Chapter 13
Sofya
Location: Unknown
I slowly opened my eyes. I looked around, I was on a jet, it was nice. Really Sofya? That's what you think when you've been kidnapped by the government? Oh wow, look how pretty this jet is. There are more pressing things to be thinking about, like if you're going to survive or not but I guess we will worry about that later. Foolish Ëmbérias.
There were white leather seats, recliners, movie screens, a butler a few feet away, and a glass of bubbly champagne in the cupholder next to me. I noticed Willa sitting in a chair across from me. I turned and looked out the window to my left. I gasped.
The ocean was below us, a gorgeous crystal blue. It reminded me of Ash's eyes and I frowned. I wished he was with me. Oh, my gods! There are other issues in this situation like I don't know, being held captive you moronic fool! Yeah, um my inner voice and I had a complicated relationship. I swear I wasn't crazy, not completely at least. Especially considering it wasn't my inner voice.
"It's beautiful isn't it," Willa said. "This will be your home now, we have a lot to take care of once we land."
"Where are we?" Wait a minute, did she just say new home?
"The Arkkukari Islands." She said. "Like we talked about yesterday."
"Oh, ok. So what am I doing here?" I asked.
"All the aemon's in the world will be here, you are very rare my dear, angels and demons don't really get along, so most beings want you dead. None known have ever reached beyond twenty" Willa replied.
I gasped, great I was going to be dead in less than three years. Better start making plans. Like letting me out. The voice nagged. "We will be there in a few minutes." As soon as she said that, the plane began to descend quickly.
When we landed a stairway was extended to the ground. We walked over. I stepped down the stairs and a warm breeze flew through my hair. The sound of animals and crashing waves filled my ears. The ground was pristine white sand. In the distance were collections of massive huts and buildings. I wouldn't mind living in this paradise. I wouldn't miss anyone back home, certainly not my old foster parents who had always seemed like they had never wanted me or my current situation with Sam the Psycho.
This was actually kind of perfect. I had escaped him without even trying to. The only people I would miss were Sorina, Enzo and Sara, but maybe I could visit them. Sofya! You don't even know if that crazy lady was telling the truth. That was a good point but I'd worry about that later.
"Follow me," Willa said going down the path to a grassy area. A woman who had short red hair with a jagged scar across her right arm approached us. I froze. She looked freakin' terrifying. Not because she had a scar, because it would be rude if I judged her based on that but her sharp eyes were piercing my soul and not in a good way.
"I'm Ivanna the main trainer on the island and leader. I will introduce you to everything. I am sure Willa needs to get back to work, you can come with me now." She said, then turned without further explanation.
"Ok, bye Willa." I waved back to Willa, she smiled at me in gratitude as she turned back to go to the plane. At least someone was happy. Ps. that someone was not me, or Ivanna for that matter.
Speaking of the devil incarnate. I followed her down the large dirt road past the huts and buildings. We stopped at the largest building and went in. The cool air greeted my face and we walked over to one of the elevators going up to floor eight. There was a long narrow hallway and we went inside office number two hundred and thirty-one.
"Have a seat," Ivanna said, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk as she sat down behind it. "Ok, so you are Sofyalisia Winchester right?" She asked, "I have to fill out a report for registry."
"Yeah that's me but Sofya is fine," I said.
"Alright Sofya, I just need to ask you a few questions and then we will get you settled in. First of all, How old are you? When is your birthday? Where were you born? Who are your parents? What caste are they? What can you do?" She asked impatiently.
"I am 17, my birthday is July 10, I was born in Hawaii, my parents are Bryn and Galen Volkov, they, they are dead I think. I don't actually know they abandoned me so I just picture that are dead because they died to me at least. My mother was korrigan and my father was gyo, apparently, not that they told me but that's what Willa said they were. I can communicate with animals, some magic, and breathe underwater. Also, I'm the heir of the legend? Prophecy or whatever." I rambled quickly. Ivanna gasped and shook her head in disbelief.
"You're the one in the legend, you will save us all!" She exclaimed with a huge grin spread across her face. She still looked frightening but slightly less frightening with a smile. But still frightening.
"I guess so," I said, frowning. I didn't understand how this was true, or my responsibility. She looked at me confused.
