by A. N. Sage
“Sure, Mom. I’ll catch the next train.”
Chapter 33
The first-born Aether
“Oh, honey, come here!” Her mom greeted Ruby at the door with a massive hug, while her dad grabbed her bag. “I am so glad you’re ok! We were so worried when we heard what had happened.”
“Mom, it’s totally fine. Shaylah was the one who got hurt. But she’s ok now, so you don’t have to worry.”
“You know she’ll always worry, right?” Her dad joked.
“Yeah, I know.”
It was good to be home with them. Since she had gotten into Westerlake, she hadn’t had as much time to visit them. They had always been a close-knit family and being an only child, Ruby knew how much they worried about her when she was away.
“Come, let’s get some tea and catch up.” Her mom pulled her into the living room where she already had a few snacks out on the coffee table. “Hungry?”
“Always.” Ruby said and pounced on the tiny sandwiches.
Her dad leaned on the couch next to her. His face was different, and she realized that there was worry coating every inch of it. “So really, Rue, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. What’s going on? You guys aren’t usually this worried.” Something was off, she could feel it.
“It’s just that...” Her mom was looking to her dad to help finish her sentence, “Dr. Olivian gave us a call a few weeks ago. She told us you’ve been asking about your grandma.”
“Wait, what?” Looked like Dr. Olivian didn’t care much for her privacy. Ruby was annoyed. “Isn’t that supposed to be between her and me?”
“It is. She was just concerned, that’s all.”
“Rue, she said you asked her about symbols, and told her you were seeing things. Is that true?” Her dad interrupted.
“Uhm, I mean, it was.” She didn’t know how to start explaining everything else that started after. Seeing the symbols was just the start of it all. “There have been some other things.”
“What things?” Her mom scooted closer to her on the couch.
“Just...” she said, not sure how to respond.
“Hun, you can tell us anything. You know that, right?”
“I know. But I’m warning you, it’s going to sound a little crazy.” She took another bite of her sandwich and started her story at the beginning.
“You guys don’t look surprised.” She said, when she was finished filling them in on what had been happening.
“I’m so sorry, honey!” Her mom hugged her again, “We were really hoping you wouldn’t have to go through this.”
“Hold on, what?” She pulled away, dumbfounded. “What do you mean ‘hoping’? Why aren’t you more shocked about this? I must sound crazy!”
“Well,” Her dad said, and moved over to sit next to her. “I think it’s time your mother and I told you about my family history.”
“Jeffrey!” Her mom yelled out and slapped his shoulder.
“It’s fine, honey. She has a right to know the truth.”
“What truth, dad? What truth?”
“Our family is...” he took a deep breath in, “special. That’s a good way to put it.”
“Special how? Elemental special?” She said, feeling uneasy using the term in front of her parents.
“Sort of. That story of the sword that this Liam told you, well, it’s all true but it’s not complete.”
“What?”
“The legend he told you has another part that might help explain things a little better for you.” He looked back at her mom who was looking out the window, avoiding the conversation. “See, when the four house elders first forged the sword, they knew that no one house could be trusted to keep it. In order to keep it safe, they created a guardian for the sword. Someone made from one part of each one of the houses. The problem was that they were not powerful enough to create life. Not like the Gods who made them were.”
Ruby was still shocked that her parents had any knowledge of the Elementals in the first place. “Ok...”
“They needed to combine their own powers with that of a deity, one that could control the Elements from another plane. The Elementals called upon the God of the Aether for help and consummated their powers with his to create a new being. A woman that was part Elemental and part deity. The first AetherBorn.” He reached to hold her hand as if to prepare her for the rest. “For many years after, there was peace within the Elemental houses. But one day, the AetherBorn is said to have fallen in love. Out of that affair, a child was born. In order to keep the affair secret, the AetherBorn hid the child and raised the girl without interference from the elders.”
“Why couldn’t she just tell them? It seems brutal.” Ruby said.
“The AetherBorn’s only job was to keep the sword safe and to hold onto the peace between the houses. Being a mother, in the eyes of the Elementals, would be getting in the way of that.”
“So, where are all these AetherBorns now, then? I haven’t met one yet and I’ve met quite a few Elementals lately. Like a lot of them.”
“Legend states that the royal son of the House of Air was also in love with the AetherBorn and that when he found out about the affair, he murdered her out of jealousy on her twenty-first birthday.”
“But what about the baby?”
“Well, according to the story, the girl grew up orphaned, and mothered children of her own. Throughout the generations, the memory of the AetherBorn background was mostly forgotten. The Elementals continued their life amongst the humans, treating this part of their history as a myth, a fairytale to be told but not believed. But every girl born into the lineage gets a glimpse of the AetherBorns on their twenty-first birthday, when the sword calls to them. It provides them with the power of sight to guide them to the sword.”
“My visions...” she whispered.
“Exactly. And your grandmother’s.”
