Fire Stones

Chapter 20

All was not as I had left it in Aeros Island. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The waves were churning against the rocks; whole trees seemed to have been swept away in an avalanche down the mountain side. Gusts of winds were blowing so strongly that I started to shake in mid-air, nearly plummeting towards earth. A tsunami force crested the waves, causing them to crash all the way up to the hotel. I looked down in horror. Our cottage was half-submerged in water. Only the Cutter Imperial Hotel – a tall skyscraper of a building – stood tall.

“Chance!” I caught sight of him on the roof. “What’s going on?”

“We’re evacuating the guests to the roof!” He rushed over to me. “I was so worried – your house was flooded – where have you been?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I shouted over the noise of the waves. “Where’s mom?”

“I haven’t seen her.” Chance sighed.

I turned around, ready to run back into the waters. “I have to find her. Where’s Varun – he can help!”

“I haven’t seen anyone,” Chance admitted. “I don’t know where they are. Mac – you can’t go; it’s too dangerous. The waters are high – you could be swept away at any time. Abzu and Haven are behind this, I know it. The waters are their doing – they’re rebelling against Varun, against the moderates. If you go into their element they’ll kill you.”

“But Varun!” I insisted. “He’s still King, isn’t he? He can stop this!”

I stopped short. In the distance, I could see Varun – stripped to the waist, riding atop a whale, a trident in hand. He was trying to push the waters back; a sea of foam frothed up from where he rode. Across from him were Haven and Abzu, dressed in full battle-armor, staring him down.

I rushed to the end of the roof, preparing to fly.

“Stop!” It was my mother’s voice. “Mac, you can’t do this. Not in their territory.”

“But he needs help!” I cried. “You know it, Mom. Varun can’t fight them off alone – they’re too many for him. And they’re stronger…”

“It’s not our fight,” my mother said, embracing me. “I know it’s hard, honey, but we have to stay out of it. It’s between the Water gods – it has nothing to do with you. Poseidon’s reign has been long – but Abzu wants power at all costs, and he’s finally built up an alliance to challenge him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I too am a Water goddess, after all,” my mother stroked my hair, holding me still in a tight hug. “I’m a moderate – perhaps even more so than Varun. I’ve learned long ago that there is more to being a god or a goddess than power. I’ve stayed out of these battles – my only concern is taking care of you, now. Whatever you are. Fire or Water. That’s what being a god is about – love, care, protecting the ones who matter. That’s why I’ve tried so hard to keep you out of these wars. Water and Fire alike…” she turned to Chance “care more about their clans than they do about what unites us all. Your father felt that way, too. He loved humankind and their ways more than anyone I knew. That’s why he created Embodiments in the first place – to force the gods to experience what it was like to be human. To force them to develop empathy before they Awaken into their powers.”

“My father…” I’d never heard my mother talk about my father before. “Zeus?” The most powerful god of all? The one who was neither Fire nor Water – but had power over both.

“Zeus – Jupiter – whatever you want to call him. That’s why Vesta has the responsibilities she does. She is the daughter of the king of the gods.”

“But if I – if Vesta – had so much responsibility, why did she leave? Why did she leave the world open to flooding and danger?”

My mother shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But if you are Vesta – you think like her. And I know you must have had a reason. Because if Vesta’s anything like you, she wouldn’t have hurt the people she cared about without a really good reason.”

We were interrupted by a huge wave that crested up to meet us, crashing a full ten stories into the building. Thunder sounded through the sky; lightning illuminated the waters with volts of electricity. I looked on in horror. Abzu was throwing thunderbolts at Varun. And in the distance, I could see the circling of black fins. Haven had summoned the sharks.

My mother leaned in, pressing her lips gently to my forehead. “Once you Awaken into Vesta, Mac, everything will change. Nothing will be the same any longer. But that doesn’t change what’s important. You’re my daughter – you will always be my daughter –and I will always love you unconditionally. You will always be my little girl.”

I wanted her to hold me forever – to burrow into her embrace and stay there. “I love you, Mom,” I whispered. “When you were sick, I was so worried…”

“I love you too, Mac.” My mother stroked my hair. She sighed and pulled away. “Poseidon needs all the help he can get. Abzu is about to call forth the kraken, and I’m going to do what I have to do to stop him from taking over.” She exhaled sharply. “I’m going to fight alongside Poseidon. I’ve tried not to take sides – but now staying neutral is no longer a possibility. I’ll always love you, Mac – whatever happens.”

“Mom, no…!”

But I was too late. In a running leap, my mother bounded off the side of the building, landing in the waters below. I looked in shock as my mother transformed before my eyes. Her dark silk hair turned a brilliant shade of blue; her eyes blazed the color of the sea. Silver armor appeared on her body and she seemed to grow taller, taller – until she was eight or nine feet tall. She swam deftly to Poseidon’s side, sending jets of foam at Abzu.

My heart was pounding faster now. Varun in danger was bad enough – but my mother too! At least, I thought, terror flooding my body, they were evenly matched: two against two.

And then Brandon arrived, a strange expression on his face, bolts of fire shooting from his fingertips. He hesitated only a moment.

“Come on,” Haven cried. “Come to me – Brandon! Don’t wait a moment longer.”

But guilt was written all over Brandon’s countenance. He turned to Varun, his eyes full of pain. “I’m so sorry, man. For everything.”

“It’s not worth it, Brandon!” Varun called. “She’s using you – you must know that. She doesn’t love you. She only loves herself.”

Brandon’s face said it all: he knew it to be true.

“But what about your family?” Abzu called out. “You know what happens to traitors. These waves are rising higher, Brandon. Your mother and grandmother’s homes could be wiped out in an instant. And they’re not of Water. They can’t swim like we can…”

“You wouldn’t!” Brandon looked horrified.

“I could. And I will. A wave the size of a mountain crashing down on your precious family, wiping them all off the map, never to be seen again.” Brandon gulped as a wave rose higher and higher on the side of the island where his family lived. He looked helplessly at Varun.

“By the time Brother Poseidon does anything to stop me, it’ll be too late. They’ll be dead already.”

“Come on, Brandon…” Haven was cooing, “come over here where you belong.”

Brandon looked utterly defeated as he swam over to Haven and Abzu, wincing and closing his eyes as he sent a fire bolt towards my mother and Varun. It missed by miles – it was clear Brandon really didn’t want to hurt anybody.

But Abzu had other plans. The wave that had been cresting over Brandon’s home now crashed instead over Varun and my mother.

“No!” I cried. They vanished beneath the waves. I could feel my heart stop. “No!” Suddenly, as I rushed towards them, I felt fire shooting from my own fingers, heading straight to where my mother and Varun had been moments earlier. The hiss of steam sounded in my ears as the waters dissipated. My mother and Varun were still there – clambering to their feet on the now-dry land.

“How’d you do that?” Varun looked up in surprise.

But we had bigger problems to worry about. In the distance, an enormous, hulking figure swam into view, thousands of tentacles reaching out towards us, spikes on every one.

The Kraken.