Fire Heart

Chapter 5: Questions

Everyone stared at Zoey, she just sat there, eyes wide. Weird purple-red smoke appeared where the marshmallow used to be. Vaguely in the smoke, you could see the word, Vesteria, No one knew what it meant. Until Luke pulled out his phone and looked it up,
"Psst, Zoey. Vesteria means Daughter of Fire,"
Zoey made no sign of life, she was still staring at the word...wondering where she had seen it before...

The bus trip back to town was ok nearly everyone forgot about the exploding marshmallow, which in Zoey's case, was a great thing. When the bus pulled into the bus bay, everyone's parents were waiting outside. Zoey walked off the bus, waved to Luke, and went home with her mum. She tried to stay quiet, Zoey didn't want to accidentally mention the marshmallow and the weird smoke.

As the family were eating dinner, Mr Croft asked Zoey,
"Did anything interesting happen on camp?" Zoey fiddled with her fork,
"Nope, not really," Her parents knew she was lying, even Jake looked at her with concern.
"Zoey, what's up?" Her brother asked, Zoey looked up, but not at anyone, just at the wall, then she spoke,
"My Marshmallow exploded..." Zoey's parents smiled,
"That's normal sweetie," Her mum said.
Zoey stood up, and looked her parents right in the eyes,
"You didn't let me finish! My marshmallow exploded! And, Vesteria, appeared. I looked that up. It means Fire Child! Is there something you aren't telling me?!?"
Her parents tried to stay calm,
"Sweetie, calm down." Her dad said, but it was too late, Zoey was already running upstairs.

Once in her room, Zoey locked the door and called Luke,
"Hey, it's Zoey, is it ok if we meet at the library tomorrow? I need your help with something," and before Luke could reply, she hung up.

Zoey tried to sleep, but she kept having that same dream from the night of the carnival. With the crib, and the green smoke, and fire... Zoey woke up suddenly. Breathing heavily.
calm down Zoey! It was just a dream, calm down...

When Zoey woke up in the morning, she ran downstairs and straight out the door. She bolted down the the library.
"Hey Luke," Zoey said as she walked in the door,
"Hey, Zoey. What is it you need help with?" Zoey lead Luke to the back of the library, so not to be heard,
"Remember when I helped you with your dad?" Luke nodded,
"Well now I need your help, I want to know more about my family."
Luke stared at her for a moment. Zoey, seeing the confusion on his face piped up,
"I know my parents aren't my parents!"
"what makes you say that?" Luke asked worriedly, Zoey sat down in a chair next to him,
"It all started the day of the carnival..."
Zoey explained everything to Luke, the strange woman, the sudden heat, and the dreams. Luke stood up,
"Ok, something weird is going on, the carnival thing could have been a coincidence, but the dreams and the marshmallow. That has to mean something."
Zoey nodded at him,
"I'm going to help you Zoey! After all, if we don't find out what's going on, people might get hurt."

They spent most of the morning in the library, looking at books about; inheritance, witchcraft, stuff like that. Zoey had been looking near the back section, where all the fantasy books were kept.
"Hey Luke! Look what I found!" She placed the book on a table,
The legend of Vesteria. Luke sat down next to the book
"This might have the answers we're looking for," he said cheerily.
Zoey opened the book.

The legend of Vesteria is a story passed down from the ancients, it all started when an evil witch Merida came to an old kingdom. The village folk thought she was just a passerby, she performed simple tricks for entertainment. But the King and Queen could tell something was off...They decided to speak with the village psychic, and this is what she said
"This person you call Merida will bring great pain to the village, and there is only one person to stop her! In 150 years a princess will be born. Her name will be Vesteria daughter of fire. She will harness the power of the dragon, and defeat Merida!"
The King and Queen went back to the castle and wrote down everything the psychic had said. The parchment has been passed down from generation to generation. Each King and Queen waiting for the time, the time of fire, and Merida has been banished from the kingdom ever since.

Zoey and Luke stared at each other.
"Zoey, you don't think, that Vesteria could be you?" Luke asked, Zoey shrugged, "I don't know, it could be possible that-" she was cut off by the Librarian,
"Are you going to borrow that book?" She asked, Zoey stood up,
"Sorry Miss Crompton, we were just researching some stuff for...school," She handed Miss Crompton the book,
"Really? What subject would need you to look up old folk legends?" Miss Crompton smirked,
"Zoey, what are you really up to?" Zoey sighed,
"It's a long story...Is there a chance that, the legend of Vesteria, could be true?" Miss Crompton contemplated this for a moment,
"You read this book, yes?" Zoey and Luke nodded,
"Well, clearly this is an old story, and the parchment has never been found, it's just an old tale," Miss Crompton said.
Zoey sighed miserably, Luke put his hand on her shoulder,
"Don't worry Zoey, we'll figure this out, trust me."

Zoey started to pack up all the books they had pulled out earlier, Luke went to go help when Miss Crompton went over to talk to him,
"You like this girl, yes?" Luke fount this question very sudden, but he told the truth anyway,
"yes, I do."
Miss Crompton smiled,
"Give her this," she reached into the pocket of her jacket, and handed Luke a folded up piece of paper, tied up with some string.
"Trust me, she will be happy," Miss Crompton then rushed off back to the from of the library.

Luke walked back over to Zoey and handed her the paper,
"The librarian told me to give this to you, I don't know what it is though..."
Zoey looked confused, she untied the string and unfolded the paper. Zoey started for a moment, then squealed,
"What is it, Zoey?" Luke took the piece of paper. He too, was excited, Zoey hugged him, and he hugged her back, they stood there for a while. Luke though Miss Crompton was right... He read back over the paper

One day, a princess with be born, her name will be Vesteria. And she will harness the power of the dragon flame, to destroy Merida once and for all...