Zarina Returns

Cilia

I wake up and look at the clock. Three in the morning. I walk to the bathroom and look in the mirror. I see a normal sixteen year old girl with dark brown hair, fair complexion, blue eyes. . . BLUE EYES? I blink, and blink again. Yet I keep seeing myself with blue eyes, not brown. "Cilia Jewel. . ." And suddenly I'm not in my dormitory bathroom. I'm falling from the sky, millions of feet above the air. I only see a huge golden flash of light. The world is burning. Then suddenly my surroundings change. A woman, smiling at me. Her electric blue eyes are full of tears. The room is full of fire. "We will meet again, Cilia. Don't worry." A flash of light. She's gone, and nothing's left but darkness. . .

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEP. BEEP. I open my eyes. I'm in the infirmary. Again. Teachers are surrounding me. Ayla is looking at me with worried eyes. The nurse turns to looks at me. But before she can say anything Ayla says, "Cilia, that's the third time this month. You passed out. In our bathroom."

Looking at her I recall the first time we met. Then that leads me to remember the discovery of this whole world. Our world. The world that is located in Earth's mantle, underneath the crust. This world is called Zyrinx. A place where all sorts of things exist- magic, mystical creatures, spirits(immortal beings that control certain elements of the world), and monsters, chaos, and psychopaths who try and murder everyone and take over the world.

See, a hundred years ago, Zyrinx was taken over by a dark spirit named Zarina. She captured the rest of the spirits and killed everyone she came across. Then one day, her sister, Heratha, came and wiped her out with a flash of golden light. Zarina, being immortal and all, couldn't be killed. But she could be imprisoned in a state of such intense pain and suffering that she couldn't form her body back together. So that's what happened. She and her followers are now currently imprisoned in Azailia, a realm located at the core of the Earth.

Heratha was crowned Queen of the spirits and she slowly restored life back to its original state. She also founded many schools for learning defense and fighting dark creatures. The one I attend, Sophix, is one of them. Heratha also formed a board of the major spirits, who came to rule over the other spirits.

The spirits mated/married one another, and soon had other babies. They also got together with regular humans at the crust of the earth, and had kids called minor spirits like me- kids who had powers, but no eternal life.

Now back to my life story.

When I was a baby, my mortal mother supposedly died in a fire. I was taken to a human orphanage and I lived there until I turned five, when a spirit showed up. She took me to Zyrinx, and explained about this new world. Not that I listened, anyway. My tiny five year old brain was trying to take up what had happened. The only thing I do remember, though, was that she told me that I am the daughter of the second most powerful spirit, the spirit of Strength. Yet I've never met my dad. And when I do, I've sworn multiple times to myself that I'm going to kick him in the- never mind. He has got to be the most irresponsible dad in the history of dads. He leaves his wife to die in a fire, then abandons his baby daughter, leaving her to the human child-care people.

So I got moved to an orphanage in the Earth's mantle, Zyrinx. I made a friend there. Her name was Devon Woods. But four years later, when she turned eleven, some lady adopted her. So I was alone for a year.

Anyways, when I turned ten, I began my life at Sophix. I met a girl named Ayla Yu, the daughter of the spirit of the Mind, who was crazy smart and as talented as me(not that I'm bragging). We became instant rivals until one day, somehow, we became friends. Like, really good friends. And this was new for me, since I usually hate making friends.

Example? Leo Rivera. That guy was a huge jerk, bullying kids smaller than him and punching them whenever he got the chance. I was thirteen when I first met him. I saw him kicking a kid, repeatedly, and, no surprise, right in front of our teachers. The teachers at Sophix think it's perfectly reasonable to fight one another 'cause it's another way to train. I, for one, think this is the most ridiculous rule ever made. Not that I'm complaining, though. Because, I punched Leo's face right then. His nose started to bleed, and he started crying. When the teachers saw blood, that's when they took over and took Leo to the infirmary.

The next day, Leo walked up to me and pushed me off the fifth floor rooftop. Three things happened here: One, I didn't die. Actually, that's an understatement. I didn't get a single scratch on my body. For some reason, my magical skills- the one thing I'm horrible at- just kicked in, and for the first time, I wielded magic without blowing something up. Two, that's when I developed my crazy fear of heights. Until this day, I do not travel more than two stories high unless accompanied by a hoverboard, or some other type of flying vehicle. Three, that experience literally gave me a huge wariness of other people. I wouldn't go near anyone else, or talk to them after the incident. So basically, I blocked others out. Soon, they blocked me out, too.

"Cilia? Hello?" Ayla waves her hand in front of my face, and I jump back into reality. Then the infirmary door opens, and the head teacher of the school walks in. "Miss Jewel? You can call me Finn. Now, no need to be worried, but I wanted to ask you some questions." His voice is deep and soothing, and I become relaxed. He is a spirit and is therefore immortal. He's probably over a thousand years old, but doesn't look a day over thirty.

"Now, your roommate here tells us that this has been happening for quite some time." I nod, but still can't understand why everyone is looking at me with worried eyes. Yes, I have fainted before in my sleep, but never before has so many people crowded around me.

"Cilia," Finn says, "I want you to tell me exactly what happened two days ago, as you remember it."

Two days? I've been sleeping for two days? No wonder I'm famished. "Well, I-" Then I think about what to say to him. Should I tell him about my dream? Would the teachers think I was crazy? And what about my eye changing colors? Was that just a dream too? My eyes instinctively turn to the mirror on the bedside table. Brown eyes. Not blue. I let out a sigh of relief. Since it seems no permanent damage has been done, I decide there is no need to let the teachers in on every little detail.

"Well, it was three in the morning, I went to the mirror, saw myself with blue eyes, got knocked out, dreamt about falling, and woke up, here."

Finn looks at me with suspicious eyes. "Is that all, Cilia?"

Does he know? No, I tell myself. He can't. If he did, he wouldn't be asking me about any of this. "Yes." I reply. He looks at Ayla and says to everyone, "I think Miss Yu should explain to us, again, what she thought happened." Ayla doesn't seem surprised at all by this request, and recites her speech perfectly, as if she had done it multiple times already.

"I was woken up by Cilia landing on the bathroom floor after she fainted. I got up, and went to see if she was okay. When I got to the bathroom door, the door was blasted off its hinges, and I ducked out of the way. Then out came Cilia, with her hair pointed towards the ceiling. Her eyes were alight with blue fire. She held her hand against our dormitory door, and it blasted to pieces. Then I realized her feet were above the ground- she was hovering in midair. And that is a trick only taught to the most senior students. So I followed her. She went downstairs, out of the girls' building, and into the boys' one. She stopped in front of a door on the third floor and again blasted it off. The two boys in there bolted out of bed. Liam Rivera, he tried to make a force field shield, but Cilia penetrated through it easily. She grabbed Liam by the neck, and threw him across the room. Then, she held her hand out at him, and blue fire traveled from Cilia to Liam. After that, both Cilia and Liam collapsed. I called the teachers, and the rest you know."

I stare at Ayla, open-mouthed, in shock. She's making this up, there could be no other explanation. For one thing, everyone knows I'm horrible at magic. It's the only subject I'm terrible at. I can barely pass a test designated for fourteen year olds! Even suggesting that I performed senior magic is absolutely ridiculous. Also, I don't have a special hatred or anything going on for Liam. Sure, I hate his older brother Leo, but Liam isn't a bad guy. He's a friend of mine. And in the past few weeks, I was beginning to think he was more than my friend. . .

As I lay there in the bed, paralyzed with shock, Finn asks me, "Cilia, you don't remember. . . Any of this?" His eyes look over to the bed behind mine, and I do, too. That's when I see him.

Liam. His entire body is covered in bandages, and his face is red and swelling up. Blue mist is evaporating from his body, and he has an oxygen mask pressed against his nose and mouth. "No. . ." is all I can say.

Suddenly the infirmary door bursts open, and Leo Rivera runs in, half dressed in his night clothes. "LIAM!" he screams, and finds his brother wrapped in bandages. Tears of anger spill from his eyes. He searches the room until his eyes rests on me. His face is red, and he is shaking with his jaws clenched. "YOU. . . I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, Cilia JEWEL!" Then he charges at me.

He hadn't been kidding about killing me. Somehow he had smuggled a battle ax into the infirmary, and now it's raised above his head, ready to strike me down. All of us react instantly. I roll out of bed while the teachers restrain Leo. The teacher for magic, the son of one of the spirits of Magic, paralyzes Leo.

Once Leo calms down(more or less), Finn begins to tell Leo how angry he must be but that all this had been an accident. But I don't feel anything. I almost killed an innocent person. But. . . Why? How? All these questions swirl around and around in my head.

"You must be tired, Cilia. Why don't you come with me to get some food? The nurse said it was okay." Ayla holds out her hand, and I grab it. Once we arrive at the cafeteria, all heads turned to look at me. Apparently news travels fast when it involves a crazy powered girl trying to kill a psychopathic-ax-waving-lunatic's brother. There are murmurs and everybody glares at me.

But I honestly don't care about them. I'm used to being glared at. What worries me is what happened two days ago. Why can't I remember stuff? And how did I nearly kill Liam?

