Autumn's Fall

XI. The Disappearance of Cecilia

Sophia was the first to wake, the harsh light of the mid-morning sun had made the tent uncomfortably warm. Something was wrong. Pushing off her covers as gently as she could with her one good hand, Sophia unzipped the tent door and slipped out into the blinding morning sun.

Cici should have woken them hours ago. Small wisps of smoke were all that remained of the fire, but no Cici sat watching it. Sophia glanced hurriedly around, but she could find no signs of her sister anywhere.

"Cici!" When she had no answer, she rushed back to the tent, beating on the side, "Wake up! Wake up!" Her brother's groaning could be heard from inside, but she wasn't prepared for the Minister of Winter to burst out of the tent, drawn sword already in her hand.

The Minister looked around quickly, worry in her eyes, "Where's Cici?"

"I don't know, I can't find her!"

The Minister of Winter aimed a furious kick at the tent, while Angus scrambled to get out of her way, "Arg!! I'm so stupid! I should have never let her stay out here alone!"

"Maybe she's in the restroom?"

"Not for this long. But I'll go check. Never mind, there is no way on earth I am letting you two out of my sight for an instant as of now. Come on, we'll go together. Cecilia!"

The two of them followed after her, calling out, "Cecilia!" "Cecilia!!!" "Cici!!! Where are you?" "This isn't funny, Cici! Answer us!"

They found the restroom abandoned, as they had feared, with no evidence of a struggle. Cici had simply vanished. The cold feeling that had left the Minister's heart last night now came back at the same time the pull decided to show back up with a vengeance. The double blow brought her to her knees with a muted cry, fighting for her breath.

Sophia grabbed the Minister's arm, trying to pull her back up. "Are you okay?!"

She couldn't reply. Gritting her teeth, the Minister stood with Sophia's help, giving her a weak nod as a sign of thanks. Slowly the feeling subsided, but she knew that whatever it was she had sensed and sent packing last night was still out there, and most likely had the young girl. The understanding only helped to feed the fear struggling to gain a foothold inside of her. She sat down gingerly on a bench, "Sophia, could you get my water jug, please?"

Sophia scampered off to the tent as Angus looked the Minister of Winter over, "How are you supposed to fight when you're like this?"

She gave a rueful laugh, "Don't look all that strong now, do I?" Sophia returned with the jug in hand. "Thank you, Sweetie." A few mouthfuls lessened the pain. Though the Minister was loathe to use any more than she needed too soon, she knew she had to be able to help the children and not be a burden, especially now. "Pack what you need to survive. Leave the rest. How long before you reach your home?"

"A little over a day from here. But Cecilia wouldn't have taken off without us." The two children began grabbing things from the tent and stuffing them quickly into their bags.

"I know. But we cannot stay here. There's something you should know." She turned to face them, "I felt something out in the woods last night. I fear it took Cici. If whatever took your sister is still out there, then I want you two to stay by me. But I must follow the pull, no matter how much I am needed by you two elsewhere. The repercussion would be too...hard for me to bear. If you want to search for your sister on your own, then I won't stop you. But you must know that your fate may not be any different from hers, whatever that may be, if you choose that path."

Tears welled in Sophia's eyes. Biting her lip, she sniffed loudly and went back to packing with a vengeance. Her heart ached. She wanted to be safe in her own home with her parents and her family back together as a whole. But she wouldn't let her tears fall. If she started crying now, she'd never stop.

They finished packing all they needed and quickly tore down the tent. Shouldering Cecilia's pack, the Minister of Winter turned down the road. "Stay on your guard. Don't split up or go running off. No matter what happens we stay together. Let's go."

ab§d

After a few hours, they reached the main road. Angus unfolded his map, "I wasn't planning on taking the road, but this is a straighter shot home. I didn't want anyone to see us before, but now I doubt there'll be anyone to see us. I almost wish there were." He looked up at the Minister's pale features. "Will you be coming with us?"

She placed a hand over her heart, pausing for a moment. "For now I will be."

Sophia couldn't hold in her thoughts any longer. "But what about Cici?! Shouldn't we retrace our steps? We can't just leave without her! She's out here somewhere! She's all alone, she could be hurt!"

Angus knelt down before his sister, placing his hands on her stiff shoulders, "Sophia. We can't stay here. We can't even help her like this. We've no trail to follow and no way of saving her on our own if we did."

She shook her head, stepping back out of her brother's grasp,"You don't know that!"

The Minister of Winter took Sophia's face in her hands, the heat of Sophia's anger slowly seemed to melt away as the Minister's cool hands cupped her face. "Sophia. The fact of the matter is, we haven't seen a single sign of Cici in all our walking and searching. We three cannot help her now. I believe our best course of action is to get help. Your town sounds like our best bet of finding anyone who can. Do you understand? We have to keep going, for all of our sakes."

Tears slipped down Sophia's face, but she wiped them away and nodded her head.

"There's a brave girl. Come on, let's go."

Angus took his sister's small hand in his own and the three of them walked along the road. Secretly, Angus kept an eye on the Minister of Winter. It did not escape his notice when a pained look crossed her face every couple minutes. Resting only made it worse; everything within her kept saying, "MOVE!"

Finally, his curiosity got the better of him, "What is the pull? You said you were being pulled to Autumn's Fall, whatever that is."

"Exactly like it sounds: a pull upon my heart. It guides me where I'm supposed to go."

"Does it hurt?"

"...It can. But it will be over soon enough."

"Once Autumn falls?"

"Yes."

They had to take turns carrying an exhausted Sophia until eventually they made it to a bridge over a large lake. Sitting at the water's edge, they removed their shoes and let their sore legs soak in the cool water while the Minister of Winter again delighted the children with the churning water on their poor feet.

After resting as long as they dared, they set out across the bridge, Sophia walking on her own now. They had maybe an hour of sunlight left, but it should be more than enough time for them to cross the bridge.

As they walked along, the Minister lifted up a large orb of water from the lake. It started out nothing more than a sphere, then elongated until it became a twirling rope, spinning around in a lazy spiral. The children watched her, fascinated by what new creation she would make, and forgot for a while the long, hard road and the aching in their feet. Shape after shape appeared until it finally ended in a rather large but lifelike butterfly which she sent flying out over the lake. It flapped its great transparent wings, floating and swooping here and there, until it finally dove into the water with a great splash.

Sophia clapped her hands as Angus chuckled. "If you ever decide to stop being a Minister you should consider joining the circus."

A small smile tugged at the Minister's lips at the thought. The smile grew wider still at the ridiculous thought until she laughed heartily enough that she had to grip her sides. It was the first time she had laughed among the children. And somehow, deep in his heart, Angus felt that maybe, just maybe, things might turn out alright for Cecilia after for all.

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A/N....Ha. Ha. Haaaa.

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