Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

14. A Good Team

"You're beaming," Lili whispered to the girl beside her.

Eternity shook her head, the grin not fading, "no I'm not."

"You are," Lili argued.

Eternity sighed, "it's just so different and beautiful and - I always hoped to travel and see the artistry of other cultures. Never left New York before this so..."

"I can see why you're beaming," Lili chuckled.

It was slightly amazing, the Wibberly girl realized, studying Eternity's face as they walked the road into Rhakotis's magical ruins and markets. In less than a day she had faced monsters straight from nightmares, walked in on a family story that had just taken a dark turn, and was sent to a foreign city where she was slowly being covered by dust and sweat. She had no one at home, she was sardonic and independent and bold, and yet, here she was beaming as radiantly as the sun. After all the chaos of life, people could still retain a sense of wonder.

Lili was glad for that. And she was glad that somehow their meeting and the chaotic events that followed had led to Eternity having this smile on her face.

It was kind of awesome, Eternity had to admit. Rhakotis was very different from Cambridge Falls or Westport, or New York. It wasn't the mighty country it once was, it was now merely a small magical community hidden from the world. But it was a history filled magical community. There were ruins of ancient buildings and teams from all over the globe came to study them. There were marketplaces - closed for the night - that sold exotic fruits and rock charms and rare potion  ingredients. The desert air was hot and dry and Lili had to admit she was loving it almost as much as Eternity.

Thousands of years ago this was the city where the books of beginning had been created and then split apart, Lili realized. This was one of the most important places in magical history. And she was standing inside of it.

Abby and Jake were not nearly as big of history fans as their sister, but they were still impressed, pointing out the architecture of the ruins and rambling about how grand the buildings must have been once and the methods used to build them. It was like the stress of New York's monsters had slipped away.

"So, where to?" Abby asked. Both she and Jake turned to look at Lili, signifying that she held the responsibility.

Lili sighed. She was used to the duties of an older sister, but not like this. Lili had always been caring and mature, seeing the way Kate looked out for her siblings and sometimes mimicking that with Abby and Jake. She would watch them for the day or for the night, she would call them out for bad behavior when needed, and she was the kind of girl who would run to grab the band aids while one of her parents cleaned off a sibling's scraped knee. Lili didn't mind being the oldest because her parents always made sure she wasn't the one carrying every responsibility. Only now she was.

"Let's hide in the ruins. No one will be there this time of night," Lili decided, "it's sheltered and if we hide in the one on that hill, we can keep watch."

No one argued, and they quickly made their way as a group to the ruins, slipping inside the decaying pavilion of stone and sprawling on the cracked floor that must have once been grand. Eternity stretched her legs out, feeling the chill of the stone seep through her jeans and into her legs. 

Lili lay on her stomach beside the girl and looked up at her with that signature penetrating green gaze, "so, you want to know about my family. Where should I start?"

"How many of you are there, involved in this mess?" Eternity asked, "I know there's you three, and you said you had parents, and Abigail mentioned an aunt."

Lili smiled, "my aunt Emma. She's my mother's youngest sibling. A warrior. I also have an uncle Michael, who's my mom's younger brother."

"Ok. Anyone else?"