E I G H T
Lola Lola

LIBRO VITAE, THE foreign words felt ever so familiar, as if a piece of a puzzle from a distant memory so very far away. The words made something click within me, and I could feel all my past lives pushing towards the surface, struggling to get out and take over. I bit onto my lip hard, hand reaching up to clutch my head as a splitting pain wormed its way into my head. There was a small voice at the back of my mind, whispering to me that it definitely wasn't Ida returning. However, I feared whoever it was that was trying to break free.

"Addison, are you okay?" Minnie placed a hand on my shoulder, eyes filled with worry as I gritted my teeth.

"It's a past life." When those words left my mouth, I could hear Fabian take in a sharp intake of air. "But not Ida. I don't know who it is."

"Shit." Cursing under his breath, Dimitri rushed over, a hand placed on my forehead. Upon contact, I could feel a searing pain cut through my skin as if tearing it from my muscles.

And then, all at once, the pain was gone. I could not feel anything at all, the pain, the numbness that stayed from yesterday, everything. There wasn't a single feeling left even though I know fully well that Minnie and Dimitri still had their hands on me. I just couldn't feel their hands' pressure.

"Addison?" Dimitri asked and my body moved, head tilting up even though I had not commanded it to do so. Someone else was taking control of my body and boy did I hate the feeling.

"No, not Addison." The voice that had emerged from my own throat wasn't mine. It belonged to another, a girl much younger than my own age. She sounded not a single day past twelve years of age. "Lola."

Fabian looked in shock, and though it wasn't in the same force as when he had witnessed Ida's return, he still in all seemed fascinated. His eyebrows were raised, lips slightly parted as his eyes darted up and down my figure as if I were an entirely different person -- in this case I apparently am.

"Ghost possessions," Minnie muttered under her breath, her thumbs twiddling each other as she laughed nervously. "How... wonderful." She took an exaggerated step backwards just as Dimitri's hand fell from my shoulders and back down to his side.

"And who are you, Lola?" He asked, face void of a smile. Dimitri was simply assessing, just looking for clues. Though to what answer this clue might solve, I do not know.

Lola, the girl who had full control over my entire body, started to pace around. She moved with a little jump in her step, as if overjoyed to finally have a body again. Stopping at the walls of the cell, she sniffed it before wiping a single index finger over the biblical Hebrew imprints on the wall, grimacing when she realized the words.

Proceeding to ignore Dimitri's question, she turned around, a perfect pout on her lips.

"The libro vitae had been hidden for thousands of years. How in the hell are you going to find it? Now that's the real question, isn't it?"

"We don't have time for your games, little girl." With a growl, Dimitri was by my side in a few quick steps, his eyebrows furrowed into a look of irritation. "Like I asked, who are you?"

"Lola, Lola, Lola, Lola, Lola," I continued to sing. "Hey! That's my name!"

"We're stuck with a mad little child and time is running out." Running a hand through his dark hair, Fabian laughed in disbelief. "This is it. We're screwed."

"Screwed, such a funny word." Tapping a finger to my chin, Lola veered my body to face Fabian and Minnie now. "Such a funny era, this is. If only there was a way to return back to the old world."

"Visit the old world..." Dimitri trailed off. I could see the cogs turning in his head, his mind set to thinking as Fabian scrunched his nose in confusion and slight irritation. "How do we visit the old world?"

"Don't be silly, Dimitri. Time travel is not possible. If it were, Lucius would have long been dead." Scowling, Fabian crossed his arms over his chest before the scowl melted to a longing frown. "And Ida would have been alive."

"No no," Lola tsked. "You can't visit the old world. But Addison can. Why, she is visiting the old world right now! And she's brought you all along with her."

"Like Fabian said, time travel is impossible." Stepping forward, Minnie shook her head.

"But ghosts are not, are they?" She turned my body to face Dimitri, looking at him dead in the eye. "I am the old world. And Addison's brought me back. That is where the libro vitae is hidden. In the old world."

As soon as Lola had finished her speech, I could feel a sucking vortex pulling me in, transferring me back to my body as I staggered a little bit. Dimitri immediately leaped forward, his arms around mine, pulling me into his cooling embrace as I shivered at the thought of not being in control again.

"You're alright. She's gone. It's over." He murmured continuously right by my ear, but all in which I could hear was the lack of the roaring blood that should've been in my sense of hearing. My thundering heart was no more, and my skin had become a shade paler than what it had once been.

Dimitri ran his hand down my back a few times, rubbing soothing circles as I forced tears back. I didn't even know why I felt like crying, but a tidal wave cannot be stopped, only ever avoided.

"What did Lola mean by 'the old world'?" I could hear Fabian asking not so far away, arms most likely still crossed over his chest with a scathing look on his handsome features.

"The question is, what did she mean by her being the old world?" Minnie took yet another step nearer, and I could feel her eyes trained on me worriedly for a second before darting away. "We have to work quickly or Addison will never get better."

