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SO SORRY THAT IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!! I'm back in college and I'm taking so many classes!!! My bad! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Remember to vote, comment, and share with your friends!
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Ethia's P.O.V.
Morning had come much sooner than we all thought it had and I was certain that I had only a few moments of sleep before Tyrus decided to wake everyone up.
"Hurry!" He said shaking me awake violently.
"Tyrus, what could it possibly be?" I said with a morning scratchy voice.
I heard Tyrus's feet walk over to Felicity and he delivered the same message to her.
I battled to open my eyes but somehow Tyrus's enthusiasm for whatever this was was able to get me up.
I shuffled my feet into the main room of his underground home and sat myself at the table, eventually Ivan, Felicity, Jarom, and Dax joined me.
"Do you all realize what's happening?!"
I looked at Tyrus as he freaked out and truly wondered if he wanted an answer.
"Well?!" He added.
"Tyrus. No one knows what you're talking about" I admitted to him.
Tyrus shot a look at me and then went over to a chair and picked a piece of paper off of it and showed us what it was.
"Well, the little stunt we all pulled with kidnapping the prince put this whole Territory under lockdown".
Instantly my focus shot through the roof and I grabbed the paper from his hand, "They don't know it was us though... Right?"
Tyrus once again gave me another look that let me know the answer to my own question.
"Think about it" Jarom said, "Felicity and him went off somewhere and then we disappeared too, then the prince just happens to go missing".
I sat back down and rested my head on the table, "Ugh. So what's the worst that's going to happen?"
Everyone looked at me with disapproval and began shaking their heads slowly.
"What? That doesn't answer my question"
"What do you think is going to happen?" Dax questioned, "We kidnapped a prince".
"Oh." I said with realization. "But we didn't kidnap him! He came with us".
"I don't think they know that though." Felicity commented.
We all sat with frustration written on our faces and knew this situation was going to be a hard one to get out of.
I lifted my head up and looked around the room and noticed that all of Tyrus's men were missing, "Where's all your men?"
"They are going to find out what they can about this whole lockdown thing before it's too late". Tyrus responded.
"Too late for what?" Felicity questioned.
"Anything" Tyrus responded, "It could be too late for you all to escape, for us to hide you, or before the prince here changes his mind about this whole thing".
Ivan shot Tyrus a look and stepped up to him, "Is there something wrong here?"
Tyrus looked at Ivan with disgust, "You've lived your whole life in that damn palace of yours while the rest of us out here are starving and have to fight for what we want!".
This most certainly was unexpected and I didn't know what to think of it all.
Felicity, Jarom, Dax, and I sat quietly and let these two argue this one out.
"Sit in my palace?" Ivan asked offendedly.
"I'm sure if you could you'd rather have someone else sit for you but I guess there are some things that you can do on your own".
Ivan glared around the room and then back at Tyrus, "It doesn't look like you're struggling at all!". Ivan paused and then walked over to the bookshelf and picked a book up. He studied it for a while and then turned around with a shocked look on his face, "Where did you get this?"
Tyrus crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground silently.
"Now you choose not to speak?". Ivan walked up putting the book directly in his face, "This book was in the Royal Library, you stole it".
Tyrus let a little laugh out and then snatched the book from his hand, "Were you missing it?"
Ivan's breathing picked up and his carmel colored skin started getting a tint of red and I knew someone was going to have to step in.
"Stop you two, this really isn't important" I said getting up and walking over to them.
"You have no clue what that very book means to me!" Ivan shouted and snatched the book right back.
Tyrus lunged forward and tackled Ivan to the ground ripping the book from his hand and throwing it across the room.
Ivan was able to kick Tyrus off of him and ran over to grab the book but suddenly he was flying across the room and into the far wall.
I looked at the ground of where he had been standing and I saw that Tyrus had caused the ground to force itself upwards shooting Ivan across the room.
"Enough!" I shouted and blasted Tyrus back against the wall with a quick waterbending trick, "I am not going to stand here and watch you two argue about a stupid book! We have bigger things to worry about!"
Both Ivan and Tyrus picked themselves up and went to opposites sides of the room, I went and sat back down in the chair while Felicity, Jarom, and Dax all stared at me with an impressed look on their faces.
