She nods. "I won't tell a soul." She crosses her heart as they
approach the tavern. She walks in and up to the bar. The bartender
comes out and smiles at her and then notices Caelum. She whispers
to him and the bartender's smile widens as he looks Caelum up and
down. He looks back to her and nods. He then walks around the bar
and over to Caelum where he kneels down in front of him. "Hello, my
name is Henry. My friend Melez says you need a place to stay..."
Zack was wandering in skies and was having fun, he was having fun
after a long time. All these days he spent either fighting an demon
or in any other activity. After sometime, he noticed that the
clouds were getting darker. At first he thought that it is smoke,
as he realized that it was not smoke but something else, his eyes
grew wide. "Nimbus? it had to be a nimbus cloud!" he shrieked as
the lightning discharged at some distance above him, making the
background full white. He hurriedly flew away from cloud, only to
find a big tree in his way. The branches of trees slowed him down
and he fell on earth just at a few distance from the tree. Not
wasting a minute he checked whether if he got an injury, when he
found that there was a small cut on his arm. The cut was too small
and didn't needed a doctor or to be stitched. But it was paining a
lot. Zack rushed towards tavern with his full pace. As he entered
the tavern, he went near bartender. "Henry give me wine with the
cheese cork!" he cried. The wine was to make him forget his pain,
reason to order the one with cheese cork was the he liked cheese.
~I have loved the stars too fondly to be
fearful of the night~
"I'm Caelum," he introduced himself. "Melez said that I could stay
with her. Is... is that okay?" he asked, looking up at Henry.
Suddenly, another man burst into the tavern. Caelum noticed a cut
on the man's arm, and he looked back at Melez worriedly. "Will he
be okay?" he asked.
Henry rushes behind the counter and brings the man what he ordered
and he smiles back at Caelum. "It is fine." He chuckles. "So,
Melez... I can see you brought home a boy eh? Little young don't
you think?" He snickers as she shakes her head smiling. He stops
laughing and stands up. "You two must be hungry... I'll bring some
food..." He walks off behind the counter. Melez walks over to her
table in the corner beckoning Caelum to sit with her.
Zack got the effect of wine. Now he wasn't feeling pain, but drowsy
instead. He started seeing double images, he looked at Melez, who
was seemed doubled to him. "You have a twin sister?" he said in
amazement.
~I have loved the stars too fondly to be
fearful of the night~
Melez gets up chuckling. "No, and I think you should go to bed..."
She walks over to Zack and attempts to pick him up to bring him to
his room. "Come on... Up the stairs..." She turns back to Caelum,
"I'll be right back okay? Wait here..." She turns back towards the
stairs with Zack's arm over her shoulder.
Zack thanks Melez and her sister, who was just a imagination of
him. As he reaches the room he says to Melez, "Oh you and your
sister are very kind......." he falls asleep before completing his
sentence.
~I have loved the stars too fondly to be
fearful of the night~
She laughs as she lays him on his bed. She walked out, closing the
door behind her and walks back down to Caelum. "Sorry you had to
see that... Sometimes specific drinks make people do and say stupid
things..." She sits in her spot in the corner so she can see the
entire room. The bartender brings out a small tray of food. Ham,
cheese, water, bread. He smiles as he sets it on the table.
"Enjoy!" He chuckles to himself as he heads back behind the counter
and begins cleaning.
(Sorry for the unannounced hiatus; the internet was gone for quite
some time.)
Caelum snickered. "It's okay, I thought it was kind of funny,
really..." He murmured his thanks to Henry and took some ham and
ate it, contemplating whether he should have said that or not. He
swallowed and looked at Melez, tossing that thought out the window
and exclaiming, "Wow, this is really good!" He subconsciously
reached for some bread next, eating it thankfully.
She smiles broadly. "Yes, it was rather funny!" She chuckles. She
picks up a piece of the ham and bites into it. "Mmm" She swallows
before answering. "This is pretty good..." She consumes her piece
and took a small hunk of bread and savored the crunchy texture and
buttery flavor. She looks up and smiles at Henry who is behind his
bar serving a man a drink. He looks over in time to see her smiling
at him. They lock eyes for a moment, seeming to have an unspoken
conversation. She looks back to Caelum. "What time do you usually
go to sleep?"
Caelum had finished his piece of bread by the time Melez had asked
him the question. "Whenever I get tired," he admitted. "Sometimes,
if I've been up late for a few nights, I go to sleep as soon as it
gets dark, but I'm not too tired now. And... if I get into bed
while I'm not tired I sleep badly all night," he sighed.
She nods. "That happens to me sometimes too..." She eats another
piece of ham. "I would like to show you something when you're
finished eating..." She stands up. "I'm just going to talk to Henry
for a moment..." She walks over to the bar and converses with
Henry.
"Okay!" Caelum smiled and continued eating until he was full,
particularly favoring the ham. After he was finished, he looked
over his shoulder at Melez to see if she was done talking with
Henry yet.
After a few moments Henry nods and then Melez walks back over to
Caelum. "Done?" She smiled. I hope he will like this... I think
he will... I always did...
She grinned. "Come with me... There is something more beautiful
than the clouds from earlier today..." She walked to the door and
held it open for him.
Caelum smiled and nodded enthusiastically, half-walking,
half-skipping to the door. He thanked Melez for opening the door
for him and stopped when he got outside, waiting for Melez to come
too.
She closed the door behind her and walked out next to him. She
offered him her hand as she walked towards the edge of town. "Come
along... I think you will like this..." She grinned childishly.
Caelum giggled and held Melez's hand, following closely beside her.
"Where are we going?" he asked, his face bright with anticipation.
What could it be? he thought, honestly unable to think up
anywhere that Melez would bring him. "Hmm..." he thought aloud, and
looked up at Melez. "Uh, s-sorry..." he chuckled. "I was just
thinking."
She chuckles. "As it is somewhat of a hot night, and as neither of
us is tired, I wanted to show you my favorite spot here..." She
smiles. She leads him out of town and towards the clearing in the
woods. "We are almost there... If you would like we could fly the
rest of the way..." She stops in the center of the clearing which
is brightened by the light of the moon.