Agartha

Chapter one

The bright light woke me up, it was hard to accustom my eyes to the light. Finally, I saw people around me, I was laying on a bed. They all seemed to be preoccupied, there was an elderly woman crying by the side of the men who helped me before. I pushed myself up to be seated and cringed in pain because my fingers and chest were still hurting. The woman shouted “please don't! You need to get some rest. How do you feel?”

I answered with another question “where am I?”.

She said “you are in your room”

“This is not my room. Who are you people?”

“You will have all the answers you need but please rest now”. I was certainly very tired and weak.

“You are safe here, we will protect you”, said the men. I sank back into the pillow and into a slumber feeling a soft hand padding my head.

***

A whisper woke me “Dear, wake up, you need to get something to eat. You slept all day long”

I woke up in the same room, looked at the window and it was dark outside. I turned to see a girl about my age and the old lady I saw crying before. She came closer and helped me seat. I looked around and thought was still dreaming or drugged. The place was well illuminated by bright bubbles floating close to the ceiling, my jaw dropped, and the woman said “don't worry about it, I'll explain later. My name is Asaf and this is Kiryat”.

“Hello, can you tell me why I am here and where am I?”

“Eat and then we´ll explain things to you”. I did as I was told, honestly, I was starving. The girl seemed very amused and Asaf had the most melancholic eyes I had ever seen.

“I'm done”

“Take a bath, change your clothes and when you're ready Kiryat will walk you to the library, we will explain everything there. I can´t believe my eyes, you are finally here!”

What's with the excitement and the protocol? Well, didn't feel like arguing, somehow this woman had authority in her voice, although sweet and kind. She left the room.

“Don't worry I'll turn” Kiryat said, so I undressed and got into the tub with warm water placed on one corner of the room. “I'm ready” I said after finishing. She handed me a towel and clean odd clothes I wasn't sure how to wear but did my best. All the time I was thinking “I hope I'm not trapped in some kind of cult” still uncomfortable about the unexplainable floating light bubbles.

“You look so beautiful!” She said giving me a tight hug. It wasn't comfortable, she felt my tightness. “Don't worry, I didn't expect you to hug me back, but you will, I know you will” she said hopeful. Such a sweet girl.

The room where I was in was beautiful but stepping outside of it… I went out of breath… I could only gasp, this sight was breathtaking, enormous. My room was one of many in the long, circled hallway. In front of it there was no wall, only some crystals placed at the edge at an equal distance. That didn't look very safe. The hallway was a circle that would lead to stairs, we were on the third floor and downstairs you could see a beautiful fountain surrounded by Golden benches and marble floor and columns.

“I know, I know… beautiful isn't it? I'll show you around later, right now we have more important things to do. I can't wait for them to tell you everything!”

There's something seriously wrong with me, I should be panicking right now but I'm somehow calmed. Maybe they shot me something… We walked through that long corridor, it took us a while to get to the stairs. There was a close corridor in front of the stairs, but we went down to the first floor, like all the previous ones, it had a long-rounded corridor but this one had several exit looking gates. We walked all the way to an entrance with double wooden doors. She opened it and it was the most beautiful library I had ever seen. It was magnificent, enormous, with stairs, shelves and little tables everywhere. We walked in across to the central stairway and reached the center of the Library. There was a big rounded table, you could easily sit 30 people there. Several people were expecting us, they all stood up to receive us. I was so intimidated.

“Come on in, please have a seat” said a man looking a lot like the one who saved me but this one had a narrow gold crown on his head, I had no idea what was going on but if I wanted to find out I would have to seat and listen.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“I'm not giving any information about myself until I'm answered all my questions. Where am I and who are you people?”

The man in the green robe tried to speak but the one I suppose is a King spoke first. “My name is Antioco. I am the king of this land and your great uncle. The man who saved you is my brother, Antinoo, your grandfather”

I certainly didn't believe him, I had no great uncles, I had no grandparents actually, they died a long time ago, it was only mom, dad, my sister and me. “It is a pleasure to meet you, but I need to go back home my parents must be worried about me”

“If you go back you might hurt them”

“Are you threatening me?!”

