MAEVE

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

"Wake up Paris, please."

  I heard a frantic voice crying, but it sounded so far away. But whomever this person was, they meant a lot to me, so I struggled to reach them.

It felt like I was submerged under water, I felt weightless, floating, it felt like I was being drifted by a current too strong for me to counter.

I snapped my eyes open, and instantly I was greeted by a strange gleaming swirl. It was lustrous, the perfect blend of liquid and electricity, and it swirled around me in cobalt blue and lustrous silver.

Stupefied, I stretched out a hand to touch it, but a hand gripped mine instead as a figure materialized from the luminous swirl. I opened my mouth to shriek, but no sound burst through my vocal cords. I held my throat in  panic, and stared at the strange creature.

She lifted her head, and peeled back the silky white veil covering her familiar features, and revealed snowy white hair. My jaw dropped open.

"Welcome home Maeve,"  She smiled, and as she did I was shocked to realize her face looked exactly like mine, and my mouth dropped open further.

I opened my mouth to speak, but choked on something I could not see. She smiled at me, a strange kind of otherwordly peace in her eyes.

"In here you shall not speak, instead you will listen," She began, and my head began to pound heavily, like a malicious hand was striking an anvil against my skull.

"The essence in you as been dormant for too long, but your respite ends now," She stopped, and immediately gazed forward quietly, and I wanted to yell for her to continue.

Another version of the girl before me materialized at my side, unlike the first one though, this one seemed more sympathetic. She floated forward and clutched my hands, her hands felt like cold flowers, with forget me nots in her eyes, and daisies in her smile. Her face a replica of mine.

"Oh Maeve, a woman cursed with so much power and pain," She cried softly, fragile shoulders trembling as she pressed her fist to her heart. Immediately she stopped and gazed forward, shimmering tears trailing down her emotionless face.

From my other side, another shimmered into view, dressed in combat armor. Her silver hair was braided in a practical way and dangling over her shoulders, her silver eyes stern, and every inch of her petite frame honed to perfection by years of training.

"Your fate might be written in the stars, but your destiny lies within you. Do not run, do not hide. You are stronger than you think," She ended with the barest of smiles gracing her lips, and I stared at this version that represented all I had ever wanted to be.

Another replica of her materialized behind me, and twirled me around slowly. Just like the previous ones she was beautiful. Silver gaze strengthened by sorrow and difficult choices, petite frame encased in whirls of cobalt silk, her hair surrounded her like an armor of silver and she looked like a tragic goddess reincarnated.

"Difficult choices are difficult for a reason. A time will come when you have to choose between the world and your heart. Between good and evil, between your heart and your fate," She paused, and I found myself leaning forward breathlessly.

"Activate your triquetrum, and hide no more. We are here with you," She ended, and they all nodded solemnly, and I felt like some tragic hero going to war.

They all laid gentle hands on my shoulders and as I looked into their silvered gazes that spoke of sorrow, love, and pain in volumes i finally understood, and saw in them the lives I would live. With a nod they slowly disappeared.