Mystery is the soul of existence...
***
Arden
"Wake up."
The maze...there...
"Wake up."
There was a maze...and Hayden...Ali...I- I saw...Ar-
"Hello?"
She said we will all perish....what?
"Wake up." I jolted up and immediately grasped the closest thing to me. When I woke, I found myself in the plane. The same plane, the same plane that we were in a couple of- the same plane that fell out of the sky.
I looked around hastily as I could hear my breathing coming out rigidly and rapidly. I was gripping the plane seat but I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw we were on the ground. The plane seemed fine and that's when I also noticed my friends.
They were all knocked out...Or sleeping? What the-
"Welcome to Greece, Ms. Arden Taipan." I brought my eyes to the pilot, who was standing in front of me and wearing a casual and calm smile. "Sorry to wake you, but we've reached our destination."
I looked out the window slowly- my body still behaving as if going into shock- and then back to the pilot. He raised his eyebrows at me. He was tall, slim, and you could see the age in his hair and his face. He was dressed in his navy blue uniform with a white hat settled on his head. He seemed like a sweet old man. However, he was acting like everything was fine- like we didn't just fall out of the sky- like the plane wasn't about to crash straight into the earth at a momentum that could've killed everyone.
Maybe...none of that happened.
"Greece?" I asked. My voice was deep, quiet, and pretty hard to hear. The pilot nodded. "Yes, Greece. Welcome to Athens, I take it your flight went well?"
Hold the fuck up...
I had so many things rushing through my mind right now, the only thing I could do was raise my eyebrows at the poor pilot.
***
"I couldn't help it," Ali said loudly. You could see how tired and dazed he was. Under his eyes were red and his eyes were glossed over, almost as if he kept reliving that stupid vision we all had. "I was just...tempted, alright?"
I don't know why this was happening. What the hell is going on with all these visions? I was sure that everyone and our different 'optics' were related- clearly- and whoever is behind this obviously wants to take us down- I think.
"You know what sounds tempting?" Nikki growled. There was anger and venom in her voice and I have to say I was thankful to finally be at the hotel. We've all been hearing Ali and Nikki go back and forth since we got off the damn plane. "My foot, up your ass."
The vision was clearly an illusion, we didn't actually fall out of the sky. But, I'm pretty sure the visions within the vision are true. I didn't know how to feel about Hayden and Armani but that doesn't matter. Ace hasn't said a word to anyone since. Should probably give him time to cool down.
No one has said anything about what we've experienced- not yet anyway. We parted ways and made our way to our rooms.
I wasn't surprised Mani followed me into my room. As I entered the bright and colorful hotel room, I sighed. The balcony curtains were open, revealing a super sunny skyline of the city of Athens. It was truly gorgeous and bright and a sight to see, but my mind was too occupied.
I left my luggage by the side of the room and made my way to the comfortable looking bed. I sat down with a sigh and rubbed a hand over my face.
Sometimes I wish I could sleep through life. Way easier than facing any of my problems.
Armani came to sit next to me. She played with the hem of her floral dress and kicked off her sandals. "Arden?"
"Yeah, Mani?"
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know." I sighed again. "It's obviously not a coincidence, though. These aren't happening because we're developing and it's not just something disparates go through..." I shook my head. "No, someone is clearly behind this."
Armani looked over at me. Her brown eyes held so much curiosity and tiredness. "You know who it is?" I shook my head.
"No, I don't." I wish I did. Maybe it would make sense why she would be bestowing all these illusions and optics on us. But as of now, I'm completely lost- confused. I don't even know where to start. "This is the second time she's threatened me."
Armani furrowed her brows at me in confusion. "Second?" I shook my head dismissing it. "She said she'd give us delirium. What the hell does that even mean?"
"Apparently, she wants us to all lose our minds...to go insane, I guess," I mumbled. I was thinking. Maybe there was a double meaning to it- or a hidden message...
"Well, it's already starting to work," Armani mumbled and she set her head in her hands. "We don't even know who she is, yet she- I don't even know what she wants."
Neither do I. I sat there thinking about it.
'By the time I'm finished with all of you, you'll all be drained of your powers, character, and very being. Then, you can all visit the very place where I emerged. The very place you all deserve to be...'
She wants to defeat us, to take away who we are to the point where there's nothing left. But why? Where did she come from and why did she want us there?
She said one of us will not perish. I ran a hand through my hair fighting the urge to shift, hearing her taunting and sinister voice in my head.
"She wants to break us down," I mumbled.
It was quiet for a while before Armani picked her head up and looked at me again. Her expression was soft and cautious. "Arden, you know that I care about Ace, right? You know that I love him?"
I nodded. "Of course."
I thought about the vision of Armani and Hayden in the plane...the one with Ali...I thought about reliving that night in the underworld...how...how Ace has complained more than once about Hayden and Armani...how Ali and Nikki were arguing in the suite next to ours, and how I wanted to block out Zane and Hayden after that day in the training center...
My mind starting thinking up these crazy reasonings. I had a theory but I didn't think too much of it. Everything is not always as it seems.
Maybe this person, whoever is behind the visions and illusions, maybe to break us down, she needs to break us apart.
Whatever the hell she wants to do to us, make us go out of our minds or whatever...maybe she needs to do that by making us live through or relive scenarios that are hard for us to cope with.
I didn't want to grasp this theory yet, but I'll definitely hold onto it. There's still so much I'm clueless about.
"Who do you think it is," Armani whispered. "Do you think we know her." There was a lace of fear in her voice. It was typical Mani but I didn't like it. In this case, however, I understood.
"I'm not sure," I mumbled.
'Arden. The daughter of Athena. I have heard so much about you and everything you have done. Everyone says you are extraordinary. Let's see about that, shall we?'
"But, she obviously knows who we are."
*****
Yeah, it's short. But, now that they're in Greece, the story gets much more intense. Do you think you know who "She' is?
Next chapter is also pretty slow but, Zane observes somethign really interesting thnat might change the whole trip.
Until next time,
-brittany.