"You don't seem so happy about it, what's wrong?" What's wrong? Oh, there were a lot of wrongs in this situation. I didn't even know if I could name all the things wrong. First, it started with my parents abandoning me, then the foster homes, then Sam and Ash issues, getting kidnapped, and now this prophecy. I couldn't do it, I couldn't. I looked at her tears gathering in my eyes. What had I done to deserve this?
"What if I can't do it? What would everyone think of me then? What if I die?" I said my face falling, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. What if they found out what I wasn't telling them. Not even Ash knew. I had just found out about all of this yesterday. How could I be the one in the prophecy? Surely they would have picked someone more worthy, more responsible. Who had picked someone as worthless and unimportant as me? I didn't even know who I was. If I couldn't save myself, how could I possibly save the world?
"Oh, honey," Ivanna said softly. "Don't beat yourself up about it, based on what you said you sound very powerful. I can't wait to see what you can do. I am positive you can do it. With some training and if you believe in yourself." I sniffed, wiping the tears that had fallen down my face. I was usually not such a wimp, but these last few days had been a wreck and I was tired. "Come on let's get your neria," Ivanna said standing up.
"What's a neria?" I asked, hoping it was a giant fluffy bed.
"It's a creature that only bonds with aemons. We are not exactly sure why but it's a very special bond where you know each other's thoughts, sort of like a companion for life."
"That's cool," I said I had always longed for a pet but none of my foster families had allowed them. I suppose it ranks up there with the giant fluffy bed that I desperately needed.
We made our way back to the dirt road and started walking toward a large barn-looking building. We walked inside and I took in the scene. There were a bunch of creatures maybe the size of large cats, varying from dragon-like to phoenix looking, they were all sorts of colors. I assumed these were the neria.
"They're so cute." I gushed and scampered over to them and knelt in the hay. I couldn't believe creatures like this existed. "Awwwww." I said as one jumped onto my lap. It stared at my face, its deep purple eyes gazed at me and it sent little shivers down my spine. "Ezmia," I said out loud as if in a trance. Then I shook my head to snap out of it. "This one is mine," I said, glancing down at the little neria in my lap.
She had dark purple scales like her eyes, a poofy black mane with feathers encircling her long neck and down her spine, golden designs painted on her scales, and a little feathery poof at the tip of her tail. She was so cute.
I could hear her thoughts, sort of. She noticed how I was observing her. She told me her name was Ezmia. It wasn't a complete thought since she was an animal but I understood.
"Sofya," Ivanna said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Huh?" I said, still looking at Ezmia.
"Come on we still have things to do," Ivanna said, excited. I rolled my eyes, back to the devil incarnate I see. I scrambled to stand up. Ezmia jumped on my shoulder as I rushed to follow Ivanna who was halfway down the road already. We made our way back to the dirt road.
A few feet down we walked up to one of the massive hut houses. "This is where you will live, there is a maid inside to help take care of you. Report to the main office tomorrow at 8:00 am for your first training session. Today you can wander around and meet others. Everyone should be here by tomorrow, ok?" Ivanna said as she ushered me toward the door, opened it, and pushed me inside. Then slammed the door shut leaving without a reply.
I rolled my eyes. Bossy much? And did she say there was a maid to help take care of me? What was I five? Did she seriously just say I had a babysitter waiting inside? If Ash was here, he probably wouldn't react kindly to that. I smirked. I'd pay to see his reaction to that.
I looked around, the floors were dark hardwood, expensive china decor was dotted around and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. I would not mind living here. Standing about a foot away was a woman with blonde hair pulled into a neat bun, warm dark brown eyes, and a maid uniform on.
"Hi, I'm Mary" she greeted me with a cheery smile. "You're Sofyalisia right?"
"Yes, that's me and just Sofya's fine," I said. Lovely, here's my babysitter. Ezmia gave out a little yip. "This is Ezmia, my neria." I told Mary. Mary looked at Ezmia, her smile getting wider. Gosh, did I seriously have to deal with a babysitter on happy pills, soon there would be rainbows shooting out of her butt.
