Supernatural Academy: Year Three

by Eve, Jaymin

  “I’m guessing it separated us by race and power,” Asher said, eyes tight. “They kept us together because of our energy. Brax and Maximus for the same reason. And Rayge, he’s not one easily classified, and I’m guessing that wherever he’s going, it’s probably a place that very few venture.”

  This was all great, except we were losing track of the reason for being down here.

  “I need to get to the Hellbringers,” I reminded Asher. “Those guys will find their mates, I’m sure. Their determination was spectacularly obvious. So, for now, let’s not worry about them. We have a job to do, Asher Locke. We cannot let the gods destroy the world.”

  The golden glow of his magic hit me in the face. “Why does it always have to be you?” he growled. “Every single fucking time we deal with this shit, you’re the one who has to step up and take the hit.”

  I laced my fingers with his, and we moved toward each other, as much as we could in this bullet of a bubble. “It’s not always me. It was you once, and then it was Axl. I have been hovering in the background not doing all the things I should be. We’ve run out of time. I can’t procrastinate any longer. I have to step up and do what I was born to do.”

  “All of us, Maddison. All of us can control the Hellbringers.”

  I wanted so badly to keep Asher and Connor out of it. Asher because I loved him, and would not risk him, and Connor because I didn’t trust him. There was no lie in what Asher said though.

  “Yeah, and there’s a lingering worry inside of me, because everyone kept harping on about how we have to work together. I wonder if we will fail once more because we didn’t force a true and strong bond with Connor.”

  I admitted it out loud, because he was already hearing it in my thoughts.

  I breathed out my frustration. “Connor should be here.”

  Our bubble was starting to slow, more light filtering through the water around us.

  Asher spoke quickly, since we appeared to have reached our destination. “Let’s just take it all one step at a time. Firstly, we’ll find out where we are. Secondly, find out how to reach the Hellbringers. And thirdly, figure out if it will require all three of us to control them. Connor lost our trust. This is on him, not you, and I find it hard to believe that we need him to take out the gods. We’ve done everything without him so far, and we’re all much stronger since Sonaris. We can do this.”

  I nodded, desperately hoping he was right.

  The bubble was all but stopped, and for the first time the water filled with an abundance of light and sea creatures. Creatures I could see through as they moved…

  “Souls,” Asher said. “These are the souls of animals.”

  I swallowed hard. “How … how many animals have died through the years? It must be billions and billions. Surely they couldn’t all be here?”

  Asher looked around, taking in as much as he could. “It won’t work the same way as when they’re alive. They’re not fighting for space or food or territory here, they’re just existing. Here, everything fits and works. This is not the physical plane you’re used to, this is the spiritual plane.”

  “Would all the dogs, cats, birds … all the pets be here somewhere?” The light fairy had said they were, but I hadn’t really paid attention to her then. Seeing the animals was … a lot.

  Asher nodded. “Could there be a peaceful afterlife without our most loyal companions?”

  “Absolutely not,” I said with resolve, thinking about the few animals I’d loved in my life. A small mangy dog I’d fed from my own meagre portions. Tom. He’d been brown and white, his fur matted, and one leg damaged so he always limped. He’d been my only friend for three years, but then, one day … he just stopped coming around.

  I’d cried for weeks, because I’d never known such unconditional love. I’d never known any love. But Tom, he got me through more than one tough day.

  Then there was a tortoiseshell cat that arrived in my life a few years later. Mystique. She was not as friendly as Tom, or as cuddly, but she was loyal. She always came back to me. Until she didn’t.

  It was a harsh world, and I figured that both died on the very streets they lived. They’d been gifts wrapped in matted fur, giving me so much love and joy.

  Knowing they might be here somewhere had my heart hurting and soaring in unison. A small glimpse of what Asher might have been feeling before.

  Our bubble rose to the surface, blue water around us and aquamarine skies above. More lands came into view as we were released onto a small island. There were lots of islands scattered about, and so much water. It spanned as far as the eye could see; everything looked like a beach paradise.

  “How is it that they haven’t noticed we’re alive?” I asked, looking around. There wasn’t another “soul” in sight.

  “Because this land sees only your energy … your soul.”

  The disembodied voice came from somewhere above us, like a narrator to our story.

  “The vessel is not important. It is all that dies. The soul … lives forever.”

  The voice faded and I blinked at Asher.

  “Ask it another question,” he suggested, looking around. He was tense, but no one would know that unless they were in our mate bond. His face was calm and confident.

  “Where are all the other souls that are part of this land?”

  The energy returned. “They are here. This specific island is yours for the rest of your peaceful afterlife, but if you seek the energy of others, please, step off your land and you will be rewarded.”

  This was just getting weird, and we didn’t have time to indulge no “voice in the sky,” but I also couldn’t stop from wondering who else would be here in this land.

  “We should step off,” I decided.

  Asher looked at me a like I might have fallen and hit my head too hard, but he didn’t argue. He was learning to trust my instincts, just as I was, and right now my power was urging me to find the others. He stayed close, watching my back, as we walked to the edge of the island. The water looked so damn inviting, but I ignored the call.

