The Lone Star Child: THE GODS' SCION, #3

THE GODS’ SCION:

THE LONE STAR CHILD

BOOK THREE

WINNIFRED TATAW

Copyright © Winnie Tataw

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

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I dedicate this book to my family and all those who helped make my dream a reality.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

Star Gazing Solo

CHAPTER TWO

Spending the Nights with You

CHAPTER THREE

An Unusual Cry for Help

CHAPTER FOUR

Lonely Without You

CHAPTER FIVE

Melting in Space

CHAPTER SIX

Mother of Life

Crying Over Spilled Milk

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Mysterious Star

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Overlooked Queen

Having you in my Arms

Exhausting Expeditions

CHAPTER NINE

Meeting the Mountain Queen

Beyond the Stars

Subpar Family Reunion

CHAPTER TEN

Her (e) in my Dreams

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Alone Together

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sleepless in Slumber

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Forgotten Child

Retracing Memories

To Chastise a Child

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Unbounded from Freedom

The Protector of Stars

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Fighting Alone

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Helpful Hands

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Home Sweet Horror

Small talk in Space

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sleepless Stars

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Battling in the Galaxy

CHAPTER TWENTY

The Dying Heat

Letting Your Light Fade

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Closeness through Pain

Never without Someone

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Finally, with Family

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Hear My Prayers

The Queen and her Son

APPENDIX

The Zodiacs

The Houses

The Moon, Sun, and Planets

How Time Passes

The World Philosophies

The Zodiac Ring

The Races of Earth

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

Star Gazing Solo

Journal log Caro, 658:

Today is my first day back on Earth in 2 ...3 years? I think? I do not know. I am happy to be back, kind of. Kedaele always felt new, but nostalgic. That is how it felt when I came back to Earth, no matter where I landed. My home country always felt the warmest. Not like hot, but warm like... like a comforting hug. Man, I wish I could hug someone right now. It would be nice to give someone, anyone, a hug.

The other Acolytes are busy, so I guess I am on my own. Again. But hey, what is new? This is how it has always been. Another lonely day in the life of the Space...

I sighed. I placed my pen down and closed my journal. I was tired of myself already. It usually felt good to write my thoughts, but this time it wasn’t helping. I couldn’t relax and forget about my lackluster life. This was ironic when most of my life had composed of traveling and exploring universes and galaxies.

A light breeze flowed through my blue-purple curls. I relaxed my shoulders and closed my eyes. I loved cool and windy nights like this. Few other planets in the galaxy have Earth’s nice, cooling weather. Though they never felt as good.

I was in the capital city of Kedaele, Ajozo, on top of the roof of some tall building. From the smells that seeped out of the building's windows, I could tell it was a bakery of sorts. Oh, I’d love to eat some soft warm doughnuts with light sprinkles and glazed frosting! They would go great with the view I had of the city.

The sounds of busy people and packed gondola taxis roared through the air. The many building lights glowed in the night sky and over the city's various mountain peaks. Stars against the sky looked like eavesdroppers on the city’s scene. Purple and blue snowy tips of the Nari Mountains seemed to glow from the city’s lights. It was quite beautiful.

This was how I spent most of my days and nights back on Earth, alone, throwing myself pity parties. No wonder why I stayed away so much. I slumped my shoulders.

I smiled sorrowfully as I stared at my dangling feet off the edge of the building’s roof. It wasn’t always bad being alone with my thoughts. No Milky, no work, no fighting in the stars, only me. It would be more relaxing if I could share this time with somebody. Was that asking for too much? I suppose it was.

It was destined for me to be alone. It was the price I paid as the Acolyte of Space. I wonder what my life would be like if I wasn’t the Acolyte. I wonder what my family on Earth is doing. Are they still living in Kedaele?

I would love to see them again, but I felt the negative outweighed the positive. I’m afraid of being hurt by people who should mean so much to me, but I remember so little of it. I mean, it’s been decades since I’ve seen my parents or siblings. Would they be happy to see me? Why would they? I don’t think they would gain much from it. It’s not like I can stay for long.

I wonder what my life would be like if I could stay on Earth. Would I have a lot of friends in school? Would I go to college? Would I still hold my love for space? Would I fall in love and marry someone? Would I make my own family?

I’ve met many aliens and creatures throughout my lifetime in the stars. All different in looks, values, and everything in between. I’ve had my fair share of times where some have caught my eye or my heart. I knew it could never work.

