I accompany Jake into the Eribiss looking around with wide eyes and my mouth agape at the beauty stretching across the land. Surrounding me are mansions larger than I could ever imagine. Not only do they practically reach the sky, (okay that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point) but they are also up to twelve miles long, so Jake tells me (that's not an exaggeration!). He's acting as my tour guide, and its priceless.
Jake glances for at my awestruck expression and smirks. "This place is..." I couldn't even think of the word to describe this place, it's Incredible, gigantic, unbelievable, stunning, breathtaking, implausible; none of these words even come close to describing what I see before me, but they're close.
"Home." Jake says quietly to himself, finishing my sentence, but looking lost in his thoughts for a second.
He peers over at me from under his eyelashes, biting his lip.
"I know we're on a time limit, but you're going to have to wait until tomorrow to meet Mr. Komachi, your trainer. I'm sorry, princess."
I feel my heart drop at his words, I want so badly to start as soon as I can, not only because I'm eager to be able to use my supposed powers, but because I am eager to quickly learn them so that I can save Abigail before it's too late. Not to mention myself! Jake knows what he's talking about though, this is is world after all, so I don't argue. "Where do we go until then?" I question. Jake's face lights up as his lips form a toothy grin "My home." He enthuses proudly. I can't help but grin back as I quirk an eyebrow. Jakes smiles are contagious, and irresistible. Now that, I'm definitely excited to see. I wonder if he has a family that lives with him, or if he is all alone, but I don't ask although I'm burning with unbridled curiosity.
I can practically feel Jake's excitement as it bubbles out of him. I don't think I've ever seen Jake this excited about anything, or excited at all for that matter. This fuels my need to know, but I refuse to give into it. Thankfully, Jake must have noticed my curiosity towards his excitement because he explains, "I haven't seen my family in two years, and while I'm nervous, I'm also eager to finally see them again." Two years?! I can barely stay away from my mom for a weekend, I can't imagine. "You haven't seen your family in two years? Why?" I ask bewildered. Jake shrugs as he looks away "I've just been...busy with things." He replies distantly. I want to question him further, but I can tell the he feels regretful about it and I don't want to make him feel even worse about something that he might have had little to no say in. I mean, its not like he chose to guard me of his own volition. Right? The thought quickly fades.
We walk in comfortable silence after that for around twenty minutes. Jake abruptly stops walking "We're here." He whispers. I stop walking also and look over to where Jake is staring anxiously. "Why are you whispering-woah."
I literally hurt my jaw from lowering it so much. You know how I was talking about all of the humongous mansions all over this place? Yeah well they had nothing on this one. It's literally made of pure gold, pure gold! It appears to be four miles wide, but what it doesn't have in width, it has in height, It looks like a friggin forty five story house, or a fancy hotel. It's absolutely breathtaking with its white gold columns on either side of the golden porch, and a matching white gold roof. There's a stunning archway in front of the porch that's wrapped completely in red and white flowers.
After what feels like forever of me just staring completely frozen as I stand here awestuck, Jake looks back at me and gives me a small gentle smile. My cheeks flushed.
"I guess we should go in." he tells me hesitantly. I shake my head lightly trying to regain some sense of myself. "You're right." I confirm walking forward. Jake unconfidently-which is really strange to see considering he's like the most confident person I know-walks in front of me towards the unbelievably surreal mansion.
When we reach the door, Jake freezes, "Jake, are you alright?" I ask. "Uh... yeah, I think so, it's just, I haven't spoken a single word to them in two years, they have no idea I'm here, it's just kind of...nerve wracking I guess" he admits. I step forward and wrap my hand in his. At first he tenses in surprise, but it's not long before he relaxes and look over at me with a small smile that I return.
He takes a deep breath then knocks on the door. I hear some shuffling on the other side of the door and give Jake's hand a squeeze. The shuffling stops from the inside of the house. There's a high pitched squeal and then the door swings open to reveal a tall, beautiful woman with shoulder length dark brown hair and baby blue eyes, she's wearing a pair of sweatpants and a green shirt-which wasn't what I was expecting from somebody living in this mansion-The woman's smile is so illuminating, purely white , and filled with so much joy, that it warms my heart "Deli!" She squeals with excitement before running forward, I let go of Jakes hand and step aside as the woman pulls Jake into a loving hug. I can see Jake's relieved smile as he hugs her back "Hey mom" he says.
