Celestial Gardens(The Last Star Trilogy #2)

“Good morning” he greeted, still grinning.

I kept quiet and lowered my head. Alfred noticed my uneasiness and asked, “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “Where’s Raelynn?”

“Inside” I said pointing at the door.

“Can you call her?” he asked.

“I think she wants to be alone.” I mumbled.

“Why?”

I shrugged and I was about to walk away from this awkward situation but I can’t seem to get any privacy here.

“Is she alright?”

I rolled my eyes and huffed, “I don’t know.”

“Annabelle,” he started “I know this is hard for you but we couldn’t just leave you to the Hydras”

“Why not?” I snapped. “Why did you bring me here?”

“You’re safe here” he promised.

“How can I trust you?” I raged, “I don’t even know who you are”

“You know who I am” he reminded.

“That’s not what I meant,” I said. I didn’t want to stay here, I had no idea what this place was or who these people were, they had no idea who I was. It wasn’t much different from staying in the dungeon.

“Why did you bring me here?” I repeated, this time my voice was a bit calmer.

“Didn’t you want to come?” he asked.

I hesitated at the question, I wanted to run away from home but I didn’t want to come to a place like this. I thought it would be better here, but I’m not even comfortable here.

“You’ll get used to it” Alfred said, as if he could read my mind.

I cleared my throat, “Where’s Nathan?” I asked.

“He’s training”

I hadn’t seen Nathan since I arrived at Crimsyn State, he could’ve at least asked me how I was.

“Come with me,” Alfed offered. “I want to talk to you”

“No, thanks.” I shrugged.

“Why not?”

“Because,” I started “I just lost everything”

Alfred opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

“My home, my friends,” I continued. “And whatever family that was left. Not to mention, my whole life is a mess.”

“I know how you feel” he comforted.

“No, you don’t” I protested. “You left us. You left me alone my whole life and now all of a sudden you’re interested in my safety.”

I can’t believe I even listened to him the first time I met him. The day he came to my house, I wondered why he came after all these years. Granny never spoke of him and neither did Dad, we had no pictures of him, I assumed he was dead and years later Granny gave me confirmation that he was. But clearly she was lying.

“I had to leave.” he said through gritted teeth. “I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing while the Hydras took away everything and made themselves more powerful.”

I rolled my eyes, “Well, what are you doing now?”

Alfred raised his eyebrows, surprised at my cluelessness. “You have no idea.” he replied. He kind of sounded like Dad when he said that but considering that they didn’t really get along at all, I prefered to not say that to him.

I sighed, trying to calm down. “Look, I appreciate you trying to keep me safe but please explain what you plan to do with me?”

“We have to train you and then...”

“Train for what?” I interrupted. “I am not soldier material”

“Yes, that’s exactly why we have to train you.” Alfred said.

Just when I was about to protest, the door behind me swung open and we met Raelynn’s angry face.

“Raelynn,” Alfred smiled. Then he noticed her expression and asked, “Are you alright?”

Raelynn just sighed and jogged away.

“Well, you’ve upset her.” Alfred said to me. “Now it will take almost a week to get her back to normal.”

“Aquarius.” I snorted.

“She was being nice to you and you pushed her away.” Alfred stated.

“Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious.” I shot back.

“There is no need to be like that.” he said.

I admit, I do feel bad about Raelynn but you can’t blame me, that girl is way too clingy. Maybe it’s something about being a descendant of Aquarius. They’re usually really nice but when they’re mad they will ignore you and try to make you jealous.

“Give her time.” Alfred said, trying to find Raelynn, he’s eyes were squinted and he was looking at the group of people who were practicing archery. I saw a girl with blonde and cherry red hair, I pointed to her and Alfed nodded.

“You should join them,” Alfred suggested.

“No”

“You’re right,” he agreed “Maybe we should start your training with having a good conversation.”

“No!” I hissed. “What could you possibly have to say to me that will make me feel better?”

