power used in crafting it.
As he looked through the wares of a few stalls he found he liked the feel of these better but he still wasn’t sure what to get the female that seemed to have consumed his attention. He just moved slowly through each stall looking at what they had and weighing it against what he had seen of the youngling. He would have to find her name eventually but he could inquire later with Medic Peverell.
“You’re looking for something Princeling?” asked an older female with sky blue eyes that smiled softly at Peryton.
“Yes, I saw a female with silver hair and silvery blue eyes, I wanted to find something unique for her,” Perry said to the woman. He was not sure why he felt the need to be so descriptive to the lady. But it seemed that his answer was what she was looking for as he noticed her smile and nod.
“I think I have an idea for you. Something that would be readily accepted by the light of our people. Would you like to come to my shop?” the woman said as she smiled and looked up at Perry, her deep lavender eyes sparkling.
“Sure,” Perry said, motioning for her to lead the way. He was not sure exactly why he was following this woman but he got the feeling that he was safe with her even with his guards at his back. As he walked he noticed others greeting the woman in their native tongue and giving her the respect that many elders got when they reached a certain age.
When they entered a shop that had glass beads abound he was confused as he was led to the counter. He had been to many of the other stalls and shops that had beads but none of them had ever stood up to his instincts about what he was looking for that even he didn’t realize while looking.
“This might be a good gift for her,” the woman said as she held out a bracelet on a pale silk cloth. It was pale gold pearls with charms for each of the planetary symbols for Earth’s planets.
As Perry looked it over he felt something inside him purred at the thought of it on the wrist of the youngling. Not sure what the symbols meant he looked at the lady holding them.
“What do these charms mean?” he asked as he watched her lay it down and carefully take a rod to settle each charm. The way she didn’t touch it eased something in Perry that he didn’t realize. he had wanted very little of the crafters to be left behind on the gift, it seemed from how he felt his own instincts reacting.
“These are the symbols of our lights Guardians, Her Inner Court,” the woman said pointing to each while naming them, “Mercury, our Cold Merrow. Mars, the Sacred Flame. Venus the Commander of the Inner Guard and Nameless of Light and Love. Jupiter, our Gentle Storm,” There was a pause as she looked at Perry who held onto each word she said.
“Then there are the outer Guardians,” The woman said as she shifted the silk and presented four more charms to Perry. “Neptune, The deep Merrow. Uranus, the Guardian of Air and Earth. Saturn, the Nameless of Death and Shadow, and Pluto the Nameless Commander of Time,” the lady said as she set the tool to the side.
It was a lot of information that Perry was trying to process. “But we have not seen the Guardian’s of our Princess so we can only hope that they are with her and have been protecting her all these years,” the lady said as she looked at Perry.
Peryton nodded as he looked at the woman before him. He was not sure if the youngling he wanted to give this to was the princess they all seemed to hold above all but his instincts wanted him to get this bracelet. “How much would you accept for this bracelet?” Perry asked as he felt his guard watching him.
The woman smiled as she pulled out a box that was pale blue. Negotiations began for the favor. In the end Perry paid less than he expected for such fine craftsmanship, but more than the crafter seemed to want to take, saying it was for the Princess so no price was needed. Peryton didn’t understand why she said that but was glad that he had the box tucked away on his person now as he started his way back to the Air section.
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Vincent grumbled as he walked to the Library with Desmond. Both of them had been assigned the mission to see what they could find on the Seals that Lewis had given Henry which were still on his Mentee. He didn’t know what to think as he looked down at the intricate designs, they just looked so dainty and pointless like there couldn’t be huge amounts of power behind them being held back.
As they walked into the family tree room and began searching. It was tedious work but he hoped that one of the seals was actually a family mark. He took a look at Desmond and wondered if he was taking him away from other work with this task to help Lewis. He shook his head it didn’t matter their Alpha needed them to do this while Lewis fretted over his Mentee. So Vincent returned his focus to the family crests as he flipped from the Edvard Family and started on the families that started with the letter I. He took a deep breath as he saw Desmond working on the deeper Archives for older families. As he flipped through a few before he found a newly updated tapestry. He took a deep breath as he looked at the name of the Family Ignitus and shook his head not seeing anything that looked like the seal on the tapestry.
