ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ's ɢᴀᴛᴇ (ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ)

CHAPTER ONE

"I'm not so sure she's ready," the soft voice of my older sister broke me out of my light slumber. I shifted myself on to my side and trained my pale blue-gray colored eyes on the wooden door. There was faint crack of light that shone from under it's wooden frame. A frown grew onto my face as I realized what Indigo had said.

"Could she be talking about me?"

I felt like I should've just shrugged it off and went back to sleep, in fact that's what I tried to do, but I just couldn't stop thinking about what she said. So, I silently slid out of my wool comforter and off of my metal framed bed and crept towards the door. When I cracked it open slowly, I saw the small, form of my older sister, Indigo, talking to her husband, Thames.

"We've got to let her advance in her studies, especially if her teachers think she is ready to move on," Thames told Indigo, his voice soft and in a whisper, probably so they wouldn't wake me up.

"Too late for that," I thought to myself as I shifted from one foot to the other one and leaned closer to hear them better. I could see Indigo shake her head and then she let out a sigh.

"I guess you're right, it's just, she's my baby sister and one of the only family I have left," Indigo started to say before she paused and took a sharp intake of breath, then she continued to talk

"If anything were to happen to her, I-I," it was then that Indigo broke down crying, her sobs wracking her body as Thames leaned forward to bring her into his arms and held her close to him.

It was then that I took another step and my food pressed against a squeaky wooden floorboard and the noise echoed throughout the small house. My eyes widened as I saw that Indigo and Thames heard the noise and pulled away from each other. They turned towards my bedroom door and then looked at each other before sighing.

"Come our Royale, it's rude to spy," Thames said as I slowly walked back towards the door and opened it all of the way. I stepped out of my room and into the living room with them. I had folded my arms across my chest as I stared right at them.

"We're you not going to let me advance in my magic lessons?" I snapped at them as I sent a glare towards them. Anger was beginning to well up inside me as I saw Indigo hang her head for a moment and then she turned back to me.

"Royale, I'm just trying to protect you, okay?" She said as she moved to put her left hand on my shoulder. I kept my glare up, but trained it on her specifically now. I saw her give me a soft smile before she noticed my glare and it fell into a slight frown.

"Well I don't need it!" I shouted at her, my body shaking in anger as I balled my hands into fists. My face began to red and I sent her one last glare before I stormed out of the living room and out the front door. I slammed the wooden door behind me as I stomped down the stone pathway and then down the sidewalk towards the town.

As I moved down the streets, it was mostly silent, Dave for the few noises of cars on the main road. I passed by a few side streets before reaching an old cemetery that was my hideout for when I got too angry. I walked through the gravestones before settling at the trunk of a large oak tree and leaned back against it. While sitting there in the now more silent night, I let my thoughts wander back to earlier that day, when I had my lessons.

I sat cross legged on the ground. I was sitting on a warm stone covered patio with my eyes closed. My teacher had told me to meditate for a while and I took deep, calming breaths as I waited for her further instructions.

I was starting to get anxious however, I was never that good at the meditation part of my magic training lessons, normally I just can't stay still long enough for her satisfaction. Yet, every day I tried my hardest and she said I was getting better too, so that was a bit encouraging.

"Very good Royale, you've lasted much longer today," Miss Trinity, my teacher said to me as I opened my eyes. She had a small smile on her face as she watched me take one last deep breath before offering her a smile of my own.

"Thank you Miss Trinity," I said as I shifted my now sore legs to relieve some of the pain in them. Miss Trinity motioned for me to stand up and follow her over to a sand pit. I knew what was coming up next and I could feel excitement build up inside of me. Summoning my weapons was always my favorite part of training.

"Now, let's start with conjuring a dagger shall we?" She said before she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, a slight white glow began to emit from her hands as the form of a dagger started to appear inside of it. I watched closely as she continued with her magic. As she finished forming the dagger, Miss Trinity held it up for me to see. The sun glinted on the blade as she showed it to me.

"Your turn," she told me as she twirled the dagger around and let it disappear once more. I gave a nod before closing my own eyes and started to take deep breaths of my own. I tried to coax the magic to flow through me and to form a small dagger in my hands. I imagined the dagger forming in my hands and then I opened my eyes to see that no dagger had appeared.

I let out a growl of frustration as I glared down at my hands in anger. Miss Trinity placed a hand on my shoulder to try and calm me down.

"Try again," Miss Trinity told me as she removed her hand from my shoulder and then stepped back. I gave a soft sigh before nodding slightly. I closed my eyes once more and let the magic flow through my body once more. I opened my eyes a few moments later to see a silver handled dagger laying in my hands.

"Yes! I did it!" I exclaimed with a large smile appearing on my face! I jumped up and then held the dagger up for Miss Trinity to see. She gave me a smile and then clapped her hands together before placing a hand on my shoulder again.

"Good job!" She said before gesturing for me to make it disappear and I closed my eyes and willed it to go back into wherever it had come from. Then, I opened my eyes again and looked at my teacher expectingly with a smile still on my face.

"Now we'll try to conjure it again, okay Royale?"
My eyes flew open as I woke up. I squinted my eyes as I realized that the sun had rose already and that the birds were out and chirping.

"Crap, I stayed out all night again," I muttered before standing up slowly, my legs stiff and sore from sitting practically all night long. I stretched out my limbs before brushing off my clothes and looking up at the sky.

"Well the sun is still low, so it must still be pretty early in the day," I thought to myself as I looked away from the sun and let out a soft sigh. I looked around and shook my head before turning to walk back along the tombstones and back onto the street.

"Indigo is going to be pissed," I grumbled as I moved my legs down the street. "So will Calypso," I added as I reached my street. As I walked down the sidewalk I saw my sisters house come into view and I felt like should have sped up, as to not keep my family waiting and worrying, but instead I just slowed myself down.

I threw open the door to see my sister and brother in law sitting at the kitchen table. Indigo heard the front door open and shut and shot up out of her chair. She ran over to me and enveloped me into a tight hug.

"Where have you been!" She cried out, while tears of relief flowed down her cheeks as she held me close to her chest. I let out a sigh and hugged her back.

"Sorry Indigo, I went to the cemetery and kind of fell asleep under a tree," I mumbled to her as I returned the hug. Indigo pulled away while giving me a small smile and shaking her head. Then, her smile fell and she frowned. Indigo led me back towards the table and gestured for me to sit down.

"Royale, there's something you should know," Thames said as he grasped Indigo's hand and squeezed it tightly for a second. He then turned his attention back to me and took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it for a moment as if to contemplate how to phrase what he wanted to say to me. Then he late out a sigh before looking at Indigo. Indigo took a deep breath before turning back to face me. She took my hands in her own before speaking

"Calypso has left for Heaven's Gate."