I looked back at the sky. I squinted my eyes. Something was wrong. I stared hard at the stars. They appeared strange, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it hit me—they have shifted a lot.

Why is Ophiuchus in the sky? I asked myself.

Ophiuchus’ constellation had already orbited in Kedaele’s night. Its orbit ended two weeks ago. Earth was now in the month of Taurus. So why is Ophiuchus still in the sky? Something was not adding up. The Stars don’t just move like that without a greater reason.

I felt a warm silver glow come from my Emblem on my honey skin. Uh-oh. That was never a good sign. I pulled off my bracelet that formed to be my poleaxe, Anadeia Star. I clung to Anadeia’s handle tightly. I must get to Milky, fast.

A blue light beamed down from the sky. I jumped out of its path before it could touch me. What the heck is going on?!  The blue beam quickly rushed over to me. I moved out the way again. It occurred to me, for whatever reason,  that the beam was trying to get me.

I must get off this building’s roof. I rushed from the building’s rooftop. With the help of Anadeia, I pole-vaulted over to the next roof. I jumped from the rooftop to rooftop, almost missing my footing on a few. Still, the beam continued to follow.

I had to contact Milky! I did not understand what was going on. Instinctively I knew it was going to be bad if that light caught me. Sweat ran down my face and my heart thumped in my chest. My arms and legs were on fire as my vision blurred. I ran faster and faster as the beam picked up its speed. I could feel it on the back of my heels.

Then it caught me. Like an animal whose leg got caught in a trap, my body slammed hard onto another roof.

My ears rang, and my nose throbbed and blood leaked out of it. Still, my palms held on to Anadeia tightly. I felt my body dangle into the air, forcibly being pulled into the sky.

Through my blurry vision, I could see the lights of Ajozo cluster together into one big blob. Slowly the blob grew smaller and smaller. Until I was left with nothing but darkness.

CHAPTER TWO

Spending the Nights with You

How do you like your salmon burger, Celia? I asked her. She took another big bite of her burger and answered me, It’s good, Rodrick.

Arcelia took a sip of water. I still like turkey burgers better.

I smirked, Sure, you do.

I made some salmon burgers for us to try. The salmon was caught that morning, and I finished grilling them just before sundown. My cooking skills were rusty, but thankfully the burgers came out well enough for us to eat without having to go to the hospital afterward, probably. We were sitting on my rooftop balcony, enjoying the first date we have had in over a month.

We didn’t want to go out anywhere, so we did a dinner date at my condo. I just renovated the rooftop balcony and wanted to break it in, so the timing was perfect. The balcony’s metal rails got a fresh coat of copper paint. I added in the left corner a hanging chair. In the right, where Arcelia and I sat, was a large bench filled with giant pillows, courtesy of my half-sister Aldala still in the Sanguine Palisades. I covered the polished stone floor with an intricately patterned rug embedded with small jewels. It was a home warming gift my brother’s wife, Alistine, got me last year. I was glad I finally made use of it.

Arcelia bit into the burger again, I’m going to eat it because it’s rude to waste food.

I chuckled, You’re so sweet.

She winked, Thank you, Rodrick, love.

I took a bite of my burger too; its spices filled my mouth with flavor. So, Arcelia started, My cousin’s birthday is in a week and a half, and I still haven’t gotten him a present yet.

Arcelia’s cousin, King Muriell, was turning 35, and for Umbrian culture, five and multiples of five were an exceedingly big thing. I found this out with Arcelia’s twentieth birthday last year.

The Kingdom of Kedaele was hosting a three-day birthday celebration in honor of their King. Arcelia will travel to Kedaele, with me in tow, of course. Any excuse to leave classes and to be with my girlfriend was always yes. No matter how awkward. Oh boy, would this be awkward. Not only was Arcelia bringing a Drakonian as her plus one, her mother, aunts, and cousins would also attend the celebration. Even though we had gone through something similar on Arcelia's twentieth birthday, it was only her mom and Queen Cal in attendance last year. Now I was going to be meeting the entire family.

It’s been over two years since Arcelia found out the truth about her father and her mom’s involvement in her father’s death. Though they gave the impression of being back on speaking terms, Arcelia refuses to be anywhere with her mother alone. Anytime they’ve spoken to each other; you could feel the tension in the air.

