Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (read aloud .txt) 📕

once you tell me?” She asked.
“No, but –” He started, and sat on the bed next to her.
“Does it have anything to do with where you were for the last two weeks?” She whispered, looking into his eyes. Her own were the strange color of emerald green, making him wonder why they changed colors. “And why I felt you guys in pain?”
He nodded.
“Why can’t you tell me?” Aimee wouldn’t let up.
Darn her stubborn streak. Aaron thought to himself with a sigh.
“Aaron,” she said softly, placing a hand on a cheek to comfort him. It always worked before, and it worked now. He raised a hand to meet hers. When he looked at her, she continued. “You can trust me.”
Could I trust her with something this big? Aaron thought to himself. The Crusades, Derrick’s story, the Oath. Sure, she knew of the Dream Realm, but she didn’t know what hell we’d been put through.
Trusting her with his heart, Aaron told her the whole story. Aimee sat patiently and quietly as she listened. When he finished, she was in awe.
“Whoa.” Aimee whispered. “The Dominionite Master is back?”
Aaron nodded.
“Sabrina is back, too?”
He nodded again.
“You guys saved Ariana from Damian?”
“Aimee!” He cried, smiling.
She grinned, standing up. Before heading out the door, she gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek. “I am very proud of you, Aaron Theodore.” Aimee said softly, and then left.
Aaron finished unpacking and decided to check on his five-year-old adopted son Bradley Allen. He went to Bradley’s room, where his door was slightly ajar.
He knocked, peeking his head in. He was coloring in a coloring book with his tongue licking his lips in concentration. It made Aaron smile. “Bradley.”
Hearing his name, the boy looked up. He shot up and ran to give Aaron a hug. “Dad! You’re back!”
Oh, how I missed him. Aaron thought to himself, hugging him tighter. 
Chapter Thirty-One
Truth Beneath the Surface

