Celeste Artimera: Masters of the Elements

9

I was strolling in a green pasture. No, I was running in a green pasture. Chasing a butterfly which was not to high above my small six year old hands. I giggled then heard a voice call. "Cece - bud! Do not wander off too far!" I realized with a pang it was my dad's voice, who was the only one who ever used to called me that. This must have been before before my parents had died.

I was my energetic six year old self, stretching my legs after a couple hours of driving. It was beginning to get dark, the sky a pastel watercolor of blue, pink, orange, purple, and red.

My younger self kept chasing the monarch butterfly, but something odd had happened. As I reached out to try and grab it for what seemed like the the hundredth time, it sort of just seemed floated down in my direction and my six year old self snatched it. Ripping its wing, dooming it for the rest of its short lived life. But my younger self did not realize this.

"Cece-bud! Let's get back to the car." Dad shouted finally, turning from my mom.

My six year old self came running back holding the dying monarch butterfly in my tight clench. "Look what I caught! Look what I caught!" I shouted as I came up to Mom and Dad. "I got that butterfly!" I said so excitedly in my high pitched voice.

"I see that, but look, you broke its wing. It will not be able to fly very well anymore." Mom said as she squatted to slowly and carefully extracting the monarch butterfly out of my tightly clenched grip.

Horrified, I started apologizing to the monarch butterfly. "I am so sowy!" I cried as Dad took me up in his arms and stuck me in the car, still blubbering.

"Let's go, Mom." Dad said to Mom as he sat into the driver's seat.

I watched mom fold her hands out and watched her let the injured monarch butterfly slowly and painfully flutter away.

"WAKE!" Boomed a head and everything faded into blackness.

I woke with a gasp and sat straight up.

"Woah, sunshine!" Said William.

The room was spinning and I closed my eyes again, the image of my parents still engraved in my mind. Tears threatening to spring into my eyes.

 "Goodness, what the heck is going on?" I choked, feeling a lump catch in my throat as I kept my eyes still closed, laying back down and pressing my palms into my eyes, ordering the tears to stay in my body.

"Well, I just... peeked into... one of your memories... " Alysia said panting. "I just picked one that looked promising."

I turned on my side facing towards the voices and huddled my knees to my chest, putting myself into the fetal position.

"I have an inkling as to what your power is." Alysia said, still panting. Evidently the whole ordeal took the breath and energy out of her.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice muffled by my knees in my face.

"Well, I do not have a very good idea. But I have options." She said, her breathing becoming normal. "Well, what are they?" I asked, my breathing also evening out.

Alysia paused, apparently thinking about whether or not to answer me. She opened her mouth and then shut it- she repeated this a couple more times.

"Come on, Alysia!" I shouted. "Just out with it!" My emotions deciding to take a swing at the ballpark.

"Um, so..." She began.