Chapter 2
I woke up really early, so early it was still dark out. I got up and looked out the window. I don't see any signs of daylight appearing yet. I went out of my room and went to the sitting room. Angrec was actually there. I looked at the clock on the wall. 4:34. Not horrible, I suppose.
"Good morning Phoenix. Did you sleep well?"
"Good morning Angrec. Yeah, I slept alright. Excited for today." I sat beside her.
"Are you? Do you want to know what I have planned for today?"
"Yes please!" She chuckled.
"You'll be meditating today. You need to keep your emotions in control as a Priestess. You need to keep your wits about you. You need to keep a cool head in every situation. You can't be panicking and stressed, that will lead to poor decisions, which a Priestess for the gods cannot do."
"Ok. What's meditating?"
"It's going to be very boring for a 10 year old such as yourself. All you do is sit and have your eyes closed, clearing your mind of all negativity and focusing on peaceful, positive thoughts. You'll also be alone for most of it. I need to do some things today to prepare for future tasks for you to do to train. The gods will check up on you periodically however. Pay no attention to them, as much as you might want to."
"Ok..." Yup, I told you, not as fun as I thought it would be a couple days ago when I first found out I was to be Priestess. Angrec stood up and went over to the corner, she picked something up and unrolled whatever it is onto the ground.
"This is your meditation mat. You sit like this." She sat down and crossed her legs in a way I didn't think was possible. It was like cross-legged, but like... her feet were resting on top of her knees. She got up and motioned me to try. I sat down and tried to figure out how she did that. She instructed me on how to do it and with difficulty, I managed to finally get my legs how they needed to be.
"Very good. Now, fold your hands on your lap and close your eyes. Take a deep breath, block out all background noise and just think positive. Maybe your favorite color, or animal, or what you like to do." I folded my hands on my lap, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. I thought of cats, as they're my favorite animal. I smiled, I thought of how cute they are, how silly they can be, how vocal some can be. You know, this actually feels nice. The peace and quiet is becoming refreshing. I heard footsteps as Angrec left the room.
As the hours passed, I diverted my focus from cats to my favorite colors, red and black. I like red because, well, my name means 'deep red', and my hair is deep red, like my name suggests. I also like black because it goes with literally everything. My clothes however, are not all red and black. I have colorful clothes, but I also like to wear colors that go with my hair color. The gods, as Angrec said, had come in to check on me during these hours that passed. I really wanted to say 'hi' and talk to them, but I did as Angrec said and ignored them. It really hurt... I felt like I was a bad friend doing that. Then came time for breakfast, finally.
"Phoenix, breakfast time," Angrec said. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I smiled. "The gods all told me you didn't talk to them and kept your focus on meditating. Very good job. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you Angrec. I wanna make everyone proud of me, so I wanna do my best," I said as I stood up. Ouch... my legs are sore, very sore.
"You're aiming to be the 'best Priestess ever', right?" Angrec quoted me from two days ago. I giggled.
"Yup." We made our way to the dining hall. The seating arrangement seemed to not ever change apparently. I still sat across from Aianite.
"How was your meditation Phoenix?" Aianite asked.
"Very peaceful. I thought of cats and my favorite colors. I almost fell asleep a couple of times too, but hearing you guys come in kept me from doing that." Aianite and Ianite both giggled. I grinned sheepishly. Then the food came out. It looked and smelled so good! Fluffy pancakes with squares of butter and assorted fruit resting on top, sweet syrup flowing down the pancakes, and more assorted fruit lined the outside of the plates. There were bowls of red and green grapes on the vine as well placed down. "Angrec, what will I be doing after I get ready for the day?"
"More meditation. You'll be meditating all day today. Tomorrow I have something else planned."
"Can I know?!"
"It's a secret. You'll be glad I didn't tell you. I think you'll like this one." I was hyped. I got through breakfast and went off to get ready for the day, even though all I'm doing is meditating. When I finished, I went back to the sitting room and took up my position yet again. This time I thought of games I like to play. I like hopscotch, 4 square, tag, and hide and seek. I imagined myself and the young gods playing hide and seek. I smiled, it would be so much fun. That and tag. Oh... I wanna play now... No... I need to stay focused. I need to keep meditating. I need to make everyone proud. I focus on being quiet, still. I succeeded, until Ianite came in.
"Hello?" I queried.
"Phoenix... you broke your meditation..." She sounded so disappointed.
"I know..." I opened my eyes. "I just... wanted to play. I got to thinking of my favorite games to play, and two of them sounded like so much fun to play with you guys."
"What games?"
"Hide and seek and tag."
"Those do sound like fun, but you need to do your training. Maybe tomorrow or the next day we can play." I sighed sadly.
"Ok..." She gave me a sad, sympathetic look, then left the room. I went back to meditating. At lunch time Dianite came to get me.
