A gentle sigh escaped my lips as I looked onto the delicate form of Sarah. Her stomach slowly raised and fell from each calm breath she took. A soft snore escaped her mouth as she clung onto the stuffed bunny that I had pulled from her pack. I placed a soft hand on her head and carefully removed a few strands of hair from her head, exposing her round forehead. “Get some rest, little one.” I looked over towards Unique, and while she was giving me a calm smile. I knew that she was just as sad as Sarah had been. Her tears were silent but had been there nonetheless, and I knew why.
It was hard to leave a close friend even if it was only for a few weeks to a month.
A few days ago, with Sarah’s help we had been able to fully translate the scroll that had been given to us. It had been a mix of extremely odd Hebrew, as well as the language of tongue or as I knew it, the language of Heaven, a gift from the Holy spirit. Whoever had written this scroll had the spirit descend on them that made them write in tounges. The only reason I knew what those words said was because you needed another believer to truly understand what they were saying, it might sound unnatural or like gibberish to the mind, but a lot could be said in tongues.
I know from experience.
After we had fully translated it, and going off of a lead that Olivia had found in her studies. We decided to split the group to look into two different things at the same time. Myself, Sarah, and Unique were heading to Brazil, to look into where this scroll had been found. I would be going in case we stumbled into any more clues that might be written in tongues. Unique was going because she was an expert on the south american cultures that once called this place home. Lastly, Sarah was coming since she could read any written language so we would need her help. Now while we all had agreed on that idea right there and then. It was obvious as we boarded our flight, that two pairs of people were gonna miss each other more than myself or Olivia could have thought.
Unique and Daniel have been the closest of friends since they had meet. I was sure that Unique was Daniel’s only remaining link to the idea of family, the only one I had ever seen get him to crack a smile, and remind him that he was being a bit too much of a jerk. Also if rumors from school were true, they might be dating. So it was cute to watch them hug each other for a very long time, and how hesitant Unique seemed when we went to step on our plane first.
Sarah and Xavier, were a completely different case. From what Xavier had told me on a walk out of the library. They had meet in his home country of Nigeria when he was turning ten and she was five. They survived together but then something happened that separated them, when Xavier was brought to the island they were reunited. Xavier saw Sarah as his little sister and Sarah viewed Xavier as her big brother. Their hug had been long with Xavier mostly soothing Sarah, telling her. “We will be back together as soon as we can, we will be fine, Omo”
Once we had boarded the plane, I had taken Sarah onto my lap to sooth her a bit more. I was good at that, I was once a very popular babysitter on the island. Me and Alona made a very good team, she was often the stern one and I was the one they pushed around or went to to cry if Alona had given them a punishment. It had taken a bit but I had finally gotten the little girl to fall asleep. Pushing her chair back so it acted like a small twin bed, I covered her with a small blanket in case she got cold from the chilly air that was being spilled on us by the air conditioner.
Lady Hearthstone was not kidding when she said the island would take care of our every need. When we told her that we were leaving, she had bought our plane tickets, given us two cards to pay for things, and made sure we had first class tickets for wherever we were going. And I will say it, first class is much better than the coach class seat I had used when I first came to the island. We had so much more space, the seats were bigger and much more comfy, we had retractable tables and even a small television we could use. I was hoping that it would be exactly the same looking when we arrived in America. The plane from Tarun’s could only take us to three popular airports there, as well as one that went to The United Kingdom. We had to take mainland planes to get to where else we needed to go. This one was gonna take us to New York City, and after a few days in New York we were heading to Brazil. My daddy had gotten in touch with an old friend of his that would have information on the subject. A historian of the world and the bible, her name was Whitney Dawnbreaker.
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“Thank you,” I heard Unique say softly. “I appreciate you stepping up when I couldn’t.” She had paused the movie she had loaded up and looked at me.
“It’s okay,” I smiled at her, standing up from my seat to walk over to her. “How are you doing?” I asked. “You are really good at hiding it, but I know you are just as sad as Sarah is.”
Unique reached out and patted my hand a few times. Her light brown skin looked a bit darker on top of my horrible pale hand. “I’m okay,” she answered with another forced smile. “I’ll get over it, we all agreed on these teams, I guess I was not as strong as I thought I was gonna be.”
