Resentment

Chapter 3-Blooms and Echos

Ariah Eden

A week into her training with Zuri, Ariah found herself in the Eden Garden at dawn, the air cool and damp with the scent of earth. Each morning began the same: her knees pressed into soft soil, her palms hovering over the ground, her breath steady as she willed the chaos inside her to obey.

Power isn’t fire, child, Zuri always said. It’s water. It flows where you guide it.

Ariah closed her eyes and let the words anchor her. A single bud trembled beneath her hands, its petals curled tight. She exhaled slowly—soft, patient—and the bud bloomed, its color bursting like a secret revealed.

But the control didn’t come easy. When her anger whispered or her sadness clawed through, her magic snarled. Flowers burned to ash beneath her fingertips. Branches split and cracked like bone.

Yet Zuri never scolded. She only knelt beside her, her dreadlocks brushing Ariah’s arm as she murmured, “Power comes from within—but so does peace.”

That afternoon, the sun dipped low, casting amber shadows across the garden. Victor joined her, easing down on the old wooden bench under the almond tree. His presence was quiet strength, like roots deep in the earth.

He watched as Ariah coaxed a patch of lavender into violet bloom. A smile ghosted his face.

“You’re just like her.”

Ariah glanced back. “Grandma Alira?”

Victor nodded slowly. “She used to sit right there, talking to the plants like they were her kin. I thought it strange, once. But she said the earth remembers kindness, even when people forget.”

Ariah’s chest tightened. “I wish I could remember more of her.”

Victor’s gaze softened. “You do. She’s in you.”

That night, after supper, Ariah slipped through the trees, needing space to breathe. Her feet traced an old trail she knew by heart, until the woods opened into a clearing kissed by moonlight. Water tumbled from a rocky ledge into a crystalline pool—a secret sanctuary hidden from the world.

It had once been their place.

She, Talia, and Tobias had spent endless summers here—laughing, daring, jumping from the cliffs like reckless stars. Those echoes haunted the air now, mocking her in their absence.

She lowered herself to the edge, knees pulled tight, staring at her reflection in the shimmering blue. The ache in her chest throbbed sharper here, where the ghosts of friendship lingered.

With a sigh, Ariah dipped her fingers into the water, wishing she could wash away the hurt, the whispers, the stares that clung to her like shadows. Here, she could be nothing. No treaty. No magic. Just… her.

She slid into the water, the cold wrapping around her like silk. Her curls floated like crimson flames as she drifted beneath the waterfall, its roar drowning out the world. For the first time in days, her mind stilled.

Until the splash shattered everything.

Someone dove in.

Ariah whipped around, panic flaring—only to feel a hand seize her arm, dragging her toward the shore.

“Hey! Let go!” she cried, thrashing against the grip.

Her gaze locked on storm-gray eyes. Tobias Moon. His black shirt clung to his chest, dripping, muscles taut with strain.

“You’re—” His voice broke in disbelief. “You’re not drowning?”

Ariah’s eyes narrowed to slits. “What the hell, Tobias? Did you think I was some random girl you could play hero for?”

He froze, recognition slicing through his features. “Ariah?”

“Yes, genius. Ariah.”

His jaw hardened. Disgust rippled across his face. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Ariah’s laugh was sharp as glass. “Oh, I’m sorry—didn’t realize the waterfall had a Moon Pack logo on it.”

His eyes flashed like blades. “You need to take your evil and leave this land before you destroy everything.”

The words hit like a lash. Evil. Her fists curled, heat licking beneath her skin.

“Don’t you dare call me that,” she hissed. “You and your precious family threw me away the second I became something you couldn’t control. You think that makes you righteous? It makes you cowards.”

Tobias stalked closer, water streaming down his temples, his breath rough. “You don’t understand what you are, Ariah. You’re dangerous.”

“And you’re pathetic,” she spat.

His hand shot out, gripping her arm. “Listen to me—”

The air shimmered. Her skin burned like molten iron. Tobias yelped, jerking back with a curse, his palm blistered red.

Ariah’s voice was a whisper, sharp as a blade:

“I warned you.”

Light flickered across her skin like embers. Power hummed in the water around her, the pool rippling with violet sparks.

Tobias stared, shock and fury warring in his eyes. His voice dropped to a low, lethal growl.

“Don’t come to school tomorrow, Ariah. If you do—” His gaze hardened into steel. “You’ll regret it.”

And then he was gone, his footsteps pounding into the night, leaving her alone in the clearing.

But this time, the silence didn’t soothe her.

It burned.