Chapter 36-You Can Come to Me

"Anything you need, that's what I'll be. You can come to me." ~Excerpt from You Can Come to Me, Austin and Ally

A/N: Hey, it's Darky. For this chapter, however, I'm going to be sadistic and put another cliffhanger on the Persephone Dell'oceano situation, which is going to be at the end. The reason? It's actually quite simple: I want three or more chapters to work out the entire situation, which I plan on doing the following week. Also, three chapters is only to discover a bit more about he situation. They won't be solely based on it (I have more drama planned), but the main focus is supposed to be about the Dell'oceano family. Kudos to the special Izi Wilson for all of her help with the Dell'oceano family, and remember that Raiden, Persephone, and Caesar Dell'oceano belong to her.

This book will have roughly... ten or twelve more chapters. I think. I might leave it on a cliffhanger, and after I finish 'Sweet Embrace,' I'll probably start the sequel for this, which will be called 'A Dance With Magic.' I'm really not sure that 10-12 chapters will be enough to complete the story, so there will be a strong chance for the sequel, which will include more magic, more drama, and more heartbreak. Also, I haven't killed anyone off yet, and I probably won't for this story. The chapters are sadly running out of words. I'll probably make this story 100,000 words. Unless... I can't make a good cliffhanger for the end. ;)

Okay, internet hugs for all! Enjoy! ;)

By the way... #Austin&Ally

If you want to fly, I will be your sky. Anything you need, that's what I'll be. You can come to me.

Mimmi found herself humming softly along with the song as it played on the radio. She was currently at Rita's house, just letting the blended harmonies of Laura Marano and Ross Lynch lull her. Resting her chin in a hand, Mimmi lazily slid her gaze to Poseidon. The cat and his silver companion slid onto the couch, and icy panic coursed through Mimmi. She inched away nervously and watched with a bit of amusement as Moon battled Poseidon's ear, clearly delighted.

Poseidon turned to Mimmi, and she froze. Then, he turned back to Moon.

Seriously. Now that had to be the best thing ever.

"Mimmi?"

Mimmi turned to the door and scurried to it for two reasons. One, she had Chris's voice and wanted to see her. Two, she was desperate to get away from Poseidon. Moon might be helping him with his ways, but once a white puffball of death, always a white puffball of death. She opened the door, flinging herself at Chris happily. "Chris!"

"Hey—oof—" He staggered as Mimmi tackled him into a deadly embrace.

"I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you, too." There was something guarded in his voice.

She frowned, pulling back to look into his surprisingly half-distant, half-steely hazel eyes. "W-what—what's wrong?"

Chris took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. Mimmi was used to him being his happy, relaxed, optimistic self—this was a new sort of Chris to her. He seemed foreign. It was like... like he had a map of all sorts of land marks, and Mimmi just didn't know which one he was on. "I never get to see you," Chris said, looking as if the words pained him. "You're always with..." He shot her a knowing look. "You're always with that guy."

"That guy?" Mimmi echoed, confused.

"Yeah," Chris said, grimacing. "Tall, dark-haired, tanned, dark-eyed."

"Zac? Zac Blakely?" Mimmi frowned. She didn't hang out with Zac that much. But... when Chris was around... it seemed that she did, indeed, hang out with Zac—not intentionally, of course. But how could he think that? Didn't he trust her? Of course, Mimmi's trust record might not go so well as she was currently keeping a major secret from him. "Zac's a... friend."

"A friend." Chris turned his gaze to the ground.

"Of course!" Mimmi frowned, biting her lip. "He's..."

Chris waited. "Yes?" When she didn't answer, he sighed. "Mimmi, I don't have time for—"

"He's my brother!"

Chris balked. "What?"

"He is," Mimmi said quietly. She bit her lip, feeling hot tears sting behind her eyes. "He's my brother, and he doesn't even know that yet." She saw the question in his eyes. "Rita Santos told me... because of some research thing. I don't know... some mythical research thing." Mimmi had added the word 'mythical' in just because she didn't want to lie to Chris anymore than she did.

"He's you brother, and he doesn't know?" Incredulity mixed with disbelief laced Chris's voice.

"We're going to tell him, sooner or later," Mimmi said. "It's just hard..."

"Why?" Chris said, crossing his arms in a sort of confused way.

"It's just hard..." Mimmi repeated. "His girlfriend—"

"—he has a girlfriend?" Chris interrupted, seeming less freaked out.

Mimmi nodded and looked up tentatively to meet his hazel eyes. They softened as they locked on hers, and Mimmi swallowed hard. "Yeah, Lyla. Tall, blonde, tanned, blue-eyed."

A weird expression crossed Chris's face before a smile broke out on his face, like the sun shining through clouds. It was beautiful, and Mimmi felt herself smiling. "Are you mocking me?" he said in a teasing way, a grin framed out on his face. "From what I said earlier?" His grin was still on his face, and Mimmi felt like she was in the clear—from being asked if she was cheating on him. Keeping things from him... that was a whole different matter.

"Maybe," she said mysteriously.

He laughed. "Wow, thanks for making me feel this small."

"Oh, you didn't need my help with that."

He grinned. "Thanks a lot."

She smiled. "So, are we good?"

He pretended to think about it. "Well, you did take this long to tell me that you had a brother."

She hit him lightly on the arm. "You never asked!"

And now, Mimmi decided that Chris's smile was the best thing ever.

"You're in a good mood."

Ondina watched as Mimmi practically skipped towards her in Ocean Cafe, a small smile lighting up her face. A smile that blatantly said, I just saw Chris, and it was the best thing ever. The other time that Ondina had seen Mimmi after Chris, Mimmi had looked so sad. Her face had said, I just saw Chris, and we had a fight. Mimmi's eyes were bright, but her shoulders were drooped. Ondina had surmised that Mimmi was just holding herself together. Mimmi had also looked on the verge of crying.

