Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

-Oliver-
I couldn't sleep that night. The orphanage was silent, but I could feel Natalie downstairs with another caretaker. And the spirits outside my window. The town around me was peaceful, mostly unaware of the danger we were in.
I couldn't fall asleep because of the thousand things swirling in my mind. Instead, I sat next to the window, covered in blankets, wishing Jaden was there with me. His presence would've given me strength, maybe even calmed me down enough so I could sleep.
But it was just me and my thoughts. Cedric was awake as well, but he stayed quiet. We didn't need words to know what the other one was thinking. I could feel his worry over me, and the fear.
Even I was afraid of myself. I still wanted to go back to Anthony and force him to talk. It would be so easy... I could make him spill all his little secrets.
Cedric shifted, so I turned my attention to him.
"Yes?" I asked quietly.
'Do you think he actually knows anything useful?' he asked.
"What do you mean?"
'I don't know... The way he was taunting you... It didn't feel right. Why would he want you to find out about their secrets? It just feels like a stupid thing to do.'
"You think he was just trying to turn me mad?"
'They need you to give in to the corruption,' he reminded me. 'I don't think he knows anything important. If he did, wouldn't his master or whoever the hell he's working with had tried to save him before we lifted the protections?'
"Maybe..." I muttered. He did have a point. "My head hurts... I wish we could go back to normal..."
'I know...'
I let out a deep sigh, turning my eyes out the window. I really wished Jaden was there... I needed his strength.
"I wish none of this had happened..." I murmured.
"But it did."
I nearly jumped out of my seat when I heard the familiar voice – or voices. I turned to look to my right.
"Gaea," I whispered, and Cedric tensed up.
The god of Earth sat down on the seat in front of me, looking more human than before, but still very strange. I peered at the other boys sleeping in their beds, but none of them woke up.
"Only you can see me," Gaea said. "Only you can feel my presence."
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"Because you let us out," they said with a smile. "And I had the feeling you could use reassuring words."
"I'd rather have reassuring actions," I said. "But words are good too."
"Yes. I know what happened today. I saw every aspect of it in all the realms."
"Handy," I mumbled, and their smile grew wider in amusement. "Do you happen to know why it all happened?"
"You mean do I have more information?" they asked, and I nodded. "Not much. We know our enemy has been busy while we were recovering. The battle for the portal was not as important to them as we'd hoped."
"So that wasn't their ultimate goal?"
"Not even close."
"Great..." I muttered.
"But Hades' Echo was important to them. It still is. They will come for it sooner than later," they spoke, their smile long gone now.
"And you gave it to me. A teenager," I said, trying not to sound too angry about it.
"You are young, yes. Your spirit is young, yes," Gaea said quietly. "I could've given it to someone else, but I chose you. I have followed your footsteps for a long time now, Oliver."
"And...?"
They smiled now. "You see a lot. You listen well. Your mind works fast. Good qualities for a leader."
"And now I'm a leader," I sighed, leaning back in my seat. "You did see me being nervous about meeting Mrs. Carter, right?"
"I did," they said tenderly. "And I'm happy for you. There is no place like home. It is the place where our spirits can rest and find security. Even leaders need homes. And you are a leader, Oliver."
I only sighed at their words.
"Your spirit is unyielding, and you have a courageous heart. And you have a nature that will make your enemy tremble in fear."
"You sure you have the right person?" I asked, and they laughed lightly.
"You are in the presence of gods, and as Hades said, you keep your head held high. You may not feel like it now, but you are the kind of person we need to carry the Echo. Besides, the Echo likes you, so I am proven right."
"I really don't feel like a leader," I told them quietly.
"It is fine if you don't. You are also a humble person," they said. "There is so much good in you."
I looked out the window again. "I wanted to kill my uncle today."
"Did you really, or was it a fleeting moment of anger?"
I didn't reply to them, but the question made me feel better.
"What am I supposed to do? Do I go to school tomorrow and act like nothing is going on?"
"You are not the only one fighting," they reminded me. "You had to grow up so much in such a short period of time that I suggest you do go to school tomorrow. You don't have to act like nothing is wrong, but you need something normal. Leave the war to us for now and take as many days as you can to be a regular teenager."
"I wish I knew how..."
They leaned closer and smiled at me. "Go to school. Be with your fated one. Tell him the exciting news about your new home. Be annoyed over learning mathematics. Buy a candy bar. Live. We will make sure the city stays safe in the meantime."
"Oh, crap... I never told Jaden about getting fostered..." I muttered.
