The Power in You

Chapter 14

Brio led Calliope and Lexie through the broken city, humming softly to create a ball of light in his hands to lead the way. Lexie kept a tight grip on her girlfriend's hand, one: to keep them together, and two: because she didn't trust Brio as far as she could throw him. She didn't want it to be a trick and for Calliope to get hurt.

They made it to the marble steps Calliope remembered from her visions and took a turn, heading toward a cluster of buildings just off the main path. Brio went up to a door and knocked out a tune on the wood. They waited a moment before the door opened and they were ushered inside, Brio extinguishing his light in favor of the already lit room.

About thirty to fifty pairs of eyes landed on the trio, everything going silent as they took in the newcomers. Brio stepped forward in front of the girls and cleared his throat.

"Everyone! I have come back with good news! The princess has returned to us!" he announced and everyone jumped up, cheering, as he took Calliope's arm and led her forward into the crowd of their people. Lexie stuck to her side, keeping a wary eye on the people as they came up to Calliope to greet her, some embracing her while others merely took her hand affectionately.

They made their way across the room as Brio led them and stopped in front of a tall woman with long blonde hair and emerald eyes who was waiting patiently for them. Brio went over and affectionately kissed the woman on the cheek.

"Princess, this is my wife, Callista," he introduced as his wife stepped forward, bowing respectfully before embracing the young woman.

"We always prayed for the day where you would return to us, princess. Our prayers have been answered," Callista told her, pulling away gently.

Calliope blushed, feeling overwhelmed from all the attention she was receiving from everyone.

"This is... unexpected. We thought everyone had been wiped out," she told Callista and Brio. Callista shook her head, smiling.

"While it's true that we're nomadic, most everyone was gathered in the city around the time the attack happened. Luckily, some families were not in attendance or had to leave the city early for other reasons. A small fraction of us survived and found our way back here after a few years."

"What about the colonies in the other kingdoms?" Calliope asked. Brio and Callista gave each other a look.

"After the attack," Brio started, "most kingdoms didn't want our people within their borders, worried that the Horde would attack them for harboring survivors. The Princess Alliance had the colonies removed. It was almost as if..."

"As if Etheria had forgotten about us. As if Musicia never existed," Callista finished.

"But... that doesn't make any sense. They couldn't have forgotten about us so quickly!" Calliope exclaimed.

"But they did, somehow. We don't know how to explain it. We're just lucky that we were able to gather who we could and find a home," Brio explained.

"Princess, what's gonna happen now?" Calliope heard a voice say and turned to face the crowd, taking in the tired yet hopeful faces of her people. She cleared her throat and stepped forward to address everybody.

"Until a few months ago, I had never heard of our Kingdom. Etheria has, mostly, forgotten about Musicia. The war still rages out there. When the war is over and Etheria has won against the Horde, Brightmoon and the other kingdoms in the Princess Alliance have promised to help us rebuild. We will be a mighty kingdom again," she told them, causing another cheer to ripple through her subjects.

"Where have you been all this time? What took you so long to return to us?" another voice questioned amongst them. Calliope bit her lip and Lexie took hold of her hand again, squeezing it.