"Lunch time birdy." I opened my eyes and gave him a confused look. "Your name is the name of a bird, 'birdy'."
"I know, but... why?" Dianite just made the 'I don't know' sound as he shrugged, then left the room. I gave the place where he stood a weird look, then got up and headed off to the dining hall. As I sat down,
"Ianite told me you broke concentration and why. I understand, you're still a child. Just be mindful next time during your meditation, ok?" I nodded.
"I'll try." Angrec inclined her head slightly and we finished our lunch.
"Phoenix, how about you meditate for 4 hours, then you can play for 2 hours with the kids," Angrec suggested. That made me happy to hear.
"Ok! Thank you Angrec." She smiled gently. I went back to the sitting room and took on the pose. This time as I meditated, I thought about Mom and Dad, wondering what they're doing right now. They're probably cleaning up after lunch to be honest. I'd be helping. I'd be putting the leftovers away then helping dry the dishes and putting them away. Next I focused on the flower garden Aianite and Ianite showed me yesterday. Those flowers were so pretty! It was so much fun playing with them. I hope I can play with them again soon. I spent the next few hours thinking of the gods and how I'm the one that's to be their Priestess. That took the rest of the time. Aianite came to get me.
"Phoenix, you can play with us now." I grinned and opened my eyes. Getting up,
"What are we gonna play?"
"Hide and seek, but be careful, Dianite likes to cheat."
"Cheater pants..." Aianite giggled at my comment.
"That's truth. Come on, everyone is outside." Aianite led me outside where the other three gods are waiting. Ianite smiled at my arrival.
"Finally Nix! I've been waiting for forever."
"Well, I'm here now. So, who's seeking first?"
"I will," Mianite volunteered.
"Ok, then count to thirty while the rest of us hide," Aianite instructed. We all split up as Mianite counted. I hid in the flower garden in the rose bushes. The thorns hurt, but I sucked it up for the sake of the game. My hair is just about as red as the roses, so I think I blend in pretty well. I heard Mianite's 'Thirty!' and grinned to myself as he started seeking. I wonder where he's going first? Some time passed then I heard him and one other come into my area. He must have found someone already.
"I think Ianite could be in here, she loves flowers. Especially this garden. I find her here quite often." Aww, he found Aianite first. I wonder where she hid?
"I wouldn't be surprised." I could hear them getting closer. I didn't move a muscle as they passed by. When I felt they were far enough away, I relaxed. A couple minutes passed and I felt a hand touch my ankle.
"Found you Phoenix." It was Aianite. I carefully crawled out of the bush.
"How?"
"I could see the bottom of your shoe sticking out. I looked behind me, making sure we didn't miss anything and I just caught the white."
"Darn." Aianite giggled.
"Well, now there's three of us. I'm also surprised I hadn't found Ianite in here. She loves the garden."
"I heard you and Mianite talking about that. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me. Even though I've only known you guys like, 2 days, I think I have a feel for who Ianite is. I can't figure out how or why, but it's just this feeling I have."
"Maybe we should ask Mother why you have that feeling." I thought about that.
"Maybe, I guess we should. Should we let Mianite know?"
"It would be a good idea." I nodded and we went to find Mianite. When we found him, we let him know he's on his own again finding the last two. He was fine with it so we went off to find Angrec. We actually found her in the side yard, setting some things up.
"Angrec, I have something Aianite and I think you should hear." I told her about my feeling about Ianite.
"I'll keep an eye on that. It could be nothing, but it could be something too." That confused me greatly, but I said nothing, just nodded.
"Aianite, I don't feel like playing anymore. I actually wanna meditate more." Aianite nodded and went off to her siblings. I went to my meditation mat and took on the pose. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I didn't think of anything except for the peace and quiet of the sitting room. I sat there for an hour before something happened. I saw a vision of Ianite sitting alone in a tent, surrounded by tall grass, crying. I wanted to reach out to her, but couldn't. She looked much older. Maybe 13 years older? I saw shimmering words, saying 'Ianite feels alone, she feels like she can't hold the Balance'. That's so not true! Ianite can hold the Balance, I know she can! I opened my eyes and went straight to Angrec with this. I told her what I saw.
"You saw the future without fire... That's not something a mere mortal can do. You're special Phoenix. Before you ask, no, you're not a goddess or demigoddess. You just have powers no one else does. You're meant to be Priestess. Maybe that's the power of a Priestess. I'll have to take note of everything you can do. If anything else strange happens, let me know." I nodded. By that time, it was time for dinner, so I washed up and went to the dining hall. Dinner was amazing of course, and after I got a shower and into my pajamas. I went to my room, and as I was falling asleep, I thought of Mom and Dad, hoping they had a good day. I smiled as I fell asleep. I'm ready for tomorrow, for a new task to do for training. Bring it on.