That day, I attend all my usual classes. But there's a chilly mood in the air, and it's all directed at me. After lunch, it's Weaponry. I take my usual weapons, two short yet very sharp throwing knives. I practice with Ayla, responding to her attacks with my own.

I never could have prepared myself for what happened next.

While resting for a cup of water, my vision becomes blurry, and my head starts to hurt. I regain my balance, and hear a sharp voice: "Stab Ayla. Stab Ayla. Stab Ayla." Before I know what's happening, I throw a knife at Ayla. She ducks with a horrified expression painted on her face. Every time I throw a knife, the more eased my mind becomes. It's like something that was squeezing my brain is slowly beginning to let go. I hear a familiar voice inside my head, but I can't quite place where I've heard that voice before. I throw again, and again and again. After I throw about half a dozen knives, I collapse.

If Ayla and I weren't such good friends that we can practically read each other's minds, Ayla would have been stabbed for sure. But luckily, she was able to guess all my next moves, so she didn't get hurt. But why? Why did I thrown those knives at her? Why didn't I stop? I can't explain these feelings, and these thoughts burrow themselves into my mind as I pass out.

When I open my eyes, I expect to be in the infirmary. Instead, my surroundings are made up of some sort of beautiful swirling glass. The bed I'm laying in is also made up of this material. When I touch the glass, my hand just submerges into it. There's a window on the other side of the room. I look out, and see only clouds. That's when I realize exactly where I am.

"Crystalline."

AYLA

As soon as Cilia collapses, the Weapons instructor comes over to me and tells me to go to the infirmary. As I head out, I bump into all the other teachers and I know this is not a good sign. I head up to the infirmary, tell the nurse I'm fine, and run downstairs back to the Weaponry arena. Cilia is on a stretcher, and is inside a tiny force field. Then I realize the shield has been cast from the outside, and that the mentors are trying to trap her in there.

Anger hits me. Yes, Cilia has lost control of her power, and yes, she tried to kill me and another kid during the past three days. But that does NOT make her some sort of freak monster. I rush over to her, or try to, anyway. There are so many teachers, so many students, that it takes forever just to take one step. Cilia is quickly transported to a van which is to take her to Crystalline. Crystalline, the home of the major spirits.

About a hundred years ago, Zarina, the spiritess of Power, tried to take over all of Zyrinx. She was the eldest of the four Elytheian children. Back then, Elytheia was the most powerful country in all of Zyrinx. The king and queen were the ancient spirit of Magic and the ancient spiritess of Power. They had three daughters and a younger son.

The eldest, Zarina, excelled at anything she did. However, direct combat, especially with her sword, was her specialty. The second sister was born two years after and was named Elise. Elise was good at magic, especially weather magic. She was able to brew up storms that could capsize hundreds of ships with just one blast.

Three years after Elise's birth, Heratha was born. Instantly her father fell in love with her. Heratha was beautiful, she was perfect- or she would have been, if it hadn't been for a very serious flaw in her body: she was not immortal. Unlike her parents and the rest of her family, Heratha was not born with eternal life.

Heratha could live up to be a million years old; yet if an act of death was directed towards her, she would die. For example, other spirits, if they were stabbed in the gut with a knife, they wouldn't die, they would just be in excruciating pain. Heratha, though, would die, just like any mortal.

Confused and furious, the king and queen searched all of Zyrinx to find something that could help Heratha. Rumours say that they even went into Largos, the mystical hell of all hells, to find a way to help their daughter. Largos is a realm located in the inner core of the Earth. It is the only place known to be worse than Azailia, the Earth's outer core. Somehow, in Largos, they were able to find a magical jewel. They turned it into a necklace. While wearing this jewel, Heratha could not be killed. She wears it up to this day.

The last child was a son named. . . Actually, I don't know. The history books don't say much about him. The reason is probably this. . .

A week after the son was born, it was Heratha's fifth birthday. Elise and her sister Zarina were picking blueberries or something. Apparently Zarina touched something in those bushes. She was thrown back. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer the sweet, sensitive and caring Zarina. This new Zarina was very bloodthirsty and murderous. The ten year old girl flew up into the air, until she was level with the castle roof. Then she raised her arms. A gigantic blue orb formed in her hands, and it was thrown onto the castle. The castle immediately burned down. Heratha was Zarina's next target. Zarina formed a similar ball, and aimed towards Heratha. Then their mother leaped in front of her daughter, to protect her. The queen was blasted to bits- not dead, just. . . blown to really tiny bits. Zarina flew away to Azailia, to gain her monstrous army to destroy the world.

Zarina ruled for more than a decade, until Heratha came back. After Heratha threw Zarina into Azailia, she changed a lot of things in the world. One thing was that she and the other spirits conjured up a gigantic castle in the sky made up of Crystalline, a crystal-like liquid. The castle, named Crystalline, was beautiful. Millions upon millions of spirits made Crystalline their home.

And now, Cilia is headed towards there. I decide I have to do something. As soon as I form this thought, the head teacher, Finn, suddenly appears behind me. "Miss Yu, I need you to come with me."

Ten minutes later, I am also in a van taking me to the teleport station. I am in the car with the head teacher. The Magic instructor is with us as well. "Ayla, we need you to tell us everything about this situation." That's all I remember hearing. Without even realizing it, I begin to recite everything. How Cilia had been acting weird all month, how she would suddenly freeze and stare off into space, how she would get splitting headaches in the middle of the night, and how she would mumble in her sleep, "Out. . . Return. . . Her. . . "

Before I know it, we arrive at the teleport station. The Magic instructor leads me towards our portal, walking in large strides.

The teleport station is a place for transportation. Portals are charged up in here, and they can take you anywhere; any country, any realm, even to different layers of the Earth. We walk towards the Crystalline portal. Cilia has probably already gone through. We give the attendant our tickets, and she gives us beaded stones. Finn enters first. I am the next to go. As soon as I enter, I see only darkness. I am in a pool of murky, black ink. Not wanting to stay here any longer than necessary, I break open my stone. A white light blinds me, and I gasp for air. This is why people don't always transport through portals. They may be convenient, but are scary and encourages claustrophobia.

Once I regain my vision, I see a giant, shimmering castle, and I automatically think, 'Crystalline.'

The walls are made up of the stuff I used to only read in books, or occasionally study during science. This is true Crystalline stone. I can't help but gasp in amazement. Crystalline, the stone of the spirits, is said to have amazing healing properties.

Most minor spirits such as myself don't get to see Crystalline in our entire lifetimes. Yet here I am, gawking in awe at this beautiful palace. We go up the steps, and enter through a hidden door in the wall. I feel the walls, and my hand sinks into the stone. "Wow. . ." I whisper to myself as I continuously touch the walls.

"Amazing, isn't it?" I turn around, and see. . . "Mom?" The spiritess of the Mind.

I've only seen my mother twice before. Once on my actual birth day, and second on my entrance day into Sophix. The spirits, especially the major spirits like my mom, don't have a lot of free time on their hands. And when they do, they like to spend it alone, or sometimes with their wives or husbands. My mom, currently, is married with my dad. But she also gave birth to two daughters maybe twenty years ago.

Since spirits are immortal, when they marry humans from the Crust, the marriage isn't forever. The spirits spend up to fifty or sixty years with a human, depending on how long they live. When the humans die, they lose a wife or a husband. After a while, they remarry, and the whole process repeats itself again.

I don't know what to think when I see my mom. I instinctively hug her, and ask, "What are you doing here?" I realize it's a stupid question a split second before it comes out of my mouth. "Well, other than the fact that I live here?" she asks, making my face red with embarrassment, "It's about your friend," she replies.

Apparently she had just been "studying" Cilia's mind right now. She thinks there is some sort of infection blocking Cilia's mind from taking control. That's why she couldn't help herself from attacking people, and that's why she couldn't remember any of it.

"But that still doesn't explain why her magic and skills are far beyond her usual standards", my mom said. "Heratha thinks she's being possessed. Of course, that's just a theory. We don't know anything for sure. Ayla, we were hoping that you could provide us with some sort of information?" I groan inside my mind. I'm tired of having to repeat the same story over and over again, and I hate that everybody's trying to use me as some sort of dictionary about Cilia. But I just ask her, "Sure. But what do you mean by 'we'?"

"We" means the queen of the spirits, Heratha herself. My mom walks with me into a room where the ruler of the planet is sitting on a chair. "Heratha? Heratha? Hey!" My mom tries to get Queen Heratha's attention, who, I think is meditating. I'm kind of surprised, actually. At school the teachers address Queen Heratha as some sort of godly, superior figure. But my mom seems to talk to her like she's nagging a little sister to wake up. Also, the Queen looks nothing like a Queen. She looks two or three years older than me. She's dressed like a casual teenager, too. A white shoulderless shirt, and some jeans. And, of course, her legendary necklace.

Many people and monsters have tried to steal her necklace over the years. Some, like Zarina, wanted it so they could kill Heratha. But most wanted it so that they could become immortal. Yet no one has succeeded, and I very much doubt anyone ever will.

