Chapter 4

Falling to Pieces

 

If there was one thing that was known, it was this one simple fact: the Division was demolished. The small wood chunks and pieces that decorated the port beach of the deserted isles was an indication that they had been very lucky to have made it alive. Somehow, the majority of the crew and staff, less a few people, had made it to the same littered sands.

Tyler Marklin, with cracked glasses on his nose, checked the majority of the crew who were slowly coming awake. Anna Anderson, a girl with a full head of blond and one strip of pink hair, was counting the supply boxes that had drifted ashore with them. Sarah Moreno was sitting on a makeshift wall near the shoreline, staring out into the ocean with a vacant look. And the two clowns, Leo and Jakob, were doing their best to gather any pieces of wood they could find. After all, they had to find ways to make shelter and build a fire for the night.

“Xavier.” The man turned to see the extremely exhausted Damien Drummond carrying a waterlogged and unconscious Markus on his shoulder. There were a couple of gashes along his arm, and an afflicted wound upon the brow of his eye, probably from getting hit with debris from within the monstrous waves. Damien supported the same sorts of affiliations on his own body, but the limp in his left leg left an impression that there was an injury there.

“No luck finding Aden and Lottie then?”

Damien shook his head. He was fortunate to find Markus with the impeding darkness of night, but with the sun gone, they would have to cease their search. Xavier purposely set a time limit so that they could see who had miraculously survived, but Damien was not about to give up.

“Look, Xav, give me another two hours. I will find Aden and the Lionsheart girl. They couldn’t have drifted far off.” Xavier pointed at Damien’s gimp leg. “You think you can continue pushing your luck on that leg? As your older brother, I say no. Tonight, we all rest and then gather our strength. Besides, you should know better than I do that Aden is strong and Lottie has a fiery spirit within her. They may even be together.”

“That is one thing I’m afraid of,” Damien muttered before shaking his head from the incoming headache. It was at this time that Tyler had run over.

“Xavier, sir, everyone here seems to be okay for the most part. The ocean took a toll on all of us.” He then turned his interest to Damien and Markus. “Let me assist you with Markus.” He went to support Markus and ushered both to go toward the makeshift palm leaf-bed-styled surface.

Turning his attention back to the blond gentleman, Tyler gasped at the way Damien was limping. “Damien, you should remain off your leg. At least, until we can determine whether or not it is broken or not.”

Damien grunted as he helped lay down Markus onto the surface of the leaves. The leg of his was still shaking despite the weight being lifted off his side. “I don’t give a damn about my leg; just let me continue searching for my younger brother. He would have done the same for any one of us without any thought to his health!”

Xavier merely grasped Damien’s shoulder and stopped him from taking a step back into the direction he appeared with Markus. “Damien, please don’t. I know you’re worried. I am too, but Aden would not want you to risk your entire leg for him. It would drive him mad with guilt, so as temporary captain, I order you to stay and have Tyler take a look at your injuries.”

Blue eyes blazed in defiance, but before he could do something about it, Sarah shrieked in surprise. Anna who stood next to her reacted accordingly. She was scared that something had jump out of the sea. Everyone on that beach shifted their attention to the direction of Sarah pointing to the ocean. Out in the water was a body hanging over a piece of driftwood. The raven hair bobbed up and down in the water as the waters lulled him toward the shore.

Leo and Jakob dropped the wood in their hands to jump into the ocean. Just as they grabbed onto the body, the wood snapped beneath the weight, causing the three to go under. Everyone felt their breath leave them as they watched everything unfold.

“Leo! Jakob!” Sarah shouted. “Aden!”

Damien pushed past Xavier who had been restraining him from going, but before he too could join his comrades in the water, Leo and Jakob both stood up in the water with an unconscious and incredibly bloody Aden in between them.

“Oh, thank the gods!” Anna cried, and Xavier had to agree. At least, to some point.

“Can you please rest now, Damien?” the man with the moon-and-stars tattoo called out. The blond ruggedly shrugged before collapsing into the sand.

“Damien!” Xavier rushed to catch his brother to support him on his side while Tyler ran over to usher Leo and Jakob to bring Aden to the spare infirmary space they had. “We need to have them rest. Sarah, check the pulse of Markus and Aden. Anna, please bring over some wet rags and a bucket of boiled water when you can.”

