When Stars Fall(The Last Star trilogy #3)
Chapter 18

Lewis Sagittarius

I put a hand on Amara’s shoulder, she wasn’t blinking. I snapped my fingers in her face but she still was amazed.

“This calls for a celebration,” I announced, standing up. Tristan pulled me back down, slapping my head.

“Not now, you idiot,” Phoenix whispered and slapped me on the head. I made a growling sound deep in my throat. I was about to retort but Raelynn took my side.

“Leave him alone.” She swatted Phoenix and muttered something to her while glancing at me.

Tristan gave me a questioning look, wiggling his eyebrows and nudging me with his elbow, which hurt just as much as Phoenix’s slap did.

“What?” I demanded.

“You tell me,” he snickered. I suppress a smile.

“Stop it,” I told. He didn’t listen, as usual.

“This is my revenge,” he said, almost inaudible. I used to tease him and Belle, now it’s his turn. I sighed desperately. Phoenix kept smiling at Raelynn, Lyra clutching her chest while Amara sat with her mouth agape.

“You can have your revenge later,” I said. “Worry about Amara right now.”

“She’s fine,” he said, without even glancing at her.

“My friend,” I said, slapping his back. “We both have different definitions of fine.”

He sighed and walked over to her. He got Amara talking but she still couldn’t digest the news since she asked multiple times whether it was true or not.

“So, they’re on our side now?” Nathan wondered, a furrow between his brows.

“They bombed the most powerful people in the kingdom,” I pointed out. Then I remembered that we didn’t have a proper alliance with them. “Wait, are they on our side?”

“We’ll need to confirm, of course,” Hellen said.

“But most probably yes,” Alfred added.

“They should have been careful, though,” Tristan said.

I sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Belle is fine,” I told. We all laughed. Tristan bit his lip, glaring at me as his cheeks tinted red on his pale skin. “If that’s what you were worried about,” I added quickly. We all suppressed smiles and giggles.

“What about the other thing?” Phoenix asked, I could tell by the devilish look on her face that she knew something we didn’t, which was usually Anthony’s job to be the know-it-all.

Hellen and Alfred exchanged looks, then Hellen narrowed her eyes at Phoenix. Phoenix played innocent.

“What did you do, Phoenix?” Raelynn asked, worrying.

“Why do you always assume that I did something?” Phoenix’s voice was high.

“Because when something nasty happens around here it’s usually your doing,” I answered, getting a slap on my head for it. Raelynn mouthed sorry to me and I tried to smile at her.

“One of our soldiers has fled Crimsyn State and has decided to change loyalties,” Hellen told. Phoenix smiled wickedly but I could see the hatred and rage in her eyes, not to mention she was making a fist and was breathing heavily.

“It’s Bemus,” she said through gritted teeth. “We sent someone to Crimsyn State, to give them an update and he told us that Bemus Pavo had betrayed us.”

None of us spoke, we had no idea how to feel about this.

“I was expecting he would do something like that,” Phoenix said, breaking the silence. She turned to Hellen and Alfred with the kind of hope and excitement you have when asking your parents for permission to go out. “Now can I kill him?”

“Phoenix!” Hellen said.

“What? He’s the enemy now, and I never trusted him.”

“We all trusted him and then...” Alfred trailed off.

“He betrayed us,” Phoenix finished.

Alfred narrowed his eyes at her. “One incident broke him and he got confused,” he corrected.

“That’s another way to put it,” Phoenix muttered. According to Alfred when they rescued Belle from the palace dungeons a few months ago Bemus’ father had been killed there which left him in despair.

“Now that we’re awake, let’s start the training session,” Phoenix announced. We groaned in unison.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said. Raelynn followed her and I followed Raelynn, while the rest trailed behind us. Lyra sat in the corner, watching and kept lowering her with her finger running through her hair. I realized she was trying to pull them out of her scalp and debated notifying Amara. She was having a mock sword fight with Raelynn and I tensed as she stumbled backwards at Amara’s blade.

