A/N: Thanks for the reviews and follows! You guys are awesome. You should let me know what you think of the story so far and the lore I'm trying to come up with! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Again I don't own anything from Pretty Little Liars, but there are some outfit's I'd love to steal ;)
Chapter 5
The girls collapsed onto Paige's poolside couches in exhaustion. Paige wasn't kidding around with this training. She brought the girls water from inside her house and sat down in one of the chairs.
"So where are your parents?" Hanna said in between gulps of water.
"Out of town, as usual. I use to hate when they would leave all the time, but now its rather convenient." Emily chugged her water, finally feeling tired after sprinting so much.
"So what now? You've read the whole book... what do we do next?" Spencer leaned forward ready to listen to Paige intently.
"I'm assuming you got to the bit about the war between the two sisters? Well according to the book, whatever ritual Alison did to awaken your powers took a lot of energy out of her. She and whoever her sister are won't be at a hundred percent until the next blue moon. I know it sounds like it's out of some Twilight book, but it's what it says."
"Next blue moon?" Hanna clicked away at her phone. "Um, that's in 9 days..." Hanna had a look of panic in her eyes.
"Great nine days until we have to worry about Ali ruining our lives again." Aria sighed and sunk back into her chair. "Nine days is not enough time... If this book is true, Ali is thousands of years old?! How are nine people who were normal humans days ago suppose to defeat a practical goddess?" Aria began to look as panicked as Hanna.
"The story tells of another sister who is suppose to battle the evil one... what about her? Where is she?!" Spencer spoke, her words filled with anger. The question was directed at Paige.
"She will be here, it says she will come when the souls are ready. Until then all we can do is train."
"Well I know my body won't let me train anymore tonight. I can barely lift my arms." Hanna made a pitiful attempt at moving. "I'm headed home, at least I can escape all this crazy shit in my dreams." The rest of the girls stood up and gathered their things.
"I'm going to do some more reading, maybe there is something else we need to know." Spencer grabbed the tome. "Coming Emily?"
"I'm just going to head back the way I came." She pointed towards the woods and Spencer nodded.
"Alright roadrunner. See you at school tomorrow." The other girls disappeared around the side of Paige's house.
Both women stood around in awkward silence for a moment. Emily finally speaking up.
"See you at swim practice tomorrow?" Paige smiled.
"Yeah... Um Emily. I... uh want you to have something." Paige moved forward, reaching in her pocket. She pulled out a long chair with a purple gemstone hanging from it. It looked rather old, but the gem shined brightly, as if almost giving off it's own light.
"It came with the book. There was a note to give it to someone you trusted..."
"Paige... I... wow. I don't know what to say." Emily stood shocked. Not only was the gift beautiful, but it also meant that Paige trusted her, through all this chaos Paige had chosen her.
"Say you'll wear it? The note made mention that whoever is in possession of this stone will never be lost." She moved closer to Emily, hoping the other girl would accept the gift.
"But shouldn't you wear it? If it has magical properties, you're the one who should handle it."
"Trust me Emily, it's for you." She stepped forward until she was inches from the other girl. She unclasped the necklace and moved her hands behind Emily's neck. Emily lifted her hair so that Paige could fasten the chain more easily. She prayed that the redhead couldn't hear how loud her heart was beating due to their proximity. After clipping the necklace on, Paige let her fingertips ghost across the skin at the back of Emily's neck. Goosebumps quickly covered Emily's body, and she wanted so badly to just press her lips against Paige's but she had no idea what that would mean. Instead, she wrapped Paige in a tight hug, reveling in how wonderful the redhead's body felt against hers.
The two women stood in yard, and for a short moment, all of the chaos that had been panicking everyone slowly slipped away. For a short amount of time, they didn't have to be something in a storybook. They were simply Emily and Paige, two teenagers realizing their feelings for one another.
Emily pulled away slowly from Paige, not completely out of the other girl's arms. She felt a small tear roll down her cheek. The weight of this whole situation topped with her exhaustion had finally broken through Emily's tough exterior. Paige kept one hand wrapped around Emily's waist while the other gently wiped away the tear. Now was not the time for their first kiss, no matter how much Paige longed to press her lips to Emily's. Instead, Paige leaned in and let her lips brush Emily's forehead lightly. Their eyes met and Paige flashed Emily a small smile.
"I promise I won't let anyone hurt you." Emily knew that Paige couldn't promise that, but it was the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to her.
"I know." Emily reached down and took Paige's hand in her squeezing it. "Goodnight Paige."
"Goodnight Emily." Emily slowly moved away from Paige, only letting go of her hand once she was too far away to reach. She took one look at Paige, smiled, and sprinted into the woods.