The camp bustled into activity while Xavier supported his younger brother. Turning his face toward the direction of the ocean and back to his mangled brothers and crew, he sighed.

He easily made his way over to the space Tyler allocated and lay his brother down with some concern. Xavier could only watch as those he loved dearly were hanging in the balance between life and death.

“I hope that kid’s okay.”

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

The girl rested peacefully even when Luke had returned from his work. The way things were going, they would soon have to leave. He was on a secret mission with Lessye, the woman whom he confused the younger girl with, but he shortly realized that they were two completely different people. He walked over to the kindling fire that he started a couple of hours prior and threw another log on it. That was all the fuel it needed to start anew once again.

“Is she finally asleep?”

Luke turned his attention to the door where a woman in her early forties stood. Her hair was auburn just like the slumbering girl in the bed, except the older woman’s was slightly butchered from a recent cutting. Luke nodded before pointing to the woman’s hair. “Lessye, why did you cut your hair that short?”

The woman gave a sigh before tossing the dagger down near the hearth. “It was something that had to be done. Don’t ask me of it anymore.” She walked into the house and shuffled through her bag of supplies. “Give these to her in a spare pack.” She handed him a simple white dress with a brown sash just below where the bodice curves into the hips. There was a pair of fairly new sandals near the door, and Lessye pointed at them. “She can have those as well. Her clothing from the shipwreck was too damaged to bother tending.”

Luke gave his partner a bemused look. “Aren’t you curious to know who she is? Normally, you are cautious around newcomers, especially ones who appear out of the blue.” He pointed to the sleeping girl’s face and then at the older woman’s.

“I thought it might have been a trap since she obviously looks like you from your younger days. Even her hazel eyes are bright like yours.”

Lessye scowled at his observation. “You must have hit your head just as hard as she, Luke. We look nothing alike.” She pulled her short hair to make that obvious. “I’ve never met her in my life.”

Luke just shrugged. “Whatever you say, Lessye. I am going to town to see if that girl’s friends are there. Maybe they got beached on the north side and are looking for her.”

And like that, Lessye was left alone with the sleeping girl in the futon. The fire danced upon the subtle expressions the girl was making in her sleep, and Lessye gritted her teeth. She knew she shouldn’t walk over to the sleeping girl, but there she was. She knew she shouldn’t kneel and push the girl’s bangs out of her face, but she was doing it. She knew she shouldn’t show a concerned expression for her, but there was no stopping it.

The younger girl in the bed mumbled incoherently in her sleep before turning her head softly into the older woman’s palm. It was then that Charlotte opened her eyes in a semiconscious state. She looked straight up at the woman before slightly smiling.

“Papa . . .” Charlotte murmured before sleep had overcome her again.

Lessye stared down at the girl before gritting her teeth. “What are you doing here, Charlotte? You shouldn’t be involved in this anymore. Why?” She whispered before getting up. Lessye had grabbed her backpack and shuffled to the bottom of her backpack where she pulled out a small black velvet box. She knew she shouldn’t do what she was thinking of, but the world had denied her every luxury. Besides, Bryan was singing from inside the box that this was what he wanted.

She opened the box, and there were two bright shining stones. One was a bright orange while the other was dark black. Grasping the vibrant orange stone in her hand, Lessye looked down at her daughter with grimace.

“I need you to keep him safe for me, Charlotte. I’m sorry for everything that will come for you—but you’ll be strong. I know you will since you take after Bryan.” Lessye placed it over her daughter’s sleeping chest. Concentrating, the older woman pushed the stone into the skin and winced when the sleeping girl began to writhe in pain.

“Come on.” Lessye pushed further. “You are the only one capable of accepting his stone without problems.” A blinding white light engulfed the room, and Lessye fell away from the sleeping girl. Charlotte was still asleep, but the pained expression was evident on her face.

“Lessye!” Heavily breathing, a panicked Luke had slammed the door open as he barged into their residence. The older woman snapped her hazel eyes up to Luke before grimacing.

“What?”

“It’s Nico. Her crew just ported at the town. I came back as soon as the fires started.” His attention snapped to the open velvet box and noticed one of the stones was missing. He gave her a puzzled look before looking at the sleeping girl.

“Luke, do you trust me?” Lessye asked.

Luke looked back at her and nodded. “You entrusted his stone to the girl, didn’t you?”

