Chapter 15
Sofya
Akkuakkari Islands
My eyes snapped open. Ezmia was licking my face and my alarm clock was blaring. I quickly slapped it off and the beeping stopped. It was 6:00 am, I had two hours to get to the main area. I gingerly stepped out of the warm bed, spreading my feet on the cold hardwood. I frowned, I was not a morning person. I needed more sleep. My mind flashed through the images of what happened in the Land of Dreams. Zane. I wouldn't forget him. I had vowed that he wouldn't be alone, after all. Maybe tonight I'd get to visit him again.
I walked into the closet and settled on some tight black leggings, a loose purple off-the-shoulder shirt, and black lace-up combat boots. Since my trusty ones had been left at Sam's place, unfortunately. I almost shed a tear at the thought, my poor boots. Left all alone at the hands of that raging lunatic. But on the other hand, I did find a closet filled with weapons, which I was super thrilled about. I stuck two daggers in the boots. You could never be too prepared these days. I had a few years of martial art and weapon training. None of my foster parents allowed weapons but that hasn't stopped me from practicing. My real parents had encouraged training with weapons and I abided by that.
I went over to the mirror in the bathroom. I looked somewhat decent. I had tied my hair in a high ponytail, put on a little mascara, and a little lip gloss. I also had made sure to put foundation on to cover the huge bruise on my forehead that looked to have gotten worse overnight. It hadn't worked very well since I was so freaking terrible at putting makeup on. I sighed, not wanting to leave. Walking over to my bed, I grabbed Ezmia, who was still trying to sleep. I sympathize with her but we did need to go.
As I walked into the kitchen Mary greeted us.
"Hello, girls." She said cheerfully. "I made some waffles and here is some meat for Ezmia," Mary said as she handed over some plates. After we finished eating I looked over at the clock. It was 7:30 am. I whistled to Ezmia and headed towards the door.
"Thanks, bye Mary!" I shouted back. Then walked out. A bit farther up the road, I spotted Lucy. I ran to catch up with her. "Hi," I said when I reached her.
"Hey. Aren't you excited to meet everyone because I am!" Lucy said happily. "There better be some hot guys because that Ivanna lady said we are going to be here for a while." I laughed, Lucy was so girly, she reminded me of Sara but without the drama.
"I hope I still have a life after this because from what Ivanna said it seems like I don't," I said half-joking half not, thinking back to the legend. My life had been completely rewritten and was probably going to end up in ruins now. Not to mention what was happening with the Land of Dreams and why I was ending up there.
"I know right!" Lucy sighed. "I don't even know what to think anymore, I never expected this to happen. Well at least I already have a friend here, I tried talking to some of the other girls but they weren't very friendly, way too serious about being part of the prophecy." Lucy said, making a face. I frowned. What did she mean? At being a part of the prophecy? I didn't ask, I'd find out soon enough.
"I wonder what Ivanna is going to have us do today," I said, hopefully not actual work.
"I heard that we're just getting to know each other today."
"Oh thank god!" I sighed. "I'm still recuperating from when they brought me here." Lucy laughed.
"Yeah, they rough handled us."
"No kidding!" I exclaimed pointing to the bruises on my wrist from the handcuffs. Lucy laughed again.
As we approached the main area, we walked into the auditorium, we were the first ones here.
"Hey girls!" Ivanna shouted from across the room. I waved in greeting as Lucy screamed "hi". Lucy and I took a seat in the back. A few minutes later people began to come in. I glanced back to see who they were. The first to walk in was a group of three boys. Two of them looked almost identical with shaggy dark brown hair and gorgeous emerald green eyes. As they came closer I spotted little rings of gold gleaming in their eyes. The only difference is that one was a little taller than the other, well, that and one had a huge grin plastered across his face and the other looked depressed. Man, was that a mood.
The third one was a pace behind, and I immediately recognized the asshat but I couldn't lie to myself he looked hot. His onyx black hair had fallen into his beautiful eyes, and he had his signature scowl on his face. He wore black leathery jeans and a black t-shirt with a blue design that matched his bright ocean-sky blue eyes. His Neria was on his shoulder, its eyes searching the room much like its owners. I wondered what he was looking for.
