The Fated One

Chapter 3 - Axis

As she ran out the door, grabbing her bag in toe she tried to understand what had happened, whilst simultaneously processing that her fated one was Axis Temple. This was overwhelming even for Caraxyes who in general was quite good at remaining level-headed about things. She walked out of the gate of her home and into the city she called home. The college was only about a 15-minute walk. Plenty of time to compose herself ready for the day. Caraxyes decided to put the thoughts of the mysterious man she had met in the strange realm away and focus on how she could spend the day hiding from Axis. Her thoughts raced as she thought of him. Does he know? “Yes, he must know, he’s older than me and it would just make sense that he would know. Oh no, if he knows, he must be devastated, he always had a girl in toe far prettier than I could ever be. This is not good. Not good at all, how am I meant to spend the rest of my life with a person who believes me to be inadequate in all areas? Maybe I’m jumping ahead of myself” Regardless of her thought process. One thing was for certain. She felt sick and wanted more than anything to get out class and hide.

She approached the school, wondering if he was in today. Caraxyes knew of Axis, they had somewhat grown up together, attending both primary and high school. Both of their parents knew one another and got on. It wasn’t until her dad left that the relationship fizzled out. Caraxyes remembered being young, he would come round and play she always liked him then but now it seemed different. He didn’t speak to her in school, often looking at her then away. She took this as disapproval of her. He was popular, did well in his classes, experienced in his magic, Caraxyes thought she should be happy really with the fated match. But this didn’t seem to be in her nature to be happy with decisions that are made for her. She wondered if he would approach her. What would she say? What if he didn’t approach her and she was left wondering for all of time why he so boldly didn’t want her. The idea that Caraxyes had of herself being level-headed started to wain as she allowed her insecurities to run rampant round her brain.

First class, English. Easy. Caraxyes enjoyed English, she enjoyed the stories of legend that had been watered down for the human members of the class. She enjoyed knowing the truth behind them when others didn’t. This was a side to Caraxyes that she hid deeper down than other sides of herself. The side of her that enjoyed the idea of having power, whether it was her gift or even knowing more. She found it dark and exciting, yet worrying and uncontrolled. It was this concept of power that she enjoyed as for so much of her life she had been powerless. As she sailed through the lesson, listening contently to the stories, feeling her anxieties slowly quietening down, the image of his eyes came into her mind’s eye. Those dark cold eyes and how they widened just for her. Who was he? Who did he think she was when he said “it’s you” in a voice that felt so much softer than the one he had before. Where was he, she questioned. Whilst she tried to bat away the thoughts of him and refocus herself on class, she found herself unable to stop.

The day went on, Caraxyes found herself relieved that Axis was no-where to be seen. She felt herself becoming more and more relaxed as the day went on. Whilst keeping to herself and hiding from others around the school, she suddenly felt a jolt of excitement. The day was drawing to a close, the November nights were drawing in faster than before meaning that for dream witches, there was more time to be expelled into another realm. Realising this, She came up with a plan, the night would be spent searching the alternate realms for this man. If Axis wasn’t going to appear any time soon, it meant that there was more time finding this mysterious man who shook her to her core, who made her so terrified but also made her feel oddly at home. She needed to question him, She needed to know why. College was ending and she raced home ready to set off into the dream realms.

The air was still as she walked through the door of her home. It was eerily quiet. She took of her shoes and walked through to the kitchen looking for any resemblance of someone being home. As she approached the kettle murmurs could be heard from the other room, a whisper of people. Her stomach dropped as she thought who could be in her home. She peered round the door to the lounge, hoping to see nobody but instead there was somebody.

“What are you doing here?” Caraxyes asked in a tone not quite stern enough to be rude but also not quiet kind enough to be friendly.

“I’m sorry, your mum told me I needed to come over and then she went out. She said she would be back soon”

This is exactly the kind of thing Caraxyes was suspecting would happen but was hopeful that her mother had heard her distain for surprises. For in front of her, sitting on the sofa in her living room was Axis Temple.

He was taller than she remembered, she had seen him round college but only in passing and in a distance. Not enough time to truly analyse his being and presence. He smelt of expensive cologne, the kind that smells like you want to go closer. It could have been made by the sirens because its exactly what she wanted to do. His sandy blond hair tide back, showing off his defined cheekbones and exquisite jawline. His smile was slightly crooked, but it was endearing to her. As she moved closer towards him, she could see his eye colour, something she had never really noticed before, not even in her childhood encounters. They burned a warm amber, like a softly lit fire exploding around his pupil.

“it’s fine, I’m sorry that was rude. I just wasn’t expecting this…or it…or you” the fumbling of the words started to make it clear to Caraxyes that maybe this wasn’t such a bad fated match at all. Although one should not purely judge a person on their appearance, it certainly doesn’t hinder the prospect of a good match.

“Did you want a cup of tea?”

“Yes, sounds lovely thank you”

Caraxyes entered the kitchen in a quiet fluster. Noticing her heart racing slightly faster, her palms started to slightly sweat, and her brain started to murmur things it hadn’t considered earlier that day when she found out who her fated one was. Could this be a possibility? He’s here? In my house? He seems polite. He’s certainly gorgeous. She thought as she started preparing the tea. As she re-entered the lounge she noticed how sat on the sofa, hands on his knees, looking around at the room. It was a welcoming lounge, nicely spacious and laid out for entertaining guests. Her mother had plenty of parties and whilst everyone would always end up in the kitchen the lounge was the main party room. Autumnal colours flowed from the green curtains to the burnt orange sofas to the yellow rug and glass table. Is he nervous? She thought, how would you even approach the subject.

“So, we are fated it seems”

Never mind, he approached it for her. Direct, she liked that.

“Yes, so it seems”

“Are you…okay with that?”

How could she not be, the more she looked at him the more she realised he may be closer to a god than a human.

“Um, yes…are you?” suddenly a tidal wave of anxiety crashed into her body. What if he didn’t like her? The conversation was going fast, too fast for her to suddenly disappear out of it.

“Well, yes of course, I mean our families are happy, we we’re friends when we were kids right? So, there’s hope here?”

And there it was, the clarification that maybe this wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen. He might actually like her despite her beliefs of her own mundanity. Unfortunately, due to the anxiety, all she could muster was a “yes” before she excused herself into the kitchen once more.

As she walked through the sudden sight of her sister shocked her.

“What are you doing! Get back in there” and before she knew it Addie had pushed her back into the room. Caraxyes smiled awkwardly.

“Well,” Axis started “I’m glad we’ve had this chat, I’d better be going, but maybe we could hang out tomorrow? Get to know each other as 18-year-olds rather than kids?”

“Yes, I’d like that” Axis gathered himself and walked towards the door, leaving the delicious scent behind him. As the door closed Caraxyes fell into the sofa headfirst, almost as if she believed by pressing her head into the pillow, she might wake up, but she knew more than most that this certainly wasn’t the dream realm, it was reality.