by C J Benjamin
“Yeah, what if we need to get in touch with the Betos? And how will we get word to Hollis once we find the Pillars. If Malakai is truly expecting us, we need a backup plan,” Journey argued.
“Hollis has been kind enough to help us with that. We will rely on Isby to communicate with them,” I said reluctantly.
The irritable, old bird ruffled his feathers and cocked his head to the side when he heard his name. We narrowed eyes at each other, but the standoff ended when he squawked and tucked his long beak under his wing, unceremoniously.
I looked back at my friends who were still staring expectantly at me. They looked eager and optimistic. I wished I could join them in their hopefulness but quarreling with Nova was taking all the fight out of me. “Try and get some rest tonight. We’re going to need it.”
Everyone filed out of the kitchen and went to their sleeping quarters for the night. Hollis had been kind enough to have Isby prepare a room for the boys and one for the girls. As Journey brushed past me, he paused and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing leaving the kid here.”
“Uh, thanks Journey.”
He smiled and squeezed my shoulder with his usual overpowering strength and continued on his way.
Journey’s comment caught me off guard. It was out of character for him to be polite and encouraging, but it lifted my spirits a bit because he never wasted his breath. He must have truly felt I was making a good decision if he bothered to compliment me on it. I was so lost in thought, I almost missed Jemma breeze by me.
“Hey, Jemma, wait. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Can it wait? I’m going to wash up for bed,” she said with her hands on her hips in annoyance.
“No, it can’t really wait. I need your help with something.”
“Oh really? What could you possibly need my help for? Didn’t you just tell me that you’re the Eva and I’m not? It seems to me that you should be able to handle everything just fine on your own,” she said turning briskly and sashaying away from me.
Oh why was she so impossible?
I jogged after her and when I finally caught up I grabbed her hand and blurted out why I needed her before she could hiss out some other snide insult.
“I need your help so we can talk to Mom.”
69
I creaked open an old gold leafed door and peeked inside. Eja was waiting for us, just where he said he’d be. He was standing in the center of the room, next to a large stone fountain that was covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a hundred years. But its still pool of water shimmered, nonetheless, catching moonlight from the impossible skylight above. I walked in and motioned for Jemma to follow me. She’d soundlessly agreed to accompany me as soon as I mentioned our mother. She trailed me with a timidness that I wasn’t used to seeing in her. Jemma’s normally calculating eyes, were now large and doe-like as they darted around the dim gray room, as if she was expecting to see our mother already inside, waiting for us.
“You said we were going to talk to Mom,” she said with distrust when her eyes settled on Eja and the fountain.
“We are. Eja’s going to help us.”
“Why do you all of a sudden need me and Eja to help you get in contact with her? Haven’t you been talking to her without me all along?” Jemma accused with the hint of her normal distaste for me returning to her voice.
“Jemma, if I may,” Eja interrupted.
“I can see this is going to take a while,” Jemma said rolling her eyes but waving to Eja to continue as she crossed her arms and plopped down into an old armchair, upholstered with blue and silver jacquard. A little cloud of dust puffed out of the timeworn fabric. It caused Jemma to cough and sputter, scrunching up her pretty face, as she did her best to brush off the dust and her bruised ego.
“Geneva wants to extend an olive branch to you, Jemma. She wants you to have an opportunity to speak to your mother before you return to an uncertain future at the Troian Center tomorrow. This may be your last chance.”
“Oh, you mean because we all might die on this stupid mission Geneva has thought up?”
“Jemma! I’m trying to be a decent sister. I want to put our issues behind us so that you can get a chance to talk to Mom.”
“How noble of you to be a good sister all of a sudden so you can clear you conscience before our suicide mission,” she replied bitterly.
But despite her tone, I could tell she was interested. Her arms were still crossed but she was on the edge of her seat looking anxiously toward the fountain. “Think what you want of me, Jemma, but I want to let you talk to our mother if you will agree to help me make our trip to the Troian Center safer.”
“I knew you had an ulterior motive. You lure me here with the promise of seeing my mother and you really just want something from me,” she said rising from her seat and starting to walk toward the door. “Forget it!”
“Isn’t there anything you want from me?” I yelled after her in desperation.
She stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around to look at me. Her expression was wild with anger and I could read her hatred for me plainly on her face. Her anger and envy flashed in my mind in another one of my too enlightening visions. I knew what she wanted and it was more than I could offer her.
I saw Jemma’s jealousy that I was the Eva, that I had our mother’s attention, our friends’ loyalty, Nova’s affection and our island’s admiration. But worse than all of that, I saw how much she despised being my sister. It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach, but I shook the feeling and tried to bait her with the only thing I had left. I knew it wasn’t exactly what Eja and I had discussed, but I needed Jemma to help me and after what I’d just seen in her thoughts of me, I knew it would be the only way to get her to cooperate with the latest plan Eja and I had cooked up.
“You can take my powers away,” I whispered. “All of them.”
A slow smile curved up her face when she realized I was serious, her intrigue was evident. “I can do that?” she asked trying to suppress her smile.