"Aww she's so cute, I'll make sure to take care of her too. Come on I will show you the rest of the house." Mary said to me. She waved her arms motioning for me to follow her. I groaned silently then went to go follow Mary. First, she showed us my bedroom. It had a huge bed, puffy sheets, and silk pillows. There was a walk-in closet to the left and an attached bathroom to the right. There were many, many guest rooms throughout the place and a huge living room with a 6 by 10-foot tv. Which was more like a personal movie theater, but it was freakin' awesome.
In the next room over there was a bed and food for Ezmia. Ezmia yipped happily. She jumped off my shoulder and scampered over, abandoning me.
"I'm sure you are hungry from your trip," Mary said.
"Yes, I'm starved," I said delighted at the mention of food. I hadn't eaten anything in about a day I was completely starving. I followed her to the kitchen leaving Ezmia to relax. "Thanks," I said as Mary handed me a glass of lemonade and a sandwich. I quickly gobbled it up.
"Ah, you were starved," Mary laughed, fetching me another glass of lemonade. Duh. "Would you like anything else?" She asked.
"No thanks." I said, "You can go rest if you want, I'll be fine." I said, trying to be polite about telling her to get lost.
"Um ok, are you sure?" Mary replied startled. Probably not used to people being this nice, people generally were rude to maids and other helpers at least some of my foster parents had been, but I didn't understand why. They were the ones taking care of you. But I for one did not need a babysitter.
"Yeah." I smiled, as she left the hut I slipped off the stool I was sitting on. I walked back over to my room then peeked into the room. Ezmia was sitting on her bed. She turned to see who it was then scrambled over jumping at my legs. "Yes, good to see you to Ez. Come on let's go meet some of the others." I scooped her up placing her on my shoulder and walked out of my room and out the front door.
I walked down the little path from my door to the dirt road. As I walked down the road towards the main center. I saw a girl and her neria walking towards me. I gasped, it was the girl from the file I saw in Sam's office. But I couldn't remember her name for the life of me. She looked friendly though.
She had curly black hair that, dark brown skin, warm brown kind looking eyes, and a huge smile on her face. This was a good sign, right? The neria on the ground next to her had yellow scales and orange fur reminding me of a sunset.
"Hi," I said as she approached.
"Hi. I'm Lucy!" She said all bubbly. "This is Ana." She said pointing to her neria.
"I'm Sofya and this is Ezmia. When did you get here?" I asked politely.
"Just an hour ago," Lucy replied smiling.
"Did you meet anyone else like us yet?" I said wondering who else was here, maybe Ash was. Willa had said all aemon's were going to be here, and I wanted to see Ash. To give him a piece of my mind for not telling me about the legend, and also just to see him. Seeing his pretty ocean-sky blue eyes, his cute freckles. I had yet to see him truly smile and I wanted to see that most of all.
Oooooo, you like him. My inner voice taunted me. No, I didn't, he was just a friend. Barely that. No not even that, actually. Yep, there was no possible way I liked him because I was still contemplating murder, oops I mean friendship, after the stunt he pulled on me. That's right, no one fake dies one me, and then it's all fine. Nope, I was still extremely pissed.
Plus there was that totally hot Hypnos guy who I wasn't sure was actually real or a figment of my imagination but it certainly didn't hurt looking at him. Oh boy, what was wrong with me? A lot. The voice in my head cackled.
"Um, no I didn't but I'm sure others will be arriving soon or have already settled in. What's up with your clothes." Lucy asked, gesturing at me.
"Oh, um," I said, embarrassed. My cheeks flushed. I looked at my clothes all tattered and mud was splattered across them, how did I get mud on me? "Well, they sort of kidnapped me to get here so…. I didn't get a chance to change." I mumbled.
"I know right!" Lucy exclaimed. "They freaking kidnapped us, I was handcuffed to the car door and knocked unconscious. I mean I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not normally a violent person but I wanted to beat their heads in. They destroyed my clothes. I do not respond well to people who mess with my clothes or hair." She said, gesturing madly with her hands. I smiled, I liked this girl. I could tell we were going to be good friends.
"Yeah, that's how they kidnapped me too. I was hit in the head with a frying pan, like in Tangled. Unfortunately, it worked." Lucy laughed.
I should probably change before anyone else sees me like this, I thought to myself. "Bye, It was nice meeting you!" I said quickly, then turned around and started walking/running back to my hut. I most definitely didn't want anyone else seeing me like this. I even realized I didn't have any shoes on. How the heck had I not noticed that? My god, I was losing my mind. Yep.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!" Lucy called out. I peeked back and gave a little wave.
