Joined (The Secret World Of Atlantis 4)

Chapter 11 - Guesses And Meanings

Our way back to the Palace is much more cheerful and way louder than when we were leaving it. Flora survived! How can we not be happy? Despite Zara getting away, I can’t help but smile. Thank you, Aphrodite and Apollo, I think, gazing up into the gray winter sky.

For a moment, it seems as if the clouds wink back at me, but the moment I close my eyes and open the again, they all seem pretty ordinary. Huh. How strange.

I can tell my cousins and Elena all want to ask me about many things, that were out of the ordinary with me today. I am of course talking about my wings and also my newfound odd powers, that don’t have anything to do with our elementary magic. To be honest, I am absolutely terrified to even think about it. But none of them speak up. It’s like they’re waiting for me to tell them myself.

However, I don’t intend to do that. At least not just yet. My family will probably be asking about it too, so I’ll simply tell them when they are all gathered together. I am not in the mood to be repeating all of this twice, because I don’t even know how I am going to explain it the first time.

Arya, I hate to break this to you, again, but you are worrying too much. Again, Eros remarks inside my head, making sure to emphasize the word ‘again’. Like I don’t know that myself.

I can’t not worry. Look what is happening when I worry, imagine how disastrous things would turn, if I stopped worrying, I disagree, making him send me a dark gaze. I know he doesn’t like it when I brood. Especially since he can hear every single thing going on inside my head. Talk about the downsides of being bonded.

Hey, stop saying that. There is no downside to being bonded, period. I only want the best for you because I care about you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say anything. Would you rather see that happen? he wants to know, making something twist inside my gut.

No, of course not, I respond, trying to ignore the tension inside my stomach. I don’t like it when we talk like that. Eros furrows his eyebrows, before relaxing his face.

I don’t mean anything bad with saying this, love. I simply don’t want you to overthink things. It won’t do you anything good, as I’ve already said numerous times before, he adds softly, offering me a small smile.

I let out a barely audible sigh, returning the smile at him. It’s about time I start listening to you, isn’t it? I ask, making his expression turn amused.

Oh, you think so? he remarks in a sarcastic tone, and I punch his shoulder playfully.

“Are you guys at it again?” Elena calls out, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. I frown. Seriously, how does she do this all the time?

“Nope,” I respond, trying to sound as unbothered as possible. But she turns around, smirking at us knowingly, then directs her gaze back forward without saying a word.

It’s creepy how intuitive she can be, I say, directing my words at Eros. He raises an eyebrow in an annoyed way.

You think? Try living with her your whole life, he remarks, making my lips curl up in amusement.

But the moment we step through the entrance of the Palace, I’m not in the mood for smiling anymore. Even if Flora did pull through, I have a feeling she barely made it. We walk towards the emergency room she was taken to, but it’s closed. Right. She is supposed to be resting. Undisturbed.

“His Majesty is requesting your presence in the Main lounge room beside the library,” a servant suddenly speaks up behind us, making me jump in surprise. He bows deeply, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, My Princess, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says.

“No worries, I just didn’t hear you coming. Thank you for delivering the message,” I tell him. He straightens up, nodding at me, before turning on his heel and leaving us alone on the hallway.

Emilia sighs, as she turns to me and Eros. “I’ll see you guys later, I guess?” she retorts, but I shake my head in response. She seems taken aback by my reaction, but I soon explain what I meant with it.

“No, you’re coming with us. You deserve some explanations too. Even if I don’t have many up my sleeve,” I say, making her smile at me brightly.

As we step into the Main lounge room, I notice everyone is present to listen to this conversation. My father, grandparents, aunt and uncle, and even Nahuel. He seems the most shaken, like he can barely believe that he has just witnessed all this. And to top it all off, he looks sober like he hasn’t been in a long time.

“Sit, children. I’m sure you’re exhausted from all the fighting you’ve done today,” father tells us, gesturing towards the big sofa beside him. We all squeeze ourselves onto it, smiling at him.

“So … Is Flora truly alright?” I ask immediately, glancing at her parents for a moment, before turning my gaze back to my father. But instead of him, someone else answers.

“She is. It started off really badly, but the healers managed to clean the wound and apply the antidote for the werewolf poison and then the healing concoction. At first it didn’t seem to look well, but she soon started to get better. She even spoke to us briefly in the end,” my grandfather explains, making me smile in relief.

“That is the best news I could possibly hear today,” I say, sighing as I realize so much bad has happened in one single day. From realizing we were right that the prophecy was talking about a war, to Zara escaping, sealing the portal, and then Flora getting bitten.

“I agree with you, but now it’s time for you to share some news of your own. I believe all of us here would love to know what happened to your wings. Since when are they golden?” father wants to know, confusion written all over his face. Uncle Kaspar seems to be extremely interested in that, because his eyes gleam with curiosity the moment father mentions my wings.

I sigh, realizing it’s no use hiding the truth from them. But before I even get the chance to speak up, I sense Eros getting tense beside me, nervous waves rushing off him, so I wait a little, pretending like I’m contemplating what to say.

Please don’t say anything about Aphrodite visiting you. You can’t do that without revealing my true identity and I’m not ready for them to know, he pleads me. I don’t look at him, but I straighten up, bumping into him softly, to reassure him.

