by Kristen Day
It led me through a daunting maze of caverns, which eventually narrowed into one of the rivers feeding the inner recesses of the island itself. With only the sparse images I’d seen in my vision I was definitely ill-equipped, but there was one important tool I had going for me. Our bond. Her essence was surprisingly easy to sense amidst the muddy, earthly energy radiating from Atlantis. Or maybe I was so attuned to her, my mind had perfected the task of seeking her out. I only hoped I wasn’t too late.
I fought to reach her with my thoughts again and again, but continued to hit a road block every time. It was as if she’d secured the shutters of her thoughts and locked the doors to her mind. With only her presence leading me, I followed it as I swam through the thin ribbon of water careening against the crevice walls on either side of me. When I finally sensed her high above, I swam over to the wall and secured myself with a rock handhold.
I registered her essence strengthen suddenly and glanced upwards. I could just make out a slight movement on the edge up above, so I dove back into the water at my back. I’d seen her body falling toward the water in my vision, but only caught a fleeting glance of the person who pushed her. Unfortunately my visions had gotten more erratic lately, and I had trouble putting the pieces together afterwards. A flash of light caught my attention and a dark speck appeared backlit by the moon above. Stasia.
I hadn’t even thought about what I planned on doing once I got to this spot, considering I’d been so focused on just getting there. But now that I was there, I had to figure it out fast. As I examined each possibility, I felt a shift in the water. It began spinning on its own and quickly created a powerful whirlpool, and I was right in the middle of it. I darted to the side as it increased in speed and intensity. The wind suddenly picked up as well, and the cliff I held onto began to tremble.
I glanced up at Stasia’s body as it grew closer by the second. I dove back into the water with every intention of pushing off the bottom, and then shooting upward to intercept her body to soften her landing, but the water had its own agenda. I was sucked in no matter how much I tried to control the water, and only caught glimpses of what was happening. As if it was an upside down waterspout, the swirling water began to climb skyward. It boiled with anticipation as it gained momentum and pulled more and more water within its core.
My heart stopped when I saw Stasia’s body hit the top of the swirling mass and it swallowed her whole. I fought to kick upward, but was made dizzy by the swirling current. I felt a slight falling sensation and suddenly everything went completely still. Amongst the rocks, sand and bubbles I saw a piece of white fabric and raced towards it. As I neared her, time slowed and my eyes took in the frightening scene draped in beauty before me.
The ghostly folds of her dress blew around her as she sank in slow motion. The moonlight filtered through the water and danced across her gossamer hair while her eyes remained closed. The water muted all sound and she gradually drifted down to the bottom of the riverbed. She reminded me of an angel – beautiful, dangerous, and ethereal. I swam after her, cradled her in my arms and tried to wake her.
“Pasha,” I whispered in her ear. “Wake up, Pasha.”
Ever so slowly, her sparkling eyes opened and searched my face intently. After a long, silent moment, I wasn’t sure if she was actually seeing me. Her gaze appeared to settle behind me, as if she was looking through me. Finally, she took a breath of water and winced.
“It’s alright, you’re going to be alright,” I comforted her.
She didn’t speak or acknowledge me, she just simply reclosed her eyes and folded into me like a child. I held her close and kicked to the surface once more. I needed to get her back on solid ground and find Avery to see if she could help. I laid her on a nearby boulder as I lifted myself up and glanced at the huge cliff towering above me. Too bad there wasn’t an elevator or staircase to the top. That would have been ideal, considering the last time I checked, I wasn’t Spiderman.
Not a moment after I thought it, the wall trembled, groaned and began to shift above me. I stood back while jagged slabs of rock thrust out from the steep cliff. One by one, the jagged extensions created a diagonal path all the way back to the top. Instead of questioning the why or how, I decided not to waste any time as I collected Stasia and scaled each step; climbing higher and higher. The water below rushed past and a cool breeze dried our clothes. Unfortunately, one false step and we’d both be crippled at the bottom of the river. Laying on a riverbed for days on end while my body healed itself wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, so I made sure that something solid was beneath each foot before putting all of my weight and Stasia’s on it.
