Chapter 2

If you aren't caught up yet, people of a village have captured me and we are now questioning. They all looked at me suspiciously. "Tatsuya, what makes you so sure that a little charm necklace thingy can harm an entire village?" Ryoko questioned.

"Look who's talking, maybe you're just saying that because you li-," Tatsuya started to say but was cut off by Ryoko's hand over her mouth. She swatted his hand away and just stared at him down.

"Let's not get into that, just give her the necklace," Kaida said. She looked at me and asked, "Can please tell us how you got here or maybe who sent you."

'To be honest I don't think they'll believe me if I said I fell from a portal thingy.'

Nonetheless, I explained to them what Talila told me. They looked more than blown away by the story. "So what you're telling me is that this amulet can talk and that Osiris sent you here?" Tatsuya summarized while holding Talila, inspecting it. Both Kaida and Ryoko were looking over her shoulder.

"Pretty much," Talila butted in bluntly.

"OH MY–!" Ryoko yelled as he jumped back. Tatsuya and Kaida were unfazed by the interruption.

"Kaida please can I go and get Elder Zaya?" Tatsuya sighed. Kaida nodded and walked off. Tatsuya stopped looking at Talila. She handed Talila to me, but it was more like throwing it to me. Tatsuya and I looked at each other, shared a look, then towards Ryoko. Ryoko looked at us, laughed nervously, and walked back to the group. Silence filled the area.

"So, where am I," I asked, trying to terminate the elephant in the room.

"Mythos, the island of creature myths," Tatsuya replied.

"What you mean is that I am on an island with mythical creatures," I gushed but sounded more like a question. They both nodded.

"Such as Shapeshifters, Animal shifters, Elemental beings, Unicorns, Dragons, Elves, Fairies, etc. The list goes on," Ryoko explained while ticking off every creature on his fingers.

"So then what kind of myth are you?" I asked intriguingly.

"Well I am a very brave, very humble, very responsible animal shifter," Ryoko answered with his chin up and thump to his chest.

"You may be an animal shifter but you sure aren't responsible or brave, can't say much on humbled either," Tatsuya sighed playfully, but giggled a bit. I giggled as well, but Ryoko only sent both Tatsuya and me dirty looks. Tatsuya continued to laugh harder.

"Anyways, Tatsuya is a fire elemental being, and the girl with soft gray hair, Kaida is a water being," Ryoko retorted with sass.

"Ooooo, Can I see? Can I see? Please? Please? Please?" I pleaded with Tatsuya. She looked surprised.

"No," She responded sternly.

"Please?"

"No,"

"Please? With a cherry on top?" Our game of back and forth came to a stop when Kaida came back.

"You guys... I'm... with... with Zaya," Kaida squealed, running towards us out of breath.

A woman was running towards us as well, a hand had held onto her a long yellow dress trying to keep it out of her way of running. With a shawl around her shoulders, she was not old, more like middle-aged. While running she tried her best to keep her glasses on her but they kept sliding to the bridge of her nose. They both stopped running and leaned their back on a nearby tree.

"W... Where's the... guardian," The woman I assumed to be Zaya puffed out. Kaida said nothing but just pointed in my direction. Zaya walked over to me and bowed.

'SHE BOWED?!'

The others were startled at the action, they had questionable looks on their faces, even I did. Why is she bowing? She stopped bowing after a few seconds.

"Welcome back to Mythos island, you should follow me to the village," Zaya suggested in a soft tone. She turned on her heel and started to walk. I stood up and followed her. The others followed behind. She was way ahead of everyone, we had to run just to catch up to her.

We were walking out of the clearing and into the same forest I was dragged into the first time I was here. But this time everything was different. When we walked into a group of high shrubs we were faced with a huge metal gated crested door. Zaya opened it with no difficulty and we were standing in front of a bustling village.

Stone tiled grounds, bright sunlight peered through the trees, crowded, yet subtle. The village was loud, but it could not be heard from outside the gates. Animal shifters are walking freely in their forms and they were the type that was to be kept at zoos. People were walking calmly beside them.

A small group of markets huddled together on the far left side of us. Spices, food stalls, and small shops too. Different scents could be smelled. Houses are lined just like a neighborhood. Everything seemed perfect.

We continued to follow Zaya to a house that was separated from the other houses. It was near a secluded garden with the prettiest flowers I have ever seen.

"Tatsuya, Ryoko, and Kaida you may leave. Do not say a word about this to anyone." Zaya told them as she opened the door. Without a word, they bowed their heads and left in silence.

"We need to talk," Zaya insisted. She ushered me into the house. "I'll bring us some tea; in the meantime, please sit anywhere you'd like." She commented. I nodded and walked into a room that looked like a study. I sat down on a cushioned stool.

"Your name?" Zaya asked.

"Ayla," I replied.

"Such a very pretty name," She complimented me.

"Thank you," I told her.

"I'm sure you know my name?" She asked.

"Yes," I responded.

A few minutes later, Zaya stepped into the room with a tray in hand. She set the tray down on the table in front of me. She sat on a chair with armrests at her sides. "Your amulet ... it talks?" She asked.

"Uh... well—"

"Yes, I do talk," Talila butted in once again. Zaya was not surprised like she had seen this before. She stood up and walked over to a full bookshelf. She pulled out a thick book with a dusty purple leather cover and flipped through the pages.

"The name of this amulet?" She questioned. Not even looking in my direction, eyes still on the flipping book pages.

"Talila," I stated. Her only response was an 'mhm'.

"Ah, here it is," Zaya walked back to her chair and sat. "Well, that is an amulet with powers beyond humanity," She stated.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"There is one thing with a name like that, Talila. An amulet with powers beyond imagination," Zaya explained.

'Since when has this amulet had powers?'

"Talila, is there something you are not telling me?" I interrogated it. No answer once again.

'You only shut up when you want to, don't you huh?'

"So if Talila is such a powerful amulet why do I have it?" I asked Zaya, who was back to flipping the pages.

"Well I am not sure, but did it tell you Talila was shattered into pieces right before the previous guardian disappeared?" Zaya sighed deeply.

'What now! Talila you have lots of explaining to do,'

'I figured as much,'

'Great she is now in my head,'

'Yes, we're linked now,'

'Whatever, I'll deal with this later,'

"No, she never told me what truthfully happened," I answered Zaya.

"Well, I might as well start from the beginning," Zaya sighed, I nodded in agreement.