EVABELLE

After a very rushed shower, Evabelle slipped into bed. It was just an afternoon nap. Evabelle had never really taken any before, but since the kind, allegedly dead Anahalian man started speaking to her in dreams, it was hard for her not to stay away.

She opened her eyes in the same room she had first appeared in. It was small and empty, all except for the staircase that lead up to the wall where he always waited. When she reached the top, the golden wings rustled as he turned to face her.

"You seem rather anxious." He smiled.

"I-I just," Evabelle struggled for just a moment. "I want to learn more and understand. You said you were going to show me Jovis, a-and teach me about Anahalian culture. You also mentioned...you...you would show me the past." Evabelle spoke quickly at first, but then she began to decrease in volume, closing into a whisper. "You would show me my... memories."

The late king of the Anahalians tilted his head a bit. "I'm not going to show you your memories." He replied. "Those will come on their own with your own willpower. I plan on showing you other memories, mostly my own, so that you will understand things and, yes, learn from them." He folded his arms. "And you mentioned that a few have returned already."

Evabelle nodded. It was true. A few hazy memories that had been circling around in Evabelle's head had surfaced. So far they hadn't been much. There was one where she was standing on another part of the wall to the castle, watching others fly through golden hoops, which Evabelle now remembered their name as eternity rings. In fact, she had had played the game with her own father, the man that stood before her now. Another memory was one of her sitting on a stool in a small classroom, learning basics of math and science with her tutor, a plump Anahalian woman by the name of Chari. Even in Jovis, they had school, although since Evabelle was the princess she had had her own personal teacher.

Evabelle rocked back and forth, watching the angelic man before her. Zion Angel was his name. Evabelle felt rather stupid that she had never asked the others what his name was. He had to tell her himself. So far, over the past two weeks, the two of them had just talked. Zion wanted to know about Evabelle and what she had done for the past nine years. Evabelle wanted to know how in the world he was talking to her, and after that, she wanted to know him and his wife.

An ancient spell, Zion had explained, was how he could speak with her. To communicate from distances, Anahalians would perform the spell on one of their munera, grind in up into a powder, put it in a drink, and have another drink it. Then when the one who drank from the cup, fell asleep, the Anahalian who's feather was in the cup, could control the dream so that the two could speak to one another when they wished.

Zion went on to say that obviously the spell that he had done to talk with Evabelle was a little more complicated. He told her that he knew he was going to die, so he set into motion a plan. Zion took one of his feathers and, as he put it, made a familiar.

"But familiars are made by witches and warlocks!" Evabelle had protested. "They're illegal, and besides you can only do it with living things."

Zion had nodded and chuckled a little. "Yes," he replied. "I say that, because it's the easiest way of putting it. I took a fragment of my soul and placed it within the munera, and then preformed the dream spell. Then I gave it to Kayne to have you drink when the time was right." Her father continued on to say that when Kayne had put memories in her subconscious, he also moved the part that had Zion's soul there as well. He couldn't manipulate Evabelle's dreams to him until Evabelle decided she wanted her memories back. She had to come to him first.

After he had explained all that, he had demanded to know how Evabelle was, what she had done for the past several years. To him, time was rather void, but seeing Evabelle all grown up had given him the sense of just how long he had been gone. He had gotten misty eyes as Evabelle had told him about her home in New York, about her adopted mother and brother, about her friends and everything before she had been taken to the Sanctuary.

Zion acted like the father he claimed to be, and it had unsettled Evabelle at first, but as the same time it made her happy. She had never had a father, that she could remember at that point. When she looked into the Anahalian's eyes, identical to her own, she saw truth. She saw this man as exactly as he had declared.

Evabelle's vision then clouded over, and she began to cry. Zion's arms had encircled her. In the dream, they could not truly touch. It was not flesh and blood. It was still a dream. At first that had made her sob harder, but then even though his touch was not real, the warmth and presence was, and Evabelle returned the embrace.

Afterwards, she had gotten a few things from him, like the name of her mother. Her name was Levana Angel. Zion had had one of those smiles on his face as he said her name, the one where the eyes light up and kind of go all far away looking. Apparently, she was the responsible one. Even though it was Zion's birthright, she took charge and made sure everything was running smoothly. Zion laughed as he said that if it had been just him, the kingdom would have fallen within the hour of his coronation. It made Evabelle smile too. She sounded kind of like her mother back in New York.

That had been what they had discussed mostly over the weeks, but Evabelle had a never-ceasing amount of questions. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how she was to bring up her new issue, which wasn't entirely new. "I told you that before I came to you, I had a dream about my friends."

Zion's smile softened and nodded. "Yes, I remember."

"I...well, it scared me. And now, I've had similar dreams. You said that once I started remembering, my dreams would be more memories than dreams. I've had a few that I think are memories, but these aren't. However they... they feel too real."