“She has the potential to stop the stone’s powers when she is able to control it.” Lessye looked into the fire before turning to the velvet box. “She just has to awaken it on her own. Bryan will help her.” The black stone that was accompanying the orange stone was eerily singing for her to use it, but she ignored it.

Luke noticed her staring and grabbed her hand. He stared at her hazel eyes and then back at the girl. “I do not doubt your judgment, so we must now do our best to keep the original Relic stone at bay. It is our duty as the Protectors.”

Lessye snapped the box shut and dropped it into the contents of her backpack. “We leave with the girl now. Let’s move.” Lessye went to pour water over the fire that was kindling while Luke had gone over to the futon to pick Charlotte up in her sleep. Her head lulled over Luke’s shoulder into his neck as Luke shifted her comfortably in his arms. “Your daughter sure looks nothing like you.”

Lessye grabbed their belongings and touched Luke with her hand. Closing her eyes she imagined of a safe place where Charlotte could be left in good hands. “I don’t know if the fates are being cruel or kind.” She finally admonished, and felt a tug to their next destination. Lessye immediately jumped on it, teleporting into the night. “The battle has begun for the stones. We must prepare.”

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

As night began to fall where the stars shone brightly and the moon lay up in the sky in its waning state, there was not much time for peace as the world had taken a drastic turn for the worse. But in due time, things would set its course. Olivia was sitting in the quarters of her ship. With an intent stare to the box she had inherited from the fleet admiral, she could only frown. The previous evening’s conversation replayed over and over in her head. She tried to work around the reality of the stones and just could not escape the feeling that the state was behind this whole fiasco. The unfortunate thing about the whole thing was that she had no real concrete evidence.

A soft knock came upon her door as the inventor snapped the box shut and stored it under a secret compartment of her desk. For the safety of her crew and herself, she had to keep those stones under lock and key. “Enter.”

The door opened, and Belle appeared. She appeared nervous and excited at the same time. The inventor could see that as they finally sailed on one of her own manufactured ships. In Belle’s arms was her work clipboard with all the maintenance checks and personnel. “I came with the quarterly updates.”

Olivia nodded, looking out the window to her left. While her room was spacious where she could relax, she still did not sit comfortably on a ship in the middle of Mother Nature.

As it stood, Mother Nature had a way of wrecking many of her inventions lately. Every one-tenth-inch scale boat she had ever created wound up breaking under the sheer force of the waves within the simulator back in Chiariotti. Sometimes, the simulations itself became a nightmare and trauma whenever she felt the waves slightly rocking into the hull of the ship. The whole trip made her first voyage away from Chiariotti quite the feat.

“How are we doing on time?” she asked, turning her attention to the straight-haired woman before her. “I wanted to be sure the mechanics of the ship were going smoothly. The ocean riptides and waves haven’t damaged the hull, have they?”

If there was anything Olivia was careful about, it was how her inventions fared the first time they started. This ship was a by-product of hard work, diligence, and effort over the past few years.

“Everything is running smoothly, ma’am. The schematics you gave us prior to us leaving helped finish the last of the kinks in preparing. The robots have all been programmed to do a maintenance check of the engines every three to four hours. The hull has not been damaged either, and we should be thankful that we managed to miss the squall that passed through this region.”

Olivia nodded at this before sighing. If she had one concern, it was being caught in a storm, and that would definitely put a kink in her plans. “If I read the mechanics of the barotropic metric system along with the topography of this region correctly, there should not be a storm in the next week or two. Am I correct to believe that?”

Belle nodded her head before looking at her clipboard. “Correct. We can rest assured that the ship will not experience a storm for some time.” Belle fidgeted in her spot before looking out of the window. “I just hope Anna is all right. I haven’t received any letter from her in the past two weeks. It had me greatly concerned.”

Olivia grimaced before shuffling through some of her papers on her desk. She was holding the readings on all the ships her brother had assembled together for those wishing to use and own a vessel. Every model he created, he had it give a signal back every two to three days to be sure it was all right. If there was some fault with the ship, it would also send a signal of distress. Unfortunately, she was staring at the Division’s signals of distress. Her brother had given one of his first-generation ships out to Xavier Drummond, a man who was ambitious in fighting for the organization. Admiral Julian saw that the man had potential, which then led her brother to creating the Division in the first place.

“What is it, Lady Olivia?” asked the scientist.

