"Gabe, we have to leave, she's gone," I said placing my hands on Gabriel's shoulders. He reached up and laid his arm across my waist, pulling me down to lay flat on the ground with him.
"She said we need each other, it what way, I don’t know yet. Right now, I need you now to just shut up and let me do what I need to do," Gabriel whispered quietly.
"I agree, so let’s just talk this out and we can figure out what we need to do," I replied. I hoped my words were seen as comforting and not demanding. I tried to stand up but Gabriel's arm held me down.
"Sure, sure. But for now, let me have what I need," he said, jumping to his feet. "You stay; I'll be back before morning."
“Okay, we’re getting somewhere, what do you need? I will help you, if I can,” I spoke. I reached out to touch Gabriel again.
“Time! I need time, Donatella,” he replied. His anger was rising quickly and, although I barely knew the guy, I didn’t want him to leave angry with me.
"Gabe, I don't want you to leave," I said as he stood at the entrance of the temple.
"You'll be safe here, I promise," Gabriel said.
"Please stay, for me," I pleaded.
"I'm sorry," Gabriel said holding his head in his hands. "I don't plan to go that far away; I just need some fresh air."
By the time Gabriel returned half an hour later, smelling like smoke from a fire, I had almost fallen asleep. He shook me awake gently. "I'm sorry. I had to leave, I'd never leave a charge under normal circumstances but there's something special about you. You don't seem like a charge to me."
"Great, I feel so much better," I said, turning to leave the temple.
"You can't leave yet," Gabriel said to me.
"Why can’t we leave?" I asked. I put my hands on my hips and looked at Gabriel.
"We can’t leave because ever since I carried you in here, your body and mine have been glowing bright gold. Haven't you wondered why we didn't light any torches?"
"I thought it was just bright outside," I said noticing that the few torches that had lit themselves as I'd walked in were burnt out.
"There's something about us. Me and you, we're like magic together," Gabriel said walking to stand behind me. "Just stay until the morning. Then we can leave, our glows should fade and if it doesn't, Hemera should help."
"I questioned. I was completely unsure of who or what ‘Hemera’ was.
"Hemera is the goddess who controls the sun and daylight," Gabriel explained quietly.
I turned back toward the temple and found a space to sleep for the night. I looked over and saw Gabriel doing the same thing. I kneeled and began to pray as I did every night.
"Donatella, what are you doing?" Gabriel asked as I prayed silently.
"I'm praying Gabe, not the time," I answered, peeking at him through one eye.
"Who are you praying to?"
I finished my prayer and turned to look in Gabriel's direction. "I pray to God, He hears me and He aides me," I explained, falling to lie on my side.
"God? You do realize that you are a goddess, right?"
"No, you don't say. I am a human with inhuman capabilities. I may be a goddess, lowercase 'g' but I am not God, uppercase 'g'. Neither are you or anyone else. We are simply people who have been injected into a race's mythology."
"Pray to Athena, she will hear you," Gabriel said, turning to face his mother's throne.
"I will not pray to a graven image. The God I serve cannot be crafted with human hands. By requesting that I pray to Athena, you are leading me to sin against God," I responded and rolled over, with my back in Gabriel's direction.
“Maybe if you put some of the energy that fuels your religious zeal into figuring Athena’s words out, we can get this show on the road,” Gabriel mumbled.
“Shut up and go to sleep, Gabriel,” I shot back hotly. I curled into a ball and went to sleep.
YOU ARE READING
The Elite (Editting)
Teen FictionAlli Plummer led a normal teenage life: she went to school, rebelled against her parents and had a steady boyfriend until a seemingly normal turn of events catapulted her in an abnormal life as Donatella Rinaldi, a descendant of a Greek goddess. A m...
