Avalon

“Don’t move from this exact spot, it won’t take me long. I’ll take him to the underworld then be back, if you want to leave then I’ll take you somewhere else, if not then I’ll make sure you make it back home.” Damian tells her with so much sorrow and concern for her in his voice and in his eyes.

Leaving her here is one of the last things he wants to do, but he knows she’s not safe as long as Erik is free, and her safety is one of his main priorities at this moment.

Without another word he turns and grabs Erik in a fireman style over his shoulder and just disappears into the forest leaving Amillia alone in the dark and cold. She wonders if Damian will actually come back as he said he would. He showed up as he said he would when she used the necklace to call for him after all, and she hadn’t thought that he would show up then. She had thought that she was about to die, here, in this forest, by the hands of Erik, the one she loves.

Time seems to pass by awkwardly slow while Amillia is setting there waiting. It feels as if all the time of eternity has passed and yet no time at all, and then Damian reappears to her.

“It’ll be a while before he gets out of there, I still have a few demons down there that owe me a favor or two. Have you decided what you’re wanting to do yet?” Damian asks Amillia.

What does she want to do? That’s a very good question. She’s pondered on that question the whole time that he was gone. She can choose to go back home, continue living life as she has been, everyone remembers everything now so surely things will be different. Or, she can go somewhere else, start new, plan a life for her and her child that doesn’t involve this world, at least it wouldn’t involve it for now. Considering the fact that she’s not even supposed to be in this world to begin with make this a difficult debate to figure out which option is the better option.

“If I leave, is there any way to let my aunt know that I’m okay?” Amillia asks. “I didn’t exactly tell anyone of my brilliant plan before I just left her house. She has no idea what’s going on or where I went to.”

Damian smiles at her, “Yes, Amillia, I can let your family know that you’re okay. You should know though, once you leave here it’s not as easy to get back as I make it seem. You won’t be able to come and go as you please considering who your family is, so if you chose to leave this world make sure that it’s something you really want to do.”

Amillia thinks about this for a moment. If she honest with herself, she’s scared. She has no idea what she’s doing or how she’s going to go about taking care of herself and her child. She doesn’t even know what to do with herself right now, let alone a baby. For the moment, she’s just wishing that life could be easier and that she didn’t have to deal with all this stuff. Why couldn’t she just be a normal person, like the mortals that they used to live with before her parents were murdered. Life was so much easier and better before her parents were killed.

As if reading her mind, Damian sets on the forest floor with her, taking her hand, he tells her. “The unknown is always scary, but if it’s something that you feel you need to do then I’ll go with you, at least until you figure out where you’re going and you’re all set up. I’m aware that you’re pregnant, which makes this decision harder, but it is your choice, it’s all up to you.”

Why does the hard decisions have to start happening now? She wonders to herself. This isn’t how she had ever envisioned her life turning out. But then again she never thought she would have to live a life without her parents or her sisters either. Goes to show not to assume stuff and that life doesn’t always turn out the way that we want it too.

Taking a deep breath, Amillia makes her decision. “I want to know where I truly belong, where I’m supposed to be. I want to learn as much as I can about everything so I can protect my baby.”

“Is that really what you want Amillia, think about this hard before you decide.” Damian warns.

Without thinking any further mostly because she’s tired of thinking. All she’s done since Erik first tried to come through Gloria’s door, after he stabbed his own brother, is think. Thinking is overrated at this point in time, she wants to act. She wants to know the truth about everything, complete her destiny, and just live a normal life. Why can’t she just live a normal life without all this extra stuff? What’s the point in all of this anyway?

With the decision being made, they both left that world together. Not a bad thought or feeling one crossed either of their minds as Damian took Amillia to a portal to a brand-new world that she knows nothing of, yet. Damian decided to take Amillia to the world called Avalon, which is a place that is made especially just for magical creatures of all kinds, although the great majority of this world is of white magic and purity. What darkness, if any, that has crossed into this world remains in hiding and isolation. They should be safe there for the time being at least.

