SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 13- Back to Normal

After dinner, I return to my room to go through my things. While I was downstairs, they must have sent someone in to clean up, because everything appears to be clean and polished. My old clothes are calling my name, and it's a miracle that my body type is usually the same. I debate on changing, but stop when I look at my bed. Carefully laid out on the pillow is my mother's necklace. The turquoise stone that adorned the beautiful silver chain was beautiful as ever. As I approach it, I hesitate to touch it. It doesn't feel right for me to wear, it isn't mine after all.

"I see you found my gift." I suddenly hear Daddy behind me. I turn around and look at him in surprise.

"Mother's necklace?" I ask, confused "I couldn't, it's hers. I just..." I trail off, struggling to find words.

"She would want you to take good care of it until she returns." he smiles "Please, I insist." I turn back to the pillow and gently pick it up, thoughtfully examining the stone. I had rarely seen her without this on, every scratch on it is familiar to me. Maybe holding onto a part of her will make missing her feel a little easier. I carefully open the hook and Daddy comes over and takes it, stepping behind me and helping me put it on. As I glance down at my chest, I feel the tears begin to well up in my eyes.

"Thank you." I smile as I turn around and hug him.

"You're welcome, little warrior." he says happily as we let go "So, how do you feel about finally coming home? Are you excited to move back in?" he asks curiously. Suddenly, another painful gut feeling begins to set in.

"About that..." I begin "I don't think I'm ready yet." I state nervously, and he starts to look worried.

"What's wrong?" He asks as he sits down on the bed.

"I honestly have a really good thing going at the home right now. My adoptive sisters mean a lot to me, and I don't think I'm ready to leave them behind just yet." I explain carefully.

"I suppose I can understand that," he sighs "But you know that you can't stay there forever."

"I don't need to, I just... I want to finish out the school year like normal. I don't think I'm ready for everyone to know who I am just yet." I explain nervously. He takes a moment as he thinks about it, seeming to try to come up with a reason for me not to.

"Are you sure?" he asks sadly.

"I think I am." I state confidently "I'm still going to come here often, but I don't want to dive full-on into being royalty again yet. I like how things are, and I know that once everyone knows who I am, that part of my life will officially be over." I explain. He starts to smile as he looks up at me.

"You seem to have given this a lot of thought." he states "As much as I want to, I can't argue with that."

"Really? I can stay there a while longer?" I begin to smile hopefully.

"Sure." he says happily, but there's still a touch of disappointment in his tone "Honestly, I'm proud of you for wanting to be 'normal' instead of being treated like a goddess. Your mother was the same way, and I can't believe how much you remind me of her." he smiles as he holds back tears.

"Thank you, Daddy. That means a lot to me." I smile as I look out the window at the night sky. "I probably do need to get going soon, or everyone is going to wonder where the hell I've been." I laugh.

"Nanea was leaving soon, you can walk back with her," he states as he stands up and heads for the door.

"Probably a good idea," I say as I begin to follow him out, then suddenly start to laugh.

"What's so funny?" He asks, confused.

"Nothing, school's just going to be a piece of cake now." I giggle.

When Nanea and I make it home, Alex and Aria are hanging out in the sitting room playing some game they had made up with dice. They seem worried as we come in, probably surprised that we were gone for so long.

"It's about time. Where the hell have you been?" Aria asks, confused as ever.

"Aurora wanted help with something, so we went with her to the palace. They invited us to have dinner, so that's why we were gone for so long." Nanea explains casually. She had come up with that story awfully quickly, and I can't help but wonder how many times she's done that in the past that I never realized.

"All I know is that I'm exhausted." I begin to yawn "Where's Pearl?"

"Reading." Alex states "She wanted some peace and quiet, so she's in your room." he explains.

"Gotcha." I say as I start to head down the hall "I think I'm down for the night." When I open the door, Pearl is laying on her stomach with her nose buried in a book. She doesn't even seem to notice me standing there.

"Whatcha reading?" I ask, and she suddenly springs up, accidentally dropping the book on the ground.

"Shit, Tessa, you scared me," she says as she clutches her chest. "It's an autobiography about one of the cruise ship castaways," she explains as she reaches down to pick the book up off of the floor.

"Sorry about that," I say as I take my shoes off and change into something more comfortable. As I change, she suddenly seems to be staring at me.

"Are you okay?" she asks "I don't know what it is, but something feels off." I suddenly freeze, I hadn't even thought about whether or not I would tell them. I would have to swear them to secrecy if I did, but that would still be kind of weird. For all I know, they might start looking at me differently too.

"Yea," I sigh as I pull my shirt off. "Just tired is all. I think I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Oh, okay." She says as she starts turning back to her book, flipping through it to find the page that she was on "You know, this is really interesting, I think you would like it."

"Oh yeah?" I ask as I lay down, pulling my blanket over my body.

"The man who wrote it explains how they were all on vacation and a storm came out of nowhere. After they found the city, they found out that was how the Eternal Family had made it here too. Once they all realized that there was no going back, the Eternals helped them all settle into a new life here. I know that we learned about it in school, but learning about how they all recreated the Empire from a single person's perspective is really cool." she explains excitedly "When Priestess Chloe was reborn as Seline and connected with her past as a five-year-old, everyone was in shock. This guy didn't believe it until she displayed her power of being able to read minds. Then she figured out that Queen Roxie was a teenager named Tiara at the time and she came to as herself the next day. It's insane." She explains, still flipping through the pages. I remember that entire time, I was somewhat old at the time, but I was there when Seline revealed herself. I've never seen a more terrifying little girl, that's for sure.

"I don't need to read it now that you've explained the entire thing." I laugh as I get comfortable.

"Whoops, sorry." She laughs as she finds her page again. "Still, you're welcome to borrow it." she offers kindly.

"You know what," I smile. "I might just take you up on that sometime."