Welcome everyone to chapter 15!
Amira's gonna have a bit of time to reflect so we'll get to see how Amira and Eragon first came to meet. It has a big part missing from the story but that's on purpose cuz it's just the first part of their meeting.
I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!
A heartbeat could have been heard; no one made a sound or spoke a word. Everyone's heads turned to Amira, who was still staring at Ella the Harpy with her purple eyes wide. She didn't move an inch.
"Amira? You okay?" Piper asked carefully.
"'Forced to choose her life or friends.'" Amira repeated, her canorous voice small and numb. "That… does not sound pleasant."
"Prophecies rarely are." Annabeth agreed sadly. "But at least we have somewhat of an idea of what to do and where to go now."
"'Search the darkest place." I'm going to guess that's not in the Rainbow Palace?" Leo joked sarcastically but Amira just looked confused.
"What is the Rainbow Palace?" She asked innocently.
The others held back grins.
"He's just kidding. He means it's not a happy place." Nico replied, taking pity on the Alagaesian.
"Do you not have sarcasm where you're from?" Leo wondered. Amira blinked.
"What is that?"
"Sarcasm. When you're joking...? When you use a weird voice…? When you don't really mean it...?"
"Um, I was born and raised most of my youth in Surda and no one spoke as you described," Amira told him slowly. "Those in Ellesméra did not either, though they are more serious in their matters."
'Well, except Eragon.' She thought to herself.
"So that's a no." Leo summarized. Rachel looked confused.
"Where are you from? I've never heard of Surda or Ellesé-something." She asked Amira.
"Ellesméra." Amira corrected. "I, uh…"
She gave Annabeth a glance.
"You can tell her. We all trust her." Annabeth assured the purple-haired teen. The Rider nodded.
"I do not doubt the trust of those here but you seven are some of the very few who know my… who know of my homeland. I only wish for not too many to have that knowledge." She explained a bit awkwardly. The daughter of Athena nodded, understanding her.
"That makes sense. You don't have to then, it's your choice."
"Thank you." Amira turned back to Rachel, who was watching with a confused expression. "I am sorry I cannot tell you as of now. Perhaps another time."
"That's okay." Rachel brushed it away.
Amira bit her lip and rubbed her neck as the silence got awkwardly long.
"So I heard the weather's gonna be sunny today?" Leo tried to break the silence.
"Any ideas as to what the "impossible tests" are?" Frank decided to ask, ignoring the fire-user.
"The prophecy says that those who join me will help. I am confused as to what the test shall be. If it is impossible, then why try?" Amira wondered.
"Impossible just means that no one has done it before. Maybe whatever we'll do is impossible right now but will it become possible when we accomplish it?" Piper suggested.
"Those are wise words," Amira told her friend.
'That sounds like something Arya would say.' She thought sadly.
"Who's Arya?" Hazel asked and Amira looked up in surprise.
"Did I say that out loud?" The Alagaesian blushed sheepishly. They nodded. "Oh. My apologies, Arya is a close friend of mine.
"Is she from where you are?" Hazel wondered. Amira nodded.
"Back to the original topic; what are we supposed to do now?" Piper then said.
"Like Leo pointed out earlier, the prophecy said that we "must search through the darkest place."" Jason pointed out. "So I suggest we figure out where we're gonna be searching."
"Seeing our situation, I feel like it's safe to assume that that's not in the upper world." His girlfriend sighed.
"Unfortunately, I think you're right."
"The prophecy said that seven half-bloods will help you," Frank reminded Amira. "You aren't a half-blood, right?"
"Indeed; I am no part god but fully human. Well… sort of." The half-elf admitted. Her almond eyes swept over the small group and she bit her lip anxiously, dropping her gaze. Her slender fingers fiddled with her purple hair. "I do not wish to add pressured feelings of obligation to any of you, but I do sincerely hope that you all shall join me?"
"I'm not leaving you until we get Percy back," Annabeth told the Rider sternly, crossing her arms.
"I still gotta get you back for attacking me when we first met." Jason teased.
"I've been having a blast so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Leo joked with a wink. "You're stuck with me."
"Same." Piper agreed.
"I'm still waiting for you to go riding with me," Hazel added.
"It'd be better than Praetor duty." Frank agreed with a shrug.
Six pairs of eyes turned to Nico and the son of Hades sighed.
"If you're going to the Underworld then you'll need someone who knows their way around." He relented without a fight.
Amira let out a breath of relief, her hand on her chest.
"Thank you all. You're agreeing to help means so much." She thanked the seven.
"You're our friend, Amira," Piper told her with a wink. "And friends don't leave each other hanging."
"Well, one thing's for sure." Rachel pointed out with a big smile. "Tartarus won't know what hit him!"
== Ω Ω Ω ==
After getting their Prophecy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Nico, Hazel, Leo, Frank, and Amira agreed that they should stay in New Rome for the night so Reyna showed them a place to stay.
