Until Fate

Chapter Fifteen

"This is really nerve-wracking." Phina whispered. "What if your mother doesn't like me?"

She was fidgeting and pulling up her floor-length, black and red dress. It was strapless and I could tell she was a little self-conscious over the dress Maya had leant her. The bodice was a corset and it squeezed her chest tightly revealing an abundance of cleavage. The skirt was layered in black and red ruffled material. Maya was wearing a short black dress with a poufy ballerina skirt. It reminded me of a something a punk vampire would wear. Her knee high boots completed the badass look. Assyria wore a black lace dress with sleeves made of see-through onyx lace. The men were decked out in tuxedos. Apparently, my mother was known for her dark, vintage tastes and never let anyone in her realm without dressing in formal clothing.

I exhaled and a puff of white blew from my lips. We were waiting on Klaus' front porch. Artemisia was sending us transportation. The only realm I remembered was Alduin's. Gods and Goddesses had their separate realms which were more like other worlds. They spanned out for miles and included areas where their people lived and where their human followers dwelled after dying. Alduin made his kingdom in the heart of his heaven, where his followers resided after their human lives were over. He liked being amongst the people he used to watch on earth. Their wishes and desires were granted in his heaven and they even continued to worship him once there.

I heard the echo of horse's shoes clip clopping on the street. Out of the grove of trees, an eighteenth century horse-drawn carriage clattered to the house. Another one followed behind the first. Phina's eyes were large as she gawked at the overgrown horses. They were midnight black and a murky mist hovered around their legs. They didn't have definite eyes, but their sockets were filled with a bright red fire.

"Are you sure your mother sent this to us?" Phina appeared frightened.

"Artemisia summoned me once. This is customary of her." Klaus confirmed. He opened up the door for the ladies. There was room for one more. Klaus gestured to the last seat next to Phina and I gratefully climbed into the coach.

"We'll be behind you in the second carriage." Klaus promised. The boys disappeared and I put my arm around Phina's shoulders to ease her nerves.

"This would be cool if I weren't so damn nervous." Maya muttered and bit her nails.

The horses pulled us forward without any warning. No one was guiding them.

Phina gasped, "How did they know to leave?"

Syri grinned, "Artemisia's realm is special, guys. They're populated by the fae."

"Faeries." Phina muttered.

"Why yes, faeries." Syri frowned.

"She's read a lot about the fae." I filled in.

"Well, these aren't your sparkly, Tinkerbell faeries. They're cruel and spiteful and will trick you into giving up your first born child if you aren't too careful." Syri shuddered.

Maya gulped, "What?!"

"Is your mother an Atlantean Goddess or a Faerie Goddess?" Phina asked; her eyebrows creased with confusion.

"I think she's both." I shrugged. "Some of the Atlantean Gods aren't also faeries. But many are, like Alduin. Since Artemisia is both of our mothers I assume she is a Faerie Goddess, too."

"I think you're right." Syri chimed in. "There's been talk that the reason why the other deities flooded Atlantis was because they were jealous of the Atlantean people who were advanced and had magical powers. They were the beginning of the fae."