I hear sniffling and it takes me a moment to realize that Jake's mom is crying. She pulls away squeezes his cheeks as tears slide down her cheeks "Oh Deli, look at you, I probably would have long forgotten what you like if I didn't have my pictures, though you don't look quite the same as those." She says wiping her tears. Deli? Jake looks down guiltily "I'm sorry momma, I didn't mean to take so long." He confesses abashedly.
His mother's face softens and she gives him another warm hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't you dare ever wait that long again, you hear me?" she tells him, but before Jake can respond, a guy that looks around the age of fourteen comes walking to the door "what's with all the exc-" he immediately stops talking as he sees Jake. He doesn't run forward like Jake's mom did, or scream out in excitement, he just stands there, staring at him in shock. He has brown spiked hair, baby blue eyes, and rosy cheeks, he clearly got his looks from his mom. "Hey Everette" Jake says as he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. The guy that Jake called Everette stands there watching him for a minute longer before turning around and leaving.
"The idiot's here!" Everette shouts loudly before running up the stairs. It's not long before a little tiny girl is running as fast as she can towards the door "Batman!" The little girl screams so loud that it hurts my ears. She looks around the age five, she has beautiful long, curly black hair and green eyes, with teeny brown freckles covering her tiny cheeks.
I stand aside, unsure of what to do while the adorable little girl doesn't even hesitate as she races over to Jake and wraps her tiny arms around Jake's leg. Jake laughs, his eyes lighting up as he picks up the little girl, blowing into her revealed stomach where her shirt was pulled up, tickling her. The little girl squeals in delight and begins giggling frantically, wriggling around in his hands. Jake suddenly throws the girl into the air, the girl widens her eyes in surprise but she's soon roaring with laughter as she falls back down and into Jake's hands "Avalynn" Jake says smiling broadly at her. I think it's the first time I've ever seen Jake smile a big, genuine smile, normally it's all smirks with him. Avalynn grins back at him "Batman" she wraps her arms tightly around his neck and hugs him, Jake holds her back. The mother still hasn't noticed me as she watches them both with a proud smile on her face. I can't help but join in smiling as I watch Jake hug his sister back, unmistakable joy written on his face.
"Come on you two, let's get inside, no sense standing out here" the mom says waving them inside, Jake looks over at me "three actually" he says. The mom looks over to where Jake's eyes are, suddenly noticing my existence for the first time. "Oh my, aren't you gorgeous? What's your name?" She compliments making me blush. I'm not sure what to call myself, do I go by the name of Kamaria now? I guess since that's my name and I'm in the Eribiss world, I should start going by Kamaria. "I'm Ka-" I'm interrupted almost immediately by Jake "Bethany, her name is Bethany" Jake corrects, looking to his mom. She looks over at me then at Jake with furrow eyebrows. But after a moment she shrugs it off. What's up with Jake though?
She looks back to me with a warm smile "i'm Adelram's mother, you can call me Melina" she states, opening her arms out for me. Adelram? Who is Adelram? Am I supposed to know this person? Why does the name sound so familiar? Also Is she offering me a hug? I've never hugged someone that I just met, but of course I'm not going to deny one, so I accept it hugging her back. Surprisingly it's not awkward but instead calming and kind. We pull apart and we all walk in, Jake still holding Avalynn. She hasn't let go of his neck this whole time.
We step into her house and immediately my jaw drops (that seems to be happening a lot lately) the inside-as unbelievable as it may sound-is even more extravagant and astonishing than the outside.
The floors are tiled with elegant white marble, simple but beautiful, and illuminated by a beautiful chandelier.
It had a single tier of reflective crystal, with ornate chains of the sparkling gems hanging below, catching the light beautifully in an understated way. It was fitting to see a beautiful chandelier in a house like this, but like Jakes mom, the simplicity gave the house a feel of a stylish home, rather than the posh elegance you would expect, viewing the house from outside. Everything was beautiful, obviously expensive and top quality, yet simple enough to look unpretentious.
I look down at my clothes, a baggy brown sweatshirt, light skinny jeans with rips going from the knee up, and high top converse...yeah I definitely don't belong here. I feel myself blush as I wonder how wild my hair looks, or how dirty my face is. Jake looks back at me, "You look beautiful." he compliments, winking at me mischievously. I feel my face heat up even more as I look down at the shiny, spotless floor, wondering if he can read my mind.
