The room is bright. Too bright.

I reach for Thoren but he isn't there. My palm hits grass. I instantly sit up. Am not in bed or anywhere I know.

"Oh good you are awake. I was getting worried." I follow the direction of the voice.

She's standing by the edge of the waterfall in cargo shorts and a white shirt barefoot. Her blonde hair whipping around her face in the wind. I wonder how she always changes her hair colour.

"Mum?"
I get up. I can't believe it. I run up to hug her.
"Mum I miss you so much."
I can't believe she's here and alive.

"I miss you too dear."
She kisses my head gently.

"But you died." Iam confused. She frowns like she dislikes the word.

"So it may seem. Come, let me sing to you." She takes my hand and we perch on a rock dangerously close to to edge of the waterfall.

A lilting voice ensues from her as she brushes my hair gently. I start getting drowsy and rest my head on her lap. The song is familiar. I sigh contented.

"In the wee hours of the night
When the moon is nigh
The gate is open
The fierce Goddess attends to your cognomen.
As you draw up colours
Black as night
Red as blood
White as stars
Implore her and now bow to her
Hear the eternal creator
Ask her to lend you wisdom for the rite
The gatekeeper, Guardian of crossroads, universal key holder
Breath of the universe, Mother of angels."

Am so drowsy. She raises my head and I look deep into her grey blue eyes.

"Remember my love, remember."
And with that she hurls herself into the depths of the waterfall and I jump after her screaming.

I jerk upright in bed. Thoren sits up with me looking deliciously messed up.

"I remember." He looks at me his dark eyes wide as the morning sun streams in like I suddenly have a second head.

Temi bursts into my room completely ignoring Thoren her raven hair a bird's nest. Jake, Emmeline, Martha and Eric follow her. Her eyes are wild as she stares at me.

"Sing." Is all she shouts her stark blue eyes fixed on me.

"I don't....."
I feel self conscious being the centre of attention.

"I heard it in your head the moment you woke up, sing."
She cuts me off impatiently. I clear my voice feeling very self conscious as I glare at her.

"In the wee hours of the night
When the moon is nigh
The gate is open
The fierce Goddess attends to your cognomen......."
She joins me on
"As you draw up colours...."
And together we finish the song that I have just remembered is the lullaby mother used to sing to us when we were young to get us to sleep.
The room is silent.

"I think we just found. Atleast figured out half the solution."
Temi grins.

"But it doesn't make sense you realize that."
I argue.

"Excuse us but do you mind filling us in?" Jake's irritated but curious voice washes over us clearly hearing mother's lullaby bothering him.

"I think we should all freshen up and talk about this over breakfast." Martha coughs as she eyes Thoren on my bed and then me but she says nothing. The crowd disperses and I sag with relief.

"Never sing again. It's almost like you had a frog croaking in your throat." I grab a pillow and launch it at him but he easily stops it laughing.

"Give me a break I just woke up."
I move to the bathroom. I need to pee really badly. I close the door and do my business. I brush my teeth and wash my face grabbing a hair brush as I go out.

I sit infront of the dresser and start on the almost impossible task of untangling my hair. Thoren goes to the bathroom and emerges ten minutes after freshly showered and shirtless.

The hairbrush falls. He moves to me and picks it up his muscles flexing with each movement. My mouth goes dry. His tan skin glistening. He stands up and places his hands on my shoulders.

"Why don't you take a shower first?."
I mechanically stand up and head for the bathroom and slide down on the floor as I close the door behind me.

Get a grip. Am practically very much hyperventilating. I quickly strip and enter the shower. It smells faintly like my shower gel and him. I make short work of washing myself and my hair.

I wrap a towel around myself and parade back to my room trying to ignore the fact am naked beneath the towel and Thoren is seated on my bed.

I go to the wardrobe and grab a pair of light blue stretchy denim jeans, a blue long sleeved shirt and a matching Jean jacket. I get some underwear too and turn to head back to the bathroom.

I yelp dropping my clothes. Thoren is standing in front of me leaving no distance at all whatsoever. His eyes focused on me as I see a tiny reflection of me inside them. His brows are pulled together.

He pulls me to him his dark eyes never leaving mine. Am very aware of the small barrier between us. The air is charged up and I can individually feel the sparks. His fingers slowly skim up my arms leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Rivulets of water run down my back from my hair. He leans in and presses his forehead to mine closing his eyes one hand around my waist pulling me closer. I press my hands on his bare chest and I do the same.

My heart races but I feel calm. We breathe slowly our breaths mixing between us and he abruptly releases me, picks up my clothes and hands them to me. My skin tingles.

I grab them and hastily go back to the bathroom. What was that?

I dry my hair as best as I can and wear my clothes. My cheeks are flushed and my eyes are a stormy gray. I take deep breaths and head back into the bedroom after my heart calms down a little.

He's standing by the dresser chair wearing a shirt now to my relief. I walk to him smiling sheepishly.

"Sit." I don't ask why so I just flunk myself in the chair. He picks up the hair brush and starts working through my hair in a surprisingly skilled, efficient but gentle manner.

My hair is untangled and straight in half the time it would have taken me to do it.

"Where did you learn to do this?"
Has he had alot of girlfriends? I feel a pang in my chest.

"Not from girlfriends if that's what you are thinking."
He eyes me in the mirror. I blush furiously.

"Your surprisingly good at it."

"It's not that hard to learn. I have watched the girls do it given the lack of privacy in the houses in the pocket realm."
He runs his hands through to make sure all knots are gone. His brows are furrowed concentrating on the task at hand. He's cute pouting a little.

