Through the Earth

Liam was right. Mac and cheese was the most heavenly thing I’ve eaten all my life, and that’s saying something. At first, I wasn’t sure about the yellow goopy mess, but I trusted Liam and didn’t regret it.

Liam, Cassie, and I sat on the couch while Jessica sat on a soft chair and we ate with our plates on our knees. Their apartment was too small to have a dining room, but I didn’t mind.

“Um...Jessica,” Liam said sheepishly. “Is it okay if Emerald sleeps on our couch tonight? She doesn’t have anywhere else to stay.”

“That’s okay,” Jessica replied. “As long as you don’t cause any trouble.” She looked at both of us.

“Don’t worry,” I promised. “It’ll be like I was never here.” After dinner, Liam and his sisters started getting ready for bed in the bathroom down the hall. Goddesses did take baths, but sometimes it’s just easier to use magic. Cassie already brought me a blanket and pillow so I was ready to go to sleep. I did a cleanse spell while no one was looking instead of taking a bath and was immediately drained from Earth’s lack of magic. Luckily, I wanted to go to sleep and immediately fell unconscious after getting under my covers and closing my eyes.

#

I had another dream that night. It looked like it took place about a thousand years ago and I was standing in my old room in the North Settlement. I turned to the younger version of me sitting on my bed reading a spellbook when Ruby came in through the door.

“Emerald,” she said. “It’s been a while since we’ve practiced combat together. Would you like to see a new move I made with my daggers?”

“Not now Ruby,” I snapped. “I’m in the middle of trying to learn a conceal spell.”

“Those are very complicated. If it doesn’t come naturally it will be tricky to learn.”

“How do you know? You don’t have magic.”

Ruby looked at her feet. “I know. I’m just repeating what Sapphire said.” Ruby now looked me in the eyes. “In case you’ve forgotten, she can naturally do a conceal spell.”

“I haven’t forgotten. Now go!”

“If you need someone to practice on, you can ask me.”

“I said go!” With a wave of her hand, my younger self used a wind spell to push Ruby out and slam the door.

I watched all this, startled. I remember when this happened but haven’t thought about it until now. When I was the one sitting there, I just wanted to be left alone and didn’t think twice about pushing Ruby away. Now that I’m watching from the sidelines, I realized what I did was downright rude.

I walked through the wall, wanting to know how Ruby reacted to this. Ruby trudged off to her room down the hall, shut the door behind her, and laid down on her bed. Pulling out a dagger, she looked at it and sighed. “She’s been doing this for years now. At this point, I don’t want to hang out with her.”

Without looking, Ruby threw the dagger at the door and it hit the bullseye of a target she painted on it. “Why does she always have to mention that I can’t use magic? Lots of goddesses can’t use magic.” Ruby sat up angrily. “You know what. I won’t try to hang out with her if she doesn’t want to hang out with me.” She pulled out another dagger and threw it in a random direction, which unfortunately was where I stood. Though the millisecond the dagger would have penetrated my abdomen, I woke up with a start.

Terrified, I put a hand to my stomach, but felt relief when I realized I wasn’t bleeding. It was still dark out, so I laid back on my pillow but didn’t fall asleep immediately. I thought about the truth of Ruby’s words and wished I could give her a hug and apologize. Is this why Ruby betrayed me? She didn’t feel loved. The moment I get home, I will make it up to Ruby in any way possible, that is if Queen Silver hasn’t dragged her past the point of no return.

#

Liam and I left the apartment around 8:00 a.m. and were heading downstairs with the drawing of Queen Gold. Even with my unexpected interruption last night, I still was able to get enough sleep. We were now heading to see the landlord and ask her if she’s seen Gold.

I followed Liam to a door that he knocked on and opened. Sitting behind a desk doing some paperwork was a woman in her late thirties with curly red hair and freckles all over her face.

“Liam,” she said happily. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi Miss Lindon,” Liam replied. “I was wondering if you’ve seen this woman anywhere.” He showed her the picture and she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, no I haven’t. Why’re you looking for her?”

“None of your business,” I snapped. As both Liam and Miss Lindon stared at me, I clasped my hand over my mouth.

“I’m sorry about my friend here.” Liam gave me a slight glare. “I promise she’s much nicer when you get to know her.”

There was another knock at the door and a man with light brown hair and a big beard came in. He had a hat on and big boots.

“Howdy Miss Lindon,” the man said in an accent I’ve never heard before.

“Hello Austin,” Miss Lindon said, drawing her attention away from us. “How can I help you?”

As she dealt with the man, Liam whispered to me, “I know you don’t want people to ask too many questions. I do too, but there probably was a nicer way we could have dealt with that.”

“I know, I know.” I whispered back. “I’ll do better next time.”

“Good.”

Miss Lindon had finished with Austin and turned back to her paperwork. As Austin was leaving Liam went up to him and asked, “Uh, sir. Have you seen this woman?”

Austin took a moment to study the drawing, as Liam held it. “Well, I’ll be.” His eyes lit up. “I do believe that’s Gold.”

“You know her?” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I know her, missy. We’re just acquaintances. I know her through my good pal, Ethan. She’s his wife.” I didn’t know what a wife was, but whatever it was made Liam look completely shocked.

“Are you sure that’s right?” Liam asked.

“You betcha. Do you kids need to see them now?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Okay,” Austin said. “I won’t be able to give you a ride to their place since I’m a little tied up at the moment, but here’s some money for a bus.” Austin pulled out what looked like a wallet, pulled out some green pieces of paper, and handed them to me. “They live in a small house in a neighborhood that’s twenty minutes away by car. I don’t want you kids trudgin’ around town if I can’t help it. Also, they live on 235 Greenrain Street. You got that, kids.”

“Yep,” Liam said. “Thanks for the help.” As Austin left, Liam muttered, “Well that was easy. We found out where Gold is in no time at all. It’s almost convenient.”

“Not convenient,” I said. “Destiny.”