by Kristen Day
“Wait! I’m not done!” She stood and took my hand in hers; inspecting my trace. “This is so cool. Her all-seeing eye trace is like a beacon and an alarm all in one! It tells her when Stasia’s in trouble and then lets her know where she is!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Carmen crossed her arms. “Exactly when were you going to let us all in on your little secret?”
“It’s not like I planned this,” I defended myself. “I didn’t ask for this-”
“She must discuss this with Stasia first,” Amphitrite stepped in gracefully. “Until then, the connection is not complete and she cannot transform wholly.”
“You haven’t told her yet?” Phoebe squeaked.
“You have to understand. Olivia is one of the youngest Paladins, due to who her Elysian is. She is an unprecedented case.” Amphitrite looked at me proudly. “These things cannot be rushed.”
“And your mother?” Finn finally spoke. Until then he had only been watching me carefully. “She was Thetis’s Paladin, and therefore the Warrior on her council.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. Although sharing and being all sappy was something these girls did on a regular basis, I was used to wearing as many masks as possible to hide who I really was. Unraveling the steel wires that held me together for so many people left me feeling like an open wound – raw and vulnerable. I clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking.
“Paladins are quite rare in our day and time,” Amphitrite explained. “Olivia and her mother have had very special purposes. They are to be celebrated for their ancestry and bravery.”
“Are you immortal, too?” Phoebe asked.
“After I tell her and the connection is made, I’ll go through the transformation. Then I’ll be immortal…until she dies.”
“Then what happens?” Avery questioned carefully.
“I become mortal again and start to age.”
“Wow.” Carmen exhaled and scratched her head. “I guess you learn something new every day.”
“So now everybody knows,” I announced, and then turned to Finn with pleading eyes. “How about we move on to something else?”
Finn finally sat down and smiled at me. For the first time since I’d known him, I felt as if he saw me in a different light. With more respect. Then his face fell as he became serious once more.
“I need all of you to keep your eyes open. We believe the person who stole the Book of Souls and Key to Tribeca may have a reason to return here to Atlantis.”
“Who is it?” Avery leaned forward in anticipation.
“I don’t want to speculate when we don’t have the cold, hard facts, but I’ll be doing a little searching around while we’re here,” he answered vaguely. “If you see anything out of the ordinary, find me right away.”
“Ordinary might be a very subjective term around here,” I joked. “Normal was thrown out the window a long time ago.”
Chapter 25
Olivia
“Fengári tou aímatos af̱xánetai,” Stasia murmured to me with blank eyes. She had woken up minutes before, but would only speak in Greek. It was almost as if she was talking in her sleep. I leaned down and inspected her emotionless face once more. Her skin was pale, but for all intents and purposes she appeared perfectly healthy. She stared at me, but I was pretty certain she didn’t actually see me.
“What’s that, girl?” I whispered and grinned in spite of myself. “Timmy fell in the well again?”
“Fengári tou aímatos af̱xánetai,” she insisted once more with a less-than-amused frown.
“What’s she saying?” Carmen walked up behind me curiously. Stasia’s blank turquoise eyes slid to Carmen with painstaking slowness and then back to mine once more.
“Blood moon rising,” I translated for Carmen; my gaze remaining on Stasia. At my words she closed her eyes, her breathing became heavier, and she slipped back into a deep sleep.
“What’s a blood moon?” Phoebe asked from the bedroom doorway. She leaned against the door frame with pink-glossed lips tightened with worry. When her eyes landed on a sleeping Stasia, she crossed her arms and frowned.
“When the moon turns blood red,” I explained simply.
“I gathered that much.” Phoebe looked at me pointedly. “Why does it happen?”
“It’s a lunar eclipse,” Avery inserted. She floated into the bedroom the same way Willow used to walk. All of Laneira’s descendants seemed to have that same angelic demeanor and grace about them. It was slightly disconcerting for those of us who were anything but graceful. “When the earth is between the sun and the moon, the earth’s shadow is cast onto the moon. The shadow appears red.”
