Within the Fire

Chapter 2

-Octavia-

“Octavia'' a faint whisper that sounded like my mothers voice. As my vision began to focus, I could feel the breeze, the air smelled like fresh spring water from the waterfall my mother and I used to visit as a child. I could see the moon and hear the sound of water falling. It was dark but I was in a familiar place that made my nerves drift away. Slowly, a bright light begins to appear and take shape. My mothers ghost? Her spirit? Was standing before. Her long brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She moved the hair from her face and that's when I saw it. A phoenix wrapped around her hand into her forearm being covered by her dress. I couldn’t remember ever seeing it before. 

“Octavia” she smiled. “Seeing you, it must be your 18th birthday soon, and the ceremony has begun.” She motioned for me to follow her to the bench, where we sat down and she held my hand. “Like you, I was one of the chosen, but in my home, our home, we harness the ability to heal, as well as to hurt.”Her face grew weary, and I could see a tear fall from her face. “You must learn to take control of your emotions and focus on the trials that lie ahead.”

“What do you mean the trials that lie ahead? Our kingdom has been at peace for centuries.” I asked. I began to feel anxious, like I was being watched. I looked around but saw nothing. A twig snapped, and I heard some rustling in the leaves, then a little chipmunk ran from the trees. I smiled, as my mom held my face in between both hands, focusing back on her.

“Just listen, to your father, to your surroundings. You are more powerful than you know…”

 Before she could finish, my head began to spin and my vision faded.

“Here she comes” I could hear beeping and what smelled like the inside of a hand sanitizer bottle. The lights were bright, but I could see I was in the hospital ward. I looked around to see Dr. Lee and Holly standing over me. 

“What happened to me?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. I slowly raised myself up, I was sore everywhere. “Uh..” Holly said, looking at Dr. Lee. 

She smiled, “Just rest a moment your father will be in soon to talk with you.” And she and Holly left the room. “What happened” I thought to myself. Was everything with my mom a dream? The mark! I looked down at my hand and sure enough it looked like a Phoenix was sketched into my skin. Almost as if it was about to take flight, it’s head began on my right hand, it’s wing wrapped around my arm where it disappeared into my hospital gown. I was attempting to get out of bed when my father walked. 

“Octavia!” He boomed. “You're awake my dear. You gave us quite the fright. Do you remember what happened?”

I thought about telling him about the talk I had with my mother, but decided to listen to her words, and just listen. “I remember being in a great deal of pain, and that everything went black and I woke up here.” I said looking around the room. He squinted his eyes and just stared at me. It felt like he was reading my mind and knew I wasn’t being completely truthful. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else?” 

I chewed the inside of my cheek, and searched my mind for the right answer. “Not that I can think of… Should there be?” When the words left my lips I could tell they came off defensively. 

“Hmpf” he chucked, raising his eyebrows almost to say “if she only knew”. He took a deep breath, and smiled. “Why don’t we discuss this more once you're back to 100%.” He leaned over, kissed my forehead and left the room. There was defiantly more to the story, and maybe I should have opened up about my experience tonight. Dr. Lee walked in and checked over my vitals. “Once I’m finished here you can take a shower if you’d like, Kat brought you down a few things to be comfortable. You hit your head when you fell, I want to keep an eye on you for observation.” Dr. Lee smiled, checked the bandage on my head and left the room. 

I slowly worked my way out of bed and into the bathroom. I saw the things Kat brought down for me and smiled. Although she may be my assistant, she is also my very best friend. Slowly, I removed the hospital gown and checked the water, that’s when I noticed. The phoenix went across my back into my left leg, but where the bird ended flames continued. I couldn’t help but smile, even though I didn’t know a lot about what was happening, knowing my mom could have possibly gone through the same thing made me feel better.

 I hopped in the shower, and the hot water felt so good. I could feel the tension in my muscles begin to release and my mind started drifting. Within second I realized I had been so caught up in my own drama, I completely missed where Zander was placed, and I couldn’t remember my placement either.