When Emily was out of sight Paige took off into the sky, following her from a distance, making sure she made it home safely. Paige hovered over her house, until Emily made it through the front door. Sure that Emily was safe, Paige flew back to her house to sleep and dream of the beautiful brunette.
The next morning, life went on as usual. The school had cleaned up the debris and classes resumed like nothing had happened. The girls all felt like they were on high alert, more so than with 'A'. They knew that Mona was a potential threat, but what about Toby, Ezra and Caleb. They were all in detention with the girls and hadn't heard anything about them since the accident. Aria had tried to call Ezra, but he ignored all texts and voicemails.
Emily approached Aria at her locker before lunch. "Let me guess, still no sign of Ezra?"
"Nope, nothing. Was Toby in your chemistry class?" Emily shook her head.
"I guess that just leaves Caleb... Either they didn't drink they potion and are all seriously injured, or somethings not right." Spencer came up behind the girls.
"I suppose it could also be possible that they got freaked out by their abilities and decided to take time off from school." Hanna offered as she closed her locker and joined in on the conversation.
"Have you seen Paige today?" Spencer directed the question at Emily.
"What?! Why are you asking me?" 'I wish I had seen her today..' she thought, knowing Aria would hear her.
"Em, it's pretty obvious you like her. It's okay. Maya left you remember?" Hanna placed a reassuring hand on Emily's shoulder.
"Wow Hanna, sure you're not going to major in English in college. You have a way with words." Aria jabbed Hanna in the side with her elbow.
"Guys, it's okay, I've been over the Maya thing for a while now. It was her decision."
"I suppose it doesn't help that Paige isn't hard on the eyes." The girls looked at Spencer, slightly shocked that she just admitted another girl was attractive. "What?! she's cute."
"To answer you question, no I haven't seen her, but we have swimming together later today." Emily's mind immediately went to the thought of seeing the other girl in a swim suit. Normally it wouldn't have bothered Emily, but after last night, the thought made her blush.
"EMILY! What did I say about dirty thoughts! At least wait until I'm out of hearing distance" Aria tried to shake the images Emily had planted in her mind accidentally.
"Sorry. Anyway, maybe its better that they aren't here today. Who knows how they're handling this. I have to go to a makeup test. See you guys at Paige's around 5?" They all nodded and Emily headed down the hall, a lot more excited for swim practice than usual.
Emily entered the locker room, feeling nervous knowing she was going to see Paige again. She tried to shake the feeling and went to get changed. It was five minutes before practice and Paige still hadn't shown up. She was normally the first one here. Emily's nerves slowly turned into worry. 'What if something has happened to her?' She fidgeted nervously with the necklace Paige had given her.
"Five minutes ladies!" The coach exited the locker room and the other girls began shoving things in their lockers and leaving as well. Emily sighed and put her bag away, hoping Coach would ignore the necklace, since she didn't want to take it off. She began to leave when a hand from behind tugged her out of the way of the door. She smiled when she saw the hand belonged to Paige.
"Miss me?" Paige flashed a confident smile at Emily.
"Maybe... What's it to you McCullers?" Paige didn't let go of Emily's hand, instead she used it to pull the girl closer. She leaned in and Emily thought for a second Paige was going to kiss her. Instead, the girl reached around Emily's neck and pulled the necklace over her head. She lifted Emily's hand and wrapped the chain around her wrist a few times.
"There. Coach is less likely to see it and you can still wear it." Paige let go of Emily's hand and smiled. "One word of advice... be very careful not to use your power in the water today. Might be a little suspicious if you set the new world record out of nowhere." Emily laughed and pushed Paige playfully in the direction of the pool.
"Come on, she'll make us do laps if we're late."
The girls decided to take one car over to Paige's, so they arrived together and walked directly into the backyard. When they made there way around the pool they saw Paige lifting massive boulders with ease. The girls almost felt as if they were intruding upon some ritual as Paige gracefully moved the rocks into a line. While Emily was ridiculously impressed at Paige's strength she was more focused on the fact that Paige was dressed in only small running shorts and a black sports bra. Emily's eyes were drawn towards Paige's ridiculously tone stomach. She felt her heart drop and suddenly realized how hot it felt outside.
"Aria, don't even say it. I... I can't help my thoughts right now." Emily pointed at the other girl and Aria just shrugged.
"Hey guys." Paige dropped the last rock in line and walked over to the girls. Emily had yet to take her eyes off of Paige's body and the redhead smiled when she noticed.
"Ready to train?" All the girls shook their heads and Emily finally looked at Paige in the face.
"Yep, ready to train." Paige smiled and winked at Emily.
"Alright so since none of you have super human strength, you will need to learn how to fight someone who does. I'm going to hurl these rocks at you and you will have only a split second to react." Aria raised her hand as if she was in a class room. Paige motioned for her to ask her question.