As to not give too much concern to her fellow shipmate, Olivia placed down the papers before shaking her head. “I think your twin will be fine. But to be safe, let’s instruct Radium to increase our speed from twelve to eighteen knots. The Division was shown to be around this area as of dusk.”

That was if it was still a ship after dusk. She kept that thought to herself as Belle left her office with a smile.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

“Keep a warm blanket over him, Anna. The captain will get pneumonia if we do not warm him up. Though be careful of his back. Sarah, bring the bucket of water over. No, that’s the dirty water, the other one.”

Aden grunted as a warm blanket was placed on top of him while he slept. He felt the embers of the fire, but no one had placed him next to it.

“Tyler, you really know what to do in a pinch, don’t you?” Anna giggled while Tyler felt a blush creep up his cheeks.

“I learned first aid through a satellite campus of . . . the academy,” he stuttered bashfully before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “At any rate, Damien, can you flex your foot for me?” Aden was lying on his stomach on what felt like leaves, but he couldn’t move from that position. It was awkward to even attempt to move, but he turned his head to open his eyes. The darkness was hard to fight, but he had to see what his crew had been taken down to.

“Bloody wonkers, that is painful.” The blond grimaced again before doing as Tyler instructed.

“Half your quad was ripped, and all you say is painful,” spoke a bemused Xavier. He was sitting with a stick in his hand, poking at the embers. “I don’t know how Tyler did it, but I felt like throwing up as you stripped your breeches. Your leg is gnarly.”

Markus, who had awoken, sat with his back against a palm tree and his arm slung in a makeshift sling. “I think the worst injuries are by far Damien’s and Aden’s. That wicked gash across his back would make anyone cringe.”

Aden grunted silently. No wonder, his back was burning like hell.

“Damien, you’re turning pale. Are you all right?” Sarah reached over to the male with a wet cloth to dab his forehead, but he shook his head.

“Fine,” he gritted out through his teeth before Tyler instructed him to breathe slowly.

Xavier sighed before turning back to the fire. “I probably should have had Elliot install that stupid baromatic on board. We could have known about the squall ages before it happened.” Shaking his head, he looked endearingly into the fire.

Tyler shook his head. “Barotropic meter, Xavier, sir. Barometer is something else entirely.”

“I’m exhausted, so give me a break.” Xavier sighed out to prove his point. “And drop the ‘sir.’ Just Xav or Xavier is fine.”

A groan from one of the unconscious brought the attention of those who were still awake.

“What good would that have done us?” the voice was quite strained, but it showed that he was awake long enough to hear their conversation.

“Aden!”

“Sir Aden!”

“Summerfeld!”

They all had cried out in an ensemble that the captain didn’t know whose voice was whose, but that didn’t deter him from checking the collateral damage they received from the storm. “How many were killed?”

Xavier pursed his lips. “Three known casualties: Hodge, Wolfe, and Micah. Everyone else is either here or missing.”

Damien bit his lip before exhaling. “Leo and Jakob are preparing the proper pyres for them.” He grimaced as his leg was being cleaned by Tyler again. “We’ll burn them early in the morning when we are all rested.”

Aden nodded before staring intently at Damien’s injury. The leg wound had already been stitched up in a meticulous matter. He wondered whether or not he too supported those same stitches on his back.

“Y’ all look like hell.” Aden grimaced before attempting to pull himself forward. Every muscle and bone in his body were aching for him to stop. All the crew cried out in concern as he moved. They were telling him not to move and to lie still, but he paid them no mind.

“Sir, you should remain lying down. Your wound on your back could reopen.” Tyler paled when he saw the raven-haired male start to breathe heavily. “Anna, help him back down.”

Aden snapped a glare, stopping the blond-haired girl from approaching. “I’m fine,” he muttered out, but the crew knew otherwise.

“Lie back down, bruva. You just escaped mother nature’s tempest. Let’s not add to our death count.” Xavier stood up from where he was sitting. He was only half a head taller than his persistent younger brother.

“I have a crew to lead. I don’t have time to sleep,” Aden muttered darkly.

“We all get plenty of sleep when we’re dead. We all know it’s not your time yet. Come on.” He walked over to the boy but was given the same dark look Anna received. “Oooh, like that is going to terrify me. We’re related, remember?” the ragged Xavier crooned.

“I’m just worried. Who else are we missing?” Aden sighed suddenly as he was slowly rising up from the ground as the blood rushed to his head. He felt his eyes begin to blur, and it was all the emerald-eyed male could do to remain standing.

