THEY WERE FALLING into the sky.
Whoever had the illusion that going through a portal would need some time until it led them to their destination should have erased the idea out of their minds as early as possible to prevent further disappointment.
Lyla, Hilary, and Mariah didn't risk any chances. They transformed into their fairy form and dived into the cream-white clouds scattered everywhere on the bright sky illuminated by the midday sun. The boys were in their aid if Tyson and Johnny's panicked, guttural sounds were anything to go by, their throats straining from the pain, the intense wind of a high altitude almost drowning out their voices.
Lyla didn't expect to be the one to catch Kai of all people, her arms looping under his forearms, ceasing his fall altogether. They stood in a state of balance and if he was as surprised as she was, his expression betrayed nothing. It was masked into the familiar neutrality everyone was used to. Even though Lyla didn't anticipate any thankful signs from him, she found a part of her growing irritated at the basic lack of manners from people. It was ridiculous since that was the way they were, but still. A simple 'thank you' would be adequate.
Kai gave her a subtle nod Lyla made sure to return, inwardly glad he surpassed her expectations. It was a mistake of hers to rush to assumptions as far his lack of manners was concerned. Kai had manners indeed, but the way he signified them differed.
A small smile curved her lips upwards. She was becoming enthusiastic over the simplest, required manners everyone should have.
Still, he wasn't an asshole not to thank her. It didn't matter he didn't voice it aloud. Sometimes, silence had a power words could only dream of having.
Kai was grateful he had found a way to return to her the note that slipped from her notebook the other day, back when the attacker made them both lose their consciousness in the library. She had placed the notebook amidst physics and maths under her desk. Albeit his action could be characterized as a violation of her privacy, or, in simple terms, going through her stuff, Kai had minimum options. He couldn't afford the uneasiness of her being aware he had read it.
However, he was fortunate to have luck on his side. After chemistry, he had waited for everyone to exit the room to slip the note with unhindered success to a random page. He had pretended to be absorbed in a unit they were assigned to study with concentration for Friday, surrounding the topic of Acids and Bases.
It was a blessing he didn't have to worry anymore.
He chanced a glance at her. He couldn't tell if her attention was here, to them, or elsewhere, in a place entirely different.
Lyla turned her head to the side. She bit a laugh. Hilary was the one to catch Tyson, casting Stasis—a spell that stopped one from falling, but they could escape the equilibrium as long as the caster was moving, or in Hilary's case, was flying. The same process developed with Mariah. She caught Max and helped Johnny—who although had a scowl on his lips for not being the privileged one—to follow her into the sky.
Lyla took an observing look at Mariah. Her fairy form had changed, she noted with excitement. Mariah was donned in a magenta-colored, sleeveless uniform. Delicate, dark green flower patterns stretched upon the material covering her legs. The top part was stylized with various, elegant flowers in a soft pink hue—perfect to blend with the magenta.
"Congratulations on the transformation, Mari," Lyla said, her lips lifted to a cordial smile.
Mariah thanked her, pride lacing her words. The rest began to felicitate her, joyful with her improvement.
"Mariah" —Tyson sucked in a deep breath— "I love you, I appreciate you, I'm glad you've come this far, but..." he trailed off, his lungs in a desperate need for all the oxygen in the world, "I can't breath," he said, sweat dampening his forehead. His clothes were clinging to his body as if they were an extension, a second layer of it, his chest closing in on him.
He wouldn't die like this. His vision of a heroic death in a young age, in case it was inevitable, otherwise a peaceful death beside his beloved future family—because Tyson Adams adored children and looked forward to the day he and his gorgeous wife would be the parents of the next generation—wasn't going to crumble. Some stupid sky wasn't going to shatter his aspirations.
His lungs wouldn't fail him. He wasn't going to accept defeat like this.
"Tyson," Hilary said, her voice stoic, "get over it."
Tyson shrugged. "Well, I guess that works."
Hilary stared ahead. "We have to get moving. The second portal is near. We just have to keep flying."
The fairies followed Hilary's lead with the boys in tow. The sky was beautiful, a brilliant blue meant to open someone's heart, to free the darkness and have the spiritual appreciation to let the light shed and vanquish all sins, everything that blocked euphoria.