Queen Heratha wakes up from her trance, and frowns. She whispers something to my mom, and then turns to look at me. "Hi. You're Ayla Yu, right?" Never would I have dreamt in a million years that the Queen of the world would speak to me like I was some high school friend.

"Yes." I squeak. She smiles, and says, "You don't need to be nervous, Ayla. I just want to talk, okay?" I decide that this is not a good time to point out the fact that just about everyone wants to "talk" with me. I think this in my head, but my mom looks at me and frowns, shaking her head, as if she's read my mind. Then I realize- of course she read my mind. She's the spirit of the Mind!

Queen Heratha invites me to sit, tells me to stop addressing her as "Queen", and to just call her Heratha. To my surprise, she doesn't ask me about Cilia. Well, not directly, anyway. She asks about my life at school, about my classes, my friends. I'm smart enough to realize that she's trying to figure out when and why Cilia went crazy by asking me about my daily life.

I try to give her as much information as possible, but honestly, I don't know what else to tell her. I've already told the teachers everything I know, and no doubt all that has been told to Heratha.

Heratha thanks me for my time, and asks if I want to see Cilia. I nod, and my mom, Heratha, and I walk up the Crytalline stairs into the room where Cilia is in. When Heratha opens the door, I'm in shock. But not 'in awe' shock. More like 'what the hell is going on here' shock.

Cilia is inside some sort of plastic tube, with weird things stuck to her head. Doctors aren't healing her, they're recording her movements. In other words, they're studying her as if she's a new species of some sort. I look at my mom and Heratha, ready to ask why all this nonsense is happening, but their faces are in shock as well. Heratha regains her consciousness and prepares to chew the doctors' faces off. But before she can say a single word, we are all pushed aside by a muscular man.

I immediately see the resemblance between him and Cilia. Brown eyes, dark hair, that determined look. This is Cilia's father, the spirit of Strength. His eyes are blazing, and he's angry. "What in AZAILIA is going on here!" All eyes turn to him, and I see a doctor crawl under one of the fancy machines. This spirit radiates strength. And power. He marches into the room and yells who the person in charge of this is. And a slim, tall man walks out. "Listen to me, you freak. I want to know why my daughter is in one of your experimental tanks, like she's your new thing for you to study."

I sense the man cowering in his mind, but amazingly he gathers his courage and speaks in a calm composure. "Well, Aaron, we were just looking at the girl to find clues as to why she's been rampaging-" "RAMPAGING? You listen to me right now, Albin, or whatever your name is-" "Well, actually it's Alvin-"

"You are going to get Cilia out of that- that thing right now. Do you understand?" Albin or Alvin clears his throat, and says, "Well, we can't actually do that, see, we're almost reaching a result, and-" But before he can finish his sentence, the spirit of strength has Alvin by the neck, and instantly Alvin's head starts to turn purple. My mom seems as if she wants to say something, but doesn't. Aaron whispers, "Last chance, Elvin. Get. Her. Out." Alvin nods, and Aaron releases him. Then he disappears in a flash of light.

ZARINA

"Zarina, come on!" Two girls giggle as they jump around a berry bush. "Elise, stop joking around! Hey!" One of the girls laughs as her sister struggles to pick bush leaves out of her hair. "Elise, we're only here to pick-" "Alright, alright!" The two girls crouch down as they pick berries. The older girl's eyes turn towards the opposite side of the garden. She seems to have seen something. "Elise, I'll be over there, alright?" "Okay!" The older girl walks towards a shimmering bush. It has a blueberry that was lit with blue flames. "Wow. . ." The girl steps towards the berry. She could hear something coming from that berry. "Come. . . Embrace me. . . Give me a new source. . . A new body. . . Revenge. . ."

"Aaah!" Hearing her sister screaming, the younger girl's head turns towards the source of the scream. She ran towards her older sister. Then the younger girl, too, started to scream. For on the grass lay Zarina, sprawled on the floor, her eyes full of blue flames, not moving an inch.

When Zarina was finally able to open her eyes, she was not on the grass floor of her castle. Her castle had been destroyed over twenty years ago, by her and her army. Zarina looked below. A burning wasteland. Spirits in chains, kneeling towards her. All of Zyrinx was hers. She heard the downstairs door burst open. "Lady Zarina? L-Lady Zarina?" The voice was urgent and nervous. Zarina transformed her body into a dark, black blob, and she sunk down three floors.

"Alvin? What do you want?" The man was shivering from fear. Yet he found his voice and began to speak. "My L-Lady, yo-your forces. . . Th-they've been destroyed. . . killed. . . Azailia. . . Your s-sister. . . She-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Zarina was out the door. There, she saw her entire army- monsters, witches, warriors- all sprawled across the floor, their faces drowning with blood. Zarina looked around in fury. There, she saw a golden light, a huge orb descending down towards her at an alarmingly fast rate. But Zarina didn't dodge. She was the master of darkness, owner of the world! Zarina spread her arms out, and a shimmering blue shield appeared. The golden light bounced off the blue wall harmlessly. The Zarina saw her. Her youngest sister, charging straight towards her from the sky. So, she had finally decided to show. After sixteen years of watching all of Zyrinx suffer, she had come out of her safely protected home. Well, that had been a mistake.

Zarina flew up into the air, sword raised. People from down below saw a huge blast of light, sounds of thunder, clashes of metal, and felt intense heat. Then, nothing. No sound or view. The only thing they could see was a blue light, falling. . . falling. . . into the open jaws of Azailia itself.

Zarina fell. . . and fell. . . and fell, and fell, and fell. She dropped from the sky for almost two weeks. Then, she hit the ground with a sickening SMASH. She lay there for five years, not healing, not dying. . . Just lying there, experiencing excruciating pain.

Chittering of bats, shadows dancing across the walls, fire seeping through her skin. Her body twitched uncontrollably. She heard. . . Voices? No, that was impossible. There was no way that after five years of solitude, someone would just appear out of thin air. But she listened.

"Are you sure it's this way?" "Yes, you brainless idiot, listen. You can hear the heart beating." "You two realize that it could just as easily be the lungs? Inhaling, exhaling?" "How do we even know the heart even exists? This whole thing we're doing, we're doing this based off a children's story."

Zarina heard three people. Three women. Could it be. . . Her most devoted followers, the last who had 'died' that day. No. . . It wasn't possible. But still. . . Any form of company sounded good to her. Zarina couldn't find the energy to say anything, so she groaned weakly. Even that was painful.

The three voices suddenly stopped talking. Zarina heard steps coming towards her. Then she heard whispers. "You sure it's safe?" "I don't think we should go in there." "It's a person. A person is better than nothing, right?" Nervous laughs. Then a creak, like a door opening. Then a gasp, and a shriek. "Zarina!" Quick paces. Zarina could barely open her eyes, but she saw them. The spiritesses of dark nature. Blizzard, Volcano, and Storm.

The three spirits crouched down towards her. "She's. . . Dying." "Don't be an idiot. She can't die." "But Azailia is trying to kill her." "No. . . Look." The spiritess of Volcanoes, Celosia, pointed to what Zarina hadn't noticed before. White smoke. Erupting from the ground. Sucked into Zarina's body. "She's been in touch with Azailia's heart for too long. It's sucking the warmth out of her, and putting itself in her soul."

The spiritesses carried Zarina out of Azailia's heart. Although the air was still very poisonous and corrosive outside, Zarina felt she was breathing fresh air.

Soon, Zarina was, for the first time in years, standing.

"Well, you must have figured it out by now, but we're in Azailia. Well, actually, right outside the heart of Azailia." said Beira, the spiritess of Blizzards, as Zarina tried to get used to her footing. When Zarina looked confused, Celosia cut in. "We woke about two or three years ago. Then we found out about Azailia. We barely managed to find each other. We've been wandering around aimlessly for months until I suggested we look for the middle, or the heart of Azailia. We thought that the heart must be the way out, since the children's tales tell of Azailia's heart opening and swallowing people up. That was our best lead, anyway. So we walked, then got trapped in some sort of mental disorientated room, where we would never have escaped from if it weren't for you."

Beira told the next part of the story. "Your scream. It pierced through the walls of Azailia, and we temporarily regained our consciousness. We escaped from that room, walked for half a year, lost in our thoughts, until the last of the mental problems leaked out. Then we walked for another half year, until we finally arrived here."

There were about thirty seconds of awkward silence. Then Aello, the spiritess of Storms, said, "Do you hurt anymore?" As if on cue, Zarina started to scream again. The ground began to rumble, and the dark, murky stream in front of the entrance to Azailia's heart pushed itself out of its banks. The stream turned out to be poisonous, so the four spiritesses were soon running for cover.

Zarina was suddenly yanked into the air, where an enormous flash of light erupted out of her body. And, just like that, the explosion quikcly dissipated. The flash of light was gone. And it had taken the fragile, weak Zarina away with it as well. For anybody within the 100-mile radius could see that Zarina's eyes were full of fury, full of power. Azailia had conjoined their powers together. Together, they had linked onto a life force in the upper world. This life force would lend Zarina power. She would become great once more. Zarina felt energized with a newfound sense of anger. Zarina had returned.

