Aphrodite's Sphere**Edited**

chapter 40

"Enough with the hugs." Navid said in an entertained voice, barely even able to utter those words, due to the hard grip my arms had around his neck.
"Just shut up." I said and lightly slapped him against his chest.
"That's what you get for laughing when I was nearly choked to death by her." Obasis commented, lightly rubbing the base of his throat.
"I just really missed you guys, you can't even imagined what it was like down there." I pouted like a three year old would, and lightly punched both of them in the arm.
Everyone laughed at my expression clearly happy that our group was finally together, everyone but one person.
"Hello, Aileen." I greeted her. Of course my tone was not half as friendly as it was with the others, but I was pretty proud of myself for being the wiser one of the two of us. And like the bitch of a goddess she was, she completely ignored me.
Shrugging her meanness off, I turned to face the others. Deeply inhaling I smiled at them all.
"God I missed you guys. You have no idea how lost I was without your smart asses to help me out." I joked, and they all allowed a deep laugh to escape them.
"Just admitted it already, you can't live without us now." Navid sheepishly said, Giving me a toothy grin.
"You know I can't." I winked and sent him a kiss. We all laughed and enjoyed our reunion for a few more minutes.
Taking advantage of the shield the thick trees formed around us, protecting us from the praying eye of our enemies.
"Just stop acting like teenagers and let's get back to work." Aileen said in a high pitched and annoyed voice. She rolled her eyes and wrapped her petite arms above her chest.
"Okay okay, no need to shoot fire at us." I raised my palms in defense, earning myself a deadly glare.
I sat on the ground and criss crossed my legs, gesturing to the others to join me on the soft grass blades.
"Okay, so should I start with the vision or..."
"I am curious of how you got the vision, I thought that the other half of your soul should have had it, and she was only supposed to tell you what was in it." Dion said, while adjusting himself in a comfortable position beside Obasis.
"Well, one night, she somehow found a way to contact me, asking me if I was okay. I was definitely not fine, my ribs were nearly broken and I had several cuts that stung as hell, but none of that mattered to me, I was happy that I was finally able to ask her about the vision. But when she told me she thought that I was the one that got it, I nearly broke down. It seemed that all the forces of nature were against us, holding us back from surviving this quest. After she told me that, something must have happened because the connection between us broke, leaving me by myself. So being unable to speak I had enough time to think, and that is when an idea popped into my mind. Our situation resembled a puzzle. In order to get an image we had to stick the two pieces together."
I was now smiling brightly, proud of the way I thought at that moment.
"High five, finally someone that is smart." Obasis said, giving me a high five.
"Heyy!!!" Navid objected, faking an offended face. "That hit me right here man!" He pouted, pointing to his heart.
"Stop fooling around." Aileen said, hitting the two man in the arm. Annoyed, by the attention I was given.
"You did a really good job." Dion said, looking straight into my eyes, with one of his mesmerizing smiles plastered onto his handsome face.
Butterflies erupted from deep within me, as memories of the night we spent together rebellious escaped from the chest buried deep inside my heart. His deep and intense gaze was like the only key that could open this well secured coffer, and make me experience these strong overwhelming feelings.
"So after you got Hades to allow you to reunite with your soul, what did you see?" Aileen' voice ripped me out of my thought, bringing me to reality.
Taking a moment to recall that vivid image that seemed to be a realistic dream, I squeezed my eyes and concentrated, trying to not leave out a single detail of my image.
****
The feeling of being underwater, the bone-crushing pressure of gallons of water enveloped overt inch of my body. Bubbles that escaped from both my mouth and nose, rushed before my eyes , like flashes of my life ready to announce my death. I never imagined dying in such a cruel manner, drawing. But as scary as the situation I was in was, it was strangely relaxing. As my body floated in the deeps of the salty ocean, strangely not even fighting for my own survivor, I enjoyed the silence that enveloped me. Underwater there was no sound, no cries from the people you have wronged, no profession of love you have hidden inside to long, and unable to express it, even when on a quest to allow love to survive.
Underwater, I was alone with merely my thoughts amplified to their fullest extent.
Then suddenly, as if dragging me from a dream, a golden fish teasingly swam beside me, the gracious motion of his tail begging for attention. Playing its little game, my gaze followed his luscious golden form.
And then, like a slap against my cheek I was no longer capable of concentrating on the little being. My jaw wide and eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets.
There in the middle of a large and brilliantly colored coral floor. Colonies of different kind of species, swam by it, as if taking a stroll in this mesmerizing garden of aquatic plants. And there in the center, like a citadels waiting to be praised for shinning so bright under the night stars, it stood. A kind of long lost ancient city.
The somehow slightly damaged buildings, still stood strong and shone with glory. Reflecting the best architecture created by ancient man. Statues, of what seemed to be different gods, stood tall and proud, as if forever keeping the vow of protecting this city, this kingdom.

Suddenly my sight got blurry, images of different corners of the city run inside my mind, and a word. A word written in an odd language kept popping inside my mind, asking for attention.****

"Wait, you said you saw a word?" Navid asked, interrupting my story. He was now sitting in an odd way, as if trying to grasp the information better.
"Yea, it looked somehow...." I trailed, looking around trying to find something with which I can write the weird looking word. Dion handed me his pocket knife and without any hesitation I engraved the word I saw in a tree. It did not look half as elegant as the letters in my visions were, but I think I did a pretty good job as it was.
Navid squinted his eyes, and approached the word, as all the others tried to look over his shoulder.
"Atlantis!" He whispered, clearly unable to sustain his surprise. And I, like him, could not believe my ears.

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