Chapter 3 part 1

Chapter 3

I woke up refreshed and happy. I sat up and stretched.

                “Where am I?” I ask. I then remembered the phoenixes and my crazy day yesterday. On a chair, there was a dress and a note. I got out of bed and picked up the note.

                Good Morning Sienna,

                I hope you had a good sleep. Sophia has laid out a dress for you to wear today. As usual, if you need anything ask Sophia.

                ~Dad

I pick up the dress and examine it. It was a light blue color with little flowers embroidered on the bodice. It fell a little past my knees when I put it on. I didn’t see any shoes other than my converse. I put those on and head down the stairs. When I get to the bottom, I see Sophia.

                “Good morning,” she says smiling at me. I smile back; she really was pretty. Her pink hair gleamed and her wings sparkled in the dim morning light. The music her wings made reminded me of a lullaby Mom used to sing us; sad but beautiful.

                “Are you hungry?” she asks. On cue, my stomach growled. She giggled and flew across the hall. I followed her through a pair of French doors. I assumed that it was the dining room. The vaulted ceilings were immaculately decorated with paintings of angels and ancient Greek gods. The table could have easily fit thirty people. What was on the table was what really interested me. There were platters of eggs, bacon, ham, sausages, pastries, toast, and all sorts of things I didn’t recognize. Sophia giggled again.

                “You know you can eat this food -- not just look at it,” she laughs flying over to a platter of pancakes. I walk over to the table and take one of the seats. I fill my plate with more than I could eat in a week and start eating. I look up as another door squeaks open: it was Dad. He was wearing a bathrobe with fuzzy slippers—just how I’ve always remembered him.

                “’Morning Si,” he says yawning. He loves shortening my name. I never cared for his nicknames for me, but I’ve learned to just deal with it.

                “Hey Dad,” I say unwrapping a warm blueberry muffin. He sits down and pours himself a cup of coffee. He takes a large swallow and puts down his mug.

                “Are you ready to see Grimm?” he asks putting two pieces of bacon on his plate.

                “Sure. I’d like to see Ruby again,” I say putting a piece of the muffin in my mouth.

                “Ruby?” Dad says looking confused.

                “Remember the phoenix that was in the net? Her name is Ruby,” I say pushing my plate forward.

                “Oh, okay. How about we meet at the front door in oh,” he paused and looked at his watch, “ten minutes?” I nodded and Dad got up. I grab one more mini muffin and stand up to follow. The window caught my eye first though. I went over to it and stood there in awe. Grimm (despite the name) was beautiful in the daylight. The sky was blue and all the trees were blooming. I looked over the town and saw pretty much what I saw last night, only crisper. There were a lot of different creatures, a lot I didn’t recognize, and that’s coming from a fantasy junkie.

                “Beautiful, isn’t it?” I hear a voice say behind me. I turn around and see a little girl, smiling up at me. She must have been four feet tall, but had an aura that could say otherwise. She looked sweet and kind, but I knew that was only her appearance. Her honey blonde hair glimmered in the morning light and her skin was almost translucent.

                “I’m Josephine. You can call me Joey,” she says holding out her hand to me. I shook it; she had a surprisingly hard grip for someone who looked about eight-years old.

                “I’ll be accompanying you to the Forge,” she says withdrawing her hand and sticking it in her pocket.

                “Isn’t my dad going?” I asked. She shook her head.

                “An emergency came up that needs his attention.” I sigh and look back out the window. Dad always let his work come first. I think that’s why Mom and Dad split up. She gestures towards the door and I start to follow her out of the room. We get out into the town and she starts walking towards the big black building from last night.

                “Ruby?” I asked.

                “Yes Orator?” Ruby responds.

                “You can call me Sienna. All my friends do. We’re friends right?” I said a little nervous.

                “All right, I’ll call you Sienna. What do you require?” she asked.

                “Are you at the Forge?” I questioned.

                “Yes Sienna. I will be awaiting your arrival,” she says then cuts off the connection. I start thinking about Joey and her background. I wonder if she’s…like me.

                “Can I ask you something?” I ask Joey.

                “Sure. What is it?” She responds. I swallow and clear my throat a little before speaking.

                “Are you….a…..um……,” I say trailing off. I feel myself blush as I wait for her answer.

