No Place Like Home

Adri and her group meets Alantia.

"Well done, Adri, well done." Alantia started clapping in a slow, almost sarcastic, way, but not really sarcastic. More like an adult humoring a child. It irked me, the way she looked at us, with that superiority obvious in her eyes. We were still standing there, silent, struck dumb by the turn of events.

"As you know, I should know everything, but this tiny and crowded brain simply won't allow that much information. It's really quite annoying, for it prevents me from accessing a huge quantity of knowledge." she sighed, exasperated. "Because of that, I had no idea you would be smart enough to come up with a lie like that." I finally found my voice.

"Wait, you heard?" I asked her.

"Of course, dear, don't be ridiculous." Alantia chuckled. I really disliked how she was belittling me.

"How did you hear if you weren't at least trying to gain control?" I questioned carefully, trying not to sound like an idiot.

"Really, there are other ways of hearing things, just too complicated for the others in here." Alantia acted as if my questions were annoying her greatly, and changed the subject. "That lie you created was genius, true genius. Or luck." Alantia seemed to consider it. "Probably luck. Anyway, I never would've guessed that you would stumble upon a truth in your fabrication."

"I was telling the truth? I was talking about making a brand new body!" I protested.

"Yes, you were. Good job remembering." Alantia replied, again, not quite sarcastically, but more of an indulging sort of way. "Your only mistake was that it takes much, much longer to create a new person, even for me. I am only half of the way finished, and I actually am making a new body."

"Where is it?" Kate challenged her.

"Where is she, Kate. Where is she." Alantia corrected her.

"Fine. Where is she?" Kate asked again, rolling her eyes.

"She's right here." Alantia replied, and there was a rustling in the bushes. A small girl walked out, only two or three years old, without any clothes. She had porcelain white skin, blacker than midnight hair that almost reached the middle of her back, thick red lips, an adorable chubby face, and the standard little kid body build. It was like looking at a live china doll.

Her eyes, however, were the freakiest thing I'd ever seen. They were completely white, just blank orbs; no pupil, no iris, nothing. Totally devoid of life, and a sure sign that nobody was home.

"Me, meet Adri, Damien, Kate, Dexter, Sadie, Jeremy, Peter, and Ella." Alantia's voice had now assumed the full sarcastic quality. "Adri, Damien, Kate, Dexter, Sadie, Jeremy, Peter, and Ella, meet me."

"Aw, she's cute!" Kate bubbled, and the other girls (Me included) agreed wholeheartedly. The boys were instead averting their eyes, embarrassed at the lack of clothes.

"Could you cover up that thing?" Peter finally asked, his cheeks flaming.

"Why?" Alantia asked curiously. "Does it bother you?" Peter didn't answer, and Alantia tried again. "Does it-"

"Yes, it bloody bothers us!" Dexter broke in.

"Odd." Alantia frowned. "I believe the human body is an amazing thing. A work of art, despite its imperfections." She examined her future person for a moment. "Anyway, enough of that." At those words, the forming body backed into the shrubbery, and disappeared faster than it had appeared. After a second of contemplation, Alantia was back to business.

"I understand you wanted to speak to me, Adri." Alantia stared at me.

"Yes. You heard about my plan, didn't you?" I asked eagerly.

"Of course."

"So, are you in?"

"Nope."

"What?!" I was shocked by her frank answer.

"I said no, I will not participate." Alantia repeated calmly.

"Well, why not?" Damien butted in.

"It is not the way this is supposed to go." Alantia explained. "If I assist you, it won't be a challenge for you, keeping Keaira away."

"So?" I practically shouted. "It would be good to not have a struggle every minute of every day."

"Challenges help people grow." Alantia stated. "I will not interfere. Besides, every minute of every day is an exaggeration."

"No, it isn't!" I was furious that she wasn't going to even raise a finger to help us.

"She still believes what you told her, about it being possible for her to make a body." Alantia told me slowly, as if I was stupid. "She'll be in seclusion most the of the time. The few times she grapples for control, you just have to beat her back." I was silent. If that was true, then maybe not having Alantia would work.

"Anyway, I should go." Alantia continued. "I've done my part."
"Alantia, wait." I stopped her. She stared at me expectantly. "Thanks. Thanks for everything."

