Disclaimer: i don't own Twilight. i don't want to own Twilight - i'm good with the entire fanfiction realm, really. i do own some awesome oreo stuffed cookies - make chocolate chip cookie dough, one tablespoon of dough, one oreo then another tablespoon of cookie dough pressed around the oreo. bake. eat. pass out from pure awe.
chapter seventeen
"It's amazing. It's miraculous to see how God has taken such a near-death experience and received glory for it."
Kevin Wallace
Edward
I almost lost her.
And in that - in saving her life, in saving my own and her saving my mind by talking me down from the guilty ledge I stood on - I've grown closer to her, as well. Still, though she had removed and reasoned the guilt I felt for letting her into the dangerous position she'd gotten into, I couldn't help but feel that I'd broken the promise I'd made to myself - I didn't protect Isabella.
There were six quest pearls left. I had to get her back home safely. I wasn't sure how I would survive if anything happened to her.
A tiny hand touches my cheek, drawing me from my thoughts. I turn my face into the thin lace palm of her leather glove, pressing a kiss into the center of her hand as she speaks. "Edward, we should pick the next pearl soon, right?" I can't deny her that; of course we shouldn't stay in one place too long and the sooner I got her home safely, the better. We'd obviously time traveled somehow and I had no idea how much time was passing in Olympus - seconds, months, years?
I nod, pulling the white draw-string pouch from Bella's bag, opening it and holding it out to Bella with a raised brow and a bow of my head. She giggles - a sound she rarely makes - and quickly picks a pearl at random.
Athena's jade colored pearl lays in the center of Bella's hand. Instantly, I wonder if a worse beast will be awaiting us at the end of this pearl.
Again, I draw Isabella close to me, my hand low on her back as I stomp the green pearl into dust. Green mist envelopes us, thick and nearly suffocating; the golden mist had been light much like the island we ended up at, but the green mist was like smog and dust and felt heavier than air.
Bella coughs into my chest as the mist clears, her eyes flicking over the landscape surrounding us. I force myself to look away from her face, taking in the dry, cracked desert and hills of sand around that we are standing in the middle of. Already, the arid heat of the desert is seeping into my skin - I can only imagine what Bella must feel like with her long, heavy hair waving past the middle of her back. Just as I think it, Bella ties her hair back into some sloppy, sexy bun, squinting her eyes against the glare of the sun.
"What's that?"
"What's what?" I ask, trying to follow where her eyes are locked in the distance.
"That," Bella whispers, taking several steps in the direction opposite to the rising sun. "It looks like some kind of temple."
It stuck me then how naturally curious Bella was - just now, she was so eager to step blindly into the lions den. In any other circumstance, I would have stopped her, cautioned her. But as it was, we were clearly in the middle of a desert and the temple-like structure a few miles in the distance seemed to be our only option for shelter; the higher the sun rose in the sky, the hotter it would be and I wouldn't allow Bella to be in any kind of danger - sunburn included.
"Let's go, then," I say, holding my hand out to her, grinning when I feel the cool grasp of the leather on my palm. One day, I would get her to hold my hand skin to skin.
The temple seems much further away than it really is. As we grow closer, I begin to notice odd details in the structure of it - subtle Grecian influences in the columns. We walk up the sturdy steps together, taking in the lush greenery, the plethora of hanging vines and flowers, the thick green moss and grass that begins to cover the stone of the temple.
"Babylon," Bella murmurs, reaching a hesitant gloved hand to touch a thick roping vine above her head.
I look at her sharply, by brain finally clicking into place.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Fucking of course. What other lush temple would be in the middle of a desert? Just as I think this, I swear I hear a slithering noise above our heads.
"I'm so thirsty," Bella says. Her eyes are locked onto a slight waterfall just ahead, a slow trickle sure to sate the dryness in both of our throats. I hadn't even realized my own.
Bella cups her palms, water leaking into her gloves - she doesn't seem to care as her lips pull from the tiny pool in her hands. I can sense relief through our bond and I copy her motions.
If only I had known what a mistake that was.
Before either of us can draw on our gifts, a snake larger than the columns outside the temple cinches us together in a tight coil, pressing us together until my lungs are empty of air. The scales of the snake are the size of my hand, black fading into green and back. I see two heads on each end of the snake, one of fangs with black venom dripping from the delicate points, the other seemingly harmless but with vicious eyes - cunningly malicious eyes.
My first thought is Bella who is fighting to get her arms free, her face becoming more blue by the second. My next thought is complete wariness over the fanged head, the one leering at me with predatory hunger - it moves closer to me and I try in vain to react protectively for Bella, but it's impossible.
Three things happen simultaneously then; the serpent loosens it's grip, Bella pulls her arms free and rips her gloves off and the fanged head lunges at me, biting through my right shoulder, pumping that black venom into me.
My body begins to spasm and clench painfully - this pain almost rivaling the pain I'd felt when Bella had stopped feeding. I'm not so far gone though to hear Bella's enraged yell; I even see her naked hands clutch harshly at the snake's body, a sliver glow emanating from her fingertips as the snake seems to fold in on itself, void of life.
