Island of Stoicheía

Chapter IV

The Leaders aren't all that mature.

Sofia lead the children and the pixies to the castle at the top of the mountain. Aaron had caught a glance of it earlier, and it was just like how he imagined it in the fairy tales and how he saw it in the Disney movies his cousin would make him watch.

Before the bombing he lived with his cousin, Mari. Which is short for Marinette. Marinette was a year younger than him and was sick at home on the day of the explosion.

His parents were abusive, so he was moved to his aunt's and uncle's family, and they gladly took him in.

Something weird that his uncle had said the night before, as he had gone to bed, was, "Aaron, be safe out there, okay?"

"Uh, ya. Okay, Dan." He had told his uncle, a little bit confused.

"And," Uncle Dan said before Aaron left. "If this is the last time I see you again, please remember me. If something happens to all of us and you are the last left, please don't forget us. You're like the son I never had." Aaron had only nodded at that.

"Of course."

And now Aaron regretted not giving his Uncle a hug before he had gone to bed that night. Not knowing that he would never see him again. Never play or watch football together with him again. His Uncle could never cheer him up on a rainy day anymore, they would never be able to go to that game that they had been awaiting for 6 months.

He felt a tear slowly fall down his cheek.

He and his sister always woke up early. Aaron would go about getting dressed, watching some 'Epic Fail Videos' and trying to ignore his annoying cousin. She had asked to watch a Disney movie with him that morning and he rudely declined.

Now he would give anything to watch that show with her right now.

That morning his Auntie made them pancakes. Mari had given Aaron her leftovers because she wasn't feeling at the top. He had already had too much, so he didn't eat them. "Thanks anyways." He told his sister.

He said goodbye to his aunt, but not poor Mari.

Taika rested a hand on his shoulder, and Aaron looked to her. "I- Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.." He studdered, wiping away the tear.

"No, I understand." Taika said, with a confident smile. "I may not know what it's like to experience the loss of someone close to you, but I know that it must really hurt. Maybe not physically, but emotionally."

All Aaron could do was nod. Nobody else talked, except for a bit of chitter chatter from Torrence and Oki.

They followed a gravel path, that was surrounded by incredibly big trees. The trees were so big that the sun just barely showed through the leaves.

When they saw the sky it was cloudless. The sun looked so high and mighty in the sky. It looked as if it ruled over the kingdom itself.

The mountain was covered in forestry and such. There were a few rises in the ground, that lead them up, but otherwise it seemed to be at the same level as the first path.

"Simply perception." Said Sophia, as if she was reading Aaron's mind. It made Aaron flinch, and his heart skipped a beat,

"H-How did you?..." Aaron trailed off. He looked bewildered. So much.. So much to take in... He thought.

"I know." Sophia looked over her shoulder. "One day you will learn telepathy yourself." She told him, her eyes full of wonder. "Come, we're almost there."

Once they reached the castle all of them froze. It was bigger than they expected, and it was absolutely magnificent. It's tallest tip seemed to touch the sky itself. The gates opened with the presence of Sophia, and the guards of the tower nodded to her, not asking why the kids were with her.

They followed her in. The main hall was absolutely gorgeous. It had a massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and marble tiles for the floors. It had seven thrones, each of them empty because nobody else was there at the moment. Obviously. Aaron thought, and watched as Sophia headed to a crystal ball in the center of the room. She held her hands over it, and mumbled something Aaron didn't quite catch.

But then, out of the shadows someone emerged. It was a man with messy black hair and skin as pale as a vampire. His eyes opened, and they saw only darkness, with white surrounding where the colour should be. The color of his eyes are... black? Aaron shook his head and looked back. That's the colour? Really? Aaron thought, staring at him. He had a black tank top and jeans. Nothing too crazy. But there was something odd. Where's his shoes? The man seemed to be barefoot, as his feet tapped against the marble floor. His arms were crossed and he looked calm and collected. Like Jackson earlier.

"Yes Sophia? You called?" The man asked, moving his body so he could see behind the older woman. His eyes widened and he nearly lost his balance. "A-Are those?.." He trailed off, and Sophia nodded.

Something opened on the ceiling and a cloud came hovering in. Another man, with golden blonde hair and a scar on his right cheek sat comfortably. Though, when he saw the kids, his cloud disappeared from under him. He flailed around as he fell from the sky, but his buddies seemed to not even notice it.

Fingers snapped from behind the kids and a water bed appeared just before the man had fallen to the ground. Aaron hesitated, then turned around to see a woman that was a bit taller than the man that had walked from the shadows.

She wore armour that honestly didn't cover much. What it didn't cover had fabric to cover it instead. She had incredibly long brown hair and ocean blue eyes. When she noticed the kids she smiled, until she nearly fell over when somebody ran into her.

"Gah!" She said and whipped around. A muscular man stood behind her. He wore armour as well, but was covered in the armour instead of fabric as well.

"Sophia! Is something wrong?" He asked, and Sophia headed to her seat. She motioned for the kids to stay where they were, and sat down.

Her throne was in the middle of seven, and it had a silver rim. The padding was purple, and there was the diamond-star symbol above the chair.

The man with no shoes had already gotten himself comfortable in his throne. It also had a silver rim but instead of purple fabric it was black. The symbol above his throne was a star as well, but it was the kindergarten star.

The woman and the man with armour glanced at each other, than the woman disappeared into a puddle, and reappeared in an ocean blue throne with, yet again, a silver rim. The symbol above hers looked like a wave.

The man sighed. "Always one to make an entrance, Celia." He mumbled, loud enough for at least Aaron to hear. The man simply walked over to his throne, with a gold rim and white fabric. His symbol was two swords.

"Thanks for the bed, Celia." The fallen man said, legs crossed and arms beneath his head.

Celia snapped her fingers again and the bed disappeared. The man's eyes widened and he landed on the hard ground. He got up and rubbed his back. "Ok ok. I get it." He said, heading over to the thrones. Before he reached them something flew past him. It was a young girl with light brown hair in messy pigtails and leafy clothing. She landed gracefully in a throne with a bronze rim and leaf-green fabric. The symbol above it was a leaf.

The fallen man finally reached his throne. It had a gold rim and yellow fabric. The symbol above that was a cloud.

The room went silent for what felt like a whole minute, but was really only a few seconds. Sophia stood.

"Everyone, meet your heirs." She said, simply. "They are the ones the prophecy spoke of."