~Amberly's P.O.V.~

I was dead. I remembered shoving my way between the gun and Clarkson. I remembered the bullet going through my skull. I remembered feeling my life slip away into blackness..

Then suddenly, a face came into focus in front of me. And the night from eighteen years ago came back to me.

It was Zeus, king of the Greek gods, and my only son's father. He had brought me back from the edge of death, because, as he explained it, I was important to the events coming in the future of Illéa. He told me that I would have to give up my appearance in order to return to the land of the living, and he asked me where I would be able to wait for the time I was needed.

It didn't take long for me to tell him about my sister, Adele. I suggested that I appear as a child, which would appeal more to her, and he agreed. We spent some time watching Maxon through a reflection bowl, as he called it, and then Zeus said it was time to go.

After explaining what I wished to look like, I closed my eyes. A fierce fire flew through my limbs as I became a child. Then it was done, and I was in an alley in Honduragua, where I hadn't been for years.

When I was no longer dizzy, I stepped out, looking like an eight, and asked for directions. A kind old man pointed me up the road to where my sister and her family lived, and handed me a cookie, "for having such lovely manners."

It took about half an hour to reach the large house I remembered purchasing for her. By the time I reached the gates, the sun was low in the sky, and the air had turned cool. I was glad Honduragua stayed so warm in January, because I only wore a thin dress.

Knocking demurely on the front door, I took a deep breath and adjusted to my significantly higher voice. When my niece, Rosalind, opened the door, I began to speak.

"Excuse me, miss, but I was wondering if I could find work here?" It came out sounding like a squeak, compared to the voice I was used to. The door was shut in my face, and I heard shouting from inside.

"Mommy! There's a little girl who wants to work here outside!" It didn't take long for my sister to open the door, my youngest nephew on her hip. I spoke quickly before she could get a word in.

"I urgently need to speak with you, ma'am. Please. And alone, if you can."

She looked confused, but still beckoned me in. Handing the child off to a maid, she motioned toward a room to the side.

"I usually only use this room for tea with the queen, but it will have to do for now," she told me once the door was shut.

Smiling up at her, I replied, "No worries, Adele. It's being used exactly how it usually is. Except there seems to be a lack of tea…"