Winter Solstice ~ Aarynrea's Story

Chapter 1
Dream

As I woke from my vision it instantly vanished from my mind. I was left with no more than a feeling of panic and despair. What just happened? I could not remember but I was terrified. A task but what I could not remember. I have had these dream visions for years I knew the Elders want me to fulfill another task, but I couldn’t remember what it was supposed to be. Then I heard a muffled cough from the corner of my room and felt instant panic. What was that… a demon here in my room? No. That couldn’t be it if one had found me they would have killed me before I could notice them. In fact, it almost felt as though the cough was to get me to notice their presence. But who was it? I began to panic; someone was here in my home.

“Don’t be alarmed” the gentle voice almost sang to me and then and instant calm came to me. The words spoken directly to my mind “Hello Aarynrea I am Wyatt, be at peace here and know that you are loved.” Then I understood. An angel was here. It must be my replacement Seraph. My original Seraph Kara had been promoted to Elder. I had been missing her deeply.

I found my voice and spoke to him “but I don’t understand? My tasks have always come in clear but tonight my dream? I cannot remember.”

“That is why they have sent me dear child. I am here to give you the information you will need.” Wyatt then was silent as I considered what he had said.

“But I have always been given a clear path before. Why not this time as well? And the dream why give it to me if I am not allowed to use it to aid me?” I had become more impatient as the silence grew. I assumed Wyatt was thinking of how best to answer my questions.

“My dear child your dream is stored in your subconscious, it will be there to silently give you the reassurance you will need as difficulties arise in your task.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Then what is my task?” I questioned.

“Your true task will come to you at the correct time, however today all I am allowed to tell you is your cover task. You will seek out a group of beings, these beings are not demons for you to destroy they are good beings for you to befriend. Once you reach these beings your cover task will be to teach their child all there is to know of your powers and knowledge.”

I took a second and with hesitation asked “Cover task? So then the child has not a magical soul?”

Wyatt then with a look of understanding said to me “Dear one, this child is of a magical soul you have not encountered before, a being that almost none has encountered before. She is so unique that you could not fully understand, but to better answer your question, yes she will be able to perform and use the same and many more abilities like you. Maybe cover task is the wrong phrase for this task, as it is just as important as your other tasks, maybe even more so. You must take her teachings very seriously as it will be of the up most importance to her future and the future of all beings.”

I thought about all he had said, and I felt more confused than ever. “I think I understand that part but what is my other task?”

He hesitated again obviously knowing that I was trying to get more information than he was allowed to give me. “All I can tell you of your other task is to give you this letter to take with you and give it to the Cullen it is addressed to. I will be back before sunrise to take you to the location where your mission will begin.”

“But sunrise is in one hour. How long will I be gone and I don’t know what type of clothes to pack?”

Wyatt looked back at me once more “My dear child, packing will not be necessary the Seer will take care of everything for you.” then he started to shimmer as he was leaving back to the heavens.

“Wait who is the Seer, I don’t understand.” but it was too late he was gone.

I spent the next hour showering, eating and gathering some belongings into a bag. I would need my family book and a few potion ingredients of course but other than that I couldn’t think of what else to take, He’d said the Seer would take care of that, whom ever that was. I was deep in thought again, thinking of everything Wyatt had told me and I desperately tried to make sense of all the nonsense he gave me

Suddenly I felt something on my shoulder and I jumped. My instinct to defend had been triggered and I quickly went into fight mode and jumped feverishly at the attacker giving him my best levitating kick. He vanished and came back as I fell on the floor. It was Wyatt and I felt the heat of embarrassment cross my face.

“I am sorry dear child, I forgot you have been vanquishing demons for your last two lives; no need to worry they shouldn’t be an issue during your current tasks. Are you ready to go?”

I simply nodded and then thought better of it “wait I almost forgot. I have already been given a special task for the Winter Solstice. Will I still be able to complete this task? Will I be back in time?” This task was one that I was very excited about participating in and it was one that came with great honor I couldn’t see myself being able to give that up.

