Casters

Chapter 18

"WAKE UP!" A voice exclaimed. Charlotte instantly woke up as she felt someone jumped over her. "Visitors are finally arriving!"

"M? What? What time is it?" She asked, scratching her head. "You overslept. It's 9:55."

Charlotte rose and got up, "Oh no!  I need to get cleaned!"

She rushed to the bathroom and her towel and clothes followed.

"Is your sister awake?" Aunt Grace exclaimed from below. "Yes, Aunt Grace!"

Annalise went out of Christen's room and motion for Matilda to go down, "go catch up with your father's family, first." Matilda gave her an expressionless look and shook her head. She walked downstairs and welcomed her family.

"Thank you for inviting us over, Grace," Charlotte's grandmother said, sipping her tea.

"I'm glad you and your son could make it," she smiled. Her grandmother laughed and shook her head, "He is not my son. He is my husband." Grace's eyes widened and so did her grin, "Oh. Your husband? He looks... young."

"Yes, dear," she replied. "Years after my husband died, I started to feel lonely. So, I decided to date and get married again." The man smiled at her and sipped his tea. Grace let out an awkward smile and stood up, "Matilda, go get some cookies for your... grandparents."

Matilda giggled and went to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Charlotte was arranging herself and putting on her makeup. Annalise was in the room with her. "Are you going to use a purple eye shadow? Or put up a nude look?"

"A nude look would be fine," Charlotte said, swiftly putting blush-on on her cheeks. "Oh, let me do your hair. I'll do a slight updo on that one."

"Don't you think leaving my hair down would look better?" Charlotte asked. Annalise squinted her eyes and pouted her mouth as she thought about it for a while, "I think we could do half of it. "

After minutes of cleaning herself and arranging her look, Annalise helped her wear her gown. "Does it fit?" she asked. Charlotte nodded, "it's spacey. I love it."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "May I come in?" Steven asked. Annalise smiled and nodded. She left the room as Steven entered. "Uhm, could you lock the zipper at the back?" Charlotte asked.

She turned around and let Steven close up her gown. "You are absolutely breathtaking, Charlotte," he commented as she turned around. She eyed his bow and fixed it, "and you look handsome yourself." Steven chuckled and fixed his coat, "I always am."

Charlotte nudged him and laughed, "whatever, Steven."

He put his arms around her waist as she put hers around his shoulders. They locked eyes and were lost in each other's gaze. "Your eyes always shine, love," he whispered. Charlotte smiled and slowly, they lean towards each other. 

"Everyone is here!" Matilda exclaimed, interrupting them. They broke free from the moment and smiled.

"I'll leave you, ladies, alone," Steven said, kissing her hand before he left. Matilda gave Steven a smirk and he chuckled and left.

"Who is 'everyone'?" Charlotte asked as she turned around.

"Grandmother Susie, our aunts and uncles, father's family, and even cousins we never met," her sister explained, "and even Aunt Annalise's family is here, too!"

"That seems like a lot of people for a simple celebration," Charlotte said, biting her lip, "and father's family?"

"What do you mean 'simple'? This is a GRAND celebration, sister," Matilda pouted, crossing her arms,  "but yeah, they are here. Aunt Grace invited them."

 Charlotte sighed and turned to the mirror and took a look at herself. "Do I look good, M?"

She was wearing her uncle's gift and the Golden Sun necklace. She was given a simple purple crystal crown, matching her gown.

"You look very pretty, Cee," Matilda smiled, giving her sister a hug,  "don't forget to wear your opera gloves, though." Matilda pulled the indigo opera gloves out of the dresser. "Is that necessary?"

Matilda nodded,  "you will look better with them."

"Are we allowed to see the celebrant?" Sheena called out, peeking through the door.

"Come in!" Charlotte grinned.

"Oh my god!" Bridget exclaimed, "you look absolutely beautiful!"

"Tell me about it!" Sheena jumped, "you look elegant, too!"

"Have you seen your boyfriend, though?" Bridget whispered. "What?" Charlotte laughed, "he's not my boyfriend yet!"

"He will be soon!" Sheena giggled, putting her fingers over her mouth. "He looks dashing! Everyone on the field was talking about him! Absolutely no one knew who that guy was."

Charlotte giggled, "of course. He is not from our realm, after all."

"Fortunately, no one could sense that he is a human," Bridget said. Sheena nodded in agreement, "it would really cause chaos."

Charlotte turned to Matilda and said, "you know what to do in case that happens, right?" Matilda grinned and nodded, cracking her knuckles, "leave that to me."

"Don't hurt them too much, M," Bridget joked.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Are we ready?" Steven interrupted, entering the room. Charlotte gave the ladies hugs before they left. Steven held out his hand, "Shall we?"

Charlotte took his hand and smiled, "We shall."

---

Aunt Grace stepped on the riser and cleared her throat. She clinked her spoon against the glass. "Everyone please settle down."

Everyone took their seats.

"I welcome you to our dear Charlotte Alarie's Eighteenth Birthday, and her Claiming Ceremony," she introduced. "After years of living in Gatlin, our young lady has finally decided to settle home with us here in France. With years of learning, growth, and memories, the time has finally come for Charlotte to realize her true identity as a caster. As the day strikes 12 noon, her elements will finally claim her. Without further ado, let us welcome, Charlotte Alarie!"

The curtains opened and everyone was in awe at the sight of Charlotte, who was escorted by Steven. "The eldest daughter, the second child of Lily and her husband."

There were excited whispers among the crowd, "She grew up to become a beautiful Alarie", "she has her mother's eyes", "I assume that is Charlotte's boyfriend".

Charlotte almost stumbled upon hearing that. She looked at Steven and he chuckled. "I guess I am the dashing boyfriend of the young Alarie lady."

