Forbidden: The Eternal One

Chapter Four: REAWAKENING

When I was a child, I would often get lost in the Unclaimed. With vast expanses of trees, constantly weaving new paths, grass springing back after being crushed by footprints, and water-banks that flowed in a different direction daily…it was quite easy to lose your way. And much to my parents’ dismay, I thought it fun to adventure out and try to find my way back to our homestead before sunset. One afternoon, I brought a book with me and fell asleep reading on the banks of a creek. When I awoke, it was dark and I began to panic. The trees loomed threateningly above me, twisting, contorting, their gnarly limbs reaching out as if they wanted to shred me to pieces. The trickling creek before me had turned into a mirrored black lake, wispy fog covered the top of it. In the distance, I could hear the howl of a lone wolf. It sent shivers down my spine and I started to cry for my parents.

The waters of the lake rippled and an orb of soft white light floated out from the center. The coils of fog began to recede out into the murky shadows of thick forestry surrounding us as the orb of light grew bigger and bigger, slowly resembling the outline of a person.

Amara, my child, dry your eyes. A soft, melodic voice echoed so sweetly in my ears.

“Wh-who are you?” I sniffled and wiped at my runny nose with the back of my hand.

The glowing figure started to look more humanoid the closer it got. Flowing locks of shining auburn hair, crystal blue eyes doted by thickly framed lashes, full cherry lips, and high cheekbones graced this vision of ethereal beauty. A white, silky chiffon dress cascaded gently off of her delicate shoulders and accentuated her lean yet curvaceous frame. She floated over the dark surface of water until she rest in front of me.

I am your True Mother. She touched my cheek and wiped a lingering tear away. At her touch, I am stunned by a vision of a plump, cooing baby being held in her arms. She wore a green, velvet cloak with the hood casting shadows on her beautiful face, disguising her identity from the outside world. She was inside of a dimly lit hallway. The sconces on the walls barely cast enough light to see the space ahead of you.

As she rounded a corner, she came upon a a metal door. Without knocking, she walked right through it, the materials of this world bending to her will. A woman with long, dark hair sat in front of a crackling fire. She did not seem surprised at the materializing of the cloaked woman. “You brought the infant.”

The baby gaggles in delight from her mother’s arms. The cloaked woman affectionately nuzzles her face against the soft baby’s pudgy flesh. “I wish I could hold her in my arms forever.” Sadness weighed her voice down and a single tear shimmered down her beautiful face.

The dark haired young woman, stood from her seat in front of a fire and wrapped her arms around her comfortingly. She was careful not to smush the baby. “Gaia,” she starts, “you know we can’t mess with the hands of Fate. It is written that only Amara can bring true order to this realm.”

Gaia cries, clutching the baby to her chest. “How many times have I born my child, just to sacrifice her for the sake of a world that will hunt her down and kill her? How many loves must I watch break her heart? How am I to watch my own flesh suffer and know I’m not to intervene? It’s cruel! I wish I could condemn my sister Fate to the same agony I feel. Over and over. I don’t know if I can go through this again, Ruth.”

A supernatural gust flutters through the still chamber and sniffs out the fire in the mantle.

Ruth’s pale, green eyes roll into the back of her head and her mouth opens in a silent scream as eight long, giant spider legs claw out of her lips. As she molts out of her human skin, the body falls slack to the cool, marble floors. Gaia cradles her baby protectively and shrouds her in the velvety fabric of her cloak.

“Hello, sister.” She says to the giant arachnid.

The spider makes a few clicking noises, her massive pinchers rub together in a frightening motion.

Sissster, Fate hisses in her mind, It’s been tooooo long.

Gaia nods silently in agreement. And then, after a pause says, “To what do I owe your extraordinary presence?”

Fate makes a series of clicks with her pinchers, all 8 of her beady red eyes are honed in on Gaia’s beautiful reflection.

I have written a neeww prophecy. This shaall be Amara’s final incarnation. Her pinchers click together once more. Sissster, your sufferinnng has been noticed. Thisss time I will allow her to know you but youuuu may only intervene if it is not for pppersonal gain.

Gaia cries in outrage “You can’t do this! You mean to tell me if she doesn’t make it, she will be dead forever?!”

The spider hisses. You sssaid you cannot take anymore sssufferingg. Amara must fulfill her destinnyyy or perish eternally. This isss the final chance. It is writtennn.

