A Connection

Reaching the kitchen I see Ildi, a tray loaded high with food and his pockets stuffed with more bags.

“Really Ildi, this is a bit much don’t you think ?”

*” You're here. Great old out your arms”*

As he starts piling stuff onto my empty tray I can’t help but feel as though I’m being watched. I look around and although I can’t see anyone staring, the feeling doesn’t go away.

“Okay Ildi, I think we have enough to go for a few hours, not a few days!”

He reluctantly agrees, shoving a few more things into his pocket before heading out the door. We must look ridiculous the amount we have.

I make short smiles at people as we walk past them, all of them shocked at how much we have. I try to keep my head low to save people from seeing my flushed red cheeks.

Ildi however, seems completely oblivious as he wanders through the hall carrying the food and also somehow eating it.

When we reach the doors to the library I can see the doors have been fixed, Ildi pushes the door open and I’m in complete shock at the sight in front of me.

“Ildi. Who repaired all of this? When Salvi brought me here last it was practically destroyed”

He places all the food down on the now clean table that’s surrounded by big armchairs and a huge sofa.

*” I did. Well not me alone, but I asked Ivar if I could work on this place so you would feel a bit more at home and he gave me everyone I would need”*


“But when did you do this? I’ve seen you pretty much every day”


*” Let’s just say I’m not much of a sleeper, and besides it really did not take long at all. I just thought you liked the garden so much it would be nice for you to have another space to go to. After our conversation this morning it would seem as though I guessed right”*

I grab him and pull him into me for the biggest hug.

“You never stop surprising me or showing me what it means to have a real friend. Thank you for this “

*” It's nothing, honestly. Now, what do you want to search for first ?”*

I wasn’t sure, I had a billion questions and no idea where to start.

“How about, we try to find a book with a bit of family history in ?”

*” Great idea”*
He walks over to an area and scans the shelf before pulling three of four hefty looking books off the shelf and bringing them over to me.

*” When we were cleaning up, we found most of this was already in some kind of order. That section is family history, That one is stories from your ancestors. Most of those ones look handwritten like each person had their own diary.”*

He heads over to a smaller section.

*” This one, from what I can tell, has information on powers and things like that. This was the most damages section, a lot of the books here were torn apart so quite a few of these have missing pages “*

“I see, I wonder who would have disrespected them like that “

As soon as the words leave my lips, I know who it would have been. It would have been Arlo or someone like him who only wanted to know how to take it for himself.


*” It was pretty bad, some had claw marks in. There were a few books that looked as though the page had been ripped out neatly, that was odd”*


I look over the books Ildi has placed down. If I have any hope of finding out anything today I better get reading.

I pull one of the books onto my lap.

*The Lights*

“This one is called the lights Ildi, what a strange name for a book about family history”

*” Huh yeah”*

From his reply, I can tell Ildi has a mouthful of food, I don’t even need to look up to know that.

“What are you going to do while I read”

**GTV6A**

*” I’m going to read too to help you out “*

I look over at his smiling face, he has the smallest of the three books open and he’s staring down at it while his hand searches the table for a handful of food.

“Great, let me know if you find anything at all”

*” Well what Is it you’re looking for, Like if we leave here today what do you have hoped to have found ?”*

“I guess, I’m just looking for a connection. So many of my memories I’ve pushed away or lost. I just want to find something that’s hard proof of my belonging here “

*” That makes sense”*

We both delve into the books in front of us, I learn so much about the people that came before me, how they lived, how they got their gifts.

It was like the stories my mother told me only, more in-depth, more real. They seemed much less like a fairy tale told to children to help them sleep.

The hours go by as if we had been sitting for only minutes, but the sun seems to be setting outside and Ildi has polished off all the food items on the table.

I call out his name to make sure he is asleep, then I pull out the small diary from my pocket.
Scanning the pages once more I see the drawing and their notes, along with passages of writing.

I stop on one that seems to call to me.

*My children are growing older and I see the light in their eyes as I watch them play. To have been blessed with three children is a gift from the moon goddess a challenging one but a gift nonetheless. While they are small and unaware of the power they might hold, I hope that when they awaken they continue to do good in this world, I wish for them to have happy and full lives. Lives that are unaffected by greed *

Accompanying the passage is a small drawing of three children playing in a field, they seem happy. Although the boy doesn’t look too pleased with having two sisters.

I can’t help but chuckle at the image, what must it have been like to grow up surrounded by love and my family.