“You two are best friends, it’s okay to miss him over a very long journey.” I brought my hand to rest on top of her head. “We are all gonna see each other as soon as we get our job in Brazil done.”
She hesitated at first but then she leaned a bit deeper into my touch. Prompting me to rub her head a bit softer. “You are really good at this.”
“I have a furry little daughter that enjoys having her head rubbed.” I said looking over at said daughter, my animal spirit Esther who had been flipping through movies on Netflixs. Unique gazed out of the window and I knew why. We also had two more animal spirits that were following us from the air. An adorable looking green and gold griffen that belonged to Sarah, and a much larger powerful blue thunderbird. Each flap of its wings seemed to send a current of lightning running up its body.
“I know that feeling,” Unique answered. “It’s kinda nice knowing that I have more users here who see their spirit animal as a daughter rather than a sibling.” Her face grew annoyed as she added. “Mine seems to be wanting to challenge everything I tell her lately, and I don’t really know what to do. It doesn’t help that she has grown much taller than me.”
“It can be hard to be firm but also loving, but sometimes we have no choice. Just remember that you are in charge and don’t hesitate to remind her of that. How old is she?”
“Technically she is four and ten months old. I unlocked her when I was ten.”
A bit of simple math had me looking at the girl in surprise. “You are only 14 years old?”
She nodded her head causing a few tight braids to spill over her eyes for a moment. “I’ll be 15 in November.”
“That makes me the oldest on our little team.”
“How old are you?”
“I will be 17 next January.”
Unique nodded her head once more before turning back to her television. “Well I will rely on you a bit more than, hope you don’t mind being the group mom.”
“I’m sure we won’t need that.” I answered. “We are a team so we will make decisions as a team. As long as you two don’t do anything foolish while we are in New York or Brazil. I am sure that we are gonna be just fine together.”
Unique paused at that and it made me wonder if she was a bit more mischievous than she likes to let on. “I’m sure we will be fine, however can I ask you one favor?” I noticed that her cheeks had flushed a bit more giving them a nice light pink hue. “Don’t hesitate to put me in my place, I don’t think it will happen but if it does.”
I gently interrupted her. “Don’t worry,” I rubbed her head once more, enjoying the feeling of my fingers running through the sea of tight braids she had. “I know what you mean, in exchange I would like it if you helped me with Sarah.” I thought back to the words her mother had told me before we left.
“I trust you and your judgment with my little girl, punish her as you see when she misbehaves.” I giggled to myself as she added the wod, when instead of if. “I doubt she is gonna be a handful, who knows maybe traveling with two older girls will keep her on her best behavior. Being around those older than you sometimes makes you try and act older than you are. So I suppose if I am gonna be the group's mom, I hope you become the group's big sister. And don’t hesitate to call me out if you think I am being foolish as well.”
“You sure?”
I nodded my head. “Everyone needs someone to keep them in check, especially me.” I stood up nearly tripping from a bit of turbulence we stumbled onto. “And if you need me I will be right there.”
She smiled at me. This one seemed genuine, bright and warm like the sun. “What's the plan when we get to New York?”
“My daddy scheduled us a meeting with the owner of the biggest museum in the city. I believe her name is Whitney Dawnbreaker, she is a jepei user. She doesn’t know the state of our mission but she might have some insight. So see this as an educational trip before we head to Brazil.`` Her smile immediately softened as I mentioned the word Brazil. “Is something wrong?”
“No I’m fine,” she answered a bit too quickly for my liking, however if there was one thing my daddy had taught me. Don’t try to force open doors without keys, let them let you in and do your best to comfort them once they let you.
“Alright,” I said before returning to my seat that was across from her’s. Sarah was sleeping in the spot right behind me. I heard Esther giggle as I lifted her up and sat her on lap. She was in her werewolf form making her easier to hold like the child she was. My hand found the sweet spot on the back of her one ear immediately getting her to melt into my hold. “I hope you don’t mind, my precious cub, but momma has a few more people to watch, a few more are gonna join our pack, so please be kind to them. I think they are really gonna need us.”