As Vincent was dealing with the more recent families Desmond was using his Scholar access to delve a little deeper. He had seen the report like Vincent; they were Seals that had not been seen in a very long time. They were Seals that were only placed now as family magic with the way they were constructed. So that led Desmond to think that the families were older, probably millennia older than some of the High Nobles families.
So carefully with delicate magic Desmond was looking through the Deep Archives. He took down a family Tapestry one at a time and laid it down to get a better look at the family crests. He knew that he had a feeling about one of the crests but he couldn’t remember which Ancient family it was that he was looking for so he had to take time to find the right match to the Seal. As he worked he wondered if this would be something that could help him in his current project that would give him an edge as well.
Desmond shook his head, it would not do to try and use Lewis’ connection to better his own work. So pushing those thoughts away Desmond doubled down on checking the tapestries against the copy of the Seal.
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Lewis was nervous it had been two days since his Mentee had arrived in a spectacular fashion and she still hadn’t woken up yet. He was trying to stay close so that if she did wake he would be able to hopefully calm her down. While he had been staying close to home he had asked Henry if Vincent would be able to check out the seals for him and try to get any family trees for him from the Library. Henry had agreed that it was important and sent Vincent out with Desmond to search the Tree Archives. The Peverells were going to be thorough for the sake of Lewis.
As Vincent and Desmond kept looking each day for any signs of her family Lewis focused on trying to not worry the longer she was asleep. Gaelyn had asked for an alert when the youngling woke so Lewis knew that the healer was still not sure how long the little one would rest. Remembering Deimos’s words Lewis had made sure that the room would allow for the moonlight to rest upon the youngling to recharge her he had said. Now Lewis wondered if he had gotten it wrong.
Worrying his nails Lewis did not hear Cora come up to him. “Lewis, worrying about her not waking is not going to help anyone. Why don’t you take your tablet and go work on something?” She said gently
“But what if….” Lewis started.
“What if she wakes? We have magic love. We can be alerted the moment she wakes up, you don’t have to stand vigil at her bedside,” Cora said as she wrapped an arm around her bonded.
“I know but I feel like she’s not going to understand a lot more than a normal Mentee,” Lewis said as he looked at the door that led to his mentee’s room.
“I know but you will help her along the way the best you can and we will all help you. Lewis go rest and eat something. She will wake when her body is ready, Healer Kadel said she was magically exhausted, so that means that she had been using her magic before her Inheritance. She might take longer to wake,” Cora said as she waved her hand at the door.
“I have an alarm on the door that will alert you when she wakes up and opens the door,” Cora said as she started to take Lewis down the hall. He looked back reluctantly as he understood Cora’s words but he didn’t want to be far from his Mentee. He wanted to be there in case she panicked. He was led away by Cora and only could hope that the youngling was calm when she woke.
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That evening after the Circle had settled down and the moon rose high in the sky, the small figure of Serenity laid there. She opened her eyes as she blinked away the remnants of sleep. She carefully stretched as she sat up and felt her broach was still on her bow. She looked around the room and stilled as it was bathed in silver moonlight all around her but it was not her room.
Serenity tensed as she drew her legs under her as she tried to think about what was going on. She had been with her senshi fighting off the dead moon circus queen. She had been falling with Chibi-usa after being taken thousands of feet in the air by the insane queen. They had been saved by Pegasus but if that was the case she should be home with her girls not in a strange room.
As she thought back she remembered that she had been pulled by some force. She had been taken away from her family and friends and dropped into an unfamiliar place. She threw back the covers not sure if she was in the clutches of another enemy or not. She was careful as she placed her feet on the cool floor. She noticed that her socks and shoes were gone, that was okay. She would be fine until she could figure out what was going on. Gathering up her courage she found herself standing before a mirror. Her uniform was not there but a dress with a bow on it so that her broach could stay with her. She bit her lip as she realized how vulnerable she was right now.
