Chapter 2: The Storm

To everyone on Earth, Limahu Island is a place used in fairytales and myths since the beginning of time. In a world dominated by Rooks,this is the last place where Stars can be found. Everyone still thinks Stars are mythical, and the idea of a someone being able to control up to five powers at once is unheard of. Only the Rooks, who control one power, exist among everyone in the modern world today. Stars have even made Limahu island invisible to all satellite readings, and have never been discovered by modern machines. Unfortunately, this has made curious Stars have the passion to wander. Since the island is so secluded, few tried to leave. None succeeded.

“Thank you Aldon.” Samantha patted the giant man’s back and smiled. Aldon released the two, knowing they were smart enough to stay put. 

“Maybe next time we’ll pick a better place to hide.” Ana looked over and winked. Kane nodded with a big smile.    

“So, what’s dad want?” Kane pretended not to know. 

“Well,” Samantha brushed her wonderfully frizzy hair out of her face. “For starters, Gratia is tomorrow, and we need you to be fitted for your robes. It’s a big day, Kane.”

“Oh… yeah.” Kane haphazardly responded. “Can’t wait.” 

“Well, since you’re so enthusiastic, let’s get going!” Samantha sneered back and laughed.  

Gratia was a special holiday only celebrated on Limahu where close friends exchange heartfelt gifts. Sometimes people will give a gift to someone that they want to start dating, or marry. People even give gifts to random passersby. Gratia has been passed down among the Stars as a holiday to appreciate how important it is to have loved ones in their lives.

Aldon walked into the middle of the street. He pounded on his belly a few times and sucked air in. As soon as Kane noticed, he ducked to cover his ears. 

“CITIZENS OF CENTRO CITY, PLEASE CLEAR THE WAY. PRINCE KANE WESTON IS BEING ESCORTED BACK TO THE TEMPLE.” 

Everyone in town jerked around and parted ways. Aldon walked forward, nudging Kane to start walking.

Ana walked ahead of the others, absolutely adoring the recognition she was receiving. Guys that were just her type were hollering from all sides of the crowd. Her hips bounced from side to side in her purple dress She flashed smiles in all directions as they were returned to her. She flaunted her looks like no one else could. This was a special occasion, no one ever gets to see royalty outside of important events.

From far back, Samantha practically gagged at Ana’s selfish performance. 

“Can you believe that?" She nudged Aldon. "She's gobbling up attention like a hungry animal!” 

“Let her enjoy it.” He shrugged. “She’s only a teenager, besides, everyone loves attention.” 

“Not Kane.” She shot back at Aldon. 

Samantha was right. He was a short distance behind Ana trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. He kept a very noble stance and stayed silent. Occasionally he looked out into the crowd to see girls reach their hands out or scream his name. He pretended he didn’t see anything and kept walking.

“Ana.” Kane caught up with her and whispered. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Hey.” She slapped his arm. “What’s with the long face? You’re going to be the main attraction at the Gratia festival tomorrow. You know how big the parties are every year!” She smiled, and looked back out to the crowd. 

He looked up at the sky and squinted, seeing that it was going grey in the far distance. 

“Well, I hope it stays dry until Gratis is over, it looks like a storm’s coming this way.”

Ana turned her head to him and raised an eyebrow. “Remember the talk we had? Toughening up also means lightening up. Don't let a storm get in your way! Be positive. Scare it off. Scare it off like... like…” She thought of something spontaneous. “this!” 

She sprinted ahead  and jumped into the air. Like a mermaid, Ana whirled before landing with a gentle tap. 

Bursts of colored light let loose from her hands that had the crowd going wild. They danced under the shower of glittering light, and Ana turned back to Kane with an eyebrow raised. 

“C’mon, do something like that! Show off! Fight your fear!”

He bit his lip. He trusted her this far, and each time it didn’t hurt him. This time couldn’t hurt either. He stopped walking. A grin came to his face. Ana saw his smile and knew he was going to do something tremendous.