Avalynn let's go of his neck and looks at him "I know, I'm always beautiful." she brags, flipping her hair behind her shoulder, but it's not long after that she looses her cool and breaks into a giggling fit. I can't help but laugh along. Her response was absolutely perfect, and when I grow up I want to be just like her.
Melina stops walking and looks behind her curiously as I double over laughing, what she said is probably not as funny as I'm making it seem, but it just took me by surprise. I was blushing so hard trying not to hyperventilate when Avalynn comes popping up bragging about how she already knows her beauty, plus the sas in her voice...oh gosh, now tears are running down my cheeks.
Avalynn is laughing harder than me though, she's staring at me with the most adorable face-scrunching smile I've ever seen. Jake's just watching us with a smirk playing on his lips. Melina is watching us with both curiosity and amusement. After a moment Avalynn and I catch our breath and calm down. Suddenly completely aware of how I reacted in front of Melina, this astonishingly rich, beautiful woman that I just met, I get totally embarrassed, wipe my tears and straighten up, lifting my chin high, and march confidently forward towards where Melina stands a few feet away. Melina watches me for a moment before shrugging and strutting along with me, bringing us into another gorgeous room with a big couch and fireplace.
It's a bit smaller than the other room, but not by a lot. I look around at the walls to see family pictures littered everywhere, practically covering every inch. I think it's pretty cool how they hung pictures all over the walls even though it gives the room a much less fancy feel to it, and more like a cozy home. Melina sits down on the couch along with Jake and Avalynn, I follow suit and sit down in between Jake and Melina.
"Avalynn, how about you go let everyone know that Deli is here?" Melina asks Avalynn. I still can't figure out why she calls Jake Deli. Avalynn looks up at Jake and smiles, "Okay, don't leave while I'm gone, I'll be right back, I promise." She chirps before running off in a hurry. I watch her as she leaves, a smile on my face, she's just so darn cute.
Melina looks over at Jake and I folding her hands in her lap. "So, Bethany, Deli, not that I don't love that you've come to visit, but after not coming here for two years, and then out of nowhere showing up with a beautiful young lady, I have to ask." she pauses taking a deep breath "Are you pregnant?" She questions looking to me.
I instantly feel my cheeks heat up at her question "No! Of course not!" I blurt out. Melina's face relaxes an a smile lights up her features "Actually I was talking to this girl right here." She says pointing at Jake. Jake rolls his eyes as I laugh. "Then why are you here? Getting married?" She asks, her eyes widening along with her smile "Is this your fiancée Deli?" Melina asks excitement filling her words. Oh gosh, I feel my heart beat fasten and my eyes widen to the size of saucers I'm about to deny it but Jake speaks before I can "Not yet." Jake hints winking at me. My jaw drops at his words. What is he talking about not yet? Oh I get it, he wanted a reaction out of me, and of course I gave him exactly what he wanted.
I smack him in the back of the head "Shut up Jake." I reply. "Jake?" Melina questions looking over to Jake with a confused expression. Jake begins to scratch the back of his neck as he winces slightly "Uh yeah, about that Princess, I'm not really-I mean my name isn't-uh, I kinda told you my fake name. My real name is actually Adelram Namara...mom says Deli for short."
I sit here absolutely speechless. He had been lying to me this entire time? His name isn't Jake, it's Adelram? Why would he tell me it's Jake? How could he lie to me this whole time? Why wouldn't he just tell me his name is Adelram? Adelram's a way cooler name than Jake anyways. I'm angry, annoyed, confused, but mostly i'm hurt. Pathetic I know, I'm aware that all he did was lie about his name, but it hurts, not so much that he told me a different name, but because he lied to me. It's something so simple, a name, I just don't understand why he couldn't just tell me his real name, doesn't he trust me? Why would he lie to me about something as simple as his name?
I bite my lip as I try to calm down, I shouldn't be so hurt about something like this. Jake watches me with a look of regret as Melina looks at us awkwardly, clearly unsure of what to do or say, there's a thick awkward silence in the room, nobody says anything, we just look at each other, unsure of what to say. Thankfully the silence is interrupted when a group of people come walking into the room, immediately looking to Ja-Adelram...
