As you grew up, everyone found what they would consider their favorite place on earth. A place that no matter where they were on earth it brought them peace, reminded them of home. Personally speaking I had three of them that always made me feel better. The highest points of a mountain or the highest point of the tree tops. My home was at the top, the only and largest mountain on the island, with hundreds of tall trees that surrounded it like soldiers. Anywhere that I could drive a truck or some other large vehicle. It brought me peace being behind the wheel, helped me focus much better than one might think. However, my home away from home, my comforth, and my strength could always be found. At a table in the far back of my favorite place on earth.
I loved the bar.
I loved being around drinks of all kinds, my favorite though was the burning whisky or vodka that always got the real me to come out. A more hardheaded, a fight first ask questions later, a flirty young woman of 17 years old. Not the shell of a bitch I keep on to make sure I don’t embarres my momma or papa back home. It had taken a lot of work to get inside of the bars at home, the rule was you had to be 16 to have something with 2.5 percent liquor in it. However, as the daughter of a member of the council, I had used that to my advantage. I had my first taste of wine at 10, my first hard scotch that I had stolen from my father at 12. I grew faster and looked a bit older than I should when I was younger. So it took little to get inside of true bars, to find places in the back where I could be left alone.
And it took a lot of gold to keep certain mouths shut so she would never find out.
I did not have a problem, I can and will stop at any time I choose.
“Not yet though.” I said to myself as I looked around the large bar that I had found on my travels. I originally had come here to refill my flask, but one thing turned into another and now I was truly at home. All I needed was one more to push me over the edge, it took 10 of hard liquor to even start to feel happy.
It took 20 to get me lost in a beautiful world of pure imagination.
I just needed one more.
As I went to lift another drink to my mouth, I felt something lash me across my wrist nearly making me drop my cup of sweat heaven. I looked down at the oddly blurry and shifting image of my favorite little monkey in the whole world. “What are you,” I stopped speaking as my words seemed to slur together. It made me laugh a bit, childish giggles that I hadn’t let out since… well since last night. “What are you doing, Vicky?” I asked rubbing my stinging wrist with my other hand. “Momma, is having fun, we can play your games later.”
Her face twisted a bit in annoyance. I think a pout that I loved but also got her into trouble if used in the wrong place at the wrong time. “No more,” she said firmly.
I laughed at that and moved closer to her. “You don’t get to tell momma no,” I tried to sound firm but I could laugh more as my words sounded ridiculous right now. “Besides, I just want one more.” I said lifting my drink up to my lips and downing the entire glass in a moment. It burned my throat as it slid down into the endless abyss that was my stomach, or at least that is what some people used to tell me. “No reason, I can’t look like my momma.” I told myself as I patted my firm stomach. My waist didn’t curve like my momma’s did, it just stayed the same as my hips. Wide and strong, not like her’s. I sighed a bit before laying my head down on the cold wood table. “Maybe it is bottomless.”
I waved over another cute looking waitress, and using a bit of amplification I made myself look presentable. “One more please, something a bit sweet.”
“No!” Vicky cried out as she slammed her tail on my wrist again. I held back a wince and turned my gaze onto her. “No more!”
“Miss?” I looked up at my waitress once, her eyes scanning the now 20 cups of drinks I had had in the last hour or so. Some standing upright, others tipped over, about ten stacked like a pyramid. “I am gonna have to cut you off for the night.”
“Why?!” I snapped drunkenly but quickly focused a bit. If I lost my focus then my drunkenness would come back upon me like a wave hitting the shore. “I’m sorry, why are you cutting me off darling?” I tried to summon as much of my mother's professionalism right now. I had a feeling I would need it.
“Ma’am, I am not going to explain to you why, just informing you for your own safety that I am cutting you off for tonight.” She responded in a firm voice as she laid a bill on the table. Her greek accent was strong, very adorable if I was being honest. She was kinda cute too, wide hips that led up to a slip waste. Long brown hair and her makeup made her look wonderful. However, those eyes that were once friendly and welcoming are now firm. Those lips and cheeks that had been once blushing and laughing with each of my attempts to get her number, no longer looked warm. “Although you are good at hiding it, you are drunk, so please pay your bill and if you need someone to drive you home. We can call you a cab.”
I lost my focus as that feeling I loved so much spilled over me like a waterfall. “Fine,” I said with a long twist of my head, I couldn’t remember how to roll my eyes right now. “But know that this is gonna lose you a bit of your tip.”
“I will take my chances.” She said with gritted teeth. As she turned on her heels and walked away towards the bar.
