A/N: hope you like where I'm going with this. I still have no idea how long this will be, but have a general idea how this will end. (If you've read "Butterfly kisses" you will have an idea ;) )
Thanks to Hookedonapirate for beta reading this.
Chapter 17: HopeSensing Rueben might have found something very important, Hope rushed over to his side and looked over his shoulder. What she saw in his hand made her gasp in surprise. A round pendant with a beautiful eight-pointed star with a turquoise stone in its center.
"Rueben?" she asked gently. He shifted from his crouched position so he could look up at her, his eyes wide in wonder. She was pretty sure they'd just found that last missing piece of hope they'd been looking for.
Rueben rose shakingly to his feet and looked down in his hand, his fingers clutching the pendant. "I think we found it," he finally said and looked at her with a huge smile. Even with the grime from the fight still streaking down his face, he was glowing with excitement.
"You think?" she asked with a smirk. Reaching out her hand she asked, "Can I see?"
He nodded and gave the pendant to her. Once she touched the aged silver, she felt the magic from within. It shifted and shimmered much like her own pendant did when she let her magic reach out to it. She moved her other hand to the pendant hanging around her neck. Looking down, she saw the bluish shimmer of her magic shift over her fingers. Clasping both pendants in her hands, she lifted her own butterfly over her head, holding one in each hand.
"Now what?" Rueben asked.
She looked up and shrugged, "No idea. I mean they are two sides of hope so..." She flipped the butterfly pendant over in her hand and placed the round eight-pointed star over the backside of the butterfly. The second the two pendants touched, a huge burst of magic moved over her hands and shifted up her arms. She gasped in shock but didn't feel frightened in the slightest. Feeling the magic begin to slow its pulsing motion, she realized the pendants were now fused together. She tried to pry them apart but the silver was forged together.
She looked up and realized that everyone else had gathered around them and looked at the now joined pendants in her hand.
"What does that mean?" Rose asked and looked nervously around them.
"I have no idea." Hope shrugged.
"Look!" Gloria said, pointing to the pendant. "The colors are changing."
When Hope looked down, she could see the pendant shift between four colors—green, blue, white and a golden orange.
"Well, that is certainly strange in itself," Hope mumbled, then looked to Demeter for some help; she was way out on her depth here. "What do the colors mean?"
Demeter came over and looked at the changing colors. After a few short moments, she finally said, "The colors there are representatives of the four elements. Something that is a vital key to our survival, more so down here in Atlantis."
"Yeah, we saw the signs on the gate Sinbad walked us through when we came here." William said in wonder. He looked around and asked, "So the pendant is the hope part of the prophecy, what is the next step then?"
"We still need to conquer the darkness of the deep," Hope said and scratched behind her ear. "I guess that could be the sirens; they certainly are some dark creatures of the deep." She looked over at Demeter again.
Their friend nodded and smiled. "You are a clever girl." She then suggested, "We need to arrange a meeting with Poseidon very soon." She looked at Lexi and asked, "Do you know where our king is?"
"He did some scouting with a group of soldiers at our furthest borders," Lexi explained and looked back towards the gate. "He should return here shortly. I'm pretty sure he will be very excited to hear this new development in terms of the prophecy."
"I'm sure he will," Hope said with a smile, her heart still beating rapidly at the thought of how a pendant she'd been given by her boyfriend so long ago could somehow end up being connected to a pendant hidden in Atlantis.
The group of friends tried to take stock of the situation and Hope helped clean up the smaller cuts and bruises on her friends, then the soldiers that had come in with her friends.
She was exhausted when she finally slumped down on the bench. Ruben wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple. "You need to rest now, you've used so much of yourself now."
"I know." She leaned into his warm embrace and whispered, "I love you." She glanced up at him, her eyes suddenly feeling a little wet. "I was so bloody scared when I saw all that blood on you." She snuggled her face into his chest, inhaling his special scent; it calmed her frayed nerves, and she took a deep breath.
"Yeah, it was horrible back there. Just glad it didn't get any worse than that," Rueben said ruefully. "Well, aside from the lost golden apple tree."