“You said that you don’t know me,” he recalled. “Well, the feeling is mutual. But we can fix that.”

“You want to make up for almost eighteen years with your one and only granddaughter? Fine, you can try,” I said.

“Okay” he shrugged and then walked over to the weapon room.

“That went well.” a voice said. I muffled a scream, his voice was familiar and dripping sarcasm.

“Nathan,” I started. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Hmmmm...probably like, five minutes.” he answered.

“Where have you been?” I gave him a light punch.

“In the cafeteria.” He burped.

“First of all, eww. And second of all, I mean where have you been the past few days?”

“Oh, I was just catching up.” he told.

“Right,” I mumbled.

“How are you holding up?” he asked after a while.

“How do you think?”

“I don’t know, anyone would be lucky to have been saved and brought here.”

“Lucky?” I repeated. “To live here is lucky?”

“Well, it may not look like much but it’s definitely better than living in an unfair society.” He sounded offended, this place must mean a lot to him.

Outside the weapon room was an archery range and a table of knives and guns, the rooms were small and they looked like small houses and they were congested. The cafeteria was next to the girls’ quarters and there was a bigger building in the center of it all. According to Nathan, the boys’ quarters were at the backside of ours and there was much more in Crimsyn State than what I was seeing right now.

“Raelynn told me you weren’t feeling well,” Nathan spoke.

I tried not to be irritated by him. “I’m not.” I sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You’ll have to get used to it.”

“So, you’re gonna keep me here forever?” I asked playfully.

“Not forever,” his expression was serious. “None of us are here forever, just until we....”

He hesitated. I glanced at him, waiting for an answer. But I could tell from his face what he was going to say, you’ll find out.

“Whatever.” I said, trying to hide my smile.

“Want me to give you a tour?” he offered.

“No, thanks.” I said. “I’m not in the mood.”

“It’s okay.”

As I watched everyone train, I noticed everyone started staring at me or giving me weird looks. I flinched each time someone would call me The Last Star, as though that were my real name. Whenever I walked past them they whispered to each other of pointed at me as if they were trying to find something wrong with me.

“They’re all staring at me.” I said in a low voice.

“What?” Nathan asked.

“Nothing.” I lied.

There was a long pause until Nathan finally noticed what was bothering me. “Ignore them.”

I snorted, “Easier said than done. I hate when people do that. Why are they even staring at me?”

He shrugged, “You’re new. And you’re kinda....well.....”

“What?” I demanded.

“We were all waiting a really long time for you,” Nathan said.

“Huh?” I knitted my eyebrows in confusion.

He opened his mouth to say something but I spoke first, “I know, I know.”

“You’ll find out,” I said mockingly.

Nathan chuckled. I gave a light punch on the shoulder.

“Anyways,” he started. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “What do you guys do here anyway?”

Nathan looked at me like I was dumb. “This is an army base so...”

“Not really much to do.” he finished.

This conversation had distracted me from everything else. I had forgotten about my starvation, my headache and all that has happened in the past few days.

I felt dizzy and had to hold on to one of the pillars of the building to keep my balance. I felt nauseous too. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had a proper meal.

“I have to go.” Nathan said and then he jogged away.

“Bye.” I waved but he didn’t notice.

I went back to my bed. I could have a few hours of peace before girls flooded the room and talked about me in low voices so I couldn’t hear them. At night I heard muffled voices and whispers but I could never arrange the words to make proper sentences. It was just a big mess of words to my ears.

I closed my eyes and thought about what my friends might be doing back at home. Good memories I had with them but they were too painful to think about right now. They only brought tears to me eyes. I wiped my eyes and blinked back anymore tears threatening to spill.

I couldn’t sleep, there was no point. I felt depressed and awkward around these people and this place wasn’t convincing me as safe.

I paced the room and tried to get rid of my headache, but the obsessive thoughts and anxiety weren’t helping. I ran my fingers through my hair, resisting the urge to pull them out. I decided that the walking wasn’t making me feel better, rather it made me feel more tired. I fell on my bed and just then there was a knock on the door. I got up too fast and immediately regretted doing that. I trying to straighten up, “Come in,” I said.

