Tomb of Emotions

Emotion Bank - Chapter 2

Still kind of confused, I make my way back to my village. I walk through the magical leaves that keep us hidden from the naked eye.

    "You're finally home!" Bri came running towards me with open arms.

    She wraps me in a tight hug as I sweep her off her feet and spin her around. She's 8 years old so it isn't that hard.

    "I thought you said you would be home by 9," Bri pouts while crossing her arms.

    I stoop down to her level. "Sometimes things come up but-"

    I reach into my pocket. "Look what I caught."

    I show her the glowing emotion as it buzzes around the bottle.

    "Ooh!" Brie's eyes light up as bright as the emotion. "Where did you find it?"

    "Funny enough, it was on top of a rooftop."

    "What a lucky find! You should show Desirae!"

    Bri pulls on my hand and leads me into the village. All the villagers we pass by give us their greetings while they continue running their shops or caring for their children. I wish they were saying hi to me but all the smiles were pointed toward Bri. If they did look at me, all I saw was hatred and pity.

    We finally made it to the emotion bank.

    "Desirae! Look what Avery brought back!" Bri's voice rang throughout the building.

    Desirae's curly black hair poked out from under the counter that separated the customers and the employees.

    "Give me a second." Desirae's energetic voice fills me with a sense of relief.

Desirae was my first and only friend my age. We went to the same mage prep school, we lived with each other for a while and all we've ever had were each other. Both outcasts of our community. It's not like we did anything wrong. Just unlucky I guess.

"Okay!" Desirae pops up and her dreadlocks of purple hair bounce. "What did you get?"

I take the bottle and give it to Desirae.

"OOOH!" she gleams. "What a great catch!"

She snatches it out of my hands, pushes her round glasses back on her nose, and examines it.

"In great condition too. Here is your payment."

She handed me a bag filled with Chia without looking away from the emotion.

    I open the bag and inside were 15 Chias. A smile plasters on my face. That will be enough money to last me a month. I'm used to getting common emotions like happiness, sadness, and even frustration. But this is the first uncommon emotion I had found.

    "So are you going to celebrate?" Bri asks, expectantly.

    "I guess we could go over to Neptune and order some pizza," I respond.

    "Wait!" Desirae says. "I forgot...The Prophecy wants to speak with Avery. It's probably another mission."

"What?" Bri whined. "But she just got back..."

"It's okay, Bri." I kneel and smile at Bri. "As soon as I get back, I'll take you out somewhere. I'll get us something nice."

Bri gives me a sad but understanding nod.

I stand up and wave goodbye to Desirea who gives me an apologetic look. I make my way to the temple that shadows our community. The place where your fate is decided at 16. Everyone believes the Prophecy sees all. That's why we rely on it so much. It can say you will accomplish greatness or at least accomplish something. In very rare occurrences, it'll tell you that you won't accomplish anything. That's what happened to Desirae. 5 years ago she stood before the mighty Prophecy, just to be told she is worthless. On top of that, her family disowned her and forced her to either leave the village or work in the emotion bank. That was a very low point in her life. I had never seen her so devastated. Everyone at the bank has living quarters and that's what they are stuck doing for the rest of their lives.

Before that, I lived with her and her parents. Her mom seemed so sweet. Then, when Desirae saw the prophet, it seemed like she replaced her daughter with me. I moved out immediately. I couldn't believe she could do that to her own daughter. I wasn't allowed to live in the emotion bank so I usually slept at the back of it. Desirae gave me a blanket and we would talk all the time. She told me she was done being sad. She is going to prove the Prophecy wrong. From there on out, she has always been cheerful and doesn't let anything get her down.

I climb up the final steps. The temple greets me with eerie sounds and damp air. I walk up to the statue that resembles a human owl. Unlit candles line the walls. When I am face to face with the statue I get on my knees and bow. The ground starts shaking and all of the candles light with fire.

"Who disturbs the great and powerful owl?"

The shaking makes cracks in the rock. The dust and debris falls all around me.

"Avery Ellis. Desirae says you called for me..."

Then the shaking stops.

"Oh, Avery. Please stand."

I slowly move to my feet. The statue is now glowing a light blue from its eyes and mouth.

"Your next task is as follows. You will retrieve the deadliest emotion of all. Hatred. Do this and you will be rewarded 100 Chia."

My eyes widen. 100 Chia? I could get 100 Chia? This is unreal. I try to keep the excitement off of my face.

"I won't let you down." I stand up straight, turn on my heel, and walk out of the temple.

As soon as I was out of the prophecies, I started skipping to the exit. I can't believe I got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Even though I was deemed a savior by the prophecy, it seemed like the difficulties of my tasks were like everyone else. I guess this was what the prophet was waiting for.

When I got to the exit, I saw Paris heading out.

"Hey!" I call after him.

He turns and smiles. "Hey, Avery. What's up?"

"Nothing much except for the fact, I am about to go after an emotion worth 100 Chia!"

"100!?" There was a mixture of excitement and disbelief on Paris's face. "How are you going to manage that?"

"Wow. I'm glad you have so much confidence in me," I roll my eyes.

"You know what I mean," Paris emphasizes. Then a frown crept upon his face. "You aren't going to miss my ceremony...are you?"

Crap, I totally forgot. Paris is about to turn 16 so that means he's about to get his reading from the prophet.

"That's tomorrow...right?"

Paris nods his head somberly.

"You did promise," he reminds me.

"Don't worry. I'll be there. You know I never break my promises." It's true. I find a way to keep them, one way or another.

"Okay. I trust you." We linked pinkies and shook our hands to agree.

"I'll see you when I get back." I wave to Paris as I begin my journey of defeating the hatred emotion.