"Do you think you can fix it?" She looked down at the pile of ashes; she couldn't believe that it was all gone, just like that.
"I'm definitely going to try," Rueben said, rising to his feet. He looked at the group around him and asked Demeter, "Will you help me?"
"I will." Demeter stepped over to what once was the golden apple tree, crouched down and touched the earth Rueben had uncovered before. She closed her eyes and muttered words of what Hope could only assume was some form of incantation.
When Demeter rose up again she said, "I prepared the soil for a fast growth and blessed it for this new tree you're about to grow."
"Thank you," Rueben said in a shaky voice. He picked up the apple from the ground and took a deep breath. He looked at the apple in his hand then the pile of ashes, his eyes filled with worry.
Hope walked over and touched his shoulder, "I know you can do this; I believe in you." She reached up and cupped his face, and not caring who watched, she gave him a lingering kiss. When she pulled back, she could see the light shine in his eyes and gave his arm one last reassuring squeeze before she stepped back.
Rueben dropped to his knees, cradling the apple in his hands, his eyes closed, as if he was tapping into his magic. Hope had seen him practice so many times in the past months, so she knew he needed the time to focus. Finally he asked, "Damien, could I borrow one of your knives?" He looked over his shoulder and waited for Damien to pick out one of his combat knives. Rueben smiled in thanks and used the knife to split open the precious apple. Using the tip of the knife, he picked out the tiny seeds from within. Setting the knife and apple aside, he clutched the seed in his hands again tapping into his magic. Hope could see the focused energy shift around him and when she looked at his eyes she saw something she hadn't seen before. His eyes were shifting in colors, in all ranges of the color spectrum, the flickering of colors was intensifying as he kept muttering to himself.
Finally, he reached down and dug out the hole a little more and dropped the seeds into the ground. He used both his hands, covering the hole with a mix of dirt and ashes from the old tree. His hands stayed over the pile he'd formed. His shoulders began shaking in a pulsing energetic way; this was a little unsettling to watch. When Hope looked up at Demeter with a worried look, the goddess gave her a reassuring nod. Hope took a deep breath and refrained from going over to Rueben; she knew he would ask for help if he needed it.
They all stood around Rueben in a half circle, Hope could see that they all looked at him in awe. Sure, most of them had seen a few of the things he was able to do with the nature around him, but this was so much more.
The ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly, and suddenly Rueben pulled his hands back, they all peered at the pile of dirt. Right at the center was a small sprout with tiny leaves. Damien made a whooping sound of joy, but was hushed by both Rose and Gloria. Rueben was chuckling and suddenly, he burst out laughing, "This is working." He rubbed his hands over his face, then added, "Let me take a few moments to breathe, and I'll continue to grow the sapling."
They all nodded in understanding and let Rueben sit by himself; he moved to sit with his legs crossed, taking deep fortifying breaths.
"Lexi!" Poseidon's voice suddenly boomed toward them.
Everyone turned towards the gates, where a large group of soldiers stood behind their king. Poseidon was striding towards them, his eyes scanning the area around them, "I thought my men were lying to me when they said our tree had been destroyed by magic phoenix fire." He looked down at the pile of ashes, then his eyes turned wide when he spotted the tiny sapling shining bright green in the dark grey pile. "What is going on here?" His eyes zeroed in on Rueben who was closest, "Explain!"
Rueben gulped down but then shifted his shoulders back. "I'm growing a new tree?" He pointed to the two halves of the apple lying next to him. "I saved an apple before the flames took the tree."
"And you can grow this new tree how fast?" The urgency in the king's voice was clear to everyone around them.
"Pretty fast. I just need a break now and again." Rueben looked down at the tiny plant he'd already grown. Hope felt pride bloom inside of her at the way Rueben held himself with pride and poise, even if he was being questioned by the King of the open waters. She smiled, and when Rose nudged her shoulder and gave her a knowing smile, Hope felt happiness bubble up inside of her. They were here, together, and together they would find a way to help Atlantis. First step was to grow the tree, so the Atlantians had their energy source. Next was to find the sirens and fight them back for good.
