The Kingdom of Skies by Mary Claire Garcia (top young adult novels .TXT) 📖

dark or extremely light and fluffy. She looked like she had switched to the latter already.
“It’s fine. You’re here and we’re together,” she smiled to me.
I gave her a half-smile. She giggled again and pressed a kiss on my cheek. She whispered “I love you” to me in Japanese and I kissed her lips passionately. I would do anything to keep this girl alive.
 
Kingdom of Skies: Chess Piece

Transparent white butterflies flew to Merlin. One landed on his nose. The old wizard smiled.
“Child,” Merlin said in delight.
Queen Astrea walked to his side. She was transparent yet her features were still clear as a coloured crystal.
“You were harsh to the new queen,” Queen Astrea said.
The old wizard closed his eyes.
“I had to do it, my angel,” Merlin said sadly.
“We must help the girl too. She does not even know how powerful she can be,” the beautiful spirit said firmly.
“I will take her to the room where the first queen had been consumed by the darkness”
“Her lover must have a role also”
Merlin chuckled and the former queen looked at him for an explanation.
“Have you ever played chess in your world, angel?” Merlin asked.
“Yes, I have. I think I can still remember it. Why do you ask?”
“Who do you think is the most powerful when you play it?”
Queen Astrea did not answer at once. Her tutor had taught her of the game and she had never liked it.
“The bishop,” Queen Astrea said slowly.
Merlin looked at her thoughtfully.
“The bishop is powerful indeed but has limitations. I, for my part, think it is the queen,” Merlin explained.
“Oh how could have I forgotten? But what has chess got to do with the new queen’s lover?” Queen Astrea asked.
“The queen is the most powerful chess piece but once the king is killed the game is over and the dead king’s chess master loses. The king is weak but once it is eaten, even the queen’s fascinating abilities will become useless. It is checkmate, after all,” Merlin said with wise eyes.
Realization dawned on Queen Astrea. The king was a support for the queen. Even though only the queen had the abilities, the king kept her from losing her mind. The king was the queen’s strength but also her weakness.
“Does the Dark Queen know about this?” she demanded.
Merlin nodded with a grim smile on his mouth.
“She was the one who told me about it. I sense that the reason why she had never used this strategy before is because she wanted to use it as her last trump card,” Merlin said to the frowning spirit queen.
“Kill the king to end the queen’s reign. It does make sense in this world. A checkmate that would kill the Kingdom of Skies,” Queen Astrea said fiercely.
 

By Tiffania Hart: THE END?!

I jolted awake. My chest heaved heavily. I breathed slowly. Something was wrong. I was on my own bed again. I was in my room. I was in my house. I dreamed that I became queen of a kingdom called the Kingdom of Skies. But the end of the dream was all a blur. I had acquired a dragon, fought the Dark Queen and even married Lou there.
I clutched my blanket. Was it all a dream? I frantically searched for my cell phone. Lou must be awake now. I typed “good morning” and searched for his name in my contacts. It was gone. That was strange. Did my mother go through my cell phone? But his name on my cell phone was a fake one. I went through my inbox. It was empty. The sent items too. I began to worry. I looked at my calls. Lou was not registered. What the hell?
The house was empty. It was Sunday so my parents would not be coming home until noon. I typed in Lou’s number which I had memorized already and pressed the Call button. The operator answered me. Was his phone turned off? I was getting a weird feeling… I went to my jewellery box. The necklace he gave me was gone. Where did my mother put it? There was something very wrong and I still wasn’t sure what it was. I was getting nervous. My cell phone vibrated. It was my ex-boyfriend. I exclaimed in surprise. His name was registered on my phone. I was sure that he did not know my number. I was also sure that his number was not on my phone too. I opened the message. It was a “good morning” and a “love you, Tiffa!” message. I dropped my phone. I searched for the earphones Lou gave me on my last birthday. It was gone too. I looked at my computer. I was in a state of panic already. I plugged it and tapped impatiently. I typed Lou’s name on Facebook. He did not appear. I went to the group page of our section. Lou’s name was not listed as one of my classmates. What was happening? I typed in everything I knew to find him. There was no trace of him at all. Even in the pictures with his best friends or with me. I was also in a relationship with my ex-boyfriend! I chatted with one of best friends. I was crying already. She did not know who Lou was. I texted his best friend who was also his cousin and asked him Lou’s number. He did not know who I was talking about and even accused me of cheating.
It was evening already. Lou’s existence was…gone. I could not find anything that proved that he was not just a figment of my imagination. I stared blankly at the sky. Every little memory that had a connection with him was erased and changed. Tears poured down my cheeks. I knew Lou was real. But how I can be sure?
A week passed by. My classmates do not know him. Our teachers had never heard of him. His ex-girlfriend did not know him either. I was in a daze and everyone said I was out of it. I hugged my pillow. It should be our anniversary next month. Our anniversary was my birthday. I closed my eyes. Lou was real. He was real. Even though his existence was denied by everyone and the obvious facts around me I still believe that Lou existed. I still remembered his smile, his voice, his pale skin, the way he never stopped smiling until he can make me smile too, the way his arms feel around me when we hug, his lips when we kiss and the time my parents found out about our relationship, our first dance, when he whispered to me that I was the one he found for him, my first love letter to him and our last kiss. Oh hell, I was crying again. Even the stories I have typed for him had all been changed. What should I do? He existed as long as I believed he existed. If only, I could wish for him to…come back. If only, I could turn into a cat and be whisked into his room where he’s waiting for me and everything would all be back to normal the way I remembered it should be. I closed my eyes and cried myself to sleep.
 

By Tiffania Hart: This should have been Lou’s

A hand caressed my head gently. My eyes opened and I saw I was in a form of a cat. I looked up and found myself staring at Lou’s sister.
“They’ve forgotten him already,” Joanne whispered.
I looked at her and I suddenly transformed to my human form. The Kingdom of Skies was real. Lou was real.
“How do I bring him back?” I looked at her intently.
She produced a photograph out of nowhere. It was the photograph of me and Lou she had captured during our JS Prom. I touched it and smiled while I tried to stop myself from crying again.
“He was never gone. Astrea’s lover saved him before the Dark Queen was able to kill him. She did erase his existence though,” Lou’s sister said.
“She was not killed in the battle,” I said slowly.
“She’s half-dead. You’re still queen of the darkness but she has somehow sealed your powers and I do not know how to bring it back exactly. The kingdom has still not won,” she explained.
I looked at her silently. She knew what happened and she even knew more than I did. Who was she?
“What about Lou?” I asked.
“Here he is,” a gruff male voice answered.
A man I did not know emerged from the shadows carrying Lou who looked as though he was sleeping. He must be Astrea’s lover.
“You can awaken him with your kiss, young queen. Some of the fairy tales they tell here are true. Kisses are magical. Now go wake him up,” the stranger urged.
He laid Lou on the grass. I caressed his cheeks and blushed.
“We should leave them alone. Come along now, Plato,” Joanne laughed.
“Wait!” I called.
“What is it, young queen?” the man asked.
“How do I remove the seal on my darkness?” I asked.
Joanne laughed again.
“My brother can do that for you. You’ll see when you kiss him. Good bye for now,” she said with a smile.
I waited for them to disappear in the shadows of the night. I looked at Lou’s sleeping face. I’ve missed him so much. I kissed his lips. Glowing, red butterflies appeared around us. They were my butterflies. I kissed him more deeply. I felt him responded.