Charlotte's cheeks turned red.  "Stop that."

Blake, who was guarding the fields, looked at his sister in awe. If Ma could only see you today, sister, he thought. He teared up and sniffed.

"Don't think about it too much," a voice interrupted. "Uncle?" he asked in confusion. Uncle Raven stood beside him and said, "It's her birthday, not her wedding."

"I was not - " he defended, but thought about it and chuckled, "I guess you're right."

They finally reached the front center and Steven left the riser and went to stand beside Fred on the other side of the field.

"Charlotte looks pretty today," Fred commented, "but my girlfriend? Damn."

"Where is Sheena?" Steven whispered. Fred motioned to where Sheena was sitting. Sheena was wearing a shiny blue silk dress. "I could see you forming heart eyes already," Steven chuckled. Fred fixed his collar and smiled, "because when I look at her, I realize how lucky I am."

"I am glad Charlotte was able to learn about her kind and our realm before her birthday," Susie whispered to Annalise, "it would've been harder to deal with if it happened later." Annalise nodded in agreement.

"Today, we reach out to the Celestials and pray for their guidance and protection over our sacred ceremony," Grace said, "A few minutes left, and the clock will strike 12. May we all stand as we chant the sacred words to invite the Celestials who chose Charlotte as their young one."

Everyone stood up and began chanting the words. Charlotte closed her eyes and began to feel dizzy. Suddenly, there was thunder roaring along the sky. The clouds were swirling above them. The casters looked at each other, sensing this was out of the ordinary. Despite this, they continued to chant.

Charlotte's eyes lit up and she started floating. Matilda looked around, sensing a different presence. Blake, she called, looking for him. She saw him on the other side of the field.

M? he answered back. Something isn't right.

Blake looked at her in confusion, what do you mean? Perhaps because this is the first ceremony you've been to?

Matilda shook her head, someone is here... I sense a different energy among us...

Bolts of lightning started as soon as the thunder's roar louden. They are a lot of them, Blake. Matilda said with her eyes open wide.

Blake noticed the terror in her sister's face, let them duck! she exclaimed in his thoughts.

"Everybody, take cover!" Blake shouted. Everyone went under their seats on time before a giant boulder could hit everyone in the crowd.

Charlotte stopped floating and sensed that something was not right, too.

The clock strikes 12, the crystal ball has cleared. It showed the moon. Everyone's jaw dropped. "The moon?" a relative whispered. "Impossible!" one exclaimed. There were questions and noise. "Everybody, please calm down," Grace exclaimed.

Suddenly, a loud laugh can be heard. Everyone looked uphill. They saw Tory, Stephan, and Fred entered the scene. "Are we late for the ceremony?" Tory smirked. Stephan raised his hand and yelled, "Bolts of lightning, strike them down!"

Lightning struck everywhere on the place. "Everyone, take cover!" Annalise shouted. "Aunt Susie!" She called out. She looked everywhere and noticed she wasn't around.

"Are you looking for me, dear?" She looked up and saw Aunt Susie flying over her and let out an evil laugh. "You and Grace were wise to trust a fellow family member." Annalise looked at her, terrified. Aunt Susie laughed and headed towards Tory.

"Grace!" She called out. She bit her lip and cast, "pillars of the kingdom, protect!" Suddenly, the air formed a huge barrier, locking the lightning out of the field. "Everyone, enter the home!"

"Oh no, they don't" Tory smirked. She pointed two fingers to the house and waved, "burn!" Suddenly, the house was on fire. "No!" Grace exclaimed. "Ma!"

As soon as Tory heard Grace's voice calling out for Christen, she stopped the spell. Stephan shot her a look, "what are you doing, Tory!" he hissed.

Tory looked at him and stuttered, "I -"

Suddenly, some people already left the venue, most of them were children and the elders. The other relatives stayed behind for battle. However, more and more shadowwalkers entered the scene.

"The young master was right," Stephan hissed, "you are weak."

Tory's eyes lit up in anger after hearing this. She took a breath and screamed. A massive tornado of fire started to form around the family, encircling them inside.

Charlotte looked at everyone. Each of them was battling multiple shadowwalkers at once. Charlotte shut her eyes and started floating. Her eyes lit up and shielded the humans, turning them invisible from the crowd.

"Loosen!" Charlotte cast. Shadowwalkers near her suddenly stopped casting. "What the?" they whispered in confusion as they began to float as if they suddenly lost gravity. Charlotte turned to Matilda and the ladies, who were battling as well.  She pointed at the shadowwalkers and cast, "cloak!" Suddenly, a black cloak formed around the enemies. "Burn."

"Agh!" Terrifying screams could be heard through the field as Charlotte burns the casters to hell. This terrified Matilda but knew she had to hold her composure. "I summon you, guardians!" She cast. Trees started moving, and human-like earth formed out of the ground. Bridget and Sheena looked at each other and nodded. "Eagle's wings, levitate!" She cast. Sheena rode above her and formed her ice daggers around her, hitting every shadowwalker they fly through.

Stephan danced through the wind and produced the lightning's energy through his fingers. Fred and he decided to injure the casters, but not kill them. They wanted the whole family to see the young master's grand gift. They nodded at each other and went on their separate ways, injuring the casters.

Tory was angry at the sight of Charlotte burning her fellow brothers and sisters. They are my family now, she thought. Her eyes lit up and wings of fire appeared behind her. She looked at Charlotte, who was burning their brothers to ashes. She sneered and swiftly flew towards her but she was hit by Blake's wings. Tory flew back and hissed at Blake, "You..."

"Not my sister, you witch," he sneered. Tory smirked and summoned her flaming sword.

"Very well..."