The Floating Crystal of Eoam

This is a fanfiction based upon Christopher Paolini's work, and I'm just having fun with a few of his characters, the world he created, and a few characters of my own. 

Enjoy! :)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: Arrival and Discovery 

The first thing Chloe Conti noticed when she stepped out of her ancient, faded blue Chevy truck was that the sky above her family’s old house was considerably clearer than it had been when she was driving home. From a few miles away she could have sworn she’d seen the greying of storm clouds, but now not a single cloud was in sight. The birds were chirping, and, despite the fact that she’d had to run out on her band’s practice early to come babysit her little sister and her so-called friend had bailed, the weather was giving every indication that today was going to be a fabulous day. 

Which was why Chloe found herself frowning as she stared at her house in suspicion. 

Nothing seemed particularly wrong; the door was still the same chipped red it had always been, and the cracked white wood paneling was as “charming” as ever as her mother liked to call it. The green trees that framed the house were still standing. They had miraculously made it through winter and the spring showers with hardly any water or snow leaking in through the sketchy roof. Her mother had recently been appointed manager at the local green grocers up the road, a position Chloe knew should have been hers a long time ago. And it would have, if the store owner didn’t prefer to appoint flaky, young, pretty twenty-somethings to the position. And Chloe, well Chloe wasn’t doing too bad; she’d passed all her classes with C’s and B’s, and had even managed to wrangle and A out of her physical education class, being one of the only to actually attend. Her mother might not have been as proud about the grades, but Chloe didn’t mind. This time next year she’d be entering her second semester at her dream dance academy if all went well. Everything was going well, which to Chloe was alarming. Nothing good ever lasted: she was of the philosophy that all good things must come to an end, which she figured after the last couple of weeks the end was due any day now. 

So with trepidation, Chloe approached the house, wearily unlocking the door and stepping in. 

“Ronnie, I’m home,” she called as she stepped inside, brushing her feet against the welcome mat. From what she could see from the parlor, everything seemed in place, all except--

“Ronnie?” she called again, this time with a hint of panic. Her little sister never failed to come greet her at the door, much less make her self known in all of her six year old adorableness. She was late, and Ronnie hated tardiness with the strongest possible affinity a child could afford, and Chloe knew she wouldn’t miss the chance to berate her as soon as she stepped through the door. 

So where is that little girl? Taking the stairs two at a time, Chloe scoured the landing for her little sister, checking first her room, then her own, the bathroom, and finally her mother’s. Nothing. Going back into her room, she flicked the sleeping dog on her bed, giving him an annoyed glare. 

“Where’s Ronnie, Padfoot? You know I trust you more than Kaitlin to watch Ronnie,” she admonished. The large black dog whined as he shook himself, and Chloe shook her head as she stared down at him. He reached up to lick her face once before bounding off her bed, skating across the floorboard landing and then down the stairs. Just as she realized where her dog was going, Chloe frowned, about to follow when a familiar giggle of a laugh floated in through her bedroom window. With a relieved sigh, Chloe trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sure enough, the backyard door was open. Suddenly she heard Padfoot’s angry barking, and she quickened her pace.