                “I’m not like you. I’m just an elven guard your father employed for this short journey,” she says looking back at me. She shoots me this look that says “I don’t want to talk again.” I silently obey her wishes and keep my mouth shut for the rest of the walk. The forge looked closer than it actually was. Maybe I thought that because when we finally got there, the building was huge. The building wasn’t black like I originally thought; it was white but because of the business inside, it turned the walls blackish. The doors creak open like they’ve never been oiled. Joey goes in first while I follow behind. The scene inside was amazing to me. I was hit with a blast of hot air as soon I got past the threshold. I noticed the phoenixes first (well, who wouldn’t?). They seemed to be at stations with giant workers. I couldn’t tell what kind of creatures they were; all I knew was that they were huge! Joey’s voice brought me back to reality.

                “Are you coming or not?” she says impatiently. I hurry after her, trying not to trip on the shards of metal on the floor. At the other end of the building, there was a smaller door. Joey knocks three times and waits. The door swings open and I prepare myself for someone on the other side. To my surprise, there was no one there. Joey goes in anyway and I follow cautiously.

                “Ah! This is the Orator,” someone says from the depths of the room.

                “Yes Centos. I have brought the Orator. She was going to see Diana’s quarters today. She also wanted to see one of the phoenixes,” Joey says formally.

                “Ruby. Her name is Ruby,” I say not seeing anyone to tell this to. Just then, I see a shape appear in front of the window. The figure became clearer with every second. I recognized the figure but couldn’t come up with a name. The figure was crippled and its skin was charred. I remember seeing a picture in my Mythology textbook.

                “She has full access of the Forge if she so desires,” he says turning back towards the window.

                “Thank you for your time,” Joey says bowing. She pivots and walks back towards the door. I follow behind her, a little confused at what just happened. The door shuts behind us.

                “Who was that?” I ask unsure of myself and of what just happened.

                “It was Hephaestus, god of fire and of blacksmiths,” Joey says starting to walk away. I start to follow then get pushed back by a flood of thoughts. I fall to my knees in agony. Joey sprints over and kneels with me.

                “Sienna what’s wrong?!” she asks looking at me, fear in her eyes. As suddenly as they arrived, the burdens of my thoughts disappear. Joey helps me to my feet as I brush the soot off my skirts.

                “I’m fine Joey,” I say smiling at her. She looks at me, puzzled, but walks forward. I follow behind, wondering what the hell that was.

Look for part 2 soon!

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My eyelids flutter open and see something strange. I see a fairy-like creature flitting in front of my face.

                “Who is she?” I hear from off into the distance.

                “Quiet! You’ll wake her,” the creature hisses back. I gasp and sit up.

                “Now you’ve done it! What were you thinking?” the creature in front of me hisses at the other one.

                “What? What are you?” I stammer.

                “We are Wanderers just like you. The more important question is ‘What are you doing in Grimm?’,” the other creature says flying over. Their wings were translucent and looked paper-thin. Both of them have shorter hair and had a bluish tint to their skin. One had pink hair and the other had black. They both had the same eyes as me which scared me a little. The one with pink hair, I’m assuming that it was a girl, had a shorter tunic with skin-tight leggings and boots. The other one, I’m assuming that it was a boy, had almost the same outfit on except he had what looked like battle armor on top of his tunic.

                “I – I don’t know. What’s a Wanderer?” I ask.

                “I guess you’ll have to come with us,” the boy creature says sighing. I feel myself being lifted from the bench and being put on my feet. I look around – stunned. The sky was a purple color like what it looks like at sunset. There were a ton of these creatures flying around, and the sound their wings made filled the air with music.

                “Wow,” I say breathless. We start walking towards the woods.

                “Yeah. This is Grimm where most of the Grimm Fairytales take place,” the girl creature says.

                “Really? I always thought that they made them up,” I say looking around.

                “Obviously not,” the boy creature grumbles. We finally come up to a big marble building and stop. I look up and feel a wave of nausea come over me; I’m not that good with heights. The building was immaculate and decorated in such a way that I felt hurtled back into Ancient Rome. The creatures float forward into the building first.

                “Wait here,” the boy creature orders me. I nod, a little frightened of what could be in that building. They disappear into the building, and I turn around towards what I guess was a town. There were little shops and cafés everywhere. It reminded me of a picture in my French 101 textbook. I noticed then that these fairy-like creatures weren’t the only ones around. I saw centaurs, archers, elves (and not Santa’s kind I tell you), and trolls. It seemed that everyone was getting along, not like in the fantasy novels that I’ve read. Just then, someone behind me clears their throat. I jump and turn around. I gasp. It was my father.

