Vitae

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Mia had seen pictures of The Soul Gallery many times, but she had never been inside of it. She had seen hundreds of pictures of the building, but compared to her pictures, it was gold. The polished marble floor was flawless, shining in the light. Tall pillars went from the floor all the way up to the arched ceiling. A mural showing Anima of all species. Wolves danced, deer pranced, eagles soared, and lions roared. The river in the mural was so much like the Liquidus that Mia thought that she felt that a magical barrier was keeping it from drenching everyone in the room. There were velvety chairs and a marble coffee table with magazines of all sorts on top. "Wait here," Michelle told Mia and she sat down in one of the comfortable chairs, sighing as the softness of the chair made her feel like she was floating.

Mia hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep until she was woken up by Michelle. "Come on," she whispered, not wanting to interrupt the other waiting men and women. Mia stood up and she and Michelle walked, guided by a receptionist, to a tall door, their shoes making an annoying clicking noise with each step. The receptionist paused when they reached the door and smiled. "Only Mia is allowed back there." Michelle nodded and gave Mia a final hug before leaving to the waiting room again. The receptionist, her name tag had Elizabeth inscribed into it, opened the large door and Mia walked in, her palms sweaty and her legs like gel. "Just wait here and the Oracle shall be here in only a few minutes. Good luck, Mia," Elizabeth said warmly before leaving the room.

Three minutes had passed when the door opened again. Mia turned around to face the Oracle. She looked nothing like what Mia had thought she would. The woman was young, possibly in her early thirties. Her long black hair was up in a loose bun and her eyes were a cold silvery blue, contrasting with the warmth in her smile. "Hello Amelia. I'm here to bond you with your Anima," she said, her voice like honey, dripping with sweetness and warmth. The Oracle began walking across the smaller version of the waiting room to another door, much like the one she had just come from. "Are you ready?" She asked and Mia nodded. The Oracle smiled and opened the second door.

This room was nothing compared to the first two Mia had been shown. Stone floors replaced the marble, but the marble walls remained. There were Anima everywhere, waiting to be bonded. A family of three cheetahs ran about, as if they were playing tag. A mare and her foal watched the game from their stall with cautious eyes, hoping that the danger stayed on the opposite side of their stall door. A small pool, homing schools of koi and other types of fish, was surrounded by small, potted palm trees and an assortment of tropical flowers. A white tiger, huge and beautiful, jumped down to Mia and the Oracle, purring like a small kitten. "This is Solomon, my Anima," she introduced and the tiger nodded. Mia smiled and pet the huge animal's head. "He's beautiful," she whispered and the Oracle nodded. "I know."

Mia and the Oracle stopped when they reached an empty room, filled with only a small fire pit and two black cushions to sit on. The Oracle sat down on her cushion first and Mia followed, sitting across from her with her legs crossed. Solomon handed the Oracle something and she used it to start a small fire, illuminating the room. "Look into the fore, Mia," the Oracle whispered with her enchanting voice and Mia obeyed. She saw images in the fire that looked like past memories. She soon found herself tired and she fell backwards. Her head was caught by, what felt like, Solomon's tail so that she didn't get hurt. She struggled to stay awake, but the spells she was under were stronger. She gave herself up to the darkness and fell asleep.

She opened her eyes again in a dream. Golden waves of grain surrounded her and the sun shone brightly in the sky, not a single cloud. A loud clap of thunder sounded throughout the small field. Mia shook her head. "Impossible. There's no lightning," she told herself and began to look around. A loud roar was heard and she ran towards it, only knowing that the animal was hurt.

She made it to a small clearing with no grain to see a lion, three times as big as herself, with a hole in it's chest. Mia felt no fear as she rushed to the lion observing the wound. The lion growled, scarred and threatening to fight if she touched him. She did anyways, trying to see if she could make him better. The lion snapped it's powerful jaws near her head, but Mia still felt no fear, only pity. There was no way she could save this lion. "I'm sorry," she whispered and wrapped her arms around the neck of the huge creature in a hug.

