Chapter 104:

Pythia POV:

We are running out of time. I have been practicing with these elements for a few days but today is the day that Lucinda and Athea come to gather the children and the few that have chosen not to fight. I hated that I would be separated from Apollo for a few days but we didn't want to take the chance of them getting a surprise attack on us and our children being caught in the crossfire of it all. I stood in Apollos room and looked around. It has changed so much in the short amount of time he has been born. I had a bag sitting on his bed and I was struggling to pack a couple days worth of clothes for him. Deep down I knew he would be safe but I've never liked the thought of being separate from him. "He will get to spend time with Lucinda, he will be perfectly safe." Delilah said, reassuring me. "That is true, she is his family too." I replied. "Just think of it as he is going to visit his grandmother and his aunt for like a weekend trip or something." Delilah said softly. She knew how much I was struggling with this. 

"You make a very valid point Delilah. Thank you." I replied. "Uh, Pythia?" Beths soft voice pulled me from my conversation. "Yes?" I asked. "You've been up here for a while, I was coming to check on you." Beth said with a warm smile. "I'm alright, It's just hard leaving him for a few days." I replied. "I can't say I understand what that feels like just yet but you know I'll be with him and the others." Beth said, walking up to me. "I know. Puts my mind at ease a little. Please check in with me when you get the chance and let me know that you are all alright." I said looking at her. "You know I will. Now let's get him ready to go, Athea and Lucinda will be here soon." Beth said, walking over to his closet. I grabbed some shoes and socks and his essentials he would need and together Beth and I finished packing a small bag for him. "That should be everything that he will need." I whispered. "Is this harder for anyone else or just me?" I asked Alley and Ambrosia through the link.

"I'm about ready to pull my hair out. I hate this." Alley grumbled through the link. "I don't like sending my babies away like this. I haven't even finished packing yet." Ambrosia replied. I laughed to myself and relaxed a little bit more, it wasn't  just me that was having a problem with this. Although they have more kids than I do. "I'm going to need a heavy drink after this." Alley said, making me laugh out loud. "I'll bring some over." Ambrosia replied. I liked that we could all talk like this. Sometimes I could hear the kids in the background if they opened it enough. "I gotta go, the twins are acting like little tornados right now." Alley said before she cut the link. "What's so funny?" Tye asked as he walked in holding Apollo. I held out my arms and took Apollo and I breathed in his scent. "Alley and Ambrosia make me laugh, I asked them how they were feeling and Alley is going to need a drink and Ambrosia is supplying." I replied laughing. "Sounds about right, how are you doing with all of this?" Tye asked. "Well I was stuck in my own head until little miss Beth came in and helped me." I replied. 

Tye walked over and wrapped his arms around us, I just needed all of this to be over and fast and in a few days time it will be. We were all ready, all of us had been prepared and we had been training our butts off, everyone has gotten so much stronger and the fact that they underestimate us gives us the upper hand because they won't be expecting what we have been doing. "We need to meet up at Alleys house. Are you ready?" Tye asked softly. "As ready as I will ever be." I whispered. I held on tightly to Apollo as we walked out of the room. I stopped in the hallway just as Angie and Brent were coming out of their room. "Are you sure we're allowed to go?" Angie asked. "Of course it is, you two need to be with the others. It will be safer for y'all." I replied. They looked nervous, this was the first time they would be seeing Athea herself. We have talked about them and it can be a little much seeing the goddess herself but when they see who she actually is all the nerves will go away. 

We all walked downstairs to see the twins along with Beth and Alex waiting for us by the front door. "About time. Give me my nephew." Jasper muttered out reaching for Apollo. I growled in response and Jasper narrowed his eyes. "Don't growl at me. Come on, we need to love on him too." Jasper said. I rolled my eyes but gave Apollo over to him. To be fair they are his protectors and they did share a special bond. We walked out the front door and we were greeted with all of my witches and our pack members. I stopped in my tracks and looked around. "What is going on?" Tye asked, looking around. "We wanted to walk over together, we know this is hard for you and Pythia and we want to show our support." Jason said, stepping forward. "We are all in this together, we start this together and we end it together." Natalie said with a smile. They all waited for us just so they could support us at this moment. Even though this isn't really a big deal to let our kids go like this, they felt how I was handling this and how Tye was handling this and so they are making a small gesture to show they really care.

I smiled at them, to see this was honestly a first. "Thank you all." I said. They parted so that we could walk through them, each of them bowed their heads in respect as we walked by. I looked over my shoulder to see that Apollo was holding both his uncles hands and they were swinging him from time to time. Together as an entire pack we walked over to Alleys house where everyone else was waiting for us. I felt nothing but unity from our pack, the love they had for us flowed off them naturally and their determination gave me what I needed to get through all of this. It seemed like our people weren't the only ones that wanted to show support. I caught Ambrosia and Jackson walking up from the side with their pack behind them, they held both their kids close to them and the look on Ambrosias face was calm but behind that I knew she was ticked that we had to send our kids away like this. Alcide and Olivia were standing with their pack in front of Alleys house. The surrounding six packs surrounded them. This was like one big family, and when we needed them most they didn't ask any questions. They didn't even hesitate.

