Chapter 21
Arkkukarri Islands
Sofya
Someone was violently shaking me and if they didn't stop I was going to do something violent back. I was so extremely exhausted and didn't see the need for getting up at this time of day.
"Go away," I mumbled, I already knew the madwoman was Lucy. Only she would be excited this early. I still needed a few more hours to get myself together.
"Come on!" She hollered. "We have to start getting ready."
"What? Now?" I groaned and stepped out of bed, wobbling on my feet. It was way too early for this. "Let's have some food though first," I said heading towards the kitchen after I quickly freshen up in the bathroom. I eyed my beautiful bed one last time. I knew full well that Lucy would not have let me go back to bed. Although I so desperately wanted to. My lips tugged down in a frown.
"Fine," Lucy said. "But it has to be quick." I rolled my eyes, too bad I was taking my sweet time.
Lucy and I sat down on the stools by the island in the center of the kitchen. Mary was making some pancakes on the stove grill thing, I didn't know what to call it since it looked like both. She pushed two tall glasses of orange juice at us.
"Thanks, Mary," I said taking a giant gulp. I gagged as I felt a piece of pulp slid down my throat. Bleck, I couldn't stand pulp. Disgusting things such as pulp and milkey skim should not exist.
"No problem." She replied, setting a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of us. Mmm, they were so good. Fluffy and chocolaty and heavenly.
Once we were done Lucy gave me step-by-step instructions on how to get ready. She had literally given me a written-out list. I know, ridiculous right? But no Lucy claimed it was completely normal. It went, first shower, put hair in curlers, do our nails and toes, do each other's makeup, put on our dresses, put on our best jewelry, and lastly shoes.
She had gone into further details but that pretty much sums it up. So much to be done. I hated dressing up, most of the time anyway. Sometimes it was fun, but a ball before the end of the world. I didn't really think it was all too appropriate or important. I'd rather just throw on sweat pants and call it a day. Unfortunately, paradise was still missing that key component. I had yet to receive the sweat pants I had requested the last time I visited Ivanna. I was pretty sure she had scoffed in my face, but still, was it that hard to acquire freakin' sweatpants?!
I walked into my bathroom and turned the shower on. I grabbed some vanilla-smelling shampoo and conditioner and put them on the side of the shower. Then I stripped off my pajamas and stepped in. Warm water rushed over my body. I sighed, that felt good. I shampooed and conditioned three times making sure all the knots in my hair were gone. Then I scrubbed all over with the soap bar and shaved. Once I was done I turned the shower off and stepped out. I grabbed a fluffy towel from the cabinet and wrapped it around my body. When I was semi-dry, I put the now hot curlers in my hair.
I walked to the living room where Lucy was already sitting on the couch in a towel like me.
"Hey," I said taking a seat next to her.
"We are going to look so good." She squealed. I grinned, today was going to be fun. It was nice to take a day off from training. From which I was still sore. I'd probably be forever sore and tried to be honest.
While waiting for the curlers to work we did our nails and toes. Mine an ocean-sky blue with sparkles and Lucy's an emerald shimmering green, to match our dresses. I smirked at the color choice, they both matched our escort's eye color. I swear I hadn't done that on purpose. I had just liked the dress, or at least I didn't think I did. Lucy might have though.
About three hours later when our hair finally dried, we walked over to my bathroom and took out the curlers. After that, we did each other's makeup.
By the time we were done, I had dark midnight blue eyeshadow, red lipstick, and a lot of mascara. I was a bit scared I was going to itch my eyes and smear it all over my face but oh well. I did the same to Lucy but used dark green eyeshadow instead of blue. Then we got our dresses, jewelry, and shoes and put them on.
Once finished we stepped in front of the huge mirror in my room. I looked regal. I had on a strapless ocean sky blue gown, glittering blue sapphire pendant, sapphire earrings, a silver bracelet with sapphires dotted around, and my hair, curled, went down to my waist with a little braided halo with sapphires woven in the braids. This was probably the best I had ever looked. I was proud of my work, even though I had considerable help.
I turned to Lucy, she looked like a beautiful princess, an emerald green gown with off-the-shoulder sleeves, her brown curly hair was tucked into a neat bun with emeralds encircling it. She had little curls framing her face. Lucy turned and hugged me.