They were navigating their way through the clouds, the chilly breeze that occasionally morphed into a stronger wind nipping at their cheeks. It cooled the fire of the anticipation a new beginning brought on their neck. It ceased their minds running with thoughts of the unpredictable lying to the other side. It caused Lyla's hair on her arms to stand on end with an inexplicable delight and a new-found sense of freedom discovered into the endless blue and white of the oneiric sky.
It didn't take long for Hilary's face to light up. "Guys, over there!" She pointed with a tilt of her chin to a big cloud in front of them, a few meters away.
"What's that?" Mariah asked.
The blood in Hilary's veins was thrumming with anticipation. Although the portal wouldn't transport them straight to the Kingdom, it was proof they were one step closer to Selene. "The second portal. Once we enter it, we're automatically led to the dimension of the Sky Kingdom. Hence why I told you the flow of time there is different."
They were one step closer to the truth.
As they reached the cloud, another golden seal appeared. The light wasn't as blinding as the seal's in the Academy when they passed through.
The girls were stripped off of the anxiety of not letting the boys fall. Their wings and their arms could withstand their bodies' weight only for so long.
"Wow," Tyson breathed as he stared up and ahead. The majesty of the sight was enormous, bordering to mind-blowing. "Look at this!"
They followed his gaze, the sight before them leaving them star-struck. They were a few feet away from the beginning of a white grand staircase encircled by clouds, reaching higher to the sky.
"We're almost there, Hil," Lyla said, her eyes sparkling with awe.
Hilary was at a loss for words, her lips failing to describe the emotional turmoil raging within. She was waiting for that moment, that moment where everything wouldn't be black anymore, that moment where someone would enlighten her. They were halfway there and for the first time, uncertainty froze Hilary's body to the spot. No matter how much mental preparation she had done beforehand, the fear of the unknown would never go away.
And it was okay.
Her hands were close to shaking, but the warmth of Lyla and Mariah's fingers giving a reassuring, gentle squeeze to hers lessened her escalating anxiety. She lifted her head, her eyes holding a gratitude she had never felt before.
It was going to be fine. If not, they would find a way to get there eventually.
They made to step forward, but Tyson's spread arms halted them from walking to the staircase.
"Wait!" he told them, his face solemn. He elaborated at their confused pause. "We can't just go to whatever lies at end of this dressed like this," he said, pointing at his outfit. "We can't be like: Oh hey, we're just some mortals passing by your Kingdom, don't mind us. And, since Hilary wants to go undercover we can't use the excuse of an escort."
Tyson spun around, his brows knitted together. They were staring at him as if he recited a literature piece of depth, not as someone who thought with common sense.
"What?" he demanded, slightly bothered. It didn't take a genius to figure out this wasn't Astropolis or any other city in the world to stroll around without raising suspicion.
"Tyson..." Hilary trailed off, her voice honest despite the instinct warning her he was going to perceive her words the wrong way, "you're thinking. I'm amazed."
His expression acquired a renewed shade of anger. "Should've thought you wouldn't last long before going back to your old ways."
Hilary summoned every logical reminder in her to stay collected. Of course, he wasn't going to accept her decision of agreement to amelioration as far as his and her interactions were concerned.
"I'm not mocking you!" she said, her tone a notch higher than the one she intended to, but he had to believe her. He had to accept she was tired of lighting up matches and setting everything on fire whenever he was in her line of vision. "I'm surprised you pointed out something none of us thought of. I didn't think you were incapable of thinking something like this."
"I believe you," he told her, much to her surprise, "but you have to be more careful with your words."
It reminded Lyla of her conversation with Kai to the library on the day of the attack. She had advised Kai with something similar. One could have the purest, most genuine of purposes, but it took one false sentence to blow up the carefully-structured castle of cards.
So many years of education and training, yet nobody taught them the keys to life. They would have to unveil them on their own if they were ever fortunate and open-minded to notice the hints in the form of seeds between the cracks on the pavements.
