Castaways: Origins

Chapter 13 ~ Aviary

A fire. There was a fire. And you know what, next to water, is Aviary's biggest fear? Fire.

The fire spread fairly quickly, and the entire east wing was already burnt to ashes. The angel was frantically flying around the castle, trying to save everyone's stuff. Neron's possessions were already lost to the flames, which made the merperson understandably sad. Most people were standing outside, watching the castle burn. There was not much they could do.

For once, Aviary's speed and stealing abilities were useful. Due to it being the middle of the night, most stuff was inside everybody's bedrooms. Robbing a bedroom was like stealing candy from a child. Immoral, but easy. This time was different, however. There was a clock ticking, and it was ticking fast.

When she neared Phobus' room, everything was already lost to the flames as well. Aviary sighed; yet another friend to disappoint. She flew outside again, and overheard Prism talk about the library. The wizard told her that she didn't need to worry about the books in there, since the library was protected by a magic seal long ago. Just get the book that was in his room, it would be important later.

Okay, a big book in his room. She saw the fire near the room, so she had to be quick. Fortunately, 'quick' was her middle name. Especially when robbing a room. The fire was already inside, so she needed to be extra careful. The angel tied her long green hair, which was now in a ponytail, into a bun. Her wings were getting very tired and heavy, but she shook it off.

The fire was almost burning the book, but she picked it up very quickly. Other things in his room could not be saved, but that was something she couldn't have done anything about. Aviary might be quick, but not that quick.

Her eyes were now set on Flora's room. The fire was nearing there as well, but Aviary was determined to save most of her girlfriend's stuff. She quickly put most of her belongings in a bag, and flew out of there relieved. Her mission was successful.

When the angel had unloaded her bag and was about to fly into the burning castle again, her wings suddenly got very painful, and she flinched in response. Flora noticed this, and pleaded with her to stop and take a break, but the angel was too stubborn, and went to fetch some of Thunder's stuff, since most of it was on the ship.

Thunder cheered when he got the rest of his stuff back, untouched by the fire, and went to give the angel a hug. Aviary spread her wings to pick up Sadira's stuff, but she couldn't fly anymore. She was too tired. Instead of lifting up, she fell down.

"I'm sorry. I want to go on, but I can't." Aviary spoke towards Sadira. She really was sorry. Almost everyone's stuff was saved, except for hers.

"Don't worry, there was nothing important in there anyway dear." Sadira responded, but then looked shocked, as if suddenly remembering something. Her hand slowly went up to her neck, and her facial expression changed from shocked to horror.

"My choker, with my Sunstone, is still in there." she quietly whispered. She then frantically turned around and ran towards the castle. When everyone realised what was happening, it was already too late, and she was already inside there.

Prism's eyes lit up, he was receiving a vision from the near future. When his eyes were normal again, he looked absolutely horrified, but chose not to say anything about what he saw. That wasn't good, Prism normally didn't react that heavily to his visions. The angel, without him speaking a word, had already somewhat of an idea what he saw, and immediately wanted to act.

Aviary knew that she was the only one who could do something about this. Aviary stood up again, causing a massive headache, but she would have to work through this. She wanted to save her friend from a detrimental future.

Flying through the long hallways, the angel was looking for the vampire wing. She hasn't been there before, thus making the search a bit harder. But that didn't matter, adrenaline was rushing through her veins, making her able to fly longer, due to the pain being numbed. The only thing that was going to stop her was time.

The angel finally found the correct spot, but something was terribly wrong. The entrance, and thus the way out, was blocked by burning planks from the ceiling. Aviary looked over and saw the vampire. Her gut feeling was right, and what Prism saw was this exact situation. This was definitely not looking good for the both of them right now.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here!" Aviary shouted, looking around for a way out. Sadira only smiled and took of her choker. What was she doing? The fire was now nearing behind Aviary, slowly stressing the angel out.

"Save yourself, dear. I cannot be saved anymore." The vampire said, and walked over to the planks, stretching out her hand with her choker in it. "Here, take this. It may come in handy in the future."

"NO! I am NOT leaving you behind!"

"You have no choice, there is nothing you can do..." Sadira said, and smiled. "Take this, and leave now. It's for your own safety." The fire was almost backing up Aviary to the wall, with only a small way out. There would only be a few minutes left for the angel to make her escape.

Aviary sighed, realising that there was in fact, no other choice. She reluctantly took the choker with the Sunstone on it. Her body was shaking, this was worse than every court session, every jail she had ever been in. She didn't want to leave the vampire behind, but she had to.

"Thank you, Aviary. You and the others, make a better place from this world, will you?" Sadira asked, and Aviary nodded silently. "Good luck out there, dear... I know you can do it." the vampire said, while walking back as far as she could. Sadira probably didn't want Aviary to see her die on the spot.

Tears rolled down Aviary's cheeks when she spoke their final farewells, and Aviary left the vampire behind, feeling guilty for the first time in her life.

When Aviary walked outside again, everyone looked at her in suspense. The only thing she could do was hold up the choker, and then fell down to the ground, crying. There was a moment of silence, a moment of respect, for everything the vampire had done for her.

Then, there was an explosion of anger, sadness and grief. Who was the person responsible for this? Who would do such a thing? Aviary and Cinder agreed that they were going to find them, and have one hell of a talk with them. Sadira will have justice, and that person will pay.

Finally, it started to rain, and the fire slowly died down. They unfortunately have to stay on track, and get the castle fixed up quickly instead of grieving for their friend. But first, they have to find out who did this, and what their intentions were.