"Alright, make it happen," Poseidon ordered Rueben, who looked a little shocked. His eyes flickered over to Hope.
She walked over, crouched down and rested her hand on his shoulder whispering, "I know you can do this, forget the commanding king back there." She ignored the harumph coming from Poseidon, who seemed to have way too perfect hearing.
Rueben chuckled. "Careful what you say, sweetheart." He rubbed his chin on the hand still resting on his shoulder.
"I'm not scared." Hope glanced over her shoulder and could see Poseidon talking with his sister, Demeter. Hope leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You got this Rueben." He nodded his thanks, then she asked, "Do you want me here next to you, or...?"
"Just sit here; that would be great," Rueben said, then pointed at the sapling. "I'm going to try again."
Hope nodded in understanding and sat down with her legs crossed right beside him. She watched him close his eyes again, tapping into his magic. When he opened them up again, she could see the same swirling colors within, and he reached out his hands to the small plant and focused on his task.
This time, he took longer before he took a break and now the tree was already one meter high. Rueben got up on his feet and reached down to help Hope up too. They stood there lost in their own thoughts, looking at the tree Rueben was growing to save Atlantis. No one knew what would happen next.
Ruben took several breaks over the next half hour, and soon, the tree was big enough to grow its first apples. Once the fruits began to appear, he turned and walked over to Poseidon. "It's done."
The ruler of the open waters walked closer to the tree, his eyes taking in all its splendor. "This is amazing; even our goddesses of harvest and fertility would have taken weeks to accomplish this." The sparkle in the King's eyes was of great impression and awe. Hope imagined that quite a few people in time had made Poseidon this impressed, if ever. She reached for Rueben's hand and felt the small tremors shifting through his muscles; she hoped it was just the after effects of the intense magic he'd been using the past half hour.
"Are you okay?" She stepped in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek; his eyes looked tired but the sparkle of his magic still shimmered within.
"I am." He pulled her in for a hug and buried his face in her long hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"It's okay, Rueben," she whispered into his chest, rubbing her hands up and down his back. He nodded in reply while he began kissing her hairline, then wrapped his hands around her face.
"I really did that?" he asked in wonder, his eyes shifting to the tree behind her.
"You bloody well did, mate," Damien bellowed and whistled while coming over to clap his friend on his back.
Ruben grinned at his friend and turned to the rest of the group. Hope could see that each one of them was still trying to absorb the reality of what Rueben had just done. She wrapped her arm around his waist and walked with him to the bench. They all needed some rest.
Once seated, she leaned her head on his shoulder, their fingers entwined, as their joined hands rested on his thigh, his warmth seeping into her skin. She could still feel his magic pulse from his skin, and her own magic reacted to his closeness. Marveling at the close connection they seemed to have, she mindlessly fiddled with the joint pendants she'd hung around her neck. Looking down, she watches both stones shift in the four colors of the elements, seemingly reacting to her touch.
"What happens now?" She nudged Rueben's shoulder, and when he looked at her, she lifted the pendant up between them. "This thing has to be the next step of whatever we need to do now." She looked up into his eyes, knowing neither of them might even have an answer to this.
"I don't know." Rueben rubbed his neck with his free hand. "This is certainly not how I pictured this day to be." He glanced back at the apple tree, shaking his head in wonder. "I fucking grew a tree today."
"And a big magical one to boot," Hope said with pride. She knew Rueben had attempted to grow smaller plants before, but nothing like this, and certainly nothing as magical as this tree.
Rueben grinned, then looked at the pendant again. "You know those symbols on the pendant?" Hope nodded, so he continued. "I saw them just before those sirens attacked us."
"Really, where?"
"Back there." Rueben pointed down a path leading further into the gardens.
"Can you show me?"
Rueben nodded and rose, and when their friends came over, he said to them, "Come with us; I have something to show you." When he saw that Poseidon, Demeter and Chloe looked at him with curiosity, he added, "You could maybe tell us a bit more about this abandoned place I found."
The group followed Rueben down the path, and once they entered the open area, Demeter gasped in surprise. "I forgot about this place." She stepped into the center and sweeped her hands around her. "Look brother, this is the ancient sacred celebration arena for the four elements."