Not now, though. Mimmi was all smiles.

Mimmi took a seat. "Chris was just so trusting! He didn't ask for proof that Zac was—"

"—that I'm what?"

Ondina and Mimmi whirled around to see none other than Zac Blakely himself. He was looking amused, and Lyla was by his side, looking the very opposite of amused. She shot Ondina a look, and Ondina nodded slowly. "She was saying," Ondina said slowly, frantically thinking, "that you... that you were the best... swimmer that there ever was."

"Yup, exactly that," Mimmi said. "Bye then."

"No, wait," Zac said, "tell me."

Lyla tugged at his arm. "Zac, weren't you going to tell me about the time you won that swimming competition?"

Zac's attention returned to her. "Oh, yeah! So there was this huge wave, and..."

Ondina breathed a silent prayer of relief as Lyla dragged Zac away. She glanced at Mimmi and groaned. "We have got to stop talking about that aloud."

"About what aloud?"

Mimmi made a face. "Look behind you, Ondina."

Ondina turned to see Erik, who had an amused smile on his face. "Don't you have other things to do?" she asked her boyfriend.

"No—actually," Erik said, frowning slightly, "I have to go to Principal Santos's house."

"Why?" Mimmi asked defensively, earning a glare from Ondina.

"Dell'oceano business," Erik said, saluting Mimmi. He kissed Ondina's cheek and waltzed out.

Ondina remembered Raiden's defeated expression yesterday and wondered what on earth was so big that it put Raiden Dell'oceano in a slump.

Raiden paced across the room, undeterred when Moon and Poseidon strolled by his feet in a furious game of cat and mouse. Moon, of course, was the cat, and Poseidon—he was the mouse. The doorbell rang, and Raiden leapt to it. He opened it with more force than he intended, but it didn't matter now. Erik was standing in the threshold. He crossed, exchanged a glance with Raiden, and took a deep look, drinking in his surroundings.

Raiden closed the door and paused as his brother's thoughtful expression crossed the two cats. Raiden continued to pace around the room as he waited for Rita to come down from her study and talk to him and Erik. He bit his lip so hard that he drew blood. It tasted hot and metallic on his lips and was surprisingly not unpleasant.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Erik said, breaking the tension and silence.

"I have no idea," Raiden said. In truth, he did have an idea, but he had no explanations.

The brothers lapsed into another bout of silence. The only noises that broke through the air was the cats darting around the room and the wind slicing through the air, blowing the curtains and giving the room an aroma of roses. Raiden glanced at his hands, half-surprised to see that they were shaking, before folding them in a futile attempt to still the rapid movement.

But he wasn't the only one nervous.

Erik was no longer his cocky, I'm-king-of-the-world self. Instead, Erik had opted for an eerily unfamiliar silence, gaze fixed straight ahead. His long lashes cast dim shadows over his face, and even though his eyes were open, it didn't seem that Erik was paying any attention to the vase in front of him. Erik seemed lost in a world of his own—as he should.

Raiden sauntered into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. His hands shook so much that he couldn't keep a firm grip on the glass. Before he knew it, the glass slid out of his fingers and hit the ground, spraying its glutinous contents all around it. The worst of it hit Raiden, and he could feel thin pieces of glass impale themselves in him. His appeared, and he hit the ground—due to the water—causing him to grimace in pain.

"Raiden, are you okay?" Erik was by his side almost immediately, sweeping up the broken pieces of glass as well as removing the shards from Raiden, causing Raiden to grimace. He glanced at the bloody wounds, and his tail disappeared. Erik put on some gloves and mopped up the spilled water. He used a damp paper towel to pick up the pieces of glass before wrapping them in newspaper and sliding it into the trash.

"God, I'm so clumsy today," Raiden said, swearing under his breath.

"Anxious," Erik corrected. "Anxious, not clumsy."

Raiden tried to smile but ended up grimacing. He let Erik bandage his arms gingerly.

"What's going on here?"

Raiden turned to see none other than Rita Santos enter the room. A slight frown played on Rita's face as she took hold of the situation. Before Raiden could speak, Erik said, "I broke a glass, and it ended up in Raiden." Raiden smiled gratefully at his brother, and Rita strode over to them. She examined Raiden's arms by removing the bandages.

"Not severe but painful, right?" she said.

"Yeah," Raiden admitted.

Rita extended her hand over him, and Raiden noticed the shiny moon ring on her ring finger. It lit up like a supernova, channeling its healing magic into Raiden. Raiden was distantly aware of his brother's awed gaze. A sensation of cold blasted Raiden, and just like that, it was replaced by a warm sensation. Heat prickled from his fingertips, and the cuts sealed, light scars replacing the lacerations.

"Tell me about Persephone," Raiden choked out. "I need to know. Now."

Rita sighed. "This isn't going to be easy to listen to—as it is hard enough for me to tell."

Raiden nodded. "I wouldn't expect it to."

Rita took a deep breath. "It all began with one promise—a promise that seemed harmless at the time but ended up being the most deadliest of weapons."

QotD: *Dramatic Music* CLIFFHANGER! So, what do you think is the promise?

2nd QotD: Who's a Chrimmi shipper?

A/N: Review your answer to the QotD! You'll have to wait until next week to discover EVERYTHING... Or most everything anyway. So me being a sadistic monster cut off the explanation at this cliffhanger. Horrible, right? But at least you know that there is a promise. I hope you don't hate me too much for that.

Please check out my new YT video: Mako Mermaids - Lightning - Zyla. (But I honestly don't know how to edit. x3)

Well, thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated (criticism and praise) though not necessary. But what writer doesn't like reviews? ;)

~Darkwind