                “Dad?” I croak. He wasn’t wearing what he had on at the house. He was in a long, purple robe on top of an old-fashioned tunic.

                “Hi Sienna,” Dad says sheepishly. I open my mouth to start asking questions, but my mind goes blank.

                “It’s okay hon. Come inside; I’ll explain everything,” he says gesturing into the big marble building. He guides me into the building, and I look at him. He looks the same. Maybe I’m just having a weird dream. We arrive in the grand hall that had the same character as the outside. We enter a much smaller room with two small couches facing a huge fireplace. Dad sits and I follow suit.

                “I bet you’re wondering a lot of things about everything. Hopefully this should clear up everything,” he says folding his hands into his lap. I nod and sit back a little; I have a feeling that this will take a while.

                “It all started when I was your age. Remember Grandma Annie? I used to go over to her house every other weekend. She would tell me these stories about this world called Grimm, and I always thought she made it up. One day, she took me into the basement and showed me her true form. She was an elder elf. She was beautiful, and I was terrified. She told me about her past and the gift she had passed down to me. I guess I’ve passed it down to you now. We are a special kind of people. We are Wanderers,” he says.

                “That’s what those creatures told me when I woke up here,” I say remembering.

                “Sophia and Daniel are like that. They always say too much before the time is right,” he laughs.

                “What are Wanderers? What do we do?” I ask cautiously.

                “Wanderers come back and forth between Grimm and other worlds and help to “keep the peace” as we say. That’s pretty much our code. “Servo pacis tamen servo pondera”, or “Keep the peace but keep the balance”. We’ve translated it into English since the Dark Ages,” he says crossing his legs and gesturing with his hands. Just then, Sophia and Daniel fly into the room.

                “Satraps, we have a bit of a problem,” Sophia says out of breath.

                “What is it Sophia?” Dad asks.

                “A flock of phoenixes has escaped from the blacksmith’s forge,” Sophia says with urgency,

                “We will need you at once,” Daniel buts in.

                “I’m on my way,” he says and they fly out of the room.

                “What did they call you?” I ask as Dad gets up.

                “Oh um… they called me Satraps. It’s Latin for ‘Ruler’. I’ll explain later,” he says blushing a little. He rushes out of the room, and on the way he grabs a crossbow and quiver. I follow after him. On one of the tables in the hall, I see a small dagger. I pick it up and tie the scabbard around my waist. Zipping up my sweatshirt to hide it, I run out the door. I see bursts of lights all around me.

                “The phoenixes,” I say to myself. They were amazing and so majestic. They were also creating chaos. They were flying around and creating bursts of heat and fire which led to buildings catching fire.

                “We need some help over here,” one of the creatures yells over the screeching. I run over and see an elf under a heavy beam.

                “Don’t worry. I’ll help you,” I say trying to push the beam off. I feel all the weight disappear and I look up. A troll has picked up the beam with one hand and sets it off to the side.

                “Thanks,” I say in a voice that I don’t recognize as my own. The creature nods and walks away, looking for more people to help. I suddenly remember the elf that was trapped. He stood up, with a little trouble, and looked at me. He had the same eyes as me and dark brown hair.

                “Hello,” I say. He nods and runs off to help the others. I run after him and see a phoenix trapped in some sort of net.

                “Help me,” I hear in my mind. I whirl around, looking for the speaker. Nobody made eye contact with me, so I concentrate on the phoenix.

                “Yes. I am the one who reached you,” the voice says again. I suddenly realize that it had to be the phoenix.

                “You are correct Sienna,” the phoenix says. I nod and concentrate on helping the phoenix.

                “You’re hurting her,” I yell over the commotion. Dad sees me in the crowd and looks over towards me. I try to send a message to all of the phoenixes and tell them to come back to the forge. Just then, the chaos quieted and all the phoenixes fly over to my friend and land. They all look at me, expecting another command.

                “Thank you,” I send and say out loud. They all take off and go towards a big black building, which must be the forge. I walk over to my friend and take out my dagger. Sawing away at the net, Dad comes over to me. He takes out his sword and helps me. After a little bit, my friend is free. She takes off and hovers above the ground about 30 feet.