“In some cultures, the blood moon is an indicator of evil. Or a warning.” Finn followed Avery inside the bedroom and immediately strode to Stasia’s side. I moved out of his way and leaned against the wall; shifting my weight several times. The room was getting way too cramped.
“So Stasia’s trying to warn us about something?” Phoebe deducted with uncertainty.
“I don’t know what a blood moon has to do with Atlantis or Stasia,” I claimed with renewed determination. “But I bet I know where we can find out.”
“The library of horrors?” Carmen guessed with a sly grin.
“The what?” Avery gasped.
“You’ll see,” I answered as vaguely as possible. “We just need to figure out how to get back there.”
Amphitrite suddenly appeared beside Phoebe in the doorway; her cool blue eyes settling on me with disapproval. “Well, you girls will have to do so without Olivia. She has other affairs she needs to attend to.”
“But-” I tried unsuccessfully. She walked farther into the room and interrupted me with unflinching authority.
“With Stasia momentarily out of commission, it is my duty to assume the leadership role in her place. I have arranged for our guide to show you around Atlantis, as well as to escort you to one of the natural spas centered around healing and strength.” She nodded her head towards me. “He has graciously agreed and will be here within the hour.”
“You really didn’t have to do that,” I reciprocated proudly. “I can show myself around.”
“Nonsense.” She dispelled my suggestion with a flip of her wrist. “There are no cars or buses here. You will need his help to get to the city.”
“I’d rather drag a razorblade across my eyeball,” I muttered.
“Also,” she ignored me and pointed at Avery, “you will now be assisting Carmen with the remaining pre-selections.”
“So she gets to go to the spa while the rest of us research blood moons and do her unfinished work?” Carmen raised a defiant eyebrow at Amphitrite.
“Exactly,” Amphitrite chirped and promptly left the room. Nothing like a little special treatment to build a cloud of resentment over the already precarious group dynamics.
Thirty minutes and three sharp-edged glares from Carmen later, I was pacing my tree house with rancid images of a smug Sebastian leading me all over Atlantis; holding his knowledge over my head like a dagger. I couldn’t think of a worse way to spend an entire day. I was an adult. I could make my own decisions. I’d already decided I didn’t trust the other girls to do adequate research on the blood moon rising, and I knew I had to find out why Stasia was repeating those words in Greek and why she was acting like this. I also had a sneaking feeling that Finn was hiding something from us.
“Screw this,” I grumbled and slipped quietly out my tree house door. With a glance up at Stasia’s house, I quickly camouflaged my appearance and with a growing feeling of freedom biting at my heels, sprinted towards the dense, shadowed forest behind the lake. The last time I’d been to the library it had been dark, but it couldn’t be that hard to find.
“Famous last words,” I snickered at my own thoughts. My lungs greedily inhaled the air washing over me as I ran through prickly undergrowth and around trees of all sizes and species. The sky above was clear and blue with a bright sun peeking through the canopy of swaying
branches above. The forest before me reached an almost magical level with countless streams of sunlight shifting and fading; creating a vibrant ambiance that would speak to anyone’s soul. The plant life and trees continued to blow in a non-existent breeze, and I sensed that everything here was more alive, more potent, and more…aware. It was as if the trees were following my every step and whispering to each other. Then another, more troubling thought entered my mind - maybe they were.
When I finally heard the exhilarating resonance of rushing water, I broke into a sprint. I fully expected to come across the same shallow field and steep canyon as we had the night before. Even if I wasn’t near the root bridge, I’d hopefully be able to see it from the trench’s edge. Unfortunately no field appeared, and the louder the water got, the more obvious it was that this river was much too close to be the same one.
A high pitched squeal echoed through the trees and my feet came to an abrupt stop to listen. When another squeal followed, I crept closer to the sound with my defenses on high alert. As the crashing of water on rocks became louder, several more shrieks reverberated throughout the forest and I saw movement off to my left. A flash of red disappeared amidst the trees, and I followed stealthily on light feet.
