Heather's Adventures: The Search for Maxamus

Chapter 43. Max

Heather took a deep breath before she looked up to my mother, "It's all my fault. You cannot blame him for anything. I dragged him into this mess."

I quickly turned to look at her, "Heather!"

"I know you want to take all the blame but Max must be at some fault here too. I know what you are Heather."

"A Mellissa. One of the last of the people that should've been in Issola but instead I ran like a coward away. I'm a coward. I run and flee. I don't think rationally. I've been trained to react. Here it's different though. I could've prevented Max from almost dying, yet instead here I was saving him when he could've died."

"No one blames you for that Heath; you did what you had to do to save us both."

"What?!"

"Mother," I reassured her, "you don't have to be concerned. I almost just fell off a cliff, that's all. Heather caught me. If she didn't catch me Rheannah was going to catch me. Heather just made it look so perfect. She looked like a total bad—"

My mother was infuriated, "I told you to be careful out there, I should've never let you out into the real world."

"No, this was my fault. I was careless." Heather kept her words bitter and short, "Please do not think of Max any differently because of my actions."

"Heath—"

"No Max, you know this was my fault."

My mother intervened, "I know you're trying to take the blame from him but you couldn't have done all of that alone."

Heather shook her head, "It was all me. I was the one fighting. In the end he only saved me."

"You were fighting?!"

I nodded, "I was only trying to save them..."

"Something changed in her, she was controlled, we couldn't do anything but try. We did all that we could to save your sister and the others."

"But we fought them..."

"I told you to be careful out there, I should've never left you two alone out there."

"Mother, you had to let us go out there. You knew that had to happen. You know what Heather is..."

Heather clenched the ends of her shirt in her fists, "A coward. I'm a coward. I dragged you all into this because I ran away. If only I stayed in Issola in the first place—"

"You'd be dead." I stated, "Heather you can't keep saying that you wish you were back there. Because you're here you give everyone hope, you're the last hope. We're bonded, remember? That's means we're stronger than before and we can go back there and defeat her. We can fight Jen and win Heath!"

"Max you..."

Heather took another deep breath, "it wasn't his fault we were bonded...it's mine."

"I meant that he decided to keep the bond and treasure it."

I nodded, "I have to until we can stop Heather's sister. Besides, I kinda owe Heather..."

"Kind of owe her?"

"She saved my life once then took a curse for me..." I let my voice trail off.

My mother was raging now, "you let her do what now?!"

"I saved him from falling to his death, as I stated earlier, and I took a curse for him because I got him out of the way before I could, it's not really much of a concern. I kept him safe. I was careful for him."

I shook my head at Heather, "it's supposed to be the other way around, I'm supposed to protect you, I've had the training—"

My mother sighed, "Max, you've been trained in swords fighting. Heather of Issola is trained in survival fighting. Until you learn the essence of survival, she's going to be saving you, a lot. I didn't have you trained for survival. I didn't think you'd be waging another war."

"I'm trying to prevent a war. I'm sick of wars. I already fought in enough." Heather looked away from us. She was against fighting even though she was so talented at it. I haven't even seen all that she was capable of yet.

"Just don't make the same mistakes as the others before you two. You're getting yourselves involved in something bigger than you know."

"I have to go after Jen. If I don't she may cause destruction elsewhere. If I can prevent another family from being torn apart I'm going to do it, and I'll do it well. I can't just sit back here and do nothing, that's not me."

I nodded, "I'm going to help her."

"Just don't go breaking any serious rules, you're going to be alone out there and everything will be going against you."

"Breaking rules is Heather's specialty."

Heather shrugged, "I guess I'm good at avoiding them."

"The point is, we need to get out there and keep fighting." I insisted, "I know what we have to do. I have to help Heather and the rest of us win this fight. We have to fight. Someone has to stand up for Issola."

"And if not us, then who will take a stand? We're the only ones who know what happened and we're the only ones that can eliminate this issue before this becomes all-out war. I don't want to fight in another war. I already defended Issola once in war, and I most certainly do not ever want to stand on the front lines of a battle again. It's the only way to prevent a war."

My mother took a moment before she sighed and responded, "just know you're getting in much deeper than you think you will be if you're out there on your own. There are more secrets in this word than you want to know. And some of these secrets should remain secrets. If you start digging you're going to find things you wish you never saw."

"I've already seen much more than I needed to. I've got very few goals, and I know they're gonna take me down some dark roads. I need to know why I'm bonded. I don't care how long or where this search leads me too, I'm going to get answers. Secrets are meant to be discovered, after all." Heather was fidgeting with her heart amulet. She also obviously wanted to know why Thalia was protecting her. We both were left in the dark here, only she was the one that was actually questioning all the things she's been presented with, meanwhile I just learned to accept it and keep to myself.

"Just stay safe, that's all I ask. Also you're not leaving just yet. It's dark out and you need to rest. If you're planning to fight the world head-on, you're going to need all the rest you can get." My mother was just letting me leave without another word.

Soon she left Heather and I on the couch, just sitting there staring at the wall. She left to her room to sleep or something. Such hospitality, but I guess Heather really wasn't her guest.

"How come your mother just lets you leave? Shouldn't she be protecting you? She's doing the exact opposite of helicopter parenting."

I shook my head, "I don't know at all."

"I think she knows something, she's just not ready to admit it. Could it be your father?"

"That man did shady work. We don't know anything about it. She probably doesn't know much more than I know."

"It's because both you and Rheannah are protected by Elizabeth and Puggy," My mother entered the room once again, "so if you have a destiny out there I have to let you go reach to achieve it. I can't stand in the way. I can't defy our lords because I'm afraid. Now Heather, let's get you prepared so you can sleep, you must be tired." My mother ushered Heather out of the room so she could sleep. I got up on my own and walked myself to my room.

Who knew my adventures with Heather would bring me right back to where I started.