“Don’t worry, they’re not actually doing to slit each other’s throats,” Tristan teased. I hoped I wasn’t blushing too much. Tristan and Anthony were practicing archery and Nathan was constantly getting yelled at by Phoenix for falling out of the trees during the obstacle course.

“I’m trying,” he whined, rubbing his arm which was bleeding.

“Try harder, Pisces. You’ve been failing at this for days now,” Phoenix said, irritable.

“Thanks for the motivation,” Nathan muttered. Phoenix sat cross-legged as she watched Nathan try again. I noticed she was mumbling something under her breath, which she does when she’s annoyed or irritated, or about to kick someone in the gut. But this time it was a poem about the Stars, written in Ancient Greek and translated into Latin and English. It was an aeon old but it was recited to remind us not to dwell too much over the martyrs in war. I pretended I wasn’t listening but she punched my leg and I fell to my knees. I turned to her and she was smiling, cheeks pink.

“How did you do that?” I demanded.

“I’m...really strong.” She shrugged. “Don’t eavesdrop on me again.”

“Oh, yesterday was just...” I scratched my head, trying to think of a good excuse.

“No,” she said. “I meant, right now. I don’t like reading poems out loud, especially not for other people.”

“Sorry,” I said. “It just made me realize.”

“Realize what?” Her pale pink lips curled into a frown.

“That even gothic people like you have a soft spot for poetic words about the Stars,” I told. She nudged me, grinning.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. “And your intellect made me realize that video game lovers can also be smart and nerdy.”

“I only learn when I’m interested,” I told.

there was a pause and I almost walked away

“It’s a good poem though,” she decided. “A reminder to not mourn deaths too much.”

I only nodded but Phoenix perked up.

“Did you know that the last few stanzas of the poem were never finished?” she asked, giddy.

“No,” I answered. “I don’t care about poetry that much. The only reason I studied it was for a stupid grade. I do remember dozing off in that class, though.”

Phoenix narrowed her eyes, back to her normal self. “Just so you know, after much effort I added my own lines to it.”

“Huh.” is all I said, still impressed. “Let’s see it, then.”

Phoenix turned the color of streaks in her hair. “I told you, Sagittarius: I don’t read for other people.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” I said.

“I never said that I wasn’t ready,” she said defensively. She went to get Nathan out of a high tree, his body shivering in fear.

“You are such a child!” Phoenix yelled. “Jump!” she demanded, hands on her hips. “Pisces, if you don’t jump in five seconds I will knock you out of that tree and hang you by your ankles from it!”

I almost came to his rescue, Phoenix started the countdown.

“One!”

He sucked in a deep breath, standing straight on the wobbly branch.

“Two!” She checked her wrist watch.

Nathan started shaking again when he looked down. It wasn’t even that high but I guess for him it was like jumping from the hundred floor Tower in Hydrus.

“Three!” She shook the branch so he would fall but he held on to the tree trunk.

“What is she expecting from him?” I stumbled back at the voice. I squinted through my glasses to see Lyra standing decently next to me.

“Four!” I heard Phoenix yell.

“This is war, she’s expecting us to act like warriors.”

“Five!” Nathan jumped, falling on his face.

Lyra went back to sitting in the corner. Nathan spitted out dirt and rubbed off the mud.

“You guys need to stop treating me like a child,” he complained, sounding like a child. I walked up to him and restrained Phoenix from punching him.

“We’ll start doing that when you start acting mature,” I said. “That tree wasn’t so high.”

“I wasn’t scared of the tree,” he said, annoyed. He looked at his elbow, smudged with blood and squealed, his breathing fastened. He fell to his knees and cried out loud. I got him to his feet and wiped his tears, before I could ask what was wrong, Phoenix started.

“Then?” Phoenix said before I could even open my mouth. “Care to explain why you were being such a scared little fish up there?”

I laughed, covering my mouth. Phoenix glared at me, Nathan was just confused.

