SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 47- Explanations

Embracing my mother and father together for the first time in so long feels more amazing than I ever could have expected, especially after what we had just gone through. My family feels whole again, but at the same time, I have more questions than ever that I'm far too afraid to have answered.

"I hate to break up the happy reunion, but we need to talk." Roxie states worriedly as we begin to turn our attention to her "What happened while you were gone?" she asks as she glances at my shoulder. Thanks to Sterling's elixir, it's already healing up, but the bloody gauze still isn't a pretty sight.

"Look," Mother begins "I want to explain everything, but we're in a time crunch right now."

"Pearl and Jewel are still back there, we need to figure out how to get them out." I explain nervously "These people... they're like us." I state. Suddenly, Roxie and Aurora look nervous.

"What do you mean, like us?" Aurora asks worriedly "And where were you being held?"

"They set up in Gael's old compound, it's why we had so much trouble getting out. Here's the thing; they can do everything that we can," Mother sighs. "all of the things that we studied to become powerful, they can do it too. But not only that, they do it in ways that we wouldn't dare to touch."

"Blood sacrifice?" Daddy says nervously.

"We found the remains of one of their rituals out in the woods." Aurora explains "We think we're close to figuring out what they were trying to do."

"No need, I already know. Unfortunately, that's not even the worst of it." I state nervously as I turn my attention to my mother. "The reason that they killed three people out there was to bring someone back in their original form, but that's not how they usually resurrect themselves.."

"What the hell is worse than sacrificing people to come back?" Nanea asks frustratedly.

"Taking the life of another to come back is one thing, but stealing their body is far worse." Mother sighs "Sterling was my best friend, but someone named Lucius decided to steal his body for himself. When I figured out that he wasn't the same anymore, I tried to run away, but he eventually caught me." she explains solemnly.

"What the fuck..." Roxie states as she begins to pace "How many of them are there?" she asks nervously.

"Technically speaking, five. But someone else is with them too." I explain. Suddenly, Desire, Phoenix, and Aria rush in out of nowhere.

"Breeze!" Desire screams as she runs in and tackles me "Where the hell have you been? When I couldn't connect with you, I was so worried that you... that he had..." she says as she hugs me.

"I'm alright, they had me mentally blocked down there, otherwise I would have reached out sooner," I explain as she lets go, suddenly Aria comes up and hugs me excitedly. As she lets go, her face turns from hopeful to worried as she looks around the room.

"Where's Pearl?" she asks nervously. Mother and I both feel a solemn chill as I hesitate to answer.

"They still have her, but we're going to get her out," I explain hopefully.

"If they're as strong as you say, how do you expect us to go in without walking into a trap?" Daddy asks nervously.

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Mother says as she seems to begin thinking.

"I'm guessing that this is Artemis?" Phoenix asks curiously as he glances over at her.

"Yes, but you can call her Aunt Nika." Roxie winks. Suddenly, Desire and Phoenix both look intensely excited.

"Are you serious?" Desire asks in disbelief.

"Goddamn," Phoenix says as he stares at her, then at me "You two have some fun timing, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm just glad to finally have them both back." Daddy smiles as he squeezes her hand.

"Look, right now we need to focus on Pearl." I state nervously "I know that they're strong as hell, but there has to be some way for us to get in without it turning into an all-out brawl."

"We can't just wait around forever." Aria pleads "If they're going to use her for something, we're wasting precious time!" she cries. I try to comfort her, but it's no use. I'm just as worried as she is, especially after what I've seen.

"Please, try to calm down." Aurora says calmly "All of this bickering isn't going to help us right now, so Nika, Breeze, tell us everything you've seen since you were attacked." she asks inquisitively.

"Right." I say as I glance at my mother "You might as well go first." she looks back at me and nods, letting go of my father as she stands beside me.

"You already know about what happened to my friend Sterling. When he and his friends inevitably found me, they brought me back to the compound where I was locked up in the old dungeon. Not a lot happened until Jewel and Pearl were brought in, then of course Breeze." she explains.

"After I woke up, we all started discussing what we had seen and realized that they had been possessing people and killing off their souls to do it. After they took me away from the others, they eventually explained who they were." I say angrily "Mahina, you read the ancient texts downstairs and found a way to change the formula from resurrection to reincarnation. But they... they're the ones who wrote them in the first place. They've been hiding in plain sight this whole time." I explain. Suddenly, everyone falls silent as they process what I had just said. What they had been doing to survive was despicable, there was no other way to see it.

"Speaking of which, there are two that we need to address right away." Mother states bluntly.

"Your assistant, Winona. She's actually their leader." I state worriedly.

"What?" Aurora says in disbelief "How is that even possible? I never sensed anything from her?" she asks anxiously.

"They're better at masking themselves than we are, it's why they've been able to slip right under our noses after all this time." Mother explains.

"Are you saying that we could have met them before without even realizing it?" Roxie asks nervously.

"They seem overly fascinated with us, they've definitely met all of us at one time or another." I explain as I glance down at my shoulder, gently unwrapping it to reveal my skin, good as new "One of them seems to have taken an interest in me for some reason, and he seems to specialize in all things blood-related and thinks mine is...tasty." I sigh.

"That's... what word is worse than disgusting?" Phoenix asks as he stares at my skin "How is that healed?"

"The bastard is also talented at making elixirs, go figure." I state as I shrug "But he's not the other that we should be worried about." I explain as I glance nervously over at my mother.

"The reason that I finally awakened was a trauma response." My mother begins "One of them decided to use my body for themself without realizing who I was. Instead of killing me off like they wanted, I got buried under the gate for a while until I finally fully awakened. Eventually, something triggered and I was able to take back control but... she's still here."