                “Thank you Sienna. My name is Ruby and my clan thanks you,” she says to me. She flaps her wings and flies off toward the same black building. I watch her go, amazed by how beautiful she is. After she enters the building, I turn around. The entire crowd looks flabbergasted.

                “She’s a Phoenix Orator,” someone whispers. The crowd parts and an older woman comes forward.

                “Who is she?” I wonder to myself

                “She’s Dianna, the elder of Grimm,” Ruby says to me. It sounds like a tuned-out radio station though because she’s far away.

                “Sienna Orator. You will have many a journey across this land, your own, and many others before your end. Good luck Orator,” she says. Just then, she bursts into flames, just like the phoenixes, and is scattered in the wind. The crowd gasps, both in fear and in amazement. Then reality set in.

                “Now what?” I ask. Dad comes forward and takes my hand. He lifts it up like I’ve won a wrestling match.

                “Hail Sienna Price -- The Phoenix Orator,” Dad yells. The crowd responds with a “battle cry” type yell. I blush at all of the attention. Dad then leads me back to the white building. The crowd separates like before but with a new-found energy.  I look at all of the faces in the crowd. They all seem happy, but they also looked a little frightened. I scan the crowd and see the elven boy that I helped. My eyes widen as he looks up and smiles. His smile was like a new 100 watt bulb. His eyes glimmered and he disappeared into the shadows. I blink a few times, but he doesn’t return. Bewildered, I come back to what’s happening around me. We finally stop at the white building and Dad turns me around. He bows and turns to go into the building. I realize that I have to bow too. I bow, not very gracefully, and turn into the building. Dad shuts the main doors and turns to look at me.

                “We have a lot of talking to do,” he says ushering me into the same room we were in before.

                “I have one question first,” I say hesitant. He nods.

                “Who was that boy elf that disappeared when we were coming back?” I ask.

                “He’s Erro. He’s our messenger to the other Wanderers in other worlds,” Dad says sitting down on the couch.

                “Oh. I was just curious. He looked a little different than everyone else,” I say sitting down too.

                “He is. He just appeared here one day and he’s been a little bit of an outsider to the locals…but enough about that. We need to talk about you,” he says crossing his legs. I nod and he begins to tell me the history about past Orators.

                “It’s just remarkable that you have this gift. It has never been seen in humans. Ever. I was also surprised that Dianna openly spoke to you. She hasn’t made a public appearance in over 30 years. Dianna was the last Orator. She was part of the elven race, but she had a little human in her. I believe her mother was from elfish decent and her father was a human. Anyway, she started talking to Ignis, one of the older Phoenixes, when she was about 16. He told her so much on the history of Phoenixes that she grew to love them. So much in fact, remember how she exploded into flames? She asked Ignis to give her the gift of fire so she could try and live like them. She lived with the Phoenixes all her life and loved every minute of it. Until the very end, well, you saw how it happened. Usually Phoenixes are reborn from the ashes, but because Dianna wasn’t a Phoenix, she died and will never come back to us,” Dad says with a solemn look on his face. I had a feeling that he looked up to Dianna, even though she hadn’t been seen in 30 years.

                “Did she ever keep a journal of all of this stuff she was learning?” I ask.

                “It’s rumored that she kept a diary of everything Ignis told her. Nobody has ever seen it though. Maybe tomorrow we can go over to the forge and take a look around,” Dad says getting up again. Just then, I thought of something.

                “How long have we been gone?” I ask worried about Jessie.

                “Don’t worry. When we pass through, we make a copy of ourselves so that it doesn’t look like we ever left,” he says smiling. Just then, Sophia flies into the room.

                “I’ll take you to your room Sienna,” she says politely.

                “’Night hon. See you tomorrow. If you need anything, just call for Sophia,” he says giving me a hug, just like when I arrived at his house.

                “Good night Dad,” I say back. I don’t really hug him. I just put my arms around him and pat his shoulders. He lets go and leaves the room. Sophia gestures towards the door and we leave the room. We climb up the staircase and enter into a long hallway. She flies ahead of me and stops in front of a door. To my surprise, the door opens with no problem. My face must have shown my surprise because Sophia laughs a little.

                “Haven’t you ever read a fantasy novel? We fairies have magic silly,” she says almost giggling. I blush a little by my stupidity and then look into the room. It was amazing. The four poster bed had sheer curtains surrounding it like one a princess might have. The floor was plush carpet and the walls were painted a light blue. The window looked out to a glittering lake surrounded by trees on three sides. In front of the window was one of my favorite things.

