Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld

It felt like I was being pulled up into the air, which gave such a weird feeling in your stomach. And before I knew it I was back on solid ground. I blinked for a moment, because it was a lot lighter than in the underground tunnel.

I looked around and I was standing in a large room with a kind of dome for a roof. The dome had large round openings through which the sun shone, which gave an incredibly beautiful effect in the large round space.

I looked in front of me and saw Rob standing and next to Rob was a beautiful elegant woman. Before I could say anything, I looked back at the gate. But to my horror, this one was gone. I walked to the wall I had come out of. Just stones, no black, shiny liquid. What was this? Where was Renzo?

I looked startled at Rob.

“Rob, where’s Renzo?” Subconsciously I said it louder than I intended.

I saw Rob startled. “Julia, this is very inappropriate behavior.”

“Inappropriate behavior? Renzo is not here, you promised”, I said, full of emotion.

I saw Rob pull his eyebrows together and he seemed to think about it for a moment, but before he could say anything, the woman next to Rob spoke up.

“This has been our decision. We just instructed the elementor that he should go through the gate last. We immediately closed the gate on both sides before he could go through.”

I looked her straight in the eye. How mean this was. I clenched my jaw to try not to say stupid things. Because of the way she said elementor, I could tell she thought she was so much better than us.

I turned back and looked at the wall. I was really angry and I knew Renzo would be very angry too. I touched the wall briefly, but felt nothing, just cold stones. I tried to control my emotions. They had nothing to do with this. I already hated the Elders.

I turned around again, straightening my back and walking towards the woman. I extended my hand. “I’m Julia Lelieveld.”

She looked contemptuously at my hand, then looked straight at me. “I know, just follow me.” And with that saying she turned and walked to the center of the circular room. I looked at Rob in disbelief, he just shook his head and told me to stay calm.

We followed the elegant, beautiful woman. Her voice sounded like a song. But as beautiful as she looked and sounded, the way she treated Rob, Renzo and me made her very ugly.

When we arrived in the middle I saw that the floor was a lot lower. A stone staircase led to a lowered seating area. Large sofas and chairs were neatly aligned. Here and there a table in between. Three persons sat close together in an intense conversation. When we came down the stairs they looked up one by one. Each has a different facial expression.

The one who immediately noticed was the man in the middle. A tall dark man. His age was hard to estimate, he looked about fifty, but he’s an Elder, so that must be wrong. He had small wrinkles next to his eyes, but otherwise his skin was still smooth. His eyes were bright against his dark skin. He had bright blue eyes, but with a haze over them. I saw in his eyes that he was old, very old.

His hair was tied to his head in small black curls. He stood up elegantly. His tall build came across as dominant.

Beside him stood a slightly smaller man, his appearance looked like his mid-thirties, but his brown eyes betrayed that he was older too. What was probably first dark brown was now a dull brown color. His red hair and beard stood out against his white skin. He seemed less stately than the dark man.

On the other side of the dark man stood an older woman. I guessed her age in her late fifties, but like the others, her gray eyes were dull. Her hair was up in a nice big gray bun on top of her head. Her small and slender build stood out against the tall dark man next to her.

“Elementor, introduce the fifth element to us,” said the dark big man in an old, lived-in voice.

But before Rob could say anything, the woman who had brought us to the center spoke.

“Oh, she’s perfectly fine with herself, she’s got no manners,” she said contemptuously.

“Well, well Zefiros, I can always judge that for myself,” said the dark man, with little amusement in his voice to the woman who was thus called Zefiros.

She nodded and stepped away from us and joined the other three Elders.

The dark man pointed to me with his long slender fingers and nodded. I looked into his blue eyes. I felt Rob give me an elbow, with the message that it was my move. Rob really respected the Elders, and if I’m not mistaken he seemed a little scared of them too.

Without taking my eyes off the dark man, I introduced myself.

“I’m Julia Lelieveld.” And again I held out my hand. The dark man looked at me intensely for a moment and then at my hand. He took a step forward and shook my hand vigorously. The moment he touched me, I got a powerful feeling through my body. Our hands had fused together for a brief moment, and if I wasn’t wrong, he felt something at our touch too. Our eyes are still on each other. He got another small smile around his mouth and with that our grip loosened and we let go of our hands. He looked from me to Rob.

“Exceptional. You have an Arcangelosa in your circle.”

I looked uncomprehendingly from the dark man to Rob. I just saw Rob nodding at the dark man, nothing else.

“Where are my manners? I am Protus, first practitioner to know, practitioner of fire.” As he did so, he placed his slender hand on his chest.

“You have already met Zefiros, wind practitioner,” and he pointed to the woman who had received us at the gate. She nodded at me and Rob.

Now he pointed to the man with the red hair. “That’s Jorgos, practitioner of Earth.”

“Pleasant,” Jorgos said, nodding at us.

I nodded back.

“And that’s Pelagius, water practitioner.” And he pointed to the little older woman. She smiled at us.

“We from the Elders. We control the forces of the elements the longest and we dominate all other practitioners and elementors.”