  “Our afterlife narrator said to step off,” I said with a shrug, and I did just that.

  My foot remained steady on top of the water, like it was solid ground. “Can I not enter the water?”

  A small surge of energy and the voice was back. “You can if you want to. We know your wants. We respond to them.”

  “This narrator is pretty useful,” Asher remarked in a dry tone. “I mean, who wouldn’t want an all-knowing Google in the sky.”

  I thought up the millions of questions I’d want answered, wishing there was time to voice them all. Stepping again, we all but glided across the surface of the water, moving to the next island. The second I tried to enter it, though, a gentle force repelled me back.

  Underworld Google was back. “You cannot enter private property without permission. Please have the inhabitants add you to their accepted list. Otherwise, please make your way to the central meeting place for interaction.”

  The central meeting place.

  “That’s what we need,” I murmured. “A meeting place.”

  The water lit up beneath my feet, a glowing path that dotted its way in the opposite direction of this island. “Looks like it wants us to follow,” Asher noted, both of us staring at the golden glow.

  Original magic was everywhere, even here apparently.

  We wasted no time, hurrying across the path. The faster we moved, the faster the scenery blurred around us, like we were traveling at warp speed. There were countless islands, and way more off in the distance. “True mates must share an island,” I noted, and Asher went predatorially still at my side. I slowed a little, turning to see his face better. “What’s wrong?” I looked around, because generally that reaction meant danger was close.

  “The thought of our deaths…” His hands clenched. “I’m not dealing so well after losing you in our bond.”

  I understood more than I wished I did. “Yeah, I feel the same. But at leas
t we know that when we both die, we’ll be together.”

  His chest rumbled, jaw working as he fought for words. “I have no real response to that, other than … let’s not test the theory anytime soon.”

  Reaching up, I cupped his face in my hand, holding the dearest thing in my life. “That’s fine by me, Ash. I have too much living to do with you.”

  He kissed me, fast and hard, because that’s all we had time for, but my body responded anyway. One day we wouldn’t be rushing sex and quality time together in lieu of saving the fucking world. One day. I had to believe we’d earned that much at least.

  Since it wasn’t today, though, we set off again at that running pace, following the path that never wavered. The central island came into view about twenty minutes later and I blinked at how fucking huge it was. The largest island I’d ever seen, on television or in real life.

  The moment we stepped onto the sand, the yellow path faded, and with a pop, like a bubble bursting, sound slammed into us hard and fast. It was overwhelming after so much silence.

  “Guess we should explore this meeting place,” Asher suggested, taking my hand. Urgency hit me deep inside, spurring my steps on. Asher was feeling it too, the sensation intensifying in our bond.

  Whatever we were about to find … there was a chance it could change our lives.

  Chapter 28

  The noise level didn’t grow louder as we moved closer. This land didn’t work on the same principles as the living realm. The noise remained consistent, but we still knew where to go.

  Asher shook his head. “My energy is uneasy with how unnatural it feels here. Normally, if things were this easy, we’d be two fucking steps from an ambush. The underworld is messing with my senses.”

  “Right?” I shook my head. “It’s freaking me out. I’m hoping in death this seems much more normal.”

  He didn’t have time to chastise me over my morbid obsession with our deaths—come on, when does anyone ever have the chance to experience the afterlife before they die? To know that there was this kind of paradise waiting on the other side for us? It was a lot for anyone to process.

  Asher grumbled but kept his thoughts to himself, and I didn’t pry into his mind.

  Especially since we had arrived at the source of the noise.

  “Holy afterlife party,” I snorted.

  There were people everywhere. I couldn’t count them all, but I would guess … tens of thousands. And like the fish and creatures in the water, there was a transparent vibe to those closest to us. They all touched each other and interacted without issue, so it must be the nature of souls in this world.

  “Some are transparent, and others aren’t,” Asher said suddenly.

  Wait … he was right. As we pushed further into the party, I saw more of the “solid” souls.

  “What does that mean?” I whispered.

  Asher, knowing as much as me, didn’t have any answers either.

  No one paid us any attention as we passed groups sprawled on the beach, playing in the sand, swimming in a small lagoon. They chatted like old friends, happy and bright. There was no sense of darkness or danger here. No sense of time or schedules. It was just … peace.

  Asher released a long drawn out sigh and I chuckled. “Keep your shorts on, dude, I’m just observing. If you don’t like the thoughts, stay out of the head.”

  He shook his head, but his lips twitched at the corners. He wasn’t as mad as he wanted me to think he was.

  Turning from him, I started to walk again, not realizing a soul had been moving closer. I bumped into it, one of the translucent ones.

  The soul jumped back. He was a male, taller than me, with young features—he looked all of fifteen. “Gah, I hate when you live-souls do that,” he said, and I blinked because he wasn’t speaking English but I understood him perfectly like he was. “Touching one of you is like walking through a freezing rainstorm.”

