Disclaimer: i do not own Twilight. i do own fantastic spice cake muffins with a honey cinnamon glaze - yes, muffins are the uglier cousins of cupcakes!
chapter nine
"No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"
Albert Einstein
Edward
If I was told a month and a half ago that I would be in love with a girl who liked to run away from me, I would have denied it - that I would be in love, that is. Love wasn't something I saw in my cards, ever, and the emotions and instincts that Isabella conjured into my system felt so much more than just love.
I was completely enamored.
And she runs away.
Frustration doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.
"You just have to kiss her, man," Emmett tells me, grinning like the fool that he is. These past few days - since Isabella ran from me outside of Athena's cottage - Emmett had been trying to convince me that the only way I'd ever win Isabella over was if I "pushed that girl against the wall and kissed the ever-loving shit out of her". His words, not mine.
To my dismay, Jasper seemed to agree with him but suggested I take her somewhere private to show my affection.
I was surrounded by loons. For Emmett, his methods probably worked with Rosalie - she was beautiful, but incredibly stubborn and often rude. Emmett's method was perfect…for her. Jasper' own method with Alice was much the same - Alice was a gentle, excitable person who would have accepted nothing less than a grand gesture.
But what kind of girl is Isabella?
"Fuck off," I sigh, reaching up and pulling a pillow over my face. Emmett laughs, just like he does every time I tell him to fuck off. He snatches my pillow and I show him my middle finger.
"Pretend I'm Isabella!"
I look at the big oaf like he's lost his mind. "What the fuck are you-"
"Hear me out!" he interrupts, holding his hands before him. "Maybe if you practice what to tell her, it'll be easier for you to actually do it. And, if I must say it, I'm hot stuff. You would only be so lucky as to-"
"You're a moron."
Jasper agrees, slapping Emmett on the back of the head before turning to me. "We need to get going,"
Yes, we did.
Today was the first meeting for the new heirs and was located in Olympus city. From what I've been told - which isn't much - the meetings were designed to test the heirs for qualifications in front of their sires. All I knew about the entire ordeal was that the Fates would be there, along with the Gods and Goddesses.
I wasn't looking forward to it.
The three of us make our way down to the center courtyard to wait for our ride. My steps falter when I catch sight of long, dark hair.
Of course she would be coming for this, as well. Isabella was an heir too.
Either she sees me and chooses to ignore my presence or she doesn't notice I am near her - which is almost inconceivable as there is a strong pull from the center of my chest that is leading me closer to her. My hands itch to touch her but I refrain.
Why did she run?
I know the only person with an answer is standing before me and she couldn't care less if I was there. She keeps her eyes down as she murmurs a response to Alice or Rosalie. They stand slightly in front of her, almost protectively.
As I step closer, Rosalie shoots me a glare that would have made lesser men cry. Immediately, before I can process why, I am taking three quick steps back. Rosalie appears satisfied and I realize that she made me move.
Damn.
Alice and Rosalie are the best of bodyguards - they don't let me get close to Isabella for almost half of the day. Now, however, they can't do anything but stand beside their sires.
I am aware of so many things now - of the seven heirs lined up in an even row, of the Gods standing directly behind us, of the Fates clasping hands before us and of the faint trembling of Isabella's body.
The Fates are odd women - their hair is aged and brittle and white but their faces are pale and young. They share dark eyes and willowy bodies and knowing smiles directed towards the heirs.
The building we are located in is near the Arena; it's old and worn down but spacious and open, one large studio of light wooden floors and various windows and sunroofs scattered about. It is closer to night than it is to day and I know it is because of the heirs of Apollo and Artemis.
Behind the Fates there are several objects - a boulder, a large aquarium of water, a pile of wooden tender, a few crates of seemingly healthy animals and many buckets full of delicate flowers and plants. I swallow when I see the bright red roses, knowing that they are for Isabella.
I want more than anything to take her from this place.
But I can't.
This has to be done.
The Fates are just the first test and by far the easiest.
The first heir the Fates beckon is Emmett. His face is serious, his brawny body tense with foreign nerves. The women smile at him, the one in the middle seeming most bored, the one on the right looking from Emmett to Rosalie and back. The Fate on the left motions for Emmett to begin and without pause, he does.
I've only seen Emmett use his abilities once or twice and both were to show off for Rosalie. The first was when we were younger and afraid of the dark.
Emmett straightens his back and seems to take deep breathes and, before anyone can truly see exactly how it happened, his hands are glowing bright, blinding white. Though the room was not dim before, his light reaches every corner, burning my eyes. I feel Isabella flinch back and I wonder if she feels a draw to Emmett's energy.
The Fates, all at once, motion for Emmett to stop and without much effort at all, he does.
"We understand you have another," the Fate on the left states with a raised brow. Her sisters look both pleased and wary at the same time.
Emmett grins his normal asshole smile and rubs his hands together. "Allow me, ladies."
The second time I saw Emmett use his power was when he was bragging to Rosalie that he could lift a tree from the ground. He did - and it wasn't a small tree.
Emmett saunters over to the boulder and, using one hand, lifts it from the floor. One of the Fates nod and Emmett moves to resume his position in line in front of Apollo. I don't miss the proud smile that Apollo shares with his son.
"Daughter of Poseidon," the middle Fate calls out, her voice just as bored and lifeless as before.
Alice quickly dances over to the aquarium, her face light and eager. Her fingers wiggle and suddenly the water is gracefully swimming in the air in an arc over her head. She moves her hand in a slight circle and the water begins to revolve around her, clear and smooth.