"Would you two stop bickering already?" Johnny asked, not caring to mask his annoyance. "We shouldn't be wasting our time."
Lyla's eyes narrowed. "Since when have you become Hudson two point zero?"
Kai rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to feed them with what they sought by reacting.
Mariah stood between Tyson and Johnny. "Anyway," she said, waving her hands dismissively to the boys to cease any possibilities of an argument, "Tyson's right. It's exactly why I'm here for."
Hilary gulped harshly to cage in the laughter from escaping. The boys weren't going to enjoy the news she had for them. "Us, girls, don't have to use a disguise. There are fairies of our world who reside in the Kingdom so we won't be out of place. You, boys, on the other hand, are in the privileged position to be the models for Mariah's ideas, Sky Kingdom edition of course."
Upon hearing Hilary's words, the boys' faces were beginning to lose their color and the girls couldn't understand why. They had the honor to be the mannequins of Mariah's work and acted as if they had been asked to go commando.
"If you're expecting sky-colored themed outfits you might as well forget it. I'm not risking my clothes with people who can't appreciate fine art in fashion."
"It's not that Mari..." Tyson began, but Mariah's lifted hand flat in the air indicated he didn't have to speak further.
"I know," Mariah said with a mischievous smile. "I'm messing with you."
Relief, whether visible or not, washed over the boys. They would be sleeping at night with clear consciousness, robbed off of any traces of guilt.
Mariah took a few steps back, watching the boys stand one beside the other. "Now, it's time to work my magic." She turned her head to Hilary. "You mentioned the people there have angel wings if I recall correctly."
"I guess so. That's what Helios has told me whenever I asked how life is in the Kingdom, including appearances, etc."
"I'm not wearing white."
Kai's declaration earned him incredulous looks. The last thing they'd suspect the ever all-mighty Hudson would be bothered by was the outfit for the disguise.
"I hate it to break it to you, but you can't wear black either," Mariah told him, her hand placed on her hip.
"Whatever. I'm not wearing white."
"If you continue being obstinate I'll let you walk in there just the way you are. Now, don't blow this out of proportion, there's nothing wrong with your appearance, but we're talking about the Sky Kingdom here. You can't walk in there with ordinary clothes."
So much for not fitting in, Kai thought, part of him bitter he'd have to comply.
"I'm afraid you'll have to cooperate, Kai," Mariah said, "but don't worry. I'll save you from the surprise of the unexpected."
A dark pink—close to mauve—glow hugged Mariah's hands as she cast her magic to the other two boys.
Hilary and Lyla didn't anticipate two things. The first concerned Mariah and the fact she didn't voice the spell aloud, as it frequently happened. The second was hilarious. Lyla and Hilary reached to the point they were clutching at their stomachs hurting from the inevitable laughter at the sight of their friends.
Tyson and Johnny were dressed in white shoes, a black belt holding the white jeans in place, a thin white turtleneck covering their chest. A pair of white, angel wings stood firmly on their backs.
"Dude, you have wings on your back," Johnny and Tyson said to each other simultaneously and shifted their attention to Mariah for a proper explanation.
"Ah, yes, the lovely angel wings. They last for an hour before I have to cast the spell again. As for the outfit, you're free to keep it. I'm that generous."
Tyson looked down at his body, then to his back. "It's not so bad. Are these wings real though?"
"Yes. In fact, you need to have the flying skills us fairies do to use them to their full extent, but, since we're using them for merely a disguise, you won't need them as much," Mariah informed them.
Johnny took the initiative to hoist himself, a sense of insecurity and doubt he didn't allow the others to register causing his heart to pound a beat faster. Losing the earth beneath his feet was a feeling he hadn't imagined he'd come to be familiar with.
The girls waited for Kai's response, save for the fact it never came.
Kai was skeptical, his thumb and index finger under his bottom lip, staring at Tyson and Johnny with indecipherable eyes.
"Still not doing this," he said at last.
Mariah groaned. Kai's behavior was close to exasperating her. "Kai, come on. You don't have many options left either way."
"I could get arrested, but that's not what we want."