When night finally came, the girls and boys split into two groups and said their goodnights. Piper and Annabeth took one of the two beds in the girl's room while Hazel took the other. Despite Hazel's protests Amira said she would lay on the floor. Used to sleeping on the floor of her cave-home or ground while traveling, the soft mattress felt foreign and uncomfortable to the Alagaesian.
But even after the other girls had fallen asleep Amira laid awake, not needing as much sleep. She tried to relax her mind and think of the good things that have happened, ignoring the memories of Balenda to avoid breaking down. A small smile appeared when she thought about the time she first met her teacher.
Amira was 14 years old, strolling through the street market in Surda as she admired all the different items being sold. She stopped for a minute to watch someone juggle several bottles while telling jokes before continuing on her way.
She fiddled with the glove on her hand that covered her new Gedwëy Ignasia; it was made of a thin, weak cloth but it covered the mark. It had been only two days since the strange purple stone the stranger gave her hatched and Baledna entered her life.
Amira was so engrossed in her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was walking and ran right into someone, causing her to trip and send them both to the ground. She tried to catch herself but ended up falling, her glove ripping as it scraped against a rock.
"I am so sorry! I wa- I was not watching myself, Please, I beg your forgiveness! I am so sorry!" She stuttered.
"No, no, it's quite alright. I wasn't watching myself either, it's alright." The stranger reassured her, standing and brushing themself off before offering their hand. "Are you alright?"
Amira nodded and scanned the man in front of them as she accepted his help up: he was wearing a long cloak but the fall had pushed the hood back to reveal his brown hair and eyes. He seemed around average height and had prominent cheekbones, a sharp jaw, and well-muscled arms. He was very handsome and, despite their obvious age-difference, she couldn't help but blush.
"Um, y-yes I am. Thank you." Amira answered. She winced when she moved her hand and saw that the fall had cut her hand as well as ripped her glove open, a small drop of blood trailing down her skin.
"Your hand is hurt." The man noticed. He led her over to the side of the street and moved to one knee in front of her, taking a small cloth from a pouch at his side to gently dab the blood away. "Are you hurt anywhere else? That was quite a fall."
"No, I am otherwise alright." She assured, again blushing as he held her hand in his.
Suddenly the man froze, staring at her palm. Amira looked down and saw why: her cut had stopped bleeding and her Gedwey Ignasia showed through the rip in her glove. His gaze rose to meet hers and he gained a weird look. His eyes flitted around, looking as though he was afraid they were being watched, then turned back to her.
"Follow me." He commanded quietly. He quickly started off again, pulling Amira with him as he still held her hand.
"Where are you taking me?" She demanded, moving awkwardly as she tried to avoid the passing people.
The man said nothing but continued walking. He led Amira into an abandoned-looking building before closing the door behind them and moving the bolt. Once the door was locked, he turned back to Amira.
"Where's your dragon?" He asked, voice quiet. Amira's purple eyes widened.
"How do you-"
"I will explain later. Does anyone else know?" The stranger interrupted as he held a hand up to stop her. She shook her head.
"N-no. No, I have kept her hidden."
"Good." He paused for a moment. "My name is Eragon. What is yours?"
"A- Amira." The younger girl answered.
"Amira, this is very important. I have been searching for you and your dragon for many days. You both are in a lot of danger right now." Eragon told her seriously. "There are people, very very bad people, trying to find you and you can't let them. So you cannot stay here any longer. If you come with me, I can take you to a place where you both will be safe. But you'll have to trust me and listen to my words."
"Why should I?" Amira questioned, brushing her short purple hair from her face. Eragon smiled lightly.
Again glancing around even though there was no one else in the building, he slipped off his own glove. Amira's purple eyes again widened as she saw that he had a similar mark on his hand.
"You have one too?" She gasped.
"Yes, I have a dragon of my own as well. You can trust me, Amira; I am here to help you. I can bring you someplace safe where the bad people can't get you." He repeated.
Amira frowned as she thought.
She had lived with her Aunt and Uncle who she loved dearly for as long as she could remember. She didn't want to leave them as she knew they would be heartbroken but… if she explained to her aunt and uncle... and if there really were bad people trying to find her and her dragon…
"I will go with you but you must first allow me to return to my family to say my goodbye." She decided.
Eragon smiled and agreed.
Amira sighed quietly when she recalled the memory. It seemed like so long ago and she chuckled silently as she thought of how serious Eragon had been at the time. She would never have thought so before, he was so much fun now.
She missed him more than usual as other memories of her time with him and Arya swam through her mind. She wondered how they were doing now as the last she had heard, they were being attacked by the giant.
Her worry continued to grow before it eventually became too much. She slowly and silently moved from her place on the floor, being careful not to wake any of the other girls, and slipped into the room's bathroom. She closed the door and turned the light on and filled the sink with water (Hazel had shown her how the faucet worked).
"Draumr kópa." She whispered quietly.
(Dream stare)
The water shimmered before clearing to show an image of Percy, Eragon Arya, Murtagh, and the three dragons all sleeping peacefully in a forest.
