The Immortal's Gamble

Chapter 23 Unraveling

"Let me take a look.." Alex murmured, looking over the list of things I've written. Meanwhile, we looked at the items Alex brought.

"What is all this?" I marveled at the number of items in the box, or rather, luggage that Alex exchanged for the list I passed to him. Soren and Bri stood on both my side looking through the items. 

"Aren't these just toys? There's books, toys, clothes. All these are baby stuff!" Soren muttered, going through the items before retreating to the sofa empty-handed. I picked up a stuffed rabbit and flipped it around. It was brown and old, I wonder where the kid was now. A tag hung from it's back, forever and always, C.

"Alex, where did you get all these from? And what are all these things about?" I asked, lifting up the rabbit. Not even answering, he went up the stairs, a few moments later he can trotting down. 

"I'll get to that later, but Laura, this is for you, I was specifically told to hand it to you and see you put it on." I nodded at his serious words but a gentle smile broke his serious facade when he placed the necklace in the center of my palm.

Silver wire woven and entwined to form the shape of a bird and nestled in the middle was a pale green gem. I fingered it gently and it glowed before dimming again. 

I held it up to the light, and as I put it on, I felt the weight of the stone as it hung from my neck. It was cooling where it rested on my chest. 

 "It's beautiful. Thank you, Alex."

"It is... But don't thank me, we need to talk." Alex agreed then gently, he held me by the elbow and seated me on the sofa. I nodded and looked at him expectantly. 

"Bri, come sit next to me. Soren, you know the spells I taught you? Keep them in mind and sit next to Laura." Alex instructed and once we were all seated he angled himself to face me while keeping Bri close to him. I'm so gonna have to dig out some answer from Bri, she even has a hand on his back.

"It's about the questions you have, and it's really important and I hope you can listen to this with an open mind and heart. And also, for me to test something." Alex began and I nodded, his cryptic wording only made me more nervous. His eyes flickered around the house before they landed on the necklace in my hands, looking down I gasped. It was no longer green but a bright violet. It looked as though there was something swirling in it. His eyes widened before he swallowed hard and looked at me.

"Laura, all this is from your father. The luggage, the necklace, the album, wait let me grab that." He stood up and went over to the luggage, after rummaging it for a moment he came back. 

"All this was found by Lewis, I have no idea how but they are all your items that have been collected by your father." Alex paused as I took in this information. Nodding hesitantly, he continued, "Laura, your father is Cameron, one of the oldest Immortals around. He doesn't even have a surname because of how old he is. He has several known gifts, one to change his look at will and two to manipulate people like Arden. I won't be surprised if he has more, but that might explain why you have more gifts than the usual halflings we're used to seeing. No one knows what happened to him after the elders found out he had a kid with a mortal. He just... disappeared. " Alex spoke as softly and gently as he could. But questions came pouring out as soon as he mentioned my father. 

"Laura... Calm down, Soren now." Alex instructed and kept Bri behind who was looking with wide sorrowful eyes. I felt myself getting hotter, looking down I could see the necklace's colour changing. Just before I could even ignite and set their sofa on fire, a wave of calmness washed over me and I felt Alex's hand on mine.

"Feeling better?" Alex asked and I nodded, I picked up the pendant that was hanging around my neck and held it nearer, the mist in the middle of it swirling around.

"It's controlled by your emotions and heightens your powers. It's time to hone your powers according to Lewis." Alex spoke solemnly then he continued, "About the dream, you had of your father, the way you described, it seemed like it was the Limbo. No mortal should be able to get in. But for your father to be there, it might mean he's been hiding in another dimension. He's probably looking over you, which would explain him erasing your mind when you had the panic attack and the black haze almost taking over. But among the three questions you have, I can't answer your question about the haze. My only speculation would be that it's connected to your emotions and gifts." He explained and I nodded. The calmness remained and I watched as Soren started sweating and I placed a hand on his. 

"It's okay, you can release it now. I won't go berserk on you guys." I smiled at the unsure look on his face as he turned to ask Alex who in turn looked at me and then nodded to Soren. His hold on me loosened and I suppressed my emotions, imagining them being tucked safely into the pendant. 

"Here, this is the album. We all haven't looked through it yet. If you have any other questions, just come to Arden or me. I know Arden isn't back yet, but he's informed." Alex explained and crossed over to give me a hug, followed by Bri and then Soren. 

'We're here for you." Bri whispered into my ear, giving me a light squeeze as they left the living room. Leaving me with my own thoughts until I heard a creak. Looking up I saw a portal opening, and an extremely tired looking Arden stepped through. 

As his eyes met mine, a slow tired smile spread across his face. 

"Hey there."