* * *
It was dark, and Owen couldn’t move his hands or feet. He awoke, thrashing against the ropes that bound him fast. He opened his eyes, but he was blindfolded. Strong hands held his shoulders, pushing him down against the ground.
A voice. Female. Cold. “Owen Asher, you have violated the sanctity of Helicon.” Phoebe Rain. Owen’s lip curled in disgust. He reached out for her mind, intending to force her to untie him, but he ran into a barrier. She was safe from him.
Her cold voice continued. “You have used the power of Helicon to hurt and manipulate. You have threatened violence and performed violence. You have taken the life of another person. For all these reasons, we do hereby exile you from Helicon, the world of the muses, and strip you of any access or power connected to our realm. May the Fates guide you now, you lost soul.”
And suddenly, Owen felt as if every part of his body was being compressed. His lungs squeezed together, and he struggled to breathe. Everything hurt. He shrieked in agony.
A thud. His body hitting something hard, like concrete. Car horns. Conversation. Owen opened his eyes to find he was no longer tied or blindfolded. Instead, he lay on a sidewalk in the mundane world. He sat up. He sighed.
This was a setback.
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Goodbye Blue Sky, Book Two of the Helicon Muses
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Goodbye Blue Sky, Chapter One
Nora Sparrow was lying on the floor of her tent, dangling a piece of string in front of her pet cat-duckling, Catling. Catling was half-duckling, half kitten. Her head and neck were a cat, but her bottom quarters were a duck, even though she was covered all over in soft black and white fur, not feathers. Catling had the instincts of a cat, and she wanted to bat at the string, but her webbed feet couldn’t manage it, so she was attacking it with her mouth, seizing the string with her teeth. Nora giggled, watching the cat-duck hop around on her duck feet as Nora pulled the string further and further out of her pet’s reach.
Someone pulled aside the opening of her tent. “Nora?”
Nora rolled over and scrambled to her feet. “Hey Agler,” she said, facing him.
“Can I come in?” Agler asked.
Nora debated. She was in the middle of a very confusing relationship with Agler. A month ago, her ex-boyfriend Owen had been exiled from Helicon, the land of the muses, where she and Agler lived. Owen had left a dead body in his wake, and he’d manipulated the minds of several of the muses. Afterwards, Nora had been pretty upset. Agler had been comforting. So, maybe she’d sort of heavily made out with him a couple times. But Nora didn’t think she was ready to actually date anyone, not even Agler, who was nice and intelligent and had freckles. She took in his tall form, his long sandy dreadlocks, and his easy-going smile. Did she want him to come in? She decided to leave her tent instead. It might be less awkward if they weren’t in an enclosed space together.
Agler stepped out of the way to let her out.
“What’s up?” Nora asked.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You weren’t at the council meeting tonight.”
Every night in Helicon, the muses met for a meeting of the muse council. Mostly, it was boring talk in which certain enclaves complained about other enclaves, and more often than not, Nora skipped it. Agler seemed to find it fascinating, however, and he attended council meetings pretty regularly. She shrugged. “I wasn’t feeling up for it.”
“They announced that it’s going to snow tomorrow,” he said.
The muses had control of the weather in Helicon. Most of the time, it was summer there, but once a year in January, there was a week full of snow. Nora grinned. “Cool.”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the clothing and fabric enclave to pick up snow stuff,” he said.
Last year, Nora hadn’t been prepared, and her best friend Maddie had hiked through the snow to bring her boots and warm clothes. Maddie loved the snow. “Sure,” said Nora. “Maddie’s going to be so excited. I’ll get her to come with us and Sawyer too.” Sawyer was her other best friend. He was gay and fond of wearing women’s clothing.
Agler looked at his shoes. “I was kind of wondering if it could be just the two of us. We haven’t hung out alone in a while.”
Right. Not since a few weeks ago when Nora had found herself smashing her face up against his. The whole thing was awkward. She liked Agler a lot. And he was a really good kisser. But she was wary of making any kind of commitments in regards to boys. She didn’t want to be tied down. She didn’t want anyone telling her where to go and what to do. She was free now, without a boyfriend, and she liked it. But she guessed that kissing Agler occasionally was sort of leading him on, and it probably wasn’t very nice. She chewed on her lip, unsure of what to say.
“We could pick clothes up for them while we’re there.” He grinned. “I’m not asking you to let your friends freeze.”
Maybe it would be better to simply clear the air and let him know how she truly felt. “Look, Agler, I really like you, but I’m not sure I really want to jump into anything serious right now.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I wasn’t aware that walking to the clothing and fabric enclave was something serious.”
She felt embarrassed. “You said you wanted to be alone with me, so I thought...”
He shrugged. “If you don’t want to go—”
“No, it’s fine,” said Nora. “That would be great. I’ll need snow clothes. Let’s go.”
They set out from the tweens and rebels enclave, where they both lived, past the greenhouses of the food enclave, towards the clothing and fabric enclave. They walked in silence for a long time.
Finally, Agler said, “Have you been playing the drums much anymore?”
Nora had been avoiding the music enclave specifically so she wouldn’t have to see Agler. “I’ve been working on sculpting.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been doing music much either,” said Agler. “I’ve been in the philosophy enclave almost every day since the Winter Solstice.”
So she could go to the music enclave, then, if he wouldn’t be there... “Philosophy makes my brain hurt,” said Nora, smiling.
“Whatever,” said Agler. “You’re a born philosopher, Nora. You’re always thinking things through, getting to the heart of what’s going on around you. And Themis keeps asking about you.”
Themis Branch was the head of the philosophy enclave. He’d confused Nora once with a discussion on the existence of God. “I think sculpture’s more my speed,” said Nora.
They were quiet again, still walking. Nora supposed she should think of something to say. After all, that would be the polite thing to do. She wracked her brain for topics to discuss with no success until they reached the clothing and fabric enclave.
Thankfully, she was saved from any further conversing by talking to the muse there, who was sitting by a table covered in piles of snow clothes. The muses had this amazing suede-like fabric that was very warm and somehow managed to repel water completely. Nora and Agler told the clothing muse what sizes they needed, and then turned back to the tweens and rebels enclave, laden with fur-edged coats, boots, gloves, and pants for both themselves and Maddie and Sawyer.
Carrying the clothing was a little difficult, since they could hardly see over the piles in their arms, and it was also a little hot, having the warm things in their face. They walked faster on the way back, and Nora thought maybe there wouldn’t be any more conversation at all.
But Agler stopped her, just before they got back to the enclave. “So, um, when you say you’re not interested in something serious, what does that mean exactly?”
She peered around her bundle of snow clothes to look at him. “Uh, you know, I don’t think I’m ready for another boyfr
iend quite yet. Not after what Owen did.”
Owen had controlled Agler’s mind for months last year, keeping Agler from pursuing Nora. Owen had been jealous and horrible.
Agler’s head bobbed. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. Owen’s a jerk.”
Nora felt relieved. It was nice that he understood.
“If you, um, start feeling ready anytime, though, let me know?” He grinned at her.
Nora smiled back. Agler really was a nice guy.
Dancing Days Page 57