Damien, in an attempt to appease Aden so he would lie back down, said, “Some of the crew members that were below the deck.”

“And Lottie’s gone missin’ too,” Xavier replied sullenly next to the kindling fire.

“Who?” a new voice intercepted their conversation.

Aden turned around slowly to see five new people approaching their motley crew. Leo and Jakob were leading the group with ropes tied around their wrists. Tyler gave a gasp. Damien swallowed uneasily, and Xavier’s eyes were wide open with surprise.

Boring his emerald orbs into her calculating amethyst ones, he said, “Cheric.”

“Answer the question, Summerfeld. Who?” Her goggles were aloft on top of her head while she blithely pulled on the ropes for the two gentleman she had. “Unless you want Jakob and Leo to face my wrath.”

A woman with straight blond hair with a blue strand immediately had run over to where Anna was sitting while a taller gentleman with a medium-built body crossed his arms ruefully before walking straight to Xavier. The man in question brought his hand up behind his ear to scratch in embarrassment.

“Sorry for not telegramming. I must have had you worried.”

“You bet your ass I worried, Xavier. I’m just glad you’re safe and sound. Cheric permitted me to accompany her in search for you.”

Leo and Jakob both sheepishly shrugged their shoulders as they nervously laughed from where they were at while Sarah could only shake her head at the two. Of course, they would be captured and treated like prisoners of war. “What did these two numbskulls do now, Missus Cheric?”

The lady in question tugged the rope with poise. “They made me drop my root beer, but back to my question from before. I see that my secretary made it safely. Did you pick up any other strays, Summerfeld?”

“There was a girl named Lottie, but she got swept up in the rogue tide like all of us did,” Damien answered in response for Aden, and she turned her attention over to the injured lad.

“Tyler.” Olivia moved her attention to the sandy-brown-haired male with glasses. “Move them onto the ship. The host of the ship will show you where you can go. There should be supplies there for treatment as well.”

Tyler nodded at the order, ushering both Damien and Markus up with the help of Leo, Jakob, and Sarah.

Xavier was about to follow after the group, but the man who approached Xavier pulled him into an embrace. “Gods, don’t do that to me again!”

Sheepishly, Xavier returned the embrace and smiled to his companion. “I missed you too, Dean. It’s been ages since we last saw each other!”

“No thanks to you.”

Xavier ’eep’ed while he looked down to Dean. “It’s been busy.” He repeated quickly to emphasize the busy part, but he would hear no word of it. Raising his free hand, he decided to lightly flick Xavier in the face and shook his head in relief.

“Too busy to contact your fiancé? I should have hit you harder, you son of a bitch.” Xavier nervously chuckled before steering the both of them back to Cheric’s vessel.

“I’m sorry! I was following some leads and doing some investigations. I also picked up hitchhikers. You should have seen Zaine flee the way he did!” Dean merely followed after him while chuckling at his explanation.

Olivia ignored the romantic duo in the back before turning to Belle and Anna. “Belle, please help her with the supplies back onto the ship. Then configure Radium the host to medical examiner so she may administer health examinations of all the crew.”

Belle saluted to her with a bright smile and dragged her sister back to where Anna had left their supplies. All that were present on that beach now were Olivia and Aden.

“What is the girl to you, Gizmo Queen?” Olivia glared at him.

“Maybe a friend.”

Aden continued staring at the woman with the short cropped black hair and disproportioned goggles on top of her head. “Who is she?”

Olivia gave a puzzled expression. “What did she tell you?”

“That her name was—” Aden paused remembering the girl stuttering out Charie before correcting herself with Lottie. He figured she was lying about her name, but he did not want to play all his cards just yet. “Lottie Lionsheart. Do you know her?”

He was judging what her actions would be and whether or not to trust her. Olivia, in the meantime, was confused. Charlotte was a common name, and knowing her truthful friend, she wouldn’t be persistent enough to lie about her name without getting caught up in it. She also wouldn’t be able to come up with a different surname on the fly. Not thinking of it for another second, she shrugged in nonchalance. “I don’t know who that is.”

“Who’s the girl you’re looking for then, Cheric?”

Olivia ignored him as she continued back to her ship. She didn’t say anything more. After all, the fleet admiral had actually been wrong.

