Rising Heroes Book Four: The Sands of Ouroboros

Chapter Seventeen: Into the Frying Pan

Disclaimer: I don't own HOO or VE

Chapter Seventeen: Into the Frying Pan

Outskirts of New York, sometime in the past

"What are you talking about?" Andi looked between Lily, Pearl, and Betsy, who was nodding in confirmation.

"It's true, Mom," Betsy said. "Chessy- that's what everyone calls her- is both my and Pearl's sister."

"Lily?" Andi looked at her best friend pleadingly, as though begging her for it to not be true.

"I..." Lily took a deep breath. "Yes, it's true. This baby isn't Roc's; it's James's."

Andi took a step back, her hand fluttering at her throat. Lily rushed to continue. "But James doesn't know, and he doesn't have to! Roc said he'll help raise the baby, and-"

"No!" Andi chopped her hand through the air, cutting her off. "I know you hate James right now, but you don't know him like I do. I love him. And I saw these past few months how hard it was for him to lose you, because despite everything, Lily he cares about you. And he wants you to be his partner. And honestly I do too, because there's no one I trust more. And this... this would devastate him."

"Guys!" Ryan rushed outside. "Time to go."

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The drive to the cabin was silent. When they finally arrived... there was nothing there.

"Seriously?"

"Jonathan was a powerful glamour user," Lincoln said as they stepped out. "A piece of him still exists here."

Andi shivered. "I can feel it," she said.

"You're a glamour user?" Violet asked.

Andi nodded. "My dad-" she caught herself. "My dad was one too."

"You have to remove it," Lincoln told his partner.

Violet closed her eyes and concentrated. Betsy gasped at the sight of her amethyst mist as it coated the invisible house. They waited minutes, but nothing happened. "I can't," Violet finally said.

"Yes you can," Lincoln said patiently.

"No, I can't," Violet snapped.

Lily and her daughter shared a worried look. In the original timeline, Violet was able lift the glamour by herself. Somehow they had already changed the timeline.

Lily stepped forward. "Try again," she said. "I'll help you."

Violet closed her eyes again, and this time Lily joined her. Her mist, a mixture of black, bright green, and a blue the same color as Roc's eyes, flowed out from her and mixed with the purple. Together they pulled at the glamour and it slowly peeled away with the same sensation of paper burning.

When Lily opened her eyes, both Lincoln and Violet were staring at the dark marks swirling around her wrists. "Who are you?" Lincoln asked.

"I thought I was the only one," Violet whispered.

Lily pinched her eyes shut. "Please don't make me explain," she whispered.

"I think we all need rest," Ryan said, stepping forward. He led Birdie inside, and after a backwards glance Lily followed.

Lincoln grabbed Andi's arm as she started to walk forwards. "What is going on?" he asked.

Andi shook her head. "If we explained," she said, "you would be more confused than before."

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"We need to tell them something," Betsy said as she sat on the floor of one of the open bedrooms. Lincoln and Violet were downstairs, and Betsy knew what would come next; Violet would talk to Phoenix, and decide she needed to give up her life. Her and Lincoln would join their soul bond, and tomorrow, they both would die in some way.

"If we tell them they have kids, Violet won't run away, and then we might not exist in the first place," Pearl argued as she brushed her long white hair. Birdie nodded in agreement.

"But they're getting confused," Adele argued. She sat halfway off the bed, twirling a strand of long hair.

Ryan, Andi, and Lily were in the other room, talking in hushed tones about how they could go back to their original timelines.

"We need to do what we came here to do," Betsy said.

"That's gonna disrupt time even more," Birdie signed.

"Ok, ok," Pearl held up a hand. "I will talk to Violet and Lincoln. I'll tell a partial truth. Birdie and Adele, I suggest you figure out a way to distract our parents. We'll either find Rhea or Leviathan... and kill one of them."

"How should we distract them?" Birdie signed.

Betsy sighed. "Make up something. Tell them you know a way to get home. It doesn't matter."

"Tell them there's an Immortie somewhere," Pearl suggested.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "We have to get out of here," Lily said as she opened it.

"I know," Adele said. "We figured out-"

Lily cut her hand through the air. "We're not killing anyone, or going after an Immortie. We need to follow Phoenix to Lilith.

"Why?" Pearl asked.

"Because we changed time," Andi said, appearing behind Lily. "We just got an Iris message from Lilith's dungeons."

"What?" Birdie sighed, standing rapidly.

"She's trapped demigods," Ryan said, his mouth set in a hard line. "There's more kids now, which means..."

"Violet might not survive," Betsy said, her face paling.

"But we're going to break them out," Lily said. 

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As they snuck out of the house, Lily cast one last look at the house. She wished she could have talked to her mom and dad, give them some advice, let them know everything was going to be ok. But she couldn't.

As soon as Phoenix and Lincoln went off in their car, the group followed through the forest. When they hit the town road Ryan hot-wired a car and they were off.

Lincoln and Phoenix stopped in a parking lot to fight and then talk; Lily knew they were devising a plan for how they were going to save her mother. But it gave them enough time to catch up and come up with a plan of their own.

Since Pearl was a Nephilim, they thought maybe she could convince Lilith she was her long-lost daughter. She could claim she had captured the others, take them down to the cells, and then free the demigods. It hurt Lily that they couldn't save all the children, but they needed to preserve time as much as possible.

Then maybe they could find a way to get home.

"We still need to talk," Andi whispered to Lily. She was looking at Betsy and Pearl, who had fallen asleep in the back of the car. Betsy's head rested on Pearl's shoulder.

"I know," Lily said. "And I've been thinking; if our daughters are best friends, we must have done something right. If you truly think James will be a good father... I will talk to him. Not for him, but for you."

Andi squeezed her best friend tight. "Thank you," she whispered.

Lily just hoped this wouldn't be another decision she would come to regret.