I begin dry heaving, losing the small amount of water I was able to drink - the poison of the venom quickly over taking my body. My limbs loose feeling and it seems that only my mind is lucid enough to cherish Bella's face in my view.
Her eyes are all wrong with tears pouring down her face, the lovely silver all glassy and her lashes caking together. Her lips are moving, forming words I can't hear as my ears seem to check in and out randomly.
With her hands carefully kept away from any exposed skin, she draws my head into her lap. I can almost swear her lips form Esme's name.
"Oh, Edward," she weeps. I'm elated to have my hearing - but with it comes the searing pain that had mysteriously vanished. "Please, stay with me. Don't leave me. I love you."
My ears check out again and my eyes roll back into my head, my lungs choking on nothing. Blackness overtakes my being, sometimes graying when I can hear an angel's voice crying for me or when a cool cloth dabs my forehead.
I wonder how long I'll survive.
I wonder if Bella will ever move on from me. As if she can hear my thoughts, her answer comes in a soft whimper. "No, I love you. I know that Alice said we were drawn together because of our gifts, but I truly love you." I want to smile at her, reassure her that I'll be okay. I hope she feels it from the bond if it doesn't translate onto my face.
Sometime later, I hear another voice.
"Shh, he'll be okay, Isabella. The moon has healed him." A cool hand rests on my forehead, then moves to my wrist. "But we must move him."
"How? I'll never be able to carry him and even with your help-"
"Amynta is with us now, is she not?"
When I come into consciousness again, I find that I am no longer on the hard stone of the Babylon temple - instead it feels like I am resting on a cloud, covered in something warm with a tiny, limp hand in my grasp.
My eyes crack open to take in a lavish room that obviously belongs to a hotel. Beside me, asleep with her head beside my chest, is my Bella, her gloved hands stubbornly refusing to let go even in sleep. A much larger Amynta - who is now the size of a German Sheppard - stays vigil at the end of my bed.
And most surprisingly, a calm Esme is cleaning various supplies up from the hotel's in suite desk. Without pausing from her work, she smiles at me. "I'm glad you're awake."
I cough, my throat dry. "Me too," I croak, wincing at the scratching sound of my throat. "How long have I been out?" I ask, glancing warily at the not-so-fucking-small Amynta. Surely I hadn't been unconscious that long; Amynta was a third of that size a few days ago.
"Only a few hours. The moon is a fast healer."
"Thank you," I tell her, meaning it more than I've ever meant anything. I knew that I was dying at Babylon. "How did you-"
"I gave Isabella the gift of summoning me at will, though I'm afraid I can only come during the moon's hours." Esme frowns at that. "A glitch, I suppose. Luckily, though the time was in the sun's rule at Babylon, the moon was high in the sky at Olympus. I got Isabella's summoning almost immediately though we did have to wait for a few hours until sunset for my healing to take effect."
"You saved my life."
Esme looks up at me, warm eyes looking at the girl sleeping soundly beside me. "I am not the only one. Had Isabella not killed that monster…"
"Do you know what it was?"
Esme nods sagely. "Amphisbaena. She is supposed to be a gentle creature but it seems that someone had enchanted her to thirst for blood."
I look down at Bella again, stroking her soft hair. Her skin was rosy from the kill, I knew - and I hoped that she wouldn't feel too much guilt from killing Amphisbaena. It was a struggle I hoped she would one day overcome. She couldn't help who she was.
I move to sit up, biting back a groan when my chest stings. Looking down, I see tight cloths wrapped around my chest, holding in whatever treatment Esme had given me - I look nearly mummified and I don't feel much better.
Hearing my groan, Isabella sits up, instantly alert with her hand squeezing mine hard. I grip her delicate hand back, comforted in the fact that her devotion to me - to us and our bond - is so prioritized.
"I'm so glad you're awake." She looks like she could cry. I can tell that she wanted to say "alive".
Esme breaks the short silence. "I must get back to Olympus," she announces calmly, placing her supplies into a small bag and walking over to Amynta.
"Esme, you don't have to-"
Esme smiles at Bella, shaking her head like Bella was being ridiculous. "I will see both of you soon."
And with that, Esme and Amynta left and it seemed like our second quest came to a close.
A/N: i know, i know. it's been a superlong time since i last posted and that is total lamesauce in the first degree. i do, however, have an explanation - not an excuse. all i can say is moving. and i hate moving. so i couldn't concentrate and i didn't exactly have time to sit down and write which is why the chapter is so short. but a short chapter is better than no chapter at all, right?
originally, Edward and Bella were supposed to do some citrus-like things in this chapter but it just didn't feel right to me. plus, sexy times with an injured Godward wouldn't be too much fun, huh?
shout out to the fabulous LittleMissDreamer7 who was the first of many reviews for the last chapter. really, we should all give a bucket load of cupcakes to that girl because she's just awesome!
be brutally honest. i can take it.
~cupcakeriot