"It is." Poseidon walked around in the open area, then explained, "This place was used when Atlantis was above water. Four times a year, we would celebrate the four elements of the world." He pointed at the centre of the place. "In here, we would have the symbols of the fifth element." He glanced over at Hope and smiled. "Hope!"
"What?" Hope sputtered, she looked around and down at herself; the pendant around her neck appeared to be brighter.
"The 5th element is hope," Poseidon explained, his eyes twinkling with hope!
"So this pendant, along with the four elements, does something powerful and magical at this place." Hope pointed around the arena and stepped a little closer to the pedestal at the center. Looking closer, she could see the symbols of the butterfly and the eight-pointed star engraved into the stone. Going to one of the cornerstones, she could see the image of waves engraved—water. The next was swirling lines she imagined symbolized the wind. Rose walked alongside her to a leaf that had to be the symbol of earth. Knowing the last symbol would be fire, she let Rose wander over there by herself. Hope was trying to absorb all of this; some of it still didn't make sense to her. Watching Rose walk to the fire stone, she felt her magic shift. Looking closer, she could see a flicker of something pass over the stone next to Rose; it almost looked like orange flames.
"Hey, Rose, look down," Hope warned and rushed over to her friend. Rose stepped right on top of the stone, flames licking up her leg. But when the fire didn't seem to hurt her, Hope stopped in her tracks and watched what was going on.
Rose looked down and gasped, then quickly stepped back. The flames seemed to reach for her, not wanting her to step away. "What the actual fuck was that?" Rose asked with a shaky voice as she rushed over to Hope.
Hope took her friend's hand, both shaking, and their cries had alerted the rest of the group. "I have no idea," she mumbled, then looked down at Rose's leg, "you okay?"
"Yeah." Rose lifted her leg and shook it. "No burns."
"Are you okay?" William asked and grabbed Rose by the shoulders, studying her intently, his eyes looking slightly panicky.
Rose reassured her boyfriend that she was okay, and when William reached down to give her a kiss, Hope stepped away from them, giving them some privacy.
Poseidon was looking at the couple embracing, and when Hope stepped up to him, he asked, "What happened back there?"
"I don't know." Hope looked back at the fire marked stone. Nothing, not even a tiny lick of flame seemed to come from it. "But that fire stone reacted to my friend, Rose." She looked up at the imposing figure of the king. "She doesn't have any magic in her. Not that we know of."
"Magic comes in all forms and sizes," Poseidon mused and tapped his chin then looked around at her group of friends.
Hope felt a strange sensation shift down her spine, as if something huge was about to happen with them all. "Yeah?"
"I will have to look into what happened back there." Poseidon pointed to Rose, "You think she would be okay stepping on that stone again."
"I don't know. I mean, nothing seemed to happen last time," Hope said slowly, knowing Rose might be the one up for the strange request from the king.
With only a few strides, Poseidon stepped over to Rose and William, who both looked a little shocked seeing the king approach them. Hope followed slowly after, and she felt Rueben join her too. Looking back, she could see Gloria and Damien follow them.
Poseidon spoke with Rose, "Could I have you step on one of the other stones?"
Rose looked over at Hope, who gave her an encouraging smile. Rose shrugged and walked to the earth stone. When she stepped on it, nothing happened. Poseidon smiled and motioned for her to come over to the fire stone. He pointed down and said, "Step on this one for me."
Rose walked over and tentatively placed her foot on the stone. As soon as she touched the marked stone, the orange flames licked up her legs again. Everyone gasped in surprise, and Rose looked down at her leg now wrapped in flames. She gaped up at Poseidon and asked, "What does this mean?" She pointed down. "This looks like magic, and I for sure have no magic."
"You might have some part of you that is magic, something in your personality perhaps that is connected to fire," Poseidon explained. "Back in the old days, we used different objects to symbolize the elements. Every 400 years or so, those objects were people who were specially selected. They hold the link to one specific element."
"Fuck, that is crazy." Rose cringed at her own choice of words and whispered, "Sorry, bad mouth on this one." Her face heated up in a blush as she looked down at her leg still engulfed in flames. She stepped back and the flames let her go.