“No, but you threaten their lives if you don't learn how to control your powers before you go back”

The memories hit me instantly. The thief, the pain, the burst of light… Couldn't lift my head, couldn’t understand what was happening. Where those memories real?

“What happened to me?”

“Don't worry we will help you understand everything and control your abilities”

“What are you talking about?”

“Can you at least tell us your name? We all gathered here tonight to know you”

“You are my great uncle but don´t know my name?”

The beautiful lady by his side placed her hand on his arm before he made a sound. “I am your great aunt, the queen. Let´s have this conversation, please try to open up a little, if by the morning you still want to leave, you are free to go. You have my word”

Everyone started to complain at the same time, Kiryat said “grandma, no!” Looking at her mother (I guess by the resemblance), asking her to do something about her grandmother´s decision.

“Enough! She already has my word. So, if you tell us your name, I will take it as an agreement”

“My name is Galia”

As soon as I finished my sentence, golden sparks left both of our right hands, met at the middle of the table and hit each other disappearing in bright dust. I had mixed feelings about it, didn't know if I should panic in silence or scream.

“Galia, many years ago there was a war, these people around you are the rulers of this land, so it was our war. A very powerful witch and her family wanted to take the throne and the right to rule this and many others. Before we won, we almost lost. The palace was taken and most of us were captured they didn't kill us right away because they wanted a public execution”

As my great aunt spoke, a very big book opened in the middle of the table, started waving and showing images matching her words. This couldn't be a trick but certainly I had never seen something like that before. Antioco continued his wife's story.

“My niece, Amelia, was eight months pregnant. And all she wanted was to save her baby, so we remembered an ancient and dangerous spell. The baby could die but it was worth the risk since we were about to be executed anyways. It was difficult it took the energy of all the elders you see here”

“What was this spell about?”

“It was meant to save a dying mother's child and to place it into the womb of a healthy mother whose baby had died before birth. We were aware that you would never be safe in our world so your father, being one of the few people who knew about the other realm, requested for you to be placed there. By the time they came for us there was blood everywhere, so they thought it was a miscarriage, but it was actually the blood of our hands shed because of the spell”

“So, you are telling me I'm not my parents´ daughter and I'm a witch?”

“Yes”

“This doesn't make any sense. My parents must be seriously worried by now, I need to go back home, at least report to them. Am I too far away from home? Where exactly is this place? I've never heard of it”

“Galia, in the world where you were born this place is a myth called Agartha”

“I've heard of it, is just a story, a world thought to be in the center of the earth”

“It is hard to explain. If you are there Agartha is in the center of the earth but if you are here that place is in the center of Agartha”

My grandfather interrupted: “Galia do you know what happened to the thief? He almost died, and you almost killed yourself. You were bleeding a lot through your nose when I found you, it took us a lot of effort to stabilize you, your fingers and chest were burnt, you where agonizing”.

I looked down at my hands and it was true, my fingers looked like a burn wound in the process of healing. I was shocked. Was all of this real?

“If you go back right now”, he continued, “might get them or yourself killed”

“But what can I do? They must be worried!”

“Not really. The moment your powers manifested, the spell was broken. Everything went back to how it would have been without magic. They remember losing a baby, not having you”

“If I go back now, they won´t know who I am?”

“Yes”

“I don´t believe that! You said I could go if I decided to, well I want to go back, my family will recognize me, I’m sure they will” I had tears in my eyes, something inside was telling me that this all was true, but I needed to see it by myself.

Again, everyone opposed, Asaf started crying.

“I´m taking you back, if they know you, I’ll remove your powers and leave, but if they don´t know you, you go back to us, where you belong and take your place as one of the rulers of this land. You have my word. If you say yes, I will take it as an agreement”.

“Yes”. No hesitation. The golden sparks thing happened again.

