CXXXI ||| The Eden of Everest

"I'll see what I can do."

"But Meredith,"

"You two will deal with that bitch together, Hel. That's what you didn't understand until now, child," Mia caressed my face, my hair. "Your mating bond with Oli is a key to destroying her. Together, the power that will bloom from you two, will be able to fuck her up. Don't worry about Violet and Darius, I'll deal with them for now. Later, when Meredith's matter is taken cared of, you two can head down to London and destroy them."

"Our mating bond is a… key?"

A nod. "Didn't your mom tell you that it would work out because you were mated?" I only paid attention to the fact that she said I would have a mate. "Regardless, you two are stronger than you think, together. The fact that you can't break the bond is just an extra. But I'll give it to you," she chuckled, "Oli is very persuasive, by insisting on this, you might be the most stubborn being I've ever met."

I gasped, "That's too much coming from a Goddess."

"That's how stubborn you are, sweetheart," she kissed my cheek. "I am looking over all of you, don't worry. Meredith can't use her little manipulation magic on any of you!"

It was her! "We are touched by you!"

A nod, "You are. I touched you when I met you the first time, when you were two years old," she smiled softly.

She's been protecting me for so long. "Did you… bury my mom?"

Mia pressed her lips together, her eyes suddenly sad. "I did, child. I buried her when I saw her in the lair. She was like a child to me, it hurt me more than you can imagine. I can't phantom how it was for you to watch such a horrifying sight. I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner, Hel."

Her words made me break again, and as she embraced me, my body shook with the overwhelming emotions, the grief, the fear, the pain, "I… Thank you, Mia. Where… where did you bury my mom?"

"Do you remember that there was a secret passage from the back of your lair that took to a narrow opening to the very heart of the mountain, where there's a secret garden and lake?"

My eyes widened, "The one mom called Eden?"

A nod, "I made that place for her ancestors, as Everest was always where they stayed, given how Emerald Sky City is up there. It's the most sacred point of the mountains and only known for your mom and her ancestors. You included. I buried her in a gold tomb on the back of the lake. That's also where her spirit stays. In there and sometimes in the lair."

Mom… "I'll go there before I go to Emerald Sky City, after I meet with your sister. Annabelle."

Sigh, "She's easier to deal with than our middle sister, Angela."

At the mention of the name, my eyes widened, "The Oracle that Oli told me about… is the Mother? The second Goddess? Angela Hayanthan is your sister?" I gasped.

"Yes. She told me he would be mated to the winged serpent," she pointed to me, "and wanted to meet him. She's the mating bond master out of us the three of us, and as she was also looking forward to you, she wanted to take a look at your mate. We are all mothers of your kind, after all."

I gasped, still feeling my eyes burning, "This is insane."

"After meeting Annabelle, Oli will be the first person is centuries to meet both the three Goddesses. I mean, you will be too, after you meet Angela. It'll happen in the future," wait.

"Is Mia your real name?"

Mia grinned, "Myadria is my name, sweetheart. We just took these because they are better to mix ourselves while living in this world. K, L, M. Kyallia, Lyanmia, and Myadria. Annabelle Bluebonnet, Angela Hayanthan, and Alexandria Hallow. The Maden, the Mother, and the Crone. Three faces of the moon. We have many names," she brushed it off. "But the real ones remain. Mia is just a reminisce of my real name that I like to add to the name I took for myself."

"So, you're name is Alexandria Hallow and not Mia-Alexandria?"

"Yes. But I kept telling them to call me Mia, and now everyone believes it's my first name. I don't mind it. It's not like this is my actual name either way," she played with my curls. "Philippa and Russell will be here tomorrow morning, child."

I clenched my jaw, the sickness coming back, "I know."

"How do you feel?" She arched her eyebrows softly.

"I feel murderous, that's how I feel. We also have three matches tomorrow, then three the next day, and the last one on Sunday. Everything is overwhelming me, I'm feeling too much, because Oliver feel too much and I feel everything he feels. I'm already angry by myself, but now he's also angry, at… me," and for what? "So, there's a lot of accumulated anger in me, and I know I'm also affecting him because he feels what I feel."

"Every winged-serpent and their mate freaks out a bit in the very beginning of their mating bond, sweetheart, it's normal. It's overwhelming because of how strong it is, which makes it pure," and too much.

"Mia, what did you mean when you said one heart?"

She grinned, "Who knows?"

I growled, "Oh, not this again."

"Let your grandparents tell you," she winked. "You will be going into the mirror next month, so, pay attention. Don't freak out when you cross through the mirror, that might interfere on it again."

"Was it because I freaked out that it cut off?"