"We look so good." She exclaimed then started bouncing up and down. I hugged her back. She pulled back but kept me at arm's length. "You look so beautiful, my creation! Much better than normal." I frowned, jokingly. "Kidding!" Not that I had actually cared too much about my appearance, I had no time for that. Anyone who truly cared about me wouldn't care how I looked on the outside they would see me for who I was on the inside.
We sat down on the edge of my bed, relaxing for a moment. I turned and looked at the clock. It was six twenty, we had ten minutes.
"Ash is going to go crazy when he sees you, this will be his face," Lucy said with her mouth hanging open staring at me. I started laughing then imitated what she had done. Lucy burst out laughing. I heard a loud knock on the door. "It must be the guy's," Lucy said jumping up and patting her dress down.
We walked over to the door and I opened it. Ash and Nico were standing there in suits. Nico nodded in approval, his signature smirk plastered on his face. Ash looked over me and his jaw popped open and he stared intently into my eyes. Lucy and I exchanged a glance and tried our best to not burst into laughter.
"Come in," I said, my voice sounding way too serious. I almost burst out in laughter again as they stepped in and I shut the door.
"You guys look great," Nico said, his eyes gazing over us.
"So do you," Lucy said sweetly. I looked over at Ash and he nodded in agreement, he was still staring intensely at me. I blushed, my cheeks catching fire, my veins sparking with electricity. So much for disliking him.
"Let's go," Nico announced breaking the silence. He grabbed Lucy's hand and walked out the door. I put my hand in Ash's. Then went through the door after them. How could it feel so right but be so wrong? There was a huge limo waiting.
I settled in next to Ash and tried and failed to not be subconscious about how his arms were touching mine and my heart was practically leaping out of its chest. I took a deep breath and tried to think of something else. My mind involuntary wandered back to Zane and his haunted amber eyes. I still couldn't get back to The Land of Dreams and I was worried. What if I never saw him again?
After about thirty minutes I could see the Dawnton Palace in the distance. The driver dropped us off at the front of the palace. There was a long white marble staircase that led to the front doors. We exited the car and headed up. As we stepped in I looked around in wonder, the palace was beautiful, crystal chandeliers hung all around and a red carpet stretched down in front of us. An announcer stood at the entrance calling names as people went in.
"Lucy Avionic escorted by Nicolus Marasini." Next Ash and I were announced. "Sofyalisia Kahale Volkova escorted by Ash Cercillia." We walked arm in arm down the stairs to the dance floor. "Care to dance," Ash asked me, his eyes twinkling. I guess he was over being a walking statue, at least for now.
"Sure, walking statue," I replied. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything putting his arm around my back and pulling me in closer. I rested my hands around his neck. He twirled me around and I let him move us to the rhythm, swaying to the beat.
Once the song was over Ash went to get us some drinks.
A few minutes later everyone had gathered in a cluster around Ivanna, who was standing by a microphone on a stage.
"Attention everyone, by now all of you know about the great prophecy and how Sofya is the long-lost heir," Ivanna said. Everyone clapped and bowed their heads towards me. "So now I will announce the other four aemon's in the prophecy, please don't be offended if you aren't chosen, everything happens for a reason. First, we have the sorceress, Lucy Avonic. You have shown an immense amount of power and you're always socializing with Sofya and you seem to be a great friend. You have helped fill the hole in her heart" I waved over at Lucy.
I was so happy she was picked, but honestly who else could it have been? I mean for all the people who wanted to be in the prophecy, did they actually read it? I mean it requires actually speaking to me, just saying.
Lucy was jumping up and down "hugging" Nico. It looked like she was strangling him. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, poor Nico.
"Second." Ivanna continued. "The enchanter, Nicolus Marasini. You always seem to have your way with everything and everyone. You have shed some joy in her once saddened life." Excuse me? My once saddened life? Nico shot me a playful smirk, blowing a kiss. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. Very mature. Nico feigned horror and then shook his head solemnly. "Third, the mage, Maxon Baldev you are very powerful with magic. You also help make up this new family." Maxon shyly gave two thumbs up to me. I giggled, he was so silly. I was so happy he was chosen. I wasn't sure who Ivanna was going to pick for the mage but I had truly wanted it to be Maxon. He was a bit timid and quiet but once you got through his shell he was absolutely adorable and such a sweetheart. Ivanna was right, he'd be a fantastic addition to our gang.
