Eyes of White 2

Chapter 2: Finally into the Black Room

**Can you remember at the start of Eyes of White 1 there was a black room that Persephone could barely see? Well now we get to see what the black room even is! I meant to put it in Eyes of White 1 but I didn't have the chance. So here it is now!**

"No, Persephone, no!"

Zania's hands flew up in frustration as Persephone made yet another mistake in her water-twisting. "You're supposed to turn the tide! It's simple water-bending!"

Persephone shook her head and tugged off her virtual reality helmet.

That's right. Virtual Reality Helmet.

One of Zania's Gifts was Technology. She had amazing ways with computers, and had hot-wired her microwave, phone, toaster, and all other appliances to warn her when one of the four wards protecting Queenstown from The Evil had broken. She had even made an army of great robots she used when all else failed.

So, virtual reality helmet? No biggie.

Zania tugged her helmet off too. "Don't give up now. You are the only Queenstown Warden in a generation after me now. Tammy and Regina left to help in other towns, where Wardens are already battling. You must master each Gift and all of their Tributaries."

Persephone had recently discovered that her Communication gift had two Tributaries. One of them was Protection, the ability to prevent The Evil from getting into an animal's mind and soul, and the other Tributary was Illusion. Illusion meant she could cast a special charm over objects and animals, which meant that all other beings would see them doing one thing, something that she controlled, whilst it was actually doing something else. It was quite rare for someone to have two Tributaries stretched over two Gifts, and rarer still was it to have three. Persephone was special.

Persephone sighed and pulled her helmet back onto her head, envisioning a "Plains Zoo" - one where all of the animals roamed free. Soon she was there, and Zania was by her side.

"Okay, so now we're focusing on your Communication Gift? Well, go up to that elephant and ask it where the nearest peanuts are."

Persephone walked over to the elephant and smiled at it. "Hello," she said, but she could hear it in English, so she sank her mind down, into an elephant's perspective, and tried again. "Hello."

At this, the elephant looked up. "Oh, hello! You are not an elephant!" was what it actually said, but Persephone heard it like, "Hello. Elephant not you not I."

Persephone shook her head and tried again. She meant to say, "What was that?" but instead she said, "Cars are fast?"

The elephant said a very simple term, "Yes, they are."

"I ask 'What was that' and you answer with 'Yes they are'?" Persephone was careful to differentiate between 'Cars are fast' and 'What was that'.

The elephant nodded. "Sorry, you aren't very fluent, are you?"

"No."

"Alright. Did you want to ask something?" it said very slowly.

"Yes," Persephone replied, equally as slow, "where are the nearest peanuts?"

"Oh, they're-"

The virtual world flickered and switched off, Persephone's ears filled by a woman's voice saying, "Mission completed."

Zania nodded haughtily. "Thank you, Persephone. One hour of free-time is yours."

Persephone smiled and walked over to the virtual world programmer, where she tapped in, 'Begin programming: Virtual War Game.'

Zania smiled and sat in a chair nearby, her helmet still on, just so she could watch her granddaughter have fun in a virtual world.

Soon, Zania left to go and make lunch, and Persephone was alone. She tiptoed over to the programmer and typed the words,' Begin programming: Time With Penelope.'

The virtual world changed. Persephone was now on the beach, and she was laughing, along with a girl who was running away up ahead. Persephone didn't start running. First she had to see this girl's face.

The girl stopped. "Aren't you coming, Sis?" She turned, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and Persephone saw her face. Tears began to well in Persephone's eyes. She knew that face. That face would never be forgotten.

The face of Penelope.

**So nothing really happened in this chapter, except we learnt that Persephone has 3 Tributaries over 2 Gifts (extremely rare) and that inside the black room there was a virtual reality thingy.

Oh, and we can't forget that we found out that Persephone can't speak Elephant (lol).

Next chapter we'll see how Persephone is coping with her mother's death and her sister's disappearance. We'll also see how Mel's doing as the new Living Ward. Here's a preview to the next chap!

Persephone's heart raced. What had her grandma just said?

School. Real, mortal school.

Not in Queenstown, but in another weak point with four wards called Portland.

"You'll have to go under an alias. Your new name is Tara. For this year you'll need to live in Portland's neighbour town, Scarborough. I've created some extremely human-like robots to be your parents. You will have to travel an hour to get to Scarborough but it's only half-an-hour to Portland."

Whoa! New town! New persona! New life!**