Venus in Real Life

10. The bond between soulmates

It was Wednesday evening already. Venus had been unconscious since Sunday, and the twins had been taking turns to share energy and try to keep her fever down. Hugh was worried, to the point he could not even hide it anymore and had more than one frustrated outbreak asking them why was she not waking up. The black spots in her energy body grew and shrank as they seemed to feed on her life force and power. They seemed like a living creature leeching her, and that worried the girls. It seemed like Venus had an energy parasite on her. Their problem was that. If they tried to remove the entity with any kind of magick, it could get worse for Venus. Having in mind that what caused her condition was a simple revelation circle.

"If the curse is bending her power, then I would say that what makes her sick is her own energy pushing out to be released," Daire told Mei in a whisper so Hugh could not hear it.

They sat in the living room as Mei rested after her sharing session, and Ciel took her place on the same task at the moment. In the last few days, they had to juggle between Daire's house, where Venus was, and going to school, so they were tired, but still happy to be able to at least relieve some of the girl's discomfort. More often than she wanted to recognize, Mei was also helping Hugh ease his tired mind and body. When he less noticed, she stood behind him and snoozed him away to dreamland, or lightly relaxed him, depending on how bad he looked at the moment. They all knew and accepted what was happening to Hugh, everybody, except for himself. He recognized he was worried sick, but not that his feelings for Venus were more than he ever thought could feel for a girl. Some would call what was happening between them a remnant of a past life. Some might say it was proof that they were destined to find each other again. He would probably go for karma, and he still didn't know his dreams were visions of what he really shared with her, in a time far gone.

Daire made a new mixture of herbs for their afternoon tea, to help everybody feel better. A magickally enhanced energy boost and offered them some very delicate butter cookies with it. While they were at that, Mei noticed Hugh was too calm. He seemed idle, his eyes were open as he sat in his chair in Daire's table, completely quiet and still. He started mumbling, slowly talking, like a whisper. The others were talking, and only Mei was paying attention until his energy started to shift, and the others turned as well. He started shaking, his whispers became louder and louder until he was screaming. At the same time, like if it was an echo, from Venus's room, they heard another scream. Daire went to Venus while Mei and Ciel tried to take Hugh to the sofa, where he finally laid down. His eyes were then closed, and it seemed like he fell asleep, but even before the scream, Hugh seemed to have gone out of reality and now was seeing fears that the others couldn't see. His eyelids shook and moved fast. Whatever his dream was, it wasn't a pretty one.

In Venus's room, Daire approached her carefully, thinking she might have woken up, but found her in the same state as Hugh. Her eyes were still closed, and her eyelids agitated as fast as his. She wondered if they might have been sharing their dream.

It was not hard to get to know what was happening, she could get into her dream, but she'd never done that in a cursed deity and wasn't sure of the consequences.

There was the old Daire again, the one who would do anything for more knowledge, no matter the price. Her long life was not intended to be a reward. It was not a natural incident either, was more like a punishment, for that same behavior, for taking unnecessary risks to acquire her prized awareness. But that was something no one alive at the time knew about. She had thought of telling her story to her friends, but she was hesitant, still, after so many years of what happened.

"No," she quickly scolded herself. "That is not the matter at hand."

It took a few more seconds, but she composed herself. She took the decision and prepared herself with a quick breathing exercise, calling upon her power, then approaching the girl and putting a hand in her forehead. The instant shock made her body jump a little, but wasn't as bad as she expected, as the girl's mental defenses were pretty low, a sign that Venus was getting weaker. She was now looking at her dream. The place was amazing, now she was in one of the most beautiful cities she'd ever seen. The temples for the god Apollo, and tall, very tall people, with the golden shine around them, and regular-sized people, with the golden spark around as well, although it wasn't as strong as the others. The place seemed familiar to her, maybe from a book. She started roaming around, seeing the marvels in technology, science, and magick, that in that place and age seemed to come from the same root. From what Daire had seen so far, that place was the lost city of Atlantis, and that meant that their friend was an Atlantean. A descendant of the god Apollo, mixed with the most advanced civilization the earth had ever seen. She kept walking, looking for a familiar face until she finally saw Venus. Her name was called, but of course, it wasn't Venus what she heard. They didn't think she was the goddess of love. In fact, the real Venus was probably still moving among the humans at that time. The name didn't call the sea goddess from Milos that some experts thought she represented either.