As soon as I pondered over that, his eyes found mine and stopped searching. Ash. I felt blush spread across my face and whipped my head around to face Lucy. I probably should've said hi or something, but I was still pissed and embarrassed from our last encounter and I didn't know if I should trust him. Or talk to him. I probably shouldn't. Do either, that is.
"Ohhh look at those eye candies over there." She said pointing at the guys I had been looking at, including Ash. Looking? More like oggeling. They were walking in our direction. Great. "The one with the bright blue eyes was totally staring at you, he is so hot and badass, with a tad of danger." Lucy gushed rather loudly.
"Shh." I glared at her, I didn't need Ash hearing that. "They're walking over here," I whispered. As they approached, they sat in the seats in front of us. I held in a groan. Lucy and I glanced at each other. She giggled with a grin spreading across her face. I stuck my face in my hands hiding the blush all over my face. God, I had a problem. A problem. You have many. Ash, of course, sat right in front of me and then turned back to talk to me. I quickly picked my head back up from my lap, to avoid looking like a moron, meeting his stare.
"Long time no see Sofya." He said, a teasing tone to his voice, then looked carefully at my head.
"Where did you get that bruise?" He asked, softly touching the tender spot on my forehead. My heart leaped into my throat. The pulsing sensation strongly spread through me at his touch.
"Uh hi Ash, they knocked me out when they brought me here," I said, noticing he looked genuinely worried, maybe there was a nice guy behind the cold exterior he usually displayed, but still, not trustworthy. Nope, not trustworthy he had lied to me for weeks and avoided me, then fake drowned on me. Not trustworthy. Hahaha, I have a new mantra now. Lucy looked at me as Ash pulled away and turned back around.
"You know him?" She asked. I nodded.
"He's a friend, he went to my school," I said.
"Just friends?" Lucy said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," I said I wasn't even sure about friends, I barely knew him. Lies. My inner voice hissed. I scoffed. A few minutes later Ivanna walked onto the stage up to the mic.
"Welcome everyone!" She said enthusiastically. "Today we will be doing activities to get to know one another. First, we will have each of you come up here and give a little bit of info about yourselves, first let's start with the front row and make our way to the back." A girl with waist-long blond hair in a dutch braid gracefully walked up the stairs to the stage and over to the mic.
"Hi, I'm Seraphina, I'm 17 and this is my Neria Tulip. I'm from the Netherlands." She said then made her way back to her seat and the person next to her did the same thing their name was Mira. The next person went then the next. After a while, the guys in front of Lucy and I were about to go. The shorter brother walked up.
"Hey everybody!" He said smiling. "I'm Nico, I'm 17 and this is Sunny. I'm from Italy and I do like pasta." He said with a wink, he held up his Neria, then he hopped off the stage and went back to his seat. Then his brother went, his name was Roman. After that it was Ash's turn he stood up. I decided to pay attention.
"I'm Ash. I'm 17." He said, his voice was angelic, it was smooth and intoxicating. I was too distracted to hear what else he said. Near the end of his statement, his eyes found mine, which had been staring at him. I ducked my head, embarrassed, but then lifted it back up, because it probably looked stupid to be staring at my lap, and completely obvious that I was avoiding his gaze. Cause you know, I still hated him and all that jazz, As he returned to his seat I realized it was my turn. I stood up grabbing Ezmia and made her way to the stage.
"I'm Sofya," I said. "Um I'm 17 and this is my Neria Ezmia. I was born in Hawaii then moved to Australia for a few years and ended up in Los Angeles." I said quickly, rambling a few other facts before I rushed off the stage and back to my seat. I was not good at public speaking if you couldn't tell.
"Good job," Lucy said, then she winked as she walked to the stage. I didn't know if she was being genuine or joking but I assumed the latter.
After she was done Ivanna came back up to the stage.
