Planet of the Stars

Chapter 43: Ritual

I walked into the circle and Mother came towards me. I inclined my head towards her. She nodded at me.

"This ritual is going to be painful, but it also will be pretty pleasant. We're going to manipulate your life force. It isn't something that's usually done so it's not something that will feel incredibly good. But the one thing that is going to help you the most is thinking about the people who mean a lot to you. They're going to be incredibly important in making sure the ritual will determine to help you," Mother says.

"Okay," I say.

Mother nods, then she walks back towards her spot. When she is back in her spot she nods to me. I lay down. I felt bad because this dress was white, and it wasn't mine and I was laying in dirt in it. I looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was fully up now, and the colors of the sky were no longer orange.

They were just blue, and a dusky purple. Stars were also starting to peak out, because the brightness of the sun was no longer hiding them. I heard a faint hum around me and I realized it was the Sisters of Selene they were beginning the ritual. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, and I started picturing Helaina and Lars. As I did this I realized that I missed everyone a lot.

I hadn't been here very long, but I really missed everyone. I felt a steady prickling begin at the ends of my fingers and toes it was like my toes and fingers had fallen asleep and they were trying to wake themselves up. I pictured Kira, Lincoln, and Evangeline. The prickling seemed to subside. Dagur, Felicity and Loki also showed up in my memories.

When it got a little more painful I pictured my father and some of the people on Helrif. Then it felt like my whole body had fallen asleep and I was trying to wake it up. Only then did I have memories of Theo and Efren flashing through my memory and tears started leaking through my eyes. Memories of us flashed through my mind and it was some of the simplest things that we have ever done. Theo and I just talking in the kitchen.

Efren holding me while I cried and just how he has always been by my side helping me through everything. He was my mentor but he was also more than that. I felt more like his daughter than I did with my biological father. I knew that wasn't my bio-father's fault. But Efren had filled that spot without anyone asking him too.

I felt like I was encased in a white light and for the first time in a long time I felt blissful. But it ended almost as quickly. When I opened my eyes tears were leaking out of them and I was curled on the ground on my side in a fetal position. I rolled over onto my back and then sat up. When I looked around I saw that the Sisters of Selene were staring at me expectantly.

Sarah came over to me and helped me stand up.

"How do you feel?" She asks.

I don't answer her right away, because it took me a second to feel how I actually felt. I almost cried when I felt almost nothing. There was no more pain that I had been lugging around for the longest time.

"I feel normal, I don't feel any chronic pain," I whisper.

Sarah smiled and pulled me into a hug. I cried onto her shoulder. Sarah led me away from the circle and into the shadows of the forest. Mother made her way over to me.

"Thank you," I say tears running down my face.

Mother took my hand in hers.

"It was my pleasure, but you should probably get some sleep. That ritual takes a lot of strength, and mental willpower. You should probably sleep," Mother says.

I nod, then Sarah calls over Felicity and we walk back towards Sarah's house. In Sarah's house I sat down and Felicity held out her arm to me. I rested my arm on hers. I watched as her eyes moved rapidly left and right as she took in all the information that she was getting from my body. When she let go I waited expectantly.

"Skye, you feel perfectly healthy, there seems to be nothing wrong with you at all," Felicity says.

I smile and let out a laugh that was mixed with a sob. Felicity takes a step back.

"I should ping The Spector. Tell them you are ready to come back," Felicity says.

I nod. She walks away and does that. Sarah came up to me.

"Good Night," Sarah says.

"Good Night," I say, then promptly fell asleep.