And with that, the giant arachnid disappeared out of thin air. With her exit, the hearthside roared back to life in flames. Baby Amara, who had previously been quiet as a mouse, began to cry in discomfort as her mother rushed to her awakening friend’s side to help her up.

Ruth spits onto the ground in disgust. “That was abominable.”

Gaia gives a dry laugh and comforts her sobbing infant. “My sister has always known how to make an entrance.”

The two women stand in awkward silence for a moment. The only noises in the room besides Amara’s sweet baby gargles are the snapping and popping of the fireplace. Finally, after many moments, Ruth runs a delicate hand through her long, chestnut tresses and lets out a sigh to break the tension. “Was it an omen?”

A solitary tear trickles slowly out of the corner of Gaia’s eye. “It is now written, that this will be Amara’s final incarnation.” The tear splashes onto Amara’s pudgy baby cheek as her dear friend, Ruth, gasps in dismay.

“You can’t mean-”

“Yes, if she fails, she will not be reborn. This is our last chance.”

Ruth lingers closer to Gaia and tenderly brushes a curl out of Amara’s eye. “We have watched her flourish and fail for centuries. She is stronger this time, can you feel it?”

Gaia gulps down the uneasy lump in her throat. “I only hope her host parents will keep her safe long enough to come into her powers.”

“I have a friend, a Nymph, who is barren.” Ruth starts. “She’s strong and has been disguised as an Elementalist in the Rex Empire. Her husband also comes from ancient magick. He is a descendant of Elvin warriors. They are strong and loyal people. I have no doubt in my mind they would nurture and protect our little Amara until the Awakening.”

The memory skips forward a little bit and now both women are standing at the red oak door of a quaint cobblestone cottage. The door swings open to a young Vivian. Her wavy hair was trimmed short and boyishly framed her heart shaped face. She was petite and lean with well toned, golden skin from years of working the battlefield for the Royal family. Her maroon tunic revealed the outline of a feminine six pack of abs.

“Hello, lovelies! Did you bring fresh loaves?” Vivian’s voice was as sweet as a song.

Gaia nods to the basket of bread in her hands. Unbeknownst to the outside world, lay baby Amara in a spell induced slumber. She was meticulously placed there to avoid early exposure. “Right out the oven, ma’am!” She says in a dull voice. No matter how many times she’d had to sacrifice her child, it never got any easier. In fact, she’d argue that each time got harder than the last.

Vivian claps her hands together with excitement. “Wonderful! Do come in.” She peers suspiciously around the neighborhood, making sure nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation. Then in a hushed voice she whispers, “I have been dying to meet her.”

Both Ruth and Gaia exchange nervous smiles before crossing into the threshold. Vivian gives one final glance outside before closing the cottage door behind them. There’s a series of soft clicks as she latches all three of the locks on the door and closes the little slot that allows you to peer outside at eye level.

Ruth murmurs a few enchantments to sound proof the cottage while Gaia works on retrieving her baby from the bread basket. Baby Amara smiles in her sleep. She would not awake again until the spell wears off in 9 months. Nor would a single hair on her head get older. She was stuck in an ageless sleep as was the only way their plan would work.

Gaia places a sweet kiss on her slumbering child’s forehead and nuzzles her affectionately. Her heart was heavy and for a moment she contemplated leaving her in a timeless sleep forever. If only to hold her like this for eternity. It struck her, then, that her baby would never be this small again. Her chest constricted with the sharp ache of sadness.

“I cannot imagine your pain, but I assure you I will love Amara as if she were my rightful child.” Vivian says rounding the corner with a tea kettle and setting it on a small, square table that took up the majority of the open cottage. She motioned for the other women to sit. “Tea?”

Both of the ladies took their respective seats at the table and allowed Vivian to pour them a mug of steaming tea. Gaia cradled her child gently in one arm while she used her free hand to pick up a spoon off the placemat in front of her to stir some cream into the tea. She could have used her powers, but the mechanical labor seemed to have a calming effect on her boiling emotions.

They sat in silence for a moment before Vivian finally cleared her throat. “May I hold her?”

Internally, Gaia wanted to scream “NO” and get up, leave the cottage and take her sweet baby back to Vanaheim and pray that her sister, Fate, didn’t come to hunt them down and rewrite their history. But, Gaia knew that as Deities, they had deeper purpose than their own selfish gains and handed her beloved daughter over to Vivian with a forced smile. “Of course.”

