The Call of The Gods

Chapter 1: New Acquaintances

Everything was quiet the morning of July 1st. The townspeople were all asleep, except for the few rushing to work. The birds had just awoken and were singing in the morning heat. And in a normal-looking neighborhood, a so-called average teen had just started her day.

The girl had brilliant black hair that shone in the sun, beautiful gray eyes, and a tattoo she kept hidden by her hair. The tattoo, which is on the back of her neck, takes the shape of a frightening dragon. The girl looked average for an individual of her species. And we say "species", because the place she lives the wizards call the Downworld, where all of the half-bloods (anyone who is both a human and creature hybrid) live.

She is described as average, only because that is how she views herself. The girl is a half-human half-elf hybrid, as you could tell by her almond-shaped eyes and pointed ears. Her name is Celeana Bane. She lives with her mother and stepfather, as well as her little brother. Celeana likes to spend most of her time outside of her town's borders, because, as she puts it, Celeana is cut off in her own little world.

So, when her mother now can't find her for dinner, the neighbors know she's probably off in some meadow talking with the centaurs who live in the nearby forest. Celeana has a talent for making basically anyone like her. So, when the new kid across the road doesn't take a liking to the girl, you can assume there is something odd about him as well.

The boy had moved in but a few weeks ago, and had stayed in his house most of the time. However, when he was out, the most peculiar thing about him was that he would keep his left hand completely covered. The boy had messy chocolate brown hair and wore glasses over startling violet eyes. He was a half-blood, obviously, as you could tell there was something human in his gaze. People had tended to stay out of the boy's way. Only Celeana was intrigued.

Celeana had come up to his house one day to say hello. She expected a shy head peeking out the door, or maybe even a slight conversation from him, but she didn't expect him to lock the door when she knocked. She thought that he was either being rude or completely paranoid. Celeana almost felt bad for him. Instead of bothering him, Celeana quickly wrote and stuck a note to his door before heading home for the night. The note only had one word on it - Fáilte - welcome.

The next day, the doorbell rang. Celeana was getting ready for the upcoming Fairy Festival. Her brother, Ronnie, answered the door. He called Celeana down, and she zoomed to the door. Standing there, with the note, was the boy she visited last night. He asked her if she was the one who had left the note, and when she replied yes, he then asked if she was going to be at the Festival. Again, Celeana said yes, gesturing to her outfit, a traditional garment worn by teen girls during celebrations. 

The Fairy Festival was in a little less than 3 hours now, and in that time, Celeana had to prepare the rest of her outfit and practice her dance, which was very time-consuming. Her outfit consisted of an olive-green medieval-style dress with a short skirt, puffed sleeves, and a pointed cincher, as well as gold anklets and a floral headdress. She put the outfit on and looked in the mirror, wondering how she could ever manage to dance in a pointed cincher.

Nonetheless, Celeana performed her dance nearly perfectly, earning her applause, as well as some stares and whistles from the other boys. After the performance, she spotted the boy in the crowd and came up to him. 

"Hey.", she greeted him. He whirled around, slightly glancing at his left hand.

"H-hey. It's Celeana, right? That was a nice dance you did. I-I'm James, by the way. James Malcolm." He smiled at her, obviously uncomfortable.

Celeana giggled. "Well, it's nice to finally know the name of the mysterious new kid.", she teased. 

James blushed. "Sorry I didn't answer the door last night. I was a little paranoid."

Celeana smiled. "It's not a big deal. Hey! How would you like to get out of here? I know a good place to go. Do you know the Sugar Pines forest?"

James shakes his head as he smirks. "Lead the way." Celeana then grabs James by the arm and leads him away.

An upside to this outfit, Celeana thought, was that she was able to run much faster than James, as she wasn't wearing any shoes. So, by the time she had stopped, Celeana found that she was basically dragging him. When he had caught his breath, James motioned for Celeana to keep going. She then leads him to a trail that she says runs in a giant loop through the forest.

"Do you know why these trees are called the Sugar Pines?", Celeana asks James. He shakes his head. "A lot of people say that the faeries here tend to the trees as saplings and that their magic is the reason the trees are able to make sap the way that they do, but that's just an imaginative story that kids are told by their parents. The trees actually develop the sap themselves at the base of the roots, because the trees grow better in the dark. I think it's pretty neat." She then blushes and looks down upon seeing James's face. James just laughs.

Celeana is clearly embarrassed, so James tells her "Hey, I like how you know a lot about this place because I think it's pretty clear I know absolutely nothing."

Celeana grins up at him. Suddenly, she asks, "So, I notice you glance down at your left hand a lot. Why is that? Purely curious."

James looks down at his hand and falters. "W-well, it's not really something I can tell you unless I can trust you completely. It's a really weird secret. Can I trust you, Celeana?", he replies. She silently nods, and James takes a breath before slowly removing the glove from his left hand. He holds his hand up to the light.

There is an iridescent chameleon tattoo on his hand, and it looked like it was breathing, sleeping. But, that would be impossible. Or, at least, it would seem to be for anyone else. Celeana just stares at the tattoo in mild recognition. James gently shook his hand and Celeana watches the chameleon stretch and yawn at being woken up.

James watches Celena with interest. He had expected her to react completely differently. Instead, she only looked like she was being greeted by someone she knew.

"His name is Simon. He's been there basically since I was born. Because I'm a half-demon, people usually don't want to associate themselves with me, so Simon is really my only friend. I honestly expected you to react way differently than you did." James pauses. Celeana has listened quite intently the whole time. To James's surprise, she herself pauses, then swishes her hair to one side and turns around to reveal a tattoo of her own, right at the nape of her neck. A dragon tattoo, the exact color of blood.

"I knew there was something different about you the moment we met. At least I now know why. The dragon's name is Sawyer, and he's nocturnally active so it can be a little difficult to sleep at night. He's really been there for as long as I can remember, but my mom knows absolutely nothing about him. This is really the only secret I have.", Celeana explains, flustered and excited to finally have someone to tell her secret to who will finally understand it.