“Damn it, Olive.” I mumbled, “you forget her number.” I reached into my pocket and didn’t even bother to count out my cash. I just laid about half of what I had on the table before standing up. My entire vision grew darker on the edges as I began to make my way towards the door. I stumbled my way towards the door, calling out my own curses as they were sent my way, as I bumped into a few people. I knew Greek, it was the native tongue of my family. So I knew what they were saying. I could handle most of their insults, “Dumbass foreign bitch,” was a common one. However, one insult made me stop on my heels. “Fat ass!”
“Momma no,” Vicky had been holding onto my hand as she tried to hold me back. “Let’s go back to the hospital already, please.”
“Not now,” I said as I pulled away from my monkey daughter. “What did you say?:” I demanded as I moved forward with little worry of my own well being.
“I called you a fat ass,” this man ordered as he rose to his feet. He was wearing what I could only assume were work clothes, dark pants and a shirt with some logo I didn’t know. He was a bit taller than me, a bit stronger too. “Now get the-” He didn’t finish as I slammed my fist into his face knocking back into his chair. Through my spinning and blurred vision I could see his eyes go from surprise to a deep anger.
“What were you saying?!” I asked.
I am not sure if it was my punch that started the new ten minutes of chaos, but somehow a bar fight started, and all I remember was taking a few hits, dealing a few of my own, before the ground suddenly was far too close for comfort and that darkness I had barely been able to keep away consumed me completely.
When I woke up my head was pounding as if someone had taken a hammer to it. My body felt even worse and I was freezing as if I had been outside all night. “Wait a minute,” I told myself as I blinked away the last of my sleepiness.
I was outside.
Why was I outside?
Before I could even process what had happened. I felt someone hit me across the face! I turned around towards the source ready to scream my head off at them when I saw my daughter standing in front of me. She lowered her fist that was shaking like crazy. She had chosen to wear what looked like a brown shirt with those familiar symbols that connected to a deep brown skirt. All made from her jepei, a false image of clothing until I got her something real. Her large brown voids for eyes narrowed in rage, small streams of brown tears fell down her face. She was crying for some reason.
“Y-You did it again.” She said softly as she threw something at me. I realized it was my wallet. “Y-You told me you wouldn’t do it again. So I had to go get your wallet again! I had to go bring you here when they threw you out!” She stepped forward again and hit me once more, but this one was weaker. She dropped to her knees as she let out a soft whimper. “All because you did it again.”
I opened my mouth to speak, to make my cause, maybe even to beg for her forgiveness but all I could do was lower my head in shame. As I listened to her angry crying, I had done it again, not gotten drunk out of my mind. I was nearly robbed.
She could feel every punch I took. She was probably sick from how much I had drunk as she feels some of it too.
But worst of all, I broke my promise to my daughter to never do it again.
I just wanted to forget everything that had been happening.
My name is Olivia Hearthstone.
And I have a problem.
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvSo1dDVtZ
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxO4CJiGrx
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYoie2hvn1
When we had reached our hotel room back in Sparta. We quickly began to gather up our things so we could make it to our private jet a bit early. Dr. Drakos’s was truly a great man, he had thanked us for all our help in these past few days by not only agreeing to send all the information on Adonis back to the island. He was also giving us a private jet to get to our next destination a bit quicker. We were heading to Egypt, to follow the steps of Adonis to whatever he found in the city. Somewhere on the floor of the red sea. We had to get there before our enemies did. We had no idea what they were after but it had to have something to do with this tower. A tower that, according to Emily Walker, was not a myth.
It was true.
While I had spoken to the girl about what had happened to us, she had shown me a few pictures of a massive tower they had found under water. It was broken into four pieces with the base of it being larger than maybe two football fields. I had shown the others and they both looked at me in disbelief. The Tower of Babel event really happened and this only meant that whatever was on the bottom of the red sea was something more important.
Maybe even a piece of this tower that had been thrown away during the fall.
Emily told me that they were heading deep into the amazon next to follow the clues they had gotten.
It was only fair that we got to work and did the same.
As I finished packing my suitcase, my eyes came to rest upon Vicky. My small monkey spirit had come out of the bathroom, now wearing a new outfit made of her jepei. Dark brown shorts that came up to her upper thighs, she had a strap around her waist and was wearing a dark brown vest that I knew as her favorite of all the jepei clothes she had made. The strap around her waist held the old symbols that I still could not understand to this day. “Vicky,” I said, taking her by the hand as she passed. However, I was surprised as she pulled away from my grip and went to stand beside a confused looking Xaiver. Her nose pointed up towards the air as she crossed her long arms over her chest.
