Birth of the Queen

Chapter Twelve: Weird Morning

Prita P.O.V.

I sat in silence, trying to take in all the information. I was something called the Eterna. And there were keepers who controlled elements and some of the bad ones wanted me dead. One question suddenly came to my mind. “How could the Eterna be born from humans?” Erion said, scratching his chin, “That’s not possible. Since you didn’t know, I’m guessing your parents hid their identity from you.” I frowned, “Do you want to say that my parents lied to me all these years?” Erion saw my expression and touched my shoulder, “Hey. That’s not what I meant. It’s possible that they did it to protect you. Or..” He stopped. I asked, “Or?” He looked into my eyes and stated, “Or, they are humans from the ancestral keeper bloodline.” I asked, curious, “What does that mean?” He said, puckering his mouth, “But that’s not possible. Ancestral keepers died away long ago. A few are left but they joined the ‘Abyss’ long ago and they can’t live like humans do. I’m the only one left. Since, I have no children..” I asked, trying to clear things out, “Do you have any relative or anything?” He laughed, “Mia cara, you’re so cute when you’re curious. But, no, mia cara. I’m the only one left. My ancestors left me alone in this world.” I retracted and asked, “Then, how is it possible?” He shrugged, “I don’t know that.” I sighed, “How do you find my parents? Who could have taken them? Why would anyone do that to simple people?” Erion pulled me onto his chest. He said, assuring me, “Don’t worry, mia cara. We’ll find them. We’ll do it together.” I wanted to believe him. His words gave me hope. I asked him, resting my head in his chest, “Why are you doing this for me?” He said, in my ears, “I’m your protector, Prita. I was born to protect you. I’ve been silently protecting you for a long time. I hid myself all these years and now, I think it’s time to let you in this world. I promise I’ll try my best. I’ll do that until I wear down.” The last part sounded like a promise. I remembered how I was miraculously saved from fatal accidents several times. I always wondered how. Now, I could suddenly explain everything. He looked at me apologetically, “I’m sorry, mia cara. I left you once for almost a year. I didn’t know this much would happen.” First, I couldn’t get my head into what he exactly meant, then I asked him, doubtfully, “Do you mean the incident with Tristan?” He sighed, “I’m sorry.” He got up from the couch and continued, “I went to Italy in search of the origins of your powers. Nobody knew anything, but I got to know from a reliable source that there was a secret hidden. I didn’t want to but I had to leave. For you. When I got back, I saw you were already sad, very sad. I knew it was because of someone at school, but somehow, my powers couldn’t reach Tristan. But when I met him, I could understand why. You know, mia cara, it’s very rare to be born as both a Bhana and Ignian. And he was both. I still can’t get over the fact that he hurt you so much.” Erion gritted his teeth. I stood up and touched his shoulder to make him look at me. I could see the apology in his eyes. I assured him, “Please, Erion. You’ve done more than enough. It was my choice to be friends with him. So, it’s my fault too. Don’t beat yourself up ever again. Okay?” He smiled faintly and reassured me with his eyes. I raised my hand and showed him the mark on my wrist. He looked into it and traced it with his finger. I asked, almost muttering to myself, “What does this mean?” He turned slightly red. He stuttered, “Well, I always had a doubt. But, I got the confirmation that day.” I asked, blinking, “What is it exactly?” He looked down at the mark and said, his voice low, “Our powers are bound, Prita. We’re bound.” He said, trying to avoid the topic, “I’ll tell you later.” But I was dying of curiosity by now. So, I kept on pleading, “Please, tell me now.” He shook his head to deny. I grabbed his arm and kept on whining. I could see red spread across his face. Was he blushing? That would be impossible. I asked, making him look into my eyes, laughing, “Seriously, what is it?”  He was about to leave but I had a tight grip. Then, finally, he gave up and stated, “This means we’re bound for life. We can’t be separated. We’ll be together forever. We’re bound to be one. Alright?” he was flushed by now. I bit my lips and regretted prying. But I had to lighten the situation. So, I asked, mockingly, “Like staying together forever and ever, living under one roof?” He stuttered, looking down, “Y..Yes.” I teased him, “Oh..are you blushing because of that?” He stuttered, defending, “Who’s blushing? You’re blushing.” I chuckled, “Relax. You don’t have to stay with me always. I won’t keep you.” He, then, looked up. He wasn’t blushing anymore. He smirked, the smug look back on his face, “Oh! Come on, Mia Cara. This is your secret wish. Isn’t it? How can you say no to such a handsome face? And you know, I’m very hot in bed.” There you go. Erion was back. I rolled my eyes at him and scowled, “I regret asking you.” He said, sounding cheeky, “Oh no! Think about it. I’m absolutely magnetic. Should I show you?” He started taking steps towards me. I stopped him by putting my right hand on his chest. He was smirking. I shouted, “Stay put.” He said, dramatically, “Okay. But don’t sneak into my room in the middle of the night. I don’t wanna have s*x now, mia cara.” What a narcissist! He was a little funny, okay, I give him that, but still a jerk.