"Okay guys," She said. "I'm going to separate you into small groups to discuss your powers and heritage. First group Pedar, Mira, Kashmir, and Reyna. Second group Sofya, Lucy, Nico, Roman, and Ash." I jerked my head up at the sound of my name. Lucy was looking at me smirking, probably because Ash was in our group. I stuck out my tongue and made a face at her. The boys were swiveling their chairs to face us.
"Hello, ladies," Nico said coyly, running a hand through his hair.
"Hi, Nico," Lucy said sweetly. Ohhh she liked him. Something to use to get back at her for making fun of me and Ash. I quickly glanced over at Ash, he was staring. At me. It felt like his bright blue eyes were searching my soul, something pulsed in my chest like before. I felt someone tugging at my shoulder. I looked over to see Lucy shaking me.
"What?" I asked her, slightly annoyed.
"Nico asked you a question." She said. I glanced over at Nico.
"Sorry, what?"
"I was saying you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" He asked me.
"I think I know her from somewhere." Ash joked elbowing Nico, they must be friends. What an asshat. I glared at him then answered Nico's question.
"I don't think so but you might have heard my name somewhere because I'm the one in the legend prophecy thing," I told him. I noticed that not only Ash was staring at me now. "What?" I said confused, was my hair on fire or something? Lucy gasped.
"You're the one in the prophecy?" She said questionably. "Well, I guess that makes sense." She said as if thinking it over in her head.
"Um, what's the big deal? I thought everyone knew?" I said because Nico and Roman were still staring at me with bewildered expressions, but Lucy and Ash weren't.
"You haven't heard the full prophecy have you?" Nico finally said.
"I guess not," I said, becoming nervous.
"Well, you know you destroy Alek right?" Nico asked. I nodded. "Well that's not all, Sofya you are superior to us all, your ancestors used to rule all three worlds before Alek came and killed them all. You are the rightful heir. The legend goes that the rightful heir to the throne of the world will come and destroy Alek and restore peace to the worlds with four others by her side; they are known as the guardian, sorceress, mage, and enchanter." Nico explained. I gasped.
"What?" I stammered now even more stressed out than before. First I was to destroy the evilest guy in history but now I have to rule the worlds too? How did this freaking happen to me?
"I'm surprised Ivanna didn't tell you, she could get in serious trouble for that with the council," Nico said. I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. My whole life was already all planned out. Just a few days ago I was sitting on the couch like a normal teenager watching TV and it took only one day. One day! To completely flip my life upside down. Now I have to kill a guy trying to destroy the world, rule the worlds and bring peace to the world. I'm only 17, not even done with high school yet. This was just flipping great. Why didn't Ash tell me? This ruined any chance of having an actual life. Like you had one.
"You ok?" Lucy asked, rubbing my arm.
"Yeah I will be, I have to be," I said quietly as realization set in. "Nico, what's the council?" I asked.
"It's a group of elder demons and angels who keep tabs on everyone, sort of like the United Nations, we have a government system, and have laws to follow too. Since most angels and demons have no morals. Even the leader's morals are a bit questionable." He replied. I nodded, great even if I wanted to back out of this whole legend I couldn't because then I would get thrown in some angel-demon jail, or possibly be killed. That would be just peachy, wouldn't it?
"Attention Everyone!" Ivanna yelled into the mic. "You may all go back to your huts now." You have the rest of the day to socialize and sightsee, be back here tomorrow at eight in the morning we will be doing the hard work so be dressed for it." I stood up and grabbed Ezmia. Then turned to Lucy.
"Want to come over to my place?" I asked Lucy.
"Sure." She replied smiling.
"Bye guys," I said to Roman, Ash, and Nico, as I and Lucy walked out the door. I knew full well I should have stayed behind to talk to Ash about everything but I wasn't ready to face him, not yet.
Once we got to my hut. First, we had lunch. Then we headed to the living room and sat down on the couch. I set Ezmia on the ground and she scampered away with Ana. I laughed, what a silly pair.