Zion nodded again. "Specula. Have you ever heard of her?"

Evabelle knew the name sounded familiar. "I think...wasn't she the person who made the travel mirrors?"

Zion gave a small chuckle. "That's what you know about her?" He laughed a little louder. "She is a huge historical figure. She's the first Oracle."

"Oh!" Evabelle exclaimed, the memory coming back. When she had first visited Kayne through the mirrors, he had told her that she had made the mirrors, but he had also said that she was the first Oracle. A random thought occurred to Evabelle. "So, she had purple eyes," she said, thinking of Del and his odd irises.

"Actually, not at first." Her father cut in. He continued, smiling at Evabelle's confused expression. "Specula was a witch."

"What?!" Evabelle yelled. She knew a witch. That witch had been a good friend of Evabelle's, until she shown her true colors. "Witches are--" She stopped as Zion put up a hand.

"Let me explain. Specula was a witch that did not wish to be one. She started studying other forms of magic and stopped following demons orders. She ended up in hiding because the monsters started hunting her down. You see, witches have family crests, symbols and sayings that normally worshiped demons. Specula's was nothing flashy, but even today human beings use the symbol in ways, they believe as worshiping devils, but they are sorely mistaken. Her crest is a black star."

Evabelle blinked. "Like the symbol of the mage?"

Zion smiled and nodded. "Exactly like that. Not only was Specula the first Oracle. She is the first mage."

Evabelle's eyes widened. "What?" She exclaimed again.

Zion laughed. "That's why I thought you might have heard of her. You're staying at Calandra and Velrose Ensign's sanctuary. Those two are very devout mages. It was Specula's rebellion that ended up creating the mages, and those two revere her." He placed his hands on the edge of the wall and leaned against it. The golden light from the sunless sky made his wings appear to be glowing. He continued. "The woman gathered a few other witches and warlocks who were not happy serving the Devil and fought against those who were strong supporters of the demons. In front of them all, she magically changed the saying on her crest from "Forever, I will be Satan's hands. For God has cursed him. I will bless him." to "I am my own hands. I will never serve another but myself. I have no gods and no masters." She established the rules and laws of mages. They say it was through her studies to break from demonic reign that she discovered the power that made her the Oracle. Initially, her eyes were normal, but records claim that they began to change in color as she withdrew and started working on the rebellion. Ever since then those trademark eyes have been passed down to other creatures, giving them the ability to grab moments from the future and perceive them. It has always been seen as a great gift and the Oracle has always been revered and respected, for they were chosen by that great woman."

A knot formed in Evabelle's stomach. "What about Del?" She shuffled uncomfortably, being well aware that he was not treated like that at all.

Zion's smile fell. "Yes, in his case, he's been treated in a more opposite way for his gift." He sighed and shook his head. "It is most unfortunate. After hearing what has happened, it sickens me. Things were very different before I died."

It was a rather weird thing to actually hear someone say that it made Evabelle pause. She shook herself and opened her mouth to ask how did it used to be but then stopped. Zion promised to show her, and hopefully more of her memories would be coming back. Instead she asked, "I'm sorry. It was really fascinating to learn about Specula, but what does she have to do with my nightmares?"

Zion took a deep breath in. "Well, something else she did, before she died she didn't just pass on her gift, but she also gave a small fragment of her gift to all the leaders and heirs of the angel borns. Even though she claimed no gods, after she broke away from the demons, she did end up having a soft spot for a few of those with angel blood. That other gift is also passed down, the gift of Specula's insight."

Evabelle nodded, taking it all in, but then the true meaning of his words set in, and her heart sped up. "Wait. Are you telling me I'm seeing the future? You mean I'm going to lose all my friends?" Her voice began to shake and rise in pitch. "I'm going to fail and watch them all die!"

Zion put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. It still didn't feel quite real. "No. You are not an oracle. What you are seeing is more the past and present, than necessarily the future. The dreams are symbolic, of what could potentially happen, depending on certain things."

Evabelle's knees felt weak. She let herself drop, and curled those shaky knees to her chest. "It's showing me the path I'm on right now, isn't it?" She whispered.

Zion sat down across from her and shook his head. "It's more so, showing the path that they are on."

Evabelle swallowed and look up at him again. "But why is it showing me them like that, if I can do nothing? Why them?"

"It shows you the people you will lead. Perhaps it shows you them like that because you do have to do something, but their ultimate fate is still theirs. Specula's insight is rarely clear at first. Trust me, I know." Zion replied softly.

Evabelle shook her head. "I can't lead them. That's what it's telling me!" She cried. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and they slipped out before she could stop them. "Th-they n-need a real r-r-ruler..." She trailed off as her mind went back to what Lucis had told her in the garden. Gaaaah! How many times do I have to lose it? How many times to I have to be freaking comforted and reassured? She put her head down on her knees. This was just pathetic. She was so tired of being insecure. Why did it have to be so hard to get away from all that?