All the families that were handing their kids over felt the love and support from literally everyone. We walked up onto the porch to stand with Alley and Stephen. "The next few days are going to be intense, difficult even but the unity we are seeing right here right now is everything." Alley said, getting everyones attention. "We appreciate all of your love and support for all of us that are sending our children off and I want everyone to feel better knowing they are with the most amazing two people we have ever met and wolves." I added. "Now, you all are going to meet Athea again but she is bringing her sister." Alley said, looking at me. I cleared my throat and stepped forward. "Her sisters name is Lucinda, you all know why we have never seen her before just like you all know that my wolf Delilah was with Lucinda for a long time. You will notice similarities between her and I and that is because I am her descendant." I said loudly and clear to make sure that everyone heard me. This was not something I had announced to everyone just yet and I knew this would surprise them, shock them even.

I looked around for a second to see that I was right, but they all recovered quickly. "I'd say we have more than similarities." Lucinda said from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned their attention to her and then back at me. We honestly looked just like, same color hair and eyes. Almost the same skin tone and our heights were identical. Lucinda and Athea walked towards us and how they dressed was the complete opposite. Athea was in her usual white dress with white flats, her hair was straight but braided on the sides while Lucinda was in a black dress with no shoes. Her long black hair was wavy and she let it flow freely. It was like Athea represented light while Lucinda represented dark which made sense. Everyone was completely focused on the two of them walking towards us and when they finally got to us Lucinda extended her arms and I gladly accepted her hug. When she stepped back she stood beside me and faced the crowd that was now gawking at the two of us.

She straightened her back and raised her head slightly and displayed a smile. "It is so nice to finally meet everyone. I am Lucinda, sister to Athea and blood relative to Pythia. I promise your children will be perfectly safe with us." Lucinda said, her voice boomed out but not in a threatening way. Her voice was much like Atheas, soft and gentle. "We will stay for just a little while to go over a few things and then we will leave. I just want you all to know how proud we are of all of you." Athea said, stepping forward. "We have been watching all of you and all of you have made amazing progress and have been handling things very well." Lucinda added. "We will meet everyone when we are done speaking to the others." Athea finished. No one moved at first until they started slowly breaking off in to different groups. "Let's go inside." Alley said. When we turned around I stopped when I looked down and saw Apollo staring at Lucinda. 

"You must be Apollo." Lucinda said with a wide smile. Apollo stretched out his arms upwards towards her and she bent slightly and picked him up. Apollo giggled when she tickled him under his chin. We followed everyone inside until we got into the living room. "There has been a change, my queens. You no longer have a week, you have a day maybe two before they come." Athea said. Wait what? Why the sudden change? "Why? What is happening?" I asked. "Bartholomew has become impatient. He is coming straight for you." Lucinda said, looking at me. The look on her face gave me chills to my core. "The elders will not be a concern anymore." Athea said, gaining my attention. "What does that mean?" Ambrosia asked. "Bartholomew killed them, they wanted to wait until the moon was full but he did not." Athea replied. Oh hell he is determined to get to me which made me feel on edge. "I will have to separate you and Delilah today. Can you keep her hidden for that long?" Lucinda asked. "Yes, I can." I said confidently. I knew I could. I've been practicing every chance I have. 

Lucinda smiled at me, "Good, let's get started then." Lucinda said, turning towards the twins. "Both you boys, I will be talking to you when I get done." She said with a smile. She made no move to let go of Apollo and I was fine with that. "You all might want to take a few steps back. Delilah will fit in here, we just need some space." Lucinda said. Everyone backed out of the room and Lucinda stood directly in front of me still holding tight to Apollo. "This won't hurt at all. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing." Lucinda whispered. I did as I was told and closed my eyes. "I'll always be with you Pythia." Delilah whispered before I felt a tug, I took a deep breath as it intensified but it was not painful in any way. When I exhaled I immediately felt like I lost a part of myself. "Lilah!" Apollo yelled. I opened my eyes to see that Delilah now stood beside me. I forgot just how massive she really was. Her thick black fur was really fluffy, she turned her head towards me and her piercing blue eyes met mine. I felt somewhat empty and bare. I had gotten so use to her being within me that I had forgotten what it felt like without her. 

"I kept the two of you still linked, you still share her gift because it will help you in the fight." Lucinda said. I ran my fingers through her fur. How is it always so soft? "You will all need to be prepared for what is to come. I have blocked Dannys vision of it but Ember will be keeping tabs. She will let you know when they are close so you can be ready." Athea said. "Thank you." Alley whispered. I remember she had asked Athea to block Dannys vision from the last fight which I thought was a great idea. He is too young to see what is going to happen. "We would like to meet with as many people as we can while we are here. We still have today to enjoy. I have blocked all visuals from the outside so even if they are here now they can't see what we are doing in here." Lucinda said. That made me feel a little better but how am I supposed to hide Delilah while we are talking to everyone? "Okay so I need to hide Delilah before we go." I said. "No, it'll be okay for now. If anyone asks I will tell them that I pulled Delilah so I could visit with her but that she will be returned." Lucinda said. 

That made me feel a little better because that would have been hard to cover especially with people moving around. "Let's enjoy a couple hours before we have to go." Athea said with a smile. "I need to speak with the twins privately real quick and then we will be out with everyone." Lucinda said, looking at the twins. I didn't ask what was going on, we all turned to walk out the front door leaving the twins with Apollo and Lucinda.
Pythia's Quest: Love and Balance in a Chaotic World
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