106 The Battle Cry of War

Olivia couldn't believe what she had just read. She re-read it a couple of more times until she practically had it memorized. "Agni..." she started to say to herself. Completely shocked by the whole thing when suddenly her alarm went off. It was 11:30 p.m. now and she really needed to get some sleep.

Olivia swiped the screen on the phone to turn off the alarm before grabbing the letter. She refolded it nicely and safely put it back into the envelope. Then she started to tremble with excitement, she had info! Damaging info but she remembered to calm down, she had to think of a strategy to counter act anything that could cause doubt to the report.

As she placed the envelope back on the table a thought ran through her mind. 'Edmond...' There was no doubt that the information was collected by him but when and how did Loreley come to have it? She shook her head, she didn't need to create more motivation for herself to stay up. She grabbed her mug and quickly washed before she decided on where to sleep.

Olivia didn't know if it was safe to go back into her bed just yet. She decided that the warmth and security in that room was too tempting to give up. She grabbed the phone and programmed the alarm to go off for 4:00 in the morning. 'It's only for tonight, it's only for tonight.' she chanted in her head as she turned off the lights. 'After tonight, I come down here sparingly.'

She climbed onto the sectional, wrapped herself with a warm blanket and instantly appreciated the effort her father put in. She felt sadness wash over her as she thought about her dad, he was gone and though she was not truly alone, he was still an important part of her life. With a shaky sigh and a few tears she snuggled her face into the plush sectional before she was called away to the realm of dreams.

.....

"You need to save Vaidehi." a voice sang.

"Can't you just tell me who that is! How am I supposed to find her?!" Olivia yelled as she turned herself around, the fog patch she was in was too thick to see anything. "Find her to break your curse and everything will be yours." a voice echoed through the fog.

"Show yourself Sakura! Why must you hide when I know it's you? Please tell me why this is happening?" she yelled as she raised her head, trying to amplify her voice.

Suddenly a beautiful maiden was standing in front of her. She was wearing the same royal blue Hikizuri with a gold and orange cherry blossoms print. Her sleek, black hair was cascading over her shoulders and her black eyes were twinkling as they held the milky way inside them.

With a flick of her delicate wrist she waved the fog away. They were now standing by the lake as a crescent moon shone brightly up in the sky. "Sakura why do I need to save Vaidehi?" Olivia asked hoping she would get some sort of answer.

Sakura walked over to a log and sat herself down, she called up a stump and tapped it lightly, signally Olivia to sit down. "You humans are so interesting... you make up legends and fairy tales to make yourselves feel better about the world. To forget what you have done in the past as if sugar coating the truth will really hide anything. Then again it has gone on for so long that I too would have forgotten and moved on, if I was allowed too." she said as she placed an elbow on her knee and balanced her head.

"What are you talking about?" Olivia asked as she leaned closer. Sakura's thin, red lips started to turn upwards. "There is little truth and more tall tales involved with your people's storytelling that the true meaning of the story is often lost. Find the truth about the fairytale, learn of the dark past and what the people have done. When you do I will tell you everything, even how to save Vaidehi but for now you will have to leave." she said as she waved her hand in the air, summoning the fog's return.

Olivia got up from the stump and spun around shouting out Sakura's name. Her voice started to become soft when suddenly she felt the ground shake beneath her feet. "Find the truth about the fairytale, find Vaidehi, break this curse and you will have your happily ever after." Sakura sang one more time before the ground opened up and swallowed Olivia whole.

Olivia woke up before her alarm went off. She started to smile to herself as she sat up. "So the more I know, the longer you are willing to talk to me..." she said to herself as she pulled off the blanket and went to go make herself some breakfast.

After a quick bit, a prenatal pill and change into her uniform, Olivia left the room and made her way towards the kitchen. Since she woke up early and Eli being one of the guests in the house, she decided to do an extravagant breakfast.

She decided that eggs benedict, blueberry waffles, home fries, fruit smoothies, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers were the best way to go.

As she was placing everything onto the food cart she heard a familiar voice calling out to her from the kitchen entryway. "I could get used to seeing you do this every morning." Eli said in a groggy voice. Olivia looked up and was completely delighted to have a feast for her eyes. Eli was leaning against the trim of the door way, his hair was gently tossed in a somewhat er*tic way while he wore only a loose pair of PJ pants. Olivia openly gawked at his half naked body, fully appreciating his well toned muscles.

After a moment she decided to finish putting the last of food onto the cart. She then leaned against the counter, crossed her arms and decided to enjoy the view for a bit longer before she started talking to him again. "You know I could say the same thing to you." she said with a sly smile and suggestive gaze.

Eli lifted his body off the door frame and slowly walked up to her. The moment he was close enough he brought up his hand and grabbed her chin. He looked deep into her eyes and saw so much love and affection reflecting in them then he had to gulp.