“As long as I am still your favorite then I’m fine.” Esther answered as she moved her head out of range for a moment and asked. “Momma, if you are gonna watch them and me, who is gonna watch you?”
I smiled at her and brought my lips down on her forehead before resting my head where I had kissed her. “Don’t worry, I can watch you all and I know our father above will be watching me, we are gonna be just fine.” I took the remote from her chuckling to myself at the sharp whine that escaped her lips: As I moved away from the movie she was going to try and watch with me. “Now let’s watch something without an R rating shall we?”
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I found myself staring at the large buildings that surround us large trees with a childlike wonder similar to Sarah. Everything seemed to sparkle like the stars, from the buildings, to the massive amount of electronic signs that we drove past on the way to our hotel for the evening. There seemed to be a person for every light that was shining, the streets were crowded as people were heading into what looked like either nightclubs or just bars for a nice evening. Back home there were a few nightclubs for kids 12 to 15 and 16 to 18. However, those had adult insides to make sure no one got out of hand. I doubted that these ones would have the same adult supervision. The city was truly beautiful at night, the only issue was this city had little to no signs of the nature energy that we loved. It was odd being somewhere where so far no one had shown any signs of jepei since we left the airport. One of the workers there, had given us a few places to go if we wanted a taste of home. However, I was certain that it would be just that, a small taste of home. The air tasted funny, everything smelled off to me. Thanks to Esther I had an amazing sense of smell and it was not helping right now.
I looked over at Sarah who was kneeling on her seat staring out of the Uber driving window. A kind older man that had no problems in answering any and all questions that Sarah threw his way. “You remind me of my granddaughter,” he said with a large jolly grin. We eventually pulled in front of a large expensive looking hotel. Now personally I wanted to get us something a bit cheaper and more modest. I tried to tell my friends that while we had been giving quite possibly an unlimited budget. I at least wanted us to be a bit humble despite that, however I fell asleep for a bit on the plane. When I woke up, I saw Unique giving me a small grin and Sarah was holding back giggles. I now understood why as we pulled in front of this hotel.
“Think about it like this,” Unique said, avoiding my eyes as she chuckled to herself. “I at least got us a nice room on the 10th floor and not a suite.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as we hopped out of this uber and I at least gave this man a good tip. Judging from how happy he seemed, using the funds we had to give him a 50 dollar tip was a good idea. If I could use our high amount of funds to help people, I would gladly do it. It was a simple process to get us checked into this sparkling hotel. Our room had bright white walls, with a carpet that had a design of rectangles that were made of dark brown and light brown shades. We had two queen sized beds, Unique would have her own and I would have Sarah sleep with me in the other. Those beds had white pillows and a blanket that was mostly white with the bottom of it being a dark brown, and we had a decent sized television waiting for us.
“Sarah, wait!” I had just stepped out of the bathroom, when I saw the little girl had opened the window and had a pair of dark green wings spreading from her back. I barely had time to wrap my arms around her waist and drag her back inside. “You can’t just go flying around the city.” I said, setting her on the ground and closing the window. Shriving a bit as the late autism breeze sunk inside. It was around 55 degrees outside, much different to usual topical weather back home.
“Why not?” Sarah whined, stomping a foot on the ground. “I wanna go see the city from the air.” I heard a small buzzing noise as the girl’s small griffen spirit appeared beside her, its wings flapping so quietly she looked more like a bee than a mighty griffin. “Besides, me and Bonnie wanna go flying.”
“I know,” I lowered down to her level and set a hand on her shoulder “But, things are different here, we can’t just show off our gifts in this city. We don’t want to seem rude to everyone that can’t fly or run as fast as we can, besides they might get scared if they suddenly see a cute little girl flying around the city.” I explained, hoping that she understood. Sarah was turning 12 in two months I believe, she very much acted like an eight year old sometimes instead of being 11. There was something off about her, something happened that has made her stay as a young girl mentally. Xaiver wouldn’t tell me but just said that it was his fault, and the best thing to do is treat Sarah like she is older, don’t talk down to her.