Still camouflaged, I continued on my hunt and saw what, or more exactly who, was making the shrill noise. Tucked into the recesses of the thick forest was a stream running over boulders and rocks alike, heading downhill; presumably on the way to the canyon river I had crossed the night before. A loud splash interrupted the cadence of the water, and I had to stop myself from laughing out loud.
I crouched down on the forgiving bank of the stream and observed the scene before me with amusement. Two little girls around the ages of four or five were playing a mean game of tag. They both had striking red hair that cascaded in effortless waves down their backs. A showering of freckles highlighted their pale noses and cheeks as the sun glinted off their bare arms and shoulders. They had both been gifted with big, arresting eyes the color of emeralds that shone with pure joy. As they splashed around in the stream, I tried to figure out what they had wrapped around their heads.
One looked to have a crudely made crown of branches set atop her head, while the other had strung together flowers, which offset her red locks perfectly. The hauled themselves up onto a boulder, but that didn’t stop one from continuing her pursuit of the other. I expected them to have bathing suits or at the very least, wet play clothes. What I hadn’t expected was the amount of bare skin that was showing. They were…completely naked. With skin as pure and white as porcelain, they jumped and splashed through the stream with ease. I looked around for the clothes they had surely discarded, but found none.
With no knowledge they had an onlooker, the girls continued playing tag and I meandered out onto a nearby rock and sat down. I hung my legs over the edge and dipped my feet into the water. The hem of my long skirt skimmed over the surface and I sighed with relief. It was cool and refreshing, and I found myself leaning back on my arms, allowing my head to drop back into the sun and closing my eyes. I listened to the girls squealing and splashing as the water energized my soul and the sun warmed my skin. Just as I had the random thought about not having sunscreen on, a shadow came over my closed eyes and I sensed a strong presence.
“Our earthly elements are a wondrous gift, indeed,” a voice reflected in Greek above me. I opened my eyes so fast I almost fell backwards, but quickly regained my balance and stood with lightning speed. Just as her gaze settled onto mine, I realized I was still camouflaged.
“You can see me?” I croaked in Greek, with a little more aggression than I meant to.
“Of course,” she mused with a bright smile. “I can see all of Earth’s creatures. Even the chameleon.”
I felt my hackles rise at the comparison I’d heard my entire life, but remained calm on the outside. I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.
“You are an outsider,” she stated as fact. I watched in awe as she walked by me gracefully, with her eyes now fixed on the two young girls playing. She was simply an older version of them. She had the same long, fire red hair, bright green eyes, and alabaster skin. She couldn’t have been much older than myself. And she was also naked. Did I stumble across a red-headed nudist colony and not realize it?
“I’m here with Anastasia,” I spoke carefully. “I’m a member of her Council.”
“Anastasia,” she repeated casually, and then peered back at me. “She is a Goddess of the sea, no?”
“Yes.” I nodded stiffly.
“And are you a Goddess of the sea as well?” The twinkle in her eye told me she was only humoring me. Her wide smile instantly calmed my nerves and I began to relax.
“Not quite,” I laughed.
“We are all Goddesses in our own right,” she proclaimed with authority.
“I like to think so.”
She turned to me and actually took my hand in hers. I wasn’t used to being touched so openly, especially by a naked woman I didn’t know. I instinctively tried to move away. She simply stepped with me and clasped my hand harder. A small red stone strung around her neck on a small, thin rope caught my eye before she spoke.
“Come,” she instructed simply. “I’d like for you to meet my daughters.”
She led me down the muddy bank and toward the two little girls, who immediately noticed their mother and came running. I had already peeled away my camouflage, and suddenly felt very out of place. The woman and her two daughters oozed nature and an inherent reverence for the earth. The white of my clothes seemed blindingly inappropriate in their presence.