The room was full of silence and the only thing you could hear was the gentle wind blowing outside.
It wasn't long before Tyrus's men came running through the door and told us that there was a way out but we had to go quickly.
"How quickly?" I asked standing back up.
"As in we need to get you all out of here within the next few moments" One of his men replied.
I looked at Felicity and she nodded her head in agreement with the statement.
"Alright" I responded, "Everyone get your things packed quickly, it looks like we are on the run... again".
Felicity and I rushed back to the room we had been staying in and quickly put our things in our bags and rushed back out, "Are you ready?" I shouted for Dax and Jarom to respond.
"Almost!" Jarom shouted back at me from his room.
Eventually we all found ourselves outside putting all of our things on our animals and waiting for Tyrus to lead us away.
Tyrus's home was secluded in a small forest and was underground, it had been quaint, warm, and most certainly was time well spent, I for one would miss this place dearly.
Jarom, Felicity, and Dax had each gotten on their respected animals and I too did the same thing.
Ivan looked at us and didn't know what to do.
I reached my hand towards him and told him to get on. Ivan firmly grasped my hand and hopped on my bear, he gently wrapped his arms around my waist and asked if it was alright if his hands were there.
"It's fine" I told him, "I don't see how else you're going to hold on".
Tyrus grabbed everyone's attention and spoke quickly, "Listen! Keep close and don't anyone make unneeded noise. There is only one chance on getting you all out of here without having half the Earthern Territory chasing you down".
Tyrus took off on his brown horse and darted through the forest with his men and the rest of us following closely behind them.
The sun hadn't even come out yet it was so early in the morning but there was a little light that was available from the morning about to break.
The air was chilly while the wind blew in our faces causes little tears to fall down our cheeks, I found myself time and time again wiping them away while balancing myself on my fast pace moving bear.
Eventually we came to an actual path instead of unmarked ground and Tyrus stopped before we got on it, "You never know who could be watching" He said quietly.
I looked around and I saw nothing, but I wasn't going to be the person to doubt him and his knowledge of this forest.
Suddenly Tyrus and his horse darted across the path and the rest of us took action and followed him trustingly.
Once we all were across the path and on the other side of the forest Tyrus looked back to make sure no one was there, unfortunately for all of us there was a group of men on horses looking at us all with hunger in their eyes.
"Give us the prince" One of the men said with so much authority.
They all wore golden armored vests with a green shirt underneath, the shoes they wore were more of sandals and their horses themselves were armored.
"I'm staying with them" Ivan spoke getting off my bear, "There is no need to attack them, I'm choosing to go with them".
The man who seemed to be the leader of this group still didn't seem impressed by the answer that was given and he jumped off his horse and walked slowly towards the prince, "Your father wants you home and that's all that matters".
"And I'm telling you that I'm the prince and I'm not going with you, I tell you what to do, not the other way around".
Everything went quiet for a brief moment and I thought Ivan had actually won the battle, that was until the guard stepped forward even closer and spoke again, "And I get my order from the king, it out rules what you want".
The guard looked at us all and began talking to each of us one by one.
"You" The guard said pointing to Dax, "I can tell that you're not from here, neither are you from The Water Colony, you're from the tree I've heard about".
Dax was a little shocked that someone had actually heard about his tree before and knew he was from there.
"Your point being?" Dax spit out.
"I'll go and kill each and everyone of those people in that tree if you don't hand the prince over. And you" He directed towards Felicity, "It would be so easy for me to lead an army to your Realm and destroy it beyond belief"
Felicity looked at me with concern in her face and was about to say something until the man spoke again.
"And you" He said towards me, "Your colony was already taken down once, do you really want me and a group of my men to finish it off?".
I wouldn't have it, not even of it, I wasn't going to deal with this insignificant guard who has this idea that he can do whatever he wants.
Quickly I jumped off my bear and walked right in front of him and looked him in his dark brown eyes.
His face was stern and I knew no matter what I said he wasn't going to change how he felt about the situation, but I too wasn't going to change how I felt about this situation either, if anything that I've learned so far it's the fact that you have to fight for what you really want.