"Um... what am I suppose to do... read the rock's mind?" Paige laughed.
"Read the person who is throwing the rock's mind. Figure out where they are going to throw it. The other option is to hope that your friends will come to your rescue. Your power isn't really for the battle field, exactly, but it has it's uses."
"Okay... so am I suppose to kiss it like the fucking blarney stone?" Paige laughed at Spencer.
"Think about your powers. There may be some people around that can help you avoid getting squished. Oh and Hanna, remember to not panic when the rock comes at you, focus so you can control what you turn it into." Paige moved over to the first boulder and picked it up as if it was made out of foam. "Ready, its more realistic if you're a moving target... GO!"
Paige began running straight at Hanna and threw the boulder in her direction. Seconds before it hit Hanna she threw her arms out in front of her and screamed. The stone instantly turned to sand covering her in a small pile.
"Ugh... gross." She spit the sand out of her mouth and shook herself off. Paige ran to the other boulder and made a b line for Emily. The girl began sprinting, but she knew Paige could catch up with her. She watched as Paige hurled the rock, trying to anticipate its trajectory. She moved out of way perfectly and the boulder smashed into the ground next to her, leaving a huge dent in the dirt.
Spencer anticipated that she was next and she grabbed Hanna by the arm, kissing her hand quickly. It made hanna slightly dizzy, and Paige smiled at Spencer's resourcefulness. She threw the boulder at Spencer and instead of turning it into sand like Hanna, she transformed it to foam. The boulder knocked her to the ground because of its size, but didn't hurt her at all.
"Nice move Spencer... However, you left Hanna rather vulnerable. We learned that your powers can last a good half hour. Next time, kiss someone before the rocks start getting thrown." Spencer rolled her eyes at Paige and let the other woman help her off the ground.
Paige ran over to the last stone and Aria knew where it was headed. Paige threw the boulder straight at her. Before Aria could even react, she was moved out of the way with lighting speed. By the time she realized what had happened she was clear across the yard and Emily was standing next to her smiling.
"Thanks."
"Not a problem. I could get use to rescuing damsels in distress." The girls walked back over to Paige and noticed that not only had Emily moved Aria out of the way, Hanna and Spencer had turned the stone into sand.
"See Aria, nothing to worry about. We will be on the front lines while you get to be all covert secret ops." Hanna threw an arm around her.
"Aww you guys are learning so quickly." Paige mocked wiping away a tear. "I'm so proud..." Before the girls could make fun of her a man appeared out of thin air behind her tackling her to the ground. Emily didn't even think twice, she sprinted towards him, colliding directly with his body, sending him flying. She was about to charge into him again when Paige jumped up and placed two hands on her shoulder.
"Emily stop. It's okay. I know him." The man appeared instantly at Paige's side, smiling. He stood very tall, well over six feet. He was wearing a purple pinstriped suit with an orange tie. His hair seemed to be a perfect match to Paige's red locks. He wore a short trimmed beard and looked not much older than 25.
"That one packs quite a punch." he rubbed his shoulders.
"Sorry, normally friendly people don't tackle women to the ground." Emily stood in an aggressive stance, ready to ponce on him at any moment.
"Um... Girls, this is Aegis. He's the one who... um... gave me the tome." Aegis looked at Paige and smiled.
"Aegis at your service" He bowed to the girls.
"Wait... the Aegis from the book?"
"Not from the books you read in history class, love. But from that big old tome you carry around? Yes that would be me. Was I exactly as handsome as you pictured?" Paige hit Aegis in the stomach.
"So this is why you know so much?" Hanna asked, giving Aegis the once over.
"Yeah, someone had to coach me right?" Paige shifted nervously, hoping they wouldn't be too angry with her for keeping this from them.
"Why didn't you tell us? It would've been comforting to know we had a God on our side." Spencer folded her arms, slightly upset that Paige had kept this from them.
"Cheer up deary. I told her not to say anything. Besides, it won't be too comforting, since I can't fight in the battle."
"What?! Why not?" Aria scoffed.
"Rules are Rules. I get banished if I interfere with the prophecy. The only players allowed in this game are my two sisters." He threw his hands up in mock defeat. "However, nothing in the rules says I can't help out... until my sister gets here."
"Well I guess that's something. When is she suppose to come? We're sort of running short on time." Aria sat down on the steps up to Paige's back deck.
"I'm surprised she hasn't shown up yet. She's normally early for everything. But no worries, you have me!" He teleported behind them, "I promise I'm a wonderful coach. Especially with such apt pupils..." he winked at all of them.
"Aegis, enough." The tall redhead teleported next to Paige and threw an arm around her.
"Aww this is going to be so much fun!"