Elements of Emotion

Chapter 14: Long Journeys Ahead

Zephyr woke up to a face full of feathers. He gently moved Caelian's wing out of the way, pausing as he realized that the boy had his arms wrapped around him as he slept.

He couldn't help but grin as he peeled Caelian's arms off of him. He would've lied there and enjoyed the closeness for a bit, but he wanted to talk to Gale before everyone woke up. He rolled away and sat up. He paused as Caelian moved in his sleep. He watched as he curled back up into a ball, his wings gently covering him. He snored in his sleep. Not horribly loud, but just enough to be annoying. It was cute, though.

Zephyr glanced over to the clock sitting on his nightstand. It read 5:09 a.m. He always woke up early. As he stretched, he realized something. He hadn't had any of his nightmares. Why was that? He always had them. Could it be because he knew now Leviatha had nothing over him?

For now, it didn't matter. He stood up and walked over to the door, gently turning the knob. He did his best to make as little sound as possible so he wouldn't wake Caelian. He stepped outside of the room and gingerly closed the door behind him.

Gale should also be awake by now. She shared his early morning habits. He walked down the hallway. Wanting to check on Damien and Evelyn first, he poked his head into the living room. Damien was asleep on the couch, while Evelyn was curled up in the chair. Zephyr was glad nobody was upset over the fact Caelian got a room to share with him. He was injured, after all. Zephyr had to make sure he got lots of attention.

He stepped back into the hallway before heading into the kitchen, where he saw Gale sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. She was holding a book. She flipped a page before she noticed Zephyr enter the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning," Gale said softly.

"Morning," Zephyr said as he sat in the chair across from her. "Sleep well?"

"Mhm. You seem awfully calm this morning," Gale noted.

"I didn't have any nightmares," Zephyr said with a grin as he rested his head on his hands.

"Oh, really? Is it because Leviatha rebirthed?" Gale asked as she set down her book.

"I'm not sure," Zephyr said. "But, hey, there's something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Gale asked.

"I've decided that I'm gonna go with them," he said.

Gale smirked.

"Don't give me that look," Zephyr said. "It's not because of Caelian... Okay, it's kind of because of Caelian, but also I just... feel like it'd be good for me."

"I agree, I think it'd be good for you," Gale said with a genuine smile. "No offense, Zephie, but you're a bit of a coward."

"I know," he sighed. "I'd like to work on that. I don't plan on helping them in any fights, though."

"You've always said you wanted to go on an adventure," Gale said as she leaned back in her chair. "Besides, how bad could it be? Surely you shouldn't need to fight the other gods. Caelian is just going to ask them to purify his elementals, right? It should be pretty simple. You'll get lots of sight seeing in. I'm a bit jealous."

Zephyr let out a small laugh. "Yeah, that was my line of reasoning as well. It should be fine. Even if anything does happen, I can just stand back and heal them after they deal with it."

"Well, I'm really glad you decided to go with them, Zeph. This is gonna be so good for you. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Gale."

Gale smiled as she picked up her coffee and blew on it before taking a sip. "Does Caelian know you're going with them?"

"Yeah, I told him."