Chapter II. Decisions are Made
Galeena Stellar was still screaming when she woke up. She sat up as she placed her hand on her heart. The first thought that entered her mind was that she was glad that the walls were thick enough so the neighbors on her floor of her apartment complex would not hear her. That very minute, her alarm went off. She turned it off before getting out of bed. She went into the kitchen and started fixing some coffee. While it prepared itself, Galeena went and took a shower. The warm water calmed her down. After getting out, she wrapped her hair in a towel, and put on her robe. She went back into the kitchen and had her coffee. While she was doing this, she thought about her dream. This time, it felt real, although it wasn't. Did this man even existed? If he did, where was he from? Why was she even dreaming of him? She continued to think about her mystery man as she prepared for the day. It took her another 30 minutes to dry her hair and got dressed. She was eating cereal when she heard the phone ring. Now who would be calling her at 8:00 in the morning? She got up and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Galeena answered.
"Good morning child. Did I wake you up?" replied a woman's elderly voice.
Galeena smiled. It was her maternal grandmother, Tess Sorain. She had raised her when her parents died in an automobile accident. It happened while they were on their way to pick her up from camp. It was raining that day, and a deer had jumped onto the road. They tried to avoid it, but they lost control. Their suburban tumbled down into a ditch and hit a tree. Galeena had a feeling that something was wrong, but she never thought her parents died while she'd been waiting anxiously for them. She ended up spending another night at the campsite. The following day, the head councilor called her parents' house, cell phones, and their pagers, but got no response. He contacted her grandmother, who was the only relative in the area. Her other relatives were too far away at the time. After Tess picked up Galeena, she stayed with her at Galeena's home. It had been a week before they founded her parents' bodies.
Galeena, who had been 10 at the time, was never the same. She was terribly close to her parents for she was their only child. She never talked or show any emotion for a whole year. Then one day, she had a complete turnaround, and became cheerful and fun-loving again. During that time, it was decided that Galeena lived with Tess since she had a good effect on Galeena. Originally, the people she was supposed to live with was her father's older brother and his wife. But because they moved many times, all agreed that Galeena was too fragile to be put in that kind of situation. It was the best thing that happened to her. She loved her grandma dearly.
"No Granny. You didn't wake me up." replied the 20 year-old.
"That's good. I just wanted to apologize to you, Leena. I'd love to come to your graduation, but my old bones won't let me." explained Tess.
"That's okay Gran. It's too long of a distance for you to travel anyway."
Galeena tried to hide her disappointment. Galeena was going to a major university in California while her grandmother lived in New Hampshire. Galeena was one of the youngest graduates there. When she was young, her skills excelled and she was labeled 'gifted'. During her senior year in high school she received a major scholarship from one of the best artistic universities in the nation. With the support of her family, especially Tess, she attended and majored in art.
"Well Gran, I have to let you go." said Galeena.
"All right dearie. Don't worry too much about me okay? I'll be at your graduation, just in spirit though okay? Take care and I'll see you soon."
After Galeena hanged up, she finished getting ready.
When Tess hanged up, she went back to cleaning the dishes. The elderly woman had once been a beautiful woman. Tess's hair use to be white blonde, but now it was a silvery gray. Her violet eyes were now duller. She had another reason why she couldn't attend Galeena's graduation. She was dying and traveling would only consume more of her energy. It was precious energy she needed to do what had to be done. She still had time to do the things she needed to do, but not much. She also prayed that Galeena would forgive her for not telling her everything.
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Torrence flew on his dragon, Cerulos, back to his home. Next to him was Tidus on his dragon, Skyro. All water dragons were either blue, sea green, teal, or turquoise. Cerulos was blue and Skyro was sea green. They were flying with a legion of dragoons and dragons. When Torrence heard of his father and brother's death, he wasted no time in getting ready to leave. Right now they were crossing the border between the Wind Dragon Clan and the Water Dragon Clan. Dawn was on the horizon. Tidus told Torrence that a messenger arrived to deliver the tragic message. Torrence grilled the messenger with questions. Apparently, King Tristian and his eldest son, Niron, went flying with their dragon partners, but never returned. After several hours, a search party went out to look for them. They found both men and dragons dead. It was obvious they were slain, but by whom? Few started wondering if it was someone from the Fire Dragon Clan because the corpses were founded near their border. Now wasn't the time to figure that out. As soon as Torrence arrived home, they would hold the burial ceremony for his father and brother and the dragons, and then he would be appointed the new ruler. Torrence's partner, Cerulos, had really taken it hard for it was his father and brother who were killed. He was quiet right now as well as Torrence. Both Tidus and Skyro admired the two for their control on their emotions. Even though they were quiet, both could tell that the two were furious. It was their eyes. Even with the little sunlight, they saw emotions role over their eyes. Tidus knew that there would had been hell to pay for whomever did this atrocity.
