Chapter 98:

Pythia POV:

When my eyes opened it took them a minute to adjust to what I was seeing, I looked around and realized I was back in the grove in Atheas realm. I sat up slightly and felt different, I couldn't really pinpoint what it was but when I looked down I was in a black dress, my bandages were gone. "Uh, Delilah?" I called for her but she didn't answer. A soft growl caught my attention and my head jerked up to see Delilah walking towards me. I jumped to my feet which were bare and ran towards her. "Delilah! What is happening? You aren't supposed to be like this. Oh no.. did I lose you?" I felt my eyes go wide as I reached out and touched her. She was really standing in front of me. "It's normal in this realm, be calm all is fine." Delilah soothed. Oh right I remember this being normal, I guess my brain isn't processing everything just yet. "Why are we here?" I asked. "Lucinda wants to talk to you about some things, give you a better idea of who and what you really are." Delilah responded. "What do you mean? I'm the blessed one right? That is what we found out." I said. "Yes, you are but there are some other things that you need to know and only you can know them for now. Follow me." Delilah said as she shifted her weight to turn around. 

She stopped for a second and looked down on me before she laid her body on the ground. I didn't even need to be told what to do, feeling no pain from the gashes on my body. I easily jumped up on her back. I forget how massive she actually is. I sat up and took a look around, this place is absolutely stunning, trees were everywhere and from where I was I could see a little pond that had purple flowers lining the edges. The pathway we were on was made up of stone. This is a peaceful place to be in, even though I had been here before I felt more at peace here than I have the previous times that I was here. "Hey Delilah, what are your thoughts on what is going to happen? I mean the one you killed was flat out scary but you did so good." I said remembering it all. My first glimpse of that thing nearly froze me on the spot. "He was just one of many that we will have to fight. Although he was a bit smaller than the others, at least you have a better idea of what is to come." Delilah responded easily. I truly admired her, she was kept hidden away by herself with Lucinda to keep these things contained. 

I took a deep breath and relished in the soft mossy smell that invaded my nostrils. "So the other ones are bigger?" I asked. "Some of them are, you see, they aren't much different than normal wolves, they go by ranking. Omegas are the smallest, then the deltas and betas and then finally the alpha." Delilah replied. "How big is Bartholomew? He is the alpha supposedly right?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around everything. "I will let Lucinda show you that." Delilah replied. Show me? How is she going to do that? There are questions that were popping up in my head that I needed answers to but I knew I would have to wait. "Once you accept your true power you will see just how powerful you are." Delilah said quickly. What does that mean? My true power? "What do you mean? I've read about what I am." I replied. "Just because you found old books does not mean that it is always accurate. It was accurate for that time and for that person. Genes change and become more powerful depending on the person over time."  Delilah replied. 

That only made me have more questions. "What are you talking about? I've proven that I am limited with what I can do." I replied. "Only because you read what you did, now it's in your head that something like that will happen to you. You will understand in time though." Delilah replied as an open clearing came into view. It was absolutely stunning. It was a larger pond that had a beautiful glow to it, there was a wide long dock that lead out to the middle of it where it widened enough to have a swing and table placed in the middle of it, my eyes landed on a woman who I quickly recognized as Lucinda, her long black hair shined and she wore a dark maroon dress and her feet were bare. Her skin was nearly white as snow, she turned to look at us as Delilah stepped on to the wood, part of me thought we were going to break this thing but it didn't falter under her large feet. Lucinda had a wide smile across her face and I couldn't help but smile back at her. Her bright ice blue eyes were brighter than the last time I had seen her.

Truthfully she looked a lot better than the last time I had seen her and it made me feel really good to see her doing so well now. "I am so glad to see the two of you." Lucinda said, taking a step to the side so that Delilah could squat down. I slid off the side and looked at Lucinda, in a way it was like I was looking into a mirror, we were so similar in so many different ways. "How are you Pythia?" Lucinda asked as she hugged me. "I am well I suppose. You look much better, are you all healed now?" I asked, hugging her back. "I am, please sit down." Lucinda said. "Wait, I just realized that I am supposed to be sleeping.." I said looking at her. "Oh sweetie you are, time moves differently here so by the time we are done you will wake up normally." Lucinda said as she sat down. "I've got to be honest, I'm really confused with what is going on and my stubborn ass over there gave me more riddles than answers." I said look at Delilah. My large wolf narrowed her eyes at me before she growled lightly. "Don't be a brat Pythia, you just aren't patient." Delilah said, making us laugh. "I knew the two of you would get along really well. Can't lie and say that I have not been watching over the two of you." Lucinda said, smiling at us.

In a way I kind of figured she would be watching over us. "While I am admitting that, Delilah, why did you take so long to shift?" Lucinda asked. "That's my fault." I said quickly. Lucinda turned her gaze towards me, "I was backed into Rex and I kept fighting her on that, but I was able to hold fire and control it in a way I never had before." I added. "Plus, I wasn't expecting Rex to throw us the way he did." Delilah grunted. "I will say that one surprised me, but I am sure that Rex feels bad about that but tell me what you felt in that moment when your elements came together." Lucinda said. How did I feel? I thought back to when we were in that moment. I had so many different emotions going on at once. "Well Delilah yelled at me to concentrate on just that beast and I did and it was like I didn't have to put in much effort. I felt like a feather in a way, like I was becoming one with them? Maybe that isn't a good way to phrase that." I replied, scrunching my face together. "Well I am going to tell and show you different things and I hope that it answers the questions you may have." Lucinda said.

