Metanoia (27 page)

“
Hello?” she screamed into
the receiver causing Gina to jump back.

“
Hey, it’s
Gina.”

“
What?”

“
It’s Gina!” she yelled.
She could hear loud music in the background. “Turn down the music,
will you?”

“
Umm, I can’t really! I
think they would get mad!”

“
What? Where are you?” Gina
asked. She could hear Athena turn to someone else and start talking
with them. “Athena!”

“
Yeah?”

“
Please tell me you aren’t
where I think you are!”

“
I’m fine! I haven’t had a
single drink! Stop acting like my mom!” she yelled over the
noise.

“
Well, someone has
to!”

“
I live with foster
parents! Do you really think they care about me?” she answered.
Athena had now moved away from the music a bit. “They don’t care
where I go.”

“
I can’t
believe he would put you through that!” Gina stated.
How could Fheyrhil let her go to foster parents?
How could he let me?

“
What the hell are you
talking about?” Athena asked. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I got to
go!”

“
That’s right, you leave
that party right now!” Gina demanded.

“
Shut up already! You are
not in control of me!” and with a click the line went dead. Gina
wasted no time. Quickly she pulled on her other-worldly clothes and
hurried out. She knew she might be overreacting – okay, she knew
she was. Yet, something still did not seem right. She’d learned all
too well in the past to listen to her intuition. She conveyed her
plans to Leyance as she passed him, not even missing a
step.

“
I got to go. Athena’s at
a…” but Fheyrhil had appeared and interrupted.

“
Gina, you are not her
mother. Stop acting like it.”

“
Well, she needs some
guidance,” Gina stated.

“
She is only two years
younger than you. You are not and cannot be her parental figure no
matter how much I failed in that position.” Fheyrhil still seemed
to lack his intimidating nature. “I never really apologized for all
I did to you girls, but I am sorry, Gina. I am truly sorry. I knew
it would be hard, but I thought this would be the right thing to
do. All I ever wanted was for both of you to be safe, and I ended
up risking your happiness for your safety. Please, Gina…” His voice
seemed to begin shaking as he began to beg. “Please, Gina, forgive
me. I might have never been there for you, but I’ve watched you. I
have made sure you were safe and happy. I was there for every major
moment in your life. For recitals, I would come as a spectator in
the crowd. For school, I would disguise myself as another father
touring the school just to catch glimpses of you. You must know it,
but I will tell you again. You deserve to hear it after all. I love
you, Gina. I always have. Please give me a second chance to be the
father I should have been from the beginning, please. We can bring
Athena here together. We can plan something to make the transition
easier than it was for you. I can be a good father if you would
only let me.” Gina could not be angry. She looked at this man, her
father, whom she knew no matter how angry she was with him that she
truly did love him unconditionally.

“
I love you too, Dad,” she
whispered. At these words, Fheyrhil’s head rose and a small smile
escaped his lips. Without another word, he reached for her and
wrapped her in his arms. Leyance looked on with a smile. Suddenly,
Fheyrhil gave out a cry and pushed Gina back. “Dad? What
the…?”

Leyance’s smiling face turned to one of
concern and he hurried over to them. Fheyrhil hunched over, holding
his head in his hands.

“
Fheyrhil? Come on,
Fheyrhil, what is it?” Leyance asked.

“
I think he’s having a
vision. A bad one by the looks of it…” Gina stated.

“
But they haven’t been like
this have they?” Leyance asked. Fheyrhil shook his head signaling
that they had not.

“
Athena…” Fheyrhil
gasped.

“
What?! Dad, what’s wrong
with Athena? What is it?” Gina asked shaking, obviously terrified
and worried.

“
She is badly hurt. I
cannot see more…” Yet, this was enough for Gina who was already
running full speed towards the horses tied near the front gate. She
immediately hopped on one and rode off.

