Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 27, 2008 23:47:47 GMT -5
Chapter Fifteen – Elizabeth’s Decision
The area was devoid of people. Blue-white orbs formed into Wyatt, followed shortly by his brother. Wyatt looked in the direction of the invisible zone.
Josias orbed in, hugging Elizabeth. He let go of her as soon as they were fully materialized.
Elizabeth stepped away from Josias and looked around. “So, what’s next?”
Wyatt pointed in the direction of the earlier skirmish. “Walk that way until you pass . . .” He paused as he orbed a tree branch at the zone. Though it was hardly necessary, seeing as he had built a branch barrier in that area, he waited until it hit the zone and fell to the ground. “That. Then, turn back around and come back. Once you’re back find out if you can orb. Simple, right?”
“Too simple,” Josias agreed. “What’s the catch?”
Chris sighed as he admitted, “We don’t know. Someone told us what it was, but left without telling us anything more. We mentioned the name to Dad, but though he had heard of it, it was only in the context of taking orbing away, not giving it back.”
“What is it called?” Elizabeth asked, now curious to know what this thing was, since she couldn’t even see it.
“Apparently an anti-orb zone,” Wyatt informed her, looking in the direction of the zone. “We don’t know how it got here of how long it is here for.”
Elizabeth stilled at his words.
Josias turned to Wyatt, startled. His voice was shaky as he said, “An anti-orb zone?”
Wyatt nodded, confused by such a strong reaction to his words. “Is something the matter?”
Josias ignored him and looked at Elizabeth. “You cannot, Elizabeth.”
With closed eyes, Elizabeth wiped her hand against the side of her face, clutched it just below her throat, slid it down open palmed to her stomach, and dropped her hand to her side. “They could be wrong. Surely they are wrong.”
“Can you risk that?” Josias asked, his voice pleading. “Can you truly risk that?”
Wyatt and Chris looked at each other confused. “Would someone please explain?” Wyatt asked, looking between the two whitelighters.
Elizabeth exhaled softly. “There is talk, whispered thought it may be, of these anti-orb zones amongst those within the whitelighter circles. Frightening stories, truly frightening. They appear rarely and unexpectedly, leaving in much the same manner. A whitelighter caught within them, never orbs again. A whitelighter attempting to orb through them can plummet to great lengths. If they carry with them a mortal the likelihood is death. Not subtly and quite terrifying. They cause fear amongst who all who know of them.”
Chris frowned, remembering the young woman they had seen earlier. “Not everyone.”
Elizabeth looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”
“We met someone today who could see it,” Chris informed the two whitelighters. “She saw it merely as an annoyance. And when we told her we had already been in it, she advised us to get back in so our powers could be restored.”
“She could see it?” Josias asked stunned.
Chris nodded. “I am sure of it.”
“She wasn’t just messing with your head?” Josias, asked, grasping for an explanation that made sense. No one could see anti-orb zones. “She had to be. No one can see them.”
“She could see it,” Chris reaffirmed. “I’m not even sure she knew we were there when she first reacted to it.”
Elizabeth turned to Josias, hope sparking in her eyes. “Perhaps if I just put my hand in, it would work. After all, the gel entered through my hand.”
“What about . . ?” Josais couldn’t finish his sentence, but pain was in his eyes.
“Look at them, Josias,’ Elizabeth instructed him. “These two young men. They have whitelighter powers, but they aren’t whitelighters. They may dislike being unable to orb, but it didn’t keep them from doing their job. It does severely limit me, especially now that magic is back. For the past twenty-or so years, my charges weren’t going into situations of immediate danger, but now they are and I can’t do my job if I have to always wait for you. And because of this I can’t quit either.”
Josias took a shaky breath. “You’re right.”
Elizabeth nodded. She closed her eyes and put her hand on her stomach as if queasy. She breather in and opened her eyes. She stared in front of her the few feet to the wooden barrier Wyatt had created with the branches. Steeling herself she walked toward the zone and past the branches.
Once in she turned around and looked at them. “It seems too easy.” Elizabeth walked back toward them. She stopped suddenly as a look of surprise covered her face. She looked up and met Josias’ eyes as a smile spread across her lips. “Everything is going to be all right.”
At her words, Josias’ face lit up.
Confused, Chris looked between the two whitelighters. “I don’t understand. You haven’t even tested your orbing.”
An amused smile on her lips Elizabeth addressed Josias. “I told you they weren’t whitelighters.” Turning to Chris she tried to explain. “I don’t have to test it to know it is there. The moment I stepped past the boundary I knew I could orb, again. Thank you for that.”
“I don’t get it,” Chris admitted, “but I’m glad we could help.”
“What are you going to do now?” Wyatt wanted to know.
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, slightly confused.
Wyatt looked first at Josias and then at Elizabeth. “Well, Josias told us that when this first happened you were given the option of becoming mortal again and he indicated that you tried to take that chance. What now?”
Elizabeth smiled as she replied. “I am a whitelighter, have been for more than three centuries, and a whitelighter I shall stay. It is who I am. And now I can do my job, again. Thank you for that.”
Wyatt grinned back. “You are welcome.”
Elizabeth turned to Josias. “We should probably go get Pansy and return her home.”
Josias grinned. “Why don’t I meet you at Portia’s.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied, realizing. Her eyes widening and a broad grin growing on her face she repeated the word. “Yes. Let us do that. I’ll get Pansy and meet you there.” She looked once more at Wyatt and Chris. “Good bye.” And then she was gone in blue-white orbs, her own.
Josias looked at the two brothers, his smile easily reaching his eyes. “Thank you, again, for helping her. If I can return the favor . . . let me know Good bye.” He orbed out, leaving the two brothers alone.
Chris turned to Wyatt. “What do you want to do now?”
Wyatt considered this. “Well, we should probably tell Cilly how things turned out, but I was thinking we could go visit Kali and go out somewhere to celebrate.”
Chris grinned. “Works for me.” Glancing in the direction of the parking lot he gave his brother an impish look. “You’d better deal with your car first.” With those words, he orbed out.
Wyatt rolled his eyes and walked back toward where he parked his car. Had he but wait a moment more he would have seen a very rare sight as behind him, unobserved by all, a thin sheen of purple began to glow by the branches. The purple climbed high in the sky building a visible dome of color. It started to shrink, slowly at first then faster and faster until it was gone, its reason for being there complete.