Haley couldn’t sleep. How could she, with all that had been said before, and with the prospect of what she may hear tomorrow? Her brain was in overdrive, leaping across each piece of information she had heard with speed so alarming it almost made her dizzy. Goddess of nature… monsters… four siblings… corrupted gods who wanted them dead…
She had hours to digest the news, and yet she still couldn’t process it. No matter how hard she tried it still seemed so… Haley frowned, struggling to find the appropriate word to describe the situation. Eventually she settled on “insane,” despite Jonathan saying that they were well past that point. She rolled over in bed, looking at the alarm clock perched on the table to her right. 11:49 glowed back at her in bright scarlet, reminding her of the red glare that had flared from Tim's glasses.
“Ugh!” She thrust her pillow over her face. No matter how much she tried to avoid the subject it kept bubbling back up to the surface of her mind.
Haley lay indecisive for a moment, then threw off the pillow as she finally came to her decision. Hastily tying her hair into a messy ponytail, she rose, tried to find her slippers and gave up, and exited the room barefoot. The mansion looked as resplendent as ever, even though most of the hallways were now shrouded in darkness. She moved so quickly and so quietly it was almost as if she was gliding across the floor, her footsteps muffled by the opulent carpet.
She passed through the corridors uninterrupted, but came to an abrupt halt mere moments later. The sound of her own name had caused her to freeze.
“… won’t allow it. If he thinks he’s going drop Haley in the middle of some magical war, he’s got another thing coming. The others, fine, if they want to. But not her.”
“I’m not saying I disagree with you, but what are you even planning to do? He’s not going to let us waltz through the front door. What happens when he tries to stop you? Are you going to fistfight him like a fourth grader?”
“So we just roll over and do nothing then?” her father said in a furious whisper.
“No, I’m saying we have to be smart about this. If we do manage to get out somehow, we’ll have to spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. Do you really think he won’t track us all over the world, trying to get her back? You heard him, he doesn’t even consider us their real parents.”
“Delusional is what he is. Obsessed with his old masters. Thinks the sun shone out of their as —”
Haley let out a small gasp that she quickly stifled with her hands. Her father had moved unexpectedly towards the door, and she slid out of the way just in time. The door pressed in even further and the latch was bolted. Deciding it was better to avoid any more close calls, she turned and hurried out to the kitchen which was thankfully deserted.
The enormous, double-doored fridge held a variety of drinks. Her eyes swept over iced teas, milk shakes, fruit juices, chilled wines, and many others. Eventually she settled on a glass of coconut water and emerged outside, ready to soak in the glorious full moon and enjoy the cool breeze.
It seemed someone else had had the same idea as well.
“Oh. Hi.” Lauren also had a drink with her, but it was a steaming mug of mint tea judging by the smell. “I couldn’t sleep either. It’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“Overwhelming is an understatement,” Haley said, taking a seat beside her. She would have preferred to be alone, but she was also intrigued by the people who she now had to call her siblings. One conversation wouldn’t hurt, right? “Talk about a bombshell.”
“You’re telling me,” said Lauren. A few yards away from her, the green aeriform horse that Sytris, Mr. Whitmore and the boys had ridden in on was kneeling on the ground, its mane billowing in the gentle breeze. It had been an enormous shock seeing them all touch down from the sky, but Lauren seemed to be completely unfazed by the bizarreness of the whole situation.
“Can you believe just a few hours ago I was panicking over the fact that I missed the meeting for my Environmental Science club’s summer trip, and now apparently I’m a goddess who was forced to flee her home by vengeful deities who want me dead even though I’ve never heard of them my whole life. Talk about a plot twist.”
“A few hours ago I was watching cheesy romance movies with my hand buried in a bucket of popcorn and microwaved cheetos. You don’t have to tell me about plot twists.” They each took a sip of their drinks, the only sound that pierced the still night for a few moments. Eventually, Haley spoke again.
“So… I mean… I don’t think any of us could have expected this — well, maybe except for Oscar — but what do you think about it?”