"It is something rather special," Poseidon said and looked at them all, "I wonder..."
Hope felt as if something special was about to happen, and sure enough the king had come up with an idea.
"We have three more elements aside from the fifth, and we already know who holds the connection to that." He looked over at Hope and Rueben.
"Who holds the other powers?" Damien dared to ask, walking aimlessly between the three remaining stones. He tried the water, but nothing happened, so he shrugged and walked over to the wind. When he stepped up on the stone, his clothes blew and shifted around as though he was located inside a storm, yet no wind moved beyond the stone. He looked at them all, his face donning a huge grin. When he splayed his arm out and twirled around on the spot, the wind seemed to pick up around him. Then he jumped from the stone, and the wind stopped moving.
Gloria walked to her boyfriend with awe written all over her face. Hope smiled at her shy friend, who had found love in the most loud-mouthed guy. But they fit so perfectly together. Hope looked to William and Rose, who stood with their arms wrapped around one another. Suddenly, a thought struck her.
"William and Gloria." When both friends looked at her with surprise, she continued, "You guys, try stepping on the other stones."
William looked over at Gloria, who shrugged and looked between the earth and the water stones.
"I'll take the water." William explained, "I'm a sea captain." He shrugged as if he weren't too sure about his own idea, but when he stepped on the water stone, it certainly reacted to his touch. Water whirled beneath his feet, yet his shoes never got soaked.
Hope walked over to Gloria and could see that her friend was a bit unsure about this. "I think earth is yours."
"But why?" She glanced at Rueben. "I mean, Rueben is more connected with the earth than I am." She flipped her thumb over her back. "He grew a frigging tree not long ago, remember?" She clasped her hands tightly together in front of herself, looking down.
Hope touched her shoulder and said in a gentle voice, "I think you're more connected to earth than you might know." She shrugged, hoping her next words would make sense; she was still trying to fit all her friends into the four elements here. "You know about medic care, healing if you will. Earth," she pointed to the last stone, "gives life, it heals, and new things grow. I think your giving and caring heart might be connected to all that."
Gloria looked at her with wide eyes and finally nodded in understanding, while mumbling, "this is crazy." When she stepped on the last stone, grass and small flowers began sprouting around her feet, all growing and blooming then finally dying in one endless loop.
Hope looked around at all her friends; something inside her, her magic, shifted and it all made sense. She glanced over at Poseidon, who seemed to understand what Hope was aiming for here. Taking a deep breath, she tried to explain, "You all heard what I said about Gloria and her connection to the earth?"
Everyone nodded, then Damien asked, "Why am I connected to wind? I'm no bird."
Hope smiled ruefully at her friend. "You might be like the wind; you are kinda all over the place." She grinned when he began to grumble some objections to this. She continued, "But in my mind, that is a good thing. You touch everyone around you, just like the wind, and we all know you're there, just like the wind. We can't always see it, but we know it's there. Just like you." Hope held Damien's gaze for several seconds, making sure he understood; she needed them all to be in on this.
"Alright miss know-it-all," Rose said with a laugh and pointed to her fire stone. "What's the deal with me and fire?"
Hope looked at her friend for several moments and knew this made sense, "You really are like fire; you burn your way into the hearts of everyone around you. You're passionate and warm, and just like fire you give the world the much needed warmth."
"I can also burn your sorry asses." Rose grinned, trying to kick some flames toward Hope, but the flames kept close to her legs, "Or not." She sighed, but then made eye contact with Hope, her gaze more serious now. "I think I get it, I really do. It makes sense." She grinned and pointed to her boyfriend, "Do William then."
Hope rolled her eyes at her mouthy friend, then turned to William, "As you said, you're a sea captain. You know the waters of the sea like you knew the storm we encountered on our way here." She thought for a moment longer. "You're also a born leader, like water finding even the smallest of cracks to seep through. You also led your football team to success by finding the small flaws in the opponent's defense." Hope grinned. "Not that I know all that much about football, but you get what I mean?"