I woke up next morning, feeling totally different. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my chest. I had an undisturbed sleep. It turned out Erion luckily had two bedrooms, though he, like a total jerk, kept on speaking nonsense last night. He indeed had a smug attitude. I somehow liked that too. Damn, my stupid humor. He made breakfast for us and said, “This is your free day, Mia Cara. Tomorrow onwards, you’ll train with me. We need to find your ‘Akara’.” I asked, “What’s an Akara?” He said, meaningfully, “It’s like your signature weapon. Your powers will be best channeled through these weapons. These appear as any normal weapon. But, we keepers have a very different way to wield them. We all have different sorts of weapons. It doesn’t always have to be a common one.” I nodded, understanding. After we finished eating, he asked, enthusiastically, “So, do you wanna have a look around?” I smiled brightly to show my excitement. We went out of the cabin. There was a meadow in front of it and across that, a lush green forest. I walked on my own, Erion trailing behind me. I asked, “What is this place?” He said, calmly, “This is the valley of Poezie.” I asked, giggling, “Is it on Earth?” He laughed, saying, “Yes. It just comes under the territory of Keepers. Humans can’t come here.” I suddenly remembered and as soon as I did, I turned back. I said, tense, “Oh God! I didn’t call Rome or Benny. They don’t know where I am. I didn’t even check my cell.” He laughed, “Hold on! You don’t have a cell service in here. Try tracking them with your power.” I glared at him, “Are you kidding me?” He chuckled, “No. I’m serious. It’s easy. Try it. I’ll show you.” He approached me and took my hands in his and whispered, “Close your eyes and think hard about who you wanna see.” I gave out a nervous chuckle. “Is it like voodoo or something?” He chuckled back, “Alright, smarty pants, concentrate.” I closed my eyes and tried to imagine where Rome could be at the moment. I could see clouds. Lots of clouds. Then, suddenly, someone’s back. He turned around. Rome! I clutched Erion’s hand tightly. He pressed my palms and said, “That’s it. Concentrate.” I could now see Rome was standing. I tried to break the clouds around him to see where he was actually. I could now see a well-known street and then, I could see my house. Rome was pressing the doorbell. He looked worried. I felt guilty not telling him. I opened my eyes, my eyelids heavy. Looking at Erion, I pleaded, “I have to tell him.” Erion started shaking his head, ready to deny, but I grabbed his hands and asked, “Don’t you think he deserves to know after being through so much because of me?” Erion sighed but didn’t reply immediately. He took a pause and looked at me, then asked slowly, “Where is he now?” I answered, hopeful, “He’s in front of my house, ringing the doorbell. He’s standing in front of the door. He..he looks tense.” Erion’s face had a deep frown by the time I finished. He asked, blinking rapidly, “What?” I was about to repeat what I just said but was stopped by Erion’s words. “How’s that possible? I provided a shield around your house so that no one human or keeper or anything for that matter couldn’t even touch it.” I was looking at him wide-eyed. What was he saying? He went on, “How can he just stand in front of the door? He shouldn’t even be able to step near your house.” He was puzzled, so was I. He looked anxious. He shook me and asked, “Did you know this, Prita?” I was taken aback. I shook my head and found my words, “What’re you talking about?” He said, dragging me back to the cabin, “I need to go to your house. You, stay here. Don’t get out. Read books if you like.” We reached the front of the cabin. I jerked my hand back and demanded, “No. No way, am I sitting here. I’m going with you. That’s my best friend. I don’t know what you mean but I have to make sure he’s safe.” Erion glared at me, “No. You’ll be in danger. Not only that, you’ll put your friends in danger too.” I yelled back, “I’ll go with you and I’m not asking for your permission.” He shouted, fury oozing through his words, “You have to make everything hard. Don’t you? I said you won’t go, so you won’t. We’re not discussing this anymore.” Erion pushed me inside the cabin and locked the door. I screamed and screeched. I could feel heat rise around me. But, this time, there was no flame. He must have done something to control it. Well, he said he could control water. “Bastard!” “Stalker!” I yelled to provoke him and make him open the door. But, it didn’t work. I took a risk and banged on the door yelling, “I’ll burn down everything, including myself.” He scoffed from outside, “Oh no! You won’t be able to do anything like that here. I will make sure of that. Wait here and make some food for me. I’ll be back soon.” I gritted my teeth. Like hell, I would make lunch for him! I felt like shaving the hair on his petty head off. I knew there was no point in yelling now. He was long gone. My instinct told me. I went inside my bedroom. Ugh! I didn’t even feel like lying down. He said he had books. I got up and went to the living room and saw two shelves filled with all kinds of books. Good! I was looking from one book to the other. Suddenly, I heard a loud thud. Erion said this place was safe. Where was this sound coming from, then? I tiptoed towards the door of the cabin. I stood there silently. I was about to turn back thinking I just hallucinated, then, a thud boomed across the room and the door opened loudly, making me shoot back across the room. Some men clad in black gear came in. I was shocked to even speak. They did something, so I wouldn’t be able to budge. Oh God! Who were these people? How could these people break in? Who were they? One of them spoke, his voice sounded like it was coming from a juke box, “You need to cooperate, Eterna. Come with us.” I seemed to have gotten back my lost voice. I semi-screamed, “How did you find me?” No one said anything. I screamed again, “Who’re you?” One of them started to approach me. I was trembling with fear. My throat had gone dry. I tried to stop them, screaming, “No. D..don’t come near me.” They didn’t care to listen. I tried to think of something that would stop them. I tried to feel angry. By now, I understood that something fiery happened whenever I got angry. Oh God! I couldn’t even get angry. I was scared and nothing would work if I’m afraid. The man reached me and I was shaking by now. He grabbed my arm intending to drag me with them. Suddenly, everything started shaking. It ended up making the ground to start quaking. The men looked confused. I felt like the ground will break and I would be swallowed inside. Oh no! What did I do now? I was about to cry out, then it stopped abruptly. What the heck did just happen? This was worse than a horror movie. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for something to happen. I could feel a hot breath on my face. I was sure it was something animalistic and scary. I heard a low growl from a beast. Wait! That wasn’t a growl from a beast. I plucked up some courage and opened my eyes, hoping it wasn’t a Minotaur. Only it wasn’t. It was something, or should I say, someone much worse.