“Annabelle?”

“Yes?” I answered.

“It’s Nathan, I can’t come into the girls’ room but Alfred is calling you.”

“Just tell him I’m not feeling well and I’ll talk to him later.” I sighed.

He swung the door open and walked towards me. I’ll admit I was intimidated by that.

“Get up,” he ordered.

“No.” I insisted.

“Fine, I’ll just get Alfred and he’ll drag you to the conference room himself.” he threatened.

I groaned, ’Alright, alright.”

Reluctantly, I stood and tried to make myself look presentable. I don’t want people staring at me even more than usual.

“Lead the way.” I said. And so he did.

The conference room was in the middle of the Crimsyn State. It was by far the biggest building and the cryptic atmosphere sent a chill through my whole body, or that could have been the cold weather. But considering my fear of all things creepy and cryptic, I decided it was definitely the ambience of this building that was making me shiver.

We stood in the corridor and waited for someone to open the door. I examined the building in the mean time. Everything was grey and white, the walls needed a fresh coat of paint. There was more than one room, I don’t know what the other rooms were for but the one at the end of the corridor was the largest and there I could tell everyone inside was having a loud and lengthy conversation based on the fragments of speeches I was hearing.

Getting impatient, I knocked on the door loudly this time. The voices stopped arguing and the discussion died out. As the door unlocked, the sound of the key turning echoed and for a minute I thought I was in a horror movie.

It was Alfred who opened the door with an irritated look on his face, I guessed it was because we were knocking so much and it disturbed them. But hey, he’s the one who called me here. I could be in bed right now.

“After you,” Nathan motioned for me to walk inside. I swallowed and walked past Alfred into the room full of ten people, sitting at a round wooden table with books and documents scattered all around. All were dressed in either black or grey clothes and they watched my every move.

Stop with the staring! I wanted to yell but I restrained myself.

Nathan pulled me to the front of the room and I got a good look at everyone.

“Don’t cross your arms, it’s disrespectful.” Nathan whispered to me.

I gave him an annoyed look. Tell them it’s not nice to stare either, I wanted to say to him. I discreetly dropped my arms and tried to get rid of the anger flashing in my eyes.

They all went back to their discussion, this time mumbling to each other. From time to time one of them would look me directly in the eyes and I’d roll mine at them. Nathan nudged me and kept telling me I was being rude but I can’t just let them stare me down like that.

Alfred was sitting at the front of the table so we were standing a few steps behind him, he turned his head and glanced at me. That’s it. I turned towards the door and as I took another step Nathan grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

“Oww” I yelped, he’d twisted my arm.

“Be patient.” Nathan demanded sternly, his voice told me he was annoyed by me.

I rolled my eyes at him and cleared my throat loudly, all eyes were now on me.

“Sorry to interrupt but, why am I here?” I asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

They all exchanged looks and Nathan nudged me in the stomach. “What?” I asked.

Alfred was the one who spoke, “Sit down.” he motioned to an empty chair next to him.

“I prefer to stand.” I said, crossing my arms again.

“If she won’t listen to a thing you say than how do you expect her to understand what we’re going to teach her?” a guy with big glasses and unruly hair said. I shot him a look, sending a clear message. Don’t mess with me, you have no idea what I’ve been through.

Alfred took care of him and I felt a spark of confidence in myself. “Annabelle, sit down,” Nathan whispered. I looked in his eyes, it seemed as if he was begging me. One of us has to listen to the other, so I’ll compromise.

“Thank you,” Alfred said. I just modded my head.

“Well...” I started, looking at their strict and serious faces.

“Annabelle,” an old lady sitting across from me spoke. “we’re glad to have you here and I hope your adjusting to this new lifestyle.”

She seemed kind, she gave me a small smile and looked at Alfred as if she was waiting for him to speak but he looked at her confused and she rolled her eyes at his cluelessness.