“My name is Maera,” she introduced politely. “And these are my daughters Eva-“
“And Chara!” One of the girls jumped in front of her mother and curtsied to me, making her sister Eva giggle.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” I curtsied back to Chara with a smile. “My name is Olivia.”
“Have you come to play with us?” she asked me in Greek. The genuine excitement shining on her face made me want to say yes. She jumped up and down until I finally answered.
“I’m afraid I can’t stay,” I declined gently, and watched their beautiful faces fall with a heavy heart. “I have something very important to take care of.”
“Can we come?” Eva piped up behind Chara. Maera chuckled and sent me an apologetic smile.
“I’m certain Olivia will get along just fine without you two tagging along, talking to every tree you pass and gathering animals to bring home to dinner.” She shook her head at them lovingly. I tried to tell myself she was speaking metaphorically, but I had a bad feeling she wasn’t.
“I really appreciate your offer,” I told Chara formally and knelt down to speak to her face to face. “But sometimes there are things a girl must do on her own.”
“Why?” she asked innocently, with her head cocked to the side.
“To prove to herself that she can,” I answered simply. She watched me intently and then her eyes lit up.
“Like when I killed a rabbit for the first time?” she leaned in closer to me. “I was really scared but I wanted to show myself I could do it! The rabbit wasn’t sad, either. She understood.”
I stared at her for a moment too long and realized I needed to say something. “That’s right,” I confirmed. “We never know what we’re capable of if we never take risks.”
“Olivia, will you be my friend?” she asked plainly, and I heard Maera giggle. “I can show you how to kill a rabbit! I bet you could do it, too.”
“I would love to be your friend.” I smiled at her. “But right now I have to get going, okay?”
“Promise you’ll visit?” she pleaded with hopeful eyes. “We live in the city-”
“Chara, your new friend needs to be on her way,” Meara prompted her daughter. “Tell her goodbye and take your sister to get washed off in the stream.”
“Yes, Mother. Bye Olivia!” Chara bounced away with her sister in tow.
“I wish yo
u well,” Maera placed a loving hand on my shoulder. “If you need anything, we live in the city. We are a tightly knit community. Simply tell someone you are looking for Maera – they will point you in the direction of our home.”
“Thank you so much, Maera.” I stepped over the boulders to cross the stream.
“And Olivia,” she called out as I made it to the other side. I turned at her voice. “If you get lost, ask the trees. They’ll tell you where to go.”
With that, she turned and joined her daughters in the water. Just when I had started to think she was perfectly normal! Well, as normal as a woman walking around naked in the wilderness could be.
I jogged for several miles before coming to the field I had been searching for. Ahead and to my left was the root bridge we’d crossed the night before, and my heart rate spiked with excitement. I smiled and began walking towards it, feeling proud of myself. Unfortunately, as I drew closer a figure became visible. Leaning against one of the large rubber trees that provided the roots for the bridge, he watched me approach. I slowed my walk but didn’t stop.
“Ah…vraziliániki̱ omorfiá mou.” His blue eyes twinkled and he crossed his arms. “Must you always do things the hard way?’
Chapter 26
Finn
“So what’s the plan, bossman?”
Ricker kicked his feet up on the rustic coffee table of the tree house and raised an eyebrow at me. I strode by and swept his feet off the table with my hand. As to be expected, he put them right back up there once I was past. He, Ian, my lead Paradigm Sean, and Liam had gathered at my appointed tree house. Ricker, Ian, and Sean would be staying with me for the remainder of our stay on Atlantis, while Liam was given his own to share with several of his closest Tritons. Thankfully my house was only a couple down from Stasia’s.
“Yeah, we need to find Menoetius and send his ass back to Tribeca where he belongs,” Ian announced from the kitchen. He closed the fridge and tossed a Red Bull to Ricker before downing his own in one sip.
“I say we send Luna back there with him,” Sean agreed from an arm chair. “It’s not like anybody’s going to miss her.”