"Your my first girlfriend."
He places the brush on the dresser. He moves to my shoe rack and grabs me a pair of black sneakers that he passes to me.

I take them and bend to put them on. I stand up my hair all over me. I blow it out of my face. One of the annoyances of having long hair, no bending. Thoren laughs at me. I glare.

He turns me around as he grabs a white scrunchie from the dresser. He then proceeds to put my hair in a very orderly ponytail. I flick my head to test it and it's holding up nicely.

"If I knew you were a skilled hair dresser I would have already proposed to wake up with you everyday."
I smile at him.

"If I knew how sexy you look in a towel I would have proposed earlier for you to be my girlfriend, it's quite a show."
I grin and blush at the same time.

He leans in and kisses me softly. I push myself up but he abruptly breaks the kiss off.

"Breakfast. Am starving."
He grabs my hand and we exit my room to the dinning room where breakfast is set.

Am assaulted by the smell of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon and coffee. My stomach grumbles. I didn't know I was this hungry.

Temi is already seated besides Jake stuffing themselves. Martha is a wicked cook.

I let go of Thoren's hand as Eric envelopes me in a one armed hug as he is holding his coffee in the other.
"Morning lightbeam."
He won't stop calling me that.

"Morning Eric."
I shift uncomfortably. He releases me and I take a seat besides Thoren who is filling both our plates with each of everything. He passes me my plate as I sit.

"Hello love bird."
Temi grins conspicuously at me while she nibbles a pancake.

"Get out of my head dear sister."
I glare at her as I fork in some eggs. Delicious.

"I couldn't help myself. You have a new found glow about you."
I fork my pancakes doing my best to ignore her.

"Now you know why."
I say as sacarstically as I continue eating.

"Don't get defensive. It's just Thoren never struck me as a person who could ever want a girlfriend."

"Well he wants me."
I feel a warmth spread inside me.

"Thea and Thoren kissing under the apple tree, first comes love then comes..."
That's it.

"Shut up."
I send her a warning glare which I hope she gets given the blush creeping up my cheeks.

"Hi sis you have a boyfriend just let me tease you this once. Am happy for you."

"Just eat and let me be."
Despite myself I smile a little.

"What's going on?"
Jake asks very irritated. I almost forgot our mental conversations annoy the hell out of him because he feels left out.

"You'll know later"
Temi tells him before he can ask any further questions.

Martha and Emmeline walk in carrying bowls of icecream. I beam. Martha smiles at me and Artemis knowingly. She's keeping our breakfast tradition of strawberry ice cream.

Am happy and sad at the same time. I clean my remaining breakfast in record time and reach for my ice cream bowl.

"Careful. You don't want to fart here."
My spoon stops middair and I blush furiously with embarrassment my whole face heating up.
Thoren snickers. The nerve he has...

"What did you tell her?"
Temi gasps mid scoop laughing probably at my expression. Everyone looks at me and laughs, I get redder. I want to disappear.

I can and as am about to Martha puts an end to it.
"Since everyone has had a good laugh at Althea's expense, let's go on and discuss the impending matter at hand."
Her expression is a cross between a scowl, amusement and annoyance.

I let out an exasperated sigh as I dig into my ice cream unenthusiastically.
"We have to find someone. A goddess or so that's what the message says." Thoren says seriously. I can't look at him though he's right.

"She has to lend us wisdom for some rite." Temi adds.

"Aren't goddesses fictional?"
I can't help myself. This is useless the more I think about it.

"On a contrary, we know of two. The two goddesses of Night, Nyx and her sister, who is not clear."
Eric corrects. Of course the supposed guardian something of the darkling realms.

"But Nyx is said to have killed her sister and according to the message she is not who we are looking for." Jake concludes my thoughts.

"A dead end?" I sigh

"Maybe we missed something."
Temi is hopeful.

"Mother of angels...."
Thoren trails of thoughtful. I know what he's thinking.

"Am not an angel and I can't summon her."
I glare at him.

"You could try. Maybe you have direct access to her."
Temi tries pleading.

"Am not an angel and last time I checked goddesses didn't exist much less the night means dark. Am light."
My outburst leaves me panting.

I stand up and exit to the kitchen. Am panicking. I deny it but if it's true, that means as a dark mother then am an avenging angel, evil. Am destructive.

Am afraid of the truth. I'll be what they say Iam. The panic attack overtakes me.

I sink to the kitchen floor and put my hands on my hair rocking back and forth pulling at the roots.

A servant to my powers, I'll tread upon the ruins of realms I destroy. It's all falling together.

I can't stop myself. I rock harder. Am going to be evil. I rock more. I note the change in the environment around me but I don't care at all. Am drowning.

"Am here, calm down."
Temi walks to me and I notice the light is too bright in the kitchen. I double check to see it's coming from me.

I need to calm down. She walks to me without difficulty unlike the rest, even Thoren can't get close. She kneels infront of me.
"Get away from me."

"You are not evil."
She doesn't know that. None of them does. I can destroy all of them.

"I may become. Looks at my hair. Look at me. Am getting more stronger."

"It doesn't mean you are going to be evil."

"How do you know that?"
I don't break eye contact with her. She brushes my face gently tilting my chin so that we are deeply looking at each other.

"Because Jake and I will always be with you. I would never let that happen Thea."
They'll always be here.

And like that I pipe down. Am calm
"Thank you."
She hugs me.

"You girls need hair trims. Am going to give you make overs."
Martha pipes in.

I look at Temi and we burst out laughing as she smiles uneasily at us clearly not pleased to be the centre of our private joke.