“So, this whole time, you guys have been telling me that she was crazy, and lying to me about our past?” Ruby looked at her mom who had been awfully quiet this entire time.
“Not lying, Hun.” Her mom finally said. “We were hoping that this whole AetherBorn curse died with your grandmother.”
“But you still knew all of this and hid it from me. It didn’t occur to you to give me a heads-up or something? Like a ‘hey, kid, just so you know, when you get older you might get some weird visions about a sword, so don’t freak out when it happens!’ What about when I have kids of my own? What would I tell them? That they’re just imagining it?” She was starting to get angry with them and tried slowing down her breath to stay calm.
“We didn’t want to fill your head with this stuff. Especially after what happened to your grandmother. The visions were too much for her to handle.” Her dad’s voice sounded sad every time he spoke of his mother. There was so much about her Ruby wished she could know. “Besides, it’s not like this is something that my family advertised, I didn’t even know anything about it until I was much older and found some of your grandma’s journals in the attic. To be honest, it all sounded like nonsense to me at the time.”
“Does Dr. Olivian know?”
“No, of course not. We just asked her to keep us posted in case you started asking about your grandma.”
“You understand that if you’d told me about all of this, I could have been prepared for it better, right? People got hurt! I could have stopped it!”
“Rue, please don’t get upset.” Her dad said. “Even if you knew about all of this, how could you have helped?”
“Besides, how were we to know you’d somehow stumble onto a secret Elemental resistance?” Her mom chimed in.
“Except, I didn’t stumble into it. I was forced into it. By people who knew that I have visions. People who now want to hurt me and those I care about. For all I know, you guys are in danger, too! Liam never would have...”
She stopped mid-sentence. Who else knew about her AetherBorn blood? Was that the secret Alice and the elders had been ke
eping from her? Did Liam know about this, too? Is that why he agreed to train her?
Her head was spinning again, her entire life had been a lie. She was sick of feeling ill every time something happened. Sick of being weak, of needing protection and care. She didn’t need any of them. She was angry. Angry and confused.
They’ve all been lying to me. She thought and the room went dark.
Chapter 34
Movie Selfie!
“Jeffrey! Come here! She’s awake!”
Ruby’s mom was perched on the edge of her childhood bed when she came to. Her fingers clenched around a wet cloth that had left drips of water on Ruby’s heated forehead.
“What happened?” She asked and tried to sit up.
“I’m not sure. You were sitting down and then you just lost consciousness. Sweetie, you were burning up! I only managed to get the temperature down an hour ago, we were about to call the hospital.”
Her dad’s moccasins shuffled into the room, his face pale from concern. She was still upset with them, but her throat felt like a desert on a summer day, and she welcomed the glass of water in his hand without hesitation.
“We’re sorry you got so upset. I told your father that we should have waited to tell you all of this until you settled in, but you know him, the patience of a hare.”
She looked up at her dad, he always was quick to jump the gun. She remembered when she was little, her mom only had to mention needing something and dad would show up at the door with the thing in hand within hours. She always thought he was magical that way. Funny how the one thing she wished he was impulsive about telling her, somehow managed to become a dark, hidden secret.
“Look guys, I know you weren’t actually trying to hurt me, but I’m not ok with any of it. You should have told me about our past and my connection to the Elementals. Hell, you should have told me about the Elementals!”
“Ruby Elizabeth Black!” Her mom scowled. “Don’t you raise your voice at us. We were trying to protect you, and as far as I remember, we are the parents here.”
“Sorry.” She realized she was getting worked up and calmed down. “I really can’t stay here right now, guys. I hope you can understand. I need to get back to the city.”
“You expect us to just let you go back there with everything that’s happening? Do you want to end up like Shaylah? Or worse?” Her dad moved to block the door.
“Dad, you can’t keep me here. I just need to cool down. This is a lot to take in.”
“It’s all right, Jeffrey. Give her some space.” Her mom said. “We’re sorry you feel betrayed, sweetie.”
“Mom, it’s ok. Really. I’ll come back soon. I need to figure this out for myself. What my life is now and how I want to live it.”
She was surprised how understanding they were. With the way her dad was behaving, she half expected them to chain her to the bed and keep her tucked away from the world for the rest of her life. She wasn’t sure if it was because they felt guilty for keeping secrets or because she saw them in a different light now, but her parents were no longer the giants she always imagined them to be. They were just human. Not AetherBorn like her, just two regular people trying to protect their daughter from dangers they knew very little about.
It was already dark out when she got back to the apartment. She had called Jake on the train ride back home to meet for dinner and a movie. As far as she was concerned, he was the only person in her life who hadn’t been lying to her or keeping secrets. If Liam actually knew about her AetherBorn background like she suspected Alice did, then she couldn’t trust him or anyone at the resistance. With Shaylah still in the hospital for the rest of the week, she wanted a normal night with someone who cared about her. Not because of a sword and not because she was some mystical creature.