“I”m sorry, who are you?” I asked the woman. I felt bad that I didn’t know her name but she knew mine.

She felt uncomfortable with my question, she looked at Alfred for some help and than at everyone else at the table.

She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, “That is not important. At the moment, we have to talk about you.”

“Me? What about me?” I wondered.

“Did your mother ever tell you about us?” she spoke hesitantly.

I clenched my fists. Don’t they know what happened to her?

That’s a good bedtime story for a two-year-old girl: “I ran away and joined a rebellion. I was murdered by a tyrant ruler and soon you’ll take my place. Goodnight.

“No,” I answered. “I don’t even remember her.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...” she apologized but I cut her off.

“Will you please get to the point?”

“I thought she would’ve left you some sort of message. A letter, a diary or another sign.” Alfred muttered to no one in particular.

“She didn’t.” I almost yelled. “I’ve been looking for years and I’ve found nothing.”

I felt like I had just been slapped. My mother had left me nothing of hers, no way to guide me through life. I felt angry for a moment but my emotions died down as quickly as they had come. No reason to be mad at those who weren’t with us anymore, it’s not like they can do anything about it now.

“I apologize for being so straightforward.” the old woman said.

You should be, I wanted to say. “It’s okay” I whispered.

“Annabelle, did your father ever talk about me?” Alfred asked. I thought for a second, his question had nothing to do with why I was here, I could tell that he terribly wanted to know the answer. I felt bad because I knew the truth would hurt.

“He and Granny,” I started, making sure my grandmother got equally blamed for it. “told me that you died a long time ago and the same thing about Mom.”

Alfred didn’t show a speck of emotion, he just sighed, maybe from disappointment.

“As you may have already heard we are rebels,” Alfred told. “We are fighting to overthrow the Hydras.”

There was a pause, I was waiting for more but when I looked at them for a complete explanation Alfred spoke, “Our plan was to bring you here and train you for battle. I’ve wanted to do this for years and I’m glad I didn’t wait longer because it could’ve been too late and.....”

“Hold on!” a woman sitting at the end of the table yelled, cutting off Alfred.

“Yes, what is it?” Alfred asked.

“You can’t just tell her...” she pointed towards me. “our plans and strategies just like that. She has lived with the wrong people her entire life, she was raised to think that the rebels were bad people! What a disappointment!”

That sent a shot of anger through me, but Alfred but a hand on my shoulder as if that could stop my words. “She is my grand daughter and it’s not her fault the way she’s been raised,” he stated.

No offence taken, I spoke in my head.

“I trust her and if you trust me you should trust her too.” Alfred said confidently. I was surprised that he trusted a girl he didn’t even know.

“Besides,” the old woman spoke. “Annabelle is here so we can remove any misunderstanding or confusion she has about anything.”

I tried to smile at both of them but that would’ve been inappropriate considering the current situation.

“I’m out of here,” the lady at the end of the table got up and walked towards the door. No one stopped her.

“Annabelle, I apologize on her behalf.” Alfred said.

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t trust a stranger either.” I said.

“Although, she was right about one thing....” Alfred said. “I can’t tell you everything unless you swear to not tell anyone. That’s what everyone has done.”

I shouldn’t have agreed immediately, that would’ve made me look desperate but I was desperate at this point.

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone.” I promised.

“Just to be safe, I need you to swear on your Constellation.” Alfred asked.

Swear on Virgo, I thought. That’s a huge vow and sometimes breaking it could mean punishing by death.

“I swear on Virgo that I won’t tell anyone.” As the words flowed out of my mouth I could feel Virgo light up and it felt like someone had tied a rope around my chest and pulled tightly. I looked out the small window in front of me, I didn’t notice that earlier, Virgo was shining brightly and I knew I’d just made a dangerous promise.