Although for Daire, it was also unintelligible, she knew it was neither of those names.

Venus seemed like a normal girl, having in mind what normal was on her island. She could choose not to walk, but to float a few inches from the ground if she wanted, bring objects to her, or even have a conversation mind to mind if she wanted to. Atlanteans had well developed psychic gifts. Living in a society where all of them had an amount of divine spark in their body, they were aware of their abilities and knew how to use them. Things like that were everyday normality. That fit with what Daire had read about "Objects that had a soul once," the legend that she found after Hugh hinted another story from Japanese folklore. Venus had a life, and more than a soul, she was powerful. Maybe Daire needed to take a second look at that legend she found.

In good theory, as pieces of Venus's memory, the people around Daire were not able to see her moving around, so she walked around at ease. Venus seemed to have a happy life, yet there was something peculiar. There was always a guy behind her, following her around from a distance. For as long as Daire was around and looking at her, this guy was also looking from afar. At some point, he took the courage to come closer, but he was very intense in his ways to her. He was too close. Too excited to talk about trivial topics. Even the way he indiscreetly overlooked the girl with lusty eyes, which made Venus so uncomfortable that she made a quick excuse to escape.

"Thank you, Thaulos. I'll see if I can go later, and I'll let you know. See you around." And she left without waiting for an answer. He was obviously obsessed. Daire also noticed how clear she got his name. If it was on Venus's memory, she should remember it as well.

All of a sudden, a strong wind came, and a beautiful woman with light blonde hair and blue eyes came down from the very recently darkened sky. Red lightning surrounded her as she raised her arms and started destroying everything that was on her way.

"Apollymi, no!" If it hadn't been clear enough for Daire yet, she now was sure. Apollymi was the Atlantean goddess of life and death that destroyed the Atlantean gods and submerged the island. Daire was witnessing the day and the way Atlantis disappeared in the ocean. The power coming from the goddess was impressive, Daire thought, surprised that she could feel so vividly all that was on the girl's memory. People ran everywhere, trying to save themselves, and almost all of them died. When Apollymi was distracted, a couple of ships made it to the open sea, and the strength and power of their occupants pushed them as far from her sight and wrath as possible. No tall ones went on the ships. Those were lives that Apollymi wouldn't consider sparing. Daire remembered the legend, and she knew there was plenty to tell the twins now, and many hints to follow. She wondered if this was the first time Hugh had a shared dream with Venus. What was their connection if he was not an Atlantean, and what that connection meant? You can't have a bond this big, "Unless you are indeed soulmates," Daire whispered with a smile. But then, who was he? To get that answer, Daire thought it best to check in Hugh's dream. Since the day the twins told her the story on how Venus woke up, Daire had suspected a rare connection between them, but still, she was not sure how far their bond went until now.

It was easy enough to come out of her dream, and when she managed to do it, Daire returned to her living room and asked Mei if she could cover her on checking Venus, as she now wanted to check Hugh. Collecting her energy once again, she put her hand into his forehead and concentrated. He was not a smooth transition as Venus was. Daire fell on her knees, and it hurt a lot.

"I should have dressed for hard physical impact today."

She got up, brushing her legs that were a little scratched as she was wearing shorts. Once again, she started her search for known faces. Hugh was not physically present in the dream. He was not an Atlantean, but seemingly a regular human guy in that part of their story as well. Daire was able to see the ships from Atlantis get into the different islands and start living with regular people. Images passed, running in front of her eyes, showing her the events that took place there. How typical life was, that seemed to happen through many years, probably hundreds, even maybe a thousand. The trees and animals changed, the town changed, and the first inhabitants the people from the ship found, they also died, but not them. They easily lived, and some even fell in love and mixed with the local people of the island, but not all of the few Atlanteans left saw that with good eyes. A few, like the obsessed Thaulos, though they should keep the lineage of the Old City pure, as they were not the same as the regular humans.

The flash-forward stopped when Hugh first came in. He was a kid on the island, but the first time he saw Venus, he knew he wanted to be only with her. Growing up, he kept the determination in his heart and followed her around.

"One day I'll grow up to be able to take care of you, and on that day, I will show you what my heart has felt for you for all these years."

He looked at Venus in the eye and said those words, making her heart beat faster. An unavoidable smile was drawn in her lips, and he saw it was possible.

"Onetor, have you thought about it? What if I find a good man myself before that? Or if you find a young girl, like you, that you like more?"