A nod, "Yes. So, just, calm down and go in. She's there to help."

She did tell me, but I didn't listen to her. "I owe her an apology."

"Not just her," she pointed to Oliver, still frozen, with a broken expression on that made my heart break. "But deal with things on your time. It's late, and tomorrow is the tournament. Your emotions are overflowing and you two are frustrated. Just throw it all on the matches, after the end of it you deal with your problems. Freeze time, deal with it, then go to the ball."

I don't even know how to begin with this. I'm embarrassed and I want to hit my head on a bloody wall. Fuck. All this because I am a winged serpent. Damned pure race. "Okay," sigh. "This will be chaotic."

Holding her hand, I moved my free one and unfroze time.

"Please, don't!" He yelled instantly, and when he realized I froze him, his red eyes turned to me, "What. Did. You. Do?"

I avoided it, unable to keep the eye contact, when my eyes met hers, she gave me a look. "Figure it out, I'll fix stuff if you end up breaking it in here!" Then she was gone. Bib bidi bob bidi boo. Gone. Only me and Oliver in her office.

Staring down at my shaky hands, I kept avoiding his gaze. But his anger and sadness and everything kept overflowing from him to me like a vine. Making it unbearable. "What. Did. You. Do?" He asked again.

"What do you think I did?" I finally turned my eyes to him. "You heard what I asked her. What am I supposed to say?"

His frowned deepened as he scowled bitterly, "Is that it?"

"What? You told me not to talk about this!"

"Don't come at me with that, Wilhelmina!" He yelled. "What did Mia fucking tell you? What did she fucking tell you?" He held me by my shoulders and made me get up, annoyed. {"Don't stand on the ground like that, for fuck's sake. I'm the broken one in here."}

"It doesn't matter."

He glared at me, "Of course, it does."

"No. It does not. So, I'm not telling you!" I glared back.

"You are not doing this to me!" Oliver yelled angry.

"What am I doing now?"

"Are you fucking serious?" He yelled, beyond angry and sad. A chaotic mixture of both, burning inside him… and now inside me. Oliver opened a portal for my dorm and pushed me inside, then he came and closed it behind him. "You are going to tell me," he howled.

"No. I am not!" I yelled back.

"Hel!" The girls cried.

["Ugh, I don't think we should stay here."]

"Let's go to Felix's!" Elsa exclaimed.

"What happened, Oli?" Irene asked, glaring at me.

"Wilhelmina here, made Mia tell her the way to break the mating bond!" He hissed, every single word with hatred, and I could tell he was doing his best to fight the tears.

All of them gasped, "There is a way?" Nevena asked horrified.

"According to Mia, yes!" Oliver grunted.

["Hel, you can't be fucking serious!"] Jack yelled in horror.

I said nothing. I kept a stoic blank face. No thoughts in my mind. Only despair, anger, sadness, and hopelessness curling up inside my body. Taking over everything. And I knew it was more from me than him. "You can try all you want, I will not say a word. It does not matter to any of you," I sat down on my bed, ignoring all of them and feeling my face burn, my eyes like they are on fire. "If you want to fight, we'll fight tomorrow. Not now. Not tonight. Just… leave me alone tonight."

"That is not going to fucking happen!" He scoffed incredulous.

"I will not fight tonight," I said again, covering my eyes.

The door burst out open and Felix came inside with the others.

"Hel! What the fuck? The Vampire Queen took you away?"

"What did she want?" Shiryu asked, haunted.

I kept my hand over my eyes, laying down on my bed, doing my all not to cry, not to break in front of them again. "She just… wanted to meet me," I whispered the half lie.

"Violet never just wants to me anyone," Oliver mocked bitterly.

Again, I kept my mouth shut, and the girls told them that Mia told me a way to break the mating bond, and though they kept asking me, or in Oliver's case, demanding me to speak, I kept my mouth clapped shut. Not a word about that.

"I said not tonight," I yelled when they didn't shut the fuck up. Shattering all the glasses and windows again. "Can you give me one, just one fucking night? One. I'm not asking for two, three, a week, or a month. Just one night, not even a day. Can't you see it's too much?" I cried. "I can't deal with this. Everything they told me… it's… it's too much. So stop. Just fucking stop. I'll deal with you tomorrow. I don't want to fight tonight."

Freezing time, I took my things, and jumped from the balcony, then I opened my wings and flew to my cabin in the woods. As I got there, I locked the door and everything else, and put on the magical tool that blocks the sounds from the outside. Then, I unfroze time and decided to read the books to take this off my mind.

Putting my iPad and phone in airplane mode, I put away all the distraction, decided to read the books without using my time magic. Just to enjoy my time in it's normal flow for a change.