Chapter 30

The next morning, I woke with Ianite snuggled in my arms. Her head was now resting against my chest and my chin resting on the top of her head. I smiled and took a slow, deep breath. Her arms were around me as well and as I took the deep breath, she tightened her hold on me. I copied her action and kissed the top of her head.

"Good morning my love," my voice rumbled with the grittiness of having just woken up.

"Morning Nix," she replied.

"How long are we gonna stay like this?"

"As long as we can." I chuckled.

"Ok love. As you wish." After a couple minutes,

"Why does this feel familiar?"

"Does it feel familiar to you?"

"Yes... but I don't know why." She moved away a bit and looked at me. She is so confused, I can feel it. I gently laid a hand on her cheek.

"We'll figure this out, I know we will. I don't like knowing that you're so lost and confused." Ianite sat up and I did as well.

"I don't like feeling this way, I think something in my past must have really affected me, that's the only reason I can think of as to why this is."

"Possibly." I changed my patch over my shoulder wound with the supplies on the night stand next to me. As I set them back down, a sense of foreboding shivered down my spine. "Ianite, teleport me to Adventure Island, I've got a bad feeling." Ianite teleported herself, then me to Adventure Island. Dec, Dianite, and Mianite were there.

"Phoenix, what's wrong?" Mianite asked.

"Something's gonna happen, Dianite, Mianite, get your champions, Ianite, you get Sparky." They nodded and disappeared.

"It's gotta be Gandus. She probably noticed Hermod is gone and wants revenge." I nodded.

"I believe so. Dec, get Hermod, we need to protect him. She was his wife before, she probably knows his frequent hangouts or where he lives."

"Ok, yeah." Dec went off to get Hermod. A few minutes passed and Karl, Tom, and Sparky appeared. Their gods nowhere to be found, but I can feel their presences. I see. Ok, that's good.

"Boys, make a tight circle with me, back to back. Hermod will be here any minute. Gandus is going to make her attack. We need to protect him." Tom and Karl were a little annoyed about being called 'boys', but they listened to me. I could feel the gods' amusement at Tom's and Karl's annoyance. I hid my own amusement. Dec and Hermod made their appearance and I beckoned them over. "Hermod, you get in this circle, Dec, you help the circle. Stand as we are after Hermod gets in his place." Dec and Hermod nodded and did as I directed. As Dec took his place, I felt Gandus' angry presence come closer and closer. My heart was pounding. I was shaking a tiny bit, my breathing was getting shallow. Am I... scared? I shouldn't be, but... somehow the anger that is present in Gandus is scaring me. As she approached, I took a deep, shaky, calming breath. Sparky squeezed my hand lightly in comfort. I gave him a grateful smile, then turned my attention toward Gandus.

"You all were so brave and foolish as to rescue Hermod right out from under me. How very noble... Well you won't be able to save him this time!"

'Nix, behind you!' Ianite warned. I looked behind to see a bubble forming around Hermod. My eyes widened and I did the only thing I could think of, completely forgetting my fear in order to save my friend.

"Catch him!" I yelled as I dove into the bubble and pushed Hermod away. Karl caught Hermod and I looked up as the bubble started to close. I could feel Ianite's intense panic and fear.

"You fool! Why would you do this?!" Gandus chided.

"Because Hermod is a friend, and I would give my life for my friends."

"Like you can die anyway, you're an immortal Priestess now."

"But you probably have some sort of intense magic that can end a Priestess' life, don't you?"

"Not... really... but I can still hurt you very, very badly," Gandus said dangerously. Oh boy... She made lightning hit the building of Adventure Island. "That's what will happen to her if you try to save her." Gandus took me with her to a new hideout. Hmm, I see, she's tricky. She's smart. After she dropped me off in the cell,

"So, Gandus, is Hermod the one who hurt you?"

"Don't say that man's name in front of me!" Yup, he is...

"I know this will open old wounds, but what did he do?" Gandus stayed silent, but glared at me all the same. "You won't say. Fine, fair play, but just know Gandus, that I care for you. I want to help you. Only if you'll let me."

"I don't want your help," she said scathingly and walked away. I sighed. Is there really no hope for her? Then why did I have that dream that one night? Was that a false vision? Is there such a thing as a false vision? Well, visions aren't always set in stone, things can change, but how much can things change? I don't know... I sat on the bed in the cell and leaned back against the cold, hard wall. Ianite must be fuming right now, that or worried off her rocker, or both even.

