Betrayed (The Secret World Of Atlantis 3)

Chapter 4 - The Essence

After my visit at the stables, I don’t wait around any longer. Elena needs to hear about this. I rush towards her guest room, the Guardians hot on my heels, while I hope that she’ll be able to function at this hour.

The moment I reach her door, I knock on it impatiently, hoping that she’ll answer it in less than five minutes. I am actually quite surprised, as the door opens only a few moments later, revealing my quite misfunctioning best friend. Her face looks gray, and there are dark circles under her small eyes. It seems like it’s taking her a lot of effort to keep them open at all.

“Good morning, if I may say so,” I greet her in a friendly tone. The first thing she does is yawn in response, not even bothering to cover her mouth with her hand. It’s a good thing I’m not a snobby person.

When she’s done, she blinks a few times, like she’s trying to comprehend, what is happening. “Morning,” she then replies, before returning back into her room. I would normally have to supress a chuckle, but I don’t find her state funny at the moment. Not when I know that we’re both worrying about the same thing. Or should say the same person?

I let out a small sigh before following her inside and closing the door behind me. The Guardians are all familiar with my privacy policy, so they know better, than to follow me into Elena’s guest room. They know I’m safe with her either way. She’s trained to protect me. Although I’m not sure her skills would be useful this early in the morning. She would probably yawn at possible danger.

“Have you slept tonight at all?” I ask her worriedly, as I watch her throw herself on the bed and bury her face into the pillow. She shakes her head into it, then shrugs, then nods. In the next moment she groans and rolls herself onto her back.

“I don’t know. I did have some sleep, but not nearly enough to feel well,” she grunts in a much lower tone, that she usually has. I plop myself down next to her, and we lie there, staring at the ornaments on the ceiling for a while. “How did you sleep?” she speaks up again, making me shrug.

“I slept. I don’t know, I went to the library in the middle of the night and fell asleep on an armchair. To say my neck is killing me right now, is an understatement,” I respond, making her blink a few time in surprise.

“First, how are you able to function unrested? Second, why for the love of Olympus, would you go into the library in the middle of the night? Haven’t you had enough of it in the past couple of weeks?” she wonders, her voice slowly getting back to normal.

I look at her with a serious gaze, preparing myself to reveal what happened last evening. She needs to know about it … And what Silver told me as well. “Elena, I don’t know how you’re going to take this, but you need to know. Because I’ll need as much help as I can get with what I’m about to do.”

My best friend widens her squinted eyes in surprise, making herself look like a frog. “Stop scaring me and tell me what is happening,” she breathes out, a deep crease forming on her forehead.

I take a deep breath, forcing myself to keep my calm, before talking. “I don’t know how much you know about this, but there’s this thing, called the essence. It’s the source of a bond you share with someone, and it’s hidden deep inside one’s mind. I’m carrying two inside me, one for Silver and the other one for … For Eros,” I finally state, clenching my jaw as I force his name out of my mouth. She stares at me with a sympathetic gaze, but I can see how much she’s hurting herself.

I try to think away the pain and continue. “I can reach into their minds through the essence. I hadn’t tried it with Silver yet, but with him … That’s how I was able to figure out someone was messing around his head at the Combat Tournament. And I figured this could be my way of communicating with him, so I tried reaching into his mind yesterday, but … I hit a wall. It’s like he’s shielded himself so heavily, that I can’t even speak to him. I tried penetrating through it, but I got thrown out. I then went to the library to research what has happened and why. As you already know, I fell asleep midst everything. But anything I found until then was pretty much useless.”

“Hold up, you were trying to get into my brother’s mind, and he threw you out? That’s … That’s amazing news, isn’t it? He’s still alive!” she squeals excitedly, but her face quickly falls at my serious expression. “Isn’t he?” she adds worriedly.

“I turned to Silver this morning because I thought he might know a bit more about all of this and I was right. He did have some information for me, but you’re not going to like it … Just like I didn’t. He knew of a case, where someone was searching for their bonded, just like I am, and they hit the same wall. They were able to break through it however, but there was nothing there. Just an empty shell. They never felt their bonded dying, so they didn’t know what to think. He said that their bonded was never found … And they also never knew, whether the bonded was dead or alive,” I explain, making her widen her eyes at horror.

I look up in that moment, trying to force the tears to stay in my eyes. If I start crying now, I’ll never finish what I have to tell her. I grind my teeth together and blink away the tears furiously, before opening my mouth again. “He’s also told me, that this is only one case and that things could be much worse with Eros. He is sure, that he is held captive by Teivel and doesn’t have control over his own mind … In other words, he thinks that Teivel is the one, who built that wall, so I can’t get through it and figure out where he is.”