Lauren turned to face her, her bright green eyes reflected in the moonlight. “What do you mean?”
“Well, finding out the Harbingers exist and want us dead isn’t fun. But the idea that we’re actually divine beings, that we have a whole other family out there, isn’t it interesting to you in the slightest?”
“Tragic is the word I’d use,” Lauren said. “Home world destroyed, parents dead, kept apart from your siblings for over a decade, lunatic gods trying to kill you for no logical reason. What part of this whole ordeal is in any way appealing to you?”
Haley didn’t respond immediately. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t considered that aspect — it was the whole reason she was still awake, after all. But she supposed the hopeless optimist in her was trying to see the bright side, although it seemed it wasn’t as luminous as she’d imagined.
“Well when you put it like that…”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be a killjoy.”
“No no, you’re not.” Lauren looked at her, eyebrow raised. “Well yeah, you kinda are.” Lauren snorted with laughter and Haley let out a small giggle. For the first time that whole night, she felt a bit of the tension knotted in her chest unwind.
“It’s just ironic, you know. Next semester was supposed to be my last, and then I was supposed to go to college, become a dentist and build the perfect life. The plan was all set, the foundation was built, and then this comes out of nowhere and ruins everything.”
Haley sat up a little straighter, her eyebrows knitting together. “You wanted to be a dentist too?”
“Well it makes the most sense,” Lauren said, as if this was obvious. “My parents are dentists, and they own their office, which gets a good amount of traffic. I’d be certain to have a job at the end of the day.”
“That doesn’t really answer the question though. Is becoming a dentist what you want, or was that something you chose because it was the simplest route?” Lauren was silent as she contemplated the question, but the expression on her face gave rise to a whole new perspective entirely. “Did you even choose? Or is this what your parents wanted to you do?”
“What are you talking about?” Lauren gave a little laugh, which Haley thought she meant to be dismissive but came out rather strained. “Of course this was my decision. I chose it because it had the most desirable long-term effects. It’s the quickest, most secure route to success.”
“Quickest route to Mommy and Daddy’s approval, more like,” Haley said under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Haley took a sip of her drink.
Lauren sat up a little straighter in her chair, her expression cold. “And what about you then? Got your whole life figured out, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” Haley said in a dignified tone. “I’m still considering my options.”
Through the corner of her eyes she saw Lauren roll her eyes.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that. Life is full of twists and turns, even without the magical ones. Putting all of your focus into a single path is dumb. Nothing is set in stone; everyone should have a fallback plan.”
“Fallback plans are for when your first option doesn’t pan out the way you intended, and the first option is usually what you want to happen anyway. They aren’t made on the basis of plowing through life like a wheat field and hoping things turn out okay, which is pretty much what you’re saying.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“No it isn’t,” Haley snapped. “All I’m saying is that for all your planning, there’s no logical way to map out your whole life before you even graduate high school. There’s too many variables.”
“Maybe in your life. The rest of us probably have a bit more order in ours.”
Before she even knew it, Haley was on her feet, her coconut water slopping a little over the side of her cup. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Lauren also stood up, but unlike Haley she calmly set her mug down on the saucer she had brought with her and looked down at her sister with a rather haughty look on her face. “I’m just saying, we all saw what your parents are like earlier. Maybe if you had a stronger support system, you would actually have a clear vision of where you want to go.”
With that, she turned and walked back into the house. Haley stared after her, her eyes digging holes into the back of her blouse. She could hear blood pumping in her ears.
Her heart was racing, but even as fiercely as it was thudding against her chest she could hear the leaves of the trees in the background rustling, even though there was no breeze. Haley looked around and saw the branches flailing madly, as if the trees were shaking their fists in rage. Her anger turned to confusion, and slowly the leaves began to settle. The angry rustling stopped completely, and as she observed the sight open-mouthed, she remembered. “Goddess of nature…”
Did I do that? she wondered.
Haley knew she shouldn’t have allowed Lauren’s dig to upset her the way it had, but the comment about her parents had hit a little too close to home. The way she had managed to guess so accurately what her home life was like from a single interaction was like a blow to the stomach. True, Charles and Penelope Gibson weren’t the most nurturing and gentle parents, but they were loving.