It felt as though the wind was stirring her hair, but she knew it was Zion reaching out a hand to stroke it. "I haven't seen ­­­my ­Levana in nine years."

Evabelle slowly pushed her head back up and blinked her stinging eyes at him. "What?"

"When I attached the fragment of my soul to the feather, it was an experiment. I did not know how it would work. After I died, the rest of my soul went to where the fragment was. When we die, our souls must be whole. I was worried the fragment would leave and the spell would be broken, but instead my soul joined completely with the munera as I had hoped. But that meant I would not be seeing your mother for a long time."

Evabelle stared at him. "Why would you sacrifice being with her like that?"

Zion smiled. "She's probably going to kill me again when we meet. I didn't exactly tell her my plan. Of course," the smile waned for a moment. "She didn't know we were going to die." He shook his head. "I knew you were going to need someone. I knew that I had to help you save the kingdom. I left it in such a mess, it was the least I could do." He winked. "I'm telling you this Evabelle because I believe that you can do it. I believe that are just the person to save the world. I sacrificed my death and being with my wife, because I believed in my daughter and I knew that she needed me."

Evabelle opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

A strange repetitive tapping began, and broke Evabelle from her stupor. She released her legs and looked around. Turning back to Zion, she saw his form looking hazy. "Wait!" She exclaimed, realizing that she was waking up.

The rapping grew louder and Zion and the golden light of Jovis vanished completely. Evabelle's eyes opened to stare up at the top of her four poster. The sound that had woken her was coming from her door. The knocks were quick and urgent.

Evabelle rolled off the bed, feeling peeved, but she still opened the door. Aza stood there, looking excited. Evabelle groaned. "Oh no, what did you do to Del now?"

Aza shook her head. "Nothing yet, but he better not let his guard down, because I'm definitely not going to let him get away with what he did outside."

Evabelle rolled her eyes. "Well, then what are you doing here?"

Aza bounced her eyebrows. "There's someone new here."

***

Calandra and Velrose's Sanctuary was a huge mansion. It's capacity was quite large. There were many bedrooms, and according to Calandra even the hallway with the rooms could be extended if the need occurred. But with all the rooms in the Sanctuary, only seven of the rooms were occupied.

Evabelle was aware that Velrose and Calandra were unique in their choice of guests. Other sanctuaries wouldn't help Anahalians. She figured that was the reason for the lack of company, either that or the cold aura that the two owners of the sanctuary gave just drove most people off.

The two girls crept over to the stairs. Keeping low, they peered through the gaps in the bars of the railing, down at the entry where a tall man in a green cloak with a coppery symbol on the back and the stunningly attractive Calandra stood facing a man in the doorway.

Calandra's father, Velrose, Evabelle had only met one brief time, where he saved them from an attack on the Sanctuary. He was on some council of mages, and was always out, but the man had actually come to stay in his own home for a bit. It had been a week, and Evabelle was still kind of avoiding him. He was not a cruel man, but like his daughter he was serious and had a rather cool demeanor. He hadn't tried to get close to any of them either, though. Even with him home, he would shut himself up in his study for several hours. A few others from the council had shown up, but the girls had only had quick glimpses of them. They would go with Velrose into his office and talk about who knows what. Evabelle couldn't imagine working like this man did. His dark hair had more gray that Evabelle had remembered. It could only be from all the stressful workload he put upon himself.

This new man at the door was not one of Velrose's co-workers. He was not wearing the mage's robes for one thing. He wore what looked like a long white flowy gown that did turn into pants, but at first it was hard to tell. A brown leather vest, he wore across his chest with a matching belt and boots. Another reason, was the fact that he was obviously not a mage. He was tall and slender. Long pale hair, the color of the softest sand on one of the more tropical beaches, was braided down his back. His eyes were the color of the waters that washed up onto those beaches. But the most defining feature about him were the ears. They were long and pointed, making it quite apparent that this man was an elf.

The elf man was smiling at the two stiff mages. "I shant be staying long, just one night will do." He explained.

The two girls glanced at each other. 'Shant?' Aza mouthed at Evabelle who just shrugged, and they turned back.

"Are you one of your rounds? Where is the rest of your group?" Velrose asked.

The man shook his head. "I'm not with a healing faction, Sir. I am on a different kind of quest."

Calandra folded her arms. "Do you mind elaborating?"

The elf's gaze slid from Velrose to Calandra, and his mouth twitched and his eyes glinted. "Why of course, my fair lady." He gave a small bow. "I am a herald of the second Isle and was delivering a message to the fairy queen, herself from his royal majesty, King Lir. You see I've been traveling quite a ways. I have become over exhausted and require rest. Just as I say, though, just one night shall suffice. I will leave tomorrow for the Isles."