"Can you breathe in the water?"
I don't catch which Fate asks because Alice is moving the water into a tight sphere and lowering it onto her head, breathing without air for several minuets before the Fates ask her to stop again. When she moves the water back into the aquarium, her hair is dry, the water having been drawn back into the glass container with the rest of it.
"Son of Ares."
I struggle not to glare at James when he moves away from the line. I knew, of course, that James was exceptionally powerful but I was unsure as to what his exact ability was. I should have guessed fire; James brings the pile of wood to flaming life, making it roar loudly. He looks over his shoulder towards Isabella and winks as he makes it flame brighter.
The Fates dismiss him before I can act on the very powerful urge to shock the life right out of him. He's way too cocky for a Demi-God.
"Son of Zeus."
I allow my eyes to dart in Isabella's direction and I don't fail to notice the way the Fate on the right smiles brightly at her sisters before I step forward.
I wonder what they'll have me do as they haven't laid anything out for me to show my ability with. When is see that they don't plan on directing me into action, I close my eyes and draw the ions in the air into my body.
Almost instinctively, I spread the fingers of my right hand wide, feeling the electricity crackle on my palm and through the spaces between my fingers. The atoms gather and form a rather large lightening bolt; my fingers grip it tightly as the lighting in the room dims in brightens in an unstable pattern.
After a stunned moment, the Fates nod mutely at me and I allow the bolt to fizzle out. I turn towards the line and let my eyes meet my fathers; Zeus eyes me with critical appraisal, nodding slightly at me.
It doesn't escape me that I somehow managed to bring his signature weapon to this room without much thought on my part.
"Daughter of Aphrodite."
Rosalie sashes forward, stopping mere feet away from the Fates, closer than the rest of us had dared to go. I suppose she was letting the Fates admire her beauty as she steps away from them after a moment and moves to one of the caged animals - the fox.
Rosalie stands over the cage, catching the eyes of the fox who stares at her transfixed, not even flinching when his cage opens up. Rosalie hums to the animal and he creeps out of the metal confines, slinking close to the ground, tail swishing as his eyes remained locked on Rosalie. She murmurs something to him and he is immediately jumping over the other cages and racing around the room, returning to Rosalie the second she snaps her fingers.
She spares no glance to the Fates after she locks the fox back into his cage and moves to stand in front of Aphrodite.
"Son of Athena."
The gift Jasper has is not as noteworthy as others but it suits him. The bored looking fate secures a wide black blindfold on his face and leads him in several circles. "Find the white rose."
Jasper breaths in deeply, twitching his fingers, and maneuvers himself towards the bucket of red roses. His hand reaches to the middle and he plucks out a single white rose, handing it to the Fate on the right with his blindfold still on.
"Daughter of Hades."
I feel snips of worry claw their way through my mind as I watch Isabella take several careful steps towards the Fates. Of all the female Gods here, she is by far the most skittish. With shaking hands, she shreds her gloves, revealing her tiny pale hands with the new dark markings just under her first knuckles.
Isabella moves over to the buckets of roses and other plants and, with an anguished face, touches one finger to the tip of a bloody red rose. Almost instantly, the rose coils into itself, fading to charcoal black and bringing the other roses around it to the same state. Without pause, her hand moves over to the other bucket, draining it just as quickly.
The entire time, her face never relaxes, her eyes never move from the blank spot of the wooden floor they are glued to.
"That's enough," the Fate on the left says quietly, sharing a loaded look with her sisters.
I swallow hard when Isabella is standing beside me again - my eyes strain to look at her, to make sure she is okay. I, however, can't miss the faint glow to her smooth, milky skin or the steadiness of her fingers as she pulls on her gloves.
"Daughter of Artemis."
By now, the sun has set and the large moon is rising from the horizon. It is only fitting that we begin with the heir of the sun and end with the heir of the moon.
Esme is a quiet God, a year or so older than the rest of us, with curling caramel hair and wide hazel eyes. As far as I know, Esme keeps a cottage with another son of Athena somewhere between the Academy and Olympus.
She moves gracefully to the caged animals, announcing that the red-eyed rabbit has a heart condition. Esme holds one hand above her, towards the moon, and gently touches the rabbit. The white fur seems to become more fluffy, the animal suddenly bounding around his it's roomy cage.
With Esme as the last to show her gifts, the Fates dismiss the room with a synchronized, "That will be all".
Isabella is too quiet on the way back, hunched in her seat and turned tightly towards the window. I am so fed up with her avoidance.
She can't ignore me - she can't ignore this. Not the pull between us or the way her body unconsciously leans towards me or the way she fights her eyes to not look at me.
And I won't let her. Not anymore.
When we exit the car, I make sure that I hang in the back of the group, pulling up the rear as we make our way towards the dormitories. Just as Isabella is about to turn to her building, I grab her as gently as I can around the waist, pulling her to my chest as I lean us both against the large oak outside of the girl's dorm. She doesn't struggle against me - rather, she seems frozen.
I slowly wrap both of my arms around her, hugging her to me as securely as I dare. My lips brush against her ear as I whisper to her. "Can't you feel this…pull?"
Mutely, she nods. I sigh in relief.
That's enough for now.
A/N: it has come to my attention that a few of my lovely readers were concerned about Emmett's heritage - worry not. to clear up - hopefully - future questions i have posted an outline of the Gods characters on my profile page. check it out!
all that said, Edward is finally fed up...
thanks to my awesome beta IvySnow for her attention to detail and for taking her time to read over this chapter!
be brutally honest. i can take it.
~cupcakeriot