The higher I got, the more I heard angry voices rising into the night air. The negative energy pulsing from their essences boiled over the precipice and over my body. I shook my head and sighed with disappointment.
“Let go of me!” a girl screeched. It sounded like Olivia. “I have to go after her!”
“She’s immortal,” a male voice responded plainly. “She can’t die. You can!”
“I don’t care!” the girl cried out again. “She’s my Elysian! My responsibility!”
“Olivia, stop!” I recognized Phoebe’s voice amidst the others. “You’ll never survive the fall!”
“Be my guest,” the male approved. “Jump to your death. That’ll go a long way in helping her.”
“Stop fighting!” I heard another voice. Carmen.
“No, stop!” Phoebe again.
Just when I reached the top, I noticed a red-faced Olivia running straight towards me in a full sprint. She saw me at the last second, but was unable to stop in time. Her inertia kept her going forward and over the cliff. I shifted Stasia in my arms, but not in time to grab her. I saw the raw fear in her dark brown eyes as her body tumbled past me and into open air.
In a flash, the guy she was arguing with appeared beside me and caught one of Olivia’s slender arms; preventing her from falling to her death. Before I could lay Stasia down and turn around, he had already lifted a very shaky Olivia back onto solid ground.
“Oh my God!” Carmen and Phoebe rushed to her side and helped her walk a couple feet before lowering her on the dirt and turning to Stasia’s unmoving form. Avery was already leaning over Stasia working her magic; allowing me a moment to gather my thoughts, and for my instincts to catch up with my head. I met the steely gaze of the blonde haired bastard who had tossed my Goddess off the cliff, and everything inside me screamed to rip him apart.
Without a word, I rose to my feet and strode in his direction to make sure he knew exactly what was coming. Surprisingly, he stood his ground and held my eyes with confidence. I wrapped a hand around his neck and lifted him from the ground with one arm.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw you off this cliff,” I growled at him. I felt my darkness thicken and turn into molten rage.
“Finn, no!” I heard Phoebe call out, but my mind was only focused on the sack of bones dangling in front of me and the irresistible urge to kill him.
“You’re Finn Morrison,” he stated with extreme calm for someone who was about to die. “Leader of the Sons.”
“And you’re about to be dead,” I threatened and walked up to the edge.
“Wait! I made sure the water caught her! And the stairs…” he choked out. “I would never hurt her!” Caught off guard by his sudden change in demeanor, I hesitated briefly.
“Don’t hurt him, Finn,” a voice said calmly in my ear, and I almost dropped him accidentally. Amphitrite. “Put him down.”
“You harm her again and I will end you,” I snarled at him in a low voice. “Is that clear?”
“Clear,” he nodded and struggled to swallow. I slowly swung him back around and lowered him to his feet, but the scorching anger shooting through me was still trying to convince me to kill him. It was in my DNA – I was wired to protect her. I watched him tensely as he rubbed his neck and turned to check on Olivia.
“Finn,” Amphitrite touched m
y arm gently. “Calm down, dear. It’s alright.”
“You’re right. I’m here now,” I agreed stiffly, and forced myself to concentrate on Avery as she ran her hands over Stasia again. “And if anybody so much as looks at her wrong, I’ll slaughter ‘em.”
Chapter 24
Olivia
The next morning, a mysteriously prepared breakfast awaited me on the kitchen table of my tree house. After searching the house for unwanted visitors and coming up empty, I decided to call the other girls and see if they’d woken up to something similar. Thankfully they had discovered a spread of food on their own tables as well, so I sat down to eat. It was too bad I didn’t have Sebastian here to taste the food first in case it was poisoned. As soon as I thought it, I scolded myself for ever thinking I wanted Sebastian anywhere near me. A plate full of figs, dates and grapes sat next to a soft boiled egg sitting precariously in a holder. Another small plate presented several bran muffins and some sort of brown spread that looked like honey.