Cilia

I hear noises. Mechanical contraptions beeping away. A man's voice- vaguely familiar, yelling. I gasp for air. My body twitches. Visions. Four women in rags walking along a stream. The world seen through blue flames. Cold laughter filling my lungs. Then a hiss, but this hiss is coming from the real world, not from my dreams. I cough as I open my eyes. A tall man is lying on the ground, wheezing. I see a man looming over him, then turning to see me. And I realize. . . It's my father.

I know I've made a promise to myself, and I have no intention of breaking it. I get up, run for that man, that traitor with dark gray eyes, and start kicking and punching him the best I can. To my surprise, he doesn't resist. Then, after a minute or so, he picks me up by the shoulders like a rag doll, and drops me onto a different bed.

"Listen, honey, I know you're angry and confused. But just hear me out." I don't want to hear him out, I don't want him to call me honey, I don't even want to look at him. But I know I can't do that. Although he said it in a sort of soft voice, it was an order. An order that found its way through my nerve cells, into my brain, and planted itself in there. So I 'hear him out.'

"I'm your dad. We've never met before. But I'm guessing you knew who I was." When I don't say anything, he continues. "You're getting extremely powerful. Dangerously powerful. And people are getting hurt. We want to find out what's happening."

But I don't hear the rest. I fall to the floor, where my body starts to twitch. I see myself falling from the sky. A golden light. The same vision I've been having for months. The vision that led me to hurt Liam. I know that I must wake. But I can't. I see a woman with blue eyes, and suddenly those eyes are mine. I feel a jolt of pain up my back going straight towards my head- and I open my eyes. People have gathered around me looking concerned. But it doesn't seem like I've done any damage. Yet.

"Honey, you're going to stay here for only a couple of days, so we can see if there's a pattern to these. . . things. We're going to help you try to control whatever this is, okay?" I barely feel myself nodding.

So I stay in the castle for a couple of days. On my fourth day, I wander into a room filled with thousands upon millions of books. A library. The shelves reach so high up into the air that there are elevators that go up about twenty floors for the readers to get their books. I'm not sure if I'm even allowed here, but the doctors are trying to have me go about my usual ways, as if that's possible with all that's happened so far.

I'm at the top of one of the shelves, when I look down. I immediately feel a sense of dread, because of my fear of heights. I decide to head back down when I notice a book titled "The Rise and Fall of Zarina". It's been dropped on the floor, so I bend down to pick it up. I flip through a few pages, although I probably know what it's going to say anyway. The Zarinean War is the basic of all histories. Ten year old kids know all the events by heart. I skip the chapters labeled "Zarina's creation", "The growth of her reign" and such, until I reach the "The Fall of Zarina."

Zarina had been ruling for over two decades when she was defeated by her younger sister, Heratha. Heratha took out all of Zarina's forces in a swoosh of golden light. Then, she fought Zarina herself. Nobody is sure what happened during their fight. A blast of gold and blue light shook the Earth. Then people saw Zarina falling towards the ground, where she and the remainder of her followers were swallowed up by Azailia itself.

I drop the book and fall to my knees, clawing my hands through my hair in shock. These visions that I've been having aren't normal. It's too coincidental that my visions match the exact conclusion of the Zarinean War. Something's happening to me. These sudden outbursts of power, the need to hurt someone. . . No. I refuse to believe it. But just to make sure, I decide to tell someone. But who? Who should I tell? Won't everybody think of me as a threat? Won't the spirits think it would be simple to just kill me for all of humanity's protection? After all, I'm not the only minor spirit out there. Just as I conclude I am not going to tell anyone about this connection, the library door opens. The entire major spirit council floods in through those doors.

I stay hidden at the top floor. I hear Queen Heratha speak. "Well, you all know why we're here, but just to make sure, I will go over it one more time. The girl, Aaron's girl, Cilia Jewel, has been having dreams for the past few weeks. One week ago, she apparently sleep-walked into her fellow student's room, and performed unbelievably advanced magic directed towards the student. A few days later, she attacked another student with a knife. The visions that she's been having match exactly the fall of Zarina. After a thorough examination by doctors and the spirit of the mind, we've concluded that something's poisoning her mind. We believe that somehow the remnants of Zarina have flooded into her mind. If we do not act fast, the girl could be entirely possessed by Zarina's past."

Gasps ring through the air, but nobody, nobody, is as shocked as I am. Queen Heratha's words ring through my mind. "Poisoning her mind. . . Entirely possessed by Zarina's past. . ."

I hear the spirits try to come up with a solution. There are very weird solutions, but nobody says anything about trying to harm me. Then Dara, the spiritess of the mind gives a reasonable yet still not reassuring solution. "There must be some reason this is happening. It's been nearly a century since Zarina roamed Zyrinx, and not once has a thing like this happened. There are two possible explanations for this. Cilia, for some reason shares a connection with Zarina. Or, Zarina has somehow gained more power from Azailia."

Her statement brings silence in the air. Ignoring this, Lady Dara continues. "We must ask the girl to help us to see what Zarina is doing." That's when a loud, gruff voice speaks. "So you want to purposely bring in these . . . 'remnants of Zarina'? She's dealing with a lot as it is. You can't ask her to try and infiltrate the Dark Queen's mind!" More bickering. But the world slowly seems to fade out. . .

I'm about 80 years in the past. I see three women kneeling at my feet, with great joy spread across their faces. I smile, and lift my hand up into the air. Lightning bolts upwards towards the empty blackness which is supposed to be the sky. Figuring out what their mistress has begun to do, the three women touch the lightning. The colors return to their faces, along with a triumphant smile. They fly up into the air, spreading magic of their own, basking in the storm that they have caused. Soon, more dark creatures along with people walk out from the shadows. More and more, until an entire army forms. With each drop of rain that hits their faces, the bigger their smiles get. They kneel down before me.

"Cilia! Cilia!" I feel a sting on my cheek. "Wake up!" I open my eyes. I'm on the first floor of the library. The world is spinning, and I want to puke. My head spins, and I close my eyes again. "Dara! Get over here!"

My army marches into the heart of Azailia, and we destroy the place. I look up, and barely make out a minuscule dot of light smaller than a millionth of a milimeter. The exit. I turn to my army and say. . .

"Lady Dara?"

And I'm back in the real world, laying on the floor. Unfamiliar faces surround me. There are whispers. "Was that. . ." "Yes, I think so." "Oh. . ." "How could this. . ." I bolt right up.

Ten minutes later, I'm back in the guest room, recapping my supposed vision to Queen Heratha. ". . . and she somehow formed an army again and tried to break out. This happened over 80 years ago." After a minute of silence, Queen Heratha asks, "How do you know?"

This question takes me by surprise. I was expecting something more like, "Who was in that army?" or directions suggesting that they go check it out. So I don't blame myself for saying, "What?" "How do you know when this happened?" she asks me.

I honestly don't know. There's no special feeling or some narrator reading out "80 years ago" or anything. I shrug, and Queen Heratha smiles reassuringly at me. "Thank you, Cilia. I'll let you know if we come to any conclusion." But I've seen that sort of smile before. I've seen that smile so many times in the mirror. That's the sort of smile I do when I'm worried and I'm just pretending, for the sake of others. I'm guessing Queen Heratha has to put up with things like this a lot.

The major spirits continue the meeting in the library, while I am forced to wait outside. Minutes pass. Then hours. I grow frustrated, and I begin to wish to take part in that meeting or whatever it is the major spirits are having. Sure, I'm only a kid, but I'm also the one who saw all of this. As soon as I think this thought, Dara, the spiritess of the Mind, comes out of the library. She invites me into the meeting.

So I'm in the room, not saying anything. Just listening. They've come up with the conclusion that, one, Zarina did not escape. And two, Zarina has regained some of her power and has trying to break free of Azailia ever since. That's all they've gotten to. As I debate on whether to leave or not to leave this pointless meeting, Queen Heratha says, "What's your opinion, Cilia?"

Suddenly, all eyes are on me. What usually comes out of my mouth in situations like these are "I, um . . . Well . . ." But not this time. I start to recite my words, like Ayla does whenever she's asked a question. The words just tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"No offense, but I don't think any of this is correct. Your conclusion that Zarina hasn't escaped isn't some likely theory, it's just your wish. She could have just as easily slipped out of Azailia years ago, and have bid her time until this day. Also, Zarina is the most powerful spirit in the history of the world, and everyone knows it. If she had the strength to regain that sort of power in Azailia, it's very unlikely that anything stopped her from breaking free." I want to say more, but I feel like I shouldn't.

What I've just said is probably the most insulting thing they've heard in many decades. I expect to hear grumbling, but instead I hear a man's laughter. "That's my girl! Ha! She's right, you know. Chances are, Zarina escaped a long time ago."

So this is what I know so far. Queen Heratha and some other spirits are on their way now, to one of the thousands of entrances into Azailia. Apparently they teleported onto the Earth's crust, where they traveled to a place called Russia. They're in a forest right now, heading towards the entrance. I honestly don't know what they're expecting to find, though. Zarina could have escaped through any entrance. And even if she did escape through this one(in which case the odds are 7,372 to 1), she would have obviously covered it up. So unless their plan is to hop into Azailia itself, I'm pretty sure they're going to have to try something else.

