VALKYRIE

Chapter 14: Eric's POV

Juno looked at the woman, with tears falling down her face.

"Yes, Juno, it's me," the woman said. "It's your mother." I gasped.

Juno's mom looked at me. "Who are you?" She asked.

I told her Juno and I were partners.

"Wow! I didn't know you were that way." Juno's mom remarked, taken aback.

I looked at Juno, and we both blushed.

"We're not that way, I meant partners in... Um... Uh... Work," I stuttered, still embarrassed.

"Well, from the way you two are looking at each other, I'd say it's more than that," Juno's mom teased us.

Then she turned back to Juno and crushed her in a hug. They broke apart a few minutes later and looked at each other.

"I know you're probably angry at me all the time because I left. And because I work for the Dark Leader. But I promise it's not by choice. Just after I became pregnant, the Dark Leader kidnapped almost 150 Light Soldiers to take to his lair to work for him. Both your father and I were taken. The Dark Leader fell in love with me and courted me, but once he figured out I was pregnant with someone else's child, he killed your father, Ben. I gave birth to you, nine months later, and the Dark Leader gave you wings and dropped you off in the Valkyrie realm. I was overcome with grief, but since I didn't know magic and couldn't escape the Dark realm, I couldn't come after you. I was forced to let Faun raise you," Juno's mom explained.

Then she asked us, "What are you doing here? Were you taken, too?" Juno shook her head.

"We're trying to stop the Dark Leader. Juno's going to steal the Light Leader's necklace, and I'm going to find the Light Leader and free her," I blankly stated.

"What? Do you even know how dangerous that is? You could die!" Juno's mom hysterically whispered.

"I know, but we have to! Everyone else is losing hope! There is no other choice, if we don't want everyone to die!" Juno
responded, near tears.

"Fine," her mom said. "But pretend to be me." We looked at her.

"What?" Juno asked in disbelief.

"You heard me. Pretend to be me. I'll gather some other former Light Soldiers for backup, and we can protect you in danger. Pretend to be me, and the Dark Leader won't suspect a thing," Juno's mom explained.

"But I don't look old enough!" Juno cried.

Her mom smiled. "With these masks, you'll be alright," was all she said.

She turned to leave, but Juno stopped her.

"What's your name, Mother?" She asked. Juno's mom smiled.

"I feel too young to be called Mother. My name is Iris," she said, and hugged Juno one more time.

"I'll go get the others who will help me. The throne room's to the left, and the dungeons are to the right, through a big black metal door and down the stairs. Good luck and don't die," Iris said, and turned to leave.

She paused mid step, and turned to look at me. "Oh, and Eric? Treat my daughter alright, okay?" Iris said, and winked at me.

"Got it," I responded.

Iris said,"Good." Then she left. Juno turned to me.

"We have to split up," she said. "We're running out of time." I nodded, and I turned to leave.

"Wait!" Juno cried. I stopped and turned around.

"Before you go, I just wanted to say that I like you. A lot. I might even be in love with you. And if you die, I won't be able to live with myself knowing that I hadn't told you that. I love you," Juno said breathlessly.

That moment made me happier than I had ever felt. "I love you, too," I told her, almost crying from happiness.

Suddenly, Juno ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. I followed suit and leaned down.

Our lips met.

We kissed with passion and strength. I wanted to kiss her forever. We broke apart and murmured in unison,"I love you."

I looked into Juno's beautiful brown eyes. "I never want to stop kissing you. But we have to go," I told her quietly.

"To be continued," Juno smiled. "Yes. To be continued," I replied.

We slowly broke apart and ran in opposite directions. I found the black door Iris was talking about. I opened it and walked through.

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"