Goodbye World, Hello Endozia
Tatyanna stood before her two friends, reflecting over her conversation with Lilah. Saying goodbye was harder than she thought it would be. All her life, she had wished she could connect to her sister. Of all days, it was when she said goodbye that she finally did. She made a promise to hold her sister's words close to her heart, feeling like the words would come to hold a whole new meaning.
She broke away from her revere and studied her friends. She felt like she had known them forever, when it had only been a short time. Tatyanna had come to trust them with her life, and a part of her felt weird about trusting them so soon. The more she considered her friends, the more she realized it wasn't weird. It was the feeling of finally having true friends in her life. It engulfed her with a strange sort of comfort.
“So...” Dimitri stretched out. “Are you okay? Was it hard for you to see your family when they didn't remember you?”
Tatyanna glanced back at the house and saw her sister staring down at her from the window. She waved to Lilah one last time, and turned her back on her own life for good. “It wasn't that they didn't remember me, it was more like I was invisible to them. Only Lilah could see me.”
“Really? How is that possible?” Emmett asked.
“She said she has talked to Grandfather several times throughout the years, and he has been prepping her for the day when I would walk away from the only world I ever knew. And she asked him to give her this last moment with me. To send me off, with at least one happy face.”
“What's next?” Dimitri asked her.
“It is time to embrace my future. You tell me.”
Dimitri glanced at Emmett. “Well?”
Emmett had been staring at the sky, as if something would fall from it. “We should rest and head out in the morning. It's already dark there, and we don't know what surprises await us.”
“So, back to my place?” Dimitri asked.
“No, only long enough to pack some clothes, and to drop off your dump truck. I think it would be best if we went to the clearing. The sooner we get away from this world, the better.”
“Why is that? Why can't we stay here for the night?”
“You need to shed who you were, before you can embrace who you are. You've already said your goodbyes, there's no need for us to linger. Plus, you reek. A night in the forest will help get rid of these smells.”
Tatyanna bent and twisted smelling herself. “I don't smell anything.”
Dimitri laughed, “As a warrior, you learn what the land smells like, and you know when something doesn't belong. If we want to make it to our destination safely, you need to smell like the forest.”
“Please tell me I don't have to roll around in mud, or anything crazy like that,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself for the worst. Emmett laughed, but didn’t answer her. “Wait, come on? Do I have to roll around in mud or not?” she asked again, but neither one would respond as they climbed back into Dimitri’s truck.
Dimitri pulled away from the curb, and Tatyanna had to force herself not to look back one last time. Lilah’s parting words echoed in her mind, and she half smiled. “Oh, hey, Dimitri, Lilah wanted me to tell you thanks.”
Dimitri flicked his gaze to his rear view mirror and met her eyes. “For what?”
“Something about showing her who Jon really was.” Dimitri smirked, remembering the fun he had that night getting revenge on the douche’s car.
Emmett looked at his friend's wicked smile and asked, “What did you do?”
Dimitri looked shocked, “What do you mean, what did I do? I didn't do anything; it was that asshole's fault.”
Emmett closed his eyes briefly and let out a long breath, turning to Tatyanna and asking, “What happened?”
“The night of my twenty-first birthday, Lilah's boyfriend ran a light, or something, and hit Dimitri's truck. Jon just kept on driving, never bothering to stop, and Dimitri followed him to my house, and had some fun with Jon's car. When Lilah walked Jon out to his car after the party, she smelled dog pee and saw several broken windows. I guess Jon went ballistic over the damage, because it was really his dad's car. He was only trying to impress Lilah.”
Emmett laughed. “Oh, I bet she was impressed all right.”
“Yeah, she broke up with him that night and hooked up with some new guy.”
“Does she always go from one guy to the next?” Dimitri asked her, pulling onto his street.
“She did, but I think she's different now. I think she has decided to be serious about her life and who she is with. She's less about looks and more about personality now.”
“Good for her,” Emmett said softly.
