26 Go to hell

Does that mean Amaris' aunt was also a creature of the past who could live longer like the werewolves? Then how about Maxine? Is she the same? Amaris thought to herself.

"Let's see what's written in it first. The answer lies in there, she told you that right?" Zion suggested.

The cousins nodded in agreement. Zoila continued and turned the page to the next.

"It says here that she was chosen to become a protrea. It means protector or guardian of an anima. The anima was sealed in a sacred hydria and could only be opened by a crystallum. Five of them were selected. One of them was chosen to be the tenere or the keeper of the crystallum. They were instructed to meet once the anima gave out light. They need  to open the hydria so the anima could choose a corpus."

Amaris could feel her head throbbing. From all the sudden events, terms and unfamiliar words spoken , she felt like her brain would explode.

"Do you think the anima is her?" Cole asked while looking at Amaris.

Everyone turned their gaze on her. She remembered Zion told her about the anima. She really couldn't believe it, especially when Zion told her that soul transference can only be done by an ancient creature.

"We're still not sure about that. But there's a possibility that it was her since her aunt told Maxine that she must stay with Ari and protect her." Zion answered.

Zoila continued to see if there's more information in the diary. 

"The anima was given by an ancient libera who didn't mention who it belonged to. She wrote that as a chosen protrea, they could never question as this was the will of the Gods. They opened the hydria fifty years ago. As the anima's guardian, they would have to travel or venture to different places and follow it. One of them should at least be as close as possible and she was chosen to be that protrea. "

Zoila looked at her then continued.

"The anima couldn't find a strong and suitable corpus that could match its power so they wandered for decades. Then a lahmetar of the Gods came and gave her a message." Zoila paused.

She gulped and drank the water on the table in front of them as they waited for her to continue. She took a deep breath after drinking and focused on the book again.

"On the night of the next blood moon, a cria will be born and would become the anima's corpus. The Gods will allow the anima to live a peaceful life but when the Alpha who was favored by the Gods found it, they will come and take it. That's what it says. The next page was just words and not sentences so I'm not really sure what it means." Zoila said.

They didn't say a word for a moment. Amaris and Maxine were more surprised than the others as they were not used to this kind of stuff.

"Did you feel anything different about your mom?" Zoila asked Maxine.

"No. She would wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for us, go to work and come home in the evening. That's what she does everyday except weekends. She'll go out with friends every Saturday. I don't really ask where she goes, for me it was her way to relax." Maxine said.

"What is a lahmetar?" Amaris asked, curiosity piqued.

Zoila stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves inside Zion's office. There was a locked safety box in there, made of steel. She looked at Zion and made a facial sign to her brother.

Zion sighed deeply and whispered to Amaris. She nodded and stood up. Zion walked towards the safe and dialed the code. When it opened, Zoila picked something that looked like a book. And an old one as well.

Zoila raised the book with her hand, showing it to them.

"This is an ancient book passed down in our family. It has almost everything in there. There are words that I cannot understand in that diary so if it's okay, can I keep this for now?" Zoila asked, looking at Maxine.

Maxine nodded in agreement then Zoila looked at Amaris while walking closer. She put the book on the table, opened it and searched for something.

"Here!" She shouted.

We looked at her confused.

"It says here that a lahmetar is a messenger of the Gods. A beautiful maiden with golden wings and sometimes holding a herald's rod or a water pitcher. This is Eiris, right?" Zoila said while looking at Zion.

"Eiris? Who's that?" Amaris frowned.

It was a woman's name so she thought that Eiris was Zion's love interest in the past.

Zion chuckled when he saw Amaris' face. He was amused seeing her jealous.

"Eiris is the Goddess of the Rainbow and the messenger of the Gods. She came to Zion to relay a message from the Gods when they captured you one hundred years ago. She gave the mirror to Zion." Zoila continued.

Amaris looked at Zion who was sitting quietly. He sighed when he saw her ocean blue eyes staring at her.

"We're not sure if Eiris gave Amaris' anima to Maxine's mother. But I am getting really impatient with all this. We have half a month before the witch comes back, I cannot wait that long." Zion said in a serious tone.

"What are you going to do? Go to hell?" Zoila commented sarcastically.

Zion didn't answer and everyone was shocked from his silence. It just meant that he was really planning to go to hell.

"A-Are you insane? Can you do that?" Amaris frowned.

"Zion, you can't! Remember what's written in the mideia? It says once the Alpha found the anima, the Gods will come. They will come for her. Are you going to leave her here and let the Gods take her again?" Zoila ranted.

Zoila was right. When they took her before, he wasn't around and he regretted it until today. He looked at Amaris again, raised his hand to brush it through her cheek. He smiled and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I would not let them take you away from me again. This time, I will protect you. I promise." Zion whispered.

A cold wind suddenly blew that brought shivers into Amaris' spine. The lights in the room started blinking then a black smoke slowly crawled and went inside the room from the window. It started to form a shadow then to a human being. A woman with long black hair and eyes appeared.

"You don't need to go to hell. I am already here." She said with a grin on her face.

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Readers' Guide:

Mideia - a diary or journal

Protrea - protector or guardian

Crystallum - a crystal key

Hydria - a jar or a container

Tenere - a keeper

Lahmetar - a messenger

Cria - baby

Libera - deliverer