SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 23- Old History

"Well, what do you think?" I ask as Pearl and Aria step into my bedroom. It's bigger than the entire home, so for them, it's a grand sight to see. Especially since the entire upstairs wasn't a part of the tour last month.

"Holy shit." Aria stated as she stared up at the high ceiling "You left all this just to stay in our dinky little bedroom? What are you, nuts?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I laugh as I walk over to the balcony, stepping outside to gaze at the large flower field in the crater.

"Uh-huh. You're nuts." Pearl states as she jumps onto my bed "Talk about luxury."

"Look at all this stuff." Aria says as she slowly glances over the shelves lined with books, carefully choosing one and opening it thoughtfully "This looks like it's over a hundred years old." she explains as she carefully turns the pages, then suddenly stops and looks at me "Did you write this?"

"Um, yea, I did." I explain "After my first awakening I wanted to document how things went, so I kept a journal."

"Did you make this?" Pearl asks as she points at a simple painting of a landscape on the wall.

"I did last time I was here," I explain as I approach it, visualizing the brushstrokes as I had covered the canvas.

"Incredible." She smiles as she paces across the room. They continue looking through things for a while while I get comfortable on the couch, gazing out the window.

"Hey, stupid question, why is this wall made of different brick than the rest of the room?" Aria asks as she slides her finger across the smooth stone.

"Oh, the other side of the wall is my parent's room. Apparently, before the final battle with Gael, he blew it up so they had to rebuild that whole section of the temple." I explain as I look over the beige brick.

"Wow, that's freaky." Pearl says as she looks across the room at the wall "I swear, learning about him was creepy enough, but being somewhere that he was is really scary to think about."

"Tell me about it." I sigh "It's bad enough what he did when he fought everyone, but knowing what all he was capable of even before that..." I start to trail off.

"What's wrong?" Aria asks, concerned.

"I'm just glad I never actually met him is all." I explain carefully "They won't tell me everything that happened, but I know that he had a thing for my mother and ended up hurting her in one of the worst ways possible."

"How do you mean?" Pearl asks nervously.

"Well," I sigh as I try to find the courage to talk about it. "You know how I have nightmares a lot?" I ask.

"Yeah, you told us that they ended up having to do with your past," Pearl explains.

"They were about things that happened before I was born" I explain nervously "When my mother, Umbree at the time, was captured by Iker, he found out that she was pregnant with me."

"Wait, but I thought that your first lifetime was after the gap years?" Aria asks, confused.

"It was, but my soul existed before that." I sigh "Iker put a curse on my mother that made her lose me. I'm not sure how, but I was able to hear what happened when he decided to do it." I explain solemnly.

"What the fuck..." Aria says in shock "He murdered you before you were even born?" she asks in terror.

"You were just an innocent baby, how could he do that?" Pearl asks worriedly.

"That's just how messed up he was. He hated my father and wanted to rid my mother of his 'influence' on her." I explain sadly "I don't know how, but after that, I managed to come back when they had a baby again. Chloe seemed to think that it had to do with the fact that I was still connected to my mom when I died, so the ritual they used was extended to me."

"That's incredible." Aria says as she stares around the room "This is so weird."

"What is?" I ask curiously.

"It's just, you still sound like you. But now, there's this whole other life that you've lived and it sounds like you're talking about it like it was just yesterday," she explains.

"I agree." Pearl states as she looks over my jewelry "You were right, you're still you. There's just a lot more under the surface now."

"I know." I smile as I look over at Aria "Balancing it all isn't exactly easy though." I sigh.

"So," Aria begins as she comes over to sit beside me on the couch "How are you going to tell Magnus?" she asks curiously.

"Oh, not this again," I say as I roll my eyes.

"What? I'm serious." Aria states as she tries to get me to look at her "You can't keep him in the dark forever you know."

"I know that, I just need to find the right words before I do something stupid and mess it all up." I sigh as I chew on my fingernail.

"Maybe you should just wing it," Nixi states.

"Thank you." Aria says, then suddenly does a double take to look over at the doorway "How long have you been standing there?" she asks.

"Long enough." Nixi states as she walks in "I don't know about casual dating, but all my past lovers knew who I was and I didn't care."

"Seriously?" I ask in surprise.

"Seriously." she smiles "Rynn's father was nothing more than a passing fling both times. I had already been talking to them before they found out and it just made them excited to get to know me a little better." she explains happily.

"Weren't you worried that they would want to take advantage of that fact?" Pearl asks curiously.

"Not really." Nixi says casually "We didn't pursue relationships after that anyway, we just weren't compatible. That didn't change the fact that we had a good time together though." she winks.

"Damn," Aria states as she looks at her "How the hell are you so confident?"

"I led an entire ship full of men at one point, if I didn't learn how to buck up and be brave, they never would have taken me seriously. Now, I just am myself and don't hold back." She smiles happily.