Persephone, our grandmother

"Where are you taking me?" Walter asked, frustrated and tired, and wearing an uninterested look.

"Somewhere quiet,"

"Why?"

"I want to show you something." she said, still holding his hand and dragging him deeper into the forest as they both passed through the leaves of the plants that seemed to embrace their skin as they went deeper. As they walked deeper, each step made on the dry leaves made a rustling noise that blended with the chirping noise the crickets made.

"We're here!" Nicole said on reaching a very vast rocky slope. It wasn't too high or too vertically sloped. But it did a good job blocking what was on the other side.

"What's this?" Walter asked, unimpressed as he stared at the ugly looking rock.

"Chill would ya? We're going to climb. The beauty is on the other side."

"Okay."

So they began ascending the rock. Without any climbing equipment, they planted their hands against the rocky surface. It wasn't too difficult for them due to the weathered crevices that gave them an anchor for them to propel themselves. In a few minutes, they got closer to the summit when Adeola turned to Walter and said, "It seems all those trainings are paying off, you're becoming very strong,"

Walter turned to her and at this time, the bluish color in his left eye was glowing more brightly than it ever did. Adeola noticed but didn't talk about it.

"Thank you. Actually, I wouldn't have been able to if you weren't helping out." Walter responded as he closely climbed after her. "But I won't lie, I'm getting tired."

"We're there already," she replied, offering him a hand as she pulled him up to the summit.

"Take a look," she said, pointing over to the other side.

Walter turned to take a look. It was a breathtaking view. There was a confluence where two mighty rivers clashed violently. The water body on the right was red and boiling, while the one on the left was blue and icy. There was thunderous noise due to their clash. As the waves clashed against each other, their union formed a third route which seemed to pass underneath the rock they stood on.

"Why didn't I hear all this noise from there?" Walter asked, pointing to the ground they climbed from, "So water has been underneath us this whole time?"

"I did tell you that we're camouflaging right? Remember? The tree we entered?"

"Yeah, I remember, but still the noise?"

"Noise doesn't enter or leave the island."

"So are we standing outside the camouflage? Because we're hearing everything now," Walter said, looking into her eyes.

"Yes, we're outside our camouflage. Those outside the camouflage wouldn't see this rock, they'll only see the water that formed through the 2 clashing rivers."

"So they can't enter if they try to follow this river?" Walter said, pointing to the river that flowed beneath.

"Well, they can if they're able to try to reach for the rock, but since we're above it's almost impossible for anyone to know."

"Adeola, why did you bring me here?"

"I know you love beautiful scenes so I just did." she replied, looking into his eyes, that still shone ever brightly.

"That's not true."

"I wanted to tell you something."

"Go on." He said, folding his arms, but still maintaining eye contact.

"This land is in the center of the confluence. Bahimi, the red river leads to Nether, while the blue leads to Jotunheim, and we're at the center. That represents something."

"What does it represent?"

"Wait, let me land…No one on the island we just left is human, or ever was. Not me, not mom, not Nicole, none of us. We were guardians."

"Were?"

"Yes, at least, our great grandmother was."

"Who was she?"

"She goes by many names, some say Persephone, some say Kebechet…and so on, but she's the reason we all use sickles on that island. That's where our power lies."

"How does all these apply to me? Tell me why I was brought here."

"She made a deal with a mortal, and this place was made, in exchange, she would get to live on earth for sometime. We all wanted to live on earth because we despised it here."

"Who made a deal?"

"Persephone, our great grandmother."

"I still don't understand, Adeola."

"Walter, we are from a different world. Our existence was made to guard the gates of the supernatural world from overlapping with the physical, but our ancestors wanted to live so the order fell, and somehow, we found humans who could create portals for us to come in, but in exchange, we'll grant their requests. In Persephone's case, it was to take someone away from the surface of the earth forever. And we all have followed her footsteps."

"Oh my goodness."

"So the time she spent on earth was her pay for bringing a soul here."

"So someone on earth was responsible for dragging me here, and Nicole's only reason for coming to earth was to experience life on earth and take me away from earth?"

"Your case is different. You were brought here to stop your dad from his rampage."

"But my dad was brought here by someone from earth?"

"Yes, he was."

"Who brought him here? And why, he was a very nice man mom told me"

"That, I don't know."

"This is so crazy. I can't even wrap my head around all this. You guardians are so selfish and desperate. Humans are so evil, it's almost unbelievable. How could anyone even do this to another person? Because of a dispute, you drag someone into this nightmare to suffer forever. That is beyond evil."

"You wouldn't understand. I don't expect you to. You're born in a world with a sun to give lightning in the day, and the moon to make up for the darkness at night. A world where there aren't beasts lurking in every corner. A world where seasons change from the beautiful warmth of summer to the freezing cold of winter. You do not know how invaluable earth is." She said, her voice relaying her anger, "every second you spend on earth is an unquantifiable blessing. But men squander it and you expect spirits not to get jealous? You've barely spent a month here, and all you do is complain about how much of a nightmare this place is, and yet you judge me for wanting to be a transitioner. I was born in this nightmare."

"These are all flimsy excuses to me. You can't, because of your misfortune, completely ruin other lives just for a few moments of pleasure. That's totally unfair."

"Flimsy excuses?"

"Very flimsy excuses, Adeola. No matter how you try to justify your actions, this is still so wrong. Just look at me, I had no idea of what was going on here, and just like that, I'm here caught up in a war I never knew existed, and everyone expects me to be prepared."

"There you go talking about how perfect your life was on earth again."

"I never said I had a perfect life, I'm just saying it's unfair to ruin innocent lives just because you're envious of them."

"You know what? I'm done here." she said, turning her back and walking away.

"You all need to apologize to all the lives you've ruined."

"Whatever" Adeola replied, uninterested.

"Get back here! Hey" Walter said, following her back into the camouflage.

As they argued, a voice said a few Kilometers Away,

"Sir, our beasts have picked up the Prince's scent for the first time in days Sir."

"Very good. Follow that scent!" Jade exclaimed.