“Yes my child you will complete all your tasks, no need to worry. We really must be going now.”

With that he held his hand out to me and I felt exhilarated as we shimmered and moved the laws of physics. This shimmering was a gift Seraphim had that was powered by their pure love, So when we shimmered I was overcome with this feeling of love that was amazing and something I didn’t want to give up, but almost instantly it was over and we were standing on a long drive way.

Then Wyatt looked to me, smiled and said “Dear child this is where I am to leave you. You will follow this path all the way up to the house. The family will hear you coming and greet you at the door. You may share with them the information I have provided to you except for the information of there being a second task. This information you may not share. I have blocked the information of your special task from anyone who may pry. Don’t forget to give the letter to the Cullen it is addressed to. Peace be with you.”

“And with you” I replied as Wyatt shimmered into thin air. I slowly started my walk up wondering what these people would be like. What did Wyatt mean he had shielded the second task from those who would pry? Who could pry in my mind? Was Nessie a mind reader? Would the Cullens be kind to me? Or would they treat me as a servant? After all I was going to be offering to teach their child my workings for room and board. It sounded like a servant type of deal, and humans often took a dislike to my kind. No that was my silly imagination. I can do this. I am strong and I have a task, none of the tasks the Elders have ever given me was pointless. With all this cloak-and-dagger surrounding this cryptic assignment, this must be extremely secretive and important.

As I approached the house I could clearly see several figures on the porch waiting for me. I was instantly nervous but as I walked closer to the home I became more nervous for a different reason. Wyatt was right these people weren’t evil in any way but I still felt scared as I got closer to them something was different about them, were they even human? Something deep within me was yelling for me to turn and run. But like I had in the past when fighting demons I pushed my fear as deep down inside me as I could to put on a brave face.

“Hello Cullen family my name is Aarynrea.” I spoke as they all watched me with curiosity. Then the handsome blonde man who looked about physically twenty five years or so but at the same time he looked about fifty, I’m not sure why. He spoke first.

“Hello Aarynrea I am Carlisle and this is my family. My wife Esme, my daughter Alice, her husband Jasper, my son Edward and his wife Bella, there daughter Nessie and her friend Jacob, my daughter Rosalie and her husband Emmet.”

The one whom I looked closely at was Nessie. She must be the one I am here to teach. She looks about fifteen years old but her “friend” as Carlisle addressed him looks more like twenty five. How curious. Then I focused my attention back to Carlisle.

“Mr. Cullen I have been sent to you to teach Nessie.”

“Please call me Carlisle. May I ask who sent you to teach her and what they have asked you to teach her?”

This is where my nerves always show. Only on rare occasion have I had to share what I am with humans, and it was always some crazy reaction I received. Although if their Nessie was indeed Eumenide as I am they would not be surprised that I was here. Surely they would have noticed she was no mere human, in fact I was beginning to doubt any of them were. “I was sent here by the being Wyatt on a task from the Elders. They sent me here to teach your Nessie Divinity as he believes her to be Eumenide as I am.”

Then I prepared for anything as he began to speak “I see. Please come in so that we may discuses this farther.”

As their large family began to shift indoors I took an extra opportunity. “Rosalie?”

“Yes?” she answered with a look that convinced me that in no way she wanted me here.

“The Elders requested I give you this letter.” I gave her the letter and quickly walked into the house behind the Cullens mostly to get away from Rosalie’s glare at me.
Once inside Esme motioned for me to have a seat. I had expected Carlisle to continue the questioning as he appeared to be the head of the family, however this time Edward began “What are Eumenide? I have read a lot and I’ve never heard of Eumenides”

Oh boy this is the part where I usually got the most grief. “Well Eumenides are magical beings. For the most part we fight evil, such as vanquishing demons back to the underworld. In Greek Mythology we were known as Erinyes, the deities of vengeance on evil. We are honestly much more than that. I guess you could say we are the American equivalent of White Witches.” After my explanation there was a lengthy silence.