Amira sighed quietly in relief as she saw that they were all alright, longing to be with them (even if Murtagh and Thorn were there). So for several minutes she stood there and swept her gaze over the seven as they slept. She smiled sadly but eventually realized she was being kinda creepy, watching them sleep.
"I miss you Eragon. I will come back to you, I promise." She whispered her promise.
She then ended the spell and went back into the room, laying back down. She sighed in relief as she felt significantly more relaxed than before.
It was about maybe 4-5 a.m. when Amira felt herself beginning to get tired so she closed her eyes but it felt only a minute later that Annabeth was shaking her from her sleep-like rest.
"You're an even heavier sleeper than Percy." She stated with an amused smile. "We weren't exactly being quiet."
Amira chuckled tiredly and sat up, realizing that Piper and Hazel were also already dressed. There was a knock on the door and Piper got up to answer it. As the boys came in, Amira moved to sit on the couch but was still really tired from her lack of sleep. Then she realized that despite the little amount of sleep she had she didn't have any dreams last night.
"Nice hair. That should be a new style." A voice commented, snapping her from her thoughts.
Amira looked up to see Leo grinning as he took in the sight of her. She glanced at her purple hair and saw it was a mess and distractedly wondered what the rest of her must look like.
"I at least have control over my hair." She retorted with a yawn.
"Ooh! Got him!" Piper laughed from where she layed on the bed. Leo rolled his eyes.
"You win this round." He surrendered.
They then began discussing their plans but although Amira tried her best to focus, their words seemed to blur together in her head. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion; being a Rider, she didn't need much sleep and even though she didn't get much last night she usually had a strong energy level. So why was she so tired?
Amira's eyes began to feel heavy and her eyelids started drooping…
"Amira?"
Her head snapped up.
"Huh? What?" She stuttered, looking around. Her friends were watching her with worried looks.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked her.
"I am just tired; little sleep came to me last night." Amira admitted.
"Do you need a nap? I'm sure we can wait a few more hours before going." Hazel offered sweetly.
"No, I am alright. I do not want to be the cause of our delay."
"Are you sure? You've almost fallen asleep three times."
"Truely, I am fine. Thank you for the offer, though." Amira forced herself to hold back another yawn.
"Okay… Did you hear what we said?" Annabeth asked, not looking too convinced. The Rider felt herself blush.
"I apologize but I did not."
"It's fine." Jason brushed away her apology. "We were just talking about getting to the Underworld."
"Do you know how to?" She asked Nico. She knew he did but was just trying to keep focus by talking.
"Yeah. Normally I'd just shadow travel there but there's too many of us so we'll have to see if we can use the main entrance in LA." He reported, forgetting she wasn't from Earth.
"L A?" Amira repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
"Los Angeles." He received a blank look. "Here in California?" Another blank look. "The City of Angels?"
"Angels?" Amira looked beyond confused now.
"Dude, she's not from here. She doesn't know where that is." Jason reminded Nico, holding back a laugh.
"Oh yeah. Uh… Sorry." The son of Hades apologized with a small blush.
"It is alright. You would be just as confused if in my world." Amira told him as she held back a smile of her own.
"Touché."
"Well, it's about 11:00 now so if everyone's got what they need, we should get going," Annabeth announced.
So the demigods and Rider grabbed their things before leaving. They were given their weapons back from Terminus after leaving New Rome and Amira sighed happily again when she buckled Arvindr around her waist; she had felt so uncomfortable without the familiar weight of her sword.
She was still really tired, which continued to confuse her as walking around and talking would usually wake her. Still, she couldn't seem to shake the sleepiness trying to take her. Why couldn't she have been this tired last night?
"Amira, why don't you ride with Leo again and take a nap?" Piper suggested when she saw her friend fighting to stay awake. Amira wanted to protest but the word nap sounded so good.
"Okay." She agreed. She climbed onto Festus and Leo followed, though this time he sat behind her.
"We don't want you falling off again." He explained. Amira nodded, blushing slightly when his arms moved around her waist. She placed her hands atop his, drawing a blush to his cheeks as well.
Arion and Mrs. O'Leary started off on the ground while Festus, Blackjack, Frank, and Jason took off into the air.
"Do you know how long it will be until we reach the... uh, our destination?" Amira asked Leo.
"Uh…. I'm not exactly sure but I wouldn't guess too long. Usually, it's close to six hours when driving but it should only take three and a half, maybe four, since we're flying." He guessed.
Feeling comfortable enough with his arms at her sides, Amira leaned back against Leo's chest. She was unable to see the blush on his cheeks at the action. No longer trying to stay awake, she closed her eyes with a sigh.
She was asleep before it finished.
And that concludes the fourteenth chapter of A Strange and Different Land!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you chose to continue the story. Please feel free to leave a review. Criticism, advice, compliments or corrections are welcome.
Have a good one and I'll see you later!