I carry on scanning through the pages before deciding to put it back in my pocket, for some reason this feels personal and I'd like to read it when I’m alone.

I continue to flick through the pages of the larger books, even standing to pull more off the shelves. Ildi too wakes up and carries on reading.

Then in a flash of intense pain, everything goes black.

I feel as though I have been hit by a car, I stand up and look around.

“Ildi, Ildi what happened ?”


I get no response and when I try to move I can't, then before my eyes, Artemis comes into view. She is played on a hospital bed surrounded by her family.

All of them looked concerned and she joined hands with a small baby. The scene seems to be frozen. I walk around them all waving my hands in front of their faces, but they don’t see me. They don’t see it here.

I walk over to Artemis, she looks so sick and I can see her side is still bandaged. I don’t understand what’s happening then I hear a voice from the corner of the room.

**This is because of you, you know that right**

My head whips around fast to see another Artemis leaning against the corner.

“How can you??.. What’s going on>”

My eyes flash between the two of them.

**I’m Aria**

“Aria? But you look so much like..”

**I am her wolf, it is why we look the same. I am part of her**


I scan over Aria, now she mentioned that her eyes are different, they have a deep purple glow to them.

**Well I was part of her until you came along and changed that**


“What do you mean, what did I do ?”

**Whatever you gave you injected us with severed our connection, Artemis is slowly becoming human and I am being forced to watch from the sidelines**

“What do you mean human, how could I have separated the two of you”


**I think that’s a question you need to ask whoever gave you that stuff in the first place**


Staring down at Artemis once more I can see her body looks healthy again, Guild washes over me for doing what I did to her for watching her suffer, never stepping in.

My eyes dart towards her hand, it’s being held up by a woman with long blond hair, the tips of her fingers are then being gripped by a baby.

“What’s going on here “


I motion to the scene.

**Artemis is dying **


“Dying what do you mean Dying?!”

**Why do you care, is that not what you have wanted this whole time ?**

“I. I never meant for her to die”

**You may not have meant for it to happen but unfortunately this is the outcome. Baby Frode helped to bring her back before, he breathed new life into her**

“The baby did that?”

**Yes Frode is, let’s just say special. But it won’t help this time, she is to far gone and he is too weak to bear that much energy**

“So there is nothing that can be done.”

I brush my hands over her hair.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted to belong”


**You could do it you know**

“I could do what?”

My eyes flash up to meet Aria who is now standing directly opposite me.

**You could save her and put us back together. With my help of course**

I don’t hesitate in my words.

“I’ll do it, I’ll save her”


**You don’t even want to know what it will do to you?**

“No, I don’t. But I have a request if you get back to her, warn her. Warn her that my sister is coming in 3 days and she is not going to stop until they are all dead “


She doesn’t say anything, simply nods.

“So what do I have to do ?”

** you are a healer right ?**

“Yes but not a good one I healed this wound before and it seems to still be open”

**That was not you, it was simply what you injected her with. Now hold your hand over mine**

I do as she says and then she places both our hands on Artemis’s Chest.

**You need to concentrate on what you’re doing. You need to believe that she is going to be okay and I’m going to get back to her**

I try my hardest but nothing seems to be happening.

“I can’t, it’s not working”


**You have to think of your connection. To Artemis, to the girls in this room. They are your family and you can save them all. Just concentrate **


Breathing deeply I close my eyes, I focus on my mother's face, her kind words. I focus on the way Artemis treated me in the woods, how she made me feel wanted. Even if I pushed it away to please Salvi.

**That’s it Sekreta your doing it**


I open my eyes to see Aria’s glowing purple, she is fixated on me.

**Your eyes they are so bright**

That’s the last thing I hear before a flash of light erupts in the room and back in darkness.

*” Oh shit oh shit. Sekreta wake up come one”*

The voice is faint but I can hear them.

**” What the fuck did you do to her Ildi”**

*” Nothing I did nothing Ivar. I woke up to the sound of her screaming then she hit the floor”*

My mind begins to unscramble and there’s a heavy beating behind my eyes.

*” Fuck come on Sekreta wake up”*

I can feel Ildi shaking me, then it's as though I’m weightless feeling myself lifted off the floor.

**” Ildi, open the bloody door she needs a doctor”**

*” Sure okay yeah. Watch her head Ivar anyway where the hell did you come from”*

**” That’s not important just run ahead and tell them we are coming “**

My eyes flutter open for a second to see a concerned Ivar staring down at me. My body pressed close to his chest.

I try to speak but nothing comes out and then once again Darkness.