“May I ask what are Elders are and why do they want you to teach Nessie Divinity? And whom is Wyatt” Bella asked.

I waited a moment trying to think of how best to make a simple explanation of Elders but really there was none so I continued with the complicated version. “Well there are many types of Angels. Angels have levels; Elders are the Angels in charge of Eumenides and the fifth highest level of Angels. First one must live 12 lives as Eumenides. The ones whom have shown special ability in their lives will become Seraphim. Wyatt is my Seraph. Seraphim are the sixth highest level of Angels, Archangels being the highest. Seraphim are the only Angels permitted to interact with living beings. They help to protect their charges the Eumenides and to guide them. Each Seraph is given a few charges at a time. Seraphim also help deliver the visions of Eumenides tasks. After being a Seraph for some time and pleasing the Elders one can be promoted to an Elder. That is the most I know of them. As far as why I am to teach Nessie divinity I don’t know. I thought she would be a magical child born to humans, since that has happened on occasion. However I can clearly see you are not humans.”

They all looked back at me wondering how much I had figured out so far. “I think it might be helpful to my teachings of Nessie if I did know what exactly I have gotten myself into. Would anyone care to tell me whom or what you are?” Carlisle then nodded towards me and the one named Emmet said “I hope you’re comfy because this is going to be a long story.”

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Permalink Reply by Tonya Thomas on April 20, 2011 at 12:07am

omg sorry to hear about ur brother but i love the story plz keep me posted when ever u get back to it

Permalink Reply by Liza Jo Meyer on April 19, 2011 at 11:56am

I am very sorry I didn't post as promised, my brother passed away and I've been out of sorts.

Will be posting tonight

Permalink Reply by Liza Jo Meyer on April 20, 2011 at 9:20am

Chapter 11
Projection

After I announced that our lesson was over, everyone had moved to the Cullen living room to talk about what had happened. Everyone seemed really excited about Rosalie’s power and everyone was having conversations about it. I however stood at the back of the room trying desperately to think of what to do. How do I tell the Cullen family this? I am anxious to get up to my bedroom and talk to Wyatt however I must explain to Rosalie what exactly her power is and try to stop her from using it for the time being. After a few minutes of being lost in my own thoughts I realized that the room had become very quiet and it seemed that everyone was looking at me. They must have figured out that something is wrong. I quickly walked over and sat down in a chair before speaking, likewise all the Cullens took a seat. Then Rosalie spoke first “Aaryn is something wrong?”

“Well Rosalie actually I think there may be something wrong. Your ability to make a huge wall of bricks appear between Nessie and the wolf makes me believe you have the gift of Projection. I am worried because in the magical world Projection is a demonic power.” Every one was very quiet. After a few moments I spoke again. “I am going to consult with Wyatt at this time. I quickly left the living room and went to my bedroom. I shut the door behind me and called to Wyatt.

“Aaryn, how pleasant to see you again so soon.” He said with a smirk on his face.

I quickly joked back “Maybe you should have been the one to move in with the Cullens and then you could have saved both of us a lot of hassle.” Wyatt laughed at my comment.

“Wyatt, I called to you because Rosalie has discovered her gift. It appears she has the power of projection. I was taught that was a demonic power and I am concerned about her having this gift.”

“I see.” Wyatt said and he thought for a moment. “I will need to go consult with the Elders; I have no knowledge on this matter. Aaryn I would expect you to follow your instincts on this, I know you do not believe Rosalie to be anything close to evil, so please be careful about how you treat her enthusiasm towards her gift. Peace be with you” and then he shimmered away.

I quickly walked back down to the living room where they all waited and looked to me with questioning eyes.
“Well, what did he say?” Emmet asked.

I was surprised at this question, I thought for sure with their amazing ability to hear from far away they would have heard our whole conversation. “You didn’t hear us?” I asked.

Then Carlisle said “I would imagine that Elders have made sure that no one can pry on a conversation between a Seraph and their charge.”

