IT'S TOO HOT IN HERE.
That was my first thought as I stirred awake. Something felt off, but I couldn't tell what. My shirt stuck to my skin and leaving my hair out was almost unbearable. The last thing I remember was fighting Ansen and being blinded by a wave of white light. Last time I checked, we were in Auxillium.
But looking around, I was back in my room. In Noatra. It was dark outside, which didn't really add up, since I was pretty sure it was dark when I blacked out. It's either been a couple hours or an entire day since I've been awake, and I doubt we made the trip back here in less than six hours.
My hand goes to my chest, which was burning. I hated the sensation, and I had no idea what caused it. I don't think it'll do me any good if I tell someone. It would probably freak Tori out - same with Lys.
I finger the necklace around my neck. It's glowing, I realise then. The white gem was flashing, growing brighter, then dimmed. White - we ended up finding the amulet, then. My hands kept fiddling with the chain.
The gold and the blue one was in the hands of Ansen. I had the white one and the red one. The black one - the one I needed to find - was still no where to be found. And I had to pray that Ansen wasn't close to finding the green one.
I glanced at the clock. 4AM, that's what time it was. And the dates says I've been unconscious for at least a day. Another day lost because I couldn't stay awake for more than four hours. My body groans as I roll out of bed. Twenty-four hours of sleep is long enough.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I searched for the switch to the lamp on my desk table. It was too early (late?) to turn the full lights on. In the orange-yellow halo, I examined myself in the mirror. My clothes were the same from the day before. The bags under my eyes were prominent. My hair looked like a racoon live in it. The amulet kept glowing, my chest continues to burn. I looked like hell, but I didn't have the energy to clean myself up.
There's mark on my skin too, I notice. They look like burn marks, but they had a distinct pattern. It was fading though, barely noticeable, but the pattern was too pretty to not notice. It looked almost as if flames were licking my skin.
Maybe that was what happened after I saw the white blast of light. Maybe I was almost burned alive.
Or maybe the patterns were just images in my mind. Maybe my mind was still disoriented and I was starting to see things.
My stomach growled, vibrating. Gosh, I was starving. It wouldn't be too much trouble if I headed downstairs to grab something to eat, right? If Tori woke up, she'd probably scream at me and tell me to go back to bed, but maybe she was still at the palace. Lysander would probably be exhausted from you trip back - hopefully. Besides, it was the dead of night. Everyone should be asleep.
I make my way downstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. When I pass by Lysander's room, I notice that it's slightly open. I peak in, seeing him fast asleep, an arm hanging off the bed. Little Aurora tries to climb the bed, wanting to join her parents.
A quick glance and she notices me in the doorway. I put a finger on my mouth, telling her to be quiet. She complies, going back to what she was doing, ignoring me.
The kitchen if fully stocked, and it looked like Mr Hemingworth, or whoever was in charge of groceries, went shopping earlier today. I opened up the fridge finding fresh fruits and cartons of chocolate milk. I left the door open, partially as I tried to decide what to take, partially because the cold air felt nice.
I fiddled with the chain of the amulet again. I'm not quite sure why Atticus didn't keep it with him - maybe he thought it was safer with me, or at least, with the Captain of the Guard living in this very household. But it was his family heirloom, I shouldn't be-
"Gods, Vera, why do I always find you in your kitchen?" I look up to see just the boy I was thinking about. What he was doing at this ungodly hour, I'm not sure, but he probably just woke up. Maybe I wasn't as stealth as I thought I was.
"I mean, this is my kitchen," I said, grabbing the packet of strawberries. "I think the real question is why are you in my house, and not your own. I'm sure Olivia is missing you under her roof. And Mikayla, isn't she jealous you haven't been around her much recently?"
Atticus gave an odd look, confused as to why I brought it up. "Vera, I was worried about you, okay? Is there something wrong with wanting to make sure your best friend is okay." He bit his lip. "Plus, I might have accidentally fallen asleep on your couch and have been staring at the ceiling for a good hour or so."
"The TV is right there for you to use."
"I didn't want to annoy anyone. Some people are sleeping"
I gave a small smile. "Apparently some people aren't us." I take a bite of the apple as I walked into the living room, again, fiddling with the chain of the amulet. "Don't you want to keep this? It's pretty important."
He sticks his hand in his pocket, almost nervous about answering. I give him an odd look as he replies. "Yeah... yeah, that would be good."
I raised an eyebrow, taking off the clasp. He almost looked relieved as I took it off and was about to give it to him. "Is there... is there something wrong Att?"
He shook his head. "No... not.... Exactly." He said it almost as it if was a question. He took the amulet from my hand and put it into his pocket. "It's just... uh... I was kind of worried that you we gonna maybe, I don't know, collapse if you took it off."
I bit the inside of my cheek, confused. Collapse? "Why would I collapse?"
"Your life might have been temporarily dependant on the amulet, at least for a little bit." Atticus hesitated as he spoke. My eyes probably grew wide, confused as ever. "The counter attack you casted when fighting Ansen used up all the blood magic within you, so we needed to give you some magic to keep you awake until Friday."
I reached for the amulet, which I remembered wasn't there anymore. It became a habit, fiddling with whatever was around my neck. Maybe it's because I'm supposed to have one of my own around my neck. I had to find it, sooner or later. I can't let Ansen find it before me. "Where do you think the last ones are?"
He shrugged. "No clue, they could be anywhere." Green and black, where would they be? "We can probably ask Professor Lorcan if he knows anything about either one. Pheon and Vic probably can help us trace back the Hawthorne line. You have the best bet to find the Noatra amulet. How many days do you have left again?"
