--->Essence of Lydia<---

Essence of Lydia---> Chapter 22: Atticus' POV

I had absolutely no idea what happened in that world. What had I missed in the couple of moments that Embry had zoned out? I cursed myself for panicking in that situation when I was the one who was supposed to be calm and collected. I blushed as I thought back to the moment before the glow-y thing had interrupted us. I remember the warmth that had spread through me as our lips had connected in that moment. It was so surreal I could barely believe that it had happened.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my name being said in annoyance. I looked up and saw that Kam was now glaring at me. I looked at her with questionable eyes, but she just rolled her eyes as if I were an idiot of some sort. I refused to snort at that and waited for her to tell me what she had wanted.

“Well, are you going to go back to meditating now? We don’t have much time, so you need to concentrate so you can make it out to the training grounds where Embryae is at this moment.” I sighed, realizing that I had spaced out when I could have been training at this moment. Taking deep breaths, I centered myself.

Slowly, everything began to fade away and I was pulled into the other world once more. I looked around for a moment to see that everything seemed to be going in the same pattern, in a moment I would be under water. Suddenly, the room shifted and water replaced it. I forced myself to breathe and then concentrated on what had happened before. I then remember that the scenery had changed once more after Embry and I had shared that amazing kiss, and that was when the glow-y creature had appeared.

I waited for another moment before the water shifted and I was now in the sky, floating above the clouds. I took deep breaths, closing my eyes knowing what I would see once I opened them. Slowly, I allowed my eyes creep open. The glow-y figure shimmered before me, as if it were amused by my actions. I scowled at it and then concentrated on what Embry had done in this situation. I cleared my head and prepared myself to meditate. Slowly, my breathing slowed down and I was pulled into a calm place.

Suddenly the glow-y figure appeared and began to transform right before my eyes. I focused myself, trying not to fidget as it changed before me. A woman stood in its place then. I looked at her in awe, she seemed so familiar. As I began to piece everything together, I recognized who this woman was.

“L-Luna…?” I asked hesitantly. She smiled brightly at my realization and nodded.

“I guess you weren’t as fast at coming to realization as Embryae had been.” She chuckled as she said this; amused that it had taken me some time to figure out the idea of the meditation exercise. I smiled at her then, knowing that I had passed the meditation exercise now.

“So, do you have anything to say to me that could help me out in my mission with her?” I asked hesitantly once more, but it came out sounding a lot more firm than I had expected. She smiled apologetically to me.

“Well, I would say that I had some choice of words to tell you… but I’m not sure that they would help with the mission. So I guess I’ll just go on and tell you what I had told her. You will know how to work your abilities in time. You just have to trust that you will know and follow through with the training.” I nodded, a little let down because I didn’t really get much out of her. We finally bid our farewells because I had to return to my training.

Everything began to fade away as I returned to my body. Kam smiled when she saw my eyes open and she motioned me to follow her. I did as she said, wanting to hurry up and catch up with Embry so that I could know as much as possible. When we left the meditation area, I could feel the calming air return to its normal state.

She brought me in front of the waterfall then and I saw Embry trying to balance on a log. I stared at her in awe; although she seemed to be getting frustrated in the exercise. That was when I remembered that she wasn’t as patient as I. I let out a soft chuckle then, bringing her attention towards me. Her eyes lit up for a moment before it was replaced by a scowl.

“It’s not as easy as it would seem Atticus, so stop making fun of me.” She said, her lips pouting just a hint. I smiled at how adorable she looked. I then turned to where Dev was standing, looking bemusedly at Embry. I smiled just a tiny bit, though I was still a little confused. So he was teaching her now?

“What are you doing here?” I asked, wanting to know if my thoughts were correct. His gaze shifted towards me then, as if he were just noticing mine and Kam’s presence in the room.

“I am obviously helping Embryae train… I don’t know how she could finish the meditation so quickly, but not this exercise. She’s too impatient.” He said this with a pointed look towards her, earning a glare from her. I nodded softly before turning towards Kam. She seemed to be studying Embryae, thinking deeply. Suddenly, she sighed and turned towards Dev.

“Well, it would be best if we switched partners then.” Dev nodded and then he made his way over to me while Kam began to talk to Embry.

“Okay, so the exercise is easy. I want you to basically meditate while balancing on one foot on the log. After a while I will warn you that you will be facing some difficulties. The difficulties are going to be secret though, so go ahead and take your position on the log beside her.” I nodded and quickly made my way towards her with a smile on my face. She wasn’t paying attention to me though; she seemed to be having a deep discussion with Kam. She finished as I began to climb the log beside her though and she looked at me for a moment in confusion.

“You must have finished the meditation assignment then huh?” She asked curiously. I nodded, unsure how to start conversation with her. My cheeks heated up as I thought about our kiss once more. She seemed to know what I was thinking because she turned away from me as if embarrassed by my staring. I snapped myself out of it when Dev and Kam called us to attention. We then resumed our positions.

I saw as she gracefully lifted her leg behind her in a yoga-style exercise. She was breathing deeply, trying to concentrate and not lose patience like she had before. She closed her eyes then and tried to enter the meditation world. I knew she was having some trouble though because she didn’t seem to be balancing so well, as she did this. I smiled at her adorableness once more before lifting my leg up as well and balancing. I then closed my eyes and entered the world of meditation.

I pierced through then, and began to balance even more so. I was brought out of my calm state just a smidge when Dev called out to me. I looked up and he made the motion that something was about to happen. I took a deep breath to stay calm and waited patiently for what was to come.

All of a sudden, Dev began to aim knives and began throwing them at me. I almost panicked, wondering why the hell he was trying to kill me, but I calmed myself down immediately to think properly. He had told me that there were going to be difficulties; so basically as this happened… I couldn’t fall off the log. I dodged them surprisingly while I kept myself calm. I was so tuned into it that I hadn’t known that Kam had began to take on the predator role as well and was aiming knives at Embry as well. I knew it though, when I was suddenly drenched in water. It was in the middle of one of the knives heading straight towards me, so I fell off my log to dodge it in time.

I looked over to see that Embry had just swum to the top of the water and was breathing heavily. I looked over at Kam to see that she had an exasperated look on her face. Embry turned to look at me with a pout on her face.

“How were you able to dodge them like that?” She asked, frustration clear in her melodious voice. I smiled fondly at her when she asked this, surprised that I was doing so much better than I had thought before. I thought about this for a couple of seconds, trying to think the best way to tell her this.

“Well, as Luna had said… we’re different. You are supposedly wiser, as I am more patient. It all has to do with patience at this moment Embry. You are not to rush into battle; that is what this lesson is trying to teach you. You have to observe before acting, or you’ll fail in the mission.” She seemed to be taking this in, and with one last huff she stood and climbed back up onto her log. I stared at her, seeing the determination on her face and then climbed back onto mine as well.

I guess you could say we had a lot to learn before we defend our dimensions.