Chapter 73
Seventy-three
Jada
Somehow, I manage to wait until the morning before knocking Zellie’s door down.
Sleep evaded me for the rest of the evening, but that doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t deserve a chance to slumber.
I’m unsure of the urgency of the situation; my mother—in whatever form she was in—didn’t deem it necessary to tell me that.
However, Zellie must sense the gravity of the situation from whatever facial expressions I’m giving.
That, or my frazzled hair after spending hours pacing and playing with the pink strands.
She sent for the others, and now Lando, Seb, Brinn, Celeste, Orion, Zellie and I sit in a circle on Zell’s living room rug with steaming mugs of coffee and tea courtesy of Brinn.
“Okay, can you repeat that?” Brinn looks as bewildered as I feel.
“A goddess, Vala, who apparently is my mother, spewed off what sounded like a prophecy and wants me to go on a wild treasure hunt, starting on some planet named Merafeth.” The words pour out of me rapidly, jumbled and confusing.
“So… your mother is a goddess.” Seb speaks slowly.
“Yes, yes. No surprise there.” Zellie waves a hand, dismissing him, and I throw her a grateful look.
We haven’t openly discussed what Pluto had said to me, and I still need time to unpack that portion of the events that unfolded.
“What I want to know is what this treasure is and what she said to you exactly.”
“Well, she said we have to start in Merafeth and there are multiple parts to the artefact. And that apparently someone else is seeking it, and doesn’t want to use it for good, and that it would throw off the balance of all the worlds and lead to disastrous things, so there’s that.”
Orion ignores my spiraling. “Tell us the prophecy, Jada.”
“Once predicted in legends of old,
An object of value—of treasures untold.
Change your future; seal your fate.
You must pass through the final gate.
Four pieces in total, needed to complete.
With them all, destiny, you cheat.
Immortality, to always be,
Start in the land of mist and sea.”
The room is silent as we all ponder what it could mean, or what we need to find. Seb breaks the silence. “‘Land of mist and sea’? Sounds like a good time to me.”
Mind reeling, I consider Vala’s words as a memory returns to me. “Elio pointed out Merafeth. He knows where it is.”
“Great! He can help us pinpoint the location. I’m sure there are records that could help us as well.” Orion adds.
“Wait—-no. Guys, you aren’t actually considering this, are you?”
“Who are we to turn down a treasure hunt provided by a goddess?” Zellie smirks.
“No. No way. You have been through enough. You’re supposed to be relaxing, remember? The city is only beginning to find a new normal. I can’t afford to leave now, either. Not with accepting the leadership position, and being an ambassador between the humans and the citizens here—”
“I knew you were accepting!” Brinn squeals, triumph causing her to grin widely.
I shake my head with a quiet laugh. “Leaving right now? It’s not the right time. We could wait.”
“I’ll do it,” Lando says. His voice carries through the room, everyone equally stunned by his volunteering.
Zellie scoffs, perhaps the only one besides Orion that isn’t fearful of Lando’s legendary scowl. “You want to go on a treasure hunt?”
“You all have important roles here. Like Jada said, it’s not a good time for any of you to leave.
I’m not needed here, and if there is someone out there who is looking for this artefact, that could potentially disrupt the newfound peace we’re growing here…
then yeah, I’ll go.” He drops his decision so casually, as if he isn’t traveling throughout the universe hunting for an item we know next to nothing about.
“You should take someone with you.” Orion adds.
Lando glares in his direction. “I don’t need anyone.”
Of course you don’t.
Zellie and I share a glance, the decision lingering between us. She would go if I asked her to, but I would never after everything she has been through.“Okay… then it’s settled. Lando will go.”
“Great. I’ll go find Elio and prepare.” He rubs his scruff once before standing and leaving without saying another word.
All of us look at each other, disbelief and excitement warring within our hearts. We deserve peace. We all do. I’m building a legacy after all.
As always, the work continues.
The wicked never rest for long.