The Light of Roria

Chapter Nineteen

"The what?" I asked.

"Trayeu Trade," Elijah sighed. "There is a stadium ruled by dark magic. It is there that they force their slaves in a fight to the death."

With an anxious breath, I practically fell into the nearest chair. "Are you telling me I'm going to get stuck in some Roman-style death match?"

"Not all visions are set in stone. Some come as a warning." Elijah explained.

"How can we prevent something from happening if we don't even know how Addisyn ends up there in the first place?" Staci asked, angrily. I didn't want to be a downer, but the prospect of ending up in a battle to the death was above my ability to remain positive.

"Knowing what may come grants us the opportunity to prevent it." Elijah leaned forward, making certain my eyes were just on him. "We'll find a way."

"Not to interrupt, but can someone explain why I saw it in the first place?" Jake raised a hand, moving to stand between each of us.

"Divinity chose you to see this. Foresight is rare but whatever the reason, you were meant to envision it." John answered.

"I don't want to see the future!" Jake exclaimed. "I don't even think I want anything to do with this! Scratch that. I liked my simple life!"

His outburst set Staci off, who was a ticking time bomb to begin with. She stomped toward Jake, almost closing the gap between them and yelled in his face. "Oh, and you think any of this is what I wanted! Do you think I asked to be thrown into a world of crazy? What about the fact that I don't even really know what I am anymore! I'm some creature I thought only existed in Peter Pan!"

Her anger was rising by the second, with every inflection of her voice. "But guess what, Jake? This is reality, and everything before right now was a lie. The lie was nice, I'll give you that. They say ignorance is bliss for a reason." She sat down, losing steam. Her anger wasn't really at him but everything else, and despite his staggered expression even Jake knew it. "But there's no going back. Sometimes life doesn't give us that choice."

I wondered if she was speaking to him or more to herself. Her words even resonated with me.

"Staci," I started out. I placed a hand on her shoulder, not just to keep her from attacking Jake but out of empathy. In retrospect, Staci had said everything I had felt. I just didn't tend to share it as she had. Staci turned to face me before I spoke. "The guy just found out. Maybe you could cut him a tiny break?"

With a frustrated sigh, Staci spoke. "Fine. I just—" She turned to face Jake. "We've all been through a lot in just the last few hours, and I, for one, would love to go back to everything before all of this but we can't. We're just as stuck as you."

A rush of remorse fell over Jake. "I'm the one who lost my cool." He began, his eyes facing me as if disappointing me hurt more than anyone else in the room. "I didn't think about what you've been through. Or what it cost you which was pretty messed up." He looked to the floor shamefully. "You've lost so much more."

If it's of any comfort, divinity believes you are ready." Elijah replied. "Staci is right. Now that you know all of this, can your life ever truly be as it was?"

Jake pondered this. His face made it clear that the answer to Elijah's question was most definitely no. "What am I supposed to do now?" Jake's fingers dug into his palms, like he feared he wouldn't enjoy the answer.

"What do you sense is the right path?" Elijah inquired. He raised a hand as if he had something further to say. "Placing all the doubt, fear, and confusion aside, what do you believe to be the right choice?"