"Tell him tomorrow," they said.
"You make it sound so easy to act normal," I sighed.
"No acting. Only enjoying the little normality you have left. Everyone is keeping an eye on you, watching your every step to make sure you and your friends are safe. Take that chance, because it may change in a heartbeat."
"Fine, fine..." I murmured.
"Good. Go to sleep and don't let today bother you," they said, getting up from the seat. "We'll watch over you."
And they vanished.
'Man... To have a casual midnight conversation with the Earth themself...' Cedric mumbled.
I just stared in front of me for a moment. "You do realize I'm having casual conversations with a spirit that lives inside me?"
'Welcome to your new normal,' he chuckled.
The next morning, after a very few hours of sleep, Natalie dropped me off at school, promising to hang around close by. Once she left, I turned to look at the school and sighed.
"Yeah, sure, let's do normal..." I muttered.
'It probably will do you good. Gaea seemed to think so,' Cedric said.
"After everything that happened yesterday? Sure..."
At least I got to see Jaden soon. I could feel him only a minute away, so I stayed outside to wait.
Again, he was accompanied by Ryder and Tilly, but Arch wasn't with them. I frowned when I saw them stepping out of the car.
"Where's Arch?" I asked when Jaden pulled me into a hug.
"His parents wouldn't let him come," Jaden muttered.
"What?" I frowned.
He shrugged, looking annoyed, but I could feel his worry. "I don't like being separated from him right now..."
"Me neither," Tilly said, crossing her arms.
"It was his parents' choice," Ryder said, but he, too, wasn't happy with it.
"We are stronger together," Tilly said defiantly.
"Why are you mad at me?" Ryder asked. "I don't like this any more than you do, but Arch is safe back at home."
"Imagine being the Beta and still having to follow your parents' rules," Tilly snorted.
"You're still a bunch of kids," Ryder said as we started walking to school.
"Still Betas," Tilly snorted at him. "We are the same as you!"
Ryder started laughing. "Oh boy," he shook his head. "You still have work to do to reach my level. But to be fair, Arch should be resting."
Tilly snorted at him again.
I didn't need to read Ryder's spirits to see how reluctant he was to leave us alone, but he finally did leave us at the doors after making us swear we wouldn't get in trouble.
"All we need to do is exist to get in trouble," Jaden muttered as Ryder walked away from us.
"I know right," I muttered. "Gaea visited me last night."
They both turned to look at me with wide eyes. I hastily told them about what the god had said, which wasn't much.
"So we're supposed to act like nothing is going on?" Tilly frowned. "How?"
"That's what I tried to ask as well, but apparently, we should be regular kids until another shit hits the fan," I said.
"These goddamn gods popping out of nowhere," Jaden said, rubbing his temples. "To be fair, I'd actually love it if we just forgot all that shit for a moment."
I took a better look at him. He did seem stressed. Agitated.
"Of course," I said quietly.
"Thanks," he sighed, relaxing a little.
"I actually have something to tell you," I said, feeling excited all of a sudden. "They're considering Natalie and Mike to become my foster parents!"
"What?" Jaden breathed out with wide eyes. "That's awesome! Right?"
"It is," I said with a wide smile. "I don't want to jinx it, but... I may get to move out of the orphanage. They already have a new apartment and everything."
"That's so awesome, Ollie," Tilly smiled and hugged me. "You deserve the best home."
"Natalie said there's even room for you to stay the night," I told them when she pulled away.
"You better tell her she's not getting rid of us if she lets us in," Jaden smirked and pulled me into a hug as well. "That is so great."
"Thanks, I... I really want that..." I said quietly, feeling scared that it was just a dream.
"You will have it," Jaden said. "I don't know who I need to beat up, but you will have everything you want."
His words made me emotional. I buried my face against his chest, hugging him tightly. I wanted to stay in his arms for hours, but the classes were starting, so I had to force myself to pull back.
"I'll see you guys after class?" I asked.
"I'll come find you as soon as it ends," Jaden promised.
It was hard to focus on classes when all I could think of was how pointless it was to learn math while the world was dying. I survived the first few classes and sighed in relief when the lunch break started. I wasn't hungry; I was just happy that I got to spend more time with Jaden and Tilly.
I didn't get too far from the classroom when Tilly joined me.
"Where's Jade?" I frowned.
"He got in trouble with the teacher," she chuckled. "He told me to come find you, but I'm sure they'll let him off the hook."
"What did he do?" I chuckled.