"Adel" a petite girl whispers, staring at Jake-Adelram! I mean Adelram dang it-with a look of happiness and pain. Her big brown eyes begin to water as she steps forward, her curly, chestnut hair with caramel highlights flutter around as she suddenly stumbles forward and falls down onto J-Adelram. She curls her face into his shoulder and squeezes him into a tight hug. I stand up and walk back a few steps as I feel like I'm intruding on a personal family moment.
"Adel, you stupid idiot" the girl mumbles against his shoulder, her voice cracking "how could you leave me for so long?" She asks. Jake doesn't answer, he just wraps his arms around her back and hugs her, closing his eyes. After what feels like forever of me awkwardly standing here, she pulls away and punches him hard, full force in the chest. "Ow!" Jake-no! Adelram, his name is Adelram-exclaims rubbing his chest where she hit. "You left when I needed you the most you selfish douchbag!" She expresses wiping her tears and standing up. "I'm sorry Lanna, I don't know what to say except that you're right, and I'm really, truly sorry" he apogizes, his eyes pleading. Lanna rolls her eyes "save your apologies for someone who cares" she retorts before spinning around on her heels and leaving the room. "Lanna wait!" Adelram calls out standing up, but Melina grabs his arm gently "Just give her some time" she assures him. Adelram nods before turning to the guy that looks to be around the age of twenty four.
The guy steps forward, he's tall, with high raised brown hair and brown eyes "Hey brother from the very same mother, how've you been?" He asks doing that weird guy hug where they give each other high fives sorta and then pull into a back patting hug...yeah I will never get that.
"Hey Cayden. What's up?" Adelram replies as they pull apart. They begin talking about I don't even know what as I stand here unsure of what to do. After a moment Avalynn looks away from them with a bored expression on her face, she looks around and locks eyes with me, immediately her expression brightens and she runs over "Hi! I'm Avalynn!" The little girl exclaims, waving widely at me. I wave back and smile
"Hi Avalynn, that's a really pretty name" I say.
"I'm Batman's favorite sister, shh don't tell Lanna, cause it's just gonna hurt her feelings Batman said." Avalynn says grinning up at me. I laugh lightly at her and sit down crosslegged on the floor, as she does the same thing. "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret." I whisper, pretending to zip my lips. "So why do you call Jake-I mean why do you call Adelram Batman?" I ask. At this her little face lights up.
"Well Batman the cartoon awesome, and I love Batman so much. This one day I was at the park, and this little bully named Jayden came up to me and kicked sand on me, then he pulled my Batman doll from my hands and said that Batman is for boys, and that I'm a girl so I'm not allowed to like Batman. And then Adelram walked up and was like-" Avalynns face scrunches up as she crosses her arms and uses a overly deep voice " 'Hey twerp, if you don't leave my sister alone, I'm gonna wipe her cooties on you', "which is just silly" Avalynn says giggling "I don't even have cooties! But Jayden believed it, he dropped my Batman doll and ran off. And since Adelram saved me that day, and Batman is my hero, I started calling him Batman" Avalynn explains taking a deep breath when she's finished. Awe, that may have been the cutest story ever. "Wow, sounds like 'Batman' is your favorite brother huh?" I ask
Avalynn frowns at me and puts her hands on her hips "only I get to call him Batman" she pouts. I chuckle at this "So, who are you?" Avalynn asks "I'm Bethany, a friend of Adelrams." I say. She just sits there watching me for a moment before jumping up "Hey, you wanna come see my room?" She asks excitedly. Melina intervenes before I can answer "Sorry Ava, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow, its way past your bedtime." Avalynn pokes out her bottom lip "No fair! I wanna play with Batman, he just got here! I don't wanna go to bed, I'm not even sleepy." Avalynn pouts. "You can play with 'Batman' tomorrow, and you'll get sleepy as you lay there, don't worry." Melina says picking up Avalynn who screams and kicks as her mom takes her up the stairs. Now all that's left here is Jak-Adelram, Cayden, and I.
I clear my throat quietly to get J-no, wait Adelram's-attention. Adelram looks up at me a surprised expression on his face "Sorry Princess, I forgot you were here." he admits. "Princess?" Cayden asks questioningly as he looks over to me. He raises his eyebrows while he looks me up and down, a slow smirk forming on his lips, echoing jakes signature bad boy smirk. "Well, hello there beautiful, I'm sorry I didn't notice you standing there." Cayden says charmingly as he steps forward, grabbing my hand and kissing the top of it. What is this? The 1960's? I blush as he does this "Hi, I'm Bethany." I say. "I just know I'm going to have a hard time remembering that, mind if I call you mine instead?" He asks smirking at me "um, what? I-" I stutter nervously.