"It's not possible to like anyone more than I like you. And you won't find that man, because you're destined to me, the gods have told me. In any case, if it comes to that, I will fight for you," he said with the brightest smile. Venus blushed a deep shade of red in her flawless skin and smiled with her whole heart. She had decided that he was right, and accepted him, without a rush, anyway, what is time when you don't have to worry about dying? At least not in a very long time. Although they were not immortal, Atlanteans lived very long lives, if they weren't killed, of course. Daire was astonished. Things were pretty clear now on how Venus woke up. She had more questions, but the answers seemed much easier to get. Now the only mystery left to solve was how did she get cursed. If Daire found that, they could not only stop the fevers and nightmares, but also opened the possibility to remove the curse permanently. She hoped to get that answer soon enough.

The dream kept going, showing the time Venus and Hugh shared together. As he grew older and taller, he kept dreaming about his beautiful and powerful girl. They were walking around the island, seating by the cliff for endless conversations while looking at the gorgeous turquoise water, laughing, and getting closer by the second.

There was always Thaulos, the guy that followed Venus around tirelessly. He was behind her all the time, lurking and plotting, getting angrier as they got closer. Onetor, Hugh's past life name that Daire made sure to remember, stood near the cliff waiting as Venus came towards him. Finally, Thaulos resolved to do something. He walked by with a group of four other guys, and Daire was sure nothing good could come from that. The men saw disgusted how Venus came running towards her human love. How he hugged her as the group of five examined what they called her shameless affair and qualified it as a disgrace to their race. Too quick for Daire to notice, she saw how Hugh was punched out of breath as the girl was grabbed by her wrist by the craziest guy Daire has ever seen. Hugh saw that and rushed to help her, but as soon as he got up and moved closer, he was pushed by Thaulos power and fell down the cliff. At that moment, Daire expected the shared vision to end, as Hugh had died, but it continued. She wondered if, after he saw his own death, he was still able to see how his loved one was taken. Her heart was sad for him, and now she understood why he was not able to commit to anyone in his current life.

Venus was on her knees at the cliff. She screamed her lungs out as her arm was held by the maniac. He pulled her up as she tried to fight him, but her eyes were blurry, and her heart was completely broken. Thaulos pushed her around and shook her. He held her wrist as if he didn't care if it got crushed in the process.

"You're a goddess! You have nothing to do with a mortal!" The guy was enraged, yelling at her. "I'd rather see you dead than with him. Why was it him, and not me!?" his face completely red and deformed by hatred, his eyes popping out as the cliff echoed his screams.

She was devastated. She didn't care anymore, "Then if it's on you to kill me, do it. You have taken my life away from me already. You're a monster, and I could have never been with you." She kept crying and stopped fighting. He was breathing heavily, mad, when his face shone with a sick new idea, as he said, "No. There's something waiting for you that is worst than death. I will have you with me until my last day, and you will not know what is happening around you or will be able to move or escape. You will be mine forever, and will not remember him, ever again." He finally pushed her towards the group of guys who witnessed the scene, as they took her and started walking, not needing to put too much strength on holding her, yet not letting go. She no longer cared. Daire got closer, but then Thaulos stopped walking, saw directly at her, and yelled, "You should not be here!" And with that, he pushed her so hard she fell backward to her apartment floor, barely conscious of what had just happened and with her arm, where this guy hit her, hurting. She wondered how that guy could have seen her, and especially, how did he manage to push her. He had to be powerful, for what he did to Venus but also had to be because his curse somehow kept himself alive within her. Was it possible? Was a part of his essence what made the black spots that fed off of Venus's energy and reacted to the revealing circle? Was a part of him still guarding her and ensuring her suffering through the centuries, even if he was dead already? She had her hints and now had to follow them.

Hugh suddenly woke up, jumped off the couch, and ran towards Venus, who was still on her uneasy sleep. Although she seemed a little calmer, the fever spiked up once again, and Hugh got mad. He couldn't just stand there anymore.

"Venus, please... just wake up already," He hoped he could whisper her back to life again, but it didn't happen. Nothing happened. His eyes got red as he put all his strength to hold the tears that threatened to come out. He turned and left the room, took his jacket, the one she wore in Paris, that for some reason was his new favorite, and left the apartment. Mei followed him.

Daire had plenty to investigate. She made sure that Ciel was okay alone with Venus for a while, went downstairs to her back store, and started checking the oldest books she could find. Especially Greek books.