THRIVE: Book One

Chapter 89- Spells

As we begin to head home, Alice feels weak, so Justin carries her as we walk through the dark tunnels. Lily seems concerned and scared, even after Alice had woken up. I can understand why, without understanding how it feels for yourself, it must be frightening to see someone wake up and suddenly seem like another person. Justin seems utterly fascinated, trying to ask her questions, but Alice is far too tired to think straight. He usually isn't so inquisitive, it's an interesting shift in his usual personality. Cameron and Victoria are extremely excited to have their sister back, and we all talk about how exciting it was going to be for Brian to find out that his twin is back. He and Alice have only talked a little since they arrived and seem to get along well, but I think Alice has been keeping her space so they haven't had a chance to really connect.

When we arrive back at the temple, we bring Alice to her old room and lay her down on the bed. She desperately needs to get some rest, awakening involuntarily like that takes a lot out of a person. Chloe, Victoria, and I were feeling it too. A full dive is draining, but I'm not quite ready to bring the day to a close yet.

"Should we tell Brian?" Carmen asks as she sits beside Alice.

"No, I want to myself." Alice states "Elias will be more excited that way, you know?" she giggles as she cozies into her blankets. I begin to pace around the room, looking around at what Eliana and Josephine had collected over the years. It's still surprising that she had never returned to her ship for her coat, but once we all remembered who the she-pirate had been, we brought the things we had found on her ship here. Eliana loved to collect shiny things, coins, and jewelry, pretty stones she had found and polished. It's no surprise that Josephine had followed in her footsteps.

"It's getting late, we probably shouldn't keep them waiting any longer." Chloe states as she starts to head out "I'm starving."

"Yea, let's go get some dinner," I say as I began to follow. As we all made our way out, I noticed that Victoria is staying behind.

"You guys go, I'm gonna stick around in case she needs anything." she smiles as she lays down with Alice.

"Alright, we'll catch up later if you're still awake," Cameron says as he takes my hand, and we start making our way down the hall. Lily is still staying pretty quiet, but Justin can't seem to stop asking questions.

"How did a Spanish pirate find her way to this island without anyone else knowing where it was?" he asks curiously "She apparently had charts and maps of the city, how did she get them?"

"It's pretty simple honestly, they were memories she had seen in dreams." I begin "When she started looking into them further, she got word that there was a mysterious place in the sea where ships would sail through a dense fog and suddenly return to where they had come in." I explain as we walk through the throne room.

"Rumors began to surface about the fog protecting a great treasure, so she led her crew and managed to be the first to make it through the fog. Next thing you know, the entire island was frantic, surprised that there was more out there beyond the sea." Chloe explains. Suddenly, Carmen stops and Lily stumbles into her back.

"Wait a minute, think about that for a second." Carmen says, sounding deep in thought "The fog wasn't something any of us had created, was it?" she asks. I look at Chloe, trying to think back.

"No, it wasn't." Cameron says, suddenly surprised by the revelation "If it wasn't us, then who created it?" he asks. We all stood in silence at the question, exchanging looks.

"Maybe our ancestors?" Justin asks "You told us there were people before the family that left behind their teachings. Maybe they put that in place long before any of us." he explains.

"That... would make a lot of sense." Carmen says, starting to put more pieces together "Maybe that's why this place seems so disconnected from the rest of the world. But, there are still a lot of unanswered questions along with that." She turns to Chloe.

"I agree, like what called us all here now. What force brought this on after all these years?" Chloe asks, pondering the questions.

"Hopefully we'll get some answers soon." I sigh as we continue down the hall. When we make it to the dining hall, Chris, Amy, and Brian are sitting around the table waiting for us.

"There you all are, what took you so long?" Amy asks nervously as we file in.

"Where's Alice and Viki?" Chris asks as he looks at the empty doorway.

"They needed some rest, that was a long trip," Carmen answers as she sits beside Amy.

"Oh, okay," Amy says as she opens the lid on the pot. "Who wants lobster?" she asks excitedly.

"Holy shit, you guys caught lobsters?" Cameron asks excitedly, watching the steam rise from the pot.

"Absolutely. Chris has gotten really good at this." she smiles as they starts passing out all of the food. As we sit and eat, they all ask how the trip went. We explain whatever we can without revealing Alice's newly learned identity.

"Oh yea, Chris, why didn't you tell me that Serene cast a fireball at the pirates when they were invading?" I ask.

"I thought you knew." Chris laughs as he cracks open a claw.

"Wait, did you say fireball?" Justin asks, surprised.

"Yea, my wife has always been fascinated with ancient spells and things. Fire always seemed to be her favorite for some reason." Chris explains.

"That's amazing," Lily says, finally breaking her quiet spell.

"What else could she do?" Justin asks curiously.

"All sorts of things," Chloe begins "She practiced a lot of human experimentation on criminals back in the day. She figured out a few different rituals that took from a person's essence to be used for different healing potions and elixirs, as well as some with more... negative effects on a person." she explains.

"Not a force to be reckoned with." Brian laughs as he eats "I love her, but she scares me."

"She saved our asses more than once, that's for sure." Chris states, pointing at Cameron "Remember when you two broke into Iker's compound to save us? You just stood there having a casual conversation with him so he'd let his guard down and Serene came in out of nowhere like some sort of dual-wielding ninja." he laughs.

"Sad I missed that." Brian laughs.

"God, I hated that guy," Amy states as she pokes at her vegetables. Brian sees her sadness and lightly nudges her.

"From what I've heard, he sounded like an asshole," Justin says as he casually leans back in his chair, already having finished his dinner. Lily doesn't seem to be touching her food and is shyly looking around at all of us.

"Lily, are you alright?" I ask. She seems startled when I say her name and slowly snaps back to paying attention.

"I'm sorry, this is all just a lot to take in." she sighs "I'm okay, I swear."