Chapter 1

There she was laying down on the warm-bronze sand of a deserted beach. The bright yellow sun shined over the horizon of the waters by the west coast of Africa. The wind roughly pushed the great waves and they crashed against the shore. Not only did it push the waves; she tumbled over and woke up.

"Aah!," she groaned," What's this?"

Her entire body was full of wounds, cuts, and bruises. It seemed as if she had been in a long fight and that was just the aftermath. A ghastly, looking at her bloody arms, she realized the grey best she had been wearing was correspondingly dirty, muddy and bloody.

She looked forward. A wooden bow was lying on the ground; but no arrows. She grabbed it. Immediately dragging herself towards the sea. She looked intently at her reflection; then washed the blood off her arms with the salty clear water. It kinda hurt. Her palms made a bowl like-shape and she drank water from it. A great feeling. A rushing river submerges a dry land, quenching it with a wet sensation.

The only thing keeping her alive at this point was the view. Everything else was quite insipid. She stood firmly watching the aquatic fists harass the shore; an endless blue abyss. The thing that made it more idyllic was the taciturnity of the atmosphere.

"what did I do to deserve this?" she began to cry," I don't know what's wrong with me."

She went on," Father_I need your help, show me the way back home:the correct path, I need your guidance, I need to know you and your voice."

* 30 minutes later*

Hopelessly crying and waiting for the 'miracles suddenly realized those were the only things she could do. I mean what else could a young girl do in this situation?

She grabbed her head.

"Aah!" she shouted with every breath in her lungs," What's happening?"

Like leprosy who had just heard a coun fall, her ears began to tingle. A thousand voices were whispering into her ears. Her vision becomes blurry: she could see two oceans.

Despite her attempts to close her ears, the voices murmured on. It was almost as if she was on the busiest street in town on a Saturday morning. People flow like a rushing river and move not caring about others' health. She could picture it. That just made It worse for her. Her skin became russet.

The continued. However, one overshadowed the others; a toneless-taut voice which evoked a lot of pride as it said ever so clearly 'walk.'

Her heart shook. Also her spin. Her skin was drenched with a plentiful of goosebumps, her eyes widened and the hair on her skin stood firmly.

"What, what do you want from me_," she was cut off.

It whispered slowly," Your life."There was a slight pause and the tension thrived," look around vi, there's no point of you wasting your time for. some miracle to happen…for once in your life Violeta_take matters into your own hands."

She felt a hand touch her chin, forcing her to look forward; towards an intense sea.

It went on," Your a smart girl, aren't you? But don't I'll give you time to decide. Make a wise choice.

The voice faded into a crowd of more, getting louder and louder. Indeed she was aghast but the pain her head invoked fell from the loud voices hurt when more. The voices were of different tones.

She gasped.

It became so clear to her now…the voices weren't just talking, they were taunting her. Some tears fell from her eyes; not only from the pain in her head but the one in her heart. She couldn't properly get a sentence from them but she could get an idea of what they were saying. Making fun of her appearance, unmet expectations, mistakes, and everything in between.

The original voice said," You see, you are nothing in a perfect world, the only problem Chikori has and the only thorn in a garden," the voice shifts into a slow whisper," You know what you have to do."

She looked up. Straight towards the rushing waters and the voice's first words ran through her ears 'walk'. She picked herself up and began to walk straight towards the sun; deep in the ocean. As serious as an android her face portrayed no emotion. Despite the tears that slowly ran down her cheek.

The water became warm. It was now up to her neck. She pushed her leg up for another step. It fell back. She now stood watching the waves. It was her having second thoughts.

"Why did you stop?" A familiar sound evoked," I thought you were smarter than this. There's no point in stopping now, come and be with me."

Those words move about her. She still didn't move.

"Water does not resist, water flows. Remember you are half water if you can't go through this problem around. Water does and so should you." the voice finished and vanished.