Surprisingly hungry, I devoured everything on the table and quickly showered before meeting the other girls on my porch to head up and check on Stasia.
“How is she?” I asked.
“See for yourself.” Finn frowned and opened the door for me to enter Stasia’s tree house. “Don’t be alarmed. We’ve had to restrain her.”
“Restrain her?” Avery gasped. Her light blue eyes dripped with concern and she began to bite her fingernails.
“Why?” Carmen prompted with shock. Phoebe remained quiet, but I could tell by the chunk of skin she was biting off of her lip that she was worried. We all fell silent as our eyes found Stasia in the bedroom. She was lying on the bed and looked to be sleeping, while Amphitrite lounged on the bed next to her; reading. She looked up at our entrance.
“Good morning, girls!” She smiled at us and carefully set the book down on the bedside table. I attempted to read the title, but it had been rubbed almost clean – along with the leather binding. She was apparently a fan of the classics - the original versions.
“What’s wrong with her?” Avery asked Amphitrite delicately.
“We aren’t sure,” Amphitrite sighed. “She’s still herself, just a little more…aggressive. She may be coming down with something.”
“I thought she couldn’t get sick?” Phoebe probed.
“She immortal, not immune.” Amphitrite grinned at her with understanding. “Which could also explain her bad mood.”
“Bad mood is an understatement,” Carmen muttered, but didn’t hide her irritation. “She got pissed off when we found her and made sure we knew she was ‘busy’.”
“That sounds about right.” Amphitrite grinned and looked over at Stasia lovingly. “We’ve put her under, but she keeps mumbling things in Greek. I wasn’t aware that she knew Greek.”
“She doesn’t,” Finn answered flatly from the doorway. “Which is what I need to talk to everyone about.” He motioned for us to follow him back into the living room. Avery, Carmen and Phoebe began to file out of the room, but I couldn’t stop myself from walking over to where Stasia was lying motionless on the bed. I brushed the hair back from her face and remembered the sight of Sebastian’s energy tossing her off the edge of the cliff.
She’d hit us with her own dose of energy, knocking the wind out of me and bruising half of my body. But I’d seen what transpired between her and Sebastian. I’d seen the anger in her eyes. But that didn’t give Sebastian the right… I pushed all thoughts of him out of my mind. My feelings on him were so conflicted I was in danger of getting a hernia. I focused my attention back on the Goddess lying before me. She was so strong in every way, yet vulnerable at the same time. Without warning, I felt the utter helplessness I had experienced when she fell out of sight into the darkness of the crevice.
“Stop beating yourself up, Olivia.” Amphitrite placed a caring hand on my shoulder and my head dropped forward in shame. “She is safe. Don’t dwell on what-could-have-beens.It’s not good for your essence’s charge.”
I peered up at her with surprise. Did she know what I was? I decided I didn’t care. She was exactly what I needed at that very moment. Her easy demeanor was like a cold glass of water on a hot summer’s day. With a single look, she could make you feel like the problems you’d been carrying around were just that - problems and nothing more.
“My essence’s charge?” I probed.
“Paladins have great ability,” she explained in a low voice. “But it must be channeled. You must control it. Only then will you be able to protect her. It will come in time.”
“I don’t have the luxury of time,” I groaned. “And neither does she. What if she would have-” Amphitrite chuckled lightly and took my hands in hers as she turned me around to face her.
“She is not nearly as fragile as you think she is.” She smiled widely at me. “She is immortal, dear.”
“I know; that’s the problem,” I whispered. I glanced up into her warm gaze and felt the truth pushing its way out. “How is it my responsibility to protect her when I’m so much weaker, and…horribly mortal? If I’m really connected to her, why have I not transformed completely?”
“Has your mother not explained to you how this works?”
“Of course she has,” I said. “Once the connection has been made, I will transform and my full Paladin power will be realized; making me Stasia’s protector for as long as she lives. When she dies, I’ll become mortal again and begin to age.”
