Daughter of the Sky, Son of the Earth

Chapter Seventeen

Air

I stretched my arms over my head and let out a sound of satisfaction as I felt my muscles ease up. I opened my eyes and let out a sigh as I took off my eye mask and looked around the room. It felt weird being alone in such a big room. 

I sighed and shook my head as I got to my feet. Walking towards the calendar, I pursed my lips together as my nerves intensified. Tomorrow was my birthday which meant that today was my last "normal" day. I scoffed as I shook my head. My life had always been anything but normal. 

Sighing, I considered not going to school, calling in sick. But I had a big test, and I knew I wouldn't be able to miss it without a valid excuse. Besides, it was my last day before everything changed, I might as well enjoy it.

Making up my mind, I smiled and flaunted all the way to the bathroom with my uniform in hand and my shower bag on my arm. When I got to the bathroom, I was surprised more girls had woken up early, I guessed they were always the ones being late and didn't want that anymore. 

Shrugging, I got into one of the showers and continued my routine like always. Back in my room, I put on more makeup than I usually did and let my hair fall around my face. I smiled and my eyes gleamed under the light of the mirror. I looked like a goddess.

Blowing a kiss to my reflection, I grabbed my backpack and headed out of the room. Yesterday had been the tryouts for the cheerleading team and I was happy to tell Mia and Elizabeth that they had both been accepted on the team. 

I walked towards the cafeteria and smiled brightly at everyone as I passed. Once inside, I filled my plate, feeling starved, and headed to my usual table. Mia and Elizabeth arrived a couple of moments after me and were practically squeaking as they sat down next to me and in front of me. 

"So?" Mia asked with an excited gleam in her eyes.

She and Elizabeth seemed to be holding their breath as they awaited my response. In my mind, I chuckled and shook my head. I didn't answer right away, I was building up the tension and I made sure my expression revealed nothing. 

"Well, the truth is," I paused as I looked at both of them with a serious expression on my face. Instantly, I noticed Mia hold her breath and Elizabeth pale as they waited. "You both got in!" 

Squeaks and cheers filled the table as the two girls celebrated and laughed. 

"Jeez, what is going on?" Joan asked behind us as she walked over to us. She looked more tired than usual, there were bags under her eyes that made it clear she hadn't slept well. 

"Good morning, Joan," I said with a kind smile.

Joan returned it with one of her own even though it looked forced. "Morning. Why are we celebrating?"

Elizabeth chuckled and looked at Joan as she sat in front of her. "Kalani just told us we got accepted into the cheerleading squad!" 

Joan raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Wow, that's great. Congratulations. You're going to spend a lot of time together now."

Mia looked stunned and confused as she eyed Joan who was now looking at her plate. "We'll still make time for you, J. Cheerleading practice is only on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings. Don't worry about that."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Joan murmured under her breath and I instantly flinched. Mia and Elizabeth hadn't seemed to hear anything as they continued talking amongst themselves. 

I returned my attention to my plate and ate in silence as I heard Mia and Elizabeth talk. 

When the bell rang, I sighed in relief. The tension at the table had been growing as Joan kept silent while we ate, and I needed a breather. 

The four of us walked to our classroom and got there just in time. 

...

The school day passed quicker than I anticipated, I usually felt it very long and tedious. 

During lunch, I barely touched my food. It was strange. In the morning, I had felt very hungry but now, it was as if I couldn't keep my food down. Mia and Elizabeth shared a nervous look and asked me if I was okay to which I nodded my head.

Joan had disappeared to the library, claiming she had a lot of homework even though we all had the same amount of homework. We didn't try to stop her but I could feel my friends' wariness. 

After lunch, Mia and Elizabeth said they wanted to go for a walk before our practice, but I quickly shook my head. "I'm feeling kind of tired, you guys go ahead," I said, and they shared worried looks. 

"Are you sure?" Mia asked slowly and I nodded my head.

"You don't look so well," Elizabeth added as she placed a hand to my forehead. 

"I'm fine. I just need to rest. I couldn't sleep last night very well. I'll see you at practice, okay?" I asked as I began to take a couple of steps back.

My friends eyed me skeptically and nodded their heads as they watched me walk away.

I knew why I felt like this, but I didn't think it would affect me so much in so little time. 

My breathing began to feel ragged and short as I reached the top of the stairs. I walked into my room and let myself fall on my bed and closed my eyes. The room felt as if it were spinning, and nausea reached me. 

Calm down, Kalani. Zeus said we were going to be fine. He wouldn't lie to you. He said it would only take a short while for the transformation to pass and that I'd be able to handle it, I chanted in my head as I calmed my racing heart.

