Submerged: The Earth's Remains

Chapter 17

Chapter XV
Hallucinations

~After the last 4 battles~

Evening

Serena's POV

A loud angry scream fills the air as Serena kicks the metal fence with her leather boots, making a shuffled clang. Similar to a ritual, Serena kicks the fence repeatedly, trying to get rid of her anger. The ocean breeze hits Serena, calming her down slightly as she slopes to the ground, gripping on to her hair roughly.

The sun begins to set behind her as she leans onto the fence placed on the tall wall protecting the whole country. For some reason, the wall at the border patrol was her favorite place to go as no one visited that place, creeped out by the rumors of students dying in battle.

"Fuck this... I was carried during that battle. That's so fucking stupid." She punches the wall, bruising herself in the process.
Lifting up her hand, she admires the blood coming down from her knuckles.

"You're all talk and no do." With a sarcastic voice, she mocks Xyra and her whole team, talking to herself.

"She's basically saying I'm weak. I'm not weak, I can't be weak. I'm the fucking ring leader of the stupid school." She thinks about Lunar, her face going dark slightly.

"How could you embarrass yourself like that in front of your teammates? You're so weak."
A familiar voice rings in Serena's head. Quickly, she looks up and notices someone very familiar. Someone she wished she was dead.

"F-Father? What are you doing here?" Hurryingly, she stands up, trying to hide her fear in front of her father. She bites her lip, trying to feel a different feeling than fear.

"How could you tarnish our family name?!? I thought I beat you hard enough to show you that weakness is unacceptable."

"I didn't mean to... We still won though!" Hesitantly, she says, trying to persuade her father.

"You're such a fucking failure as a child. Come here, I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget." Suddenly, he comes closer to Serena with a demeaning manner. He becomes bigger and taller by the second, overpowering Serena. With his hand, he lifts up a whip as he gradually comes closer to Serena.

"STOP!" Using all her voice, she screams, dropping to the floor, on her knees, defeated. Serena hugs herself on the floor, looking extremely vulnerable.

"Why are you screaming?" Quickly turning around, she notices Phoenix behind her, questioning her. Serena looks back to her now disappeared father.

It was an illusion? What the fuck?!? Are my magic abilities going against me?!

"N-Nothing." Crossing her arms, she quickly returns to her normal self, looking at Phoenix with an indifferent facial expression.

"What are you even doing here?" Defensively she says, raising her voice.

"None of your business." Phoenix says with an expressionless face. Suddenly, she bends down and picks something up from the floor.

"Found it." After completing her task, she immediately walks away, not wanting to associate with Serena. Growing smaller and smaller, she soon disappears as she returns to school.

"MY GOD, THIS COULDN'T BE ANY BETTER!" Once again, she shouts, kicking the fence. Breathing heavily from losing stamina, Serena looks up to notice the sky almost turning dark. The last traces of light begin to disappear, being replaced by stars.

Ugh, the patrol is starting. At least I don't have to do it since I'm participating in the competition.

After having a rough day, Serena decides to return to her dorm with Xyra unwillingly.