Dimitri slowed his car down as he pulled into the garage. As he turned it off, he told everyone to wait inside for him. “It's not safe in this neighborhood at night. I don't want to give anyone any ideas. I'll be quick, I've already made up the packs for everyone,” he said, walking them through the front door.
As Tatyanna waited for Dimitri to grab his things, she took in his house one last time. This had truly been his home for years. She turned to Emmett, who was pacing back and forth impatiently. “How long has Dimitri lived here?” she asked, stopping Emmett from making another lap across the entryway.
“When you were first hidden, he was taken away to train and work with the best in his field. Over the years, he would make frequent trips here just to set up a persona, so to speak, and to keep an eye on you from a distance. But I'd say he's lived here permanently for the last few years. We knew this day was coming, so instead of taking the chance of you being ready when he wasn't here, he made the choice to stay and wait until you were.”
Tatyanna contemplated his words, recognizing both Dimitri and Emmett had had to sacrifice a lot for her. She hoped she was worth it and could live up to their expectations, even though she wasn't completely clear on what those expectations were. After several long minutes of watching Emmett pace the small area, Dimitri came down, having changed into deerskin pants and a long white cotton shirt, and carrying several bags filled to the brim. He passed one to her and the other to Emmett, tossing the third over his back.
“Should I change clothes?” she asked, looking down at her rumpled shirt and jeans.
“No need,” Emmett said. “When we appear in the clearing, your clothes will automatically change.”
“How is that even possible?” she asked, astonished.
“We'll explain later,” Dimitri said, holding out his hand to her and waiting for Emmett to take her other hand. The two men closed their eyes simultaneously, and she felt a rush of cold air wash over her, and then a wave of heat. In a blink of an eye, literally, she went from feeling fine to dizzy and nauseated, as if she was car sick. This time, though, it was magic-sickness.
When they arrived in the clearing, Tatyanna immediately stumbled and dropped to her knees, bending over as she held her stomach.
Emmett crouched down beside her, and gently brushed his fingers through her hair, pulling it out of her face. “Shh,” he soothed. “Take deep breaths, and it will pass.”
Tatyanna tried to open her mouth to speak, but as soon as she did, she felt like she would puke. Immediately, she closed it, shaking her head and regretting it, as she felt a pain slash through her body. Doubling over, she laid down on the ground in the fetal position. Emmett moved slightly so he was kneeling in front of her, whispering words of comfort to her. When he realized his words weren’t helping, he lifted the familiar blue necklace from around her neck and pressed it to her forehead.
Instantly, Tatyanna felt the rush of cool running water, and it helped to calm the nausea immobilizing her. After a few minutes, Tatyanna was able to take the necklace back from Emmett and held it to her own head. She was amazed by the power she was feeling coursing through her body, like waves crashing up against rocks during high tide. She could feel the cool sensation washing over every nook and cranny, until the sickness had been banished completely. She got to her hands and knees slowly, and when she still didn’t feel sick, she stood up, eyeing her necklace.
“What is this?” she asked, never once looking up from the necklace, turning it over and over in her hands. She hadn't really inspected the necklace, other than when she stood outside the bar with Dimitri and Althea. Originally, she had thought it was a cage, but now, she wasn't so sure what the design was supposed to be. What was really strange about the necklace was that the blue stone glowed.
“I told you it contains the power of your family,” Dimitri reminded her.
“Did it just heal me?” she asked, bewildered, touching the stone carefully, as if it might break. She could feel warmth and strength radiating from it beneath her fingers.
“Of course. Your power is to heal. This necklace helps to connect you with your power. You will never be sick, or injured, as long as you wear it. Each of the ruling families has a necklace that contains the original magic of that power. I have heard rumors each necklace can do more than just what the power calls for, but I've never seen it myself.”
“What do you mean?” Tatyanna questioned, glancing up for the first time. “How can a necklace do more?”
Emmett and Dimitri cast quick glances at the other, and Emmett was the one to answer her. “It's just rumors, and no one knows if it is the truth, but the necklaces are said to make the person who wears them extremely powerful. They are able to wield a power unlike any we have ever seen. It's just speculation, yet, when I was a young boy, I saw fireballs raining down from the sky, causing villages to flame up in seconds. I had never seen a power such as that before from the Fire Family. Some claim it was the necklace, and others think people have exaggerated that story. Who knows?”