“Our plan was to bring you here and convince you to join our cause. Your mother was a part of the revolution, she even ran away for a little while because she didn’t want anyone to know. I brought her here, I treated her like my own daughter. But she had to come home when she found out she was expecting a child.” Alfred explained everything to me calmly.

“Your father never understood what we actually fought for, he was only worried about his reputation, his family’s appearance, his job and pleasing the royal family.” Alfred continued.

“That sounds exactly like him.” I said.

“Your mother still helped the rebels despite knowing what a risk it was. She never cared what other people thought but her bravery was her downfall.” Alfred spoke about her as if it was a painful memory even for him. The old woman sitting next to him had tears flowing down her face but she managed a brave face.

“She passed two years after you were born. I can’t say that the last few years of he life were easy of happy, her relationship was stained because of all this, mostly Antonio’s fault if you ask me and your grandmother was never nice to her. Even before they were married, she never approved of you mother. I’m sorry.” Alfred finished.

“It’s okay, it’s just a lot to process.” I said. I gave him a small smile.

“Then are you willing to fight?” the lady across me said, I could see hope in her eyes, hope in all their eyes but I wasn’t born to be a hero and now everyone wants me to fight for something which could be punishable by death.

“I’m not saying that I’m the one who will make your problems go away or that I’m the best person to join your cause but I promise I will try my best to do anything I can.” I agreed. One of Virgo’s Stars’ twinkled as I said that. Really? Now?

The two elders looked as if an invisible weight had been lifted off their shoulders, when I glanced at everyone else they had the same expression. Nathan looked way too giddy and I went over what I had just said, checking for any mistake in my words I realized that the thought of just one plain girl being committed was enough for them.

“We’ll have to start your training tomorrow, of course.” Nathan spoke for the first time, he was trying to hide his smile but failed. I turned my head to look at him and he stepped forward putting a hand on my shoulder.

“And I know the perfect trainer.” he added. There was a devilish look on his face and that worried me.

“Trainer?” I looked at Alfred for confirmation.

“Yes.” Alfred grinned.

“Raelynn’s bringing her,” Nathan told.

Bringing her? Did they already know I would agree to this? Or would they have forced me if I wouldn’t have?

“Well, there was no way we’d let you leave this room if you wouldn’t have agreed” Nathan joked, noticing my confusion.

“Huh?” I felt dumb. But despite all this, there was a spark of excitement and fear inside me.

There was a knock on the door and Raelynn walked in before anyone could answer. She ignored me, she approached Nathan and they whispered their discussion.

“Just so you know, the only reason I’m here is to keep you two from killing each other.” Raelynn said in a snappy tone.

“Keep who from killing who?” I asked but she didn’t answer.

Nathan pulled me out of my chair, “Now listen, no matter what happens you have to remain calm and don’t snap at her otherwise she’ll snap your bones.”

I glared at him, I looked at Raelynn for confirmation and she nodded. “Trust me, it’s happened before.”

I gulped, now I’m scared but I tried not to show it.

“It’s okay, I can handle it.” I said. And the truth is, I can handle it. I’ve been through too much to give up now. Raelynn smiled and I saw pity for me in her eyes.

“How bad can she be, really?” I shrugged.

Raelynn stood close to the door and Nathan continued, he held my shoulders as he spoke. “You are too confident. She could tear apart mountains with her bare hands, make villages burn down with a single glare. Heck, the girl can topple entire kingdoms without breaking a sweat!”

I pouted at him and tried to believe his exaggerated description of a girl, but the fear in his eyes told me that he wasn’t kidding.

“You’re making her sound like some beast.” I pointed out.

“Yeah, he’s doing a great job of warning you.” Raelynn said, her eyes fixed on the door. There was no sarcasm in her voice, she actually sounded serious.

“Believe me when I say, this girl can manipulate you into thinking she’s just a pretty face but she’s....”

He stopped abruptly. The room fell silent as all eyes looked at the door. It was her.

She stumbled clumsily upon entry. As she did so, a pinkish blush of embarrassment tinted her cheeks.