I won’t, don’t worry. And thank you for reminding me of it in the right time, I tell him, before taking a deep breath to speak up. This time, out loud.

“Well, my wings regrew, when we were in Gunguru. I got a fever on the day we left Dairelis and slept throughout half of the day and the whole night. I was in quite a lot of pain. I went to the bathroom the next morning and felt something inside me trying to get out. My back hurt so much, that I had to bite my fist, so I wouldn’t scream. It felt … It felt like they were getting torn off all over again. When they finally came out, they were all covered in blood, so I had to wash them first. But they already felt a bit bigger, than I remembered them. Then, I also realized that they changed colour and I still have no idea how that happened or why they are golden,” I explain, making everyone seem a bit disappointed. I suppose they were expecting some sort of big revelation of how I was enlightened by the Gods and earned myself the golden colour of my wings.

“You truly have no idea what that means? I mean, it seem pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Your wings are different because you’re bonded to Eros. Clearly, the colour of his wings somehow jumped on yours. It’s the only thing that makes sense, at least,” Elena remarks, making me send her a thoughtful look. Ah, if only she knew. But what am I supposed to say to her? No, actually, his Goddess mother gifted me golden wings, because she had a bad conscience about taking away our bond. I can’t believe how lunatic can one sound even in a magical world. I mean, is this a joke or something?

I can sense a wave of amusement coming from Eros at my inner monologue, and I can tell he is barely containing his laughter. But honestly, he is doing a darn well job hiding it. His face is completely blank.

Oh, right. Elena. I turn to her with a thoughtful expression on my face, shrugging in response. “I don’t know. It does make sense, but we can’t know this is it for sure, can we?” I say, trying to avoid further discussing this topic.

Luckily, father is now only interested in what went wrong with Zara, so I start explaining how things went on. I tell them about reaching the archway and how Flora wanted to take her out all on her own. How we jumped to her aid and fought like crazy, but we still turned out useless against her. I even reveal that I saw her smirking at me, as I was trying to prevent her from going into the portal. I let out the part, where I banged my fists against the wall Zara left behind and injured myself. They don’t need to know that. Luckily, none of the witnesses intervene to mention that detail.

I then explain how Silver told me about the possibility of merging magic powers and how we managed to put our own seal over the portal, so Zara couldn’t come through it. When I get to the part, where we got attacked, I can’t help but feel uneasy at the memory of that. I quickly explain how Flora got bitten, trying not to drag that part out, so I wouldn’t make everyone feel uneasy. I even mention that I wiped all the werewolves out with some sort of weird electricity magic, making everyone seem confused.

“So, you don’t know how you did that?” Demitri asks, looking completely stunned. “It looked like that kind of magic requires serious dedication and skills. I thought I was something you mastered in the time you were kept as Teivel’s prisoner, not that those powers simply popped out at a convenient time,” he continues, barely believing that I have no idea how I’ve done that.

“Well, it wasn’t that good. Just a little odd, because it felt so different compared to my usual powers,” I turn him down, but despite keeping quiet, I can tell he disagrees with me.

“You know … I shouldn’t have let you kids go after her like that,” father then begins, shaking his head at himself as he stares somewhere into the ground. “Even worse things could have happened to you … But the prophecy is real … That is clear now. ‘When the snake avoids the dark’. Zara was the snake, but she didn’t escape death, like we predicted she would. She escaped prison,” he continues, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Hold on, what prophecy? What are you talking about?” uncle Kaspar wants to know. I glance at him, noticing the confusion written all over his face. Father glances at him for a brief moment, before turning back to me.

“I’ll tell you about it later, brother. Now, I believe a thanks are in order. I think Arya just bought us some time with her quick thinking. Since you kids put your own seal onto the portal, there’s no way Zara will be able to bring Teivel through it. Good job,” he declares, watching me with a hint of pride in his eyes.

That’s when Nahuel speaks up, suddenly getting an idea. “If you need time, why not seal the other portals the same way? Considering there are other portals in Atlantis,” he remarks, making us all look at him in wonder. Well, well. Who would have thought he would come up with something so … Brilliant, actually?

“Now that would be helpful,” uncle Kaspar supports him, turning to us with a suggestive expression on his face. I share a look with father, then with Eros, Elena and even Demitri and Emilia. There is Flora missing from the group, but the five of us could still manage to put a strong enough seal on a portal, if we joined forces once again.

“You know, I agree with you, Nahuel, but I don’t want to send the kids into any more danger,” father says, almost making me roll my eyes. I place my hand on his shoulder, making him look at me in surprise.

“We will go. If this is the way we help, then help we will,” I tell him, glancing at everyone seated on the sofa. They all nod in agreement, determined looks on their faces. I turn back to father with a triumphant smile on my face. “See? Not a problem at all,” I add, making him sigh.

He watches us for a long moment, before waving his hand at us dismissively. “Fine, fine. But you aren’t going anywhere else but to your rooms now. You’ve done more than enough for one day and I’m sure you’re exhausted,” he states, glancing between the five of us with a knowing gaze.

I force myself to stiffen a yawn in order not to have him drag us to our beds himself, but I guess I can’t protest. I am exhausted. And hungry, since we missed lunch to deal with Zara.

Father smiles at us, saying: “I think we’ve earned ourselves that lunch by now, haven’t we?”