Celia (Old)

Chapter 27

After a while of circling around the city, the sun had completely set and Leena was having a hard time figuring out where everything was. Eventually, she figured out what they were flying over and continued leading Dawn to where her parents were. Once Leena pointed out the spot, Dawn circled around it, trying to slowly land as to not harm Leena or make her sick. Once they all were on the ground again, Leena quickly got off of Dawn and ran towards the entrance of the building. Everyone around Celia was new to her, she had never been to the city that Taylor's road led to, nor has she been to a human town or city in general. Leena waited by the door for everyone else to catch up, she was excited but willing to wait for those who brought her there to come. Once they were all by her sides, she opened the door, entered the building, and tried to navigate her way around. There was a lobby with barely anyone in it and another door that had muffled human music coming from it.
"This must be it, here we go." Leena said to herself before taking a deep breath, putting her hands on the push bar, and pushing the doors open. When she entered, the room was dimly lit with multiple round tables in it with people sitting around them and people on the stage singing. Leena looked around for a bit and wandered off to the right to get to a spot with a bit more space, Celia, Hannah, and Dawn following close behind. Celia felt awkward being one of the only Lizens there, she and her two relatives where the only Lizens there.
"You four arrived a bit later than usual, but welcome." A waitress greeted Leena while she stood in that spot looking around for her parents.
"Uh, thanks, but have you seen my parents?" Leena asked the waitress.
"Who are your parents?" The waitress replied with a question.
"Sarah and Phil, they are frequent karaoke goers here." Leena answered to the waitress as her face lit up in surprise.
"Are you Sarah's first daughter?" The waitress asked after gasping. Leena nodded as the waitress took a deep breath and said "Follow me, but keep your Lizen companions here."
Celia watched as the waitress led Leena towards the stage as if she was going to make her sing next. After the person who was singing was over, the waitress led Leena onto the stage, leaned into the microphone, and announced "We have a special guest here who disappeared for three years and has now returned, so please welcome Leena to the stage!"
The audience applauded Leena as she stepped forward towards the microphone. She didn't say anything, but someone else did. One of the adults stood up and shouted "LEENA! IS THAT YOU?"
Celia assumed she was Leena's mother as she quickly ran up onto the stage with possibly her husband following her. Leena didn't say anything, instead, she ran up to her parents as they ran towards her and hugged them. They were all overjoyed to finally be reunited, and so was the audience. They kept clapping and cheering for them. After a few seconds of hugging, her mother asked "Where were you all this time?"
"These brainwashed Lizens took me from our camping spot believing that I had something to do with their raid in Edmonton, but three Lizens rescued me and one of the three who rescued me is here with me." Leena explained to her parents.
"Are they here?" Her father asked Leena. Leena turned and looked at Celia, Hannah, and Dawn from across the room.
"One of them is, the other two are her mother and grandmother. Shine the spotlight on them, they are in the corner over there." Leena replied to her father as the spotlight that was on the stage moved towards Celia's direction. She hid behind her mother, she didn't want to be stared at by a bunch of humans.
"Kidnapped by Lizens and rescued by Lizens, strange but I am thankful." Her father said as Hannah spoke "Yes, my daughter did play a part in rescuing your daughter. We are peaceful and mean no harm to any of you."
"But why did it take you three years to find her!" Someone in the audience exclaimed.
"Three years ago my daughter was barely old enough to start flying, so she couldn't have found her then." Hannah responded, remaining calm.
"May I ask where she was?" Leena's mother asked them. Hannah nodded and told Celia to explain the story as she didn't entirely know. Celia gained the courage and flew up onto the stage, the spotlight following her.
"Leena was held captive by a orange Lizen named Walter, a Lizen who believed that our kind didn't belong with humans and enslaved innocent Lizens. He built the army to kill my father and Leena just happened to be part of it for some reason. The mind control did not work on her but the tracking did, so she could not leave. It wasn't until we were captured as well when we escaped with a Lizen tribe who freed her from the collar, and now she's standing here." Celia explained to everyone, surprised that she didn't mess up her words. Leena then leaned into the microphone and added "He was using the same collars we people used to use on Lizens back when it was still legal."
There was silence then more applause as Celia said her goodbye to Leena. Celia was very happy for her, she was finally reunited with her family. She was allowed to visit them if she wanted to, and Leena was allowed to visit her. After saying their thank you's and goodbye's, Celia left with Dawn and Hannah. They flew back to the burrow, Celia still felt warm inside despite it being below zero outside. The city lights amazed her again as she flew over it and back to her home. She hoped that Leena could now finally do the things she wanted to do before that camping trip, and she would. A few years later, Leena graduated university and got the job she wanted, which was to be a zoologist and help animals. The three years she spent being a slave for a corrupt Lizen was in the past now.