Enceladus

The next morning, I awoke with a naked Lainie in my arms. My head was a bit sore from last night but not nearly as bad. I checked the clock. Ten a.m. Saturday. I gently slipped out of the room to make breakfast.

I thought about Cass’ message. It meant “we are coming”. I didn’t want to decipher it now, while my head was still tender.

By the time Lainie woke up, I had made eggs and waffles.

She grinned devilishly and sauntered over. She grabbed my waist and closed in for a minty toothpaste kiss. “You made breakfast.” She kissed my nose with some effort. I was much taller than her. I was 5’10”.

We kissed which led to more kissing and then ate and talked.

Unexpectedly she said, “I’m really glad I had you when my mom died.”

I came over to where she was sitting at my small kitchen table. “Of course, love. I’m glad I could be there.” I kissed her.

“You have to work today, right?”

I was too busy savoring her taste on my lips to reply.

“Amy?”

“What? Oh, yeah I do.”

“When?” She toyed with my hair.

“Soon,” I pouted.

She pouted with me. “I’ll come with you. Keep you company for a little bit.”

I thought of John. Or whoever he was. We hadn’t gotten a chance to talk again since he called me Amelia.

I encouraged Lainie to come anyways. Her company was always welcome.

We showerd, togther, and got dressed.

We got to Café Brioso and John was at the register, a costumer-friendly expression on his face.

Lainie ordered a green tea and found a table.

John smiled at me. “Morning, Amy.” And in a much quieter voice he said, “Did you get the messege?”

What the fëŵ?

I gave him a fatal stare but before I could question, a customer came up to the registers.

“I’ll have a tall . . .”

I stopped listening and froze. Outside the bay window of the coffee shop stood Cassiopeia and Lynx with their wings out. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

I sure as hell wasn’t. Customers started pointing and gasping. Beside me, John was smirking.

I didn’t know what to do. The customers started taking pictures and videos of the freaks. Cass and Lynx walked into the coffee shop, ducking their wings.

“Amelia! Ĉëv!” Lynx yelled. He said “hi”. Although I was happy to see Lynx, they were scaring the humans.

I rushed up to them. “What are you two doing here? Do you know nothing about Earth? Put your wings away!”

Lynx just hugged me. “Ü ŷôte zü!”

Oh, he missed me. Sure. “Speak English! These people know nothing of other planets.”

Cass pushed past me. “John?”

“Princess Cassiopeia.” They hugged. They actually hugged. Then it clicked. John was from Enceladus.

I glanced around the café. The people were whispering, some frightened. I caught Lainie’s eye. Confusion was written across her beautiful face.

Finally my brother and sister put their wings away, followed by terrified gasps. Enceladian wings disappeared completely into their backs when they wanted them to be hidden, like they were never there. It was understandably disturbing.

Cass leaned in to me. “We have to erase their memories.” Well, hello to you too, sister.

Lynx and John agreed.

I nodded. “Everyone, if you could all direct your attention to my friends here.” Even though my powers still hadn’t came in, I’d seen my family control others’ minds many times.

I looked at Lainie. She was scared. I walked over to her and took her hand. “Come with me.” I led her to the break room while Cass, Lynx and John worked their magic.

“What’s going on, Amy?” We sat on one of the benches.

“Well um first of all . . . I’m sorry for lying to you but my feelings towards you are true.”

“Lying about what?”

“My name is really Amelia Ladus.” I winced, thinking she’d lash out at me.

“Yeah? So what, lots of people change their names. Amy isn’t that different from Amelia,” she said.

I chose my next words carefully. “I’m not from Earth.”

Lainie squinted at me. “I’m pretty sure they aren’t either.” She jerked her chin toward my siblings outside the door.

I was glad she was taking this well but I was a little unnerved about it. “Doesn’t that freak you out? And you believe me?”

“I think you could probably tell me that you’re from the future and I’d believe you . . . I think I’m in love with you.”

I froze.

“Unless you’re not in love with me then forget what I said.” She laughed nervously.

“No I-I do love you.”

She grinned and kissed me.

“I just need you to know what you’re getting involved with,” I said, taking her hands again.

“Lay it on me.” She squared her shoulders bravely.

“I’m from a planet called Enceladus. It’s a moon, really. Saturn’s eighth moon. Everyone on it looks human. But with some hitches. We all have powers. But-”

“Wait. Like magical powers?”

I nodded.

“Like wings. Where are yours?” She glanced behind me as if they’d be there.

I bit my lip. “I don’t have my wings yet. Or . . . my powers. My mother always said I was a late bloomer.”

Lainie paused. “So you lived on Saturn’s moon with millions of people who look just like humans?”

“Well half a million. 503,007 to be exact.”

“That’s it? That’s nothing. Tell me about the powers.”

“Well my family, two brothers and two sisters, contain all four powers; telekinesis, ivisibility, mind control and control of the elements. But my father made every citizen decide which power to use forever. They can only use the one they picked—though they possess all four—for the rest of their lives. Which is a long time. Enceladians can sometimes live up to a millennia.”

“And how old are you?” Lainie asked.

I hesitated. “I am 118 years old.”

She gasped. “No way! You look my age.”

“Yeah, we age really well.”

“So, are your dizzy spells and that headache from you being on Earth?” Lainie asked.

I shook my head. “My ‘dizzy spells’ were actually poweful flashbacks. I’ve gotten those ever since I got to Earth. But I’ve never had a headache in my life. In the middle of the heachache my sister sent me a message saying ‘we are coming’. I didn’t realize she meant they were actually coming to Earth. And these are my real eyes.” I took out my blue contacts.

Lainie was silent. Looking into my eyes didn’t creep her out.

“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” I said. I rested my hand on hers.