The way Protus said that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Only I, as the only Elders, have previously been in contact with an Arcangelosa, an earth angel or a practitioner of the fifth element,” he added to my questioning look when he said Arcangelosa.

I was shocked by his other name, earth angel. Could it really be? Or just in their perception?

“Now we can say we’ve all met one.” He turned to his fellow Elders. “As you realize this is a special moment, for the first time in 428 years we meet an Arcangelosa again.”

I looked at Rob in disbelief, did he really mean this? In 428 years?

“Unfortunately, this moment won’t last long.” And he looked sadly in my direction. I looked at him uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, Arcangelosa. Don’t you understand that? You are far too special to be ignored. The underworld will love you. Evil will want to devour you. And at some point they will succeed. Probably sooner than later. History shows this.”

He said it as if it was inevitable that this was going to happen.

“History doesn’t have to repeat itself,” said Rob cautiously.

Protus looked at Rob. “It doesn’t have to repeat itself, but since we have more knowledge, we won’t be wrong. Arcangelosa is a chosen one, but unfortunately also a death sentence.”

I started to get angry. “Then why did I have to come here if you’re so sure I’m going to be killed soon after all?” I said angrier than I intended.

“You’ve got grit, I must admit. We wanted to see you to make sure you are actually an Arcangelosa, or as the underworld calls it, a practitioner of the fifth element.”

He paused for a moment and walked over to me. Right in front of me he stopped and studied my face as if looking for something.

“I wonder what brought out the angel in you. What terrible thing has caused you to control all the elements and have angelic power?”

He kept looking at me for a while. His gaze moved to my scar. He looked back into my eyes and as if he had found what he was looking for he stepped back.

“Only someone strong enough gets these powers. Someone who has already proven to be strong enough to survive certain events.”

I felt uneasy about what he had just said. I looked at Rob who was standing next to me and he looked at me searchingly. I quickly looked away. I didn’t want him to take it any further. If only Renzo were with me. I felt alone, lost.

I didn’t want to talk about this. About what made me develop these powers and certainly not that I was going to be killed anytime soon. That this, according to Protus, was inevitable.

“Can you tell me something else that will help me, something to survive?”

I saw a shadow pass over him, but before he could say anything Jorgos put his hand on Protus’ shoulder.

“Unfortunately we can’t tell you much. All that is known about an earth angel is that it is quickly destroyed by Evil, because your angelic power is like drugs to them. A magnet they can’t ignore and once they’re near you they just want to destroy you. That is the interplay of Evil and angelic power. Protus once met an earth angel, but before he could learn anything, he was killed before his very eyes by Evil himself.”

He lowered his eyes for a moment. “And after that, he or we never met an earth angel again, because Evil was always ahead of us. So you understand that we are skeptical.”

All I did was nod because I didn’t understand. Why so negative? Why give up so dejectedly and quickly? I’ve managed to keep myself out of the hands of Evil before, so maybe I’ll do it again.

“But maybe we’re wrong this time, given the fire that appears in your eyes when we talk about it.”

“Jorgus, be careful what you say. I know you like to see the positive, but there’s nothing positive about this. Otherwise we would often have been where we are now.”

And he gestured in general.

“What I wonder, Arcangelosa, is why you merge with the enemy?” He looked at me questioningly again. “And how you get it in your head to bring him here. How naive can you be if you think we’ll ever agree to that.”

I didn’t answer. I swallowed my words.

Zefiros came forward and looked straight into my eyes. Without asking, she took my hand and whispered strange words similar to the words Rob had used to reveal the light in the dark underground passage and the portal. When she finished saying her words, I felt her hand stiffen and a strong thrust go into my hand, causing it to stiffen as well. I couldn’t take my eyes off her anymore, as if I was imprisoned unsolicited and she could somehow see inside my head. As if it couldn’t get any worse, it really was, I saw the memories she went through. She paused for a moment to remember Mama’s death and all the other events that had allowed me to control the fifth element. Until Ivo attacked me and Renzo saved me. Our first kiss, the special feeling Renzo gave me. Our indescribable intimate moments. I didn’t want this, I didn’t want her to see or feel all of me. And as if I was just now thinking about it, I tried to turn on the fifth element. And as if I knew what to do I blocked her. It was too late, of course, for she had seen and felt everything she wanted. But as soon as I blocked her, the sting in my hand disappeared and I was able to move it again. I pulled my hand from hers and stepped back and glared at her.

She looked back angrily. “You are strong,” she said.

She turned and rejoined the Elders.

Protus looked intrigued at Zefiros.

“Zephiros? Did the Arcangelosa break the bond?” he asked expectantly.

She nodded.

He took another step in my direction and looked at me inquiringly again. He held out his hand, expecting me to give it. But I didn’t. Not again.

“Julia, give him your hand.” It was Rob. I looked at him in disbelief. “No, you know what she just did?”

Rob nodded. “I know what she did, but if he asks for your hand, give it,” he said emphatically. I couldn’t ignore the sound in Rob’s voice, a sound of fear. Reluctantly, I gave Protus my hand.