Velrose inclined his head. "You will forgive us if we are thorough, Elatus. Recent betrayals have suspicions running high. I like to know who I am letting into my home."

The elf's, or Elatus's gaze lingered on Calandra before he tore it away and returned his attention to her father. "Oh, of course, Sir. I completely understand. Just know that an elf of my status would never dream of disturbing your humble home."

Velrose gave a grunt before responding. "Yes well I suppose one night will be fine, but there is one condition. The message that you passed to the fairy queen, I would like to have that information."

Elatus didn't miss a beat. "I know that you are currently helping a particular group of Anahalians. I thought that the information would be quite useful to them."

"You mean that you are willing to give away a message from the high king of the elves so freely?" Calandra scoffed. "And to Anahalians?"

Elatus grinned and gave Calandra a wink. "I admit Anahalians are not the elves's favorite brothers in the angel bloodline. But his majesty does not judge as harshly as some my lady. I know what they seek and the information is not necessarily meant as a secret, but more as a warning, one that I am free to share. As I said, I believe this is the exact type that they have been searching for."

"So you shall share it?" Velrose clarified.

Elatus nodded. "Perhaps when we can all speak all together."

Velrose was silent for a moment, then finally gave one last nod. "Alright as I said, the one night will be fine as long as you hold up on your side. Just know that I will be keeping a close eye."

Elatus's smile stretched wider. "I am most obliged, Master Ensign to be in such a fine establishment with such fine inhabitants." His tropical eyes flashed back over to the curvy, auburn haired mage.

"I'm sure you must be hungry," Velrose said. "Calandra will be preparing dinner. It shall be ready soon. I will show you to your room."

Elatus nodded. "Of course,"

Calandra turned and headed for the kitchen, the elf's eyes following her all the way. Velrose didn't even try to get back his new guest's attention. He merely swept around and began to ascend the stairs. Elatus began to follow, as the two girl's listening at the top, dashed back to Evabelle's room.

"Well, that guy was gutsy," Aza expressed, once the door closed behind her. "He was flirting with Calandra right in front of her father."

Evabelle shrugged. "Calandra is pretty."

Aza laughed. "Pretty? She's freaking gorgeous, but that still doesn't mean that what that guy did was smart. I mean you've either got to be stupid or extremely confident in yourself." She shook her head. "But Velrose didn't even seem aware."

Evabelle sat down on her bed. "Now that you'd have to be stupid not to notice." Evabelle stretched and gave a yawn. "I think he just knows that Calandra can handle herself."

"Hmm," Aza nodded. "Yeah, that's true." She folded her arms and sat on the bed beside Evabelle. "So besides him being a creeper, what do you think?"

"He seemed a little full of himself," Evabelle replied. "But I guess we sort of already figured that. I don't know. I don't really like him."

Aza nodded slowly. "He said he's going to share some info that the Anahalians have been searching for. What do you think about that?"

Evabelle shrugged. "I don't know. Do you think he knows where Averno really is? Or maybe he knows where the supply of the virus is coming from. I'm not really sure what to hope for." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm not ready to face Averno for real. I hope it's not that." She admitted.

Aza pursed her lips. "He said it was some kind of warning. It's got to be something that applies to fairies since he told their queen." She paused for a moment. "Well, he'll probably tell us tonight at dinner." Aza faded off, her eyes glazing over.

"What is it?" Evabelle waved a hand in front of her friend's face.

Aza didn't respond for a moment, but finally asked, "How do you think Kai's going to take it?"

Evabelle blinked and lowered her hand. "You mean having Elatus for dinner?" She hadn't thought too much about how Kai would take this. Kai had been an elf, now he was a vampire. His sister was still and elf, but he was in a fallen state. In fact, a vampire is the worst for an elf to become. "To see another elf, I'm guessing it's been a while since he has." Evabelle murmured softly. "I don't know. Kai's nothing like this guy. They're both rather formal, but Kai is far more polite and humble." She thought of her friend. With a sickening clench in her stomach, her mind swerved back to when she had first discovered that Kai was a vampire. From what Evabelle had read from Calandra's books, vampires were monsters, cold, cruel, bloodsucking demons. Evabelle had been terrified and had accused Kai as said monster. Now she knew that he was the far opposite. He was kind and respectable. He hated what he was. It was only through his sister that he got through it all. Evabelle laced her fingers together, wondering for just a moment of what Kai had been like before he had become a vampire. Had he been so arrogant like that Elatus?

Aza shook her head. "Yeah, they're totally different. I don't know how Kai's going to react, or how Elatus will." She let herself flop back over the blankets, shaking the bed slightly. "And we were finally getting him out of his room, the stupid hermit." She shook her head and put an arm over her eyes. "For some reason, I just can't see this going well."