Chapter 16

“One Last Breath”

It had already been two hours after the
accident when Gina arrived panicked at the hospital. Through word
of mouth, and a confirmation of the accident on the radio, Gina had
heard that a car had crashed on a mountainous road causing it to
overturn. The driver had been drunk at the wheel. With him were two
intoxicated and two sober. Athena had been one of the sober. Gina
now ran into the emergency room, screaming for her sister.

“
Excuse me, ma’am but you
can’t go in there. You’ll have to wait in the waiting room…” the
nurse was saying.

“
There is no way you are
keeping me from my sister!” Gina screamed.

“
The poor dear is
traumatized; she doesn’t know what she’s saying. Athena had no
siblings…” a doctor was saying as he passed by with another doctor
holding medical charts. Gina still struggled to get to her sister
so much that the nurse had to physically hold her back.

“
Let go of me!” Gina
screamed. “Athena!”

“
A little help over here!”
the nurse screamed, struggling to hold Gina back. “It’s going to be
ok. Do you need to talk to a counselor?”

“
No, now get off of me!”
With that, a bright light admitted from her hand, startling the
nurse who quickly released her. Gina had no idea what had caused
the light, but took the opportunity to run into the individual
rooms. She heard bits and pieces of what doctors were
saying.

“
A great deal of internal
bleeding…”

“
Head trauma…”

“
She wasn’t going to hang
on for much longer…”

“
There was no
way…”

Gina couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
She quickly pushed into another room only to stop dead in her
tracks. Athena lay on a bed in the now deserted room. The medical
equipment that the doctors had used to try to revive Athena was
still lying around the room. They had tried in vain. Athena was
dead. Gina could barely believe this brutally twisted and
blood-stain person to be her once cute and laughing sister. Of
course, Athena had never known their connection.

Gina stared at her sister as tears rolled
down her face. She could hear footsteps approaching, and she
quickly turned and locked the door just before the doctors reached
it. Yelling could be heard from outside, but Gina did not let
anyone in. She knew what she must do. She extended her hand over
Athena’s heart and soon a white light emitted from her hand and
covered her sister’s entire body. The external signs of the
accident began to melt away. After a couple of seconds, Athena
jerked up, gasping for air. She glanced at Gina.

“
Gina? How did you…?” she
began but stopped. The bloody reminders of the accident began to
show on Gina’s body as Athena watched on in horror. Gina only had
time to glance at her sister once before she fell. Athena
immediately leapt up and lifted Gina’s limp head onto her knees.
“Gina? Please, God. What’s happening? Gina, hold on!” Tears began
to sweep down her face.

“
Athena…” Gina
gasped.

“
I’m here, Gina. I’m
here.”

“
Listen carefully…I’m not
going to retain consciousness much longer…You have to believe…I am
your sister, Athena…that fantasy world you always dreamed of…it’s
true…you have to take me…to the haze…it’s on the top of this
building…I saw it…Fheyrhil must have moved it…it’s…” Gina began
rambling off but getting quieter and quieter all the while. Soon,
she fell limp in Athena’s arms. Her sister quickly checked life
signs and felt a slight breeze coming from Gina’s mouth. She was
still alive but barely so. Suddenly the door burst open. Athena
hadn’t even heard the incessant banging on the door. Two doctors
came in but closed the door behind them.

“
What happened?” asked
one.

“
I don’t know. I was dead
but then I came back and she seems to be dying now and I don’t know
why…” Athena whimpered.

“
Calm down, Athena. It’s
okay.” He turned to the other man. “We need to find someone who is
near death. She needs to kill someone to cure herself.”

“
Right.”

“
What the hell are you
talking about?” Athena asked horrified. Without answering, the
second man lifted Gina and carried her out of the room. The first
was held back by Athena. “Who are you? Where are you taking
her?”

“
Look, I know a lot of the
information you are going to be getting now is going to shock you
and you most likely won’t believe it, but you must trust
me.”