Sarah didn’t say anything for a few moments before letting out a small sign. “Fine,” she whispered. “But it’s gonna be really, really hard not to go flying, but I don’t wanna make anyone jealous. Momma said that my gifts are from God but if I brag or boast about them, then he might take them away.”
“Your mommy is as wise, as you are smart.” I said, making her cheer up almost immediately. I checked the time on my phone for a moment, it was just getting to eight a clock here. “Now we should probably rest a bit, our dinner with Ms. Dawnbreaker is at nine so we should probably get dressed.”
“If I could make a suggestion.” Unique spoke up. “I wouldn’t mind staying at the hotel with Sarah for the evening, while you handle this meeting. I am still trying to get my senses back after that plane ride.” Unique did seem a bit pale now that I looked at her, she had said about halfway through the ride that she did not like being on planes. She didn’t trust them.
“Okay,” I said, turning back to Sarah. “Do you want to come with me or stay here with Unique?” Sarah looked from me and then back to Unique. I could almost see the cogs starting to turn in her head, probably thinking. “If I stay here, then I can go flying while she is gone.” So to try and ease this thought from going any farther I said. “I could use someone to help Unique feel better tonight and keep her company.”
That got Sarah’s attention. “I’ll do my best to make her feel better,” she said before turning on her heels and leaping into Unique arms practically strangling her in a hug. I smiled at the scene before mouthing to Unique, “please watch her.” The light skinned girl gave me a small nod in return.
As I stepped into the bathroom to change into one of the only dresses I had brought with me for the trip. I leaned up against the door and slid down it until I was sitting on the ground. It had only been a few hours with these two and it was going good, I was doing good as somewhat of the group mom. Nothing bad had happened, no one had caused any trouble yet, but I was still worried. What would happen if one of them tried my patience? I could be nice and kind, supportive and kind, but I don’t know if I could actually be firm. I didn’t want to think about what mischief would happen if Sarah realized I wasn’t as strong as I was putting on.
“Don’t let it come to that,” I said, slapping myself on the cheek before standing up. “Just need to stay strong and don’t let it come to that point.” I quickly began to undress to get changed and get another uber called. “I just wish you were here Alona, they would probably take you more seriously than me.”
I stared into the mirror for a moment before adding “Or you… Winter.”
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Okay so maybe I was not being as good as I usually was. Especially not with the dress I had brought with me. It was a gift from Alona, one that would make me look proper but also, as she put it, knock out gorgeous. It had been in the back of my closet for about a year. I had planned to wear it on my 17th birthday once I was sure I had the body to actually wear it properly. This tight royal blue dress hugged me in areas that I didn’t know I had. My heels clicked on the sidewalk as I stepped up to this restaurant of choice for my father’s friend. My hair spilled down one side of my head like a waterfall made of wavy white curls. I had heard the sharp whistles that were often thrwn Alona’s way when we went to the nightclubs for kids our age. My face blushed a bit as two of them were thrown my way as I stepped past a nearby club that had a long line of people waiting to be let in.
“It’s okay, Esther.” I whispered, upon hearing the dark growl that escaped my daughter’s muzzle. It wasn’t impossible for an animal spirit to hurt a person with no jepei aura, it just took a lot more of their power and a lot more rage than most of them held. However, Esther and I shared one common issue that we didn’t let a lot of people in on.
I was not ashamed to admit that I had anger issues, it was part of the reason I stayed so calm and humble. Because I didn’t like that side of me.
I didn’t like the side that was covered in blood.
Or that girl that loved that blood.
I stepped inside of the restaurant that I had been given. I had accidently typed in the wrong address for my uber and had to walk three blocks to get here. This place was actually located about seven from our hotel so I was gonna walk back to avoid that problem. This place was a lovely shade of dark red, with mostly round tables covered in a light shade of red I had never seen before. Before the handsome man that was working the front could greet me, I heard a voice call out to me. “Emily Walker?”
I turned around to find a beautiful woman was stepping towards me. She had long dark yellow hair, she was nearly as tall as me at around six feet. However since I was currently wearing heels, she was probably taller than my actual height of 5 '9. She was wearing what looked to be a blue suit but instead of the pants she was wearing a blue skirt that went down to her knees. I had a feeling where her table was, there were no other jepei users in this busy evening restaurant. However only one table had a small dark yellow raven perched up on a chair.