There it was again. It was as if Carlisle already knew what was going on. I was beginning to think Carlisle must be something more than a vampire himself. Maybe he had the gift to obtain knowledge? I don’t know but I am going to have to keep an eye on him and see what I can figure out about this. “Okay well, Wyatt wasn’t to sure of what to make of Rosalie’s gift so he is going to consult with the Elders.”

Rosalie had a worried look on her face that made me remember my apology and the promise I made to myself to try to be a better friend. “Rosalie, Wyatt told me to trust my instincts about this and my instincts are telling me that you are a good person and so I think that until the Elders say other wise we should celebrate your gift.”

At this Rosalie smiled and Carlisle gave me a little pat on my back like he approved of my statement. “So Rosalie lets see if we can figure out which emotion triggered your gift. In the demonic world this gift is powered by several different negative emotions but from what I saw today for you, your gift seems to be powered from a motherly instinct towards Nessie. Do you know which emotion led to your projection?”

Rosalie thought for a moment and said “Well I’m not exactly sure how to word my emotion but I think necessity in general. I felt like I needed to put something between Nessie and the wolf and then there was just a huge wall there all of the sudden.”

Before I could asses what Rosalie had meant Carlisle spoke up once more “perhaps you have been using your gift all along?” Again I got the feeling that Carlisle knew much more than he was admitting. It was almost as if he was trying to give me the answers with out admitting that he knew anything.

“What do you mean Carlisle?” I asked

“Well Aaryn even before Rosalie was a vampire she had this essence of beauty she seemed to project.” He smiled at me in a way that made me wonder if he knew that I was catching on to the fact that their was something different about him, that is when I knew that I was right Carlisle was not simply a vampire. He knew. He must be something more.

“That is a very good point Carlisle” Wyatt said as he shimmered into the living room. I was a bit shocked by his presence in front of the Cullens. “Hello Cullen family I am Wyatt” Wyatt went around the room and shook hands with everyone.
After everyone had been properly introduced we all settled comfortably into seats around the living room to hear the Elders explanation of Rosalie’s gift from Wyatt. “If everyone is ready I will be happy to share what I have learned from the Elders.” Wyatt said. After receiving nodes from all of us he continued “Rosalie I would like to warn you some of this may surprise and upset you but I don’t want you to let this define who you are, do you understand?” Rosalie simply nodded. Wyatt then paused for a moment after his warning before continuing once more.

“Rosalie as it turns out unlike the rest of your family the life you lived before your transaction was not your first. In fact it had been your seventh. In your sixth life you did not chose the correct path. You were seduced and enchanted by a demon that had become infatuated by you. Eventually you had given into the demons obsession and you began to use your magic in ways that are not allowed. In time you did come to see the correct path and tried to break ties with your demon but it was too late and his obsession had become deadly. Your demon, Xander had the extremely rare power of triple projection and there is a legend that states that whoever defeats a demon with such a power shall be granted that power after the demon’s demise. When Xander attempted to kill your past self you won the battle and were granted his power. After your sixth life had passed the Elders punished your behavior by removing all the powers you were granted in your six lives and chose not to grant you a power for your seventh life. The Elders were successful in this punishment except that they were unable to remove the power of projection you had won by defeating Xander. After several unsuccessful attempts at removing your power the Elders decided to go ahead and grant you your seventh life however they placed you with non magical humans in the hopes that you would never discover your powers of projection.”

After this last statement Wyatt paused as he must have known we all had a few questions. I looked around the room to see how everyone was reacting to the knowledge Wyatt had just given us. I could see that Jasper was concentrating on keeping emotions low, Edward was accessing Rosalie’s reaction, Esme looked worried and everyone else was deep in their own thoughts, everyone except Carlisle who looked as though he already knew everything that Wyatt had said.
I was the first to break the silence “Wyatt you said that Xander and then Rosalie had the power of triple projection?”

Wyatt nodded his head towards me to acknowledge my question but then looked to Rosalie to answer “Triple projection is extremely rare. To have any one of the projection powers is rare, so you can imagine how rare and special it is to have all three.”