                “A window seat! I’ve always wanted one,” I exclaim sitting down on the plush padding upholstered in a dark blue floral pattern. I smile a little, but I start to remember Jessie.

“She would love this room,” I think to myself. My thinking got interrupted by Sophia.

“We didn’t know that you were coming so naturally we don’t have anything of yours. There are however some clothes in the wardrobe that might fit you. There are some towels and things in the bathroom if you need them,” Sophia says rather formally.

“Thank you Sophia. You’ve been really nice to me since I’ve gotten here. I really hope that we can become friends,” I say really meaning it. I think that Sophia would be a really nice friend to have in Grimm.

“You’re welcome. I hope so too,” she giggles. She gives a little wave and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. I get up and walk over to the wardrobe. Opening it, I see that there isn’t any clothing from this century, maybe not even the century before that! I take out what seems to be a nightgown and carry it into the bathroom. I take off my dirty clothes and put on the nightgown. I get out of the bathroom and crawl into bed.

“Good night Ruby,” I send.

“Good night Sienna. Sleep well,” Ruby responds. Smiling, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

Prolog and Chapter 1

I always knew I was different. Not just “off the beaten path” different but “sees dead people” different. Don’t worry, I don’t see dead people. I see, however, two worlds at once. That’s right, parallel universes. There’s a name for me and my kind of people; we are called Wanderers. We flit back and forth between universes, sometimes without even knowing it! This is the true story on how I, Sienna Price, learned about my “gift”.

Chapter 1

                “Are we there yet?” my sister Jessie asks mom from the backseat. My mom, sister, and I are headed out to Dad’s place in New Jersey. Every summer, Jessie and I live at Dad’s while mom goes to her sister’s in New York. Dad and Mom had a really tough divorce, including the battle over Jessie and me. Mom won obviously, but we still see Dad during the summers and every other Christmas. I wish it was different, but that’s just how life is sometimes. Mom looks in the rear view mirror at us.

                “Not yet hon. A few more hours,” she says patiently. Jessie groans and looks out the window. Following suit, I look out my own window. I notice tiny glimmers of light coming from almost thin air.

                “It must be the reflection off the cars,” I thought.

                “Mommy, it’s our car,” Jessie says clapping and pointing out the window! Mom smiles at her from the mirror and laughs along with her. I look to see where Jessie pointed and gasped! It was almost like I was looking into a mirror. I was looking directly into the eyes of a girl who looked exactly like me! The car that Jessie pointed at held Mom, Jessie and me. I frantically looked around at Mom and Jessie. They looked like they didn’t see it at all! I looked back over and the scene changed. The “twins” changed into an older couple and a dog. I blink a few times, trying to erase what I saw. I looked back as the car speeds away. I rack my brain for some logical explanation for what I just saw. I finally came up with lack of sleep and didn’t think about it again.

                After a long eight hours, we arrive at Dad’s. I hop out of the car and stretch my sore legs. Mom gets out from behind the wheel and unbuckles Jessie’s car seat; she’s only six. I take a look around our home for the next three months. It’s a nineteenth century Victorian painted lavender and white. The house backs up to a large field with woods beyond. A dock juts out of the shore into the lake a half mile away. It sounds like a fairy tale doesn’t it? It always seems peaceful, but I always have a bad feeling about this place. Just then, the door to the house opens and out steps my father. He and Jessie look a lot alike, but I have his unique eyes. His eyes are a greenish blue, and they seem to change color depending on his mood.

                “Hey Jessie,” dad says hoisting Jessie into the air. She squeals with delight as Dad swings her around. She finally lands and Dad comes over to me. He hugs me hard and I reluctantly hug back. As I grew into adolescence, Dad and I grew farther apart. I’m 16 now, and I feel like Dad’s a million miles away. He grabs our bags and lugs then into the house. Jessie runs up to her room as Mom and Dad talk quietly in the kitchen. I don’t eavesdrop anymore because there isn’t anything worth hearing. I walk to the back of the house, out the screen door, and onto the back porch. I sit on the bench and swing with the wind. The sun warms my face as I close my eyes. As I drift off, I feel like someone, or something is watching me.

Tune in soon for Chapter 2!