"And last but not least the guardian, Ash Cercillia you have shown power and strength. You always seem to be around Sofya as well, and you are the last descendant of the great guardians. Her soulmate. Those are the four, you all may go back to celebration now!" Ivanna said happily, wow I had never seen her truly happy, this was an actual miracle. But she had gotten one thing wrong, Ash was not the last descendant, his stupid so far non-existant brother was the rightful guardian, according to him. Blah, blah, blah. I was still up for debate about that. Plus no one gets to say who my soulmate is, that's up for me to decide. I turned to Ash and gave him a huge hug.
"I don't care about your brother, he's not the one that has been there for me. You have, especially when no one else was' ' I said, thinking back to when the precognitions had happened, no to before that when I was with him after the Sam incident. I needed to tell him that, even if he couldn't be my guardian officially, he was to me, my protector. I wouldn't let my fate be determined by some dumb prophecy. I would like to write my own destiny. Live my own life, and no one would tell me what to do. I was about to lean in and kiss him but Lucy screeched from across the room, ruining the moment.
I left Ash in stunned silence. I pulled away with a wink and went over to Lucy. I sprinted over and squeezed Lucy tight. I was so beyond happy I didn't know what to call it. I grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters. Not exactly sure why we had champagne since we were underage but whatever it felt right for the moment.
"I propose a toast!" I declared. "To us, we will defeat Alek. Nothing will stand in our way and we will write our own destinies." Then more quietly I whispered to Ash, who had appeared beside me. "And get your brother." Nothing could ruin this moment with all my friends.
"Cheers!" We all yelled clinking our glasses together. An upbeat song was playing and we all headed to the dance floor. Ash still looked a little shocked but I didn't care. This was my life to live no one else's. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me, he wrapped his arms around me as a slow song started and we swayed to the music. He tilted his head down and put his face in the crook of my neck. Just like he did at Sorina's party. His nose touched my skin and sent an electric pulse down my veins. I held him tighter, not ready to let go anytime soon, maybe not ever.
An hour or two later I was getting tired and I yawned. Ash took notice.
"Are you tired?" He asked. I had a weird sense of deja vu but I couldn't place it.
"No dip Sherlock," I remarked, joking. He rolled his eyes and scooped me up with ease. Ash took me back to the limo, to go back to our temporary home, it wasn't really home. I hadn't found that yet, but one day I would.
"I'm sorry Sofya," Ash said quietly. I looked at him, my eyebrows scrunched together.
"For what?" I asked confused, everything was perfect, sort of. I had learned nothing was truly perfect.
"Everything, I have a terrible reputation you know, after my parents died, I went on a rampage. I was an assassin, I've killed so many people." He said solemnly. My mouth fell open, I did not know that. Why hadn't he told me? I had told him one of my darkest secrets. What does that even mean? Who had he killed? I swear to god if this was his way of trying to push me away from the zillionth time I was going to scream.
"See, you don't know much about me." He said. I took a deep breath. He was right, I didn't know that much about him. I had no reason to trust him, he had crazy mood swings, he was usually closed off. But my crazy heart still did, maybe I was just naturally stupid. Maybe I was crazy. And maybe I had no right to feel the way I did but I couldn't change that. I had a feeling he was warning me against something, but what? What was he going to do? We reached my hut and the limo stopped. I opened the door and looked at Ash once more. Sorrow panged in my heart and I could feel it splintering
"Bye," I said simply. I didn't know what else to say.
"Bye." He replied quietly, his expression closed off once again.
I scoffed and shut the door, running into my hut. Ezmia ran after me as I sprinted to my room. I felt so stupid, thinking I could change him. Foolish girl. I ripped the gown off, not caring if I damaged it or not, threw on a stupid slip, and jumped into bed burying myself in blankets and pillows. I curled up and Ezmia nuzzled into my body, as silent tears streamed down my cheeks. The only person I had ever wanted, kept constantly trying to push me away. But even if he did want me or like me at all, he couldn't because of the damn council. It wasn't fair. But when has my life ever been fair?