Chapter 41 Coming Into A New World

Owen laid Eve down, she was running out of time. The flames were rising higher, the smoke was getting thicker and there was no sign of help. Eve knew she had already inhaled too much smoke and the wound on her leg was getting worse, blood wouldn't stop flowing from it. "O-owen.... cough... I'm so s-sorry..." Eve started to say but Owen face twisted with pain and fear. "No don't talk! Save your strength, someone will come rescue us so just hold on okay?"

Eve started to wheeze as she struggled to move her body. Owen noticed her attempts, his eyes started to water and Eve couldn't help but feel pleasure run through her body. She tried smiling but it caused him more pain. "I'm so sorry Eve! If I didn't listen to Zoran and helped him with this stupid plan, none of this would be happening! This is my fault! All of this is my fault for being too much of a coward! I could have contacted your family, I could have taken you away from this, I could have taken better care of you!"

Eve willed her strength back into her body and raised her hand to touch Owen's face. "No, I don't blame you, I can never blame you... cough... you are so kind hearted... so sweet... so cute... that... I couldn't...cough... help but fall in l-l-lo-cough... cough... cough." The life in Eve's eyes started to fade and her coughing caused blood to spill out of her mouth. Owen pressed his lips against hers as if he was trying to give her some life back. Eve's hand slip behind his head and touched his soft golden brown hair. When they parted she moved her hand back down and wiped the blood from his lips. She gave him one last smile as she moved her lips but no sound came out. She lost the remainder of her strength and her hand slid down with a thud.

Owen's tears started spilling out, he desperately shook Eve's body to try and wake her. More debris was falling around them and the area was getting too hot. He tried his best to give her CPR but it was barely working. "No! Eve please open your eyes! Don't leave me! Stay! Stay with me! Stay by my side! I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU! EVE WAKE UP!" But it was no use Eve laid their limp, barely breathing. Owen buried his face into the crook of her neck and uncontrollable wept. More debris fell and landed on top of his legs but he didn't scream in pain. "Don't worry Eve you won't be alone, even after death I will stay by your side." He said as he gently pulled his face off of her body and kissed her forehead.

Suddenly a weird blue light appeared underneath them. Owen looked around and saw that the light started to etched ruins onto the floor in a circular pattern. "Owen?" Eve said as she gasped for air. Owen's eyes lit up and he hugged her tightly. "Yes Eve it's me!" He cried. "Run..." She said as she pushed him away but it was too late. The circle was completed and the light engulfed the two. "Eve!" Owen yelled as he tried to reach out to her but the light was blinding.

When Eve was able to focus her vision she realized that she could barely move. She was cold, hungry and scared. She tried to call out for Owen but all she heard from her lips was an infant's cry. "Master! Master, it was a success. We seemed to have a succeeded in saving the child's life!" A man yelled in delight. "Yes, so many trials and so many unsuccessful attempts to breed such a child. Especially now that we have lost her mother... the first day of the new year I am not sure how to take these events as... auspicious or ominous.... Sirius make sure that this child is properly taken care of! We can not have any mistakes." A deep voice shouted.

Another man stepped from within the shadows and collected Eve, who had been laying in the middle of a magical circle on the ground. "Master Romanoff what should we name this child?" Sirius said as he pacified the baby by rocking her. "Really Sirius why bother? She will be the tool for the church by giving us power and riches! Naming her will make her more human than she deserves and we all know that this 'monster' is far from being human." Romanoff said before he started to walk away.

"Master Romanoff with all do respect, this child does not only have the blood of the garnet dragon prince running through her but also of the jewel eyed priestess. We can not disrespect our own priestess but not naming her child. Especially when word gets out that she is her daughter, the people will riot." Romanoff waved his hand in air as he gave his blessings to let Sirius do whatever he wanted. Sirius graciously bowed before walking off with Eve. "Little one, my beloved sister knew you would be saved and she told me what she wanted to name you Ariana. I vowed to keep you safe even if it costs me my life."

Later on that night Ariana was bundled up and gently placed into a sling. She slightly opened her eyes and silently watched Sirius's face. "My little niece you are definitely special. Such intelligent eyes for being so new to this world. Please stay quiet, we will get you out of here in no time." Eve closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

When she started to stir again Sirius was running for his life. She could hear shouting from behind him and struggled to see his face. Being so new meant she lacked muscle strength and could only vocalize her frustrations. "Shh, shh, shhhh. Ariana it's okay, uncle Sirius is almost at the safe point. Once we get past the holy river there will be nothing they can do." Eve had no idea what was going on but she did her best to stay quiet. Suddenly Sirius let out an ear piercing scream. Eve was so startled that she started to cry. "This will not stop me!" He said through gritted teeth. Sirius could barely run but he did his best to get to the raging waters.

He undid the knot around his neck and gently placed Eve into a basket inside a small boat. He started to push the boat into the water and screamed as he took his first step in. He looked down and his foot and noticed it started smoking. "I'm sorry little one but my journey ends here. It seems that I have become tainted and can not return home." He said softly as he stroked Eve's face. He then pulled a letter out from his clothes and wrapped it within Eve's blanket. "Your mother is watching over you, she will guide your boat to our people where you will be treated and raised properly and not as a tool for the church. It was a short time Ariana but I can saw from the bottom of my heart that I love you and I always will."

Sirius pushed the boat with all his strength and watched as is sailed along the rapids. Eve cried as the boat swayed and soon enough she heard Sirius's scream echoing through the night air. The water's were starting to get rougher and Eve's boat flipped. She shut her eyes tight as she fell into the water and was waiting for the ruthless cold water to engulf her. To her surprise she was encased in an air bubble, her soul was forced out and astro projected before a beautiful blue woman.