“Ms. Dawnbreaker?” I asked, gripping the edges of my dress and lowering myself down into a curtsey. “It is wonderful to meet you, you know my dadd-” I stopped myself short before saying. “You know my father,” I at least wanted to seem a bit more grown up right now. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.”
“It was fine, young lady.” She said leading towards the back table. “I had no other plans for tonight and I owe your old man a favor. I was surprised to hear that Geoff seemed to have settled down and started a family. Though I am assuming you take more from your mother than that old fool.”
My cheerful smile faded away slightly as I politely corrected this woman. “I don’t have a mom, my dad found me in snow nearly frozen to death.”
Upon hearing that her small smile dipped a bit. “I am sorry to hear that young lady, and pardon my earlier assumption.”
I forced a smile to spread across my lips. “It’s okay, how do you know my dad?” I asked hoping that would get this slightly awkward conversation over and done with.
She rolled her eyes a bit at that. “I met your dad a few years ago in a bar on the island. We had a nice long conversation and I got to know his skills and he found out about my knowledge in history of all kinds. “Back than your dad, was an energetic show off that always needed to boost and embarrass those close to him. Yet he always did it in such a way that you could never be mad about him sharing foolish stories about you, just laugh along with them since he never meant harm from them.”
“He is still very much like that ma’am,” I said hiding a small laugh behind my hand. “Especially with me as his daughter, unlike my friends I enjoy it when he tells those stories about me. It’s nice to have someone to remember those moments.”
“That it is.”
About ten minutes passed as we placed in our orders and talked while we waited for them. This woman was odd in a nice way, she was a good listener, and always asked me questions to keep our conversation going. Her dark yellow eyes were reading me like I was a book. It was around the time that our food was set in front of us that she switched our conversation back onto what I had originally come here to talk about. “Now your old man said oyu needed help figuring out a certain problem, something that my mind might be able to assist with.”
Once I had recovered from the internail first bite of the steak I had ordered. “Y-Yes ma’am, I wanted to know if you knew another about The Tower of Babel, something that might connect it to Brazil?” I did have to be careful, Lord Clearwater and Lady Hearthstone both made it very clear that we could tell no one of the job we were given.
“The tower of babel.” She said in an interesting tone. “Now what are you doing looking into something like that, young lady.”
“I am looking into it for some research, I have always been interested in history from the book I love, so I am hoping that perhaps with your knowledge in history you will hold some answers.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly at me almost as if she didn’t truly believe what I had just said. Almost as if she could tell that it was a half truth and mostly a lie. “Well,” she started in careful tone. “What I can tell you from my own little bits of research on the topic, is that the base of that tower was once where Africa and Brazil used to be connected. According to what I have found in a few old texts that I used to own, something tore them apart and spread them away. Now to mainland scientists the explanation is the tectonic plates underneath the ground began to shift and carried the land away in the process. Now while that is technically not untrue. The plates did shift and carry land away from each other, however there was another party in play.” This woman dug into her bag for a moment before pulling out a small notebook. “According to the bible,” she said after turning a few pages. “The tower was destroyed cause the people hearts went from god praise to their own glory. So than split the people into many different groups with new languages. However, there was another event that I believe happened as well. The last time a certain beast was seen walking across the earth. The Behemoth was used for the last time before our father in heaven shattered it’s spirit into two parts. and it’s gemstone into three parts. Once it had destroyed the tower and once the father had giving the world more than one language. It than dragged the continent’s to where they are now. Starting with breaking apart the center island into two piece. That is why when you look at a map and see South America and Africa they look to fit together.”
“I see,” I said, in both awe and amazement that what I used to think was a myth was starting to become more and more true with each thing I looked into. “So if someone was to go to Brazil and look around, where would they start.”
Miss Dawnbreaker didn’t answer right away. Instead she took a very slow and deliberate fork full of the citrus smelling salmon she had ordered. “Why do you ask?” She finally responded after swallowing that first mouthful.