***

The conversation lasted up to the sunrise. They all introduced themselves. I learned my grandfather is the king´s brother and the head of the training center for the high born. I was supposed to be there. Turns out, at 23 years old, in this world I’m still considered under age, people are considered mature enough at their fifties and that is like being twenty at my world. So, basically went back to be a teenager… great…

Raised at the human world, I had a regular grown up life, they almost died when I told them I lived for three years with my ex-boyfriend.

I had many cousins. My great-uncle had a son Den. He and his wife Marilin had three daughters and a son (one of them was Kiryat, my same age, born a couple of month before my parents were captured). My grandfather had one son, my father, married to my mother Amelia, also high born. Being a high born means your family inherited you a lot of power that runs through the generations, not as fun as it sounds because it comes with too many responsibilities. Which is why they have a special training center (is pretty much a school/collage) where they attend since they are children.

The spell they made to save me was meant to bring my closest alive relative to me at the first outburst of magic I had, he or she would “rescue me” and bring me to Agartha. It generally happens in your childhood, children throw a fit and magic manifest. That day, they know if you inherited your mother´s or your father´s magical line. They didn´t expect it to take 23 years, I had the sweetest temper as an infant.

“Agartha” is a myth in my world and is not a name people here knows, only the royal family have knowledge of the other world and about five of them learned the spell to cross over. Only two have ever visited.

There are several realms here, a few are inhabited by witches and wizards. Ours, is the biggest one, all the others respond to us as subjects, they are semi-independent. It is a lot of work, really hard to do, all members of the family have to get involved and take different responsibilities.

There is a big realm inhabited by elves. They take their magic from nature differently and are mostly warriors and healers.

There´s a small land given centuries ago to creatures with no magic “the forgotten”, they lost it because they used to trade it for products instead of working the land, so every generation had less magic until It disappeared. They are basically humans.

The one that gave me the chills was the forsaken land. Is inhabited by dark creatures, is dangerous, very hard to access and is said the family that tried to take over our realm years ago is still there. My grandparents and uncles received the aid of the elves and made a spell to contain them, froze them inside big crystals and their followers took them away during the last battle. Nobody knows exactly where they are or if they still exist.

Everybody showed me their favorite spells, I had no idea how to do those things, asked them to teach me but since I’ve never used magic before, it was dangerous, it was accumulated. And I didn´t have a wand either… Never thought those would be real…

“How can you be so sure I´m related to you?”

“Easy, I was taken to you the moment of your outburst. Also, only our blood line or their mates can enter the third floor. Even when this palace was taken, that level was protected from invaders”

“Why didn´t you take it as refugee during the war?”

“We don´t hide, we protect everyone until our last breath” I felt proud at those words.

Golden and red roosters appeared in big sparks from several of my relatives wands singing, announcing the sunrise. Time to go. I was so sure my parents would know me that I gave my farewells to everyone. Kiryat looked very upset, gave Asaf, my grandmother, the biggest hug and told grandfather I was ready.

Walking to “my room” to get my purse, I saw the most beautiful man ever, he was at the bottom of the stairs to the third floor.

“Hello, I am Holger, your guard”

Please Galia, don´t speak shakily… “Hello, I´m Galia, I don´t have a guard”

Grandfather came behind and said “if you stay, this elf will make sure you are always safe. After the great war we´ve been under persistent attacks, peace is not restored yet. And won´t be until we find the dark royals and destroy them”.

Wasn´t paying much attention. Holger was breathtaking. Tall, very dark skin that looked like velvet. His eyes where bright green and his lips… let´s not go there. His curly hair was tied, and he had an armor and a spear.

I said good bye regretting not being able to see him again but happy all this madness was soon to be over. Honestly, I was terrified of my own magic.

“Witches don´t make friends with elves, you know? And don´t date until they are about a hundred (that must be a joke). And he is about five hundred years your senior” Embarrassing, he noticed.

“How long elves live???”

“A couple of thousand years…”

“OMG! And wizards???”

“About five hundred in natural conditions, war has taken many lives before their time”

“No wonder you think I’m a kid”

“Let´s go”