I gasp awake, sitting up and looking around in confusion. I quickly find that I’m not in my bedroom, nor am I on my bed. Instead, I’m lying on the roiling surface of the top of a cloud, white mist drifting all around me as I sit on it like a solid surface. Above me is a clear blue sky, the sun shining cheerfully down. Not awake then, I’m probably in that weird dream Celeste had mentioned, although the memory seems fuzzy.
My heart pounds in my chest as I touch the strange cloud-like substance beneath me. It’s soft and feels more like a gentle wind running through my fingers than actual physical material. How strange? What is this dream?
Standing up, I test the surface of the cloud I’m standing on. It’s springy and supports my weight without allowing me to sink into it much, almost like walking on a mattress, except the surface isn’t flat. Clumps of cloud mass constantly rise up off of the main cloud, moving in strange ways and causing hills and valleys in the odd cloudy terrain. A small amount of wispy mist constantly rises up off of the cloud to dissipate in the air. Strangely, the mist near me seems to reach up to caress and swirl around me as if it’s drawn to me for some reason.
Gentle wind and swirling mist are my only companions as I try to take in the situation. I feel incredibly lucid for this to be a dream, but Celeste had said it would be a strange experience. Despite the impossibility of it all, everything feels completely real. The air is cool but not cold, and the world is silent but for the blowing of the wind. It genuinely feels like I’m actually standing on a massive, fluffy cloud, and I revel in the sensation.
Unsure as to what I should be doing, I spend a few minutes walking and looking around before I see something peculiar in the distance. Sitting atop the cloudbank with me is a large, semi-transparent crystal. The crystal is easily five or six times taller than I am and juts up towards the blue sky, refracting the light and throwing out rainbows around it. As I approach, I notice how the mists seem to swirl around the crystal like it does with me. How strange. Could this crystal be the manifestation of Celeste in this place? She had said she was a gemstone, and I get the feeling she meant that literally.
Continuing my way towards the crystal, I eventually find myself standing just before it and take a second to admire its flawless, glossy surface. It truly is beautiful here. It’s a shame something like this can’t really exist. Or… can it? I suppose magic is a thing; maybe something like this is possible in the real world.
Almost instinctively, I know that the crystal wants me to touch it. It feels familiar to me — as if it were an old friend. It feels like Celeste. The crystal reminds me of her so strongly that I unconsciously form an image of her in my mind. The thought calms my nerves as I reach out and lay my hand against the smooth surface of the crystal.
It feels warm and alive, and I can feel the surface vibrating with an energy pulsing within. A corresponding energy rises up within me, pulsing with each beat of my heart. The energy moves through my hand and towards the crystal. It’s an extremely odd sensation — like the very core of my being had reached out a tendril. The second the two energies touch, I feel a connection flair to life, and my world shifts.
In an instant, I’m looking at where I’d just been from inside of the crystal. A moment of panic sparks through me as I find myself still pressing my hand against the crystal, just from the other side. Fear twists my gut as claustrophobia rears its ugly head. Looking around frantically, I see that I truly am on the inside of the crystal now, the two energies co-mingling within me as I look for a way out.
I don’t like the feeling of being trapped, not one bit. Ever since I was a little girl, I’d go out of my way to avoid small or confined spaces. I know the fear is completely irrational; this is just a dream, after all, but I still can’t help but feel the bubbling horror building within me. Being trapped like this is my worst fear realized.
Stepping forward, I press both my hands against the inside of the crystal. The walls give off an impression of permanence — like they’d be nearly impossible to break. My breathing hitches as I push against the walls of the crystal, doing my best to fight down the pure panic rising within me.
My heart thunders in my chest now, and I push against the wall of the crystal with all of my might. It’s to no avail, though; the crystal doesn’t seem to have any intention of releasing me.
As I keep trying to push my way out, the two energies swirling within me continue to move faster and faster in my body. Finally, the energies smash together at my center, and a connection blooms to life within my mind and, along with it, a sense of calm.
Celeste’s presence appears in my mind, and suddenly, I can feel her as if she were here with me in the crystal. Or… not in the crystal, but in my mind. On some level, I’m still panicking at the confinement, but thoughts from Celeste calm me significantly. We’re safe here; we’ve always been in this crystal. Everything is fine. Slowly, I realize what’s happening. The crystal I’m inside is the soul gem, the soul gem that Celeste inhabits. And now… now I do as well. Two become one.