As far as Haley was concerned they simply wanted the best for her. Sure, sometimes that meant they would often disagree about what exactly was best for her, but she knew, beneath their hard exteriors, there was love and pride for their daughter.
What did Lauren know? All she had was a bird’s eye view of the situation.
She had never seen the evenings her and her father had spent, laughing as they got splotches of paint all over their faces as he taught her how to paint. Or how she and her mother often had to flee the smell of acrid smoke from burnt goodies as she learnt how to bake, giggling as they cracked open windows and rushed to shut off the smoke detector. She held those days close to her heart, and no matter how many arguments they had she would never let go of them.
For a supposed goddess of memory, Lauren knew nothing.
Haley took a deep breath to settle herself, finished her drink, and went back inside, shutting the door behind her rather harder than she had meant to.
----------------------------------------
Somewhere around midnight, Haley finally managed to fall asleep. By the time she woke up the sun was out and blazing through her curtain. A knock sounded on her door and a voice she recognized as Tim’s informed her that breakfast was ready. He sounded in much higher spirits than yesterday.
“Coming,” she called back sleepily. It took a while for the last vestiges of sleep to leave her body and for her to muster up enough willpower to leave her bed and finish getting ready.
Determinedly avoiding the subject of last night’s conversation, she entered the dining room, where she noticed more chairs at the table than there were people in the house. She furrowed her brow in confusion, but then she noticed the newcomers. Tim was now surrounded by a handsome man with sleek, pushed back hair, deepset brown eyes and a strong jaw, who was wearing a neat black jacket with a dark blue tie. Beside him was a woman who was shorter than both Tim and the other gentleman, who was wearing a bright blue nurse’s uniform. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her face, pale and heart-shaped, looked rather tired. Judging by the way she was fussing over Tim, who was exasperatedly repeating that he was fine yet still smiling slightly, Haley guessed that these must be the Bryants.
Not too far from them were Lauren and her own parents. The Combses were a respectable-looking couple. Mr. Combs was tall and strongly built, wearing highly polished shoes, an immaculately tailored brown suit and a neatly shaven beard. Mrs. Combs on the other hand was tall and willowy, wearing an elegant white dress that seemed to flow over her like water. She wore glasses, but underneath them her eyes were a vibrant green.
Lauren glanced around and her eyes settled on Haley for a fraction of a second, then passed right over her as though she was nothing more than an ornament on the wall. Haley ignored this, moving instead to the dining table, where Sytris was dishing out plates of a variety of sumptuous meals. Each family broke up their own discussions and moved to take seats at the table.
Tim and the Bryants, Haley and her parents, Lauren and the Combses, Oscar and the Medinas, who all looked as completely out of it as they did last night, and Jon and Mr. Whitmore. There was an empty chair to Mr. Whitmore’s right.
Haley felt a wave of sadness pass through her as she looked at the chair. Under different circumstances, Mrs. Whitmore would have been sitting there.
Only after all the diners were seated did Sytris take his seat, beaming at them all.
“Good morning, all. I do believe we agreed yesterday that we would continue our discussions when everyone had arrived. And here we all are.”
“Almost all of us,” said Mr. Bryant, expression somber. “I’m truly sorry, Alan.”
“Don’t be,” Mr. Whitmore said, with a sad smile. “She’s here in the ways that matter.”
He put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. Haley half expected him to throw it off, but he merely placed his own hand on top of it.
“But don’t worry about us,” Mr. Whitmore continued in a more businesslike tone. “We all know why we’re here. The kids know everything, and now we know for certain that they’re being targeted. What we have to do now is decide our next course of action.”
“I don’t think there’s much of a decision, is there?” Mr. Combs said, his wine glass hovering an inch from his lips and an expression of surprise on his face. “They’re in danger. They have to learn how to defend themselves.”
“Well I’m glad at least one of you agrees,” Sytris said. “But apparently common sense is divisive.”
