Angel Fire

chapter i

Aquila struggled to sleep that night as she tossed and turned about her large bed, in an attempt to find rest amongst the chaos of her mind, but to no avail. She stood with a great huff, and walked the distance across her room to open the balcony doors. She took a deep breath of cold air in, feeling euphoric as the oxygen rushed in and expanded her lungs. She allowed the remaining starlight that lingered in the air to be swallowed by her inhale, and her nerves relaxed.

         Looking up to the sky, she saw the ink black canvas splattered with the tiny silver, flickering lights, as though a large hand had tossed diamond dust into the sky.

She rested her elbows on the railing, folding her arms underneath her as she shivered slightly due to the bite of the breeze traveling through the material of her thin silk nightgown. She stared at the sky, feeling comfort in watching them as they gravitated this way and that. She could see, far into the distance, her mother standing on her glowing silver pedestal as she moved the stars with her hands.

Nyx, being the goddess of night, worked delicately and swiftly, directing the stars to and fro as she created the beauty that her young daughter stared in awe at every night. And of course, being the goddess of night, her daughter, Aquila, named after the constellation of the celestial equator, would learn one day to use her powers in order to direct the stars for herself.

Whenever she looked up, Aquila knew exactly who it was who was pushing stars across the sky like scattered moon dust, and she smiled proudly for having a mother who created such elegant and intricate beauty every night.

         Aquila was lucky enough to look up and see her constellation, the very one Zeus had named after her when she was born. It resembled an eagle, one of which Zeus used as a carrier for his thunderbolts. She did not understand the connection between herself and the eagle. However, she was grateful that Zeus allowed such an honor to be held for her, her very own constellation. Being a goddess of stars, she supposed it was only fitting.

         Her mother took a moment to look down upon the sleeping kingdom of Olympus, and immediately saw her insomnia-induced daughter watching her. Aquila sent a small wave and a smile at Nyx, and after it had been returned, she turned back to her room, as the galaxies behind her moved and spun silently on.

She walked about her large room slowly, looking at the walls that she covered with her own paintings of the galaxies her mother had made. She had pictures of her and her friends, smiling and laughing, and she begun to smile as well. Her astrolabe sat in a corner of her room on a desk, papers with drawings and field notes scattered across it. She had an old, roundabout hanging above her desk with makeshift planets that her mother helped her carve from fallen stars, along with some real stars that her mother allowed her to use. The stars floated around her room elegantly, twinkling softly. The ceiling in her room had been painted by her as well, her constellation drawn right above her head where she slept. There truly was nothing Aquila loved more than the stars.

         Nyx came down from the sky just as Apollo went up, signaling that daylight was coming, for Apollo was the sun god whose job was to help the sun rise slowly and majestically each and every morning. Nyx came in through her daughter's open balcony doors and entered her room, expecting to see her lively daughter awake, but Aquila had managed to fall asleep after a short while, much to her mother's relief. Her poor daughter hardly got any sleep at all, and unfortunately, she felt it was her fault. She pressed a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead, skin glowing lightly from the star light that she absorbed that night. Leftover fallen stars shimmered and lightly floated down off of her long, dark dress when she moved, leaving a trail of glittering starlight on Aquila's sleeping figure.

         When Aquila woke a short time later, she sat up and immediately looked at the skin on her arms, seeing how it shimmered when she moved, and she smiled before getting out of bed. Her mother, whom never slept, was in the kitchen of their large palace like house cooking and humming to herself. Aquila stood in the doorway and watched her mother hum quietly while she cooked a delicious meal for her and her young daughter. She looked happy, but Aquila saw through the disguise.