Did she want to transform, not unless she absolutely needed to, because she didn’t know what those that had her were going to do. She wanted to think that since they didn’t take her broach they were not hostile but she could be wrong too. She felt the moonlight wrap around her as she stood there and smiled.
Wherever she was, the moon loved her regardless and was giving her strength. She felt the whisper of a name across her skin from the moonlight, Nevarah. She didn’t know where Nevarah was but she got the feeling that she was going to be fine here regardless of anything. She shook her head and smiled softly.
“Thank you,” she said in her native Lunarian to the moonlight as it ran through her hair. She felt better than she had in a long time but she wouldn’t admit to her girls that she had after the final battle with Beryl and Metalia taken on more of her Lunarian traits. She needed more time in the moonlight to just be herself. She took a breath. She would have to let them know she was alright very soon, she felt an empty place in her heart. Serenity knew she was away from her Senshi, she just didn’t know how to get them to her or her to them at the moment.
Carefully, she made her way to the door and found nothing stopping her. She bit her lip as she cracked it open then slipped through the doorway and started down the hall. She wanted to get an idea of where she was or try to find her way out. She kept her broach in her hand in case she needed to do a quick change. Walking barefoot through the halls was strange as she felt the moonlight when she saw it drawing her this way or that way as if leading her somewhere. She soon found herself in a kitchen and smiled softly as she said a quick thanks to the moonlight. She knew she was hungry and now that she was in the kitchen her stomach let its displeasure be known.
“Okay first, food,” she said as she looked about the kitchen, not sure where to begin. As she stepped in she turned feeling someone at her back. She saw a tall imposing male there who seemed to be trying to judge if she should be here or not. She watched as the warrior moved closer to her. She stepped back gripping her broach. She didn’t think she would be able to take him even with her transformation.
He said something to her or at her she was not sure. She tilted her head not understanding the words. She had a confused look on her face as she saw him gesture at her and she felt something settle over her.
“Who are you?” she heard the gruff voice ask again.
“Serenity,” she answered eyes wide as she felt the moonlight poise beside her ready to react if she needed it too.
“What did you do to me?” she asked worried as she could now understand him.
“Just a translation spell, don’t worry it is temporary until we can teach you the language,” the gruff man said.
Serenity stilled as he said to teach her, like she was going to be staying here for a long time. Was she a prisoner?
“Who are you? Since you have me at a disadvantage,” She said, falling back onto older instincts from her days as a princess.
“I am Avery, the ACE of my Circles’ Suite,” He said looking at the youngling. “I just returned from off Realm and if I am not mistaken you are connected to Lewis,” he said as he motioned towards the door behind him to a man with wild brown hair and hazel blue eyes who waved softly at her.
“ACE?” Serenity said confused the other words Circle and realm all swirled through her mind. As they did her hand clenched around her broach. She was not sure what to think as the man with the brown hair stepped towards her and she felt like he would answer all her questions.
“Yes that means he is the top rank of the fighters of our circle,” Lewis said as he tried to keep himself non threatening.
“I don’t understand,” Serenity said as she looked up at him, her mercurial eyes swirling in silver and blue.
“We will explain everything but let's see if we can sit down for a moment and do introductions alright, little one?” Lewis asked. Serenity bit her lip and felt the need to trust him, she couldn’t sense any deception from him so she nodded and found a seat nearby.
“Let me start by saying welcome to our home, little one. I am your Mentor, the person who will guide and teach you about your Inheritance, Lewis Peverell. As you know that is Avery, one of our top fighters of our circle. The others are sleeping right now but we will introduce you when they wake,” He said his voice staying calm and gentle.
“Alright. It is a pleasure to meet you Lewis of the Peverell Circle, I am Serenity,” she said smiling as she held out her hand that did not have her broach.
“Pleasure to meet you, Serenity,” Lewis said, smiling just as brightly back at her.