I know that to be true on an instinctive level. My soul, which was once contained within my body, now inhabits Celeste’s gem. I have no idea what that means for me, but I understand now why Celeste’s bond is permanent. The only way out of this crystal would be to break it, which would probably kill us both.
Around the soul gem, more and more mist begins to swirl, entire parts of the cloud being ripped apart to spin rapidly around the crystal. Faster and faster, more and more. The entire cloud rushes in and around the soul gem like it is the heart of a tornado, the eye of a storm. Before long, I can’t even see through the transparent walls anymore due to the sheer amount of white rotating around me. Then… the mist begins to leak in, invading the soul gem.
Instead of panic upon seeing my safe haven from the swirling cloud breached, instead… I feel power. It starts with a trickle but quickly turns into a flood as more and more of the cloud flows inside the soul gem, swirling around me within. Not all of the cloud is white and fluffy either; other parts are dark and threaten rain, flashing with sparks. All of it is absorbed nonetheless.
Every second the cloud rushes into the soul gem, I feel more and more connected to it. To the concept it represents. Clouds, fog, rain, mist, air, and storms, I suddenly feel an almost instinctive understanding of what they are and how they work. More than that, though, I understand what they represent. Calm, fluffy happiness, absolute freedom, and the fury of mother nature.
It feels incredible, even as my sight is entirely obscured by the swirling power around me. I can feel it, on an instinctive level, like the universe washing through me. I was born to live among the clouds. To show their beauty and their might. To drift high above the ground, absolutely free.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
For long minutes, I simply bask in the feeling. Eventually, though, the sensations of the world around me begin to grow dimmer. The power flowing through me lessens until it is only a small core. A seed that could grow to be so much greater. As the final sensations drop away, my world turns black once more.
image [https://i.imgur.com/s4uEg3H.png]
I jerk awake, sitting up and looking around hastily. For a moment, the softness of the bed beneath me makes me think I’m still on the cloud, but… no. Not on a cloud, I’m back in my room. My breaths come quick, and fear twists my gut. The memory of being trapped is still heavy in my mind. Strangely, I feel that a part of me is still there, still in that crystal of clouds within that metaphysical space.
Looking around my room, I do my best to calm my panicked gasps as I look for Celeste. She isn’t here, but… I can feel her. Like a presence within my mind, I instinctively know I can reach out to her if I want. It’s a very strange sensation, the knowledge that I’m not alone in my head.
“Celeste?” I ask the empty room, my voice full of trepidation.
[I’m here, Serena!] chirps Celeste’s happy voice from inside my mind. [The bond was successful; congratulations, you’re a sentinel now!]
Her excitement brings a smile to my face. Especially since I can feel she is right. That core of power still sits at the center of my being. Swirling with clouds and power. It feels far fainter than it had before, but it’s still there. That innate understanding is still with me, like knowledge downloaded directly into my mind. I’m just glad I have someone to explain what’s going on.
“Where are you?” I ask Celeste, even though I sort of know the answer already. She’s within me, within that core of power beside my heart that had remained after the dream.
[Remember, the form you saw before was never my true body. I exist in the soul gem within you. The soul gem your soul also now resides within. Before, my soul gem was drawing from a mana battery at the local GDF building to power my projected form. Since my soul gem is now within you, to manifest myself, I must use your mana,] Celeste explains.
I nod, I suppose that somewhat makes sense. Wait… can Celeste see me nod? Can she see and hear and stuff through my senses? If so, man are showers about to become awkward, and what about relationships… God, having someone else living in my head might get uncomfortable quickly.
“C-Can you see through my eyes and stuff right now,” I ask tentatively, although I can already feel that the answer is yes.
[I can, yes. However, please do not worry about your privacy. When manifested, I stop being able to see through your senses, so I can ‘step out,’ if needed. Also, I perfectly understand you not wanting me to watch during your more delicate moments. During these times, I will do my best to withdraw and not pay attention even when I am not manifested. If you ever feel like I am overstepping, please just tell me,] Celeste says.
“Thank you,” I say with an honest smile. “Can you pop out, though? I feel like a crazy person talking to myself.”