Summerfeld followed after the woman only to wince in pain. His back was burning like hell, and it was one thing to stand for a period of time, but it was another to actually walk. Grimacing in pain, the emerald-eyed male silently went.

It was his gut feeling that was telling him that there was more left to discover about their mysterious girl.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Charlotte was standing over a cove filled with many glittering stones. They were all brilliant in their own ambience, radiantly shining in hues of blue, purple, green, yellow, orange, red, and violet. There was something about this place that was familiar, but not familiar at the same time.

“Where am I?” she wondered, kneeling to pick up some of the stones.

“Help me.”

“Stop it!”

“Who are you?”

Charlotte dropped all the stones she grabbed and stared at her hand as if it had been burned. Normally, inanimate objects didn’t cry out when someone touched them.

“You who possesses great power . . .”

Charlotte looked up and around her to find the new voice.

“You who possess great power . . .”

She twirled around once then twice until her foot got caught on the slippery bedrock. Falling hard, she fell on top of the stones and grimaced.

“You who possesses great power . . .”

Charlotte shook her head before shouting up into the air, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Silence greeted her ears as she waited.

“Stop them.” It was different from the voice that had rung in her ears. It was a male’s soft voice and light of sound.

The brunette gave a confused look. “Stop who?”

“Those who wish to change the destiny of the world,” the soft voice replied.

The girl gave a puzzled look. “I don’t understand.”

“You must stop them.”

“I got it, but I don’t at the same time. What am I supposed to stop?” Charlotte huffed in annoyance. Surely, this voice would point it out clearly for her.

“The Relic stone,” the voice whispered.

The girl did a double take. Relic stones? Her uncle mentioned them, and she suddenly remembered the inquire she suffered on the vessel with those men. But she remembered that the stones were nothing but a legend pirates had started long ago.

“How am I supposed to stop the Relic stones if they’re nothing but an urban legend?”

“You must seal them before it is too late.” Then suddenly, his voice was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Charlotte lifted herself up and noticed that what she slipped on wasn’t just wet bedrock but blood. Shrieking, she looked down to see all the people who had died at her uncle’s estate as well as new faces from the Division as well. The ones known as Leo and Jakob were lying face down with blood gushing from varying wounds. Xavier was hanging with a noose around his neck. Damien was lying in a pool of his own blood with a discarded sword in his back.

“No . . . no . . .” she whimpered, tears falling down her face. “Please no. Not again.”

“Help me.”

She snapped her head to the side to see the familiar figure of the man that rescued her. She noticed that he was standing with a hollow look in his eyes, staring at the wall. There was a strange sensation that she had thought she saw his emerald eyes dissolve into crimson orbs, like a fire slowly growing in a hearth. Charlotte could only get lost in his gaze, remembering his fiercest and coldest of expressions and then his plain bored one, but this particular stare was one she never had she seen before. It broke her heart to see such a disheartened and disheveled stare.

“Aden?” Alarm laced her voice as she took a step forward.

“Please. Save her.” He didn’t notice that Charlotte was right beside him on that bloodied bedrock.

Charlotte reached her hand forward to the male—no, boy—standing there. While he was an adult, he looked like a helpless child desperate for help. She wanted to bury him in her embrace and tell him everything would be okay, but even she knew that was not true.

The tears slid down her face. They fell like raindrops on a battle-charred field.

“Aden?” she questioned, unsure of whether to call out to him.

His vulnerability disappeared when he turned to look at her. He reached for a strand of her auburn-brunette hair and grasped it, playing with the strands on his fingertips. Aden looked forlorn while he looked in her eyes, and she knew he recognized her from the way he saw her. It was intoxicating, and she couldn’t help but lean toward him in a trance.

“Save who?” Charlotte asked while her voice cracked. It was the entire trance needed to break itself. The world was falling to pieces around them, but the two paid no mind to the cove, stones, and blood-soaked bedrock filled with corpses shattering away.

“I couldn’t protect . . .” His voice was soft and subtle, making Charlotte shiver in fright.

“Aden? What do you mean?”

He dropped the strand of her hair and stepped into the shattering world. He allowed himself to break while Charlotte was screaming at him not to leave her.

“Her  . . . No, I couldn’t protect anything,” he said despite where he was falling into.

“Her? Who is she, Aden?” she shouted, chasing after the dream that was ending. She felt chains link her back to the darkness as he merely stared.

“Charlotte.”