My heart slowed down gradually, and I was able to breathe normally now. Tiredness coursed through me and I decided to take a small nap before practice. Turning on my alarm, I closed the curtains of my window and headed towards my bed before getting under the blankets. Soon, I was asleep.

...

I was standing in the same forest I had been in when I met the other version of me. Dark Kalani. A shudder coursed through me and I shook the thoughts away. The last thing I wanted was to conjure her up.

"Hello, Kalani. You don't look so good," a voice mocked behind me and I shut my eyes in frustration. 

Damn it!

Stiffly, I turned around with my hands closed into fists as I looked at the being that looked like me. She had her arms crossed in front of her in a casual yet judging manner while she smirked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. 

"What do you want?" I asked tightly and Dark Kalani pretended to be hurt by my comment.

"Kalani, don't be so rude. Father wouldn't be pleased with your lack of education. He's paying an expensive boarding school for you, after all," she said as she looked at her nails.

I gritted my teeth together but didn't say anything. I had a feeling that whatever I said, she was going to use it against me.

"Oh don't look at me like that. I didn't ask to be here, but I can feel our transformation coming close and you're going to need all the strength you can to get through this. It's nothing easy, I heard," she said with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my hands in front of my chest. "I can handle it. You can leave, don't worry about me."

The girl in front of her rolled her eyes and shook her head as if she were trying to explain math to a two-year-old. 

"Look, I'm not here to bother you. Today you have a lot more to deal with, but I wanted to let you know that once you have gone through your transformation, it will be a lot harder to keep me under lock."

Yeah right, I thought to myself as I kept my eyes on her.

"Once you wake up again, I think we should leave. We're no longer safe here. Monsters have already started to feel your power, we're Zeus's daughter, after all. We have a big target on our heads. We should work together to survive out there as we find the others," she suggested as she sat down on a bench made out of tree roots that appeared out of nowhere. 

Quickly, I shook my head. "Uh, no way. I would prefer to fend for myself, thank you very much."

Dark Kalani smirked and nodded her head. "You're going to change your mind soon enough. Anyway, I think I should be on my way. If I remember correctly, you have cheerleading practice. Have fun captain. This might be the last time you cheer in a while," she said with a wink as she got to her feet. 

I raised an eyebrow and was about to respond when the dream started to fade away until I heard my alarm blaring next to me. 

...

I woke up gasping and looked at my clock with wide eyes. Cursing to myself, I hurried to change into my cheerleading uniform and putting my hair up into a ponytail before rushing out of the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind me.

When I got to the gym, the coach was already making the girls run laps. "I'm here," I said, gasping slightly. 

The coach looked at me with her whistle in her mouth. She dropped the whistle and turned to me. "Are you okay, Kalani? Your friends mentioned you were feeling under the weather. I had thought they were covering for you but you do look a bit pale."

I smiled and waved her off while I smiled. "Of course, I'm fine, coach. I just fell asleep. I'll go warm up with the others," I said quickly as I began to jog towards the group, trying to catch up to them. 

A couple of laps later, I was leading the group through the field as we jogged our last lap. 

When the coach blew her whistle, we stopped, and I looked at her gratefully. I felt as if I were about to pass out. 

"Okay girls, we need to teach our new members the moves we were working on. Kalani, do you want to take the lead?"

All eyes turned to me expectantly and I felt the blood drain from my face. Quickly, I masked my face with a determined look in my eyes and nodded. 

At some point, I forgot all about my dizziness and weakness as I got lost teaching the girls our routine. It wasn't until after we had done it and had decided to take a break that I began to feel worse than before. My brain seemed to be pulsating painfully in my head and my heart was thudding unusually loud and fast. The ringing in my ears got worse and I could hear my cheer mates very far away. 

The room began to spin, and I let my knees fall to the ground as I took in deep, ragged breaths. My teammates began to crowd around me and I saw the coach's head in front of me, asking me if I wanted her to take me to the nurse's office. 

I couldn't respond as I looked at her and my vision began to blur.

Suddenly, the coach turned around as someone walked towards us and I saw James telling her something. The coach nodded her head and without a warning, James walked towards me and grabbed my body as if I weighed nothing. 

I couldn't protest as he carried me back into the building. 

Once we were far enough from everyone, James turned to me and a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. “Oh Kalani, it was just too easy to get to you," he said in a dark, low voice. His normally blue eyes turned pitch black as he smiled widely, revealing a pair of razor-sharp teeth. 

I inhaled sharply and tried to scream but it got stuck in my throat as James closed the door after us.