She held the necklace up against her heart, closing her eyes. She felt at peace, and at home, but not the home she had shared with the Bakers, but the home she needed to protect. A slight breeze ruffled her hair, and could have sworn she heard a woman's voice telling her to follow her heart, and then a fleeting kiss to her head shocking her and causing her to drop her necklace to the ground. The woman was gone.
“What's wrong?” Dimitri asked, walking over to her to retrieve the necklace.
“I think I just saw my mother,” she said, wondering how that was even possible.
“What?” Emmett asked, startled.
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “I placed the necklace on my heart, and I was able to feel my mother's presence. She told me to always follow my heart, and then I could have sworn she kissed me.”
“Huh,” was the only response Tatyanna got back from the guys. This was apparently new to them, and they didn't know how to react. She handed her necklace to Dimitri, since he was standing the closest to her, and turned around so that he could put it back on her. Once he was done, she asked, “Why did I get sick?”
“There was a meeting going on, and we basically traveled in a circle around the outside of the clearing until the meeting was resolved. One cannot gain entry if someone wasn't given permission.”
“So, we traveled in a big circle, until we were able to gain access?” she clarified.
“Yes,” Dimitri said.
“Great. Next time, let's just stop and wait. I felt car sick.”
“We couldn't stop,” Emmett told her.
“So, there's a possibility of that happening again?” she asked, feeling her stomach turned at the thought.
“Yes, it's unavoidable.” Before Tatyanna could interrupt, Emmett continued, “This clearing is used for many things, and many people might be waiting. We were next in line. If we had left to go wait somewhere else, we might not have been able to come back until tomorrow, or later,” he explained.
“Huh,” she said, not completely convinced of his clarification, but she didn't call him on it.
“Are you feeling okay? Are you sure you should be standing?” She heard the familiar voice behind her, as she turned to face the speaker, her breath caught in her throat.
“It's you,” she said angrily, staring at Cale, but she couldn't see him for the person he was standing before her, only as the dying man on the gurney trying to steal her life force. Without thinking, she reached out and slapped him across his face. “You should have learned the last time we met to stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you!”
“You can't hit me,” he said, appalled.
“I just did. Do you want me to do it again?” she asked, raising her hand to make her point.
“No, I mean this area is protected. Violence can't happen here.”
“Turns out that isn't always the case. The earth sided with Tatyanna and felt like she has a right to be upset. So they allowed her to hit you.”
Cale's face turned red. “That’s bull! No one gets away with hitting me, especially not a woman.” He stalked toward her and was about to strike, when a vine came sweeping down from above and wrapped around Cale's waist, stopping him in midstride.
“What the hell! Let me down! I demand you to let me down!” But the vine brought him up higher in the air and started to bounce him up and down, like a marionette.
Tatyanna wore a bewildered expression on her face. “I didn't do that,” she said, her head bobbing up and down as she watched the vine bounce Cale in the air.
Without warning, Cale fell to the ground and scampered away from Tatyanna. “Look, I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you that day in the ER. I just didn't want to sit and wait until everyone thought you were ready to face the truth, when that was never going to happen. I was tired of sitting on my butt, twiddling my thumbs.”
“We had a plan!” Emmett screamed at him, his hands clenched by his sides.
“Fuck the plan! It doesn't even matter now, does it?”
“You don't understand. We had everything in place, and you had to jump in and ruin it all. We were supposed to have an escort. But, now, it looks like we have to do this alone, without any protection. Was that your plan all along? To get the princess killed? Because that's how it looks to me.”
For the first time since Tatyanna had met him, Cale looked contrite. “I didn't know.”
“Of course you didn't know, because you never listened. It was all about you and what you wanted. If anything should happen to us, I will hold you accountable. If anything happens to the princess, you will have to answer to Marek, and he is not going to be understanding. You will be lucky if he doesn't have you whipped when we meet up with him.”