“You gotta admit Samantha, Ana's pretty talented.” Aldon chuckled, seeming entertained by their show.

“I could have done that with twenty times more precision in my day!” She tossed her springy curls back. Her eyes squinted, finding it difficult to focus on Kane from so far away. 

“Aldon, what is Kane doing?”

The crowd seemed to be cluttering in even tighter at the sight of the prince. Kane threw magnificent punches and kicks before throwing his hands up to the sky. Beams of light shot up past the clouds. Kane drained most of the light out of the area until it was dim. Everyone got quiet. Ana, Samantha, and Aldon stopped dead in their tracks. 

He could feel everyone staring at him among the darkness. His bright hands were the only things that could be seen. He lowered his body and crouched slowly, making sure everyone was still watching him. 

“Aldon.” Samantha nudged him once more. “What is he doing? Is he allowed to do this? Are we going to be in trouble?” 

He slapped his face and hushed her. “Stop worrying, just let him have fun for once.”

Kane shot up into the darkened sky, his arms looking like jets. 

“Look daddy, a shooting star!” A little girl pointed up into the sky, perched on her dad’s shoulders. 

Ana looked at her, then up at Kane. She crossed her arms, feeling even better about taking Kane out today.

Once he was up past the tallest sky scraper, he spun around like a twister. The light engulfed him. His body started flashing like the sun. With the sky still tinted, everyone gazed at the speck of light. 

Without warning, he let the light burst! The sky flooded back into day as sparks rained down on the whole city. 

From all the way up in the sky, he noticed the cloud again. This time, it looked clearer. There was something black moving around in the cloud, like it was alive. The dark area stopped moving directly, like it was watching him. It frightened him a little, and he pretended not to notice. 

Kane flew back down to hear the noise of cheering people get louder the closer he got. High pitched whistles and flowers were thrown in his direction.

Ana tackled him with a tight hug. "What was that? When did you learn that move?"

"I don't know." He scratched his neck modestly. "I kind of just made it up."

Before they could continue their conversation, Samantha bum-rushed them. "Come on you two, we've had enough fun for today." A worried look crossed her face. "Let's hope your dad doesn't kill me and Aldon."

They left Centro City, and were half way up the temple's great staircase. 

"Samantha, remind me why we're walking up the stairs instead of just flying up to the door?" Ana panted. 

"Consider it punishment for your little hide & seek game today."

Kane had been silent ever since they started walking up the staircase. Ana hadn't noticed, but his face seemed tense. 

"Kane, everything okay?" 

He paused and pointed. "You see that cloud over there?" 

Ana looked at it for a second, studying it. 

"Eh, I don't see anything." She shrugged. 

He tugged her arm. "No. I'm serious! Look at it!" 

She rolled her eyes and looked at it with him. Still nothing.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It's probably your nerves for tomorrow. Just trust me, everything's gonna go smoothly." She chuckled and walked on, trying to climb the stairs as fast as she could.

That's so weird, why can't anyone else see what I see? I know something's off about that storm cloud, but what?

He shook his head, trying to dismiss his thoughts.

Many hundreds of miles away, the cloud was being picked up on a satellite signal. A thin girl with thick rimmed glasses sat behind a colossal computer screen. Her dim eyes seemed like they had spent more time with binary codes than outdoors. Her real name was unknown, but she earned the name Spotty simply because her job was to spot readings of these dark patterns around the the world.

"Guys, get a good look at this." She whipped her blonde ponytails around, calling over two people. 

The first person who came rushing over was a man who wore a silver blazer and pants. He was a very well put together man with a chiseled face. His blonde hair and silver eyes were complimented by the very attractive features and complexion in his skin.  From his looks, it made it rather hard to properly gauge his age. His name was Cid Wiseheart.

The other was a woman who could be heard everywhere she went by the click of her signature high-heels. Her cocoa skin and bright copper eyes certainly set her apart from the rest. Every curve on her body was precisely perfect. Her name was Gloria Odell.