Vivian melts with adoration as soon as she holds the tiny baby in her arms. Gaia couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy as she noted that Amara looked as if she belonged there. Vivian was a natural.

Ruth, as if reading her friend’s mind, reaches a hand under the table and gives a reassuring squeeze to Gaia’s knee and says, “We are glad to know Amara will be in loving hands.”

Vivian beams brightly as she brushes a stray curl away from Amara’s eye. “I won’t fail her. I refuse.”

Gaia nods and swallows another lump in her throat. “If we want the plan to work, you must take the potions to keep up the appearance of pregnancy. Once Amara awakes from the spell, call for Ruth and she will enchant herself to look like the midwife and perform the blood tests. If anything goes wrong, escape to the Unclaimed.”

“Nobody survives the Unclaimed!” Exclaims Vivian in shock. With her emotional outburst, a boom of thunder broke against the overhead skies.

“You will, Nymph. The land is alive with old magick. The same magick that gives you power over the rain and thunder is the same magick that allows the Unclaimed to fight off intruders. Long ago, your species along with the Elves and Fae lived harmoniously in the Unclaimed. Only then, we new it by a different name- Avalon. If something goes wrong, flee to the Unclaimed. It will grant you sanctuary and we will stage a tragedy so that the Royals don’t hunt you for treason.”

Vivian gnaws on her lower lip with unease. “They’d kill us over a baby?”

Ruth and Gaia exchange nervous glances before finally, Gaia stands up and pulls off her gloves, revealing two palms with glowing runes. She then, took her daughter and gently ran a palm over her, revealing the glowing markings of the Gods scrawled out on every inch of the baby’s flesh. “Amara’s name is forbidden because she is forbidden from existing. She has lived many lives and I have watched the Royal family you have dedicated your life to protecting rob her of her magick and kill her before she could fully Awaken into her duties as peace bringer. It is her mission to dismantle the Empires so that this realm can live in harmony once more. This is her last chance. If she fails, she will not be reborn.”

Vivian places a hand over her mouth in horror. Ruth gives her a reassuring pat and chants, “It is written: Oh. Amara, Savior of the beaten and Healer of the damned. A second chance provided for a Realm long forgotten and scorned. The Eternal One shall rise again and on her bosom will redemption be worn.”

Gaia places her child back into her adoptive mother’s arms. “Now that you are aware of her Destiny, do you still wish to proceed?”

Vivian was never one to back down from a challenge. Though most Nymphs made professions as entertainers or escorts, she battled her way into a title of recognition as an Elementalist in the Royal family’s battalion. She singlehandedly became one of the most renowned Defenders of the Rex Empire. She proved herself more than just a pretty face. And then she met her husband, William Alexander, whom her soul loved. Their lives were happy but she felt a sharp twinge of regret anytime she saw a mother out with their young children. She knew as soon as she lay eyes on Amara’s sweet, cherubic face that their destiny was intertwined. And so, she opened her mouth and said the only thing that felt right. “Gaia, you may have birthed her, but I feel in my heart that in this life I was born to be her mother.”

At those words, Gaia felt a rush of relief. She knew that Vivian would love her precious child as if she were her true mother. And that Amara would have a chance to succeed and fulfill the Prophecy.

I came back to reality with a start and realized there was a persistent dampness on my cheeks. I was crying as my True Mother, Gaia, hugged me and pressed kisses all along my face and crown. “You’re so beautiful. I am so proud of you, my Child.” She murmured sweetly into my hair. “I wish I could stay here with you forever.”

I wrapped my arms around her, surprised that she felt so warm and whole. “Can’t you stay here a while? There’s so much to learn from each other.”

She peered at me with those glacial eyes and smiled sadly. “One day, when you are much older, we will meet again.” She snapped her fingers and we materialized inside of my bedroom where she tucked me under the covers and placed a lingering kiss on my forehead. “Until then, my love, I’ll always be in here.” She placed a palm over my heart and I covered it with both of my hands, drawing her closer to me. My True Mother gave me one final kiss as I drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke, I had no memory of returning home or of our encounter. My parents told me they found me asleep under a tree and brought me back to my room that night.

As I grew older, I would often feel like I was missing something important. And at night, when I lay in bed, I had the tendency to fall asleep with both of my hands covering my heart, as if I were protecting a secret treasure buried inside of me.