Luna Sister drove Ariana’s Jeep Cherokee up to the house and parked in front. She turned to her sister. “It may not be the Parker Mansion big sister, but we call it home.”
Ariana smiled, grabbing her backpack from the trunk and slamming it shut. She looked at the house closely and a certain familiarity to it made her sigh.
Luna threw her the keys and asked. “Are you ready to meet your family?”
Ariana gulped, but nodded.
Luna led her to the door, where everyone was waiting in the dark for the twins to return. She switched on the light next to the door, and out came a bunch of people from their hiding places to yell, “Surprise!”
Ariana held her breath, surprised.
“Welcome home, Ariana.” Replied a woman in front of her. The woman looked familiar somehow. Her black locks were cut short, but intelligently, making her look distinguished. She wore a necklace similar to Ariana’s own that Lord Guardian O’Dell had given her sometime ago.
Ariana was sure she’d seen the woman before, but where? The ring! “You’re the one I saw in my ring that day!”
The woman nodded, smiling brightly. She had the same colored eyes as Ariana did -- silver-blue, so Ariana knew it could only be one person. “Yes, I am your mother. My name is Susan, and this,” She motioned to an honorable, proud man standing beside her. He had rich red hair with streaks of gray, “is your father, David Woods.”
Ariana didn’t know what to say at first. “My real surname is Woods?”
“Yep,” Luna replied, hugging her twin. “Welcome home, Ariana Moon Sister-Woods!”
Ariana laughed. “Boy, do I have a long name!”
“Only to the family, dear.” Her father replied. “To the outside world, you’re known only as Ariana Woods, understand?”
She had respect for him already. “Yes, Father.” Her lips tested the words, to mean so much in itself was foreign. She saw the Protector’s Pendant around his own neck, like Derrick’s for her.
I miss him already! Ariana fingered the Sisterhood Ring, thinking about Derrick.
“Come on, everybody.” Susan Woods called to the rest of her children, forcing Ariana to snap out of her daze. “Don’t be shy. Introduce yourselves to your sister.”
“I’m your oldest sister, Annabelle. Call me Anna,” A young black-haired woman held her hand out to greet her. She had a ring the same as Luna’s, and was wearing a Dream Locket. “I have the main power of premonition. You know, like a so-called ‘fortune-teller’?”
Ariana giggled. Anna was funny.
A young man, also with black hair, came up to her and took her hand, kissing it. “I am the incorrigible Kevin Woods, your older brother.” Ariana saw his eyes were the same as hers, silver-blue. She sensed playfulness about him. “I have my own Ancient Mystic’s Magics, and am both Anna and Mary Ellen’s Protector Brother.”
Ariana looked around, and saw another young woman with black hair, waving at her. “What’s a Protector Brother?”
“It’s like an Earthly Protector, only it’s still in the family.” Kevin tried to explain. “I help protect them until they meet their Earthly Protectors. Get it?”
Ariana nodded.
In no time, she’d met the rest of her brothers and sisters. In order of birth came Anna, Kevin and Mary Ellen, who had the main power of telekinesis. The other twins after Ariana and Luna were a boy-girl duo named Claudia and Christopher. Claudia had the power of photographic memory with a little Ancient Mystic Healing, and Christopher was her Protector Brother.
The youngest was Antony, a practicing Wizard. She noticed his reddish-blond hair coloring, and felt a stronger magical connection with him than with her other black-haired siblings. Ariana could tell he was smart in his Magic.
When the two met eyes, Antony sent her a message.
I am powerful, but still a little confused. Perhaps you can teach me some things, Young Guardian.
Ariana nodded, smiling. Of course, he knew her title; he was an Ancient Mystic, too. Anytime, but I'm still learning myself.
That's okay. You still know more than I do. Antony smiled, disappearing with the red-headed twins Christopher and Claudia downstairs to the rest of the family.
So this happy family of Ancient Mystics and Wizards were her own family! She sensed nothing but kindness in their hearts, and Ancient Mystic Magic in their souls. Ariana closed her eyes and smiled. Now that she had a family, the vicious circle had finally ended and she knew who she was.
Too bad Derrick knew nothing about them. She thought to herself as she held the Dream Locket. He would love to be a part of the group, and I would love him to be included.
"Hey, snap out of it." She heard someone exclaim behind her, making her gasp out of her daze. She turned and met the silver-blue eyes of her older brother Kevin.
"Sorry." She apologized softly.
He ruffled her hair. "That's okay. Come on, let's party!"
With that, he started to dance, taking her with him. He led her where Antony had gone, and she laughed in fun.
What a family! Ariana shook her head and laughed to herself. She headed downstairs once Luna grabbed her hand and squeezed.
When the party was over, Luna grabbed Ariana by the arm, practically dragging her to the room the two girls shared.
“Wait, Lu!” Ariana laughed. “I can walk on my own, remember?”
“I know.” Luna stopped and escorted her in the room. She hugged her sister tight. “I’m just so excited to have my twin with me again.”
"We've only spent the last few months together." Ariana teased her. "The Crusade and the battle in Dark Tower, remember?"
“Sure I do. I was talking about before that. When I was here without you." Luna continued. "Would you believe how lonely it is around here?”
“I can imagine.” Ariana laughed. “What, with six siblings, it can get pretty dull.”
Luna giggled.
Later, after she’d settled in for the night, Ariana went to climb in her bed for the first time. A nagging question came to mind, and needed answering. She left the room, softly closing the door behind her.
It was late, and the house was quiet, not to mention dark. She knew where she was going, oddly enough. She made her way to her parents’ room, and knocked softly on the door.
“Come in, Ariana.” Her mother’s voice called from the other side.
How did she know who knocked? Ariana asked herself as she opened the door. After seeing her mother’s smiling face, she deduced. Empathy.
“Am I waking you, Mother?” She asked.
It felt strange calling this woman, whom she barely knew, “mother,” but this time, it was the truth. Ariana crept inside slowly, afraid her mother would yell at her for waking her.
“Of course not, dear.” Susan petted a space on the bed. Ariana sat. “Tell me. What’s on your mind?”
“I was wondering; if it’s not too painful, why you gave Luna and me up for adoption?” Ariana asked shyly. “You don’t have to answer if it hurts to talk about it.”
Susan laughed, hugging her newfound daughter. “Calm down, it’s okay. You have a right to know. There’s no need to be afraid to ask me anything.”
“Really, Mother?” Ariana asked, looking into her mother’s silver-blue eyes. She sensed nothing but sincerity and love. Ariana smiled.
Susan nodded, starting her story. “Lord Guardian and my Nana Enchantra came to me when you both were five, telling me what was going on in the Dream Realm. I hated to do it, but I had to separate the two of you. It was our destiny. It was your destiny.”
“I know that now, Mother,” Ariana replied. She thought of the orphanage she grew up in back in Shore Point. The memories were fresh in her mind, and she fought the tears back. “But was it my destiny to be brought up in an orphanage by a horrible woman who beat children, especially me, constantly, just for having fun and being children?”
Susan gasped. “I never knew. How awful you must feel!” She wiped a single tear from her daughter’s cheek and looked into Ariana’s eyes. “Do you forgive me? If I had known, I wouldn’t have kept you there. I would have taken you home myself.”
Ariana nodded. “Yes, Mother. I forgive you.” Susan took Ariana’s hand and squeezed it. “There were some good times at the orphanage, though. Those good times are what kept my dreams and fantasies alive. For it was there I met a wonderful boy, named Aaron Theodore. He, his twin Amethyst, and I called ourselves the Three Musketeers. We would shield each other from the horrors of Mrs. Gertrude’s hand.”
Susan listened, but interrupted. “Aaron Theodore is the one to later father your child, Kelina Erin?”
Ariana stared. “How did you know?”
Susan smiled. “All Ancient Mystics know about the Young Guardian and the Enchanted Child.”
Ariana looked at her lap. She missed her daughter, and wondered if her own mother had missed her.
As if reading her thoughts, Susan hugged her, whispering in her ear. “Yes, I missed you dearly. Both you and Aluna meant a great deal to us. I loved you, but I was forced to wait until it was time for you to return.”
“I love you, too, Mother.” Ariana whispered. “I just hope someday soon, I’ll be reunited with my own daughter.”
Susan kissed her. “Don’t worry, you will. I promise.”
Ariana stood and kissed her mother on the cheek. “Thank you for listening, Mother. Good night.”
“Good night, darling.” Susan returned.
Ariana headed back to the new bed, curling up and falling asleep with thoughts of love and enchantment in her head.
She finally felt at home.

II

Derrick Reading was lonely. He sat at his