William nodded thoughtfully. "I haven't thought about it like that before. Damn you're clever." He winked when she blushed and looked down.
"I honestly don't know where all that came from." She shrugged and looked at her friends with a sheepish smile.
"I might know," Poseidon said and stepped into the formation of friends. Hope had almost forgotten the others who were there with them. Demeter and Chloe were standing outside the square they formed, looking equally as surprised as her friends.
"Really?" Hope asked.
"You have strong magic; I sensed that in you from the first day you came into my great hall," Poseidon began. "And quite a lot of wisdom too, some of which you haven't even discovered yet. This." he pointed to the four friends forming the square around the pillar in the middle, "is the solution to the issues we've had with the Sirens for centuries. The four elements have not been remembered, and once Atlantis came to rest on the bottom of the sea, this place decayed and was also forgotten."
"Wow, that is a lot to take in," Hope mused and subconsciously stepped closer to Rueben, feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this. "So in the sacred area here, we can use the four elements to conquer the sirens?"
"Along with the fifth element," Poseidon said with a smile. "Hope!"
Hope reached for Rueben's hand; she could feel how important this moment was and she needed his support in this too.
"Both of you," Poseidon clarified, looking at their joint hands. "The two of you share something special."
Hope nodded mutely, feeling her magic reaching out to Rueben next to her. The pendant around her neck began to shine even brighter. When she looked down and touched the stones on either side of it, the warmth shifted from the stones to her hand.
"So what happens now?" she asked nervously, looking back at the pillar behind them; she had a feeling the pendant should be used there. With her and Rueben together.
"I think you might know," Poseidon said with a smile.
Hope nodded and pulled Rueben toward the pillar. He looked at her curiously, "What are we doing?"
"I have no idea," Hope whispered, "but this place does have a special power and connection to the four elements. But I have no idea how it will help us against the sirens."
"Do you think we can break the curse over the century old war between the sirens and the city of Atlantis?" Rueben asked in awe, looking around at their gathered friends. Hope could see that he found this idea hard to believe.
"We need to try."
Rueben nodded and stepped with her to stand on either side of the pillar. Hope took off the pendant and placed it over the two symbols. A bright shaft of light centered around the pendant, even while Hope was still holding the pendant, she didn't feel any kind of warmth or pain. The ground beneath their feet began to tremble. She looked up at Rueben in shock; he reached out his hand to grab hers and touched the pendant with his other hand. The light intensified, and Hope looked up and could see the light shining even through the dome covering Atlantis. The white swirling light moved between the stones connecting all the symbols in one combined unit. She glanced around her friends, all with an equal surprised look on their faces.
"Stay on your stones no matter what!" Hope commanded, just as a faint war cry was heard from the distance.
"What the hell?" Rueben mumbled, but kept his eyes on Hope.
She could see Poseidon ordering the men who'd followed them to go back to help their comrades. It seemed as if another siren attack was underway. They might have been able to know the tree had returned, they'd been so focused on the tree before. Hope realized this time, the tree would be their target again.
"Protect the tree at all costs!" Poseidon bellowed after his soldiers then turned to look at Hope and her friends.
Hope gulped down, suddenly realizing the seriousness of the situation, but when her eyes met Poseidon's, she knew their mission in this was to make whatever magic they could create at this place. She could see the resolution in her friend's eyes, so she nodded her understanding at the king.
Poseidon then turned and followed Lexi to the battle at hand.
Hope looked at her friends. Everyone focused on Hope and Rueben, their eyes shining with determination and fearlessness. Something that fed the hope she could already feel growing bigger inside of her. Looking down at the pendant, clasped between their hands, she tapped into her magic and let it do its work on the pendant and the connected four elements around them.
While they all stood their ground, they could faintly hear the sounds of fighting and weapons clanging together. Hope shouted, "Focus on your element! Focus on whatever comes to mind right now! Forget the fight back there! Our post is here!" The light between them intensified as the war between the sirens and the Atlanteans came nearer and nearer. Hope believed that with the fifth element of hope, they would be able to tap into the magical powers connected to this place; she only hoped that it would happen before the siren army came any closer.