Chapter 22

-Edited-

As mornings and nights passed, Ember was feeling the weight of what waited for her. Through all of this, Atherton comforted her and consoled her. Something she didn't take for granted as she had done so many times. They waited for the word come from the Queen, telling her that the Queen was sending her away. Ember didn't understand how she could just wait for something, that was until she remembered why she was doing this. She was doing this for Pele and Hestia. The people she cared most about and the safety of her people. The slim chance that she destroys the throne that had the blood of so many people on it.

Every time she saw the Queen or her court members all she could see was the blood on their hands, that they called necessary. The blood of mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. The blood of hard workers and children alike. It made her sick of it. She hated those who could just take such life into their hands and destroy it.

But when the Queen walked by, somehow she saw blood flow from her. Perhaps it was from her ancestor's blood or her own blood from this life. It didn't matter, all she saw from those people was horror, uncontrolled power and a menace to society.

She had worried about Astarte, worrying if she was okay as she hadn't heard a thing from her for two weeks. It was concerning that she hadn't even seen Astarte or heard from her. She had reminded herself that were other things more important than coming to see her. She would often find her nightmares focusing around Astarte or Atherton. It focused on their deaths or them leaving her.

Those were the bad nights. The nights were she fought to stay away just so she wouldn't back into the hell she experienced.

Ember sighed as she walked out of the gym, throughout all the workouts she had endured, she knew that this one would be one to make her lay in bed in pain. As Ember walked throughout the pastel halls, her chestnut brown hair bouncing as she walked. Her shirt and pants soaked with her sweat and tears. As she continued to walk down the quiet halls, her steps echoing down each hall, her mind slipped into her memories.

As she began to remember a memory from her childhood, she felt a small smile creep onto her face as the memory came into her mind.

"Momma! Momma! Look, I got you a flower crown." Ember yelled as she ran up to her mother, her front teeth missing as she smiled at her mother.

The field was filled with flowers as the grass blowing in the wind as a black-haired woman looked up from the book she was reading, her brown eyes lighting up as she saw what her daughter held before her.

"Wow, what a pretty crown. What are the flowers?" Her mother asked, gently taking the flower crown from her daughter's hands and put on her head.

"Gisdions! Your favorite and my favorite, degdlions!" Ember smiled, "Can you remind me of their meanings again, Mommy?" Ember asked.

"Of course my little princess." Her mother smiled and picked her up and sat her on her lap. "The gisdions are very important for any mother, it means luck and compassion." Her mother informed, "Things all parents need for their children."

"What about degdlions?" Ember asked.

"Those are different, they mean trust and faith." Her mother explained, "Something everyone should hold true."

"Hold true? What does that mean?" Ember asked.

"Hm... let me explain it like this; It means that you must inspire to be truthful and have faith that things will turn out okay. Even if things might turn out badly, you must keep faith." Her mother smiled, pushing a piece of hair behind Ember's ear. "Now, let's go show your father what you made." Her mother grinned and picked Ember and walked towards the house.

Ember always thought back to the memory when things seemed bleak. She had forgotten about it for a while, but she was glad that her mind brought it back. Sure, it hurt to see her mother so happy, a family all together. It stung, like salt in a wound; she knew that the possibility of having that back was zero. That fact only made it sting worse.

Ember pushed open her bedroom door and found Astarte sitting on her bed, conversing with Atherton.

"Uh... hi?" Ember asked, while overjoyed to see that she was okay. She was confused about why she was here.

"Good gods, you take forever to walk!" Astarte announced and walked up to Ember, giving her a tight hug. "You've gotten stronger. Have you been working out?" Astarte teased.

Ember's cheeks heated from the teasing. "Yeah, I would like a fighting chance." She laughed.

"Speaking of fighting, I recently came across a file." Astarte responded, "And I don't think you'll like what's inside it."

"Oh dear, what's inside of it?" Ember asked.

"Well, you'll be sent to the military base over by the Lupus settlement. You'll be late tonight, so I would recommend grabbing your stuff and having it ready to go." Astarte answered, "I won't be able to visit you personally anymore. But we have a few eyes over there." She adds, "There will be a man visiting you late at night on Fuskins. He is a Birgion, so don't freak out about the wings." She warned.

"I thought you guys only had one base," Ember spoke.

"We have one big base, we have a few smaller scattered across the land. This one is located near the ruins of the old castle." She told.

"You mean the ones near Magdion?" She asked.

"They aren't that close, maybe a few days walk between them. But he will be there to update you and you need to update him if you hear or see anything suspicious and anything that could help the resistance." Astarte stated.

"Right, but what you do?" She asked, "You will not be in danger because of this, right?" She inquired

Astarte laughed "No, I won't be. Trust me, there's nothing safer than getting these files." Astarte answered.

"Right, but what the Birgion? Won't he be in trouble? Its kind of hard to ignore someone fly over the base."

"He'll be fine. He won't fly over anything other than the walls. He doesn't have much strength in his wings." She replied.

"Is this the old one?" Ember asked.

"Yes, but he's not that old, compared to Birgion years, he's old. It's just that he is old to us. He just doesn't use his wings often enough to have the strength such a long distance." Astarte explained.

"Oh, won't he need to train for any battles we might face?" Ember asked.

"Not yet, no one other than the ones meant to protect our base knows how to fight, other than me. But they taught me how to fight at a young age, so I have an excuse." Astarte laughed.

"Weren't you like, 5 when your village was raided?" Ember asked.

"6 and a half, excuse me. I am older than you." Astarte remarked, "Being 6 and not knowing how to fight as a Neglion was basically a death sentence. Even back then, raids were constant for us before they wiped us all out in one blow."

Ember stared down. "Well, it's a good thing you know how to fight," Ember grumbled.

"It is, it means I can kick some butt if it came down to it." Astarte grinned, seemingly unaffected by the topic of her people being slaughtered.

"So tonight we are being sent over to the base?" She asked.

"Yes, now I got to go. I'll see you in a long while," Astarte spoke and jumped out the window. Ember shook her head with a small laugh.

"So I see you've gotten to know Astarte?" Ember asked Atherton.

"Well, she invited me to join the resistance now that we weren't fighting." He stated, "Before we leave for the military base, I need to tell you something." he told.

"Hold on, I need to pack my stuff," Ember replied as she began to pull open the drawers to grab the male clothing.

"It can't wait until you're done. Can I at least tell you while you pack?" Atherton asked.

"Uh, yeah sure," Ember replied.

"Well, lately, we've gotten a lot closer," Atherton replied.

"I know." Ember acknowledged.

"And I've thought about you."

"Well, I sure hope you think about me while I sob into your arms." Ember laughed.

"More than that, I've thought about what we can be," Atherton stated.

"Like, friends? Or...?" Ember asked.

"More than friends." He informed.

Ember froze for a second. Please tell her that Atherton was not asking her out, not right now.

"And I know its sudden to tell you this. Especially at this moment."

"Really? I didn't notice." Ember muttered.

"Hey, give a man a chance." Atherton defended.

"Look, Atherton, I'm not sure about how I feel about you. We've grown closer, but I'm sure if I like you like that." Ember informed. "It's just all too soon. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you on the answer soon enough." Ember spoke.

Her ears perked up as she heard a knock on the door and her eyes moving towards the door where she saw a shadow standing.