“That’s strange…” Cid stared at the screen where the satellite was picking up the cloud. 

“It’s just a random spot in the middle of the ocean…not even a speck of land. It’s not heading anywhere, maybe this thing’s having another bug in the system.”

Gloria shot a glance back at Cid with a concerned face. He nodded and tuend back to Spotty.

“Disregard it for now, these machines have a low chance of error, but it happens.” He looked at Gloria for a second, and she then continued. “If the reading comes back a second time, then we’ll check it out.” Both Gloria and Cid bowed to Spotty before walking off. Spotty looked back at the screen, biting her lip.

“King Zepton, Queen Melody, we have retrieved Kane and Ana...” Samantha scratched her arm with her head held down.

“Ah, rise my dear! Tilt up that sorrowful head!” Zepton walked over along with the Queen, jolly as can be. His trimmed beard and braided hair seemed to be well groomed. Samantha let out a sigh of relief that they weren't angry in the slightest. 

"Good, I'm glad to see you didn't get all dirty." Hand on her hip, Melody examined Kane and Ana. "Chop Chop! We have no time to waste. You both have to be fitted into something glamorous for tomorrow. Melody turned around and fled down the hallway, her silk dress trying to catch up with the rest of her. Ana and Kane followed Melody, trying to keep up with her fast walk. 

"It's a good thing you two got here when you did. The tailors were about to leave!" She knocked on the a wooden door that seemed different from the rest. Two old ladies popped up from behind some dated sewing machines. Without word, they scurried over to Kane and Ana. 

“So many colors, so little time!!” One in green robes tugged Ana along. 

“Oh boy do we have some great fabric choices for you!” The other one in red robes snatched Kane. They zipped off with Kane and Ana back into a fitting room that was the size of a stadium.

 The room was mounted with thousands upon millions of fabric and jewels. Everything perched on shelves that stretched straight to the ceiling. For some reason, all of the fabric was white.

“Didn't they say that there were colors for us to pick from?” Ana poked Kane with her elbow, looking up at the all-white fabric. “Are these old ladies delusional?”

“Oh, just you wait.” Kane smiled back at her. Ana gave caution to that statement and stood there watching the fabric. 

The women both shouted a chant that made Kane and Ana turn back to them. The women began dancing. Every time their legs would kick up, their bodies rose higher into the air.

The two little elders seemed like they were jumping on invisible stairs as they danced into the air.

“Nope, not this one…” The one in green grimaced at a few materials, continuing to hop up even higher. 

“Some of these look mervelous!” The lady in red hopped over the other after grabbing some fabric, and they twirled around still dancing.

After their little acrobatics act, they reached the top shelf with the most sacred looking cloth. They twittered back and forth, gawking over the materials. Twirling their little dresses they became spinning tops as they grabbed their desired pieces of cloth. Carefully, they descended back to the ground with yards of tapestry fluttering from their hands.

They chanted once more in a slightly different tone. Colors began glowing in their hands, each one was individual and somehow perfect. The colors began to infuse itself into the fabric, and the women released them from their hands.

String and cloth zipped around the room with life. The two women were buzzing around Kane and Ana, getting measurements and deciding on colors.

"Such wonderful tan skin you two have." The one in green marveled at their complexion. 

"Are you sure you two aren't related?" The other gushed. 

With a light chuckle. Kane and Ana let the women carry on.

“My dear Ana," Melody stepped into the room with Samantha cose behind. "If you’d like, we can provide royal garb for you and two others. Friends perhaps?” 

Ana tried to stand up against the sea of swirling gold and white fur that cocooned around her waist. "Other friends?" She pondered. "I don't think I have any other friends. Well there was this girl I knew when I was little but--"

“Hold on." Samantha gave her a borderline condescending gaze. "What about that one guy that I always see you and Kane talking with? You know, the one with the--” 

“Emett!” Ana turned around and beamed. “Good idea, let's get him.” 