The two men glared at each other, and Tatyanna felt like she was missing a very important piece of the puzzle, especially after hearing the name Marek again. It was obvious to her no one was going to share with her who he was, and what role he played in her life. She was about to speak when she noticed Dimitri walking toward them, with Althea by his side. She didn't even see him leave. He met Emmett's gaze and nodded slightly, and then pulled a bedroll from his pack and set it down on the ground.
“It's late; we should get some rest before we move on.”
“We're sleeping here tonight?” she asked warily.
“Until we have proper protection for you, this is the safest place; we will regroup in the morning.”
The men grabbed what they needed from the packs Dimitri had put together, as Emmett gathered wood to make a fire. She wasn't ready to go to sleep, and she didn't feel comfortable sleeping on the ground near Cale. She didn't think he would try something, but she didn't completely trust him either. So far, everything he had done was for his own agenda. Tatyanna looked down at the bedroll at her feet and decided against rest.
Tatyanna stared at the trees surrounding her. She stopped when she saw a light coming from the opposite side of the clearing. She thought she had imagined it, but saw it again as she was about to turn away. She glanced at Dimitri and Emmett, trying to build a fire. Cale was the farthest away from them, but close enough to still feel the heat once the fire was built.
Tatyanna continued to look at the area where she saw the light, debating if she could check it out or not. She still didn't completely understand what was going on, but she knew her life was in danger, and didn't know if this was a trap or not. She was about to walk away when she felt a warm wet nuzzle poking at her hand. Althea was by her side. She felt comforted by the wolf. Althea was almost reassuring her that it was okay to seek out the light.
Tatyanna turned to Emmett and Dimitri, and told them she was going to walk around. Dimitri and Emmett shared a long look and before they could object she said, “I'm going to take Althea with me.” She saw both men lower their shoulders. They were worried she might get lost, or even find her way out of the clearing, where who knew what dangers awaited them. Taking Althea with her helped to convince everyone that she would be safe.
Tatyanna didn't want to walk straight to the area she was interested in, and instead took a roundabout way around the clearing. She felt like running, and had to hold herself back into a leisurely stroll. The men's eyes were on her. Eventually, they surmised she was probably as restless as they were, and went back to making the fire. As soon as she knew they were no longer looking, she made her way to her target. Before Tatyanna knew it, she was walking outside of the clearing, and deeper into the woods. Suddenly, she saw a hand sticking out of a tree stretched out toward her. She looked down at Althea, and the wolf nodded her head at Tatyanna. She reached out to the hand, and felt herself being pulled up into the trees and onto a sturdy branch.
She glanced up, trying to get a good look at the person who had helped her into the tree. She wasn't able to see his face, because he had a hood covering it. “Who are you?” she asked. Instead of answering her, the stranger started to climb further up into the tree, occasionally stopping to see if she was following him. Tatyanna was able to follow, but not nearly as gracefully.
She stumbled through the tree branches for several minutes. They were traveling across several trees, back to where Emmett, Cale, and Dimitri had set up their camp. The mysterious stranger stopped just out of sight. Tatyanna could almost make out what Dimitri and Emmett were discussing.
“Who are you?” she asked the stranger, eyeing the forest green hood he was wearing that blended into their surroundings. A muscled arm, with tattoos of vines curling toward his upper body, reached out from under his cloak and pulled off the hood. A young man around her age, with shaggy chocolate brown hair and emerald green eyes, crouched in front of her. She saw the same vine tattoos on his arms creeping up to the sides of his face. When he saw her staring at his arms, he pulled his cloak tighter in around him.
“Who I am isn't important,” he murmured.
“I beg to differ.”
“How can you say that when you don't know who I am?” he asked.
Tatyanna was silent for a moment thinking over his question. She was pretty sure she knew who he was, thinking back to Emmett's previous conversation about how he had talked with the earth heir. She was pretty sure her mysterious stranger was the missing prince.
“I beg to differ, Prince Terran,” she said matter-of-factly.