Xavier looked at me and then back at her before saying. “Okay what is going on?” He asked, lifting my spirit animal up into his strong arms where she rested her head against his chest.
I hung my head down in shame. “My daughter is mad at me, and I deserve it.”
“Why is she mad at you?” Daniel asked, he had been resting on his made bed with Flame, his bag having been back first as he had only brought one suitcase.
I couldn’t even lift my head as I said. “I got drunk last night and ended up in a bar fight.” There was a long wave of silence before I kept going. “If it wasn’t for her, I might have been run over while I slept in the street and probably would have lost all of my money in my wallet.” I finally managed to lift my head a bit to look at Vicky. “I am sorry, my little one. Truly I am.”
Xavier was the first of my group to address me. His voice a bit deeper and firmer, he seemed to dance around the subject during our time together but finally he asked. “Olive, are you an alcoholic?”
“N-No,” I brought a hand to rest on my face as not even I believed myself anymore.
“Yes you are,” Daniel said bluntly.
“I am not an alcoholic.”
“Okay maybe it is wrong for us to use that word.” I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder and I saw Xavier was standing behind me. He sat down on the bed beside me and patted me on the back. “However, and don’t take this the wrong way but you do drink a lot more than you should.” He looked towards Victoria. “Vicky,” he began, his voice as gentle and warm as the sea breeze. “How much did your momma have to drink?”
“21 glasses and two bottles of beer .”
“And how many times has this happened?”
“Too many to count.” Just hearing her say those words brought tears to my eyes as she was right, I couldn’t remember how many times I had gotten this drunk. How many times I had snuck out to get a drink and then woken up in the street or in the academy dorms with a friend.
“Okay,” I answered, as I felt tears run down my face and drip down my round chin. “I get it… I have a problem okay. There I admit it I have a fucking problem and I don’t know how to stop it!” I felt a bit lighter as I admitted that but it didn’t help the feeling of guilt that was resting on my shoulders. “I-I have a problem.” I lifted my head up and looked over at Vicky. “A problem that hurts my precious one more than it hurts me sometimes, and Vicky I cannot say it enough. I am sorry for what I did last night, and I am sorry that it keeps happening. I-I a-am sorry I have to keep saying sorry for this.”
Before I could even react, Victoria freed herself from Xaiver and dove into my arms as I finally let myself break down for a moment. Xavier was right by my side as I hugged my child as tightly as I could, sprouting out whatever apologies I could, in whatever language I could muster. I had a problem, but I also didn’t have a problem.
I could stop at any time I wanted.
I just didn’t know how to yet.
Once I had run out of tears to cry I found myself laying on the bed with a towel over my eyes. My head was pounding from a new headache, at least this one wasn’t from being hung over. “I don’t get it though, why do you drink so much?” Daniel asked.
“I was wondering that too,” Xavier said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your flask empty before, you are the first to accept a drink and the first to offer to go get some.”
I sat up a bit to face them both. “I am the daughter of Lady Hearthstone, the oldest of her daughters. The one that everyone expects to be the best at everything, my mother was perfect in school. She rose and fought for her spot on the council and has defended it from every challenger. She had created treaties across the world, spread the trade of our goods, gotten us more allies than we can count sometimes. She is beautiful, stunning, a thing of beauty among men and a thing of envy for a lot of women.” I looked down at myself. “In comparison to her I can never be like her. She is slim and I am wide, she has long beautiful hair and I keep mine shorter. She is fluent in 15 languages, I only know two. Everyone tells me that I should be more like my mother, I was punished more severely for mess ups by adults on the island. I have had some people take portions off my plate saying, I am just helping you be more like your mother. Hell I’ve even had stylish not wanting to cut my hair when it’s too long. It took a toll on me!”
I slammed a hand on the bed before laying back down and pressing this towel over my face a bit harder. “I cannot stand it. I am never gonna be good enough for anyone, I think even my own mother thinks that sometimes. As much as she says I am perfect, I am not gonna be like her. I am not like my younger sister who is the spitting image of her, I am not like my brother who shares the same spirit animal as her. Hell I didn’t even have one until I was ten.”
“So all of that led into finding ways to feel better, finding ways to be the girl I want to be. To let the real me out. Wine coolers turned to wine, scotch turned to whisky, mixed drinks turned to straight vodka.” I let out a cry as I tore the towel on my face in half with ease and just laid there. “I had nothing else that could make me happy. I had nowhere that made me feel truly at home.”
When I had finished speaking for the first time in a long time I felt truly okay and at peace. My entire body felt like I had been floating on air, I finally found my strength to sit up bringing Vicky up with me who had been resting on my stomach throughout this. “I never knew you felt like that before.”