“Sagittarius, what is so funny?” she spoke through her teeth, fists clenched.

“Well, you referred to Nathan as a fish and fish can’t climb trees because they’d rather be in water and can die on land...”

“What is your point?” she shouted, making me flinch. Now I was deaf in the left ear.

“Is that why you were scared, Nathan?” I asked softly, rubbing my ear.

“I wasn’t scared.” He grunted.

“Is this a joke to you both?” Phoenix demanded, getting ignored which was a risk since she could’ve made me deaf in both ears.

“I just don’t like being high up,” Nathan confessed. “I don’t get why people like heights. Why not just stay on the ground, or in the water? I’m not scared, I just don’t like it.”

“Right,” I said. So, it was a thing about Pisces and not being near the ground or water.

“That’s your excuse?” Phoenix said. “You’re a soldier in this war. Man up! Learn something from me or Amara and Raelynn. We all passed this obstacle course and you’ve been stuck on it for days!”

“That’s just idiotic,” Nathan started. “Raelynn’s an Aquarius, they don’t like being on dry ground, or away from water.”

“Raelynn is brave, not fearless. But you’re a coward and full of fear!” Phoenix said and marched away.

“Nathan,” I called, stopping him in his tracks. “Despite having ‘aqua’ in its name, Aquarius is not a water Constellation. It’s actually the last air element in the Twelve Major but Aquarians do love water.”

“Whatever,” he said and muttered curses under his breath which enraged me because it felt as though my five-year-old brother had started cursing.

When I got out of the trees, Nathan and Lyra were gone. Amara and Phoenix were going over more obstacles from a file and Raelynn’s beautiful eyes were staring at the sky as her Constellation reflected the colors in her eyes. She stood alone, this was my chance. I tried to prepare words but only failed, should’ve asked Tristan for some help. though I’m sure he didn’t need to rehearse each time he talked to Belle since their relationship was obviously mutual.

“Trying to sneak up on me?” Raelynn said, not turning around, which was eerie since her eyes were wide and she stood like a statue.

“Not at all,” I answered. She turned, her hair coming lose, and framed her face perfectly.

“Are you done playing big brother?” she teased. I gulped, hesitating.

“Phoenix should really take it easy, though.” I heard myself say.

“You’re right but Nathan is not built for this,” she said.

“I get it, this is war and we have to be warriors but she’s rough all the time.” I sighed. “Do you think Nathan would listen to me if I talked to him?”

Her rosy lips curled into a smile. “I think it’s impossible to ignore you, Lewis.”

“Very funny.” I felt myself smile.

I thought of how he was always timid around the training area. Whenever he saw a gun he flinched and tensed up. He was great with swords but refused to fight too roughly, out of the fear that he might draw blood.

“It’s post traumatic syndrome,” I told. “Has he ever experienced a situation which left him in angst?”

Raelynn hesitated but I could tell she knew something about Nathan.

“Raelynn.” I put a hand on her shoulder and subconsciously pulled her closer. “You can tell me anything, I won’t taunt Nathan.”

She sighed, her breath smelled of peppermint and her blue-green and grey eyes glistening with stardust.

“After Nathan and his parents fled their home province, their family disowned them and sided with the Hydras. Few years after that there was an attack on Crimsyn State a few months later,” she explained. “Nathan’s uncle was a part of it. Anthony, Phoenix and I were there with Nathan as we watched everything burn down. It took months to rebuild. Though we were just children, we remember every detail. Nathan was affected most by it since he watched his father burn as he tried to save his younger sister and mother.”

“He had a sister?” I was taken aback.

“She was newborn,” Raelynn told. “His mother survived, still scarred from the experience. That day, there was not only burning but gunfire and blood...” She shuddered, covering her wet face with her hands.

“It’s okay,” I said, sounding foolish. Obviously it’s not okay, you idiot! I scolded myself. I pulled her into a hug and let her cry into my chest, she was two feet shorter than me. Her hair smelled sweet and tickled my skin.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” I said as she lifted her head off me. Just a little longer please, my mind screamed.