He gripped it tightly and said the same words as Zephiros had said. And with those words I felt another stab in my hand and I couldn’t move it anymore. My eyes staring into Protus’s. He was strong and fast. But now I knew what was coming. The images of mom came back to my head and before I knew it he was already with the memories of Ivo and Renzo. And with all my strength I tried to block him. He was really strong. But when he came to the memory of me and Renzo together in his apartment last Saturday, I stopped him. Now he really went too far. And without realizing it I shouted very loudly: “No!”

Our hands were released with such force that we both staggered on our legs. I couldn’t fathom Protus’s gaze. But that didn’t matter to me at the time. I turned to Rob. “I want to get out of here Rob, I want to go home”, I said with conviction. Rob looked at me expectantly and then looked at Protus.

“I thought I would come here to learn about the fifth element, to learn more about myself. But instead, I’m told I’m going to be killed and all my memories and feelings are just looked at like it’s nothing. No, I don’t want this, I want to go.”

“But I want this,” Protus said longingly. And he pointed to my head. “Unbelievable what kind of power is released when you’re with that boy.” He almost sounded jealous.

I looked at him in disgust and took another step back.

Behind Protus I saw the older woman step forward. I hadn’t spoken to her yet. Would she also be such a tyrant?

She placed her hand gently on Protus’ shoulder. “I think it’s enough for now, Protus,” she said softly but urgently.

I looked at her gratefully. She gave me a small smile.

“Obviously you’re a very powerful, little angel. No one has ever cut ties with Protus.” And it seemed like she looked proud.

Protus cleared his throat. “Not everything needs to be shared, Pelagius,” he warned. She nodded politely in response.

“So that’s not fair. First dig through my head with the answer that not everything can be shared?”

He looked at me fiercely. “I think it’s wise that we leave it at that.”

And with those words, Zefiros stepped forward again, and without giving us a glance she walked to the wall where the gate had previously appeared. We quickly followed her. She whispered in that same language again, and the gate reappeared on the wall. I looked back at the Elders for a moment. Not knowing what to think of them.

Rob said something to her, again in a foreign language. He took my hand and we walked through the portal together. With the same strange feeling in my stomach we disappeared again into the dark mass. And before I knew it I was back in the dark underground space.

“Julia!” Renzo came running around me and grabbed me. I grabbed him so tight that it almost hurt. How happy I was to see him. Safe in his arms again. His grip loosened and he looked at me for a moment. He saw that I was upset. He put his hand on my cheek and kissed my forehead. He turned to Rob and held out his finger. “You promised I could come, but before I knew it the gate was closed.”

“Renzo, it’s not Rob’s fault. The Elders planned this without telling Rob,” I told him.

He let this sink in for a moment. “Can we go?” was all he asked.

I nodded. “Gladly.”

And with those words Rob led us through the underground tunnel again. We hadn’t talked about the way to the car. All busy with our thoughts. What they had said just kept running through my head. And to be honest, I would rather not have heard it all. I thought it would make me wiser, that I would leave again with courage and conviction. Ready to develop myself further and be able to win against Evil. Instead, they pronounced my death sentence.

It was difficult to know that the fifth element could not fully develop because it had always been destroyed before that time. A shiver ran through me. When would it be my time?

Only Protus had ever encountered a fifth element, but it was destroyed before his eyes.

Rob couldn’t protect me from the forces of the underworld. He could teach me and see things, but protect?

The circle could fight with me and also protect in their way. But what I had heard from Protus would not be enough.

There was a lump in my throat. Knowing there was no turning back.

I was startled out of my thoughts when the hatch in the shed closed with a loud crack. Renzo looked at me, he tried to gauge if I was going to last. He didn’t know what had been said, but he knew I was upset. He took my hand and we walked to the car. Once in the car, Rob was the first to say something: “You wanted to go home Renzo?”

Oh shit, that was true. He could come with us, but had to go home immediately when we were done. He had to go to his mother. Now I couldn’t even talk to him about what had been said among the Elders.

Renzo nodded at Rob in response. Judging by his attitude, he didn’t want to go home either. But he had promised his mother.

Rob parked his car next to the house so the others didn’t see us coming. Ugh, I wasn’t interested in this at all. All those questions and expectations of the circle.

“I’m already walking to the house,” said Rob. And he walked to the porch.

“Are you okay?” Renzo asked earnestly.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, it just wasn’t what I expected.”

“Did they hurt you?”

I shook my head. “No, they’ve given me the idea that I won’t be able to handle all this.”

I saw him tighten his jaw. He grabbed my face and looked straight into my eyes. “If anyone can handle this, it’s you, okay? Don’t doubt yourself. You’re really strong.”

I nodded under his grip. He brought his mouth to mine and we kissed. Oh, how good that felt. I lost myself in the moment for a moment, but far too soon for my liking Renzo broke off the kiss. “I have to go,” he said painfully.

“I know.”

“I’ll try to be back on Sunday.”

“I’m waiting for you.”

He gave me another quick kiss and then got on his bike and disappeared among the trees. With a heavy feeling in my stomach I walked to the porch into the house.