Though Arcelia’s aunts—Queen Calandra and Sultana Ephedra—were the ones who tried to make sure the mom and daughter had a relationship. Still, little progress had been made.

Why not give him a gift card? I asked, 50 gold bucks should be enough.

Arcelia rolled her eyes and laughed. He is a King, baby. I don’t think he needs any more money.

This money would come from the heart, I replied.

She smiled brightly. Her chocolate cheeks poked out along with her faint dimples. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. Arcelia giggled, What was that for?

I shrugged, You looked cute.

She batted her eyelashes. Thank you, love.

I winked. De nada.

Arcelia let out a heavy sigh. Honey, give me some ideas for presents.

I already gave you a suggestion. Plus, you know him better than I do. She pouted and folded her arms. Cute. I smiled at her antics.

I reached for one of the loose strands of her coiled hair, twirling it on my finger. Come on baby, you’ll think of something. We need to talk about the bigger issue.

Her beautiful, blue eyes gazed at me. What bigger issue?

Your mother.

She groaned, Rodrick... honey, please not now.

I moved to wrap my arms around her. We shifted to look at the view from the balcony. My room didn’t have the best of views since it faced away from the mountains. Still, the dense wooden forest was a sight to see.

We watched as the night breeze crept into the leaves of the trees. The stars slowly crept into the sky. Arcelia, we have to talk about this. You’ve been avoiding it. If I’m going with you, I want to know how you’re feeling about seeing her and being around her for a couple of days. I want to help you the best way I can.

She sighed. Rodrick—

My Emblem glowed, and I furrowed my brows. I inched away from Arcelia. We shared a look. She gave a soft smile. Well, I guess we have to put this conversation on hold again.

I kissed her on the forehead, sighing. I guess so, my love.

CHAPTER THREE

An Unusual Cry for Help

I stepped through the portal from my balcony and found myself in the Locus Testimonii Realm. I brushed a few strands of my red hair from my face. Since I'm here, that means one of the other Acolytes must've called us for a meeting.

We mainly used the Locus Testimonii Realm as a meeting place for our seasonal change conferences. All the Acolytes, and the Gods’ children and subjects easily accessed it. The Gods themselves could not enter inside the realm since they were bonded to their dimensions.

As I continued through the realm, I studied its architecture. The Locus Testimonii was always a fun place to roam around. You could spend hours watching the area change and shift. It was both fascinating and relaxing to the mind and body.

Everything looked inverted. The ceiling was the floor, and the floor is the ceiling. The ceiling moved and changed based on random factors from the people present inside. It felt like a continuous optical illusion. Your emotions, clothes being worn, even your energy output could factor into the ever-changing ceiling scenery.

Now it was a blueish-gray color. It probably represented my confusion about why I was here. I stared at the ceiling—or floor in this case— it had an overall dark gothic feel to it. It was drenched in dark purples, blues, and grays. There were blotches of galaxy clusters splattered across the surface.

Beautiful chandeliers, made of stunning gemstones and crystals, decorated and floated from the floor. Intricate patterns and drawings depicting the story of the universe, from the beginning of the Gods’ births to the present time, it was always cool to watch time and history write itself out along the walls. When I was younger, I would spend hours just sitting or hanging from one chandelier and bouncing from wall to wall. Though now I wished I paid more attention, I could’ve watched history write itself.

My ears perked up as I heard heels clicking on the ground. It was Nikolai and Lulonah, the Life and Death Acolytes. Hmm, I am guessing Caro was the one who called us.

As the couple got closer, I looked down to inspect Nik’s shoes. He was the one wearing heeled dress boots, which appeared to have been dipped in gold. The aromatic smell of shoe polish filled my nostrils.

Nice boots, Nik, I smiled.

Nikolai smiled back at me. Hello, Rodrick and thank you. I just bought them.

I look over to Lulonah. Hey, Lulu.

She folded her arms. Hello, Rodrick, nice haircut.

Thanks. I had cut my shoulder-length hair to reach under my chin. Then I did an undercut too, which you could see when I pulled my hair back in a small ponytail. The shorter hair is easier to maintain; I can see why you like it, Nik.

Nik beamed, Well maybe next you’ll get a buzz cut, he said as he touched his own.

I shook my head. Not in this lifetime.

Lulu looked around. "Where is Caro? I’m assuming she’s the one who called