"Queen Sofya, has a nice ring to it right?" Lucy said laughing. "Bringer of peace and harmony" She continued with a silly accent. "Also I better be one of the four people or I will be furious!" Lucy declared waving a finger at me.
"Don't worry I'll make sure I demand it, and my subjects will bow down to me every time they are in my presence!" I said mockingly. Lucy burst out laughing.
"Speaking of subjects....." Lucy said slowly. "Ash, did you see the way he stared at you and I saw you staring back! Are you sure you're just friends? How do you know him again?" Lucy gushed. I blushed deeply, red spreading across my face.
"Lucy calm down. He just went to my school, we became sort of friends, and then he pretended to drown to prove I was aemon." I said what had happened, such a flipping mess. Lucy looked over to me with her mouth wide open.
"Wow. That's kind of funny, but how can you not be freaking out!" I rolled my eyes.
"Trust me I am freaked out." God inside, my mind was going insane thinking about all of this.
"So, your parents are korrigan and gyo?" Lucy asked.
"Apparently," I mumbled.
"What do you mean? Did you not know?" Lucy asked. I smiled, leaving it up to Lucy to be nosey, she was so similar to Sara. I missed Sara, and it was likely I'd never see her again. But I suppose it was for the best. I'd never want to put her or the other in any kind of danger and I had a feeling that my life would be full of danger for a while, if not forever.
"I had no clue what I was. I was about seven when they abandoned me. I don't remember too much about them. Honestly, I just like to pretend that they are dead, that's a better reality than that they simply didn't want me anymore so they left me on the beach to die. I actually don't know how I survived that day. I remember I was about to be crushed by a wave but after that, it's as if someone erased my memories. I was probably just traumatized or something so I blocked it out of my memory." I said whipping a fallen tear off my face. Lucy reached over and hugged me.
"I'm so sorry Sofya. I should probably get going soon, it's getting late and we have a big day tomorrow." She said. I looked over at the clock beside me on the coffee table. It was eight o'clock. Wow, time had passed quickly.
"You can stay over, there are tons of extra bedrooms. This place is like a mansion, you know." I said with a small smile. Lucy nodded.
"What were they expecting? Were we supposed to bring a small crowd?" I smirked. "Come on." I stood up and waited for her to follow me.
I led her down one of the many long hallways. "Here we are," I said as we stepped inside the room. It was almost identical to mine. "I'm going to go to sleep now, there are snacks in the kitchen. And there are closets filled with clothes in the guest rooms." I said to Lucy, I was just too tired to eat dinner.
"Goodnight, Sofya," Lucy said back to me with a smile spread across her face, her copper eyes twinkling.
Once I got back to my room I changed into a red silk slip and crawled into bed. Today has been a big day, finding out so many things, my future, and what I am supposed to do. I closed my eyes and dreamed that everything would be ok. Although, deep down I knew my life would never be the same.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the darkness. Was it always mid-evening in this place?
"Zane?" I called out, I was back in the poppy field and didn't see the boy in question anywhere. Suddenly, warm hands rested on my bare shoulders which sent electric tingles running down my arms. I shuddered.
"You called darling?" Zane's melodic voice whispered in my ear. My lips twitched upward, the way he said darling was adorable with his accent. I spun around to face him, he was smirking down at me. I shook my head.
"Hey, find anything about how it's possible that I'm here?" I asked. Zane's smile fell and he shook his head solemnly.
"No, and I'm not sure if we'll ever know. I can't even remember how I got here in the first place and it's not like I have anyone here to tell me. I tried searching the library in the castle but I got nothing. But, now that you are here. I want to show you something." he said, his hand gently resting on the small of my back. "Here, sit down," he said gesturing to two cushions on the ground in the middle of the poppy field. I sat down and gazed at the evening sky, it was a bit strange considering there was nothing in it. I looked at Zane and he raised his hand to the sky. A large image appeared across the sky like a movie projection. In the image, there were rolling green hills filled with beautiful wildflowers and in the center was Lucy dancing all around in a pale pink ballgown. I giggled, it was a perfect depiction of what made up Lucy. A second or so later a giant tree began growing out of the Earth lifting Lucy up off the ground as she continued her graceful dance. I stared in awe.
