Into The Gem

Prologue: Meeting Idana

It had been some time since I last got her call, but just as every other, I answered it without hesitation. Stepping inside the bedroom, her petite form blocked the cradle behind her. Big, tearful hazel eyes stared up at me as I speak.

'You called, Flower?'

'I have a favor to ask,' she starts, and I cut off her words before she gets the chance.

'You of all people know I can't play favorites, my dear.'

'I know!' She blurts out, picking nervously at her nails. She holds both hands close to her collarbones, which peak out under her low cut night shirt covered in little soft pink petal decals. 'It's nothing like that. Just...I started having dreams again, Enny.'

My eyes dart back up to hers at the nickname; one she hasn't called me since she was but a little girl running to greet me when I visited her and her father. I feel her seriousness as she continues.

'Ones where she's lost and alone, and there's no getting help from me again. The only favor I want to ask is to be there for her, in times like that. Like you have been for me.'

'So you plan to raise her where she knows about us?' I ask, stepping forwards and twirling a lock of her long brown hair around my finger. She looks away from me, and I see she's trying her hardest to swallow down her fear and remain calm.

'No. In part of the dreams, I'm...I'm not....' she sheds a tear, quickly wiping it away as I tilt my head to get a better view of her face. 'Around.'

I grunt in reply, kissing her forehead comfortingly.

'I promise, Flower. In her weakest moments, I will be there. For you.' I promise softly against her hairline.

'Thank you, Enny.' She whispers. I nod, and she looks up to me once more. Glancing behind her, she turns back and tips her head, propositioning me to go look in the cradle. Quietly, I step around her, feeling her eyes on me as I approach the infant.

The little baby girl looks up to me, quiet and calm, just like her mother was as a child. I hum to her softly, and she coos in response, holding out her tiny little hands to greet me. I reach in, letting her grab my finger. With my other hand, I stroke her left temple gently, syphoning a tiny part of her energy towards me so that I may recognize it in the future. Thousands of colors filter behind my eyes, leading me to understand the many possibilities of her future.

Carefully, I pull her into my arms, sighing out a bit of my own energy for her to inhale. Just like her mother, she takes to it with ease, as an understanding crosses her eyes like seeing a familiar face once again. Her mother comes to me at the sound of the front door, and I hand over her child, whispering softly in her ear.

'I will protect her, always, my precious Flower.' Next, I smile down to the child, speaking kindly. 'It's been a pleasure to meet you, Idana. I'll see you again before you know it, little Petal.' I step back into the shadows as her father enters the room, watching silently as he greets them both with loving ambition, and helping settle Idana back into her cradle once more.

Unseen to him, I slip out past the family, and into the night until the time comes I must resurface. After all, with what I saw of her potential futures, it won't be long before I'm needed. I can all but taste taste the blood she'll spill sooner or later.