“Mother, we need to talk,” Kalli said in her serious voice once we managed to get Celestea by herself.

Celestea looked at all of us gathered around her daughter and asked, “Wouldn’t you prefer to have this discussion alone?”

Kalli met her gaze before shaking her head. “No. These guys came to Gaia for me and risked their lives. Stefanie even died for me. I think they deserve to be a part of this.”

Wendy pulled Kalli into a hug and said, “It’s okay if you want to talk to your mom in private. We understand.”

In the end, the queen relented. Since Celestea couldn’t sit on the throne, she insisted that we go to the library to discuss. The Royal Celestean Library was a two-story building with bookshelves lining the walls that spanned both floors. A spiral staircase in the corner led to a catwalk that provided access to the upper rows of books.

We all sat at a long table before the queen asked, “Okay, what would you like to know?”

Kalli didn’t sit. Instead, she locked eyes with her mother and asked, “Do we come from Luna?”

The queen gave Kalli a knowing smile. “Oh, is that what this is about? I suppose the castle gave you a vision. First off, I want to let you know that it’s not abnormal to have them. It’s part of your blood right. To answer your question, yes, we are from Luna.”

After saying that, Celestea clasped her hands in her lap and waited patiently. I looked back and forth between them wondering if Kalli needed time for that to sink in. Finally, I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. Kalli sat next to her mom and gently took her hand. “Will you tell me about it?”

Celestea gave her a knowing smile and said, “There isn’t much to tell. I had the same dreams as you when I was a small child. I dreamed of a world filled with wonders, unlike anything this world has ever seen. I witnessed the corruption as our ancestors squandered their gifts and nearly destroyed themselves. The gods took pity on the survivors and delivered them to Gaia.”

A voice that I had nearly forgotten about filled the room as Lamentus spoke. “You neglected to tell the part where your ancestors attempted to harness the life force of the planet with their infernal machines.”

“Who said that?” Celestea shrieked, sounding a lot like Kalli when she was excited.

The tattoo on my cheek glowed and faded. Then the room was filled with the large green ape. “It is I, Lamentus, the God of Sorrow. I was present when you were evicted from the garden planet, Luna. I must admit that you have done well in your exile.”

Celestea pushed the chair back and stood abruptly, causing Kalli to nearly tip over. “Are you truly a god? How did you come to be here? I have never met a god before.”

“This one summoned me,” Lamentus said, pointing a thick finger at me. “And his mate.”

“She is too young to mate.” Celestea barked, holding a hand in front of Kalli as though to bar her from me. “Not in this castle in any case.”

I scoffed, indignant that Kalli’s newfound mother was trying to impose her will on us. “You do realize that the castle doesn’t recognize…”

Kalli cut me off. “Mother! Nobody is mating. Stop jumping to conclusions. We just have a bond. That’s all.”

I sighed dejectedly but Kalli’s words seemed to have placated her mother, who found her seat and sat again. “Very well. What business does the god of sorrow have with us?”

“I have none.” The god stated matter-of-factly. “I was summoned by a grieving boy to soothe his soul. He has not needed me since. However, I can provide insight into this moon’s heritage, so I decided to grant you an audience.”

Celestea rubbed her chin and the room was silent for a moment. “Very well, please tell us what you can.”

Lamentus cleared his throat, which sounded like a growl. “Your story is accurate for the most part. Gaia is in its infancy by comparison to Luna. Prior to the arrival of the Celesteans, magic did not exist on this moon. At least not in a form that could be used by humans. They lived in caves and fled from monsters. One could say that the Celesteans brought civilization to this world. However, as part of their exile, the Celesteans were forced to abandon the technology that they had grown accustomed to. As a result of that, there are those who have attempted to return to the ringed planet in the sky.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Celestea said after a while. “There are those on this planet far more powerful than we are.”

Lamentus chuckled. “Offworlders. Yes, some do exist who have great power on this planet, yet none of them are strong enough to set foot on Luna.”

Kalli and I looked at each other and she asked, “Are you saying there are more offworlders than just us?”

“Dear child.” Celestea chuckled. “You are certainly not the first to cross over from another world, although I am surprised you managed it by yourself at such a young age.”

Lamentus ignored us and continued. “Yes, there are some who view this world as an easy place to conquer. They treat it as a zoo and lord over it from afar.”

“Are you talking about the King of Dabia?” I asked, wondering what world they were from.

Both Lamentus and Celestea laughed. She turned her attention to me and explained. “Goodness no. The Dabian royalty was established by Celestea long ago. You could say that we are related.”

Kalli cringed and looked at me. I can’t believe I was almost forced to marry someone I am related to.

Me neither!

Kalli stuck her tongue out at me and punched me in the shoulder, earning her a sharp look from her mother. Clearing her throat, Celestea went on. “Other than the fact that our power is derived from Luna, there is a lot that we just don’t know.”