I get a strange, warm sensation in my mind, as though Celeste had started laughing. [Sure. Although, you should remember that we can communicate telepathically now. There is no need for you to speak out loud. All you need to do is direct a thought to me, and I will hear it as though you had spoken out loud. Before you ask, no, I cannot read your mind. I can only hear the thoughts you send me on purpose. Since I have your permission, I will manifest myself.]
Almost as soon as Celeste’s words enter my mind, she appears beside me on the bed in a swirl of blue-white mist. Although she looks mostly the same, I instantly notice a difference. First, the violet color of her eyes is gone. Now, they are both a piercing blue color with bits of gray and white swirling within — like clouds against a summer sky. Her fur and feathers had also changed; instead of pure white like before, they’re now a more muddled white and light gray with slight tinges of dark gray and even some hints of blue.
As Celeste’s form solidifies and the mist dissipates, I feel a kind of draining sensation. It’s strange, but I definitely notice the feeling of having lost something, like the core in my center feels dimmer than before. It’s almost the same as how it feels after I’ve finished inscribing something.
“You look different,” I say, looking over the familiar.
Celeste bobs her head, [Our souls are now resting together within the soul gem, so now my projected form also contains a bit of your soul as well as mine.]
“Huh, weird,” I say, frowning as I contemplate. “So, this whole — soul gem within me thing — that is metaphysical, right? I don’t actually have a magic gem inside me?” I ask with an awkward laugh.
Celeste hesitates a moment before shaking her head. [No, you actually do have a gem within your body. It rests beside your heart at the exact center of your chest. In fact, it is now one of your most vital areas. Like your heart or your brain, you cannot survive for even a few moments without your soul gem. It is the physical thing that allows you to access your magic directly, and it literally contains your soul. Removing it would kill you instantly.]
“So wait, if my soul gem gets broken or like taken away somehow, I’ll die?” I ask Celeste.
Celeste nods her affirmation. [In a way, we will both die. We are our soul gem. Our very beings rest within. Having it torn from your body would be like having your soul ripped out. It would kill the body instantly, also killing us.]
My eyes widen, “What do you mean, us? If I die, so do you?”
Celeste flicks her tail back and forth as she responds, [Yes, in many ways, we are one entity now. Our souls share the same space, so if something hurts you, it will also hurt me. In the same vein, I can help you resist many types of attacks that different volcora use, such as mental or soul attacks.]
I bite my lip, trying to think this through. “That goes the other way around as well, right? If you die, I will too?”
Celeste tilts her head, [Well, yes, sort of. Remember that I am the soul gem, and this body you’re looking at is just a magical projection. If my projection is harmed significantly, it will simply dissolve back into mana, and I will return to the soul gem unharmed.]
Very interesting. Does that mean… “So, let’s say I die, but the soul gem is not destroyed. Does that mean I will return to the soul gem like you do? That I’ll just be in the gem?”
[We are approaching the edge of my knowledge here, but that is widely believed to be accurate. Any time the soul gem of a fallen sentinel is recovered, it is kept in a secure GDF vault or carefully guarded by teammates, friends, or family of the fallen. There is a hope that one day, we may be able to revive fallen sentinels using their soul gems. Right now, it’s no more than a rumor that such a thing is even possible, but it is a pervasive one. I’m not sure you remember the necklace that Miss Audrey was wearing, but that was a soul gem,] Celeste explains with a somber tone, her ears drooping.
My eyes widen as I remember the star speckled black gem Audrey had been wearing around her neck. She… she had said that the café had been owned by a friend but that she had taken over after the friend had died. God… is Audrey guarding her old friend’s soul gem in a desperate hope for her to be brought back? Is that why she’s looking after the café?
Suddenly, the dangers of being a sentinel seem so much more real to me. I wonder if, one day in the future, my father will be wearing a necklace of his own. A necklace holding a gem swirling with clouds. Holding onto it and hoping that, maybe, there might be even the slightest chance of returning his daughter to him. The mere thought makes me want to run out of my room right now and hug him.
I stay silent for a long moment with my head lowered. Emotions flowing through me. Being a sentinel is dangerous; I could die. My father could end up alone, with both his wife and daughter gone forever. I have to prevent that fate, but… my affirmation to protect others still burns true within me, even stronger than before. I will protect people, and I will not fail.