“I understand.” She leaned in for a kiss when Lynx came into the backroom.

“Ah, zür fëŵåš gïx!” he said. He grinned slyly.

“Lynx! English!” I shouted. What he said too inappropriate to repeat.

“What? What’d he say? You have your own language? That’s awesome.”

“I am Prince Lynx of Enceladus,” he introduced himself. He kissed Lainie’s hand.

“And I’m Lainie of . . . Earth,” she said, giggling.

He smirked and I hadn’t realized how much I missed that face. I even missed his ice white hair and suggestive hazel eyes. “It it a pleasure to meet you, Amelia’s consort Lainie.” Lynx and Cass had a slight accent to humans. It sounded almost Fench. I no longer had it because of my time on Earth.

“Okay, she’s my girlfriend, not my consort. Remember brother, we’re on Earth,” I reminded him.

“Of course.” He bowed to Lainie then turned to me. “Amelia, you have to come with us. We need your help.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Please, you know you’re the best fighter out of us all,” Lynx said.

I scoffed. “Caelum would disagree.”

“Amelia, you have to. You’re by far the most level-headed.”

I sighed. “I haven’t trained in eight years.”

“We can train on the ship. It’ll take us a while to get back.”

I thought it over for a while. Lynx’s white eyebrows were high in his hair. “Fine. I’ll go.”

“Can I go?” Lainie asked, hopefully.

“No,” I said at the same time Lynx said, “sure”.

“No, Lainie. You can’t go. It’s incredibly dangerous.”

“Come on, nïx. We can protect her,” Lynx said, calling me sister.

“I’m sorry, Lainie. I don’t want to lose you.” I grabbed her by the waist to bring her close.

“I understand.” She kissed me sweetly.

“We need to go now. It will take way too long to get-” Cass came into the break room. She made a noise of “I knew it”.

“Lainie, this is my sister Cassiopeia.”

Cass shook Lainie’s hand. “Actually its crown princess. Soon to be queen once we catch these-uh what’s the word for môn?”

“Devil,” Lynx offered.

I couldn’t even count how many times Cass had called me a devil. She knew the word. “Okay listen, Cass. If I am going back home with you, I am not going to take anymore of your šĉôt. I’m tired of you, Delphinus and Caelum calling me names and bullying me. I will not stand for it any longer.” I backed her up into a corner. “Do you understand me?”

She nodded fiercely.

I backed away. “Now let’s go.”

Lainie followed us out into the shop. “I am so turned on by you right now.”

A tingly feeling spread in my lower stomach.

There was no one in the café except for John. They must have already wiped everyone’s memory.

“Where’s the shuttle?” I asked.

“The shuttle? Like a spaceship? Can I at least see it?” Lainie wondered.

I agreed. I owed her that.

“We had to set it on hover above the city because it is too big to fit anywhere close,” Cass said. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes.

We headed outside and I had to remind my brother and sister to keep their wings away. We walked downtown to the World’s Largest Gavel. Lynx and Cass stopped moving once they were in the center of the park.

“Here it is,” said Lynx.

“Where?” Lainie asked.

I tiled her chin upwards as Lynx pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pushed a button. Suddenly, the spaceship appeared and Lainie gasped.

It was enormous. The humans would see it instantly. I didn’t know what Cass and Lynx were thinking but apparently they hadn’t done their research of Earth.

The space craft was dark grey. It was made of Enceladian metal which wasn’t found anywhere on Earth. It had two long pointy shafts in the front. There was a blue-ish glowing hue to the whole thing. It was magnificent.

I had never had a reason to travel on one of our bigger ships. I guessed today was the day.

“It’s amazing!” Lainie shouted.

I grabbed her arm and told her to keep it down. “We don’t want to draw more attention to it.”

People weren’t looking up though, most of them were too invested in their cell phones.

“Can I see inside?” Lainie asked.

I contemplated it. “Sure, babe. But it will have to be quick. It’ll take us about 35 days to get there.”

“Which is a month too long. Hopefully Caelum, Del and our few loyal guards aren’t dead yet,” Cass said.

“How do we get up there?” Lainie asked.

“We fly,” John said, matter-of-factly.

I looked around from person-to-person. I still didn’t have my wings.

Lynx understood. “You still haven’t sprouted your wings, sister?”

I shook my head.

“I’ll carry Lainie and John can carry you,” Lynx suggested.

Lynx put his arm around Lainie’s waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t let go.”

I did the same to John. Suddenly Lynx and Cass disappeared, no doubt going invisible so that the humans wouldn’t see us.

Above John and me, I heard Lainie’s disembodied laugh. She was adorable. I just wished I could have been the one to give her, her first flight.

We all landed on the rear deck of the ship. Once we were inside, Lynx used his remote to turn the ship invisible again.

“You guys didn’t spare any expenses, huh?” I murmured.

“Well, Princess Amelia, our world is in peril,” John said. I had stopped listening once I heard “Princess Amelia”. I hadn’t been called that in nearly a decade.

Lainie stepped farther in the ship. We were only barely inside, in the space lock, and she was taken aback. There was literally nothing in it. I chuckled.

We all exited the space lock. The control room was next. It was a big oval space with a ton of Enceladian computers. Everything was so intricately designed. Enceladus had farther advanced technology than that on Earth.

“This is so awesome.” Lainie hugged me.

“I’m sorry, Princess but we need to go,” John said.

“You will come back to me, right?” Lainie’s big brown eyes looked watery.

I held her in my arms. “Of course, love. I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

She kissed me deeply. “I love you.”

It was weird how just in this short amount of time I felt so strongly for a human and she felt the same. “I love you,” I muttered against her minty lips.

“I’ll take you down,” Lynx said to Lainie.

I gave her one last kiss and watched her go.