They Lied (Liar Duology #1)

Chapter 6 / Atlas

The tension in the room was so dense that you could lick it. Olivia was staring at her Aunt, hands on her hips and an awful glint in her eyes. Mr Mason and Brianna were both staring at their daughter, while Khione was staring at...

Me.

"So, mom, Auntie Kat, and dad, you better explain, quickly."

"Sweetheart, what is there to explain?" Brianna asked her.

"How long are you going to hide it from her, Bree?" Khione and Mr Mason said in unison.

"Yeah, mom, how long are you going to hide the truth about me?" Olivia asked, her gaze shifting to her mom, "The truth about this," she continued, undoing a gold locket from her neck with a flourish. 

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Brianna asked, clutching her cover till the end.

"I mean that I have some sort of powers, right? And this locket suppresses them. But, when I removed it to take a bath the other day, I used my powers. But, when you came into the bathroom, you made me forget, and you undid whatever it was that I did," she explained.

"How did you...?" Brianna asked, looking flustered and confused.

"You know, mom, you always underestimated my intelligence. That day was the only time I undid my locket, right? And, I ended up forgetting. But, the major clue was Aunt Kat's real name. Khione is a greek goddess. The greek goddess of ice and frost. Daughter of Boreas, god of the north winds. I'm a goddess of ice?"

"Yes," Mr Mason said, sighing, "Sweetie, I knew you'd figure it out eventually."

"Why didn't you tell me?! You lied to me! How could you?!" she asked, cold but definitely angrily.

"Because of Akantha," Brianna said, "She's the goddess of flames, and she's going around the world, trying to destroy it, and become the Queen of the New World Order."

"Does she have Narcissistic Personality Disorder?" Olivia asked, reading my mind, "Why does she think she'll make a good Queen of the world?! And how does this excuse the fact that you didn't tell me anything?!"

"Sweetheart, she's going to attack Skyville on Friday, and you're the only one who can stop her," said Khione, speaking for the first time since the mom-daughter duo began arguing.

"Then, why the hell did you not tell me?! I'm the only one who can stop this 'New World Order'," she said, making air quotes with her fingers, "Don't you guys care about your life?!"

"We do, but the problem is, sweetheart, that there is a grave chance that you'll not survive," said Mr Mason, "and we didn't want that for you."

Olivia clenched her fists and took small, shallow breaths, although her face was the epitome of calmness, "How did you, for even a second, think I would want to stay safe and watch the world go down in flames? After Neva, how could you think that I would stand to the sides and watch my loved ones burn?"

"Don't bring Neva into this," warned Brianna.

"I will bring Neva into this, mom! Neva was the sweetest thing in the world, the love of my life, and you and dad were the ones who didn't let me go into the building and rescue her from the fire! I would rather have died than stood in the sidelines watching the building go down in flames."

"She was my daughter, Via, I loved her so much," said Khione, "And her death hurt nobody more than it hurt me. But, your parents were trying to protect you! They did the exact thing I would have done if I was in their place."

"Don't you see? This 'protecting' business has left me broken from the inside. I'm detached from my feelings, I take things from a logical perspective, I don't have any emotional intelligence. And when I actually want to befriend someone, I end up arguing with them," she said, shooting me a apologetic look. "Even if I'm living, I've hardly lived. And why? Because you didn't allow me to rescue my baby cousin from fire. Imagine what will happen if you make me stand on the sidelines while the whole world goes down in flames."

"I vouch for Olivia battling Akantha," I said, clearing my throat and increasing the volume of my voice.

"I vouch for it, too," said Mr Mason, giving me a pitiful look.

"Me three," said Khione, "And obviously Via wants it too. Bree, you gotta live with it, she's coming with me."

"That's amazing," said Olivia, cutting short her mother's attempts at arguing. She walked up to the sofa and held my hand with one of her's and fixed the fallen piece of the moonstone with the other before picking it up and throwing it to Khione. Khione deftly caught it and re-attached it to the scepter. "We have a lot to discuss, Atlas, let's go to my room."

"Okay," I said, following her to her room and trying to extract my hand from her vice-like grip. She didn't budge, though. I followed her up the stairs and to the third door on the right, which had a black nameplate with her name in white.

She pushed the door open and instructed me to sit on the perfectly-made bed. As the mattress descended a little because of my weight, I watched as Olivia took out stacks of clothes from her wardrobe.

"Why are you packing?" I asked, watching her take at least three navy blue skirts and three more black ones.

"Because I'm going to Aunt Kat's," she said, refusing to meet my eyes, "I don't know how to say this, but I'm so sorry for yesterday, Atlas. I just... cracked. I should have been more understanding of what you were going through-" 

"It's not your fault," I replied, "It's mine. I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you. I'm sorry, too."

"Truce?" she asked, giving me one of her rare smiles.

"Truce," I asserted.

"Umm... I don't know how to ask this, but, how do you feel about coming with me to Aunt Kat's house? It's okay if you don't want to," she rushed to add, as she filled the skirts and white tops into a backpack.

"I can't," I said, looking into the cupboard to avoid her gaze, "My sister... Hey, what's that?"

There was a pocket-sized notebook under the clothes, and I picked it up. It was brown, and the pages were brittle. I opened it, and saw small handwriting which greatly resembled Olivia's. 

Akantha's Human Identity. 

There were a list of names, which were all crossed out. I flipped page after page and finally found a name which was not crossed out, rather, circled in red.

Acacia Matthews.

"Olivia! Olivia! Come here right now," I said, showing her the notebook.

"Oh my gosh," she said, dropping the clothes and staring at me in horror.

"Oh my gosh, indeed," I replied grimly.

My sister was Akantha, and I had to now choose between my sister, and the girl I liked.

Oh, God, why must you do this?

How do you like the plot twist, my dear readers? And how do you like the new look? 

If you're on Team Acacia, comment here ->

And if you're on Team Via, comment here ->

There are more plot twists to come, mes amis. Enjoy!

Love,

Cara.