In an instant his gaze turned ice cold and his grip was becoming tighter. "I meant in the maid outfit." he said in a deadly tone. "But I can see how you could have been mistaken, as I was once yours and now belong to someone more worthy. Honestly how long are you going to keep living in your fantasy world before you wake up!" he spat in her face as he let go of her chin and walked away, leaving Olivia breathless.

As she watched Eli leave the room she saw a shadow lingering in the distance. She bit her bottom lip, decided to hug herself and allowed her body to tremble. Her vulnerability was completely exposed as she let one tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek. She gingerly brought her hand up and wiped it away.

She straightened up her back, unruffled her skirt and started to move towards the cart. She gave herself time to take a couple of deep breathes in and out before she took one step forward. "You're okay, it's all okay, he doesn't mean it he still loves you." she said to herself before she left the kitchen.

She took a quick peek into the foyer and didn't see anyone standing there. She steeled her nerves, took one giant gulp, turned and made her way down towards the dining room. As she entered the dining room she noticed that Agni, Eli and Lila had already seated themselves at the dining table. Eli was no longer topless, he was now wearing a white, round collared t-shirt and a stoic expression as ignored her.

She looked at Agni and gave her a small curtsy. "Good morning master I hope you slept well. I see that Loreley is not yet here will she be joining us this morning?" She said in the most respectful tone she could produce while she tried to swallow back the bile that threatened to escape her mouth. Agni looked pleased with herself and started to play with a loose lock of her own hair. "As far as I know yes. She must be sleeping in, it was kind of loud last night and I don't think any of us slept very well." she said suggestively as she looked at both Eli and Laila.

Eli looked like he could care less what the conversation was about and just held out his plate. While Laila looked like a guilty puppy and just dropped her head to her chest, too afraid to make eye contact with Olivia. This caused a surge of panic to run through her body, she desperately tried to ask Eli what was going on with her eyes but he just looked at her like she was nothing.

Olivia felt her heart rate pick up and start pounding against her chest. She didn't know what to think but remembered the letter, she needed to believe in them. Even if her emotions got the better of her, she needed to believe.

She looked at Agni and choked back a few tears as she said 'I see." Agni looked positively pleased with herself and had her fork and knife ready in her hands, just waiting to dig in to breakfast. As Olivia was plating everyone's food Loreley walked into the dining room. Agni turned to Loreley and gave her the brightest smile. "Good morning my little angel of death and how are you today? Did you get any sleep last night because I know I didn't! It was just too loud!"

Loreley looked up and tried hard to hide the hurt in her eyes as she glanced at the pair. She turned back to face her mother. "I'm sorry, I needed to sleep in." she answered her remorsefully. Agni nodded her head in approval. "That's alright honey, you should sit down and eat. Need the vitamins and protein to get through the day, especially you Laila." she said with a knowing grin, causing Laila to choke on her smoothie.

Agni then turned to face Olivia, she cut a small piece of home fry in half and popped it into her mouth. "Olivia honey I'm going to need you to do all the laundry in the house this morning, especially the bedding. You know, it got a little dirty last night." she said nonchalantly and then made a gesture to show her that she needed some coffee.

Olivia tried her best to keep her trembling under control as she was pouring Agni a cup of coffee but it was no use. Her hand shook and she accidentally spilled some coffee onto the table. "My goodness child what could ever be the matter with you this morning?" she said in the delightful tone. Olivia clutch the handle of a coffee pot and curtsied again. "I'm sorry Master, please allow me to clean this up." she said pitifully.

Agni waved her hand in the air. "No need child, I can do this myself. By chance is there something bothering you this morning?" She asked while wiping up the mess with her handkerchief and then tossed it at Olivia's face. "You don't seem well enough to serve us breakfast, why don't you take care of that and do laundry instead? Please remember to change all the bedding."

Olivia absent mindedly nodded as she allowed the damp handkerchief to run down her face and fall into her hands. Agni smiled brightly as she watched her closely. "That's a good girl, now run along, go on, go on, run along now and don't slack off in collecting e-v-e-r-y-thing." she sang as she shooed her away.

Olivia walked off with a dead look in her eyes. She didn't want to make eye contact with anyone as she left the room.

She dragged her feet up the stairs, looked left then right debating on which room she wanted to start with. She picked Laila's rooms as it was the furthest from Agni's room. She went inside and pulled off the duvet. Suddenly a loud, heart breaking cry was heard all the way towards the dinning room.

Agni started to laugh in delight as she hugged her sides. Tears were gently rolling down the side of her face, Loreley became pale and stared at her plate of food, fighting the urge to cry. While Laila brought her hands up to her face and started to sob. Eli was the only one that sat emotionless, finishing his plate of food. His dead fish eyes didn't register the scene playing around him.

Olivia wiped away her tears, her gaze turned murderous as she looked on the bed. "That b*tch will pay for everything she has made you do! I swear she will not bring me back down again!" she said to herself through clenched teeth as she grabbed everything together and wrapped it up into a bundle. She then went into the bathroom and grabbed a bar of soap and a damp towel.

Soon she was busy scrubbing the patch of blood from Laila's mattress.