"The prince will stay with us whether you like it or not, and if you must have him it looks like your men and us will fight until whoever wins". I spoke with confidence and with fire in my voice, I made sure to keep eye contact with him the whole time and didn't let a single drop of fear show in my demeanor.
The man kept staring back at me with an anger sketched into his face that seemed as if it were permanently there.
Without warning I found myself hitting the ground with a hard force and the wind was knocked out of me, I tried getting up but there was something on top of me that wouldn't allow me to move.
I could hear mumbles of shouting but didn't know who they were coming from, the leaves that were on the forest floor started to fade in and out of my vision and everything started spinning.
What's going on? What did they do to me?
Again and again I tried getting up but with every attempt I found myself getting weaker and weaker, the mumbling and the muffled noises started to getting quieter and my vision went completely black.
"Ëthia, Ëthia darling wake up".
My eyelids flew open and a flood of light came through causing me to shut my eyes once more.
"Try again, your eyes will adjust"
Once more I opened my eyelids and the light poured back in, I let them adjust and was surrounded by complete whiteness.
"Hello?" I said and slowly picked myself off the ground.
I turned around and looked but all I could see was complete white, as if all color in the world had been taken away, I wasn't even sure if I was standing on a ground.
"Hello". I repeated again.
My heart rate began to pick up a little and I felt trapped in this endless amount of nothing, "Jarom! Felicity! Dax! Where are you?!"
"Ëthia" A voice said from behind me and I turned around quickly and was presented with a gorgeous dark skinned woman.
"Who are you?" I asked stepping back a little.
The woman let out a warm laugh and observed me with much interest.
She was wearing a light yellow silk dress that hugged her from the top and was relaxed on the bottom. Her hair was tightly curled but fell to her shoulders and her eyes were a navy blue color.
"Who do you think I am, Ëthia?" The woman said as she began to walk around me.
I looked down and noticed that she wore no shoes but went barefoot. She made her way back around me and stood directly in front of me.
For a split second I thought I was looking in the mirror considering she looked so similar to me, and that's when It hit.
"You can't be" I said out of astonishment.
"And just why not?".
I began looking her up and down and reached forward to touch her only to have her step back and shake her head gently.
"Why can't I-"
"Once you touch me you can't go back to your friends, Ëthia".
I looked around me and thought about where I could possibly be, this all had to be some kind of strange messed up dream that I was in.
"Where am I?"
She smiled and sat down on the pure whiteness that I had to assume was ground, she looked up to me then motioned me to sit as well.
I sat down with my legs out in front of me and my arms behind me holding me up as I leaned back.
"You're in between Heaven and Earth".
"Heaven and Earth?" I repeated with confusion.
She smiled at me and it looked like there was so much she was contemplating on telling me, the smile eventually disappeared and she looked down.
"What's wrong?".
She looked up at me with watery eyes and a tear quickly fell down her cheek, she brushed it off and let out a weak laugh, "This is my first time getting to talk to you".
Her voice was full of so much joy and yet full of so much sadness.
"Are you really my mother?".
I wasn't sure what I wanted the answer to be, I had accepted a long time ago that I would never be able to see my parents, and now it just might be that I already am.
"Yes Ëthia, I am".
The words she spoke were full of tears and she looked at me with so much sadness, "Why are you crying?" She asked.
I didn't realize that tears of my own had been falling this whole time but I wanted to lean forward and hug her.
"I thought I was never going to see you" I said as more tears fell.
"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to raise you, I truly am".
My heart was almost throbbing with the mixed emotions that I was going through at this moment, I didn't want my mother to be sad, she did the right thing and was being selfless, how could anyone be sad after that?
"No" I said gently, "Don't be sad, you did a heroic thing, without you there wouldn't be a chance of a hope for anyone".
My mother began wiping more tears away and a little smile appeared, "All I wanted my whole life was to be able to raise a family of my own, that's all I wanted. Then I finally got the chance and found out that I wouldn't get to spend it with you".
The pain of wanting physical affection hurt beyond pain that I've felt, I wanted to embrace my mother and know that this was real, I wanted so badly to finally be able to at least hug her for a few moments and know what her touch was like.
"Your father and I have watched you grow up and are so proud of you, you've grown into such a gorgeous young woman, you'll rule the colony with so much heart and caringness".