He was petty. Haley liked that.
“No one is disputing the fact that they’re in danger,” said her father, with a flicker of irritation. “But the idea is to ensure that they remain safe, not meet the danger head on. They’re not superheroes. Surely there must be a way to ensure that they can adequately protect themselves without inviting the Harbingers to kill them? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want that.”
“And what do you propose, Charles?” Mr. Combs asked. “The jig is up. The magical concealers won’t protect them forever, they were never going to. Even if they wear the accessories at some point the spell hiding them will fade. And how do you expect them to just go on living their lives knowing that they have siblings out there? Surely they deserve the chance to get to know each other?”
“And they can, there’s this wonderful invention of the 20th century, Samuel. It’s called a cell phone. You wouldn’t believe the wonders it can accomplish.”
Mr. Combs rolled his eyes.
“I have a question,” Jonathan said.
“What is it, Jonny?” Mr. Whitmore asked, clearly glad to change the subject.
“You said all of this started twelve years ago. I’m seventeen, and from what we gathered: Tim and Haley are fifteen and Oscar is nineteen. I know kids don’t tend to remember much about their childhood, but I don’t see how all of us forgot everything about the siblings we supposedly spent years with.”
A very awkward silence fell.
Mr. Medina let out a rather high-pitched laugh. “See, they are smarter than you give them credit for, Charles.” Haley’s father stared daggers at him, but Mr. Medina looked completely unconcerned. “You’re right, Jonah. To make the separation easier, your memories of everything prior to twelve years ago were removed.”
Haley’s jaw dropped. The others around the table looked aghast.
“That… that’s a major violation,” Tim said. “How could anyone even think to do that?”
“Try to understand, Tim,” said Mrs. Combs. “The only way to ensure your safety was to completely sever any ties you had to your previous life. If any of you knew, then you would have been crushed. Not to mention you probably would have done everything you could to reconnect with your siblings, and you all saw what happens whenever you get in close proximity. The plan hinged on blending you in with the mundane, leaving no magical signature behind so that you would be untraceable by the people that destroyed your home.”
“And why couldn’t we all have just stayed here? You said this place is completely secure. Why did we have to leave?”
“Sounds like an extremely cruel and manipulative thing to do,” Haley said. “Erasing our whole childhoods. Who even came up with this dumb plan?”
“Your birth parents did,” Sytris said softly. The room fell silent once more. “Lady Cyclomene and Lord Razen gave me their orders and I swore to follow them. There was no way around it.”
For almost a whole minute the only sound in the room was the clink of the Medinas forks and knives against their plates.
“So all our memories are gone?” Jonathan asked. “Forever? That’s not fair to any of us.”
“Gone? No, and certainly not forever. Memories cannot truly be erased. Even if they’re removed from your general consciousness, they do exist within your subconscious. At least, traces of them. Think of the memories like this.” Sytris held up a cup. “Whole. Solid. Clear. When a memory is removed, a kind of outline is left behind, like the ghost of a memory. Dark and formless, but never truly gone. Just like if this cup is shattered fragments will remain.”
“So they’re locked away in our head somewhere?” Tim asked.
“Precisely.”
“And how do we get them out?”
“We cannot,” said Sytris, and his gaze shifted to Lauren, who seemed to be shrinking in her seat.
Lauren pointed at herself, as if asking, “Me?”
“Of course. You are the goddess of memory.”
“Only because you said so five minutes ago! I don’t know how to restore erased memories.”
“And that’s fine,” he said patiently. “I can teach you. I can teach all of you. By now, your powers should start returning in full capacity after removing your weapons. I can teach you what you need to learn to control them. In fact, if it’s all right with everyone, we can begin as early as after breakfast.”
Haley’s father did not hesitate. He opened his mouth immediately to protest, but Haley saw (although the others could not), her mother grab his hand beneath the table. She did not look directly at him, but instead took a sip of her water and gave him a very pointed side glance and he eventually settled, albeit reluctantly. Haley didn't like that one bit.
“Very well then.” Sytris clapped his hands. “Who wants to go first?”