Amillia had been a nervous wreck at first, leaving the world of worlds and her family behind to come to somewhere new and completely different. But once Damian took her hand and teleported her to the other side of the forest to where the trees weren’t so thick, and the sun shinned through brightly her nerves evaporated. Once on the other side he amazed her by opening a portal in the middle of a giant boulder. She hadn’t expected it to be so big and in an obvious place, right in front of their faces this whole time. It looks just like a normal giant rock in the middle of the forest.

“Portals don’t just appear out of thin air,” Damian explains to her. “You actually have to know where they are and give something in order to get into one of them. Remember that Amillia, no magic comes without a price, not even something simple or something that has been put into place since the beginning of time. Nothing comes without a price.”

“How did you get it to open?” Amillia asks him.

He smiles at her, his beautiful smile that reaches his eyes and shows all his perfect and white teeth. “I’m special Amillia. My father is the Lord of Darkness, but my mother, well… She’s the daughter of Freyr. It’s her blood in my body that gives me the ability to do everything I do when it concerns these portals and stuff…” He trails off, his eyes getting the faraway look in them showing that he is thinking about something.

This world is marvelous is the first thing that Amillia thinks as soon as the portal spits them out into this new world. The skies aren’t like anything that Amillia has seen before, they’re light purple and pink with two suns that are more of a reddish-orange color with just a tint of a dark pink surrounding the outer layer. The air is so fresh and crisp, it’s nice, it’s one of the nicest places that Amillia has ever been. Which isn’t saying much considering the fact that she hasn’t been to many different places at all.

Being in the world of Avalon though Damian seems to be able to breathe a little bit. He’s the most relaxed here than he has been since Amillia met him.

The excitement doesn’t last long though, no sooner than they entered this world and Amillia got to look around, intaking everything she’s seeing, they’re surrounded by a bunch of tall, beautiful, muscularly built people. Amillia is just as in owe over the people surrounding them as she is the world they have entered into. This whole place, even the people are beautiful.

“You’re not allowed here demon!” The tallest, and prettiest, of all of the people around them speaks with a harsh tone in his voice.

Damian just smiles, not the smile he normally gives Amillia, but more of a smirk. “The portal still opens for me so one of the gods disagrees with you.” He taunts the very strong looking beautiful stranger.

The man does not look amused, his eyes harden on Damian as if challenging him. What for? That must be something that only the two of them and a few others know because the majority of the people surrounding them look just as confused about everything as Amillia does.

“I’ve brought Amillia Black here, Xavier,” Damian finally starts to explain after the stare down. “As you know her family is a target and she’s currently pregnant and in danger, so she had to leave where she had been, now we’re here.”

Now the man is examining Amillia as if she’s something peculiar to be put under a microscope and checked out and examined thoroughly. She is feeling very uncomfortable under his glare. It’s as if he’s seeing straight into her soul. Out of discomfort Amillia grabs Damian hands and involuntarily moves closer to him which in turn causes him to raise an eyebrow and look down at her.

Damian doesn’t say anything, but he squeezes her hands back in comfort.

“We can take her, help her, teach and guide her for the light, but you’re not welcome here.” The man who is obviously in charge states. He doesn’t take his mean mugging glare off of Damian the entire time he speaks, in fact, his inspection on Amillia had been short due to the fact he didn’t want to take his eyes off of Damian.

“Where is Jasmine? I bet she’d beg to differ,” Damian request with that sly smirk on his face once again.

‘Who is Jasmine and what is he doing?’ Amillia thinks to herself. That name sounds familiar, but she can’t exactly place where she’s heard the name before.

The man huffs, “Jasmine is away. This one-time Damian and if anything happens to anyone then it’s on your head.”

