Chapter 3
The hallways were just like in the main palace, colorful though they were not quite as extreme. One room was filled with roses, and the light entering from the giant arched glass windows reminded me so much of the warm sunlight that would enter my bedroom. After realising that I had been standing there for a solid five minutes without blinking I decided to get on my way. The mean and directions were almost written in code so that every corner I would stop to make sure that "the 45 degree turn into a room with colorful light" was the right turn and then from there I decipher another series of riddles. Finally I arrive at the huge bronze door labeled "fitness center," when the doors swing open and I'm blown away.
When you first see this room you would never be able to expect what was going to happen to you next. The room is a large forest with different trails labeled according to difficulty i assume. There aren't many people here so I walk along the edge.
"Are you Victoria Lockmore?" a thundery voice says behind me,
"Um yes, that would be me!" I say slowly turning around. Behind me was a bull!
i screech, "oh i'm so sorry sir, pardon me but are you a bull spirit? I've never seen one before,``I stutter.
"Yes. I'm the instructor here! And you are late!" His thunderous voice surprises me once again and so I avoid eye contact. These situations are when I really wish I had better people skills.
He stares into my sole then motions for me to follow him. I do and we wind up at one trail marked "easy" . He tells me to run the trail six times, and I start.
After the second loop my thighs are burning so are my arms. Don't be tricked by the sights here I tell myself. The trail is half running and half climbing.
When I get back from the third loop I see Ray stretching, looking around to make sure that the bull guy isn't around,I tip toe over and have a seat right next to him.
"Help me!" I whisper, I don't usually start conversations with anyone even if I know them, but this is an emergency!
"Um hey! Help you with what? I was just about to start running but I can chat, ss last night for dinner I had Oshi! It was really good, but i didn't know why the chef was yelling in the kitchen! I mean she was screaming throughout our entire meal!" he blabered on about this mystery for a solid ten minutes without taking a breath once. As much as i would love to talk, my anti-social brain zones out looking off in the distance,
"Theeeeen, i was all like no way! There is no way in hell that our chef was battling the cheese! I mean that would be completely ridicul-"
"Shhhhhh!" I motion the quiet sigh and pull him into a helpful bush. The huge scary bull dude rampaged through the forest like a gym, crushing everything in his path.
"Ms. Lockmore! You can't hide for long! I told you to run!" ray looks at me and said,
"Didn't someone warn you not to piss him off?! I mean really! Last time he was this angry half the gym was burned down," oh, right. My heart stops, the mean doctor had warned me, how could I have forgotten?
"Oh.ya, some annoying doctor said that!"
"I see… well he was right! Either turn yourself in our make it out alive!" He sounds oddly calm for such advice, but I have one option. Run. as i look to my left i see a trail of broken trees stretching out further in that direction so i assume he is over there. But on my right there are lots of things that would slow me down like water, boulders, snakes, and fallen trees, not to mention the frantic creatures running like it's the apocalypse.
"I have absolutely no physical ability! After assessing the situation i can tell you that escape is impossible!" I shouted to Ray who was in a crouched position like he was getting ready for a race.
"You are a guardian aren't you?" he laughed and said, "you were also working on using the wind right?" suddenly i felt so stupid,
"Right sorry i forgot," close your eyes, just like you practiced, and ask the wind for a lift. Nothing. Again, nothing. Then I can see the angry bull figure rise out of the trees and we lock eyes. Then the deep feeling of panic crushes me and a burst of wind lifts me off the ground and into the towering tree tops. For a moment the world seems to stop and everyone looks up. This was a feeling I hated and at the same time envied attention. For that one moment everyone in that huge gym stopped there panicking and looked up, it was as if they were amazed by the phenomenon that I could lift myself so high. I was in just as much awe as they were but I also thought it to be strange that this surprised them, as I had seen with my own eyes many people here had abilities that were all separately amazing.
"Look!" and "Where is all that power coming from?" where the voices that floated up to my soft cushion of air, i don't like this. When i was in school i did not receive much attention at all but when i did, it usually ended with others laughing and me on the floor of my dull lifeless room crying. But then, like a friend would do, ray jumped on to a boulder and shouted,
"See that?! She is the lost elf, and one of the four guardians of Agartha!" he beamed up at me and gave me a smile that could light up anyone's day. Silence grasped the spectators and they all looked at each other then up at me. Then unexpectedly they all cheered! They were now overjoyed to see me and I slowly and cautiously lowered myself to a small boulder near the exit, in case I needed to escape. One small women who i think is a nymph steps forward and askes,
"Is it true? Are you the fourth guardian?"
"yep, that would be me,'' I needed to get out of there, the noise and bright lights were giving me a nasty headache and on top of that I was feeling the effects of straining my powers so much. This is too much for me right now and the headache was just getting worse. A sharp pain crashed over my head and the last thing I saw was the ceiling of the gymnasium and a worried face as I fell off the boulder.
When my eyes fluttered open the headrush hit hard. I sat up while clutching my head and squinting around the room. I hadn't seen this room before, though this was not a surprise given how huge the palace was. The room was a deep shade of blue with three cots on each side of the room. When you looked to your left you could see two giant stained glass doors with patterns of the galaxy in them, and to the right was a large cupboard filled with glass bottles of every color and a desk with vials and jars of goofy things I would never ask about. I could hear a few voices in the room right next door and I recognised all of them. Just then Ray, Via, and unfortunately Malum, all waltzed into the room apparently in a heated conversation about god knows what. Via leaped over to my cot the second our eyes met, and I could tell by her expresion i looked like a mess.
"Vicky! You can't do that! You scared us to death!"she shouts,
"Oh please, i knew she could handle it!" ray said acting like my waking up was his doing,
"Ya right! You were worried sick about her! Matter fact i think that i head the maids saying you stayed in here all night!" his face turned red and he turned away grumbling about how annoying sisters were. Via and I laughed and joked around for a while before the doctor checked up on me and explained the various restrictions I would need to follow in order to not over exhaust myself. Every time he would list a new restraint, my soul died a little. But the one that perked my ears up was
"don't go to the gym! You will get tired and that hot tempered bull might actually kill you if it happens again.'' After that speech, the mood was pretty heavy and the silence was suffocating. But it was obvious that we can always count on Ray to break the ice, i mean i was surprised he had just gone full five minutes not talking,
"Soooooo, should we get some food? I know that i'm hungry! Did you know that bees sometimes sting other bees? Well if i were a bee-"
"Alright! That's enough!" via cut in saving us from another wave of headaches, "food sounds great, i'm sure we are all very hungry after today."
"Fine, whatever!" and he walked off yelling back, "you should try to not seem so stoic all the time! It's gross!"
"Oh my god! You are so stupid, how are we even related?!" and on that note i had my second real laugh.
A new day starts and Via is sleeping soundly on the couch and Ray is nowhere to be found. Last night Ray had brought us the most delicious food I had ever had. There was something that looked similar to chicken, but when you take a bite it tastes like Skittles. There were many of these foods and it was so fun to guess what a food might taste like next. My favorite however was the last dish we tried, it looked like an orange and Ray said that the flavor varies from person to person. Via said hers was like a warm cookie and Ray said his was flavored ice,but for me I tasted lemons. I really don't know why that is, I mean when I was little I used to eat lemons. But I only did that to prove to Hestia that I was tough enough to walk to school on my own. I tiptoe around the room getting dressed and brushing my long hair, i finally made it out of the room without waking Via up and got on my way to explore the halls.