“He’s been scared because of one event,” she said.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” I wiped away her tears, some still frozen on her face.

“If I had known I would’ve helped him,” I said, feeling ashamed of myself.

“We tried to help him.” She sniffed. “He’s in denial.”

“He reacts everytime he sees things related to war?” I wondered. “Or if he’s pressured by it somehow-”

Raelynn cut me off, “For a Sagittarius, you’re sometimes really dumb.” She sniffed again, her face hidden by her hair. I tucked it behind her ears.

“Nathan’s father died saving others, he was being brave. Nathan is afraid of bravery, it’s his flaw. Which is especially not good for him since he’s a Pisces-”

The realization hit me. “And he’s missing a trait.” We finished in unison.

“Pisces defend their loved ones, Nathan has tried and failed miserably,” she told.

“That’s tricky,” I decided.

“What are we going to do?” Raelynn groaned.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” I promised. I saw Tristan approach the area but with one look he got my message: Leave! Don’t ruin my moment. Luckily, Raelynn’s back was to him so she didn’t suspect. Tristan winked and gave me a thumbs up as if it was a good luck charm. He even dragged away Phoenix and Amara.

Raelynn’s eyes changed color. Now crimson and brown with green in the middle, her eyelashes casted shadows on her tinted cheeks. I became aware of the fact that I was holding her arms, she didn’t seem to mind, or notice.

“Can you not tell Nathan that I divulged his secret?” she requested. “You can try to help him, but you didn’t hear it from me?”

I nodded, replaceing it difficult to breath.

“Thanks Raelynn,” I blurted.

“Nathan is like my brother, I would be glad that he finally got out of his nightmares,” she said, attempting to smile.

I shook my head. “Not about Nathan.”

“Then?”

I smiled. “Nothing,” I finally spoke. “You’re a really nice person, we all are lucky to have a gentle and kind girl like you with us.”

I couldn’t beleive how stupid I sounded. Apparently, I was the only one who thought I sounded stupid since Raelynn was turning red.

“I try my best to keep everyone happy here since I know it’s not easy to live in this chaos but socializing is not really an Aquarius thing,” she said, lowering her head. She cleared her throat, her dazzling eyes flashed in front of mine. “You can call me Rae if you want.”

I gulped, my legs shaking. My forehead was wet with sweat. I forgot my name, and how to breath normally. “Okay” is all I could manage.

“We should probably go now,” she said and we walked to the tents together, unconsciously holding hands.

Our happiness ended there because there was a crisis happening in the girls’ tent.

“Did Lyra run out of hair dye again?” Anthony joked, he stopped laughing as he realized something. “Oh no,” he worried.

I looked at Raelynn questioningly, she was horrified to hear the screams coming from inside the tent. Amara and Phoenix were inside. Tristan and Nathan were shuddering at the screeches. Amara’s voice echoed in my head, How long until The Splitting? I shivered at that, trying to shake the thought away.

“I should go help.” Raelynn disappeared behind the tent, letting go of my hand with reluctance.

“Are we allowed to go inside during emergencies?” I wondered. Tristan shrugged and Anthony paced nervously. Lyra’s screams echoed, Hellen and Alfred rushed to our side.

“What is the meaning of this?” Alfred demanded. Nathan’s breathing fastened at the screams of pain and he ran away. Hellen ran inside. I almost followed but was blocked by Anthony.

“Too many people will tense her,” he told.

“She’s not already tense?” Alfred asked.

“Just give her some space,” Anthony added. We waited patiently. Alfred and Tristan talked, their voices inaudible over the cries escaping Lyra. Just imagining her twin standing next to her and the process of it made my insides twist. Anthony paced and read through his notes.

I snatched the book from him and threw it over my shoulder. “It’s pointless,” I yelled as loud as Lyra. We heard fastened breathing for a moment, I leaned in closer to the tent and her bones cracking and muffled sobs.