How many days until I turn eighteen. "Around a week, I think. I don't count down the days until my birthday. What's the point of that? What's the point of a birthday, anyway? Are we really supposed to celebrate another year closer to death?"
"It's celebrating another year of living, Vera," Atticus explained, leaning against the table. "It's celebrating the memories we made and the friends we laughed with and the things were experienced now that we're a year older. We're celebrating life, Vera."
That would be a good reason to celebrate, if you had a good life. A good year. But I'm sure being arrested and almost killed on multiple occasions isn't something to be happy about. Maybe returning home would be a nice thing from the past year. Back with my actual family and friends. But everything else... everything else about being seventeen was shit.
"There's still no point." I bite my lip. "I have nothing to celebrate."
There was a silence in the air. "There's four days until mine. It's the first one in ten years that you're there to cover my face and hair with buttercream frosting."
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly at the memory, taking a handful of cake and smacking it onto his face. He didn't mind, doing the same to me on my own birthday.
"Then, like I said, there's a week until my birthday."
"More like six days."
Six days.
Six days to get everything under control. Six days to find the amulets, and maybe even the other heirs. Six days to try and stop Ansen. Six days until-
"Your coronation... that's in six days too, isn't it?"
And that's what makes my stomach turn. Atticus reminds me that I'm not just a regular girl, but the entire kingdom is supposed to be mine. In six days, I'm supposed to fulfill a legend. I'm supposed to wear a crown and sit on a throne and take control of a place that hasn't felt like home since recently.
"I don't think there's going to be one," I admit. "At least, I don't think we should have one." I don't want one, either.
"Vera, you can't deny fate."
"It's not fate, it's a coincidence, Atticus. My entire life if one big coincidence. Anything else is a lie. And plus, what's the kingdom going to think? Suddenly the king is going to step down and his wife's sister is going to take over? One who was just recently a known criminal? No one knows the old history. We can't just explain why our flag has a star with six equal points, when everyone thinks one is supposed to be in control..."
And as I talk, my voice falters. The red amulet was located by a tower with the six pointed star on it. "Att, when you guys found the amulet of Auxillium, was there anything notable about where you found it?"
"Uh, it was in the center of the palace, more or less." He knit his eyebrows, thinking. "There was a lot of rubble around, I'm not really sure what you're-"
"A symbol. Was there a symbol around?" I began walking into the living room, looking around the walls. I swear there was something around that could lead me to what I was looking for. Atticus was probably confused, but his rushed footsteps chased after me.
"The star," he said, finally working out my mind. "The star was on the ground around it, six of them, actually."
Six points, one for each kingdom, each of equal power. The star on the flag, the shape of at least one gem on each royal crown, the shape of the amulet itself. How could I have been so clueless?
There was a phrase that was stuck in my mind since visiting my parents' final resting place. The words on my mother's tombstone still haunted me, because I had a feeling that they meant more than reassurance. She was giving me a message.
And then something surfaced from my mind. I did know where the amulet was. Or I had a good feeling about it before, but with the chaos from our trip to Auxillium, I guess I forgot.
I turned slowly towards the fireplace and glanced up at our family portrait. The stars in the sky are watching over our family. Like in my memory, the black, six pointed star was above out family portrait.
"I need you to give me a boost," I said to Atticus, walking towards the fireplace. "I think I know where it is. Or a hint to find where it is." When I turn to him, he has an unsure look on his face. "Come on, you know that whatever happens to me won't be serious enough to kill me."
He rolled his eyes. What else was he expecting from me? "I think the only way to reach that high would be either with a ladder or if you get on my shoulders. I don't think we should use either method right now."
"And why not?"
"I mean, for one, we're going to wake everyone up," he stated, looking around. He's acting as if we haven't been at least talking with our regular voices for the last half an hour or so. As a kid, I could hear my parents' conversations from my room.
I groaned in annoyance. "I'm going to get on your shoulders. You are not going to drop me." I climb onto the coffee table beside the fireplace and get him into position.
"You've done this before, haven't you?" I make him bend his knees, legs spread out.
"It's useful when you have to break through people's windows," I said in response. I climb onto his back and balance myself on his shoulders. If anyone walked into the room, blurry eyed, all they're probably see would be some eleven foot, four armed monster.
My fingers still barely touch the star, but I was able to touch it enough to twist the star to the right. Nothing happened in the morning. My heart sunk. But then-
A loud screech of stone rubbing against each other filled the house. Everyone probably was now awake. So much for being subtle. I lost my balance, making Atticus do the same, and we both end up collapsing on each other. I quickly hop onto my feet. The sound came from across where we were. There was a gap in the wall.
Atticus remained on the floor while I walked over, reaching in. Please please please please be in here. Sticking my arm though the hole, I felt around, with nothing but air and dust brushing against my fingers.
And then I felt the smooth glass case. I grabbed it, my heart pounding. This was it. This had to be it. I needed this to be it.
And in my hands, in a small, glass container, sat not only the amulet of Noatra but also Amelia Covington's lost crown. There were cracks in the glass. I opened it up, holding the pieces of jewelry between my fingers. I wasn't sure what the mineral actually was, but the jewels were obsidian black and sparkled in the light.
The amulet glowed. And the burning sensation in my chest continued.
I found it. I found it. We have the three main amulets, we just have to get Sylvaine's to know that we outnumbered Ansen.
The burning sensation suddenly was replaced by a chill in the air.
"Took you long enough to find it, Vera."
I turned around to face the voice. And I screamed.