Chapter 6

Silence. It washed over the room, getting louder and louder with each passing moment. I sat alone in the room, while the others had gone somewhere. An uncomfortable thought passed through my mind, I tried to shake it off but it wouldn't go away. Images from that day started playing in mind like a black and white movie. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself yet my body continued to shake. The feeling from that day overpowered my senses. I could feel the crystal, that was in my pocket, start to vibrate and get hotter. Why was I thinking about it now? It didn't make sense to me.

I heard their voices come closer. I desperately tried to stop it before they saw me like this. It would be clever not to bring this up to anyone for now. I desperately begged for it to stop. My eyes hurt so bad. I pressed my palms on them. The footsteps came closer and closer. I started to panic.

"You know that was unfair, right? Aella, guess what he did?," Delmira walked into the room.

I listened as she complained about Keres. Apparently, he had promised her to buy her some food if she helped him with the work that the old man set. Keres had to bring a letter to someone but was too lazy so he asked Delmira. She agreed but when she came back, Keres had only bought her some fruit. They were rotten. By the time she had finished explaining everything to me, I had completely forgotten about it.

"Oh, grandpa is looking for you," Keres mentioned.

"Grandpa?"

"He told us to call him that," he shrugged.

I made my way towards the old man. He was sat by the kitchen, sipping on some tea. He told me to take a seat and poured me a cup of tea.

"Aella, do you know why that crystal glows?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"It glows when you are troubled. With any worry that you have, it glows. When you're in danger it glows. When you're scared it glows for your safety, desperate to be used. It's your power. You are calling for help with the crystal. It is not necessarily controlled by emotions but your will," he explained.

It made no sense to me and I'm sure he could tell by my face that I was confused. I felt like I understood what he was saying but I didn't. Not one bit. It was like the words were entering from one ear and passing right through the other one. His words were like the poems I had to analyse in school. To me: a bunch of words that made no sense. To others: words full of meaning and inspiration. Heart touching, for some.

"In other words, the crystal glows when your will to live becomes strong. When you want to help or require help. You will understand eventually but for now, you have to train. She will be here soon to help you."

"Who-"

"Oh my- Nekane look at you! You've grown quite a lot since the last time I saw you. I'm sure you missed your old sister very much. Don't worry, I'm here to train you," a loud voice shouted.

Rapid footsteps made their way towards us. I could hear things being thrown and hitting the floor. I hope no one died. I'm not very fond of going to a funeral.

"Hello, my fellow mates. It is I, Valerie but my friends Val," a young woman announced.

She had long silver hair and her eyes were glowing purple. She was fairly short and looked no older than in her mid-20s. She grinned widely at us. She looked strong. Very strong indeed.

"You don't have friends," Nekane said annoyed.

"Val! I'm glad you could make it. Nekane, call the twins to come," the old man instructed.

Nekane went and came back with the twins. They looked at Valerie for a few seconds then looked at each other.

"Have we met her before?" Delmira asked quietly.

"No. No, I don't think so. Wait, she does seem familiar though," Keres whispered back.

They continued to whisper amongst themselves, not knowing that everyone could hear them clearly. Valerie cleared her throat and both of them stopped.

"I need to train these? No problem, they'll be done in no time," she bragged.

"Why is she talking like we are a piece of meat?," Delmira whispered again but this time to me.

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Now, children. This is my granddaughter Valerie. She will help you control and use your weapons. It is also important that you know only a few people have mastered the art of their ability. Not many have a power or weapon. But for the ones that do, they are more powerful than any of you for now. Nekane possesses a power, while Valerie has a weapon. Any questions that you have will be answered by Valerie. You must protect yourself from the cruel world. If you desire to escape, you need to be strong," he explained and walked away.

Valerie led us through the village, onto a path in the forest that led up to a large building. By the looks of it, the trees looked 60 meters tall or even more. The building stood just below the halfway point of the tree.

The tall silver door opened and Valerie walked inside. She told us to wait by the door and walked off. It was quite dark in this room. I squinted my eyes in hopes to see something but that didn't help much. I heard a loud noise and after a few seconds, a bright light engulfed the room. My eyes burned at the sudden brightness and I rubbed them slightly. The room we were in had white walls and no windows. A single door was built at the end of it.

"Follow me," Valerie said and walked towards that door.

We walked into a really big arena. The roof was open but was blocked by a metal fence. There were 4 double doors on every side of the arena. The ground was made of grass and I could see a few daisies. The sun shone through the fence, making it really warm inside. Drops of sweat began to form on my forehead and it didn't help that I wore a thick jumper.

"I want to see how good you can control and use your weapon or ability. Therefore, you'll be tested. You all have to defeat what's behind those doors on your own," she pointed at the one opposite us.

"Aella, your first because you already used your weapon before. The twins and Nekane will accompany me in the watch room," she explained.

The Watch room was beside the entrance. It was a small room with a window so you can see the arena perfectly. It reminded me of the room reporters sit in, while a sports match is going on.

"Good luck, Aella! You'll do just fine," Delmarva encouraged me.

Keres nodded his head.

I couldn't help but feel nervous. The thought of what could possibly be behind those doors frightened me. I do not plan on dying anytime soon. However, Valerie assured us that she would help us if needed before she left to go I'm that room.

With a thumbs up from Valerie, the double doors slowly opened. I grabbed onto the crystal that was already glowing brightly. I took a deep breath and looked towards the doors. I could see nothing but a dark silhouette. There was a big shadow looming over it. It slowly began to walk towards me. Slowly, I began to make out what it was. I looked at it in shock. Confused, I looked over to Valerie but she shook her head.

Before me stood a little boy. He looked at me through his teary eyes. Frankly, he was adorable. A loud cry was heard throughout the arena. He started to walk closer to me, tears running down his red cheeks. His small arms wrapped around my legs and leaned his head on my stomach. He stopped crying and lifted his head up.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to trust any strangers?"

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Here's the 6th chapter! Uhh it's somewhat edited... Anyways, I hope you enjoy (ㄏ￣▽￣)ㄏ