I dashed down the dirt road and back to my hut. As soon as I got inside Ezmia hopped off my shoulder and scampered off. Then I went to the bathroom to get cleaned. I looked at myself in horror as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. It looked like a tornado hit me.
My hair was matted and in knots, mud was plastered across my face down my neck and all over my clothes, my shirt had a massive hole in it, and to top it all off there was a huge purple and blue bruise on my forehead from where I had been hit to be knocked unconscious. Why the heck did Willa not tell me I looked like a runaway hobo?
"Well, don't I look nice," I said out loud, taking in my appearance and maybe smiling at myself in the mirror-like a maniac. Everyone does that, right? Thank god Ash hadn't seen me, or anyone else for that matter, other than Lucy. I'm surprised she hadn't gone running for the hills.
I would have if I had seen someone approach me looking like an escaped psychopath. Aww, you found yourself a deranged friend, just like yourself. The voice cackled. I turned around and started the shower then ripped my filthy clothes off and threw them in the trash. I stepped into the shower and the cool water rushed over me. I grabbed a bar of soap and started scrubbing.
By the time I was done my whole body stung, but at least I was clean. I grabbed one of the fluffy towels and wrapped it around myself. I went into my room and spotted the huge walk-in closet. There were so many clothes and shoes, it was hard to locate everything.
I found the pajama section after about a minute of looking, it was a bunch of silk slips. I frowned, are you kidding me. Seriously, no sweat pants, what was wrong with these people. They had no taste in clothes. I mean how does one even survive without sweatpants and sweatshirts? I looked through the depressing selection and settled on a bland gray one.
I tugged it on then crawled into the luxurious bed. The soft blankets felt so good and the puffy pillows. I almost moaned. Ezmia jumped onto the bed and snuggled next to me. Her scales were nice and warm, heating my chilled skin. I sighed then closed my eyes.
A bunch of thoughts filled my head, making me all stressed out. I wished I had someone here to guide me through this madness. I needed someone I could trust. This was the life I was living now, and I had to forget all the friends I had left behind. Nothing good would come out of it if I told them. Plus, I didn't want them to become endangered. Only Ash knew about all of this but I didn't know where he was. I also didn't know if I could trust him. He hadn't lied to me but he hadn't exactly told me the truth either. At least, not at first. He had tricked me.
God, now I was going to have trust issues, not that I hadn't had them before but it was a billion times worse considering what events had just occurred. I was scared. I would never admit that to anyone but I was truly terrified of many things. Most of all something I couldn't tell anyone. I was scared of myself.
As I flew across the empty air, I knew it was not a good omen. Eventually, I crashed into something solid and fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The person I unintentionally tackled let out a ummph and I winced in pain. The scent of poppies attacked my nose along with pine and a musky boy-like smell.
I sighed and realized I was laying on top of someone. Why did the universe hate me? I looked up to find the boy from before, his golden eyes piercing my soul.
"Heyyyy, fancy to see you here. Hypnos, right?" I said with a crooked grin. You are such a dork, Ëmbérias. My inner voice, demon thing chimed in. The Hypnos guy didn't look pleased. He sat up and I ended up sitting in his lap, not weird at all. I looked around and saw we were back in the poppy field. It was pretty. "Is this actually the Land of Dreams, or am I going crazy? Also, how did you get here, are you real, what are you, are you human or something else, and lastly is your name really Hypnos because I thought that was the greek god of sleep or something like that, right? Because I was a big fan of Percy Jackson so I did a whole bunch of extra research on Greek mythology just for the heck of it, so are you a greek god, are they real, or are you something else and Hypnos isn't actually your name? Oh, were you trapped here?" I asked quickly in a rambling of words that I could hardly make sense of. Hypnos quirked his eyebrow.
"Hold your horses there, missy. I'll get to your a billion questions in a minute but first, we need to discuss how the heck you got here, kay?" He said in a fake western accent. I knew better because I had heard his real melodic voice, which had a significantly different accent that I had never heard before. I didn't know how to describe his real voice but it was weirdly nice and calming.