“This wasn’t the plan, my Eva. This isn’t what I meant. Jemma is just supposed to veil the Ponte deorum power. And I’m not even sure it would work . . .” Eja babbled trying to interrupt our discussion.
“Shhh . . .” I hissed at him as he tried to stop our hurried plans.
“You can veil them all, Jemma. Then you’ll have powers and I won’t. You’ll be more powerful than me.”
“So you want me to take them all?” Jemma asked with a smile.
“Yes,” I said confidently even though Eja was protesting in my ear.
“But that would mean we can’t talk to Mom anymore?”
“Right. Not until we rescue the Pillars and it’s safe for me to get my powers back. That’s why tonight is our last chance to talk to her if you can do this for me.”
Jemma was silent while she pondered this. We were standing on the cold stone floor next to the fountain, while Eja paced nervously behind us. He paused to whisper in my ear, but Jemma interrupted him.
“We’ll be able to see her in there?” Jemma asked pointing to the fountain.
“Yes. Eja discovered a link between Ponte deorum and my reflection. Every instance where I’ve seen Mom has been either a mirror or body of water where I could see myself. We’re assuming any reflective surface should work.”
“This wasn’t what we discussed, my Eva.” Eja interjected. “She was only going to veil the Ponte deorum power so that the Ravinori wouldn’t be able to make that connection if they were looking for it. The goal is to put you in less danger. But if she takes away all of your powers . . . You won’t be able to protect yourself or anyone else. I can’t advise this.”
“Eja, I don’t doubt your concerns, but you need to trust me. This is the best way. If I don’t have any powers no one will even suspect I’m the Eva and then you are no longer targets for being associated with me. It keeps you all safe.”
“Indeed
, my Eva, everyone is safe except for you,” Eja said with an intense sadness as he held my gaze.
“I’ll do it,” Jemma said interrupting us and extending her hand.
“Let’s get started,” I said, clasping my sister’s cold hand and hoping I wasn’t signing my own death sentence.
“Just tell me how it works again, Eja,” Jemma hissed. “How do I take away her powers?”
“You have to concentrate, Jemma,” Eja said with a deep sigh.
He was starting to get frustrated. We’d been at this for quite a while and Jemma kept trying to rush him through his explanations.
“You’re not taking her powers, you’re veiling them. You’re a tracer which means you can find things and most tracers are also veilers, which is why they are often so untrustworthy.”
I tried to stifle my snort of irony, over the fact that Jemma fit her stereotype so well.
“Anyway,” Eja continued, “we’re betting that you’re also a veiler, which means you can hide things. We want you to hide Geneva’s powers.”
“That’s what I said, Eja.”
“No. It’s not. You said you were going to take them. That’s completely different. You have to be very specific when veiling something, Jemma. And you must know exactly where you put it or you’ll never find it again.”
“Fine, I get it,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Eva, I’m not comfortable with this. She’s never even done it before.”
“She can do it, Eja. When we spoke earlier, you said it yourself; she’d be the only one with a shot to do this since she’s my sister and we have such a strong connection.”
“Yes, but that was when I thought she was just veiling the Ponte deorum. This . . .” Eja shook his head uncertainly.
“This is no different. Jemma can do this. It’s the only way to keep you all safe.”
Eja took a deep, defeated breath and uttered, “As you wish, my Eva.”
“Let’s get to work,” I said to them both.
70
After a grueling hour of preparation, we were ready. Eja told us everything he knew about tracers and veilers. Jemma successfully veiled and traced out small knickknacks we found in the room. But even this didn’t satisfy Eja. He drilled us on how the whole process worked over and over, still trying to discourage us from this risky move every chance he got. But for once, Jemma and I agreed on something and we were effortlessly scheming together to convince Eja that we would succeed. It was strange how easy it was to work with Jemma when our goals aligned. Even though we were plotting a tricky move to strip me of my powers, I really felt like Jemma was finally being my sister. We were reading each other’s minds without using powers, and finishing each other’s sentences like we’d been doing it all our lives.
A chill actually ran up my spine when Jemma interrupted Eja’s latest objection by saying, “Please don’t doubt my sister. She has everyone’s best interests at heart and I know she’ll put everything she has into making this work. If ever there were two people meant to do this, it’s us.”
It was the first time I’d actually heard Jemma call me her sister without it sounding awkward or forced. She seemed so committed that it had me completely convinced this would work and apparently it convinced Eja too because he sighed, letting his shoulders slump in exhaustion. “You’re right,” he conceded. “I’ve shared all the knowledge I have on the subject. You’re as prepared as you can be. I still think we might benefit from sharing this plan with the others.”
“Eja, we’ve been over this,” I interrupted. “There isn’t time and all that would do is cause confusion and distract us,” I added, pushing back the images of my friends most likely overreacting to my latest plan to protect them. I knew Remi and Nova would never allow me to do it.
“Plus, we just had a long drawn out meeting with everyone going over our plan for when we reach the Troian Center tomorrow. This doesn’t change anything, it just adds extra protection for everyone,” Jemma added.