  Asher leaned in close. “He’s speaking ancient Atlantean,” he whispered.

  I blinked again, forcing my own smile toward the soul. “We’re kind of new here. Can you tell me why some of you … us … are transparent, and others are solid?”

  I spoke English, and he answered in his native tongue. But all of us could understand.

  Wicked cool.

  “You’re new,” a soul said, tilting his head as he observed us. There was an echoing quality to his words. “You’re one of the ones who didn’t die but were banished to these lands. There have been no new Atlanteans for longer than most of us remember…”

  It hit me the same moment Asher muttered fuck.

  Atlanteans. Our Atlanteans! This was where they were, stuck here in the underworld for thousands of years. The solid souls were our trapped people.

  My throat grew tight. More souls and Atlanteans drifted closer to us, all of them observing us with no malice. “How did you get here?” The soul was not suspicious. This world did not have any need for suspicion, but he was curious.

  I decided honesty was our ticket. “We need to find the Hellbringers, destroy the gods who are trying to destroy us, and release the Atlanteans from their prison.”

  Whatever noise had remained after my first revelation completely died away. Somehow they’d all heard me.

  Those who were solid pushed forward, and I ran my eyes over as many as I could, noting that they were dressed in what I could only guess was traditional Atlantean garb. Their clothes were natural colors, ivory and brown and white, with some splashes of cerulean and aquamarine to break it up. The women wore silk saris tied at their waists, and another strip across their breasts, the men just around their waists, and all of them were covered in the sort of ink that Asher had marked me with. So many tattoos covered their skin.

  “Who are you?” one of the women asked, her long white-blond hair falling almost to her ankles.

  Most of them had white blond hair, with just a few other shades of blond sprinkled about. How had I not noticed all of this when we first walked through?

  They were hiding their true selves. Asher said in my mind. Blending in with the dead among them.

  “My name is Maddison,” I said to the waiting Atlanteans. “I am one of the children that your last kings and queens had, one from the gods.”

  Some chatter burst through at this revelation.

  “We did not see the birth of those children,” someone said, from further back in the crowd. “Atlantis was sunk before it was possible. We were thrown into the underworld and had to fight our way to this land.”

  Looking around, I took a deep breath. “We don’t have much time, so I’m going to give you the condensed version of everything that has happened since you disappeared.”

  Asher remained silent at my side, but his support was consistent as I explained as much as I could. “It has been ten thousand years since you left—” none of them had aged a damn day in that time—“and the gods are back again, wanting to destroy the world. For good this time. They believe they can remake it, with themselves as the supreme leaders. We must stop them.”

  “How are you … so young? Where have you been for the last ten thousand years?” These questions came from another woman.

  “Atlantis sank,” I told her, “but the three god children were kept in stasis, only freed in the past twenty years. The gods were freed as well, and now they want to finish what they started.”

  I went on to explain about my parents, Asher’s parents, and how we were determined not to let them win.

  “We’re on your side. We want to free you and return you to Atlantis, your home.”

  “What if we don’t want to return to that land of the living,” a small girl asked.

  I looked down and my smile fractured … as did my heart.

  Dropping to one knee, I got down on her level, my eyes clashing with huge dark gray ones, the color reminding me of an early morning storm. She was innocent, but there was a sense of ancient energy about her as well. “Hi,” I said softly. “My name is Maddison. What’s your
s?”

  Her perfect pink lips, with a cupid bow, stretched as the smallest of smiles tilted the corners. “My name is Nameen. I’m six.”

  She was six, and she’d been six for ten thousand years. My gods.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Nameen.”

  Before I could stop her, she moved forward, and in the innocent way only a child had, wrapped her arms around me in a gentle hug. “You look like a princess,” she whispered against me, and my heart ached so hard I wondered if it was still functioning in my chest. “I love your hair.”

  Unlike the translucent soul, she felt solid, and I sucked down tears as I held on to her for a few seconds longer. Eventually, though, I had to let go.

  “I’m scared,” she said as she pulled away. “It’s safe here. Mumma talks about home, and it doesn’t sound safe there.”

  Placing a hand on her cheek, I brushed her super soft skin. “I understand, sweetheart. You have no idea how much I understand. But … wouldn’t you like a chance to grow up and experience everything life has to offer? You are not meant to be here ... this paradise is for those who have passed on.”

  She regarded me silently, and I wasn’t sure she truly comprehended what I was saying. Eventually she smiled and nodded, and I released her back to her mother, who was hovering close by.

  The silence was heavy after this, the pain palpable. Asher wrapped his hands around me, bringing me back to stand, supporting me as everything hurt in my body. This was the point the transparent souls started to drift away—this was not their business, and they had paradise to get back to.

  “We’re ready to return,” a male said, stepping forward. He was one of those who had marks across every inch of his skin. “Back to Atlantis. We will trust in your plans. The previous royals stayed behind and went down with the island. That’s why you were stuck in stasis for all those years.”

  We were finally with the very people who could tell us everything about being an Atlantean, and their final days on the island.