She had just finished boiling pasta when she heard a knock on the door and saw Jake’s face come into view in the hallway.
“Make yourself at home, I guess.” She laughed, watching him kick off his shoes and plump down on the couch.
“When have I not?” He grinned. “What are we watching?”
She balanced the massive bowl of pasta on the coffee table and sat down next to him. It felt odd to spend time with him again, after their last conversation. She still had not given him an answer and tonight wasn’t going to be the time to have that talk. “I don’t know. You pick. I haven’t even looked at what’s out yet.”
They spent the evening eating until they couldn’t move and binge watching a new show Jake had found online. It was a comedy, and although Ruby was in no mood to laugh, the sound of Jake’s boisterous howl made her giggle.
Hours later, Jake fell asleep leaning awkwardly on a pillow. His one shoe off and his mouth slightly open. Sitting on the other end of the couch, she gaped at him smiling. Maybe it was time to forget about Liam? She’d been pining after Jake for so long and he was finally telling her everything she wanted to hear. What exactly was she waiting for here?
Discreetly grasping her phone, Ruby stretched her arm out as long as she could make it.
Movie selfie! She whispered and took some rapid-fire photos.
The muscles in her stomach clenched as she scrolled through the images. There they were, two lovebirds on a couch. Just a normal couple on a regular night in. And it would have been, if it wasn’t for the dozens of glowing inverted triangles covering Jake’s skin.
Ruby’s hands shook as she started to understand what her vision really meant. This entire time that she’d been jumping through hoops and risking everything to save him, something else entirely was going on behind the scenes. She felt foolish but more than that, she felt betrayed.
Jake was never in danger. He was a Water Elemental.
Chapter 35
I have a plan
She was running down the street from the subway station. Her breath rapid and fast. She was more than human. A wildling escaping a predator, someone fleeing from danger at every turn. Her only thought was to get to the resistance and away from the truth she’d just uncovered.
When she finally managed to get rid of Jake without raising suspicion, the first thing she did was text Liam. Ever since one of the shop entrance guards got killed during the attack, no one came in or out of the resistance unescorted. It was like a secret treehouse club, no outsiders allowed.
She waited by the pawn shop doors trying to wipe the sweat off her forehead when the bell finally rang behind her.
“I thought you were staying at your parents for a bit?” Liam said, as she was already pushing past him to get downstairs.
“We need to talk.”
“All right. Hello to you, too, I guess.”
There was no time for pleasantries right now. “Sorry. Hello. We need to talk.”
They made their way to his sleeping quarters. She could see a lot of work had been done in the short while she’d been away. The resistance was starting to look a little more like the place she remembered. With the addition of guards at every entrance and a few extra locks on the doors. His own room had been tidied up quite a bit. If she didn’t know better, she never would have guessed that just a short while ago she had completely destroyed it with her powers.
“So, what’s going on that couldn’t wait until morning?” Liam sat on the chair by his desk and let her take the bed. She sat down cautiously; the last time she was in this bed she nearly broke all of his belongings with a hurricane.
“Jake is Water House.”
“Hold on, what? How do you know? Are you sure?”
“I saw the marks on him. And yes, I’m very sure.”
“This is...” He didn’t know how to react, “surprising.”
“It’s not surprising, Liam. It’s goddamn garbage! He’s been an Elemental this entire time and I had no clue!”
“Do you think he’s the one who gave out our location?”
“Well, I do now!” She was baffled she hadn't thought of it before. It made sense. If he ever followed her, he would figure it out sooner or later.
“I just... I don’t know what to do right now.”
He walked towards her, and she could feel her heartbeat quicken as he sat on the bed next to her. His hand found hers. The tension in her shoulders dropped and she sank into the bed defeated. How had she let her life become such a mess?
“We will figure it out. I promise. I know this is a blow. I’m pretty shocked myself, to be honest.”
He couldn’t understand. It wasn’t shock she felt right now. It was trauma and distress. She felt victimized, lied to, taken advantage of. All of the things friends are supposed to protect you from. Her friend, someone she considered family, betrayed her in the most unimaginable way.
“I feel like everyone has been lying to me. Jake, my parents, you...”
“Me?”
“I know about the AetherBorns, Liam. You can drop the act.” As much as she didn’t want to, she pulled her hand away from his to make a point. “My parents told me everything.”
“Oh.”
“That’s it? Oh? You and Alice, and I don’t even know who else, have been keeping this away from me the entire time and all you can say is ‘oh’?”
“We weren’t keeping things away from you. Well, I guess we were. But I asked Alice not to say anything to you until we were sure.”
“Sure, about what? How to use me for your little plan to get the sword?”
“How to keep you safe, Ruby. I don't want Air and Water finding out what you are and making a play for you.”
“A play for me? What does that even mean?” She yelled.
“I’m assuming your parents told you about the AetherBorns connection to the sword?”