"Stay away from her perv, she has a boyfriend." Adelram advices. Cayden frowns at this "Don't tell me you snagged this hottie." he says. I feel myself blush deeper. Adelram rolls his eyes "No." he growls looking away. I just stand here awkwardly. "Yeah...so uh where am I sleeping?" I ask. "You could sleep in my bed with me, after all, sharing is caring." Cayden says winking flirtatiously and shamelessly at me.
I look down at the floor, my cheeks flaring. Adelram steps forward and grabs my arm gently. "Come on, I'll bring you to your room." He says walking towards the stairs "Hey bro, remember, my room is the second door to the left on the third floor." Cayden calls out. Adelram only walks faster, ignoring this. We walk up three flights of stairs in silence, when we reach the third floor I hesitate "You aren't actually bringing me to Cayden's room are you?" I ask nervously. Adelram laughs at this "Don't worry, you'll have a room to yourself." He chuckles, leading me down a long hallways full of baby pictures. I want to stop to check out the pictures, but I don't as I let him lead me to the last door on the right of this hallway. "Here's your room, mine's right there." He says pointing to the one right across from mine "Thanks...Adelram" I say feeling strange call him that. Even though I think Adelram's a cooler name than Jake, I've gotten used to calling him Jake, and no matter what, that's always what I'll consider him, I guess I just gotta get used to Adelram. Adelram nudges me lightly on the shoulder "Hey. I'm sorry for lying, I never tell anybody my real name outside of the Eribiss world, I wanted to tell you my real name, but...I don't know. Anyways, you can call me Jake if you want, I've kinda grown used to hearing you call me that, I've come to like it." He smiles at me, and the corner of my mouth twitches. Darn his contagious smile!
"It's alright, I understand." I assure him. "I think I will call you Jake, at least until I get used to Adelram. Its an adjustment." I admit, relieved.
"Your family is very kind, I enjoyed meeting the ones I did." I tell him changing the subject. "Yeah, sorry about Everette and Lanna, things with them are...complicated. You'll meet my dad tomorrow, he's probably gone right now." Jake tells me. I nod my head as I'm unsure of what to say "Okay well goodnight." I say before turning around to walk into my room. "Princess?" Jake asks quietly, I stop walking but don't turn around "Yeah?" I reply.
"Thanks." He says quietly. Before I can ask what for, Jake's shutting the door to his bedroom, and the light under the door is extinguished.
I walk into mine and smile brightly. It's beautiful. The floor is pure white, unblemished carpet. The walls are a violet color, and seem to be covered in a silky fabric. There's a small platform on the floor with two steps a and queen sized bed laying on top of the small stage.
There's a huge walk in closet that's almost the side of my room at home, and a entire bathroom to myself. The toilet looks unused along with everything else, there's super soft towels hanging on a crystal rack, there's a jacuzzi bathtub/shower, inside a really expensive looking shampoo and conditioner that's supposed to give my hair 'volume, strength, and a natural shine' with only organic ingredients. There's a sink and mirror with glorious smelling hand soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, deodorant, mouthwash, and hair curler, all unused. I look at it all in amazement. People really live like this?
After brushing my teeth, and combing my hair, I walk inside my room looking inside the closet to see multiple outfits, but none of them pajamas. I look inside the drawers of the dresser, there I find a silky blue set of pjs. The silk is softer and smoother than any material I've ever felt. I rub it against my face, loving the feeling. I change into them and shut off my lights, getting into bed.
Oh my gosh. This bed, is literally like sleeping on a cloud, I could definitely get used to this place. Exhausted from the events of the day, I fall asleep almost instantly, drifting off into a deep slumber.
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So his name is Adelram, it's so weird for me to be writing Adelram instead of Jake, he's just such a Jake in my head...but yeah starting next chapter I'll be writing Adelram instead of Jake, except when Kamaria is actually talking to him.
Tell me what you think of the new characters, Melina, Everette, Avalynn, Cayden, Lanna, I'm interested in hearing your feedback.
Next chapter she begins her training, so keep your eyes open.
Shoutout to my editor MissRows who totally saved me, I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to describe the place, but missrows swooped in and saved the day thankfully.
Please comment, read, vote, and promote!!!