Then Carlisle asked the next question “Wyatt could you explain to the family how it is if the Elders meant for Rosalie to never discover her power how it is that she has?” Once again the question Carlisle asked and the way he phrased it made me believe he already knew the answer and only asked Wyatt to clarify for the sake of the rest of us.

“Of course Carlisle” Wyatt answered. “The Elders as many of you know sent with Aaryn a private letter for Rosalie. This letter contains a special task for Rosalie; one that the Elders believe only her power of triple projection can help succeed in. So the Elders kind of set her up today to insure she would discover her gift.”

“I understand, thank you Wyatt” Carlisle responded.

Finally Rosalie spoke “So then the Elders don’t believe I am evil anymore?” At this point you could have heard a pin drop in the room as we were all attuned to see how Wyatt would respond to Rosalie’s question.

Wyatt leaned forward took Rosalie’s hand and said in a very calming manor “The Elders never thought you to be evil, and no one had ever labeled you in such a way. You were punished simply for your past self’s bad choices, not because you were evil. The Elders do however believe that you are on the correct path in this life and have decided your punishment is over.”

At this time Wyatt had stood up and addressed everyone. “I think that for now we are done here. Rosalie I want you to work with Aaryn to discover how to use your powers and this will assist you in the task the Elders have asked you to aid in. The task needs to remain private for awhile longer but soon you will be able to share your task with your family. It was a pleasure meeting all of you.” Then Wyatt turned to Carlisle and simply nodded his head towards him as if acknowledging a previous introduction and then turned to me. “Aaryn, Peace be with you.” Then he shimmered and was gone.

Permalink Reply by Liza Jo Meyer on April 20, 2011 at 9:22am

Chapter 12
Rosalie

The next morning Rosalie and I decided to let Nessie have the day off. After all it was Saturday and Rosalie and I had our own session to deal with. I sat at the table with Nessie and Jacob to eat some of Esme’s wonderful food and drifted off into my own mind. Triple projection that is a big deal. The only time I had come into contact with any of the projection gifts prior to yesterday would be reading about them in my family book. I had spent last night going through every page of my family book looking for anything I could find on projection however there wasn’t much there because it was usually dark magic and few of my ancestors ever had to go against a demon with those rare powers. There were about twenty pages through the whole book on it. Rosalie came into the kitchen and I quickly stood up and walked outside with her. Today we wouldn’t need the Alter but I had a feeling we would need the extra open space.

Rosalie led me out into the Cullen woods with a blanket across her arm. We had decided to practice in the woods because I personally believe that having nature around you makes for a more calming effect giving you greater ability to control your powers. As Rosalie Set the blanket down on the ground in a clearing that was of decent size for what we were attempting I took out my family book and began showing and telling her what I had found out about her power.

“Rosalie, it turns out that the three powers of projection are Thought Projection, Copy Projection and Self Projection. Thought Projection is what you did yesterday. You thought of putting a wall between Nessie and the Wolves and your powers took your thought literally and made a wall. After some practice with your gift you should be able to better use your thought projection to only work with commands but for now I would suggest being very careful with your thoughts. For example if you were to think that Emmet was acting like a pig one day, you wouldn’t actually want him to turn into a pig would you?”

Rosalie paused and then said “hmmm well do you want me to be honest.”

We both bust out laughing. I really am starting to feel close to Rosalie. At first I thought she was weird but the more time we spend together the more I can see the kind of person she is underneath. “Okay well Rosalie lets move on to talking about Copy Projection. According to my book Copy Projection is when you make visual copies of something. For this you have to have the real object close and then you can make copies of it, however the copies are not real. So if we were to take this cup you could make it to appear to be ten cups but only one cup would actually be physical the rest are just visual illusions.”

Rosalie stopped me and asked “Okay but how do I do that?” Just then Nessie and Jacob came through the woods on their way to the beach at La Push.