~Ianite's POV~

As Gandus took Nix away, I became visible, as did Mianite and Dianite. We floated to the ground. I sat on one of the seats around the campfire.

"Not again..." I said, wearily and worried, putting my face in my hands.

"She'll be just fine. If she's still as feisty as she was when we first met her, she could probably give Gandus a run for her money," Dianite grinned, amused.

"Maybe... but Gandus has really gone to the dark side. I hope Phoenix can handle this."

"I wish we could say we'll save her, but... you saw what she did to the Adventure building. There's no way we're risking Phoenix's safety. We'll just have to hope she can get out of this with her own wit," Sparklez mentioned. We all nodded. He's right. As much as I hate it, he's right... I stood and teleported to my home, sitting on the ledge where the waterfall is running, where Nix got me back for splashing her. I smiled a small smile, that was a fun time. I sighed, the smile slipping from my face.

"My Lady, what's wrong?" A asked.

"Phoenix was taken by Gandus after saving Hermod from getting taken. We can't save her because Gandus will seriously hurt her if we try."

"Whoa, that's mean..." D said.

"She can do it, she can take whatever Gandus gives her. Phoenix is strong. I know she is," C encouraged. I smiled at C.

"Thank you C. She is strong. She can do this." I repeated that in my head, to keep my spirits up.

~Normal POV~

Around evening time, Gandus came back and gave me a small bowl of soup. The aroma that floated away from its surface was familiar, but I'm not quite sure how.

"I'm evil, but I'm not that evil... enjoy it. It's the only thing you'll get while you're here," she said as she slipped the bowl through the bars.

"It's enough, thank you," I said, taking the bowl. "Gandus? Do you have patches and ointment that I could have? My shoulder wound needs to be cleaned," I hesitantly asked after a moment of silence. She rolled her eyes at me and left, hopefully to get the supplies I requested. As I inspected the soup, I realized that what I'm holding is a weak mushroom stew. I actually like mushroom stew. Boy, I haven't had this in YEARS. As I ate it, slowly, memories of being at home with my family hit me.

As I closed my eyes, I could envision my Dad in his workshop, brewing his potions, my Mom using her witchery spells, giving us kids something fun to watch, and a special spot in the woods where my siblings and I would play. It was a clearing in the woods there was a small creek running through it. At noon, it was so pretty with the sun shining through and the creek water would sparkle. My sister and I would braid each other's hair sometimes. I was always envious of my sister's dark and smooth hair. It ran though one's fingers like silk and would turn a beautiful chocolate brown in the direct sunlight.

Then one night, one terrible night... now I remember... I was running from the zombies, pulling my sister along behind me. She was 4 years younger than me, I was 13 remember, and we were both very scared. I kept telling her that everything was gonna be ok, that I was there for her and would keep her safe. We had been cornered and out of the blue, my little sister, purely using instinct, sent out a wave of ice that knocked them back a ways, so we started to run again. I was hopeful but little did I know, we were going to be separated anyway. My little sister was crying as she was taken from me by the wave of zombies. I remembered crying out for her, crying her name as she cried mine. I tried and I tried using what tiny little bit of fire magic I had but there was nothing I could do... I followed her voice as far as I could but there were too many zombies... I wasn't strong enough to keep my promise... I had failed.

I started to shake my head slowly, crying. My poor, poor little sister. Her cute little brown hair, her dark skin, darker than mine even, her little brown eyes that stared at you with such wonder... I wonder if she survived? But... her magic that night... ice magic. I'd heard that Gandus has mastered all Elemental magic, that would include ice.

Gandus... has darker skin than me and brown hair and brown eyes... no, it can't be, could it?

Gandus can't be my sister... can she?

Oh gosh...

What if she is?

What should I do?

I'll have to ask her if she remembers.. her... our? childhood.

Wait...

But what if she isn't?!

Gandus came back in.

"You can do your own wound care, I'm not doing that for you."

"I can do it, but... Gandus. Do you remember your childhood at all? What was it like?" She gave me the most confused look I'd ever seen. She's confused at my red puffy eyes and my wavering voice, and the fact that I'd ask her about her childhood.

"What are you...?"

"Please Gandus, do you?" She hesitated, but looked down, trying to remember. I gave her a couple minutes. She looked back at me and shook her head. "How about this, did you ever go to a wooded area with a clearing and a small creek running through it? Ever play with an older sister, who's say... 4 years older than you?"

"That's very specific Fire..."

"Oh, you don't know. I revealed my actual name to everyone else, except you and Wot. My name is actually Phoenix."