"Well, Dimitri is famed as the 'riddle boy'. This shouldn't be too hard for him to figure out." This elicited a small, albeit weak, laugh from me as Dimitri gently set me to my feet.

"Very hilarious, brother." Snorting, Dimitri matched Fabian's stance, with his arms folded across his chest. "Because mere petty jokes and personal pricks can solve a problem."

"Guys, stop fighting!" Minnie cut in. "We have to figure this out like a team. I say we head back towards the castle and ask for Calvin and Wilhelm's help. Now, who's with me?"

Seeing Minnie taking the lead brought a small smile to my face. In our years as best friends, Minnie had always been the friend to hide in the shadows, preferring to stay behind in the dark as compared to shining under the spotlight. Now that she had finally broke out of her shell, even if I truly did not survive this, I can rest content knowing that Minnie can stand up for herself.

"That's a perfect idea, Minnie." Still having a slight wobble in my steps, I hobbled over to where Minnie stood, a bright grin already on my features. "And we better hurry if you guys are in such a rush."

With a hand on Minnie's shoulder, I pivoted myself towards the exit before hobbling away, my three companions hot on my tail. While Fabian and Dimitri lagged behind, Minnie was quick to return by my side, her eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief and a little more of something else.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, crumpling my nose as she reached a hand out to steady my steps. I took them with gratitude.

"It's just, Addison, I think you're in this more for them than it is for yourself." Commenting with the same hint of quirk, Minnie continued on. "And I think you know that too."

"I'm just a girl, Minnie. Even if I am some girl in some prophecy, people tend to forget that I am still a girl. I am still a person that wants to live a normal life and go to work in a nice workplace, meet a nice man and live a nice happily ever after. But when responsibilities fall onto my shoulders, I can't be that girl anymore. There's more reason to do it for them than myself."

Sighing, I let out a deep breath when the light of the sun finally kissed my skin. We were out of the god forsaken cave.

"This kingdom is going to fall into the wrong hands if I don't do anything to help. They need me alive more than I need myself to be. But hey, it's not that bad. They're fighting to keep me alive when they tried to have me killed a little over a year ago. How insane is that?"

We stopped in our tracks, waiting for Dimitri and Fabian to catch up. They were, however, much slower than anticipated. It was almost as if they had expected us to have a deep conversation going on and had the decency and shred of respect to leave us be for a short period of time.

"But like you said, Addison, you're just a girl. You're not a god or an immortal. It's okay to be a little selfish sometimes and want things for yourself more than you want things for others."

"I've lived that way of life for my entire existence as Addison Pilediah. I want to do something for someone else other than me for once. I ruled the high school we went to because I wanted to be popular and to be liked; I went to the party and nearly got us killed because I wanted to something to take my mind off of Lucius and yet it only got us further entangled into the situation; I came down to Hell to find you because I missed you. I've been selfish for too long. I just want to have a taste of what righteousness feels like."

Minnie pondered over my words for a moment before her face eased to a calm and rather emotionless expression. "Then, in this case, you are wrong. You are only helping them because you are in love with Dimitri. If everything is like how you phrased it to be, every human being is selfish. And that's okay too."

I parted my lips, a reply already beginning to form on the tip of my tongue when Fabian and Dimitri suddenly appeared into our visions. They both seemed equally as stressed, annoyance glazing over their handsome features. When Dimitri's silvery eyes had landed on me, though, they softened significantly and this caused a flutter in my heart.

This became the moment in which I knew that Minnie was right. I was a selfish person. But then again, anyone that dares to love are all selfish people because love makes people do such things.

Selflessness was just a concept created by mankind.

"Hey, you alright there?" Dimitri asked. I had not even noticed that he had walked over, his face mere inches away from mine.

I pursed my lips for a split second before smiling brilliantly. "As good as I can possibly be."

He smiled, a handsome dashing grin that etched his face so differently as of his smile from last year. It was much more gentle, much more kind. The version of Dimitri in which I had oh so feared was long gone and replaced by a much more humane version. The version that was showed as Cassiel when he had masqueraded as him. The kinder side of Death.

"Well, then we better get a move on." I turned to face Fabian, whose eyes were scanning the sky as a frown shaped his lips, as usual. "The sky is darkening and it looks like a storm is about to hit."

"Is that a bad thing?" Minnie asked.

"Anything different that happens here is a bad thing," came Fabian's reply.

With long strides, Fabian walked towards us before stretching his hands out for us to take. Immediately, I thought back to the times in which Dimitri had brought me teleporting and the sensation that came from just mere memory made me cringe.

Dimitri's hand reached down to clasp mine tightly in his grip as he placed a hand on his brother's outstretched palm. Minnie took Fabian's other hand, linking her free one with mine.

Fabian's jaw was clenched, and I could feel the air around us shifting with his powers. "Change is a temperamental phenomenon."

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If you don't know, there are now 13 chapters already uploaded on Radish Fiction as of today. Chapter 14 is coming either today or tomorrow as well (since I'm almost done writing that chapter) so do head on over if you can't wait. ♡

Until next time. ☾