Ch. 1: Ares

Ares P.O.V.

"El, no!" I yelled, seeing her pull at her magic as she grew upset. 

Her white hair blew around her head as if she were possessed with her magic pressing into the surrounding air. We've been working with her on controlling her emotions all summer, but it seems not a lot of it has stuck. She's too powerful to have her emotions rule her decisions, yet here she stood, doing just that. 

"I want to see mommy, now!" She demanded. 

"El, you know she's training with Grandma Layla. She can't come right now, but we'll see her tonight. You have to calm down." 

I lifted my hand up as I took slow steps towards her. I am not sure why she wanted to see Andy so badly all of a sudden. She was so upset that Andy wasn't immediately available to her. Throughout the summer she and Elara had been inseparable, but Andy needed to train today.  

"Why can't she stop early and come see me? Does she not love me anymore?" She began to cry, only turning the magic darker. I could feel the air cooling further as she plunged into a full on sob. Rosy cheeks turned red along with her nose as she sniffled. She'd lost a lot of her baby fat, but still looked adorable, seeming to be 5 maybe 6 now. It's hard to gauge her age with her rapid growth. Her body is trying to catch up to her power. 

"Of course she loves you, you know that. She can't stop early because this is important to her. Don't you want mommy to be able to do the things she needs to do to be successful?" I asked her, trying to get her to put herself in someone else's shoes. Empathy has to be taught, afterall.

She sniffled as she stopped her sobs. Her little head gave me a small nod as her tiny hands rubbed her eyes. I could feel the magic leave the air at a turtle's pace. 

"How about we play a game while we wait for mommy to return?" I offered, knowing playing games is her favorite thing to do.  

"Okay," she said in a small voice, still feeling sad that Andy was gone for now. 

She cheered up rather quickly after we started playing. We played together for most of the afternoon until Andy showed up through a water portal that was opened for her by her Uncle Dex. 

El was the first one to run towards her, wrapping her little arms around her waist. Andy hugged her back tightly, lifting her in the air and carrying her as she came to me. I greeted her with a sweet kiss on the lips, feeling those fireworks burst inside me at her touch. These feelings don't seem to change no matter how much time passes. 

"How was it?" I asked her. 

Andy had her dragon half down to a science, but her snow elf side seemed to elude her at times. She could not tap into her snow elf magic until she started training, but it wasn't enough for her. She wanted more practice, more tries. Andy was never satisfied until she accomplished her goal perfectly. That goal right now is keeping El on the right path and she feels accessing her snow elf magic will help with that. 

"Could have been better." She shrugged, running her hand over El's hair. "How did things go here?" 

"She threw a fit to see you, but I got her to calm down by playing some games with her," I explained, kissing her forehead so she could see what I saw in the future. 

Andy's eyes flashed as the vision I had given her played in her mind. Her eyes, as blue as the sky, focused on me when she snapped back to reality. She sighed, knowing we had our work cut out for us with this one. The fate of the world literally rested on Elara's shoulders. It will be up to her whether or not the world is plunged into darkness. We knew raising her was going to be hard, and it definitely has been. It will only get harder the older she gets. 

I've attuned my visions to focus on her and her future, but it's constantly changing depending on her mood. It's also blurry or fuzzy at times due to her tremendous power. Other times I can't see anything at all. 

I know the older she gets the better handle she'll have on her emotions but also the more she'll internalize her troubles. She'll share less, keeping secrets she shouldn't, just like any other teen. What worries me is that she's not like every other teen. She's more powerful, a phrophised child, growing at a rapid rate. According to my father she'll stop at 20, but I'll only be 23 when that happens. 23 with a 20 year old daughter seems far fetched to me, yet it's my reality. 

"El, is that true? Did you throw a fit to see me?" Andy asked her with a slightly disappointed tone. El hung her head in shame as she nodded. "You know it's not okay to act that way. Tell me what you should have done instead."

"I should have told Daddy how I felt calmly while naming my emotions. When I got too upset, I should have paused and taken a breath." 

"Good girl, and did you do those things?*

"No. I'm sorry, mommy." El, looked up at her like she could cry for disappointing her. 

"It's okay, El. Just please try your best to put these things into practice. It will help keep you calm."

Andy is an amazing mother which comes as no surprise. She's always been very nurturing and kind. It helps that's she's extremely mature for her age, too. We both are, in fact. Hard to not be when your life is constantly in turmoil. 

"How's my favorite niece?" Auggie popped out of the shadows surprising us all. El jumped in excitement as she giggled. 

"I'm your only niece, silly uncle." 

"Doesn't mean you're not the favorite." He smiled at her, throwing her a wink and holding his arms out. She ran happily towards him, letting him hug her and carry her. 

"What are you doing at home?" I asked him, curious about what brought him here. 

"We got a problem." 

"Of course we do." I sighed, feeling utterly exhausted about everything. I need things to go right, at least for a full day. Just one. Is that too much to ask for? 

"Jessie's gone missing." 

His sentence rooted me in place as if I were cemented there. She's missing?

"What do you mean she's missing? How can she go missing?" 

"Hell if I know. One second she was in front of me talking about her birthday and then she just vanished before me," Auggie recounted the tale somehow calmly. I was surprised he wasn't panicking or angrily yelling that we needed to find her right this second. I found it strange as hell, causing me to question his story. I peered into Jesse's future but all I was greeted with was darkness, frightening me to my core.

"Why are you so calm?!" I yelled at him, feeling the panic rise in me. 

"Remember daddy, pause and take a breath," El's little voice cut through me. I looked at her in Auggie's arms and suddenly understood. He was being calm for her sake and some how I was the one fucking everything up. 

When did Auggie become the sensible one?