Chapter 19 Portal.
Creed’s pov.
The SUV pulls up, I open the passenger side for Lily and gesture for her to get in.
“What a true gentleman.” Lily chuckles. I walk around the vehicle to the driver’s side and the guard hands me the keys. I hop in and start the SUV. We start driving towards the gates and all I can think about is what’s gonna happen now.
"Everything will be okay, in due time.’ Hunter speaks vaguely
“What are you thinking about, Creed?” Lily questions.
“Just what we’re getting ourselves into. It's dangerous Lily, very dangerous. I hope we find your mother but the odds aren’t in our favour…” I mumble. Lily looks towards the window, staying silent for a while before saying, “I know.”
It breaks my heart a little seeing her like this; so vulnerable.
The drive consisted of small talk and Lily giving me directions to ‘Master Shifu’s’ place.
“So what’s his name? You know, other than Master Shifu?” I ask.
Lily chuckles before answering me. “He only goes by Master Shifu. Only I know his real name and I’m not supposed to talk about it with people.” She shrugs.
“What an oddball.” I say and we both laugh a little. We drive a little longer before we arrive
I help Lily out of the vehicle before walking up to the front door, Lily knocks twice and it takes a while before the door opens.
When the door opens an older man is staring back at us, he doesn’t look too old but has salt and pepper hair; he’s shorter than me but still quite taller than Lily, he has kind hazel eyes and quite the build.
“My little flower.” He says and a small smile takes over his face.
Lily's pov.
“My little flower.” Eric says, aka Master Shifu.
I jump into his waiting arms and give him one of the biggest hugs I can. Being here, hugging him just makes my heart feel warm. I missed him.
“I missed you, but we're not exactly here for a visit… My mother is missing and we need to find her. Do you still have my talisman locked up?” I question him.
“Of course, I’ve never opened the safe we got for it, it’s still in the closet in your room. I have kept everything the same.” You can see the hint of sadness in his eyes when he speaks about how he kept everything of mine the same; not changing my room or getting rid of my things, another warm feeling makes its way through my heart.
“Thank you, thank you so much Master Shifu.” I’ll be forever grateful for this man. He’s my father, not Danny Further. Danny is just the sperm donor.
“No need for such thanks. Follow me, I’ll take you as I chat with the young man.” Master Shifu says, while eyeing Creed up and down. Creed gives a little chuckle but grabs my hand in his and we start walking towards my room.
Master Shifu opens the door and we all step inside, when I look around a tear leaves my eye. It’s really the same, the exact same. Purple paint lining the walls, a brown vanity with a huge mirror on it, a walk in closet, queen size bed. Yes this house is small and this room is even smaller but Eric put a walk in closet for me. When he helped me, I had absolutely nothing. I just had my talisman, that’s it. I didn’t bring anything from my old life.
“It is exactly the same..” I say nostalgically, while grazing my hand along the wall.
I hear Eric chuckle a little, “Come on, let’s get you your stuff.” He strides across the room and grabs the closet door handle before pulling it open. I’m quick to follow him inside, Creed is right behind me.
I walk towards the safe, the one with my talisman inside, with every step I take I can feel the overwhelming sensation it gives me. The power coursing through my veins like snakes. I hear Sapphire grunting and growling in pleasure. She loves the power and the feeling it gives us.
I start inputting the code with trembling fingers. I hear it click and I slowly open the door. There it is, in all of its glory, glowing so brightly it’s hard to look at. I reach for it with my trembling hand,wrapping my fingers around it and instantly get hit with the overwhelming feeling of power. It’s seeping into my every pore. I can feel my eyes begin to glow and I can’t help the grunts and groans that escape me.
I hear Eric somewhere in the background telling Creed that this happens, it’s not normal but it’s my normal. It’ll pass once my body gets used to the foreign feeling of all this power being contained. Eric is used to it by now, having helped me train my powers he usually witnessed this happen to me every single time.
‘Just breathe Lily, we were made for this, gifted this, we’re stronger than anyone will ever know. This is our destiny. Own it Lily.’ Sapphire growls with pride. I take a deep breath, dig my feet into the ground and push all the energy, power and my vulnerability into my heart and soul, accepting the power and letting it flood my body. It feels so good to accept it, so right.
‘This is who we are, who we were always meant to be’ Sapphire speaks.
When I can finally think straight without the overwhelming power on my conscience, I slowly turn my body towards Creed and Eric. When I can get a good look at them, Creed looks extremely pale, worried and confused, Eric on the other hand looks like it’s just any other day for him.
I step forward to take Creed's hand, stumbling a little on the way. He quickly grabs me and pulls me towards him.
“That was fucking terrifying, why does that happen! If that’s what happens every time then I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch.” Creed says, running a hand down his face.
“Actually, it only happens because Lily isn’t very accepting of her talisman. She doesn’t want to accept the fact that all her magic, her powers and even her vulnerability gets put inside of it. I've told her this before but she doesn’t listen.” Eric says with a tsk. I roll my eyes forgetting about that conversation we had a while ago.
It was a long day; Eric had me train for 7 hours straight that day. No breaks, no food, only water. We had a huge argument because I wasn’t ‘listening’ to him. I can’t remember everything he said but I do remember him saying ‘you need to learn how to accept your talisman or that’ll happen every time’ I didn’t really take him to seriously then, after hearing Sapphire though, saying this is who we are, this is our destiny, I finally found a reason to accept it.
“I’m sorry Master Shifu, we need to get going now, like right now. I didn’t tell you but my mother is missing. We think my father has her, and before you even say it - I know, I could get caught but I’ll never not save my mother; I love her with all of my heart, I’ll do whatever it takes to save her, even if I have to get hurt while doing so.” All he does is nod and smile.
I concentrate on my magic, pulling it forward to open a portal, I picture my old room, what it looks like and the last time I was there. Sapphire helps me, pulling on her magic too. In seconds, the purple mist starts to rise and when it disappears there’s a huge portal standing in front of us.
“It was so nice to see you, little flower.” Eric says and gives me a quick hug squeezing me a little tighter than usual. “Be careful, you hear?”
“It was nice seeing you too, Eric.” I whisper to him.
“Take care of her, okay, I’ll skin you alive if anything happens to her boy!” Eric glares at Creed. He visibly gulps but reassures Eric that he’ll do anything he can to ensure my safety. We wave goodbye before we step through the portal Sapphire and I created.