Rising Heroes Book Four: The Sands of Ouroboros

Chapter Sixteen: Out of the Fire...

Disclaimer: I don't own HOO or VE

Chapter Sixteen: Out of the Fire...

New York, sometime in the past

In the weeks Ryan had spent stuck in the past, he had learned a few things.

1. Grigori were vicious. When they found him wandering around the city, discovered his power and then that he wasn't a Grigori... they were quick to lock him up.

2. Time travel was tricky. He had plenty of time to think of an escape, and he there were limited options. They could try and track down the Immorties, or find some other way to go back in time.

3. Time travel was TRICKY. Because staring at the face of his somehow older sister, he tried for the third time to understand what was going on.

"We accidentally went back in time," Birdie signed to him. Lily was laying against the wall, Andi beside her. Lincoln and Violet were talking to the priest of the church they were hiding out in.

Lily had explained about Lilith, Ryan had explained how he had gotten captured, and then three people had fallen from the ceiling and things got a heck of a lot more complicated.

Besides Birdie, there were two other girls. There was one who called herself Betsy, who had brown hair and brown eyes. The other said her name was Pearl, and she had pale, pale blonde hair so fair it was while, interspersed with light blueish and pink streaks. It shone under the lights, almost like it was pearl itself. Her eyes were a dark chocolate brown, with a slight shimmer.

"You're Grigori," Lily said, watching them carefully.

"I am," Betsy volunteered. "I'm a thrones; I can... well, I can travel through time. But only a few minutes," she said quickly when she saw their faces.

"I'm technically Nephilim," Pearl said softly. She looked at Lily. "I have strong empath powers; I can sense emotions, control them..."

"Like Phoenix and Roc," Andi said.

"And you're from the future," Lily said. "You're... Roc's daughter?"

"And yours," Pearl said.

Bridget signed quickly. "She said," Ryan started, but Betsy cut him off. "Shes wondering why we came to the past."

"You speak ASL?" Ryan asked.

Betsy nodded. "My brother is deaf." She looked at Andi. "Your son."

"You're my daughter?" Andi asked.

Betsy nodded. "My full name is Lilibet Adele Morris."

Suddenly another portal opened, and another girl fell through. "Adele!" Andi cried out.

"You know her?" Ryan asked.

"She's my sister," Andi said.

Adele glanced around at the group, then focused on Bridget. "So that's what those rocks do," she said.

It took awhile to explain that Bridget and Adele had come through accidentally, while Pearl and Betsy had come back because things went horribly wrong. "We need to kill Leviathan, and Rhea," Pearl finished.

"Leviathan is in Santorini right now," Lily said. "And... we have no idea where Rhea is."

Suddenly Violet, Lincoln, and Father Peters came back into the room. "Who are these?" Violet asked suspiciously.

"Our friends," Andi said quickly. "And fellow Grigori."

"She's a Nephilim," Violet gestured to Pearl.

"I'm Phoenix's sister," Pearl said quickly. "I came to help."

Violet still didn't look convinced, but Lincoln put a hand on her shoulder. "Why were you imprisoned in the Academy?" he asked Ryan.

"They thought my power was dangerous," Ryan said. "I'm... a bit of a loner."

"A Rogue," Lily put in. "He knows Gray."

Lincoln now looked suspicious, but finally he nodded. "We need to get moving," he told Father Peters.

The Grigori nodded. "Follow me."

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A few hours later, the group was on the road to a safe house provided by Violet's mother. Lincoln had hotwired a car, and he and Violet had sat up front while Betsy, Pearl, and Andi squeezed in the back, and Adele, Lily, Ryan, and Birdie were put in the middle seats.

"You said your last name was Morris," Andi whispered to Betsy. "So... James is your father?" 

Betsy nodded.

"Do I... I mean, are we partners in the future? Am I friends with Lily?"

Betsy nodded. "Totally. I mean, Aunt Lily and Dad didn't get along at first, but you helped them mend their fences so they could coparent."

"Coparent?" Andi's brow wrinkled. "Like... partner-wise?"

Betsy's eyes widened. She glanced at Pearl, who shrugged.

"What is it?" Andi asked.

Suddenly the car jostled to a stop. "We're here," Lincoln announced.

The group climbed out and headed into the tiny grocery store Lincoln had stopped in front of. Lily immediately vomited into a patch of grass. "Are you ok?" Violet asked.

"Fine," Lily sighed and accepted the napkin Ryan offered her to wipe her mouth. She pulled her baggy t-shirt down further in an attempt to hide her swollen belly.

"You're pregnant," Violet said, her eyes going wide.

Lily sighed and stood. "It's nothing," she said.

Lincoln stopped, seeing that his partner wasn't moving. They'd done the customary introductions; of course, Lily hadn't told them she was Sole; but now he was eyeing the black bands around her wrists peeking out of her jacket curiously. 

"Where's your partner?" Lincoln asked.

Lily looked at Andi, panicked. "He died," Andi said. "He was killed by exiles."

"And why were you two put in the prisons anyway?" Violet asked. "And why do you want to help us?"

"I- We're-" Lily stuttered in a rare moment of inconfidence. She couldn't stop staring at her parents, who were eyeing her right back.

"Josephine," Pearl finally piped up. "She... kind of hates us. Lily told her off one time, and now every time she's in New York she gets flagged."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Figures," she muttered. But she let it go, and her and Lincoln tromped towards the store.  

Andi pulled Betsy to the side, and Pearl and Lily followed.

"What did you mean, co-parent?" Andi asked.

Lily grabbed Betsy's arm. "What did you say?" she asked. 

"Nothing!" Betsy stared at her. "I didn't say anything."

"But you should tell her," Pearl chimed in.

"Tell me what?" Andi asked, frustrated.

When Lily said nothing, Pearl sighed. "Betsy and I aren't just best friends," she said. "We also... share a half-sister. Zoe L'Chaim, the daughter of Lily... and of James."