Changes

Chapter 36

Alanna's POV

I was stuck in bed for a week before I had the strength to move around. Even then, I was constantly being told to relax along with my mother and Violet. I was feeding my daughter in the bedroom when Z came in. He was truly pushing himself and it had me worried. He went to the bathroom and I could hear the sound of water from the sink. After a few minutes he came over, his breath smelling minty. He gave me a kiss before sitting beside me on the bed. "You need to rest," I told him. "I can't until I know you both are safe," he told me. "You're tiring yourself out," I said. "You can't protect us if you're too tired to stand." He growled softly, "I know, but the thought of sitting on my ass when there is a threat out to hurt you girls, makes me restless."

When Zephira finished feeding, I fixed my shirt and burped her. Z then took her from and held her close. "I will destroy this world and remake it again if it means you both stay safe," he told me. "Everyone will now survive it since Violet, Kelsi, and Nia are no longer human."

"Could that be how the tears were caused though," I asked him. He shook his head, "The years were caused by their realm colliding with ours because of something that happened on their side." "What would happen if you did do that," I asked him. "Then everything we know will be destroyed and we will be sent back to the stone age," he answered. I shook my head, "I prefer to not go through that." Call me spoiled, but I like having my air conditioning and soft bed.

He chuckled softly, "I figured you would be against the idea. It's why we haven't resulted to that, but if we have to, then we will." "Wonderful," I muttered. "So how do the humans come back into existence if it kills mortals when you tear apart the world to remake it?" "If they're under a certain age they have a better chance of surviving because the magic can pass through them with ease while adults are killed because their bodies have absorbed so much of modern medicines and other things, that they're killed because the magic has to eradicate it all. The younger they are the less their body is influenced by modern medicines and such," he explained to me. It made sense but it was also rather complicated to wrap my head around.

As we talked, he moved so he was laying down with Zephira since she fell asleep in his arms. Slowly he fell asleep with her on his chest, one hand on her back. I smiled and covered them with the blanket and left the room quietly.

I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. Mom and Draco were sitting at the kitchen island. "How are you feeling," my mom asked me. "I'm feeling great. And you," I asked them. "So much better," she answered while he nodded.

Silver then came in, "Where is Z?" "Resting," I told him. "What's up?" "We have a problem," he told me and I tensed. "Some of the tears have grown in size." Oh no, I thought.

"If they continue to grow, we will be swallowed into the other realm so we need to either find that Key or we need to prepare for a more drastic alternative," Silver told me. Just wonderful.

"What do we know about the Key that could help us find it," I asked him. He made an ancient book appear and handed it to me. I opened it and I froze when I saw the sketch of it.

I turned the book around to show my mom, "Look familiar?" My mother's eyes widened. "That's our family heirloom," my mother said. "What," Silver asked. "Who was the last one to have had it," I asked her. "It's supposed to be in the attic," she told me. "Are you telling me, you've had the key the entire time," Silver asked us. "You never showed us what it looked like," I told him.

"How was a replica made though," Draco asked us. "Probably saw a picture of it, or had a book like this one," I said while gesturing to it. I went upstairs and woke Z up.

"What's up," he grumbled. "We may know where the key is," I told him and he sat up with Zephira. "Where," he asked me. I explained to him about how Silver finally showed me what it looked like and how we've had an item that looked like that being passed down in our family for centuries. We thought it was just a hunk of junk so it's somewhere in the overly packed attic.

I got dressed and got Zephira dressed while Z got her things ready. Silver, Violet, Axel, Talos, my mom, brothers, and Draco were also going to assist in looking for it.

At the house Jay pulled down the ladder for the attic, "Was it in the red box?" "I think it got thrown in with the old photos," Jaden said. "Are you sure," my mother asked him. "I thought your father put it with Grandma Willow's stuff." I went up the ladder since I was small enough to not hit my head.

"You are so unorganized," Silver muttered as Violet laughed. "We thought it was a useless antique," my mother defended. I began passing down boxes since I had no clue which one it was in. Once the attic was empty we all set about going through them.

"This whole box can just burn," Jay grumbled as he looked through it. It was filled with pictures of him and Jaden as babies. Many of them were embarrassing while my mother found them cute. "Don't you dare," my mother said with a glare.

I heard Z begin to laugh softly and I looked at him. He was holding up a photo of me. I was covered in paint splatter, wearing white overalls, my blonde hair was short and pulled back, and there was hand print smears on my butt of various colors. "I was ten," I told him. "Just getting into painting and didn't know what a rag was."

"Here's proof the Key is here somewhere," Silver said, holding up a photo from Christmas when I was a kid and the boys were infants. The Key was sitting on the fireplace mantel in photo.

It took us hours before my mom found it with the Christmas decorations. Z took it, and examined it, "It's the real thing alright." We all stood and I picked up Zephira. We went back home, and I felt like now that we had the piece we needed, something was gonna poke it's ugly head out, and try to stop us. 

I'll be sure to be ready for them this time. No matter the consequences.