The scene in front of her disappeared in a cloud of mist and was replaced with the living room of Michelle's home. A crying was heard from upstairs and Mia followed the sound to Ava and Raina's room. There, she found a sobbing Ava, laying on her bed with her signature purple whale. "Aves, what's wrong?" Mia asked as she sat down next to her. "Mary said that I won't get adopted," she sobbed. Mia sighed and kissed her head. "Of course you will. We're all gonna be adopted so that we can be happy." Ava sniffled and looked up into Mia's eyes with her red, puffy ones. "Promise?" Mia nodded. "I promise." Mia smiled and hugged her foster sister tightly. "Now lets go build a fort," she said, knowing that it was Ava's favorite thing to do with her. Ava smiled and hugged Mia. "Thanks for making me happy, Mia!" The small girl squeaked. "Anytime, Ava."

Ava and the room disappeared in the same mist as before and was replaced with a whole lot of darkness. "What?" Mia asked herself as she bounced around. She tried to move her hands, but all she felt was rope. Realizing the situation, she screamed, "let me go!" She was in the back of a moving van, being kidnapped or something like that. She shook her head a lot to get the loose blindfold down off of her eyes. She then looked around the van for something to cut the rope with. All she saw was another girl across from her, blindfolded and tied up like she was. "Hey! Wake up!" She yelled and the girl's head popped up. "Where are we?!" She screamed and Mia shook her head. "I'm not sure, but you have to shake your head to get the blindfold off. It isn't on very tight." The other girl listened to Mia's instructions and shook the blindfold down off of her eyes. She looked into Mia's blue eyes with her golden brown ones, fear filling her irises. "I'll untie your ropes and you'll have to untie mine, okay? I'm getting us out of here."

After they were both untied, Mia opened the truck door to see dirt roads and plain, grassy fields. They were far from Michelle's home. "Okay, we're gonna have to jump. You won't get hurt, I promise." Mia said and the girl looked at her. "Are you crazy? We're gonna die!" She yelled and Mia shook her head. "No we aren't. We won't get hurt I promise. Just jump when I tell you too, okay?" Mia looked into the girl's eyes, hoping that she would trust her. After some hesitation, she nodded and Mia smiled.

"Okay, now!" Mia yelled as the van turned and they could reach a patch of grass. They both jumped at the same time, landing in grasses without a single scratch. The girl looked around and smiled. "We're okay!" She yelled and Mia stood up. "We have to run. They'll come back once they realize we're gone and we have to be as far away as possible. Okay?" The girl nodded and the two girls began to ran. "My name's Mia, by the way." She said and began to run a little faster. "Mines Ariel." Mia nodded and continued running.

They only stopped twice. Once to get water and the second when they got to a town. "Help!" They screamed in the silent night. A few lights turned on and people came out to see what all the noise was. A police officer came out and ran to the two girls. "What is it? We'll help you." He said with a smile. "We need to get home," Mia told him, out of breath. He nodded and he disappeared in a mist like the previous dreams.

A sudden fire-like pain seared in her mind, but she was paralyzed. Images from her childhood flashed before her mind, some of them she remembered as if they happened just before she fell asleep, while others were foreign to her, she didn't remember. The ones that stuck out were ones in which she made others happy, situations in which she showed no fear, and times she didn't stop to get back to her home. Everything dissolved in the, now familiar, mist, but this time she woke up.

"Hello, Mia. Do you hurt anywhere? Do you need some time to rest before we go to meet your Anima?" The Oracle asked, breaking Mia out of her dream-like state. Mia shook her head and quickly stood up. Yes, she was in pain, but she wanted to meet her Anima more than anything. The Oracle smiled and stood as well, Solomon standing with her. "Then let's go."

Woo! Two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll with my chocolate milk! I hope you liked this chapter! Comment your opinion and anything I could fix!
Thanks~~