“
Who are you? Who was he?”
Athena questioned.

“
He’s Elenzel. He is taking
Gina somewhere where she can hopefully cure herself.”

“
And who are
you?”

“
I’m your brother-in-law.
My name is Leyance.”

Realization rushed over her face. “Gina told
me about you! I remembered because I had never heard a name like
yours.”

“
Listen, we have to move
now.” With that, he grabbed Athena’s wrist and hurried her out of
the room. Leyance’s eyes scanned the opened doors until he finally
spotted Elenzel. They ran in just in time to see Elenzel stretch
out Gina’s limp arm to touch an elderly man who was already on life
support and very near death. Even though she was unconscious,
Gina’s fingers curled in. She would not kill anymore. Even
unconscious, she still knew that vow.

“
She won’t cure herself. We
need to get her out of here and soon. She isn’t going to hold on
much longer,” Elenzel stated.

“
She told me there is a
haze above this building. Something about Fheyrhil moving it?”
Athena offered.

“
Excellent. Thank you,”
Leyance said. He lifted up his wife and all of them hurried out the
door, their destination: the roof. Many of the staff tried to stop
them, but every time one got close, a bright light would emit from
Gina, forcing them back. Soon they reached the top and just as Gina
had said, there was the haze. Leyance hopped through with Gina
first and then Elenzel picked up Athena and traveled through it as
well.

Luckily, Fheyrhil had found Gina’s beloved
phoenix and had sent her towards them to wait by the haze along
with horses to quicken their return to the city. Leyance stretched
out Gina’s hand to touch the phoenix, and her fingers did not curl
away. Sure enough, the phoenix burst into flames right there, and
Gina’s breathing and heart rates increased. Still, she did not
regain consciousness. Both girls now lay limp in the men’s arms.
Athena had lost consciousness from the shock on her body caused by
traveling through the haze for the first time. She now lay in
Elenzel’s arms. Without a word, the two men placed each woman on a
horse and mounted. They rode off into the horizon as quickly as the
agility of their horses would allow them to be carried.

Athena awoke in Gina’s bedroom just as her
older sister had done two years ago. Leyance was nearby and ready
to give his welcome speech for the second time.

“
How are you feeling?” he
asked.

“
Tired and sore,” she
responded. She gazed around without much expression as she was
still very tired, her eyes adjusting to the morning light. “Wow,
this is beautiful.”

“
This is the city of
Nythagié,” Leyance told her. “Your sister, my wife, is the queen
here.”

“
She’s the
what?!”

“
It’s a very long story.
Best save it for another time.”

“
I’m not dreaming?” Athena
asked.

“
No, you’re not. You seem
to be taking this pretty well,” Leyance pointed out.

“
See the thing about that
is I’m in a surreal mode. Once the reality sinks in, be prepared
for the fact that I will completely lose it.”

Leyance laughed. “Much like your sister did.
She was in your same position.”

Athena’s heart sank. “Gina. How is she?” Now
it was Leyance’s heart which sunk.

“
She’s not doing too well.
You will be filled in later, but she has died twice, well,
technically three times before. She has a great power which can
bring people, including herself, back to life, but her body can’t
handle much more. At some point, her powers won’t matter
anymore.”

“
Is she going to die?”
Athena asked.

Leyance stared out the window. He obviously
could not bear to hear the words about to escape his lips. “She
might. She’ll be very lucky if she makes it through this, but odds
are not in her favor... If it happens again though…” He shuttered
at the though. “If it happens again, she won’t be so lucky.”

Life crept along slowly in Nythagié after
that. Athena met everyone in the city with a smile (a particularly
big one to Elenzel) and seemed to be handling the news extremely
well. However, just like her sister, and as she predicted, she did
eventually lose it. Unfortunately, it happened the day she met her
father, Fheyrhil. She got as far as shaking hands and “Nice to meet
you” when she fainted. Luckily, Elenzel caught her fall.