Pandora's Box

Chapter twenty-seven

The familiar scent wavers Sonii's senses as she and Milo walk closer towards the house. They're completely exhausted after the trip. Every step makes them feel the agony of their aching muscles.

They walk close to each other but don't touch, trying to hide their newfound relationship from everyone else. It was Sonii's idea: she thought that revealing their relationship while everyone is still trying to wrap their heads around their current situation, would be disastrous. Milo hates the fact but agrees with her logic.

Once they step through the door, the comforting image of Toni and June makes them feel at home. The house has been cleaned up, almost as if it wasn't trashed in the first place. Sonii knows this is her brother's doing; he cleans whenever he has to think.

Toni stands over the stove stirring the coffee in the pot while June sits at the island and scans over a book. It reminds her of exam time when they were younger. June never left her books and Toni was always preparing something to energize them.

June's hair is dripping wet signaling that the two arrived long before everyone else because they had time to wash up.

Sonii and Milo are greeted with smiles and a sigh of relief from Antonio.
"Did Kai and Lilli not arrive yet?" Milo asks as he slumps down in the chair with such a force that he nearly tips it over.
"They said they would be arriving-" June starts off but is interrupted by the sound of the door being thrown open and Lilli and Kai dragging their feet inside.

"Remind me to never piss off a giant again." Kai mutters as he flips over onto the couch in the lounge which overlooks the kitchen. He shuts his eyes and buries his face into one of the pillows.
"And I assume the trip wasn't the most fun?" Toni adds. He doesn't bother turning away from the pot because he already knows the state Lilli and Kai are in.

Lilli hangs onto Sonii and they seem to be balancing off of each other. Toni pours a cup of coffe for everyone except...
"Where's my brother?" Sonii finally realizes what's missing. Her exhaustion clouding her senses and she can't process everything happening to her.
"He is passed out on the floor in the passageway. We assumed he hadn't slept this whole time so we just left him there." June says before taking a big gulp of her coffee. She speaks on behalf of Toni.

"Was passed out." A voice echoes a correction from behind and they all turn to see Sol, half awake, walking towards the empty seat at the island. He drops his head into his hand as a makeshift pillow and listens to everyone share their experiences.

After a few more cups of coffee, everyone is properly energized and agrees to set the stones in place to see what happens next since Sol couldn't find any information relating to this. They all head to the room at the end of the passageway and place the stones in the holes which the element's symbol is found. They then wait for Sol's command because he seems to have more knowledge on this matter.

"Stand the the spot marked by your star sign." He commands and everyone scatters out to their position. For a moment nothing happens. Then Lilli pulls everyone's attention by holding her hand up for everyone to see...
Actually what's left of her hand.
Slowly her body breaks away into stardust, everyone else begins to have the same experience.
The world is haywire. Everything moves slowly and the only feeling one would experience is the tingling sensation where your body becomes part of the night sky. It feels as if you're completely drunk but your mind is sober.
Eventually everyone becomes nothing but stardust...