THRIVE: Book One

Chapter 47- Forgotten in Time

I hold Victoria's hand the whole way up the mountain path, but it wasn't just for her sake. The closer we got to the crumbling shrine, the sharper the feeling in my gut feels. Chloe and Carmen were already there talking when the rest of us were approaching. They had set up as well as they could I suppose, but I still wasn't sure what to expect. The moon was already rising in the sky, and all we had to guide us was the faint candlelight. I hadn't been up here before, there was never a point to before today. But as I begin to see the short crumbled stone walls that surrounded the ancient altar, I feel nothing more than determination. Amy, Brian, and Chris went in ahead of us and we all stand around trying to figure out what we should be doing. It was chilly up here, each swift breeze sent a chill down my spine.

"Welcome to the Talon Cliff Shrine." Chloe greets us all. When she reaches out, I can see that she had painted familiar patterns on the palms of her hands. She wore her totem as well as pearl beads she had woven into her hair. They seem far too intricate to have done on her own, so I assume Carmen must have helped her.

"We're all set here, but there is one thing that we still need to decide," Carmen say as she lights a candle. "Who wants to go first?" she asks, giving a somewhat twisted smile. Everyone glances around nervously, and the next thing I knew, they had all locked eyes on me.

"Oh, ha-ha." I say sarcastically "Carmen, I'm surprised you don't want to." I mention, hoping to deflect some of the attention.

"We considered it, but I think it would be better if she went second," Chloe suggests, keying in on me. I begin to back away, but I know that there was no getting out of this, I mean, am I really that surprised right now?

"Fine, how do we do this?" I ask nervously. Chloe gestures to the altar and I hop up to sit. She gently pushes me to lie down and suddenly, my heart starts beating faster.

"Long lost to time, this island was once home to a great empire. Somehow hundreds of years later, we all narrowly avoided death in order to return here. Though we don't know who we are or why we were brought here now, we have all come here today to hopefully find answers. Centuries ago, the priestess Mahina performed a ceremony to ensure the leading families' souls' reincarnation. Today, in blood, we recognize from which we came in order to greet those who have long been lost to time." Chloe explains thoughtfully, and I can tell that those weren't just her own words. They were far too familiar to me. Chloe passed a small knife around and everyone pricked their palms, letting their blood drip into the bowl she carried. Amy had trouble bringing herself to do it when it came around to her turn.

"Sweetie, give it to me." Brian took the knife out of Amy's shaky hand. "Close your eyes," he suggests. She pinches her eyes shut tightly and winces as Brian pierces her skin. Once they were finished, Chloe takes the bowl and swipes her finger through the small puddle at the bottom. I close my eyes and relax, taking deep breaths as she begins to draw carefully on my forehead.

"Valerie, I need you to look deep inside yourself and meditate on what you have seen," Chloe explains as she makes her way around to the head of the altar, wiping her hands clean.

"I'll try," I say nervously.

"I'll be here to guide you, now all you have to do is relax," Chloe states, gently placing her hands on my forehead. I think about everything I've seen, Veronika and Umbree, Dante and Zade. There was so much about them that I didn't understand. Umbree's relationship with Zade didn't make sense at all to me, even if he was reincarnated, how could she trust him after what he had done to her?

I suddenly wake up laying in a dark void. I feel like I'm floating on the surface of a still pond, but when I sit up, I don't sink.

"What the hell?" I say, looking at the emptiness that surrounds me.

"Well, well, well, isn't this interesting?" I hear a feminine voice say, echoing in the darkness.

"Who's there?" I ask as I stand up, trying to find where it's coming from.

"You know, that's a really good question that I have been asked countless times at this point," she says softly, getting closer.

"You're Veronika, aren't you?" I call out. Suddenly she appears to me, a tall beautiful woman steps forward gazing thoughtfully at me. Her eyes are deep hazel, her hair is dark and long, the right side shaved off. She's wearing the thin golden crown we found in the cave, and has an intricately drawn flower tattoo on the buzzed side of her head. She's wearing a short black dress that was belted with red leather at the torso, a single strap going over one of her shoulders. The other shoulder has an interesting tattoo printed on it, as well as one on her lower left leg.

"Very good Valerie!" she claps "This is so much easier when there's some context, I swear." she laughs.

"Where are we right now?" I ask, trying to make sense of the dark.

"Well," she suddenly lifts her arms and the sky fills with beautiful crystals. "This is the Soul's Gate. When my old friend tapped into your mind she gave you access to this place," she explains.

"So it's true, Chloe is really Mahina?" I ask, staring up at the sky.

"Indeed. We go way back, and if it wasn't for our friendship, none of this would have been possible in the first place." She explains happily, kicking at the water. "When she was reincarnated for the first time I was ecstatic, to this day we still don't know how that happened. "

"It obviously happened again now, but I'm still confused. The city is gone, why were we all called back here?" I ask, trying to make sense of things.

"Val, think about it this way; were you all truly happy where you were before?" she asks. It doesn't take much for me to ponder the question. I wasn't.

"I may not have been, but what about everyone else? They had family and friends back home, why would they be fine with leaving it all behind?" I ask. Veronika sighs as she comes closer.

"Not everything is as it may have appeared. There are always things we don't know behind closed doors." she explains as she reaches out to take my hands "I know you have many questions, but we don't have all night to stay here. This is Chloe's first time and she's going to get exhausted soon." she sighs.

"What should I do then? There's so much more I need to know." I plead. Veronika smiles at me sweetly.

"I can show you what you came here to see; the pieces you've seen finally put together." she offers kindly.

"How do you know I'm ready?" I ask nervously. Suddenly, I see another girl appear to me. She looks younger than Veronika, and it doesn't take me long to realize who she was; Umbree.

"Let me tell you something," she laughs "you're not. But no one ever is." she suddenly wraps her arms around me "This world, my home, is in your hands now Valerie, I know that you are going to do great things with it. Bonds between people are the true power of life, remember that, and good luck," she says sweetly as the void begins to fade away.

"I wish we had more time, but we need to get going," Veronika says, reaching for Umbree's hand as they take a step back.

"This next part won't be easy, but I promise you it's worth it." Umbree says reassuringly "None of our lives were easy, and I hope you can handle what happened to me."

"Thank you," I say confidently "I promise I won't let you down."