"No problem." Alantia replied, sounding a tad bored. "Wish I could say it's been a pleasure, but it hasn't. Goodbye." And with that, the purple in Auriela's eyes disappeared, replaced by brown again.

"Well, isn't she just a bundle of love." Kate muttered sardonically.

"Are we going into the cabin now?" Ella asked, her long white hair moving gently with the wind.

"Yes." I was still trying to process what had just happened as I hurried to Auriela, picking her up and holding her tightly. "Yes, of course." Balancing my sister on my hip, I started towards the dilapidated cabin. Dexter dashed ahead, his movements nothing but a blur, and Damien started after him, making sure he went in ahead of us to test the safety.

The shingles on the roof were few, and big holes were everywhere, like missing skin on a head. Windows were cracked and so filthy you couldn't even see through the dirt caked glass, and the door was intact, but lying on the ground where it had fallen after the hinges broke. The walls were relatively okay, except for the gaping hole on the side and the peeling paint that reminded me of dried skin.

"I think this place is salvageable. My house wasn't in the best of conditions," Damien admitted as he picked a safe way into the rundown house. "But my dad taught me how to fix things before he left. Pete isn't so bad, either."

"Yeah, 'cause you taught me." Peter answered bitterly. "Dad apparently saw no problem with leaving before he could teach me." Damien paused momentarily.

"He loved you, Pete." Damien said softly. "You're not why he left." he added even more quietly, so quiet only I could hear it.
We all followed close behind as Damien carefully picked a way into the house, avoiding the dirt and debris. The first room was some sort of living room, with a broken table and a couch that was actually (miraculously) in good condition. Damien stopped, surveying the room.
"You know, the house is actually pretty sta-" he was cut short as the floor beneath him collapsed, and he dropped out of sight. I screamed, freezing in place, in fear of falling myself. Dexter zipped back from wherever he had been exploring, and peered down the hole, confident his lack of weight would keep the floor from breaking.

"Need a hand, berk?" Dexter called.

"Not from you. I'll pull you in." Damien's voice floated out, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Two hands appeared on the sides of the hole, and Damien pulled himself out with little effort, his face grinning.

"Holy mother of-" Dexter yelped from behind Damien, and Damien whipped around.

"What?!" he practically shouted, and I almost screamed again at the sight of Damien's back view. A long piece of wood, about the length of a baton and the diameter of baseball jutted out from his gut, with blood oozing down from the wound.

"Is it me, or is my shirt wet?" Damien started to twist himself to look at himself, but I scrambled over to him, putting my arm that wasn't holding Auriela around his shoulders, keeping him from twisting back.

"Nope, nothing in-I mean, on your back." I lied, and frantically tried to stall. "Hey, I just remembered something. I was going to say, um, well..." With one swift motion, I yanked the stick out of his back. Damien screeched and bent in half, clutching his stomach. Shuddering, I dropped the bloodied club down the hole, where it thudded to the ground.
"Oh, yeah, that is going to hurt in the morning." Damien managed after muttering a long string of curses.

"Come on, let's move!" Kate shouted impatiently, and levitated past Damien, Auriela, and I. Sadie became a small mouse, and began to explore, while Ella and Peter, their powers currently useless, moved about cautiously. Jeremy started to tinker with the many appliances in the kitchen, like the sink, moving inhumanly fast. Dexter, who had raced off after seeing Damien was okay, zoomed back from wherever he had been to fill me in.

"There are five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fridge, deep freezer, pantry, and the downstairs is some sort of game room." Dexter reported.

"What about beds?" I asked, worried. I doubted that we'd be able to find a place that gave away free beds.

"Six beds and one bunk bed. One bed makes a crunching sort of noise when you sit on it." Dexter replied, started to dash off again, and suddenly stopped. "Oh, yeah, and there are dead blighters in the freezer."

Author's Note

This is where they will all be staying. It'll be their home for the future, so I tried to describe the best way I could.

Reviews

[CrimsonBlaze]

Don't worry Bella, I think you described it enough..I could picture the whole thing, and Atlantia seems like one of those girls who have those sweet seductive voices.. Anyways, Great write! Message me when you have details for the fanpic kay? And sure, I'll send read requests when I'm ready :)