"He wasn't paying attention," she shrugged. "Teachers don't like us much, so we always get in trouble over the stupidest things."
"That sucks," I said apologetically.
She just shrugged dismissively. "We did cause a lot of ruckus before you came along."
That I believed. I remembered the rumors about them, and I found it funny how wrong humans had been about them. Mafia. Please. And I used to believe them...
We entered the lunch hall and sat down at an empty table with our food. A short moment later, Tilly turned to glance over her shoulder, but quickly turned to look back at me.
"You were saying?" she asked, staring at me intensely.
"I... Wasn't saying anything?" I said, and she started laughing. Quite loudly. I looked behind her and understood why she was acting so weird.
Ben was there.
"It's a good joke, right?" I asked, trying not to snicker at her.
"You're so funny," she said.
I wasn't sure why she felt the need to act so fake whenever Ben was around. He clearly liked her, so why wasn't she just letting him in?
"Werewolves..." I breathed out quietly. "You make everything so complicated."
"No, we're not," she grunted at me quietly.
"Please – you're the most dramatic bunch of beings I've ever met," I chuckled.
"Miss Ackley! How are you doing today?"
Ben stopped next to our table, and Tilly acted so unbelievably uninterested that I was having trouble not to roll my eyes.
"I'm doing fine," Tilly said. "Is there something you need?"
Her reply sounded cold, so I wasn't surprised to see Ben losing a bit of his courage. My amusement faded as well, and I really wanted to tell the guy Tilly was interested, but for some reason acted like she wasn't.
"Just wanted to see how you're doing," Ben said, still maintaining his smile like a champion.
"Well, I'm doing good," Tilly told him, and turned her attention to me. Even she was getting sad.
Ben waited for a brief second, but when Tilly kept ignoring him, he nodded and left. I waited until he was far enough before saying anything.
"The guy likes you," I told her quietly.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" she asked unenthusiastically. "He's a human."
"So what?" I asked.
"You know our rules."
"Yeah, but that sounds more like an excuse," I said.
She sighed. "Come on. What am I really supposed to do, huh? We're at war, and everything is so confusing even for me, and this is my world. He's a human. A weak human. The chances are that he'll either freak out when he hears about all of this and makes our lives more difficult, or then he doesn't mind and gets himself killed. So really, what am I supposed to do?"
She did have a point... "I'm sorry, I don't have the answers. But I know you like him a lot."
She let out a deep breath and stole a glimpse of Ben. "He's great... But I realized something... I don't feel a connection with him. No bonds. Nothing... So Selene probably knows something I don't. Like maybe I shouldn't have anything to do with him. I mean, she bonded Arch and Jack, and look how well that's going for them. If I don't get a bond with Ben, that has to mean a total shit show."
"Or maybe she forgot? Maybe she's been too busy to form the bonds?" I said, trying to cheer her up.
"Please don't do that," she whispered. "I've seen what hope does to people..."
Now I was really sad for her. And it got even worse when she looked at Ben for one last time before turning her attention to her food with a deep, sad sigh.
I didn't tell Tilly, but I decided to ask Selene about it the next time I saw her.
"Okay, why are we sad?"
I looked up and saw Jaden. He looked miserable when he sat down next to me.
Tilly shrugged. "It's probably Arch's fault."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"We share a lot of our emotions," Jaden explained. "The connection between us is so strong. Do you think Arch tried to go see Jack again?"
"Probably," Tilly said without looking at him.
I watched her for a moment. I felt so, so sorry for her... And for Ben as well. He was probably wondering what had gone wrong between them in a mere day.
"I never thought having a mate could be so complicated," Jaden suddenly spoke, and Tilly glanced at him in shock, but then he continued, "I do hope Arch went to see Jack, but... This is just sad."
"Just as sad as when you were running away from Oliver?" Tilly asked, relaxing now that it was clear Jaden hadn't realized it was she who was sad.
"Yeah..." Jaden muttered.
"To be fair, I had no clue, so..." I trailed off. "What happened between us is nothing compared to what Arch and Jack are going through."
"I still feel bad for it," Jaden mumbled.
I placed my hand on his. "I know exactly why you wanted to run away." Especially now that I'd heard Tilly's thoughts. "You don't need to beat yourself up for it. You came to me eventually."
"And I'm never going to leave," he told me quietly, taking my hand in his.
"Ugh, too sweet," Tilly muttered.
I gave her an apologetic smile, but she was still focusing on her food. It hurt to see her so sad.
I really needed to talk to Selene.