“Fine,” Eja sighed. “Just remember what I said about having a safe talisman to store Geneva’s powers,” he warned Jemma.
“Yes, yes I know,” Jemma said. “I already know exactly where I’m going to hide them.”
“Jemma this is the most detrimental part of this plan. You must keep the location of the talisman a secret. You have to choose somewhere she won’t be able to stumble upon and where none of us will think to look. And it’s crucial that this is a safe place where no one else will find it, or her powers could be lost forever.”
“Eja,” I said laying my hand on his arm. “She knows. It’s going to be okay. It’s getting late and we still need to talk to my mother before Jemma does the veiling.”
“I know,” he said sadly, bowing his head apologetically. “I’ll give you some privacy to speak to your mother.”
The room seemed colder after Eja left. It was just me and Jemma now. I can’t remember the last time the two of us were alone together. It felt strange, yet natural all at once.
“Shall we?” Jemma asked with a sincere smile, motioning for me to come kneel next to her by the fountain.
“Okay,” I said after settling down next to Jemma and taking a deep breath. “Are you ready to talk to Mom?”
“More than you know,” she said fighting back tears.
“I know it’s not fair, but remember what Eja said. We can’t touch her and we have to be quick. Each time I access the Ponte deorum we risk attracting the Ravinori.”
“I know,” she nodded wiping back her tears and smoothing her jet-black hair.
“You look perfect,” I offered, squeezing her hand.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said another voice making us both jump.
“MOM!” Jemma screamed! “Oh Mom, is it really you?”
There she was, her ethereal reflection glowing back at us. I hadn’t even done anything to my knowledge to call her, but she was here. Perhaps she truly did know when I needed her.
“Jemma, my beautiful girl, don’t cry.”
But Jemma was already blubbering. Tears were streaming down her face and her lips were pursed and trembled.
“Oh my darling daughters. You have no idea how my heart soars seeing you together, acting so bravely and kindly,” Nesia said.
“Mom, thank you for coming to see us. As usual we don’t have enough time with you, but we wanted to see you one last time.”
“I know, my darlings. I’m so proud of the way you are working together and how you are selflessly sacrificing to help your friends.”
“So, you know that Jemma’s going to veil my powers?” I asked timidly.
“Yes, darling. I have been watching you and am so proud that you’ve come up with a way to protect each other. I’ve regretted that I didn’t get to spend enough time preparing you for the roles you were born into. I wish I could tell you more, but those on the other side are forbidden to interfere with the beings of your realm. Each time I visit you, it upsets the delicate balance. I’ve already taken too many risks to see you. I do my best to guide and encourage you when I can, my darlings. There have been many times where I feel I have failed you, but I never doubted my brilliant daughters would have any trouble charting their own paths in this world.”
“Mom, you have failed us! “ Jemma cried, chastising our mother through her tears. “I have no real powers or role. I feel so insignificant. I’m not the Eva! I’m nothing!” she yelled before dissolving into a pile of shaking limbs and tears.
I was in shock. Jemma had been so desperate to see our mother and now that she had the chance, she was spending it scolding her and acting like a spoiled brat.
“Jemma, darling. I’m so sorry. You have every right to be angry with me right now. I know you feel abandoned and jaded, but I also know your strength and that you know you are not insignificant. You have the soul of a warrior and you are so important to me and all of this. Without you there is no Eva. She is the light and you are the dark. One cann
ot exist without the other. Please know this is true. You are an instrumental part of this. Geneva is moving down the right path, but she cannot get there without you. You need to protect and serve each other. In order to defeat the Ravinori you need to work together.”
Jemma stopped sniveling and was looking into the fountain with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“You have to believe in yourself, darling.”
“I do,” Jemma said bashfully.
“Jemma, I have complete faith in you. I know you will be able to veil Geneva’s powers and keep her safe. Have you chosen your talisman?”
Jemma nodded and my mother’s smile faded into sadness for a moment. “Very well,” was all she said. “May I offer one word of advice to you before I must go? If you put each other’s needs before your own, you will always succeed.”
We both nodded at our mother’s vague comment. But I was hoping she’d continue, that there was something more she could tell us about how to find the Pillars or defeat the Ravinori or protect my friends, but she was already starting to drift away.
“Wait, Mom!” I called and she paused.
I wanted to ask her so much, but the only thing that was consuming my thoughts in that moment was Nova. It seemed so trivial to be asking my mom for advice on my love life at a time like this. But she was my mom and I’d always been longing for motherly advice—some sort of affirmation that I was making the right decisions, that only a mother can offer.
“You’ve been watching us, right? Am I making the right decisions when it comes to . . .” I paused not wanting to bare my soul in front of Jemma. “I just want to protect everyone I love.”
“Eva, my dear one, you are very wise. Follow your heart.”
“But my decisions are breaking my heart, Mom.”
“The decisions that weigh heaviest on our hearts are often the right ones. Follow your path, Geneva,” she said as she started drifting away from us again. “I must go, my darlings. I love you.”