“Only a few do,” I said, patting Vicky on her back with my fingers, drumming a calming beat that I knew she loved. “It is hard being the daughter of a council member. It came to the point where when Alexandra Potent came to challenge my mother for her seat. While I cheered her on with all of my heart and all of my mind, deep in my soul I wanted her to lose. Cause maybe then I could tell her how I felt sometimes, maybe then all of that pressure that I had on my shoulders for years would finally be gone.” I then added softly. “Then I realized that if she lost that I would be expected to challenge for a seat on the council as the oldest daughter. To bring the Hearthstone family back to its prominence. I’m suck in a situation where I can never truly win and be myself.”
“Can I ask a question?” I looked over at Daniel a boy I was worried that maybe he would end up following in my footsteps. I don’t know how I would live with myself if the red-headed boy decided to turn to drinking like I did. “What do you want to be if not like your mom?”
For the first time since this started a fond smile began to form on my face. “I want to be here.” I answered. “I have always wanted to travel and explore the world, do what my mom does but without the pressure of having to make treaties with people. I have always wanted to do that. Out here I am free from the island, I am free from prying eyes. I can lose my mind if I want too and no one will judge me, cause no one even jepei users would be able to truly tell that I am Penelope Hearthstone’s oldest daughter.”
“Then why don’t you just do that?” I looked at Daniel who had slapped his hands on his knees. “If that is what you want to do and if you want to be yourself, then just do it. Who is gonna judge you on this team in the first place.” He said that it was the easiest solution in the entire world.
“Daniel has a point,” Xavier answered. “You try to act like your mom so much that it amazes me when you let the real you out. When we are at dinner or when we are camping, times away from Dr. Drakos and his granddaughter. It was fun, when we walked around Sparta when we first came here was so much fun.”
“But-”
Xavier placed his hands on my shoulders and shook me a bit. His smile could probably shatter all of the darkness of hell if someone let him try. “Come on, Olive, I would rather travel around and fight with the real you than this fake face you keep putting on. We all will have each other’s back and we all are gonna help each other with problems.”
“That is what co-workers do.” Daniel added.
“We are friends, you little brat.” Xaiver said with a chuckle, one that Daniel returned with the smallest of smiles. “We all have issues, whether we want to admit them or not. So let’s try and get through this and those problems together. I am pretty sure we had all watched enough cartoon to know that the power of friendship always wins.”
I let a weak chuckle escape my lips and I reached up to wipe one of my eyes. “I hope you don’t regret this choice you have made.”
“You and I both know that I only have one regret on these shoulders.” He answered with a weak look. “So I have no more room for any other regrets.” Xavier held hand to me and then said firmly. “Give me your flask please.”
“Okay let’s not get to-” Before I could finish that Vicky hit me on my chest with her small fist and I looked down into her large pleading eyes. She was everything to me, she was a part of me. “It’s in my jacket pocket.”
Daniel stood up from the bed he was sitting on and a moment later he tossed Xaiver my flask. The boy walked over to the window and I watched him pour that bronze colored liquid out. Vicky shot up and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you,” she whispered.
I smiled and hugged her back. “Come on,” I said to all of my friends as I gave them each a nod. To man and beast. “We have to go, and figure out what our enemies are after, and let’s get it and bring it back home.”
Xavier smiled at me as he held hand out flat in front of me. “Alright, all hands, paws, and suckers in.” I gladly placed my hand on top of his, followed by the small sucker of a much smaller Oscar, than Victoria’s hand. Followed by a dark red paw from Blaze, 11 pairs of eyes than looked over at Daniel who was still sitting on his bed. “Daniel, come on already. Or we can have Oscar drag you over.”
Daniel rolled his dark red eyes before standing up and placing his hand atop our pile. “Alright so on three we say team Exodus.”
“Can we not and just pretend we did?” Daniel mumbled under his breath.
As a small cry of the name given to our group so long ago. We got to work in packing and while I watched Vicky ride off on the back of Flame. I took one of my bags into the bathroom and opened it up. Deep in the bottle of it was the one last thing that I kept hidden. A very small flask filled with a very powerful vodka that my daddy had gotten as a gift so long ago. The Dragon’s Nectar.
I can stop at any time, and I would stop for a bit.
However as I took off the top and took the smallest of sips. I had to ask myself one thing. “What harm could come from one little tiny sip?”
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahen2G9fEX
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAyuMWFsjo
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwWXKsHnad
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zGIEx22Cw
203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qyf7NB7um
