I knew it was really late and that everyone was already in bed but I still rushed to the Conference Hall. I kept knocking on the door until Hellen opened it.
"Annabelle, are you alright?" she asked and then noticed the oversized Star Stone in my hand.
"Help" is all I could say. She let me in and I set the stone in the centre of the table. Alfred's head snapped up, he was half asleep but he became hyper when he looked at the stone.
"What is that?" he asked.
"That's my Star Stone from Ophiuchus,"
"What happened to it?" Hellen wondered.
I told them what I had found out. "I think that...there's a serpent growing inside that. It's been there ever since I got it but I didn't know that until recently."
"How is that possible?" Hellen looked at Alfred who was deep in thought but he looked like he knew something.
"I don't know but...." I trailed off. "But I know it's there. It looked me right in the eye." I shuddered at the thought.
"Should we break it open?" Hellen suggested.
"No!" Alfred said instantly. "It will hatch open on it's own."
"Hatch?" Hellen and I chorused.
"Yes, it's an egg and...that is a serpent." Alfred confirmed. Overgrown egg, I could hear Tristan saying in my head.
"So, it's actually a serpent?" I sighed. "But how and why?"
Alfred sat back down and I took a seat next to him. "The snake belongs to the descendants of Ophiuchus," Alfred explained. "I cannot believe that I didn't think of this before. I should've told you, I forgot. It was in your mother's family for years. Passed down to each generation. It's like a servant to the Ophiuchus. It's born from the brightest Star in Ophiuchus, named after it too."
"Rasalhague," I remembered. "Head of the snake charmer."
"Yes," Alfred confirmed. "It's controlled by any descendant of Ophiuchus. You can tell it what to do and it will obey. He was really close to your mom."
"He?" I repeated. It's a he?
"Pet?" Hellen shuddered. It's supposed to be a pet?
I remembered hearing rumours that some of the descendants of the Twelve Major had Celestial Creatures which represented their Constellation. I had no clue that Ophiuchus would gift me with a Celestial Serpent. Ophiuchus represented a man grasping a serpent. Now I was just confused.
"Yes, it is male and it's about to hatch," Alfred told. I looked at the stone, it was cracking, its fissures were oozing slime. I gagged.
"I have to keep it?" I groaned. "Can't we just send it back?" I felt guilty calling him an it.
"No," Alfred said. "It turned into Stardust when all the Ophiuchus died, it's life is tethered to yours now. If something happens to you it will affect the serpent. It may have sensed your presence when you went to Celestial Gardens and the Star, Rasalhaugue rebirthed it. It knew there was still one more Ophiuchus left, The Last Star of Ophiuchus, that's you. He was just waiting for the right time."
"This is freaky," I said.
"Not really," Alfred said. "You'll like him when he awakes."
I shivered at awakes. It sounded eerie.
"It's already starting to break open," Hellen pointed out.
"What should I do with it?"
"Leave it here overnight and we'll see what to do about it in the morning," Alfred said.
YOU ARE READING
Celestial Gardens(The Last Star Trilogy #2)
Fantasy"I thought I might pass out again, the only thing that kept me awake was the fact that the Sign on my wrist sizzled like oil on a frying pan. At first I thought it was just the aftermath of the intravenous drip but when I looked at it I nearly screa...
