Heartless

Chapter 2

Elysians.

I have heard that name before but not since I was really young. I remember Percival mentioning them when we first met him but I was little and I never understood what was going on. I know that we were forced to leave our home and that someone was after me and I didn't know why.

"What are Elysians?" Jade asked.

My siblings, however, have never heard of the Elysians. They were born after we were safe on Earth so they never needed to know. They know we're not from here but they're so young that our parents couldn't tell them much. Probably because kids are terrible at keeping secrets.

I'm surprised that it is just hitting me now that it has been years since we've talked about home. Although, I don't really have any stories to tell about it but my mother does. Why would she never tell me about home?

I understand why she never told Percival or my step siblings because they weren't born in Safe Haven but I was. I grew up wandering with her, looking for a place to call home, knowing that you will never see your old home again. I may not have any memories from my old home but I have never felt at home on Earth. Home to me feels like a distant place out of my reach. I feel almost lost, staring up at the sky and dreaming about a faraway place. I have always tried to picture home but I don't have much to go one.

Once I imagined a golden city. I watched the sunset as the sun kissed the towering palace and glowed across the lakes and rivers. In another daydream, I was in a city of diamonds and the people were made of starlight. Their skin glowed much like the silver currents in my own skin. I've gotten lost in illusions about my home so many times. For now my daydreams will have to be enough but one day I hope to see it.

Our parents share a glance before they come clean about our situation and the stranger in our house. There isn't time to sugarcoat, one look from my mother tells me that.

"The Elysians are bad people who stole the Celestials home from them."

"Are you a Celestial, Dad?" Azure asked.

"No," he said kindly. "I am not, and neither was your mother but she was born in Safe Haven. There were more races than just the Celestials that lived there, but they ruled over it."

"Then what are you mom?" Jade asked, momentarily taking her thumb out of her mouth but only long enough to speak.

"Well, I'm half Celestial." I could tell by her fake smile and restless arms that run up and down her forearm that she is getting antsy and that this is the last thing that she wants to spend her time doing. Whenever she is trying to hold her temper back, I have noticed that wrinkles appear on the corner of her eyes, the same wrinkles that are appearing now but she holds it together for the little ones sake.

"I'm a Polaris."

"Ooh, pretty!" Jade announces, clapping her little hands and giggling at her own amusement.

"I'm half Celestial and half Star Glider."

"I'm half Celestial, too, and half human." Percival admits. "We're called Divines but I was born on Earth."

"Divine and Polaris. What does that make us?" I asked. I didn't plan on speaking up but I'm only twelve and I couldn't help asking.

"Um, we don't have a name for that kind of hybrid. To be honest you are the first of your kind so you don't have a name. Not every hybrid gets a name though. They have to be different from both parents. To be honest, we don't know your power capabilities. Fantasia seems to be the only one that has shown any sign of power yet." My mother explained.