The Chronicles of Earth and Time

Chapter 2

Terra and Aura both appeared in a thick forest at the same time. This forest was known as the Whispering Woods according to the humans that lived nearby. Even though the humans could not see the spirits that dwelled in the forest, some humans could hear the whispers of the spirits that lived there. Because of this, the humans hardly ever came here and magical properties spotted the humans from their so-called progress. They assumed that these woods were cursed and the whispers were that of demons. What they did not know was that they could not be further from the truth.

This was actually the forest where Mother Nature's palace was located along with all the other spirits homes. If they went just a bit further into the forest one would find the homes of the elemental siblings and Father Time's castle.

"Terra, slow down! You know I'm the shortest and that I don't have as long legs as everyone else." Aura complained as she ran to keep up with Terra who was practically sprinting towards Mother Nature's palace. Terra chuckled to herself as she listened to Aura to continue to mutter angrily about being the shortest spirit like a young child.

They continued through the forest until they reached a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a giant tree that almost looked like a mountain. Even though this was not was a human considered a palace, every spirit knew this was Gaia's Palace or more commonly known as Mother Nature's Tree of Life. Terra took a moment to take in the breathtaking sight until she felt Aura bump into her.

"Aura?" Terra asked as she turned stunned to find Aura on the ground. "Are you okay?" Aura looked up at her then stood up as quick as she could.

"I'm fine." She answered while dusting her dress off. "You know me. Just being me I guess." She finished with a smile. Terra smiled back then they both quickly approached the tree. Terra walked around the trunk of the tree until she found a small knot on the tree that was shaped like the Tree of Life itself. Terra then grabbed the necklace that was around her neck. The stone that hung from her neck was a shimmering green and brown that represented the element she guarded. However, this stone was the source of her elemental magic. Each of the elemental sisters had a stone similar to Terra's that contained their element's magic that they could use tap into the element. Aura's elemental stone was a blue and white stone that represented the wind element. The stone originally belonged to the Earth and was a constant reminder to the siblings of what they were created for. To Terra, Aura's stone resembled the sky on a beautiful sunny day. Terra thought about this as she placed her own stone in front of the knot in the tree. Aura stared in wonder as vines started to grow from the ground up the tree until a door was formed. Using the tree knot as a door knob, Terra slowly opened it and gestured for Aura to follow her through.

Once they were inside, the vines that formed the door slowly sunk back into the earth leaving Terra and Aura in middle of a large throne room. Inside the throne room located at the far end wall sat two thrones with several different plants all around them. The room also held several different plants that grew all around the room. There were so many vines and plants on the walls it was almost impossible to tell what the walls looked like, but they could tell it was an olive green color underneath all the plants. The floor, however, was a dark hardwood floor with a green carpet leading up to the thrones of Mother Nature and Father Time. On either side of the room were two grand staircases that had gold railing. As Terra and Aura approached the thrones, they found Gaia and Aion already sitting on the thrones talking among themselves with Ustrina and Aqua standing nearby making small talk until Ustrina noticed Terra and Aura.

"About time you two showed up." Terra heard her sister, Ustrina, sneer in annoyance. Ustrina was the second born of the elementals. She was the spirit of fire and happened to have a temper. Like fire, her personality could be unpredictable. "Why are you two late?" Ustrina asked as she stared at them with her burning ember eyes. Her tannish-redden skin seemed to be radiating heat and Terra could see her cheeks burning which happened to match her fiery-orange hair perfectly. Even her orange and red stone seemed to be glowing like the fire that Ustrina's element was. Terra opened her mouth to respond, but Aura beat her to it.

"It's my fault." Aura admitted as she lowered her head in shame. "I got distracted and forgot to inform Terra about the meeting until five minutes before sunset." Terra stared at her in shock. Aura usually didn't speak out like that in front of everyone. Suddenly, Gaia stood up and crossed the room over to where Terra and Aura were standing. Her long, wavy brown hair was tied loosely behind her back with a few strands that fell around her face forming a style that framed her square face perfectly. She wore a long, dark green ball gown that had several flowers woven into it. Vines also shaped the sweetheart neckline and a green sheer, short-sleeve top shimmered beautifully as she stopped in front of Aura. Aura looked up at Gaia and waited for her to say something.

"It's alright, my daughter. Even though I'm disappointed in you for neglecting to tell Terra about the meeting until very late, I am proud of you for admitting your mistake." Gaia praised as Aura looked up into Gaia's lime green, orange rimmed eyes smiling with pride. Ustrina rolled her eyes as Terra, Gaia, and Aura walked back over to begin the meeting. Ustrina turned to say something to Aqua, but noticed that Aqua was making her way over toward Terra.

"Terra, how are you?" Aqua asked her older sister with a warm smile. Aqua was the water elemental and had a personality that was as cool and laid back as the water itself. She had long, blue hair and a pixie like face with side bangs that fell in front of one of her ocean blue eyes. Aqua probably had the most unique skin out of all the elemental siblings for her skin was a bluish color. She also wore long green seaweed like dress that hugged her figure perfectly making her look like an ocean goddess. The stone of her element rested on her chest glittering against her skin. Her stone was a turquoise color with swirls of yellow intertwining within it. Aqua's stone always reminded Terra of being underwater in the sea then looking up to see the sun shining through the water.

"Aqua!" Terra exclaimed as she hugged the second youngest elemental spirit. "I have been great. How are you?"

"Oh, you know the usual." Aqua shrugged as she was released from Terra's hug. "Just creating waterways by order of Gaia."

"You make that sound like it's not a big deal." Terra commented as they stood in line with the other elementals in front of the thrones. Aqua shrugged again then they both stopped to see what Mother Nature and Father Time called the elemental siblings there for.

"Aion, would you like to begin?" Gaia asked Father Time who nodded while slowly standing up from his throne in front of the four siblings. Aion had gray hair with a matching long gray beard that fell past his chest. He also had bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle against his pale wrinkled skin. Aion looked as if he was much older than Gaia due to the fact that he had more wrinkles than she did but being in charge of all time can really put a lot of stress on you if you let it. Aion usually wore a white tunic that had gold trim along the edges and a gold chain belt. On his arms and legs, he wore silver chainmail armor that had gold metal bands on his wrists. He also wore a white cape with gold trim and white boots. As he stood up, he fixed his cape that was draped around his shoulders and walked in front of the elemental siblings.