The group of strangers threatening their existence in this world all turn and walk away from Amillia and Damian at the same time that the supposed leader did. Amillia let out a breath of air that she hadn’t been aware she’s holding once the one’s she doesn’t know walks away from them. The tension that had taken over the air in their presence was suffocating and she’s beyond relieved that they let them go without a fight. She had not been expecting anything like that to happen anywhere they went. After all, she’s not exactly used to other people all living in a world together with one another. It’s been a while since she’s experienced that.

Without another word and still holding Amillia’s hand, Damian leads her to start walking down a dirt road. Unlike the land where Gloria lived this one is clear, there’s nothing but beautiful colorful land all around. There’s no forest, woods, mountains, or anything such as that in this part. The grass is a beautiful shiny dark green color, or at least that’s how it looks under the sky and the sun. It’s also the perfect tempeture, it’s not too hot and not too cold. Damian informs Amillia that this is pretty much how this world is all year round, except for two and a half months out of the year when it’s all cold and frozen over.

He spends the whole time that they are walking telling her about the elven community that they are headed too and what the elves are like. The light clan, the one that they are walking towards, is on that is very prideful. They don’t like confrontation unless necessary, such as one of the worst demons to ever exist showing up in their land unannounced. Which actually explains all the tension towards them when they first arrived here.

For someone who’s not entirely welcomed in this place, Damian seems to be at ease. He walks towards a stone cottage that’s setting just outside of a little town where all the houses are nothing but a bunch of stone and wood huts. It’s beautiful, just like the rest of this world.

Damian leads Amillia into the stone cottage. He seems to know the place well because he’s making himself at home.

“Where are we?” Amillia asks

“This is Jasmine’s house, she’ll be expecting us to be here, or at least me anyways. I normally don’t come here, but when I do it’s just to see her and then I leave. As you can tell I’m not one of the most favorite people in these parts.” Damian answers.

“Then why are we here, and who’s Jasmine?”

“Jasmine is someone I’ve known for a long time and someone I trust completely. She raised by twin brother. She’s the high elf here and trust me, we’re safer staying here to wait for her to return than anywhere else.” Damian tells Amillia.

It doesn’t take too long before a tall, slender, fit, beautiful woman with long black hair and emerald, green eyes that sparkles walks into the house. Amillia’s jaw hits the floor when she see’s the woman who walks in. No wonder she had thought that the name sounded familiar, because it is.

The woman stops in her doorway after taking one look at Amillia in her home.

“Damian, what are you doing here?” She asks, still not taking her eyes off of Amillia.

Amillia is stuck. She hasn’t a clue what to say to neither Damian nor this woman standing in front of her. She had left, she came here and she’s the leader of the elves here, but she left those whom she supposedly loved more than life behind. Now the question comes to mind if Damian knew all along. Did he know that she knows the persons who house he has brought her too and what their connection is? Did he plan for this to happen?

Damian had been setting in a reclining chair when Jasmine first walked through the door. It didn’t take long for him to stand and move where she’s standing to extend his hand, greeting her in her own home.

“It’s nice to see you Jasmine, how have you been?” He asks.

She takes his hand, breaking her gaze on Amillia, who is still standing there gawking at Jasmine and the fact that she’s actually standing there in front of her.

“Again, I will ask, why are you here Damian?” Her voice now has a bit of a bitterness sound to it, taking Damian by surprise.

Quickly hiding the shock on his face Damian answers Jasmine. “Amillia needs help, and I didn’t know who else to bring her too. Part of the prophecy has already started, she’s pregnant. She’s left her aunts world and barely knows or understands her magic and what’s going on.”

Jasmine turns to Amillia with wide eyes. She has tears in her eyes, something that surprised Damian, he’s never seen this ice-cold hearted warrior woman have any inkling of water in her eyes before. Amillia can’t help but to feel a little bit of anger toward Jasmine when Jasmine looks at Amillia with the sad, teary eyes that can’t possibly be speaking the truth.

Amillia’s eyes shined a bright gold color, radiating the anger she feels inside through them as well. In her mind, how dare Jasmine look sad and look at her with that pity in her eyes.