Nobody bothers me with further questions after my dad supposedly threatened them that the next person to ask me another question would be personally fed to his pet hyenas. But after an hour or so, the doctor that tried to 'study' me comes up and tries to start up a conversation. It went something like this: "Hi, I'm Alvin, and you're Cilia, the one who's been having the dreams about the Dark Queen- Hey I was wondering if, you know, you could tell me what you saw, like, in the background-"

The last I saw him, he was being chased by a pack of gray hyenas.

My dad slides in next to me. "So, kid. . . I know we have this awkward thing between us, and, well, I was hoping we could fix it. You know, together?" I don't reply. The thing I really want to do right now is to strangle him, but that did not work out well last time.

A few moments of silence pass, and then he says, "You know that guy, the doctor? Elbin or something? Don't trust him." I'm about to ask why not when I remember I'm supposed to be ignoring him. But he senses my feelings anyway.

"See, he was found in the ruins of Zarina's castle after the war ended. Some of us suspected he was a follower of Zarina, you know? And the others believed him to be a captive. So after we rounded up the remaining followers, we had a trial for him. Elifn was found innocent. But every now and then, he always sneaks off somewhere. Most of us have gotten used to him, but not me. I know there's something he's hiding-" My dad's interrupted by a girly shriek coming from the halls. He grins, and says, "That'll be my dogs trying to feast on Ilvin's rear end." He gets up. "See you, kid. And I know you're angry, but I'm sorry, 'kay?"

I don't know what to feel. My dad just walked up to me as if we were old friends or something and apologized in a way as if abandoning me for the past sixteen years is no big deal. I've never felt this way before. Do I feel hurt? No. Maybe? I wouldn't know. I was always the most powerful kid at Sophix, since my dad is the second most powerful spirit. Since Queen Heratha didn't have any kids, I was the most famous minor spirit in not only the school, but the entire town on which it rested. I didn't have a chance to be hurt. Feared, maybe. Made fun of or the subject of jealousy. But since I didn't want to have any friends, I just ignored them or occasionally threaten them.

The day after she left for Russia, Queen Heratha returns. She nor the other spirits didn't find any proof that Zarina escaped, but didn't find any proof that she didn't escape, either. I feel the same way as the spirits do. I feel fear. But my fear is nothing compared to those of the spirits'.

Back in the day, Zarina captured the spirits, then used a complex spell to drain all their energy and powers. Then she engulfed her victims' magic. After the war, Queen Heratha tracked down some of the lost essence of the spirits. But over one quarter of the spirits weren't able to get their magic back. They turned mortal, and were replaced by newer spirits. The now-dead spirits are known as the ancient spirits. If Zarina is out, then it means it could happen all over again.

'But why me?' I think in my room. Why is it me that Zarina chose as her messenger to the spirits? Why am I the one having all these visions? I stay in the library all day, trying to find an answer. After a few hours, it's midnight, and I grow tired. I decide to return to my room. I get up, and fall flat on my face.

I open my eyes. Everything around me is tingling with blue fire. I get up and walk out the door, into Heratha's room. She's sleeping. Her curtains closed, no special protection or bodyguards to help her in her sleep. So naive. She thinks she can handle the world, just because of one lucky shot. I lift my hand, then think better of it. Why wake the entire castle when I can just grab the necklace? Both of my hands grip the clasp of her necklace. Slowly I unclasp it. I hear sizzling. Her eyes are opened. She says something, I don't know what. The only thing I hear is the hum of the magic in that necklace. I'm knocked onto the floor, and Heratha's up. She fastens her necklace, and approaches me cautiously. I see her mouthing, "Cilia, try and calm down. Take control." She's almost right in front of me now. I kick her in the stomach, and quickly get up. An orb forms in my hand. I fling it at her. She dodges. Another orb. And another. And another. Hundreds of orbs try to blow up the girl. The foolish person the spirits think of as their queen. Yet she keeps dodging. I hear muffled voices outside the door. I thrust my hand into the air, and the bolts on the door click. I'm blinded by a flash of light. I yell in frustration, for it has happened again. Only pitch blackness can be seen.

I feel a sweet sensation course through my veins. I relax, and open my eyes. I'm in my room. Was all that a dream? Yes, it must be. A ridiculously vivid dream, but a dream nonetheless. When I walk out the door, I know I am wrong. I see Queen Heratha, Lady Dara, and my idiotic dad. Queen Heratha is covered in scorch marks, and her hair is singed. It looks like they all came in a hurry.

"Cilia, sweetie, do you remember anything at all?" Dara asks. I think to myself yes, and Lady Dara nods. "Sweetie, we're going to try and help you block all this out okay?" I nod, but my mind screams no. I've done enough damage already. "Oh, sweetie, don't think like that! It's not your fault." I remind myself to stop talking to myself so that Lady Dara can stop reading my mind. I try not to think of my actual feelings, which are for her to stop calling me sweetie, and say, "Sure. How are you gonna block all this out?"

I'm moved to the arena of the castle. It's like the training area at school, only more developed, complex, and deadly. Since the spirits can't die, when they practicehave practice fight, they fight hard. The machines there are aiming to kill them. There are no safety precautions, either. I'm worried and confused on how this will help me when I see my dad standing next to a door in the large arena.

Lady Dara walks me over to him, and all four of us- Queen Heratha, Lady Dara, my dad, and me- walk into the door. There is a large room, filled with machines. It is spotlessly clean and empty of all other people. Lady Dara says, "Okay, Cilia. You and I are going to try and concentrate on your mind, and will it to close. Just try and shut the visions out, and I'll do the rest, okay?

I nod, and close my eyes. Nothing peculiar happens. Then weird green dots appear and swirl away. I feel something pressing my brain, squeezing it. The swirls and my brain are getting harder. The dots are closed into hard coverings. Then everything is back to normal.

"Did it work?" I ask. "Only one way to know for sure, kid." My dad gets up from the chair he's been sitting on. "Sit over here, will you?"

Five minutes later, I'm hooked onto some sort of device that is suctioned onto my head and eyelids. Lady Dara inserts a needle into my arm, and I feel myself relaxing. I feel the sweet tingling sensation that I woke up to this morning. I fall asleep.

When I wake up, the three spirits are smiling. They say that they're not 100 per cent sure, but it seems like the visions have been blocked, at least temporarily. One more day in the castle, and then I'll be going back to Sophix. I'm, for the first time in days, relieved. No more dreams, no more monsters taking control of my body, and no more accidents.

The following day goes without incident, so I get a ride from my dad to the teleport station. We don't talk. The entire ride is in silence. This makes me even more angry, since if we weren't going to talk, then he could have just teleported me to Sophix directly himself.

When I arrive at school, people point and whisper at me, but I just glare at them, and they run away. I find this pretty amusing, especially when a senior eighteen year old boy walks into a tree while staring at me. As long as I have Ayla with me, I don't feel hurt or anything like that. Things return more or less to normal.

A week passes by, and I almost forget about the stress from the past week's events. I'm more stressed out about my lessons now, namely combat fighting. We've been told that for the next two weeks, we'll be training with the Sophixians and Sophixians-in-training.

Sophixians are people who continue to study at school after the age of eighteen to become priveledged soldiers of our country, Crystalline. They learn all sorts of enhanced magic and fighting techniques.

Anyways, the partners, the Sophixians and Sophixians-in-training are going to be our partners for the next two months. Guess who my partner is. Leo Rivera. The psycho child of the spirit of Anger. I groan, but Leo seems unusually happy. Of course he does. He's still angry about his brother, and this partner thing can be used as an excuse to try and hurt me. The groups find their own places to practice in the Weaponry arena. Leo walks over to the corner of the arena without a word. Without any other choice, I follow.

The teacher's voice rings loud and clear over the speakers installed within the walls. "You will have twenty minutes to practice for today. Don't kill each other, and try not to draw any blood. You'll be using swords, not any other weapons. On your marks . . Get set. . . Begin!" A gong sounds, and before I know it, Leo is charging towards me. But I block all his attacks with ease. He's fighting out of anger. And I should know better than anybody that when you fight using anger, you can't think properly.

But Leo is still a pretty skilled guy when he's normal(which is never), so I still have to concentrate to block his ridiculously fast attacks. I could attack him just as easily, but my conscience doesn't allow it. I feel sorry for almost killing his brother.

So that continues for about ten minutes, when the teacher calls on break. I lower my sword, and head over to eh water fountain with everyoen else. But I've made a mistake. I've forgotten how resentful the children of Anger can be. A searing pain goes through my backside, and I know Leo has slashed at my back.

But the kids aren't worrying about me or yelling at Leo, or even running to get the teacher. They're pointing. At first I think, 'Really? You're still worked up about me almost killing Liam and Ayla?' But it isn't that. I look at the wound Leo has opened up. Instead of red blood gushing out, blue gel seeps through the wound.