She had long wavy hair that danced as if it was moving water, almond shaped eyes that were completely blue, a small button nose and tiny puckered lips. She was slender yet she had her feminine curves. She wore layers of blue fabric that collectively formed a low v neck dress that flared outwards from her waist. She had strands of pearls around her neck, wrists, ankles and waist and was bare foot. "Why are you looking for passage into the domain of the Holy Wailele Clan?" The woman asked in a calming, deep voice.

Eve looked at her for a while then shook her head. "The uncle that placed me in the boat wrote a letter. As you can see I'm not an infant yet I'm in this infant's body." The woman waved her hand and the letter was brought to her. She carefully read it then put it back within Eve's blanket. "You do not belong here. You are not a child of this world and I, Ubon will not permit you to enter, let alone live in this world." Eve's eyes widened, she was only a soul but the child Ariana, was still flesh and blood. She raised her arms up to block Ubon from doing anything to the child.

"Now dear sister, don't act so rash. This child's mother has already made the sacrifice to keep this child alive." A musical voice whispered around them. Eve looked around and a bright light started to come from above. A small ball of white floated in between her and Ubon and then flashed. Standing in front of Eve was the exact same woman but she was completely white except for her hair, it was waves of yellow and gold. She wore a pale yellow dress and was wearing diamonds instead of pearls. "Big sister Leilani please explain the nonsense you were just spouting." Leilani gave a gentle smile to Eve then turned to face her sister.

"The jewel eyed priestess has given up her life in exchange for her daughter to live. I have already absorbed her soul and given our great mother has given her permission for this child's soul to come into our world." Ubon's face instantly became distorted with anger and disgust. "Leilani you have gone too far! This is an abomination to say in the least! How can you allow the priestess to die and give birth to an empty vessel!" Ubon shouted as the water's around her started to circle around her rapidly.

Leilani tilted her head and kept her gentle smile in place. "This child is mixed with the garnet dragon prince's blood. Our priestess found true love and was willing to do anything to allow their child to live, empty vessel or not." The water's around Ubon calmed down immediately. She dropped her gaze and stood their silently, mumbling her disbelief. "Ubon, I know you cared for the priestess more then any of us but her final decision was to allow this child to live. The soul within the child is not what is important, mother has deemed her worthy enough to reside in her but you were given final judgment on what to do next."

Ubon nodded her head and slowly brought up her gaze. Small air bubble started leaving the corners of her eyes as she showed a sweet bitter smile. "Help me judge?" She asked quietly. "As you wish." Leilani answers as she glided beside her sister and held her hand. "Child, we will judge whether you are worthy enough to be our next priestess. Depending on what we find will determine how you will live your life." Eve had no time to ask any questions as both women raised their hand and entered her soul.

Eve could see what they were seeing and silently waited as they scanned her whole life. After a moment they left and were once again in front of her. "Dear sister Leilani what do you think?" Ubon asked with a gentle smile. "My lovely sister Ubon, I have reached the same conclusion you have." Ubon and Leilani looked at Eve and effortlessly moved forward, placing a hand on her shoulders. "Eve, we are not sure what our mother plans in doing by allowing someone like you to exist but we the Queen's vessels of the water and light elements bless you with our gifts. Though we know you will never be a jewel eyed priestess we believe your destiny here will be one far greater." Ubon said as her hand started to glow a soft blue.

"To help you along with your destiny we will also give you a blessing and a curse. Do not think badly of us as your soul was pulled away from your previous life but we are going to believe in our mother, the Queen of creation, Vivienne's judgment. Your blessings will be something only you can determine, as for your curse... your an existence that should have never happened so we will lock your memories away, so you can live a happy life. We are unable to give you the details of the curse, only our father the King can divulge that information." Leilani said as her hand started to glow a soft white. "No! There is something I need to know before you do!" Eve protested but the elementals just smiled. "We know what you want to know and to pay for his life in this world we believe you have already paid for it from your previous life." Eve's eyes grew wide and soon her soul felt it was on fire. Her infant self started to cry and she was pulled back inside Ariana's body.

On the right side of her collar bone a white, lower case xi symbol appeared and next to it glowed a psi symbol in a pale blue colour. "Be strong little one, once you have met the other vessels your fate will be sealed." Ubon said with a sad smile. "One day you will get all your memories back and hope that you will not hate us too much for putting you through so much. However please always know that whenever you are in trouble we will lend you our power."

Ariana opened her eyes, she started to panic she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe but she knew deep down that she was safe. She felt a rush of power flow through her veins and with just the tiniest move of her muscles she heard something shatter around her. Her body felt warm and she stretched out her legs, she felt the cold floor with the tips of her toes. She felt weak but did her best to stand tall. "Ariana!" A familiar voice yelled and she looked up. "Mom?" She answered in a groggy voice. Lady Zula rushed forward with a blanket and wrapped Ariana in it. Tears were running down her face as she hugged Ariana.

"Mom are you okay?!" Ariana asked as she hugged her mother back. "Mom something seems weird." She said as she tried to pull away but Lady Zula cried harder and tightened her hold. "Ariana... we can't believe your okay." Ariana turned her head and saw that they were not the only ones in the room. "Rin! Hi, oh wow! Look at you are you?!" Rin nodded her head as she rubbed her swollen abdomen and tears spilled from her eyes. "You missed a lot little sister but we will catch you up." Roy said gently as he placed an arm over Rin's shoulders.