"Is this Lucy's dream?" I asked and peeled my eyes away to look at Zane.
"Yeah," He said, running his hand through his hair. A small smile quirked on his lips as he looked at me expectantly. "I noticed that you were friends with her so I figured that seeing her would make you happy since you seemed a little stressed out. Do you like it?" My mouth parted in surprise. He noticed I was feeling down and wanted to cheer me up? Oh my god, that was so sweet. Zane's powers were super cool, it was like your own movie theater. I couldn't believe he did that for me.
"I love it. Thank you, Zane." I said, finding his hand in the darkness and giving it a small squeeze. But how did he know that Lucy was my friend?
"It was no big deal," He murmured. I rolled my eyes. He was not downplaying this, nope.
"It meant a lot to me," I said looking straight into his golden eyes. I was suddenly aware of how close we were, our arms were touching and my heart was racing inside my chest. "So, how did you know Lucy was my friend?" Zane straightened out and I frowned at the loss of contact.
"This is going to sound a bit strange but I've been getting glimpses of your life. I saw you with Lucy talking about the prophecy and maybe that's why you ended up here. Because you are the heir right? So, you've been having precognitions and maybe that's linked to the Land of Dreams somehow. I don't know if that makes any sense but it's all I got. Also, I don't mean to be spying on your life Sofya. I try to block the visions but it doesn't really work like that." Zane said, not meeting my shocked stare. Huh, well that was a bit intruding but it wasn't that big of a deal, he could already see everyone's dreams anyway, and what could be more awkward than that, right? Although, Zane thought he was being disrespectful. What a ridiculous notion. I tugged at his arm, getting him to look back at me.
"Zane, I don't blame you. It's okay, actually I'm quite glad because now you get to witness the disaster that is my life. Maybe you can help me sort out all my problems, eh?" I joked, playfully punching him in the arm.
"Really?" He asked hesitantly. I smiled and shook my head.
"Really. But I have a question, you can see everyone's dreams right? So, my bio parents. I want to know if they are still alive. Their names are Bryn and Galen Volkov. Can you see?" I asked softly. Zane looked mildly surprised but he quickly closed his emotions off and nodded.
"Of course," He closed his eyes for a minute before opening them. I held my breath. Sorrow flashed through his eyes and I knew the answer. "I'm sorry Sofya, they are not here anymore." I sighed, it wasn't like it mattered, they were dead to me anyway, they were the moment they left me to die. So it didn't matter that they were actually dead but even though they made it clear they didn't want me, it still hurt.
"It's fine, I kind of figured they'd be gone. It's not like I loved them or anything, I mean they left me to die so they obviously didn't love me. I, I-" My words wobbled as silent tears stream down my cheeks. I bit my lips trying to keep my sobs from escaping. Recently I felt like all I was doing was crying and expressing my feelings. I didn't usually do that just so you know. But I suppose when a person's life starts to unravel by the strings that were barely holding it together in the first place, you can get a bit emotional. Zane wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. A lifeline in the storm that was my life. He said nothing as I sobbed uncontrollably, my body shaking. "I loved them, Zane. Why, why did they leave me? Why was I alone? Why am I alone?" I whispered. Zane put his hand under my chin so that I was looking into his eyes.
"Sofya, you are not alone. I promise. Me, your friends, we are all here for you no matter what. You will never be alone again. It's normal to love your parents but they don't deserve a person like you. Someone who is as kind, strong, intelligent, loyal, and beautiful as you." My eyes blinked in disbelief, he thought I was beautiful?
"I'm so glad I met you, Zane," I said with a broken smile on my face. He wiped my tears from my face.
"Me too," he said gazing at me intensely.
"I hope you know this means you're stuck with me forever," I said with a laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Zane said, roughing up my hair. I took a deep breath and relaxed against his chest, it felt so nice to wrap up in his arms.
"We're friends now, just to let you know."