"We'll be there soon Torrence." Tidus informed him.
Torrence nodded. His mind and heart was in a quandary at the moment. All he wanted to do was holler in anguish. He was also wishing that someone was there to hold him. His mother used to, but she wasn't here anymore. Queen Coreen died giving birth to his youngest sister, Meridian. He'd been 8 at the time. Ever since then, he shown a gruff and tough exterior. Now he felt so alone. He needed someone. He needed . . .her. He wished she was here to comfort him, but he didn't know if she was real or not. He needed to escape before he took his father's place as the ruler of the Water Dragon Clan. Where was the question.
A couple hours later, Torrence arrived in the capital, Cerulean. He and his group landed in the great castle courtyard, which was large enough large enough to hold two castles side-by-side.
"It seems that the entire clan is here." replied Tidus.
For the first time in hours, Torrence grinned. Indeed, the courtyard as well as the rest of the area was filled dragons and people. When Torrence dismounted, the rest of his legion dismounted as well. The first to greet the group was Torrence's family. Leading the group was Torrence's sister, Lagina, and her husband, Searon. Brother and sister embraced. When Torrence drew back, he could see that his sister was doing all she could not to cry.
After shaking Searon's hand, Torrence asked, "Where are your kids?"
"They're home asleep still." replied Lagina.
Lagina, who was 23, was the mother of 5 children, three of which were triplets. Lagina was the female image of Torrence, only her eyes were a lighter shade of green. Next to greet him was his brother's widow, Daphene. Ever since Niron and Daphene got married, they tried to have children. They just celebrated their 5th Anniversary a month ago when Daphene discovered she'd been with child. The entire clan rejoiced that day. Daphene was radiant that day, but now as she approached Torrence; her beautiful sea blue eyes were swollen and her skin was so pale that it alarmed him.
"Daphene, you should be resting. Niron wouldn't have liked it if you got ill." commented Torrence as gently as he could as he embraced her and smoothes out her light brown hair.
Daphene was known to be an emotional person, but she managed to show some courage. It was that spirit that drawn Niron to her. The two were childhood friends and grown up loving each other. Torrence was very proud of her at that moment for trying not to show how devastated she was. Daphene wiped her eyes as she withdrew.
"Yes, I know. I just wanted to see you first." Daphene answered.
Anyone one up close could see how drained she was. And being pregnant, it was especially critical that she not strain herself.
"Lagina? Can you escort her back to the palace?" asked Torrence.
Lagina nodded before taking Daphene back to the castle. Last to greet Torrence was 18 year-old Meridian. Normally, she'd threw herself into his embrace, but this time she walked up to him and hugged him. Even though she was quiet, Torrence saw she was affected the most. Meridian looked just like their late mother. Her sapphire blue eyes now looked black with sorrow and despair. She hadn't bothered to mess with her curly turquoise hair which was in a riot around her face. Torrence also noticed that she was trembling, and she was trying to hide it. Since she was the youngest, Tristian had doted on her. Meridian was the exact opposite of Lagina. Where Lagina was docile, Meridian was wild. Meridian was ill-tempered, where Lagina was patient. Meridian preferred fighting and outdoor activities whereas Lagina enjoyed the arts and music, and more soothing indoor activities. Meridian was the closest to their father than Niron, Torrence, or Lagina. This was why Torrence saw that Meridian was the most devastated. My goodness, she wasn't even smiling, and she was always smiling! Even when times got tough, she was always the one who tried to cheer everyone up. Right now she looked crushed, even though she was trying not to show it.
When she drew back, she asked, "How was the meeting?"