“Have you ever been there?” I asked, wondering what the inside of the castle we had seen looked like.

Celestea gaped at me. “Alas, the way back was lost to us. For all we know, there is nothing left on Luna. We are speaking of events that transpired many generations ago.”

Kalli and I exchanged a meaningful glance. She shook her head ever so slightly. We probably shouldn’t tell them what we saw.

I closed my mouth which had been about to spill the beans.

I understand. Do you want to try to go there?

Her eyes widened in shock. How?

I didn’t have a good answer for her. We sat in silence waiting to see if the queen would continue. Finally, she spoke. “Well. If there are no questions, I will take my leave as I am quite famished.”

We all stood as she did, looking awkwardly among one another. Without waiting for us, Celestea strode from the room. Once she was gone, Shiviria moved closer to Kalli. “Do you think I can use the castle magic too?”

Kalli scratched the back of her head as she thought about it. “I don’t see why not.”

“How do you do it?” Shiviria asked, leaning in close to her sister.

I was pleasantly surprised at how close the two had gotten over the past week. Kalli smiled and admitted, “I just ask the castle for things or think about what I want and the castle does the rest. Melvin can do it too.”

Suddenly, all eyes were focused on me. I just shrugged. “I do the same thing Kalli does except it probably has something to do with these armbands that the castle gave us when we first touched the relic.”

At first, everybody wanted to see the matching armbands that Kalli and I had on our upper arms. Shiviria tugged on mine, trying to get it to come off. However, like my artifact armor and ring, it refused to budge.

Once she realized it was a dead end, Shiviria asked, “Can you show me where this relic is?”

Kalli and I exchanged another glance and she nodded. “I don’t see what it could hurt.”

It was a quick trek into the bowels of the castle. Just as it had before, the castle told me where to go. I followed the maze-like path that I had seen Orpheus walk when he first led us to the relic.

It looked different than it had the first time we visited. What had seemed like a sword in a stone at the time turned out to be a polished metal cylinder sticking out of the ground like a poorly driven railroad spike.

Shiviria looked at it and asked, “What am I supposed to do?”

Kalli shrugged and replied. “I don’t know. I just touched it. That was enough to make the castle reform.”

Looking nervous, Shiviria knelt next to the relic and slowly reached out to grasp it in her tiny hands. Nothing happened right away. We all waited patiently as she clutched the relic with her eyes closed for several long moments.

“I don’t get it.” She said, opening her eyes to look at Kalli in confusion. “Was something supposed to happen?”

“We don’t know,” I replied for Kalli. “When she did it, the castle reformed around us. It might be different for you since the castle is already claimed. Do you feel any different?”

“Not really.” She said apprehensively.

“Try pushing your mana into it,” I suggested, kneeling beside the girl.

“How do I do that?” She asked, nearly in tears.

“Don’t worry.” Kalli soothed, kneeling on the other side of her sister. “Melvin can teach you. You just have to trust him.”

I could feel her shudder as I gently placed my hand over the top of hers. Whispering, I instructed the girl. “Push your mana out like you did when you made snow. I’ll guide you.”

She closed her eyes and I could tell that she was concentrating. At first, her hand just got cold then I noticed a light frost appearing on her fingers. I pushed my mana out to guide hers into the artifact.

The reaction wasn’t immediate. Our combined mana made it a little way in before meeting a barrier and being stopped. Then I felt my armband vibrate and could tell that Kalli’s was as well. A voice spoke in our heads.

PERMISSION REQUEST.

SHIVIRIA CELESTEA CELESTEA WOULD LIKE ACCESS TO CASTLE CELESTEA.

DO YOU WISH TO GRANT PERMISSION?

Kalli answered out loud, “Yes.”

Not hearing our inner dialog, Wendy asked, “Are you okay, Kalli?”

“Yes.” The girl repeated, her eyes closed as she tried to follow the experience through my mana.

The instant Kalli granted approval, the blockage that was preventing our combined mana from continuing was broken. Shiviria gasped as she encountered the vast stockpile of mana beneath the castle for the first time.

As soon as she touched it, the mana pushed back until it came out of the artifact and wrapped around her in an invisible cocoon. When it retracted, Shiviria was left with a bronze band on her upper arm.

She let go of the artifact and ran her hand over the armlet. With a smile on her face, she spoke softly. “Castle, can you hear me?”

A rumbling sound came from the distance. Wendy clapped and cheered Shiviria on. “Yay! You did it.”

Shiviria smiled up at the aeromancer and replied. “Yeah. I wonder what else the castle can do.”

Kalli shrugged, through the smile on her face betrayed her happiness. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried everything out yet myself. Maybe we can try tonight.”

I frowned. That meant Kalli was sleeping with the orphans again. She noticed my mood and turned that smile on me. Don’t be upset, Mel. We have forever!