The teacher runs up and takes charge. "Ayla, go get the head teacher and tell him to go to the infirmary. Lyra, you and Alex help Cilia to the infirmary. Rivera, you're coming with me." Two Sophixians, Lyra and Alex, help me walk up towards the infirmary. I still feel the pain, but it doesn't hurt as much as it should. I want to black out, but I use all the energy I have to keep myself awake. I need to find out what this is.

I'm lying on a bed in the infirmary, and the nurse takes a look at my wound. "Never seen anything like this. . ." she mumbles, trying to figure out what to do. The door bursts open and the head teacher and Ayla run in. Finn sees my blue blood, and his expression turns from shock to fear. Then, noticing that four children are staring at him, he regains his confident posture. "Lyra, Alex, you two may leave. Nurse Heloise, please call the nearest hospital- no, call Crystalline's doctor. Ayla, send a message to your mother."

All four of them follow his orders, and soon, three other people are in the infirmary as well. Alvin, who is one of the spirits of healing, Lady Dara, and Queen Heratha. The adults look at my wound. They whisper something, then the nurse leaves, returning with a syringe filled with clear liquid. She inserts it into my arm, and I instantly fall asleep.

Fifty years ago. I've hooked on to a new source. A birth of a human- a mortal. I sense a relationship even before I see her. But I cannot enter her mind. Something blocks her from me interfering. But I still have a new energy source. An energy source in the upper world. Not a strong one, but not weak either. I hold onto this energy, and use all my power to escape. 5 years have led up to this moment. Careful planning, energy saving. . . It must succeed. I speed out of the hole, flying only upwards. Then I see a light. The upper world! I jump out. . .

"Heratha, are you sure?" "Yes, Dara, I have told you a million times. I cannot forget her blood." "But. . ." "My Queen, allow me to just say-" "You've had your say, Elbin. Now shut it." "Lord, Aaron, you must see sense-" "Me see sense? You ridiculous little-" "Heratha! The girl!" I feel all eyes turning to me. "Cilia?" Queen Heratha shakes me lightly. "How much did you hear?"

I frown, trying to get the dizziness out of my mind. I don't know what's going on. But what I do know is that the vision I just had was real. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "Zarina escaped fifty years ago!"

The infirmary is in chaos. Luckily, there aren't many students here. Everybody is freaking out, until Queen Heratha yells, "SHUT UP!" Silence. Apparently she's surprised by her own outburst as well. "Look, if what Cilia's saying is true. . . We need to move. Now. We don't know where she is, or if this is true or not, but we need to locate Zarina somehow."

You'd think the Queen would have inserted a tracking device into Zarina before she blew the lady up. But since she didn't, we had no idea where to begin. The best possible solution at this moment is the worst possible solution, which is for me to somehow use my supernatural abilities to try and track Zarina. But this, obviously, does not work.

The spirits decide to wait until I fall asleep to try and do something, because that's when I'm most easily overpowered by Zarina's past. I sleep, with one spirit next to me, one outside my door, and the rest hovering above me. It's hard to sleep when seven other people are staring at you, but I manage, with a little help from a clear sleeping liquid. Before I fall asleep, I see Lady Dara sticking something to my head. I groan, and fall asleep.

Fourteen years ago. I have gathered up most of my subjects, with the spy still in the Crystalline castle. I sit inside a cave on an island. . .

Ninety years ago. I'm in a lagoon close to the sea. The azure color of the sea begins to change into a dark, murky gray as I poison their waters. Soon, the entire lagoon has been changed. Bait. The poison has lured the merpeople out of their secret homes. I yell orders to my people, and the strong men toss nets into the ocean, dragging the creatures onto my boat.

A night with a pure black sky, empty except for the full moon that shines down into the waters of the ocean. They say the full moon's reflection lands on the Mermaid's cove, the original home of those animals. I ready my men to capture the filthy creatures. A shriek comes from the lower floor of the ship. I race down the stairs, and see one of the mermaids screeching, signaling the other creatures in that cove to flee. The entire room fills with the screeches of fifty three mermaids. Furious, I walk towards the tank holding the mermaid that first started the screeching. I pound on the glass walls of the tank, and soon, the glass breaks. Water spills out of small cracks in the glass, leaving no water inside the tank. The cracks are too small for the thing to escape; It is trapped in a waterless cage. A mermaid cannot go without water for more than two or three hours.

I stomp out of the room, and will the ship to race across the water, towards the cave. But even as I do this, I know that there will be nothing left there for me to find. . .

I gasp, and wake up. I feel that sweat has drenched my face. The spirits surround my bed. They're all looking at a screen. A screen that has recorded everything I have just seen in my head. All the spirits have feelings of shock etched onto their faces. I'm not sure if it's because they now believe Zarina has indeed escaped, or if they know that merpeople should never be treated like that. I clear my throat, and they all look at me.

Queen Heratha is the first to speak. "Well. . . Although we still cannot make clear of. . . any of this, it is very coincidental. Ninety years ago, all the inhabitants of Kouzlo Lagoon, located in what is Czech in the Crust, died or went missing. We just assumed the merfolk had migrated, spewing poison along their waters to make sure no other could get in."

Silence follows. Then Lady Dara speaks. "Well, at least we have a lead. The Mermaid's cove is never open to outsiders unless they are invited in. We can just somehow ask the inhabitants to confirm this story."

'Are they all stupid?' I think. 'Why are they being so ignorant? Didn't they hear Zarina talking about the-' I see Lady Dara staring at me, obviously displeased at my choice of words. But I can't help it.

"Were none of you listening?" I say in a strong voice. "Zarina very clearly mentioned that she has a spy hidden in Crystalline! Can we please just dwell on that?"

Even more silence. "What d'you mean, kid? We never saw anything about a spy," my dad says. I may not be the spiritess of the Mind, but I know that he's suspecting the doctor staring at me with wide eyes. And who should speak but Lord Alvin, the healing spirit himself? "Um, Miss Jewel, are you okay? There, um, we didn't hear anything about a spy. And even if there was a spy, wouldn't Dara have had a few suspicions these past few decades?"

I don't like how he's not his usual confident self, but what he says does make sense. Lady Dara can read people's minds, even if you try with all your might to block her out. Obviously she would have known something about the spy.

Unless. . . She was the spy. But that doesn't make sense either. She was one of the first victims of Zarina, and she was one of the main causes that helped bring Zarina down. Zarina killed all of Lady Dara's children, fearing that they might find out about her spies. Lady Dara had been tortured to the brink of death. Zarina wouldn't do such a thing on her own people, would she? Then again, Zarina's well known for doing whatever it takes to achieve maximum power.

But even if Lady Dara had been a spy, once, she would definitely be on Queen Heratha's side now. I look at her, and know that she's been reading my mind. She feels hurt, and when I look at her, I know for a fact she never has, and never will be on Zarina's side.

Everybody seems to have reached the same conclusion as well. Which confuses all of us. Could it be that I had just imagined it all? The voice confirming a spy in our midst? Possibly. But it felt too real to have just been a voice in my mind. Oh, wait. ALL of this has just been a voice in my mind.

"Why are we even here?" I ask. "We don't even know for sure if this is true or not. It could just be hallucinations. The first thing we should do is make sure of if this story is true or not." The spirits slowly begin to nod, and Queen Heratha leaves. Lady Dara tells me that she has gone to visit a tribe of merfolk called the Spectua, who have power to read the past.

I lay in bed, running my hand across the wound. I'm tired, but I'm afraid to go to sleep. I'm afraid of these nightmares, and I'm afraid of hurting someone else.

I decide to read a book or something, so I take my book bag, brought to me by Ayla, and take out my digital study board. I scroll through the advanced class section, and stop when I see a group of books labeled Mystical Creatures. I know I shouldn't be reading about this especially after that dream I just had, but I do it anyway. "Mermaids and Mermen: Beautiful yet Dangerous Creatures." I flip through the pages.

Merpeople were first discovered by men in the late 1300s. They are half fish, half humanoid creatures. Mermaids and mermen are both very vain and proud creatures. Mermaids lure in sea voyagers with their magical voice and beauty. Mermen use their handicrafted tridents to puncture and sink ships. There are over 500 different tribes in the world. Each tribe has a different way for living. In each tribe, there is only one gender of merpeople. Mermaids and mermen have been enemies for over hundreds of years. Mermaids feast on young men they have drowned, and mermen usually eat plants. The mermen only attack when humans invade their territory. Both are able to transform into creatures with slimy skin and sharp teeth and claws. They are able to control the water of the sea, wielding bodies of water from small lagoons to huge storms. They live in secret holes in the ocean, holes that only merpeople can find. They come up to the surface once every month, at night when the moon is full. This helps charge their powers. If they stay out of the water for more than approximately ninety minutes, their skin turns grey and they shrivel up. This was a method used for the brutal torture and killing of merfolk in the early 1500s, when people began hunting them.

I close the book and rest my head. My head feels as if it's about to split open. "Cilia. . ." I hear a strange voice. I close my eyes. I try to open them, but I can't. All I can do is wait as I hear the screams pierce the air. As I hear these screams, I know something terrible has happened. Something that I caused. . . "Cilia, stop!" "Control yourself!"

