The Seven Archangels

37 - Vasilia! - Percy

Aurelius offered his hand to Sierra who smiled widely and embraced Aurelius. He rolled his eyes but hugged her back. They looked like Thor and Jane from the movie, only exception being that Sierra was the deity of air and sky and she definitely wasn't a man. Aurelius put his hand on my shoulder and we dissolved into light.

Everything seemed to happen faster than it should've. It felt like it took us only a couple of minutes to reach our destination. I doubt that was the case though. The moment we landed, Aurelius' eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Well, he would've collapsed if Sierra hadn't been hugging him.

"What's wrong with him?" Will asked as he rushed to his side. Sierra lowered Aurelius to the ground and said, "He used more energy than he probably should've. Usually he doesn't grow tired because light is all around us and he draws his power from it and not from the inside like everyone else. I think he just drew more power than he should've. He'll be fine."

I nodded and started to put up our tent. It didn't take long. "Okay everyone, follow me. Let's head inside," Gabriel said and started walking towards our tent. Sierra raised her hand and Aurelius rose from the ground. She levitated him inside and up the stairs towards our rooms.

"Behave, you two!" Chamuel shouted from behind us. Sierra sent a death glare at him before walking out of our sight. Azrael snickered from behind us and Gabriel looked at him, eyebrow raised. "You know, I don't think we can let you sleep in a room full of men, especially Will," she said.

Everyone burst out laughing but Azrael and Will blushed crimson. "That's not funny," Azrael muttered and walked out of the room, Will high on his heels. "It's funnier than you could ever believe!" Chamuel shouted before them. He probably would've said something more if he didn't fall into his own shadow and appear from the ceiling, falling on his butt.

"That's nice, but where will we be staying?" Reyna asked. I shrugged and said, "No idea, you have to ask Sierra and Aurelius. But weren't you and Frank praetors?" Reyna's face showed no emotion when she said, "Yes, emphasis on were. Don't ask." I looked at Frank who only nodded glumly.

"You'll be staying in the basement," came Aurelius' voice from the stairs. Everyone's eyes snapped on him. He was wearing his usual white cloak. Surprisingly, he didn't look tired. Gabriel looked at him questionably and asked, "The basement? I didn't know there was one."

Aurelius said, "Neither did I until Sierra found it a couple of days ago. This place has a lot of hidden tunnels and passages. I bet Chamuel and Jophiel knew about some of them but my powers over light come in handy when searching for secret doors. We never found the basement because the main hatch is hidden under the living room's carpet."

Sierra rolled her eyes and said, "You mean until you found it? As far as I remember it was all you." Aurelius shrugged and motioned for everyone to follow him. We all followed him into the kitchen. "Didn't you say the entrance was in the living room?" Hazel asked.

Aurelius nodded and walked to one of the wall panels. He pressed his hand against it and muttered something. The panel swung open, revealing stairs going downstairs. "This is another entrance. This door has to be kept open all the time. There are ten rooms and a living room. Every room has all the necessities and their own showers. You'll have to share rooms but I don't think it's going to be a problem," he said.

"My Lady where will you be staying?" Thalia asked Gabriel. She pointed up at the ceiling and said, "In my own room, of course. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask me, Sierra or Aurelius. Now go on while you still have a choice of the rooms!" Gabriel said.

Thalia grinned and ran down the stairs all the hunters following her. "Now, I don't really care how you share the rooms. I think two or three rooms should be enough for the hunters. It's fine by me if couples sleep in the same room as far as I won't have to retrieve a midwife any time soon," Aurelius said grinning.

"Dude, you have no chill," Jason muttered while Piper was blushing madly. Most single people snickered at all the blushing couples and Aurelius laughed. Aurelius walked out of the room. Before he left he shouted, "Make yourselves at home!"

Azrael snickered and said, "He's quite nice when you get to know him. For all the couples, I know there are some anti pregnancy charms in the attic. I don't think even Aurelius knows." Sierra rolled her eyes and muttered, "Yeah, guess who made them in the first place."

I stared at her. "What?" I said. Sierra blushed and clamped her hand over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say that aloud," she mumbled. Now all the Archangels were staring at her. "What do you mean?" Gabriel asked cautiously.

Sierra sighed and said, "Aurelius likes to build and invent stuff. No one but me knows because he doesn't like to boast about it and he didn't want me to tell anyone. Even I discovered it by accident. He has made quite a bit of magical items in the past and he usually let's someone find them in the attic or something to make it look like he had nothing to do with it. His creations are quite wonderful. So, if I had to guess, I'd say he made those anti pregnancy charms as an experiment and just tossed them away because we didn't have any use for them."

"Attic? How big is this place? And how could you even fit an attic here?" Hazel asked disbelievingly. "Uhmm... Big? The trapdoor to the attic is right above you so it must be there," I said. Leo glanced at it hopefully but Calypso hit him upside the head and scowled at him. Leo blushed and smiled sheepishly.

"I don't even want to know," Reyna muttered and walked to their rooms. "So, Aurelius likes to build stuff?" Leo asked. Sierra looked at him for a moment before saying, "A son of Hephaestus? Yeah, he likes. He has quite awesome workshop, if you ask me. Even Hephaestus would be jealous!" Leo's eyes lit up, figuratively speaking, and he said, "Can I see it? Pretty please?"

Sierra raised an eyebrow and said, "I could try talking to him. Can't guarantee anything." Leo nearly started jumping around but Calypso took a hold of his arm and dragged him downstairs. Everyone else followed behind them.

I sat on one of the kitchen chairs and sighed deeply. "Seeing all my old friend, it was way more stressful than I would've liked," I said. Gabriel sat next to me and took my hand. "This is probably nothing compared to what we will face in the near future. You are a prince and Aurelius and I have to probably go through whatever it is that applies to the heir of the throne," Sierra grumbled.

Gabriel seemed to realize that we actually are on foreign soil. "So this is Vasilia? A completely new planet?" she asked. I nodded. "Yeah. This is the second new planet I've walked on. I hope this is more pleasant than Elpída was," I said.

Gabriel, Chamuel and Jophiel looked at usquestionably. "Elpída? Never heard ofthat," Jophiel said. I sighed and rose from my seat. "Come on, I'll tell youthe whole tale from the day I vanished. I think you and everyone else fromEarth wants to hear it," I said and started to walk towards the basement whereeveryone else were.