“You could have stopped this,” Amillia says accusingly. “You left, you knew what would happen, you know how Cole is, and you still left them!”

The anger radiating off of Amillia thickens the air and makes the air suffocating to be in at the moment. Damian’s impressed though, no one in this world would ever dare to speak to Jasmine in a manner such as what Amillia is currently, or even attempt to give her the look that Amillia is giving her. The high elf is highly respected, in fact, if it was anyone else besides Amillia, Jasmine would have done had their heads cut off for the blatant disrespect. This makes Damian wonder how the two women know each other.

Jasmine is shocked. She sure isn’t used to someone speaking to her in such a manner. Least of all she never expected Amillia to be speaking to her in the manner which she has spoken to her in. This makes Jasmine wonder what all has happened since she left and what all Amillia has truly had to go through, after all, she hasn’t seen the girl since she was about three or four years old.

Jasmine quickly gains her composer and gives Amillia a stern look. “Amillia,” she says, “there’s more going on around here than what you presume. Don’t make assumptions about me!”

“Then tell me, don’t belittle me and act like I’m overreacting, because I’m not, and you fucking know it!” Amillia almost screams losing her temper. Then, after thinking for a moment, Amillia adds, “You know what they did to Erik.” It wasn’t a question, it was acknowledgement.

Something deep inside is telling her that Jasmine has all the answers that she’s been searching for, both before Erik’s training and after. There’s a reason that Jasmine left, and Amillia is going to find out why whether she wants to tell her or not. Some things just can’t be kept a secret. All things must come to light eventually.

Damian feels uncomfortable with this whole situation, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t want to interfere on something that doesn’t concern him, especially with a high elf. She’s a demi-god, very powerful, she just also happens to be the woman that raised his brother, so they’re on good terms despite their differences. He isn’t sure what sort of terms Jasmine and Amillia are on but based off of this interaction it doesn’t look like too good of ones.

Jasmine sizes up Amillia for a moment. Looking her up and down and examining every aspect. Amillia can feel her eyes on her as if she’s searching her soul. The look that Jasmine is giving her is kind of giving her the creeps.

“Okay,” Jasmine says, “I’ll help you, but only because I feel slightly responsible for everything, and you’re nowhere near prepared for anything that’s coming.”

Amillia raises one eyebrow at Jasmine’s words. “Slightly? Really?” She asks sarcastically.

“I may have left my children behind and have been living here, but I didn’t give the prophecy, nor did I kill anyone to push the boulder down the hill… That, was someone else.” She responds pointedly.

“But you knew about it, didn’t you?” Amillia asks.

Jasmine looks Amillia directly in her eyes. “Yes, I knew about it, but there was something bigger going on at the time. I didn’t expect the events to unfold as they did Amillia, I had to come here, I was needed. The high elf that had been here, she turned sides and became evil, she was going to destroy this world and let the darkness take over, that can’t happen Amillia, and no matter what you think of me I do not regret coming here and saving thousands, if not close to millions of innocent lives.”

“Look, Amillia,” Jasmine continues. “I can’t go back and change the past, but I can help you with the present and the future. I can teach you what you need to know and how to harness your powers, you’re going to need to learn how to manage your powers for what’s to come. Life isn’t about to get any easier for you, none at all, quit the opposite in fact.”

It makes sense even though Amillia doesn’t want to admit it, she wants someone to be mad at, to blame for everything that’s happened. Jasmine leaving is the perfect scape goat for Amillia’s anger, her hurt, and all the other emotions that she is feeling. It isn’t like the person whom she’s really mad at is here for her to be able to take her anger out on him.

Jasmine can sense Amillia’s inner turmoil. She feels bad for the way that Amillia’s life is turning out. She can only imagine what her son has done to her especially if he has already been sent to be trained by the Wyatt part of his family. All she can do is place Amillia’s hand into hers and promise her that she’ll help and apologize for what has happened. Even though none of it had been her fault, Jasmine still feels bad for the way that Amillia’s life is turning out.