ISLA
𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧. 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬.
"𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄."
Looking back at my siblings, I can see Illa, Iris, and Eves near the stairway, talking to one another in hushed voices. On a beaten sofa are Exie, Elys, and Eura. Exie is whispering comforting words to Elys, who is now bawling her eyes out as Eura treat her wounded feet. Beside them are Eiah and Eros, watching out for enemies while Ivie is sitting on the dirty table, staring at nowhere and clenching her fist. I glanced quickly at Ache; smoking yet not talking much. I did a mental victory dance. He is acting like a robot, as what I expected.
Everything is in accordance to our plans, but we are still fucked up.
"𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻." For a moment, I met the blank and lifeless gaze of Iver, who is now outside the broken door. I cut the connection by looking away and securing daggers inside my boots. He is doing it already.
Urse glanced at me casually, "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?" He tilted his head at me knowingly. The amusement in his eyes showed me that I am not a good pretender. 𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣.
"𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘅𝗶𝘀, 𝗜𝘀." He looked at me straight in the eyes, "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽." I flinched and unknowingly played with my fingers. And then I remember again. The 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.
Yes, I need to wake up.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩.
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬.
"𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗨𝗣!"
My eyes opened abruptly when I felt the cold water splashed my face. A surge of familiarity burst inside of me when I've seen my bedroom. However, a panic-looking Iver greeted me. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩? 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬? 𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡? He mouthed a 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 at me and shook his head.
"𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁?" I breathed heavily. My eyes are tempted to close again and just let my body doze to sleep, but 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 has something for me to read again.
"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀." My eyes widened immediately when Ivie, who is leaning against the doorway, greeted me with a dangerous chuckle. She leaned crossed her arms and her dark brown eyes darted towards the stack of papers beside me. 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗽?
The absence of lights is not a hindrance from observing each other. Her eyes would travel from the papers and back to me. With the help of lit scented candles, which filled the room a fragrance of strawberries, I fixed my hair and stood up, "𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁."
"𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂." She glanced at the sleeping bodies of Illa, Eves, and Iris, her voice is plastered with sarcasm in each and every word. 𝙈𝙮, 𝙢𝙮. I can feel the tension in the air as she continued to challenge me.
"𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲."
"𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁?"
"𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗜𝘃𝗶𝗲. 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸. 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱!"
For 5 years, we put our blood, sweat, and tears to this plan because we were meant to be the gamechangers of what The Fates prepared up in their sleeves. In order to stop them, we must knock them out unconscious enough to only let their souls in and inject a potion. This must be done the exact moment Axis opens the realm.
Why not go and just kill spree?
First, the creatures will kill us in just a snap, especially that our powers are blocked. This is where Achè enters. He is assigned to duplicate the energy blocked by the dome and put it into an accessory that we are capable of bringing.
Second, the places in the realm are constantly moving. Iver is in charge of mapping out the place, seeking of everyone's coordinates, and waking us up incase we are in the verge of dying.
Third, it was meant to be on the 19th of April, not now.
"𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲-"
Ivie's words were cut short when the door creaked open. The lights coming from the monitors outside blinded us until a silhuoette of a tall and broad man presented himself in front; Achè, with both of his hands held up high as a sign of surrender. I put my gun down and raised an eyebrow in annoyance.
"𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗺. 𝗛𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿," Ache breathed heavily, "𝗘𝗶𝗮𝗵'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴."
Oh no..