“Alright curly." Samantha grinned. "We’ll get him tomorrow morning before everything starts." 

"Have fun getting fitted you two.”  Melody smiled before leaving the room with Samantha. 

Kane poked his head from in between a floating curtain with making a face. 

“Emett? Of all people?" 

“Oh, don’t pretend like you’re angry, You know you want him there with us.” She remarked. Kane didn't disagree with her. Instead he rolled his eyes with a half-smile, vanishing back into the curtains. 

“Uh-huh. I knew it.” Ana nodded.

The women had both of them try on several different clothes for what seemed like hours. They finally came to a good decision of what they wanted to wear for the big celebration. By that time, nightfall had come, and Ana needed to get back home. Kane walked out to the town square with Ana to watch her get home safely.  

“You know, I could’ve just zipped home with my powers.” She turned around to face Kane with a sincere look in her eye. “Are you still feeling weird?” 

“No it’s just…” Kane took a deep breath.

“Don’t worry Kane. Tomorrow will be fine. Emett is our friend, and I know he’d like to be the life of the party with us. Just trust me, you’re gonna have a great time like you always do!” 

“I guess you’re right.” He nodded, refusing to look up at Ana’s face. She gave him a tight hug, and turned around. 

She took a few steps before turning around. "Oh! I almost forgot, can you wait here real quick? I need to go get Emett, we have to talk to you about something."

"Sure, i'll wait here." He gave her a sideways glance, getting cautions once more. She nodded, and dashed off faster than normal.

About three minutes passed and the air was getting a bit windy for some reason. An odd chill brushed across the island, swaying the trees. He knew that Emett and Ana were going to be longer than a minute, so he decided to go up to his temple to grab a sweater for a brief moment. 

Kane walked back down the stairs, and looked off to the north where the clouds parted perfectly in between the moon. The other cloud from earlier in the day wasn't there any more. His tension was relieved a bit as he walked down the stairs.

Almost faintly, he heard something coming from the far side of the island. It sounded like cheering... or screaming. He heard it coming from the north side, then the south, soon. The whole island was getting really loud. He tried to get a better look, but things seemed normal. His eyes trailed around the land before seeing what was causing the noise. 

The cloud was back, this time almost the size of the island! It was still above the ocean, but was on it's way fast. Trees were swaying even harder now, and the wind was much cooler. 

He turned sharply to the left to see the cloud got even closer in those short seconds. It glowed red on the bottom and was starting to swell. 

In seconds, meteors of fire blasted chunks of land. Explosions rattled the island, and Kane almost lost his footing. Frozen in confusion, he looked around to see what was happening. Out of nowhere, people began flooding the streets panicking as they ran for their life. 

"Ana! Emett!" He shrilled and flew down the stairs. He stopped in the center of rushing people, almost being trampled.

“KANE!!!” A cry could barely be heard from all of the deafening screams. Melody called out to her son as she stood with the King on the edge of the temple. Aldon, Samantha and several of the Temple’s assistants stood along with them calling out to Kane. 

From a distance, he saw them, but their screams were almost inaudible. He stared for a minute, then another in the other direction. They watched as he turned around and went towards the explosion.

Zepton kissed Melody’s forehead, and they both shot up into the sky searching for him. The others dispersed from the temple to try and calm the locals down the best they could.

Samantha ran as fast as her legs would let her in her tight brown skirt. The waves of people made it impossible to go in a straight direction.

The clouds passed right over Samantha as crashing fore took homes and lives almost instantly. Looking up into the sky, she cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Please be safe, Kane."

 

Reviews

[Taylor H.]

He nodded and tuend back to Spotty---turned

Some of these look mervelous---marvelous

“My dear Ana," Melody stepped into the room with Samantha cose behind---close

The other cloud from earlier in the day wasn't there any more.---anymore


read it over to spot obvious grammar/spacing errors. Great book!