Mariah wracked her brain for a solution that
didn't arrive late. "How about this," Mariah brought the fingertips of one hand to touch those of the other, "you get the guys' outfit in black, but the wings are going to stay white anyway. We can't afford an imitation of the devil walking amidst Gods and the citizens of the Sky Kingdom."
Kai exhaled, hard. "Fine," he told her, his voice drained of any positive emotion and spirit. "Let's get this over with."
Mariah worked her magic and the result was the one she promised. Before them stood Kai Hudson, the fervent supporter of always look your best, just not in white.
The jeans were fitting to his skin, the thin black turtleneck accentuating the toned muscles in his chest, doing all the years of athletic training justice. The darkest color gave the freedom to those wild, forest green eyes to steal the performance with their intensity. The white angel wings were the finishing touch, the necessary push for him to blend naturally within the residents of the Kingdom.
He is a damn hot devilish angel, Lyla thought, holding the reins of herself. She wasn't going to lick her lips with an unfathomable desire. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction that his presence had a small-bordering to minuscule effect. He wasn't going to get a reaction out of her that could be identified as something different, something past friendly or innocent.
"There you go," Mariah told him, nodding her head proud, internally patting herself on the back.. She did a good job.
Tyson stared at Kai from head to toe, his lips curving to a frown. "Why can't I look like I came out of a funereal?" he asked.
"Because," Mariah drawled, their childishness tiring her, "he wouldn't come otherwise, or worse, he would go a visit straight to jail."
"Are you serious?" Johnny demanded, gesturing at Kai's clothes. "He looks as if he came out straight of a crime scene and slapped some wings on his shoulders to trick the cops and avoid punishment."
"There isn't blood in my hands, you moron," Kai told him.
"Who said you had to kill someone?" Johnny retorted.
He can surely kill me with that feral look, Lyla thought and blinked over and over again. Kai Hudson wouldn't fill her head with sinful, indecent thoughts.
"That's enough," Hilary cut them off. This nonsense had to end here. "We have to get going."
She stepped forward and started to ascend the staircase, a clear verification that child's play was over. The rest followed her lead in silence, taking some time to mentally prepare themselves for an experience they were destined not to be fully primed for from the start.
"It's like a staircase to heaven," Tyson said in an effort to break the comfortable silence lingering in the air to no avail. They needed a breather for the calm before the storm.
At the end of the staircase stood a man in his early sixties donned in white, his outfit bringing to memory that of a priest. Beside him and in front of them stood tall and grandiose a gate with golden bars bearing the golden symbol of the sun and the midnight blue symbol of the midnight crescent moon.
The man radiated a serenity almost surreal as he stared at them with the kindest of gentle smiles. "How can I help you and your friends, Miss?" he asked, his voice harmonized with the softness of his features.
"We would like to visit the Goddess of the Moon, Sir," Hilary said. "I'm an acquaintance of hers."
The golden earring of the sun to her right earlobe and the other of the crescent moon to her left shone, a delicate sound of bells emanating from her earrings. The symbols of the sun and the crescent moon appeared on the illuminated star in the middle of her corona and Hilary watched with her breath hitched and her heart one beat away from leaping out of her chest as the man's blue eyes brightened with a sign of recognition, although Hilary wasn't certain. It could be surprise or a mixture of both.
The man summoned a small bell and swayed it from one side to the other, its sound matching that of Hilary's earrings.
The gate began to open, giving way in. The man returned to them, his smile wider now. "You and your friends may pass, Miss."
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A / N
Hi everyone!
I hope you and your families are doing well and staying as healthy and safe as possible. Here's chapter 31 which I have to say I was completely uninspired to write it, not because I didn't like it as a chapter—I did, a lot—but there are times that writer's block hits hard. That, along with the stress of building properly the universe of the Sky Kingdom since it's a different dimension and as you know, I don't half-arse anything. Hence why this chapter is shorter than it was supposed to.
As always, if you enjoyed the chapter a vote & a comment are highly appreciated for they can truly motivate an author.
Do you get struck by Writer's Block often? If yes, what are your methods to combat it? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I hope you have a good day/night!
Stay safe,
Pavlina x.