With all my might I lift open my eyes just an inch. I'm destroying the school arena, setting fire to the grass inside it. Students rampage, trying to find their way out throughout the smoke. I'm dozens of feet up in the air, hurling fireballs at any who try to stop me. The dizziness of it all makes me want to puke. I'm high up in the air. . .

Heights. I'm dropping to the ground at an alarmingly fast rate. Something- a bolt of magic, hits me. I slow down, and land away from the scene of the fire.

I'm in the forest next to the school. I regain consciousness, and I quickly get up. I cannot stay here. I might have killed someone in that fire. And they were all twelve year olds. Twelve year olds were using that arena just now.

Fighting back tears, I race out of the woods, and run into the streets. I keep running, with no destination in mind, just wanting to get as far away as possible- Then I stop. I need a real plan.

I decide to go to the bank first, before it closes. There's only one thing in there for me. The only heirloom from my mother. Her double rings. Each one is a plain and simple yet beautiful golden ring. The two rings, when fit together in the right way, piece together to form a larger ring.

I'm quickly in and out of the bank. I know I need food. And money. Maybe I can run up towards the Crust? Yes, that's what I'll do. I reach into my pockets and find some money for one outer-teleport ticket. I grab a hoverboard lying around the bank, and head to the teleport station. After purchasing a ticket, I'm on the Earth's Crust.

My first thought as I walk out of the station? It's freezing. And what's more crazy is that the people here are hot. They're sweating, wearing shorts and slippers and sunglasses. My second thought: I'm in America. I know this thanks to the many global study courses I've taken in Sophix.

I don't know what I'll do. Make a living out of cool sword tricks? Live in an orphanage? I could do that. I'm still sixteen. For two years I'll stay there. But then what? What happens then? Frustrated, I slump down on a bench.

I don't know how long I've been sleeping there. But the next thing I know, I'm in the back of a police car. The funny thing is, I'm not worried at all. I should be, but I'm still marveling at the fact that I didn't have a single dream or vision the whole time I slept. I'm so distracted that I don't notice the fact that the car isn't nearing any police station. The car has stopped in front of a rickety black mansion. Someone yanks me out of the car, and ties my hands behind my back. Another person stuffs a bag over my face.

Surprisingly, I'm calm. Mostly because I know I can get out of this situation at any time if I want to. These people aren't from Zyrinx. I know this because first of all, no Zyrinxian lives on the Earth's Crust. Second, I would be feeling the familiar sensation of magic in the air if these were spirits of some sort.

I use my senses and know that there are two big men and another guy, probably the leader of this pathetic group. I'm thrown into a small room. The guys outside are talking, and another character enters. A woman, from the sound of her voice. Apparently they're kidnappers to take in homeless kids and do whatever they want with them.

Well, I��ve heard enough. I easily get myself out of the ropes that bind my hands together, thanks to escape training. I rip the bag out off face, and look around. I'm in a supply closet. Typical. You have a giant mansion full of large rooms and they just have to stuff me into the smallest and smelliest room possible. But on the floor, there's a wallet. I pick it up, stuff it into my pocket, and quickly pick the lock on the door. I decide whether to barge in or wait. I decide on waiting, since the only weapons I have are my fists. Even though those guys are human, they're still bigger and stronger than me.

Suddenly, the door bursts open. I instinctively punch the big guy in the face. He falls to the ground, and I leap over his body, running for the door. I hear the woman cackling, "Ooh, she's a feisty one, ain't she? You, grab her!"

Big hands grab me by my throat, I begin to choke under the pressure. "You know," the woman says in her high pitched voice. "I think I'll just kill you." she takes out a small gun and directs it at my head. "I usually keep the kids, but you're too fast. The police would be here by tomorrow!" Her hand moves towards the trigger.

Then something unexplainable happens. The big man falls to the ground, splattering the floor with blood. I realize that my fingers don't hold two golden rings anymore, but two golden daggers. I don't know what to do, and neither does the crazy woman. But then her facial expression turns from shock to happiness. "Daughter of the spirit of Power! My mistress has been looking for you!"

I can't begin to process the fact that this human knows about my dad when I realize she's not human at all. Her shape begins to change. She grows bigger and bigger, and more arms shoot out of her body. The other man, the leader, he changes shape as well. Soon, I'm staring at two were-octopuses, or whatever half octopus, half human beings are called.

I can't run. My feet are stuck to the floor- literally. The floor is now melting down into a giant, sloppy mess. With nothing better to do, I hold up my daggers as shields. Perhaps it will be better for me to die this way. Not being able to hurt anyone. But then I realize that these monsters would rampage across Earth, terrorizing humans everywhere they went. Also, the octo-human thing said something about a mistress. And from the look in her eyes, I know it's mistress is none other than Zarina, Queen of Darkness herself.

The two octopuses strike down on me. I prepare myself for the worst, but it doesn't come. For now, instead of daggers, I'm holding two large golden shields. They radiate magic. I thrust the things at the monsters, and they blow into bits. The stench of blown up octopus makes me gag. Then I hear sirens. Police cars. Real police. I quickly try and decide what to do. Either I pretend I'm another one of the woman's victims- of the those that are still alive, anyway- or just run away. Before I decide what to do, the police make up my mind for me.

Guns fire repeatedly, and I have nothing better to do but to just duck. The firing stops after ten to twenty seconds. I run away, as fast as I can. I run for half an hour until I decide to take a break. I gasp, hands on my hips, as I try and deal with the pain from running.

So they exist, then. Monsters. Villains. The creatures I've only ever read about in books. But what's more shocking though, is my discovery of my newfound power. The rings- they turn into weapons. But that makes no sense. These rings belonged to my mother. My mother, who was a mortal human being. Maybe my dad gave them to her as a gift? Or they were their matching wedding rings? Either way, I'm glad. I didn't come out here with nothing. At least I'll be able to defend myself if something like this ever happens again.

What was I thinking, running away like that? I probably did even more damage now! At least in Zyrinx, the spirits could've confined me, or helped me, or even killed me! As much as I hate to admit it, I don't have the guts to commit suicide. All those heroes in history books, they would've killed themselves in a heartbeat if it meant saving the world. But I'm no hero. I'm just an incredibly unlucky teenage girl who winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I search my brain to see if anything like this has ever happened in history, to hopefully find a solution. A young girl who was a threat to the entire universe. There's Zarina, of course, but I'm pretty sure going over to the dark side isn't a good solution. I keep thinking, then I reach an answer.

Lynda Thornton. This was a decade before Zarina's regin. She was an ordinary minor spirit with exceptional skills. She had powers beyond imaginable. But then, something went wrong, and she lost control of her powers. Lynda burned down an entire country, and killed millions of people in the process. She couldn't stop, and no one could stop her. In the end, my dad and Ayla's mom gathered an army to kill her, once and for all. But they couldn't kill her. Her magic was so beyond "spirit superb", that she became a major spirit by herself. So she was blown into pieces, and scattered across the Earth. They say she's still alive, and that she's just waiting to find a victim to get revenge on.

I slap myself, telling myself to stop trying to make sense out of children's ghost stories. I get up, and decide I need to find a proper place to sleep for the night. I walk around, and find a cheap motel. I manage to get in, using my tall height to fool the concierge that I'm over eighteen. I pay for the night with a credit card from the wallet I picked up earlier. I lay in the motel room, as sleep overcomes me.

I'm on the same ship as last time, 80 years ago, with the mermaids on it as well. About thirty minutes has passed since I threw that fish out of the water. I see the young servant boy going down there to give the mutts food. Where we got that boy, I don't know. Probably a survivor of one of eleven hundred ships I burnt down. He comes back up, and has a troubled expression on his face. He's seen the dying creature.

I ignore the boy, and stare off into the blue sea. Soon, I will have all the pieves needed for my master plan- "There's a mermaid, out of water down there," the boy tells me. "So?" I grip my sword in a way that he can clearly see. "So, she'll die if she doesn't get water, fast." I'm shocked at his tone of voice. No respect, no fear. He looks barely over eight. Not knowing how to react to this, I walk away.

That night, I hear a splashing noise coming from below the deck. I know that this sound is not the waves sloshing against my ship. I creep down into the tanks where the creatures are kept. There, I see the boy splashing water onto the dying thing. With each splash, the color returns to its face. Then it tenses. It senses me. It's fangs bare, and its pupils grow into slits. The boy jumps back in alarm. So, the child fears that repulsive creature but not me?

The creature is thrashing, as are the other fish. The child stays there, rooted to the ground, but not because of me. Does he not know who I am? What I am capable of? Then I shall show him. I grab the fish's head and plunge my dagger into its heart. A mermaid's heart is a great cure for all sorts of cuts and poisons. And the scales- each one a capsule of power. I run my knife through its tail, letting the pieces fall to the ground. Green blood pours out of the creature's wounds, and I stab it once more. It lets out a deafening shriek. It's fangs decrease in size. But I need those teeth. I dare not touch the poisonous fangs, so I yank it out by magic. Another shriek. The entire ship is awake now. Its shrieks grow smaller and weaker. I step on the slimy carcass of the creature, and it stops breathing. I did it favor. Dying is a much better fate than those that I have in store for the others.