I looked at her and noticed how at peace she looked. "I want to know why Delilah mentioned that stuff about the books we went through. It told me what I am which is the blessed one but I have limitations." I said. "Yes, those books were for that time and for a different reason. You my dear are a direct line to me so those books mean nothing for you." Lucinda said. "So for a normal dark witch those rules and consequences only apply to them?" I asked. "Correct, you are different from them for obvious reasons. Yes, Athea and I created the dark witches but you are my blood. You are the keeper of the dark witches but the only one who can tap into white magic without combusting. You are the only one who can bend them to your will like you did with the fire. Not even Alley can do that." Lucinda said. "So the only difference between Alley and I is the white and dark magic? She controls the white while I control the dark." I said, trying to wrap my head around all of this. "Right again. Plus she is only a wolf and white witch. You are royal, white, dark and wolf. In a sense you are stronger than she is in different ways but you both are still equal." Lucinda said. 

I don't know, Alley is pretty damn strong. "Now, Delilah is similar to Rose but she can't tap into your power the way Rose can with Alley; however, if you haven't noticed Delilah is stronger than Rose when it comes to fighting. Rose is strong in her own way but Delilah is a true warrior, she fast and nearly calculated with things and her ability to feel emotions and see intent help her when she is fighting." Lucinda said. That actually made sense, this last time it was like Delilah knew certain things and I had to just trust her. "That actually makes a lot of sense, but I had asked her how big Bartholomew was and she said you would show me? I mean that one we took on was huge enough but now the others are bigger?" I asked. "Bartholomew is a lot bigger than you can imagine, here stand up and beside me." Lucinda said taking my hand, even though her skin was white as snow she had a comforting warmth about her. She pulled me to the edge of the little dock and she squatted down and dipped her finger in the water. It shimmered before I watched as an image started to come across it. 

A man was standing alone, his skin was tan and he had raven black hair, it looked like his body was literally cut from stone, his jawline was sharp and he had deep blue eyes. I tilted my head to the side and stared at the image. "That is Bartholomew in human form, he was a strong warrior. Rare for his time but he had a power hunger about him that he just couldn't control. His intent was to mix all the races and find the strongest female to rule with. Obviously we couldn't allow that." Lucinda said, looking at him. "I thought Bartholomew was a wolf?" I was a little confused. "Well it is, he merged with his wolf and somehow found the balance to still shift from human to wolf. We still don't know how he managed to do that." Lucinda replied. "So how did his wolf become so big?" I asked. "There is a reason that people believe in lycans, although back then they weren't technically lycan they were very similar, over time they became smaller in to what they are now." Lucinda replied as she waved her hand across the top of the water to reveal a horrifying looking wolf. 

I took a small step back not liking what I was looking at. This thing was what we were told as horror stories growing up. "Don't be frightened of him, he looks enormous however, trust in Delilah. There is a reason she was in charge with me keeping them contained, there isn't one she can't beat. It will be a tough battle but one you both can win as long as you work together." Lucinda said, trying to ease my nerves about this. "I don't have the strength that Delilah has, how are we supposed to work together?" I asked. It started to sound like we would both have to be there to do this. "Well that is one reason why I brought you here. You and Delilah will be separated in this fight, my suggestion is you cloak her so that she is not seen. Bartholomew will think she is still within you and just at the right time reveal her and together you take him down." Lucinda said. There was a tone in her voice that had an edge to it, she hated him just as much as we do. I hadn't even thought of that but that brings up more questions. "My dad. He did a binding spell, can that be reversed? If something happens to me I don't want him to take the fall for it." I said keeping my eyes locked on the images before me. 

"Unfortunately there is not, but one thing I can tell you is that you will come out alive, the both of you. It is going to be difficult and you need to prepare yourself for that." Lucinda said, taking a deep breath. "So when are we going to separate?" I asked. "The morning of the fight, you will need to cloak her before anything, no one can see her unless you allow them. You have got to get it out of your head that you are limited. The moment you realize you are not you will unlock the power that has been in our blood since the beginning." Lucinda said, looking at me. "How do I do that? How do I even begin to start that with this fight being so close?" I asked. "That is something you have to do on your own Pythia, remember that you are different. You are strong but the only thing holding you back is yourself. Be confident in who you truly are. Those who have come before you weren't actual queens but you are. Believe in yourself." Lucinda said, smiling at me with a sense of pride. "For now the only people you can tell about this are those you truly trust. No one else can know about this." Lucinda added. 

"Why?" I asked. "Because the less people that know the better, you need to be able to take them by surprise with this information, especially about you and Delilah being separated." Lucinda replied. "I can do that. We only have like a week or so left until all of this happens and I know you can't say much but the plan we have.. With the maze, please tell me it will work." I said partially pleading, we didn't have the time to change anything. "I can't tell you that much, just expect the unexpected which you all have done good at so far." Lucinda said, winking at me. Somehow that told me our plan was going to work and that gave me the boost that I needed. "Now, it's time for you to go back home. Remember what I said. Stop holding yourself back Pythia, let the power flow through you and you will see what I mean." Lucinda said, kissing my forehead. "By the way, your wounds will be healed when you wake up, I've made sure of that. Enjoy the nights you have until chaos comes. If you need me or need to talk to me just pray, I will answer you." Lucinda added. "Thank you for bringing me here, I was feeling uneasy about all of this and this soothes me and gives me the confidence that I have been looking for." I said with a smile. 

Lucinda smiled and cupped my face, warmth exploded within my body before darkness once again consumed me.