The water now raised under her lips. Giant waveforms and drives toward her.

" Let the ocean take me."

A final tear dripped from her eye and she smirked. Showing signs of bombastic behaviour about to occur. Confidently taking another step and it carried her.

The waves were like trampling horses against her brown skin and when she let them take over, things began to feel a little blank. Her sense came to be dull and it tightly wrapped her in a suffocating embrace. It was a paralyzing event.

She let out into the water," Thank you." unexpectedly, she felt the last stand of air leaves her lungs. Her eyes closed. Was this what death felt? like: a tight submission of a dark and cold embrace shatters the soul of her body. Was it? No, it wasn't.

A strong breath of cold air forced its way into her lungs. The breath of life, also the sight of reality.

"it was a dream," she sighed as she exhaled sharply with relief.

There she was, laying on her bed, looking up at the white ceiling thinking about what she had just done. Hugging the white fibre, trying to warm her body, trying to forget his cold embrace.

I need water. She slowly went down the brown-wooden stairs into a dark void by the kitchen table. Skillfully walking all stealth-like trying to avoid waking her parents up. The lights went on.

"What is that?" she asked herself. Pressing her back against the wall.

Hero Cement was agile. When she reached the arch leading into the kitchen, she slowly bent to see who was inside. Her parents.

"Violeta, honey what are you doing out of bed?" she asked.

Violeta replied,", sorry if am interrupting but I just wanted to get some water."

" no problem dear," her father answered," Mom can even come tuck you in after this."

"Thank you but I find there is no need for that," she nervously rejected the offer and drank the water, "good night."

She left.

"somethings wrong with her, maybe I should go check on her," her mother told the husband.

" Don't worry Nakkia she's alright," her husband. said," And if she isn't, we should give her time to think about it, she's growing up."

He picked a small strand other her hair and placed it gently behind her ear. When he touched the warm skin on her neck, he felt a strong spark in his hand.

Themba, her loving husband, was the general commander and leader of Azio(Chikoris defence force). He later became one of the most respected people in the land. His wife, Nakkia was also part of the defence force, but the leader of a female group called the milage.

She held his hand and slowly pulled away as she said," I'll go anyways," and kissed his cheek.

Nakkia closed the door to exit the house. She watched her daughter stare at the eternal dark canvas freckled with a million white droplets of paint. She walked up to her.

"you know, I always wanted to fly. Fly through the most beautiful painting God ever made. Fly through an icy wasteland with the stars and enjoy the wind's touch on my hair. I became verynecrophilica because of my desire for darkness. And I feel you inherited that from me. Tell me, Violeta," she walked closer to her daughter, "what's wrong?"

"It's nothing Mother," Violeta thought to choose her words wisely, "I just can't sleep."

"Been there, Hope this helps," she spoke out.

Nakkia was now right behind her, then gave a strong hug from behind. Warm and strong. A necklace appeared on Violeta. It was gold chained with an emerald piece at the centre concealed with gold vines.

" A mother and daughter bond is a very powerful one, never forget that. One day won't be here to serve for Chikori-make me proud."

They both stood in silence.

"When you miss me just look up to the night sky and remember, I'm like a star. Sometimes you can't see. me but I'm always there," Nakkia spoke and left.

Nakkia walked into the house to see her husband still in the kitchen.

"What are we going to do, what are we going to do, what are we going to do!" he bashed the table with his hand as he broke into a cry. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. Immediately he felt nervous.

"We're in this together," he heard in the most concerned and sweet voice.

He turned his head.

"We have to tell her," he said.

"I don't think it's time," Nakkia disagreed.

"We need to tell her what's happening Nakkai! Not only are we putting ourselves in danger but Violeta and the entire Chikori might fall because of us," he angrily expressed himself.

"Tomorrow, we will be her," she replied.

The two walked down the corridor hand on the shoulder towards their bedroom, as Violeta stared intently at them.

"Tell me what?"