I turn to the boy. He's still in shock. Tears pour from his face. Does he actually pity this beast? The boy is shaking, but not in fear. He is shanking in anger. He screams. "You killed her! You're a monster!" and runs out of the room. I'm confused and in shock. Out of all the feelings that he should be feeling right now, he's mad?

I yell out in frustration, and kick my cabin door open. I take out a list from a cabinet under my desk. The list hold the name of everyone aboard this ship. The boy's great great uncle was one of the Jothirai- ancient spirits of the Sun. They were wiped out a couple decades ago, replaced by the modern spirit of the Sun. The child's name is Maximus. Maximus Solis. A name that means Great Sun. I look for more clues that can help me know more about that insolent brat. Apparently he's supposed to wield fire, but has never shown signs of magic. Born on the day of the winter solstice. That's about as different as you can get from the Sun spirits. I admire his strong will, his courage for standing up to me. But it will all come crumbling down. Tomorrow.

The next morning, I make a grand entrance- kicking the door open, letting it fly off its hinges. All heads turn to look at me. Except, of course, for the child's. He's sitting on a pile of boxes, humming. I walk down the wooden stairs. The men and women on the ship step back, bowing down. This is how I should be treated. With fear and respect. I reach the boy. He still continues to ignore me. I grab him by the neck, and throw him to the ground. "No-!"

A voice comes from the crowd. All heads have turned to a boy that looks like he's eighteen. His face turns white with terror as I glare at him, and slowly make my way towards him. I grab him by his shirt collar, and slam him against the mast. "You. Who are you?" But I needn't ask. The boy looks like his younger brother very much. Maybe this can knock some sense into the child. I wield magic, and send the older boy flying across the ship. "NO!" the younger one screams. But instead of going to check on his brother, he runs towards me. He starts kicking and punching me, but the tiny child cannot budge me, even an inch. As I said, I admire his bravery, but it will come crumbling down. One way or the other.

I push him aside by the head, and yet he's still fighting. With my other hand, I take my dagger out of its sheath. But I won't hurt the young boy. I bring my hand back, as if preparing to stab him. And as I knew he would, the older brother comes running up to me, trying, somehow, to protect his only family. I stab the older one, and his blood splatters onto the ground. The older boy groans, and falls to his knees. I expect the younger boy to stop punching me, at least for the sake of checking on his brother. But the young boy keeps fighting, more harder than ever before.

Frustrated, I fling him into my cabin. Then I touch the older boy, whose face is pale now. He gasps, and a white stream- his soul, flies upwards out of his mouth. I catch it, and put it in a bottle. The corpse falls to the floor. I march into my room.

"Uurgh. . ." I glance at the half broken clock on the bedside table. One in the afternoon. How long have I been asleep? Ten, twelve hours? I had a dream, I know it. Something about a boy and a mermaid. . . I head downstairs, not wanting to remember the gruesome events that I have just witnessed.

I check out of the motel, and look for a place to eat. Preferably a cheap place. I eventually find a fast food place, and order some fries. I pay the guy with some cash in the wallet, and walk out, with no destination in mind.

With no octopus ladies chasing me, I'm able to realize how beautiful this place really is. I ask around, and find out the date of today. August eighth, 2019. Ayla's seventeenth birthday.

It's summer, yet it's freezing. For me at least. I see a guy walking around with his shirt off, and I know that Zyrinxian standards don't match up to humans. I ask around once more, trying to find out exactly where I am. A woman selling ice cream looks at me in a strange way, but tells me I'm in Florida. Florida, the hottest place in America. Yet I'm still freezing to death.

After walking for a couple more minutes, I reach the beach. It's filled with tons and tons of people. All of them are reading the news on their phones. "A ridiculous story about a man-eating octopus," a woman tells her husband. "Apparently it happened yesterday, an hour's drive away from here." A lot of people are talking about the octopus incident. A little girl tells her mother, "I don't wanna go in the water. The cockopus is going to eat me!"

Apart from the ridiculously large amount of people here, it's actually pretty peaceful. I let the breeze touch my face. Then I see people pointing and staring at me, holding their noses. That's when I realize there's octopus goo all over my clothes. I groan, and go to the cheapest store I can find. I buy some winter clothes, since they're on sale, and since I need them. I walk out of the store with a long sleeved shirt and wool pants. People stare at me weirdly, but at least it's not because I smell like dead sewer rats.

I try not to cry, try not to scream, "I don't know what to do!" But I don't have any plan, and have little money. Suddenly, something grabs my arm. I look down, and see an old lady grasping my wrist, staring at my rings. She speaks in a cracking voice, "You. . . daughter of Kitty. . ." I yank my wrists back, because that crazy woman has just said my mother's name. At least, what people used to call her. Until she perished in that fire. . .

I regain my composure, and ask her, "You know Katalina Jewel?" She nods, and suddenly buries her face in my new shirt. She cries, and screams, "Kitty! She's gone!" This must have looked very strange to passerby. An old woman crying, screaming at a girl wearing winter clothes when it's the middle of summer.

Luckily, a man, her son I think, runs up to us and pulls his mother away from me. "Mom, what have I told you about screaming at random girls? Katalina's daughter is gone, and you're going to have to live with it." Then he turns to me and says, "Look, I'm sorry about my mom. She's a little crazy sometimes, and-" He stops as he hears his mother screaming and grabbing another teenage girl in the streets. "Kitty! Kitty!" The guy sighs, and runs off to pull his mother back. "Sorry!" he yells to the confused girl.

All I can think about is that I can do something now. Trying to find out who my mother was seems like a better thing to do than moping around and trying to find a purpose in life. So I ask the woman again, "Do you know Katalina Jewel?" She nods, sobbing. The son looks at me in a weird way. "Wait. How do you. . . Oh. My. God."

They lead me to a little apartment downtown. Once there, the old woman tries to speak, but breaks down in tears again. The guy pats his mother on the back and says, "Come on, mom, you need to rest a bit. I'll talk to her."

I notice that, unlike his mother, the man is very muscular and strongly built. He looks pretty young, too, about twenty five or twenty six. I feel like I've seen him somewhere, and I'm debating on whether to trust him or not. I know it's ridiculous, hoping for some answer through some strangers that might be dangerous. But I have no hope left!

So when the guy returns after helping his mother into her bedroom, I ask him, "How do you know Katalina?" I decide to hide the fact that I'm her daughter, at least for now. "First of all, why don't we start with our names. I'm Max Grady. And you?" "Cilia." I really feel like I know him from somewhere, or heard his name once. But before I can think more on that, he starts to talk.

"Right, Cilia, here's the thing. Katalina Jewel perished in a fire more than ten years ago. Her daughter supposedly died in there as well. My mother was very close friends with her. And I mean very close. She nursed her daughter for Katalina when she was busy, and was there for her entire life. The night of the fire, she was in her house, knitting. I was there with her. When the flames began to spread, I pulled her out of there. But my mom wouldn't budge, saying she needed to go back for Katalina. I barely got out of there with her alive. But Katalina didn't make it. My mom yelled at me and Katalina's husband for not being there for her. After the flames went out, she was the first to go in. She searched for the daughter. But unlike Katalina, the daughter's body was nowhere to be found. From then on, she's been going more and more crazy."

He stops talking, briefly, then asks, "You want anything? Coffee? Water?" I shake my head, and he says he'll get a drink for himself. While he pours out his substance of ground beans and oat grains, I think and try to picture the night of the fire.

Nobody's ever told me any of this stuff in such a detailed way before. I survived that fire. Why? Minor spirits can't prevent death when experiencing such heat, especially not a baby. Did my dad save me? No, he would've said something back on Crystalline. Besides, there was no reason for him to come back anyway. He was the one who left my mother and me, not the other way around.

Max comes back with his crazy health juice, some bread, butter, and a sharp buttering knife.

That's funny, really. For a guy who's trying to drink a healthy shake, he sure doesn't care about eating butter. Max. Fire. My mom. My dad. Butter. Merpeople. Zarina. And suddenly I know where I've seen Max before. I need to cautiously step out of the room. But before I can do that, he starts talking again, while buttering his bread.

"You know, I seem to recall the name Cilia from somewhere. Have we met before? No, we probably haven't. Anyways, how do you know Katalina?" I decide to play it cool for as long as I can. "Well, I, her, my mother knew Katalina." A lame story, but the best I can come up with for know.

He looks at me. He's stopped buttering his bread, but he's still holding the knife, examining the sharp blades closely. "You know, it really is a bad habit, lying." he leans a bit forward casually. "Wouldn't you think so, Cilia Jewel?"

He lunges, and I dodge out of the way. The already old sofa rips open as Maximus Solis yanks the tiny blade out of the cushioned seat.

Then, the same thing that happened yesterday happens again. My two rings transform into two daggers. If it weren't for the fact that this bigger, older man was huge and bulky, I might've had the upper hand. In fact, he did yell "Whoa!" in surprise.

But my daggers are be of no threat to him, for he is two times bigger and two times stronger than me. I slash at every part of his body with all the strength that I can muster. But he's twice as fast, and soon, he has me in a chokehold. I gasp out, and struggle to breathe. The world goes black.