Page 63 of Living Legend

For good reason, it seemed. The bathroom door opened more, and a sandaled foot and bright gold anklet appeared. A lilac dress came into full view as Natalia stepped into our room. I let myself relax, but Elise thrusted her hand out, black and red threatening to pierce the Enchanter’s neck. Natalia raised her hand and grabbed the ball of darkness that hurdled towards her, snuffing it out. She opened her hand and we watched as dust fell from her palm.

“What in the fuck?” Elise looked Natalia up and down.

“Well, hello to you as well,” Natalia greeted, nodding towards her. She looked over at me, giving me a small smile.

“The bathroom?” Elise questioned, looking around Natalia towards the bathroom.

“It was convenient. I couldn’t very well portal right into your room.”

“A heads up would have beenconvenient.” Elise crossed her arms over her chest.

Natalia squinted. “How would I have done that?”

Elise opened her mouth and closed it again. She let out a frustrated sigh and mumbled a whatever before making her way into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

“Whatareyou here for?” I asked, skeptical. “The boys aren’t here.”

“I know. I’m here for you. Both of you.” She looked towards the closed bathroom door, biting her cheek. “I would like to bring you to Oculus.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You what?”

“You can stay here if you’d like.”

“No! I mean, I don’t know. Wouldn’t you rather wait until you have all four of us here?”

Natalia made her way over to me, leaving only a few inches of space between us. “I wouldn’t be here right now if I wanted all four of you. The angels aren’t who I seek.” She tapped her finger on her chin. “I can offer you food, if that at all piques your interest.”

“Isn’t it a bad idea to accept food from strangers?” I joked, letting my brown eyes meet her honey-colored ones.

“I wouldn’t call us strangers, Soul-Seether.”

“I wouldn’t call us friends either,” I said, retorted my eyebrows.

“Maybe, but I’d like to rectify that.”

Elise yanked the bathroom door open. “I don’t care, I’m starving. Let’s go.”

“Elise…” I started.

She lifted her hand at me, palm in my direction. “Stop. You woke me up, so the least you can do is make up for it. I vote for free food.” She walked over to our armoire, opening the doors and examining her outfit choices.

“It looks like you are without a choice,” Natalia said, turning away from me, the crown tattoo on her shoulder glittering as sunlight filtered through the window.

“I could always choose not to go.”

Natalia looked over her shoulder. “You could, but we both know you won’t.”

I opened my mouth to challenge her but was stopped by clothing flying at me. I caught the shirt and bra but had to let the leggings fall to the ground. Natalia perched herself on top of Elise’s bed, pretending to be interested in her fingernails.

“What if someone comes in and finds we’re gone?” I asked, gathering my clothes and heading towards the bathroom to shower.

“Has anyone besides Nicholas come to check on you?” Her face was expressionless as I shook my head. “I think you’ll be fine. Besides, if we are to be friends, I think getting you into trouble would be a poor choice.”

I narrowed my eyes but said nothing. We changed quickly and watched as Natalia herded us into the decently large bathroom and flicked her hand, creating a portal. She stepped through, Elise and I following closely behind. The portals from the keys she made always had me feeling off balance and wobbly, but this one, an authentic portal from her own organic power, yielded none of those effects. The colors began to evaporate; trees came into my sight and I looked around at my surroundings. The smell of pastries filled my nose, making my mouth water.

“Take me to wherever that smell is coming from,” Elise demanded.

Natalia just laughed and led us forward. We’d landed in a completely different part of Oculus. The landscape and buildings were the same, but I smelled fresh water nearby, my ears perking up at the sound of it. Natalia led us to the village, the smell of the sugary food growing more intense. The buildings were large and stretched out along most of the area. I took a few steps inside one, noticing it was some type of banquet hall. The ceiling was rounded, and colors ran from along the walls and into the ceiling. Tables littered the room, laden with platters of every pastry imaginable. Enchanters watched as we arrived, some whispering and giving us intense stares, while others simply nodded and moved along with their plates of food.

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