“Aden! Aden, wait!” Charlotte pulled and tugged on the chains that kept her stable, her screams rushing out of her as she tried to catch him. “Aden!”

“You who possesses great power . . .”

Charlotte looked desperately around her, trying to escape the chains around her ankles, wrists, and body. Aden had already disappeared with the cove and stones, leaving only the darkness and cold.

“You who possesses great power . . .” the darkness echoed in her ears.

“What? What do you want from me?” she snapped, and there was a chuckle from behind her. Abruptly, she twisted around to find her little brother holding the chains around her. Behind him was Zaine, Claire, and that mysterious swordsman that threw her off the cliff and laughed at her attempts to get away.

“You who possess great power will die by my hand,” the mysterious coffee-brown-eyed man replied as he raised his sword up and over her head. All Charlotte could do was scream. The motion of the sword’s shadow swung down where she saw her throat connecting to her head.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Charlotte woke with a startled yelp as she grasped her neck to be sure she still had her head. Only she discovered that the room was different from before. She had remembered falling asleep in Luke’s futon with a small front entrance and fire pit, but this was not the same. In fact, she was lying on a queen-sized bed with tapestries decorating the windows and a vanity mirror to her right. There was also a basin filled with clean water on the oak drawer in front of the bed she was lying in.

 “What was it that I needed to do?” She heard the slight shake in her voice as she tried to talk herself out from being frightened. Maybe she could remember how she wound up in this room instead of the one she was in prior. But other than Aden’s cryptic message and that man’s sword at her neck swirling around her mind, she couldn’t remember anything else.

“How are you feeling?” The door opened to reveal two gentlemen. One of them was extremely tanned who had raven black hair with amethyst eyes that oddly reminded her of someone close to her while the other was slightly paler and had sandy blond hair and blue sapphire eyes. The one with the black hair had a stethoscope around his neck, moving over to the side of the bed where he checked the girl’s pulse.

“How are you feeling?” the man asked, and Charlotte sat in confusion.

“Fine?” she questioned while the man with the sandy blond hair walked over to the other side. He sat down on the feathered bed and reached forward to touch the girl’s head. The gauze that wrapped around her temple alerted Charlotte that she was given medical treatment while she was asleep.

“Do you remember what happened?” Charlotte turned her attention to the sandy blond talking to her.

That voice . . . she thought before cringing in pain. Her head was hurting now that she was recollecting everything that happened. Her body was sore. Her head was throbbing, and she felt really sick.

“Hold still, Charlotte Rothschild. You suffered a severe concussion and several lacerations all over. Simone, grab the bowl filled with water.” The one known as Simone got up and received the bowl as the one man had asked.

“Elliot, don’t you think we should tell her where she’s at so she doesn’t have a panic attack?” Simone asked with some humor before placing the bowl beside the one known as Elliot.

The olive-skinned man merely shrugged before dipping a rag into the water. Motioning for Simone to undo the girl’s gauze, he spoke with clarity. “Treating patients comes first. Locations and other irrelevant information can come after that.”

Simone leaned over with a sigh to where Charlotte was sitting and unwrapped the gauze on her head. When the gauze was off, Elliot slowly pressed the hot rag to her head, and she winced. He took into account her reaction and noted for Simone to make a note for pain medication once they were done treating her.

The checkup took all but ten more minutes, just some maneuvering of her bandages and questions regarding her memory. When they had finished, the two older gentlemen seemed pleased with the diagnosis of their patient.

Elliot sat back in his chair while Simone sat near Charlotte’s feet. She was still trying to figure out where she recognized these two men.

“How do you know who I am?” she asked while the two men looked at each other.

The one known as Simone smiled. “I’m Simone De La Croix. This distempered gentleman sitting in the chair is Elliot Cheric. To ensure your safety, you were dropped off with us.”

Charlotte listened calmly before turning to the one known as Elliot Cheric. Now she knew who the man was. “You’re Olivia Cheric’s older brother. I remember now.” She then turned to Simone De La Croix. “And you, I remember your voice in my dream.”

Charlotte lightly touched her head with her hand, trying to remember what he was telling her. Simone straightened up in his spot, watching the girl intently.

“Simone, you used it?” Elliot hissed quietly while Simone nodded, leaning forward to the girl.

“Charlotte, you have something more important to accomplish. I just hope you can change what destiny has in store for you.”