Finally, my usual embarrassment caught up to me when I realized what I was wearing or well what little I was wearing and I jumped up off the ground and out of his lap, my cheeks on fire. I took two steps away and then crossed my arms off my chest after noting in my head that I had no bra on under the thin night slip dress I was wearing. Hypnos gracefully got to his feet and eyed me carefully. I met his stare with a glare of my own.
"Where am I?" I asked quietly. I was actually concerned, what if this time I didn't wake up after? What if I ended up trapped? As if reading the other questions on my face Hypnos held his hand out.
"Come with me." He said, his gaze never leaving mine. I bit my lip and reluctantly put my hand in his. The air around us warmed and swirled. In an instant, we were standing in a palace courtyard by a rather large fountain. My mouth fell open.
"You can teleport?" I asked. Hypnos's eyes crinkled and a laugh escaped his throat.
"After all that has happened to you, that can't be the most supposing this you've encountered has it?" He said, leading me to the fountain before reeling my hand and sitting down on the ledge. I frowned.
"I supposed not," sitting down two feet away from him. I crossed my leg and looked back at his handsome face. "So, what's going on? Why am I here?" Hypnos ran a hand through his hair, messing it up already more than it was. But it looked adorable. This was certainly not what I expected when Willa said that Hypnos was an ancient being. Honestly, I had imagined a sandyman kind of person like the guy from the Rise of Guardians movie.
"I actually don't know. And I know that you have lots of questions Sofya but I'm not sure I can answer all of them. But I'll tell you this, I am Hypnos. I'm not some greek god, they don't exist. I'm not human or at least I don't think I am. I don't know what I am but I do know that I oversee everyone's dreams, human, animal, demon, angel, and anything in between. It's a complicated process and it's not something I can explain but that's the gist of it. For example, I know you've been having nightmares about your parents recently and about who you are." He said, looking at me with sorrow in his eyes. I took a deep breath. It was rather strange that he could see my dreams, but it also felt kind of nice that someone was watching over me. That I wasn't alone. That even in my darkest moments I was never truly alone.
"This is the Land of Dreams then, isn't it?" I asked
"Yes, the Land of Dreams," Hypnos replied, looking away from me.
"Hypnos?" He looked back, his golden eyes piercing.
"Yeah?"
"How long have you been here?"
"The Land of Dreams is the only place I've ever known, I'm not sure how many Earth years it's been. I can't remember but it's been a long time. Ten, twenty, one hundred? I can't be sure." He answered, looking away from me once more. I stifled a gasp, a shocking retaliation at what he just said.
"You've been alone all this time," I said, not a question but a statement. I was the first person he's ever met besides what he sees in everyone's dreams. My heart broke, I couldn't even imagine the pain he had gone through. The pain of living here with nobody's company but everyone's dreams. Without thinking I threw my arms around him, squeezing him into a tight hug. His hand hovered over my hips before pushing me away, still not quite looking at me.
"It's not something I can change. I've gotten used to it. But now you are here and I don't know what that means. I don't know how you are here or when you'll be gone." He said, the last words so quiet I barely hear them.
"What's your name?" I asked. I knew that Hypnos wasn't his actual name, I had a gut feeling. There were only rumors about him back on Earth. No one knew about this place, they only assumed based on old myths. I wanted the truth.
"How do you know Hypnos is not my actual name, wouldn't that be offensive?" He mumbled. I rolled my eyes.
"Tell me," I said softly, he deserved a friend. For someone to know the real him. He finally looked back into my eyes, his eyes were glassed over and he took a gulp before sighing in defeat.
"My name is Zane, Sofya. Honestly, it should've been Bane, after all, I am locked up here alone. For eternity. There must have been a reason." He said looking away.
"Zane, you didn't deserve this. No one deserves this" I whispered, a tear sliding down my face. Zane lifted his hand and brushed it away before enveloping me in a hug. His scent flooded my nose and I relaxed into his embrace as I felt his silent tears falling from his cheeks to my neck.
"I don't want to be alone. I can't take it anymore." He whispered, his body trembling. I hugged him tighter and buried my face into his chest. "I promise that you will never be alone, ever again. I am here and everyone knows that you can't get rid of a determined Sofya," I vowed. Never again would anyone be abandoned, not under my watch.