Elena is now gaping at me with her mouth wide open. As she composes herself, she begins shaking her head in horror. “You can’t be serious … We must find a way to help him! We can’t just let that man do whatever he pleases with him!” she squeals, tears beginning to form inside her eyes.

“That’s why I need your help. I must find a way to break through the wall around his mind, no matter how hard it might be. I can’t let Teivel break him,” I state, putting extra determination into my voice. Elena blinks a few times, trying to prevent herself from crying.

“I’m in, whatever you need. When do we start?” she asks, a crease forming between her eyebrows. I study her for a moment, before pulling myself up into a sitting position.

“How about right now?” I suggest. She mimics my movement, giving me a solemn nod in response. I knew I could rely on her. Her determination almost makes me smile. Almost. The situation is still way too serious for me to relish yet.

We head to the one place, where no one is going to disturb us. Most of the guests probably slept over last night, which is why we need to hide away from everyone. And my chambers are perfect for that. No one is going to dare to come up to disturb the Princess.

As we step into the room, I stop in my tracks. There’s a familiar girl making my bed. I can’t help but rush over to her, wrapping my arms around her. “Melite, I can’t believe you’re back!” I squeal excitedly. She lets out a silent oof, before joining in on the hug with hesitation. “Where have you been?” I ask as I pull away, staring into the eyes of my favourite maid with pure happiness.

“You’re making me blush, Princess,” she tells me shyly and I can spot that her cheeks are truly getting slightly red. “The King Regent had me brought back from my home. I was sent there by the former King and Queen because they wanted to keep me safe,” she explains. I breathe out in relief.

“I’m glad they did. I was getting worried when you weren’t here in the past couple of weeks,” I tell her solemnly. I then turn to my best friend who is smiling at the reunion. “Elena and I are going to be out at the balcony. Don’t close us out, please,” I say, turning back to Melite, who shakes her head.

“Of course not, Princess. I won’t be disturbing you,” she assures us, before getting back to work. I don’t need to say anything to Elena. She follows close behind, as I head outside and peek over the railing, wanting to see, if any of the guests have already made their way to breakfast. But all I see is our diligent servants, rushing around and preparing the tables.

I turn back to Elena, before lying on the floor and motioning for her to join me. She kneels by my side, waiting for further instructions. “I’ll try to enter his mind again. If I start doing anything odd, like getting up and trying to climb over the railing, you must stop me and bring me back as soon as you can. I’m telling you this, because there is a big possibility, that Teivel is going to be waiting on the other side.” She stares at me with wide eyes, but still nods in understanding.

Without further ado, I close my eyes and slow down my breathing. It’s the easiest way to reach the depths of my conscience. Soon enough the world around me turns silent. The birds’ singing disappears and so does the sound of waves, crashing against the shore. I can’t even hear my breathing anymore.

I pass the four glowing lights in my head, that are representing the four elements of my powers, heading deeper down my conscience. I soon reach the glowing white rune and the burning lotus flower, that is still giving off those strange vibes. Not just that, it is starting to show. The top of the flames are much darker, than the rest. I hope this doesn’t mean, that I’m too late.

I reach into the flower, preparing myself for the wall. But the one I reach is even more massive, than it was the night before. I begin boring into it, searching for hidden gaps, but I find none. That’s why I keep pressing into the same spot, feeling like I’m hitting the wall with a sword. Still, no matter how hard I try, the wall barely moves.

I get even more aggressive, but still stay careful enough not to damage Eros’s mind behind the obstacle. I push and push and push, barely moving anywhere, until I hear something. It’s a voice. His voice. I can’t make the words, but I know it’s him. And it’s what gives me the strength to push even harder.

I fight my way through the wall, barely knowing where I am any longer, when suddenly terrible pain shoots through my head. I try to hold onto his voice, reaching out to it, but it’s too late. Something went terribly wrong, because I find myself stuck inside my conscience, with unbearable pain shooting through it.

I don’t know for how long I’m in that state, trying to stop the hurt and getting back into reality, but it makes me lose it. I try to find the essence of the bond again, but I suddenly find myself in complete darkness.

In the next moment, I feel being shaken and pulled out of the cage of my mind. The pain is still there, but it’s bearable and I soon realize, that no one is shaking me. My whole body is trembling, and I don’t know how to stop it.

“Arya! Oh Gods, you’re back! You had me worried sick!” Elena squeals as I open my eyes. My shaking hand reaches towards my hurting head, and I let out a pained moan. “Did you get through? Did Teivel do this to you?”

It takes a moment for her words to sink in and a moment longer for me to get my body under control. As I do, I’m finally able to speak up. “I didn’t get through, but … I heard Eros’s voice from the other side. He was there … And I think he’s the one, who threw me out again.”