“How do you do what?” Nessie asked

Rosalie gave her a quick smile and responded “Oh Aaryn and I were just discussing how I am supposed to turn this cup into several cups.”

Nessie cocked her head to the side and said “Oh, that’s easy watch.” Then Nessie ran her hand smoothly over the top of the cup and five more appeared as her hand waved passed.

Rosalie and Jacob were quietly observing as I picked up one of the cups. It was real. Then I picked up another. It’s real too. I looked to Nessie “Nessie you have the power of duplication? Why haven’t you told me?”

Nessie simply shrugged her shoulders. “I would have but we haven’t gotten past the powers you already know about.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I guess her answer made sense. “Okay, well on Monday I want you to tell me about all of your powers, okay?”

“Okay, she said and then she and Jacob continued to walk out farther into the woods.”

Rosalie looked to me and asked “I thought the cups weren’t supposed to be solid”

“There not for your gift” I answered. “Nessie has the gift of duplication, in which she can actually duplicate things. Your gift Copy Projection will not have the same effect; they should be simple visual copies. We will come back to that later though I would like to continue discussing the three types of projection.”

Rosalie nodded in agreement and then I continued. “Okay the last type of projection is Self projection. It is like a mix of thought projection and copy projection. How it works is that you make a copy projection of yourself and then you simply move your energy like you do in thought projection to carry yourself from your physical being into you copy. This type of projection is much more difficult and can only be attempted when your other two projections are under control. Self projection is also very dangerous because when you leave your physical being to travel into you visual copy you leave your body open for danger. I have no experience in this type of projection and may ask Wyatt to assist in that lesson for you.”

Then I heard Rosalie whisper “Sam”

“Excuse me?” I asked

Rosalie looked back up at me “Oh, sorry I was just thinking this self projection reminds me of a story that Bella and Jacob shared once about how the tribe of shape shifters came to be wolves. They did the same kind of thing as self projection.”

I suddenly got very excited “That’s great. I can’t wait to hear more about it maybe they will be able to help us figure out how to make it work for you too. Okay so now that we have talked about the types of Projection, let’s try to do some more thought projections.”

Rosalie looked hard out into the forest and then a deer appeared. The deer walked right up to us and bent its head down towards me. I slowly reached up my hand and stroked the back of its neck. A few seconds had passed and then the deer disappeared. I looked to Rosalie “You made that deer?” She simply nodded. “Okay Rosalie, now I would like to see if you can concentrate on making something you have never seen before appear.

“What do you have in mind?” she asked

“How about a unicorn, I am positive that you couldn’t have seen a unicorn in real life right?” To this she smiled and concentrated once again. Then a beautiful white unicorn with a purple main appeared. The horn on its head shimmered like the most beautiful pearl I have ever seen. I stood up walked closer to it and stroked his side. As Rosalie walked up to it, it brought its nozzle down and touched her forehead with its nose.

Rosalie then looked to me and said “So what do you think about discussing the other aspects of my projection while taking a little unicorn ride through the forest? And just as she finished her sentence a thick folded quilt appeared on the back of the unicorn and the unicorn laid his head low to the ground giving Rosalie access to climb on. Rosalie held out her arm and I took grasp of her freezing hand and she pulled me up behind her.

Rosalie and I spent the rest of the morning riding Onna threw the forest. Onna was the name Rosalie had given her unicorn and I had a feeling Rosalie would be seeing Onna often as the two bonded instantly. We didn’t make a whole lot of progress on Rosalie’s gift that morning; we were to busy becoming best friends. As we rode, Rosalie used her gift of projection to make the path’s flowers and tree’s bloom as we went passed and it was the most wonderful morning I had never felt happier.

Rosalie and I talked about everything that morning, our hopes, our dreams, even our fears. Rosalie told me about her fear of never having children and about how Bella and Nessie had given her back her hope and that she finally let her anger go the first time she held Nessie in her arms. I know for Rosalie it was all very real but to me it was a beautiful story and I hoped that one day she would see it that way too