“A connection requires both parties.” She focused on me and chose her words carefully. “You must tell her, Olivia.”
“How’d you know…?” I began. A cough wracked my body and I winced at a sharp pain creeping up my abdomen.
“I’ve been around a very long time.” She winked at me. “I’ve seen a few things. And I know your mother very well. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to wipe away Paladin tears.”
“I’ll be sure to remind her of that the next time I talk to her.” I laughed through the film of tears that threatened to appear.
“You need to take some time for yourself. You deserve it,” she instructed. “Finn and I will care for Stasia. She’s in good hands.”
“I don’t need a break,” I argued valiantly. “She doesn’t get one. Neither should I.”
“Unfortunately you don’t have a say in the matter.” She raised her eyebrows. “You are to stay away from here for twenty-four hours. I’ll have a guard set up at the door to make sure you stay away if necessary. You are no good to Stasia unless you take care of yourself first. There will be no exception.”
“Sometime this century…!” Carmen called from the living room. I glanced back at Stasia one more time before joining the others. They looked up at us curiously, but had the courtesy to not ask any questions. Amphitrite whispered something to Avery, who immediately plopped down beside me with a warm smile. Before I could protest, I felt the tingle of her healing hands on mine as her energy soothed the bruises and the pain in my stomach. I sighed and leaned back to rest as she let go and met Finn’s gaze to let him know she was done. He began to pace back and forth across the living room.
“Did you guys see anyone with Stasia last night?”
“She told us she was going to bed,” Phoebe answered, and glanced at Avery for back up if necessary. “We even watched her go into her house.”
“We didn’t know anything was wrong until we heard Olivia.” Avery continued for her. Finn looked at me expectantly. I motioned toward Carmen and explained.
“We were working on pre-selections for the Games in some underground library with Sebastian.” I suddenly realized I would have to come clean. “That’s when my hand started itching.” They all stared at me for a moment until Carmen spoke.
“And glowing.” She raised her eyebrows at me to continue. I sighed.
“And glowing,” I repeated blandly. Sensing their hope of seeing the evidence, I opened my palm and held it up for everyone to see. “Stasia’s my Elysian.”
“Your�
��what?” Phoebe squinted at my hand from across the room.
“Elysian,” I confirmed. “My trace itches and burns when she’s in trouble. It’s how I find her.” I was painfully aware of how much I sounded like a bad Scooby Doo cartoon, but it was too late now. The Scooby snacks were out of the bag…as it were.
“I thought you were a descendant of Calypso?” Avery scratched her head in thought.
“I am,” I explained and then glanced at Amphitrite, but she was no help. She just smiled at me encouragingly. The last thing I wanted to do right now was spell out who I was for them, because it would only be a matter of time before they connected the dots and realized I was an embarrassment to my ancestors. I sighed, but before I could continue my less-than-forthcoming explanation, Avery must have remembered something.
“You’re a Paladin!?” Avery gasped with wide eyes. “That’s so awesome!”
“‘Awesome’ wouldn’t be the way I’d describe it…” I mumbled.
“That’s exactly what it is! Which is why you were chosen as her Warrior!” She bounced in her chair excitedly and then tapped her chin. “This makes so much more sense now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I knew there had to be some other reason! I mean, she certainly didn’t pick you for your cheery personality.” Avery shrugged innocently. I heard Carmen snort and my face broke into a smile without me remembering to tell it to. Something about Avery’s total fascination with everything was endearing.
“What ever do you mean? I’m a regular freakin’ bowl of sunshine sprinkled with rainbows and unicorns.” That comment even made Amphitrite and Finn crack a smile, and I felt my heart thaw.
“So anyway,” Avery continued for me with enthusiasm. “Her Elysian, which is the God or Goddess she’s assigned to protect, is appointed to her when she’s born. She doesn’t get to choose that, and neither does the God or Goddess she protects!”
“You should really show a little more excitement every once in a while.” Phoebe giggled at her.