Hearing the words from her mouth only made my heart hurt more. I had spent so many nights lying awake wondering if my parents would've been proud of the person that I had become today, if they would approve of how I had been doing things, or just simply if somehow they were still there.
The tears seemed to be unending and kept falling as they pleased while I just let them, I had no need to stop them and even if I wanted to I don't think it would make much of a difference.
"Where's father?" I asked.
"Only one of us could see you, Ëthia. Your father said it would mean more if you met me, although I don't agree, but only one of us could see you".
I looked up at my mother and smiled weakly, "I've never known you two but yet I miss you both so much".
My mother wiped her tears from her face and laughed, "Ëthia, you have no clue how much your father and I just want to be down there with you, there's so much that I wanted to teach you and experience with you, I wanted to be your mother so badly".
"Mother, you'll always be my mother, you have done one of the hardest things any mother could do".
She looked at me with big watery eyes and let out a mixed laughed, a laugh that was both joyous and yet sad.
"Ëthia, I don't have very much time with you, so I must let you know something extremely important".
"What is it?" I asked scooting closer to her.
"Orihah, Xrin's father, has taken control over the colony. He doesn't plan on your return, you must know that, he wants you dead".
"How does he plan on stopping me?" I asked with interest.
"Xrin and he nephews are on their way".
Xrin? I knew he was evil but I had no clue that he was to the point of where he wanted to kill me, he had been too busy making moves on me and trying to impress me.
I looked into my mother's eyes, "But I thought he wanted to unite with me?"
My mother let out a deep breath, "That was so that he could get control, nothing more".
I wasn't sad, nor was I upset that he was doing this, I felt more stupid than anything. Even though I knew I could never love him I did consider him a choice for the throne, only because the people wanted that and he would of made a strong ruler.
"Ëthia, are you hearing what I'm saying?" My mother spoke.
"Yes. I am"
"You mustn't ever unite with Xrin, not matter what happens, you understand?".
"Yes mother, I understand".
She stood up and looked down at me with a smile full of emotion, "Stand up, darling"
I stood up and brushed myself off looking at her with intensity.
"It's time for me to go-"
I almost lunged forward to grab hold of her when she motioned for me to stop. "Ëthia, your friends need you, you can't just leave them there all alone. Your father and I are with you, we always have been and we always will".
Tears once again began to run down my face as if it were a rainstorm, "Mother, you can't just let me go back without you. What did you expect? For me to just go back without wanting you by me?".
My mother's face showed that this wasn't an easy thing for her, I knew that, but I needed her in my life more than she knew.
"Ëthia, you don't need me as much as you think you do. Look at everything you've done on your own, you've gathered up a wonderful group, you're running a colony, protecting people, and you have so much more to look forward too."
I began wiping the tears away and slowed my sobbing down, "Promise you'll always be there".
My mother smiled and nodded her head, "I'll always be there Ëthia. Always".
I stood there looking at my mother knowing that this day forward things would be so much different for me, I knew someone was watching over me and I knew that my parents were real, they were actually real.
"How do I get back then?" I asked looking around for a door or some hole in the whiteness.
"You'll lay back down on the ground and close your eyes, when you open them you'll be back with your friends". My mother replied.
I stood there looking at her not wanting to end this moment, I believed her that I'd be back to my friends once I laid down and closed my eyes, and I wanted that, truly I did, but I didn't want to leave her.
"Quickly, Ëthia" My mother insisted with hurt in her voice.
Slowly I went to the ground looking at her the whole time, I sat down and began to lay on my side still keeping a strong gaze upon her.
"Now close your eyes Ëthia" She instructed.
A few tears ran down my face and I said the few last words I needed, "I love you".
My mother had tears rolling down her face as she said the words right back at me, "I love you, forever and always".
Gently I closed my eyes and held them shut for a while, I expected to hear men fighting, a change of temperature, or a sudden jolt of realization that I imagined everything I saw.
I didn't open my eyes in fear that all of the wonderful memories would disappear, I didn't move in fear that Id feel the forest ground that I blacked out on, I didn't dare do a thing besides think to myself, the worst thing I felt I could do was open my eyes. And that's exactly what I wouldn't do.
"Open your eyes" I heard my mother's voice say, "Open your eyes, Ëthia"