War for the Skies (completed) (Book 1 of the Heroes of the Realms series)

Chapter 34

Back to the interrogation room we went, just the four of us again, but this time we were going to get a proper answer.

"What happened?" I asked, noticing the deadly stares Theo and Lukas were giving her.

"I... I don't know..." she muttered, much more scared than she was the first time.

"Oh, yeah. When you paralyzed us then locked us up in a cell, which happened two minutes ago, was not very memorable was it?" Theo said.

"I swear I can't remember!" she screamed, obviously getting frustrated.

"Then what do you remember? What was your last memory?" I put my hands on the table and leaned forward, after pushing Theo away. Her hands were still tied up in the cuffs, and Lukas was behind her again, ready to shock if she did something crazy.

Her eyes were a bright blue now, and she seemed to be more... calm? Before, she looked unstable and furious, but now she just looked like she wanted to get out of here and go to a café.

"I remember my father... he... passed away but then something happened..." she put her hands on her head. "He brought me somewhere. It was dark and a bunch of spirits were flying around..."

"Wait, how did you get there?" I asked her.

"I saw my father in my dream, asking me to take his hand, so I did, then when I woke up I was there," she replied.

I glanced at Theo, then Lukas, then back at the girl. "Go on."

"So he explained something about an invasion, that they were trying to claim what was rightfully theirs, but I can't remember what that was... and then he showed me an army, of spirits constructing an armada of ghostly ships. After that he gave me these gloves, and I..." she groaned and leaned forward, her face dug into her hands. "I can't remember the rest, up until now."

"How do we make sure she's telling the truth?" Theo asked.

Lukas looked skeptical about it, too, but he just silently paced around behind her.

I snapped my fingers, thinking of a solution. "Skylar! We can take the girl-"

"Calypso," she said. "But most people call me Cally."

"Okay we can take Calypso to Skylar and make sure she's telling the truth. If Pandora was honest about her being able to make her better..."

"She will," Theo placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry."

"So, what about me?"

We both looked at Calypso.

"You are coming with us," Lukas said, unexpectedly from behind.

"Wait..." she put her hand on her forehead again. "Don't you think it's dangerous to go on a mission with... how many people are we in total now?"

Theo counted his fingers until he reached our total: "I think seven."

"So the Cursed will obviously be able to sense all of us. We each have powers, don't you think that sends off some sort of aura? Seven Heroes travelling together... it's never been attempted before, and that's why there's a three person limit when travelling on one."

"How did you know that?" Theo asked.

"It just kind of clicked together in my brain," Cally replied.

"We'll think of a solution later. First we need to get to the door back to the Hall of Pandora."

"I'm not coming," Lukas said.

"What?" Theo asked.

"I'm not. I have to help my father defend his Realm. We have to shut down the gateway, and stop all of the Cursed from getting in. Plus," he pointed at Cally. "As she pointed out, we are too many. Maybe me staying back would be better."

Theo looked like he was going to object, and I was going to as well, but we both realized that he had a good point. That was why he was being so silent the whole time.

Theo and I both nodded.

"You guys should be leaving tomorrow morning. My father said he moved the door from the middle of the battlefield into somewhere below his throne room. We can arrange who will continue on the mission and who will stay or split up or whatever in the mean time," and with that, Lukas left the room.

Theo followed him.

I was about to get out as well, but the girl called from behind me.

"What was your name?"

"Leon."

"Oh okay, Leon."

"Well, come on. We need to take you with us," I gestured her to get up.

"My hands are still cuffed," she gestured to her hands.

"Oh," I said and yelled down the hall for Lukas.

As the sky was getting dark, all of us got together in the throne room, sitting in a circle, trying to decide what to do next. We explained Cally's memories, and her assumption that we were too many, and that some of us had to go.

"She's just tricking us to split us up, then she'll kill us all off one by one," my sister sneered at Cally.

The possibility had bothered me, but we had no other choice. "Power can be felt, sis. All of us together have way too much power. We can't go all together."

"Fine, I'll stay in the Hall with Pandora. Maybe I can also improve my navigating skills," my sister suggested.

"Any objections?" I asked, even though I felt like I had plenty objections.

Nobody said anything and we moved on. "So now we're five."

I looked around at everybody, and then noticed Aurora sitting next to Theo, shivering. Her pupils were almost white, and her face looked blue with the cold. More and more ice had built up in her hair.

"Theo, light a fire," I pointed at Aurora.

His hand burst into a dazzling fire, swaying with the small amount of wind in the room. Aurora said something but because of her teeth chattering I couldn't really make it out. I assumed she said "Thanks."

"Aurora can stay in the Hall as well. Find a solution for that weird freezing thing that keeps happening to her," I said to my sister.

"N-n-n-no it's f-f-fine," Aurora stuttered.

"No it isn't," Theo said. "If you go into battle like this, you'd get killed. You can't go on continuously freezing all the time. What's causing that anyway?"

"It j-j-j-just happens s-s-s-s-sometimes," she replied.

"Well, find a cure for it, because you can't go on like that."

Aurora nodded, and we continued.

"Four. I think that's enough."

Nobody objected, and we had arranged the mission party.

Now it was just Skylar-- if she was able to come-- Cally, Theo, and I who were going on the mission. Four people. Just like we started.