“I just want to know.” She shook her head at me, a very slow one, one that clearly said in an odd way. “Tell me the truth.” My hands tightened against my dress for a moment as I struggled to find a way to tell her what she wanted to hear. “I’m looking for anything that could be from The Tower of Babel.”
“How come?” She asked softly. “Or have you been looking around the world for any relics that could have been left behind.” She took another bite of her salmon before adding. “Yet that doesn’t make sense, why start with something so big and not anything smaller.”
“Why are you curious in knowing why?” I asked a bit more rudely than I ever intended.
“I’m just curious, no one starts with just looking into some major history like this. I doubt that you woke up one day and decided to go looking for The Tower of Babel.” Her eyes narrowed a bit as a smile spread across her lips. “You have found that something that has wet your appetite haven’t you.” I couldn’t help but nod my head just a bit. “Was that so hard,” she asked in an oddly soothing voice. “Honestly it takes less to get my children to own up for something they have done.”
“I cannot say much,” I answered carefully, cutting another piece of steak. “I am under orders not to tell anyone of this mission, and my father thought you would be someone to help send me on the right path.”
“Your father wasn’t wrong,” she said. I hadn’t even noticed that while she was questioning me and eating her salmon. With her other hand she was writing something down on an empty page. She eventually tore it out and folded it in one hand. “I am sure your little wolf there can help you find this place.” Her eyes looked from me and over to Esther who had changed from her werewolf form into a normal white wolf. “However, I should warn you about something.”
“What is it?” I asked to take the paperfrom her extended hand and looked over it for a moment. “20 miles off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraiba, there is an interesting formation deep in the water.”
“Before I answer that, let me ask you for one more thing.” She said with a small smirk. “What do you plan to do with anything you find on this search that has even stumped me for years?”
“Wherever this journey is gonna lead me, I will do what is right with whatever I find.”
That seemed like an answer that she was okay with as sat up straight and proud. “Well then I look forward to hopefully seeing what you find one day. I wouldn’t want that information to just go to waste in a deep dark place.” I stiffened for a moment. I was sure that she knew about the library under the school, the one had been chosen to gather information for.
I really hoped that I didn’t do the wrong thing.
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By the time my dinner with this woman was over it was going on 10:30 pm. Once she had finished questioning me, we actually had a pretty good conversation, ranging from the bible and other things that she had discovered in travels. How she was nearly ready to buy the entire Museum of Natural History, here in New York. She had twin kids that were nine named Chloe and Carter that she loved to death. However, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I had said too much before all of this. There was no doubt in my mind that she knew something more. That perhaps I had been fooled and that brought up a feeling that I usually was able to keep deep down inside.
Anger.
So by the time I wished her a goodnight and began to move down the slightly less packed streets. I passed by the same nightclub that I had gotten a few whistles from. “Father please forgive me for this,” I mumbled under my breath as I saw the same dudes from earlier leaving. They looked drunk and when they saw me one of them elbowed their friend. There were about five of them in this group and it didn’t take them long to follow me.
It didn’t take long for one of them to corner me in an alley. One that I was sure no one would hear them from. I couldn’t hear the words they were saying, but I had a feeling they were drunk pick up lines. “All I need is an excuse.” I whispered to myself and it took a few minutes before one of them dared to touch me. I didn’t scream, I didn’t shout. Instead my hand shot out and hit him with enough force to send him falling to the ground like a freshly cut tree. I heard one of them call me a bitch and went to hit me. “Another excuse.” I thought to myself as I ducked and hit him hard in the stomach making him throw up whatever he had eaten in that nightclub.
By the time I had finished, I had five excuses to do what I did. Five excuses to leave them in a bloody mess on the ground, five excuses to go too far. Five excuses for why I nearly beat five men to death.
And five excuses for my new friends why I had a bit of blood on the bottom of my dress.
I headed back to the hotel, avoiding anyone that looked at me. My anger was gone, and I felt empty inside. I had made five excuses to not turn the other cheek.
“F-Father,” I whispered once more, feeling tears rush to my eyes. “Forgive me… for I have sinned.” Guilt spread through my body as I seeked forgiveness for doing the one thing I couldn’t stop doing.
Winter loved fighting, and I needed to feed her to keep calm.
“Father… forgive me.”
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