The Eyes of the Dark

Five.

Training is back on and it's been hard the last few days. Every day we learn more about combat fighting and now we have started to learn how to fight with powers. Which is way harder than I thought. Max and Cedric have taught us how to make shields and rings of fire to defend ourselves. We have learned that every power can have a defensive and offensive mode, you just have to learn how to use it. The offensive mode is using your powers to fight but if I use my fire it would not burn them. Defensive mode requires burning when you fight. Since we are practicing on our teammates, we use the offensive mode. I find it hard for me to fight with offensive mode, knowing that fire and blend of three other powers fights to come out from under my skin. I asked Kim what she thinks of offensive mode and she seems to like it. Says it comes naturally to her. So, I guess it's just me.

Almost every day, Kim and I go to the library and read. She claims it's therapeutic. While she reads fairy tales and fiction stories I read about the Blue and yellow powers. I study how they use their powers and what their everyday looks like. I secretly wish Dale placed me as Blue with them rather than the Red. At least I wouldn't be training all day, but instead learning and growing plants and creating water sculptures. The Reds have no purpose. We are trained like soldiers only to be useless in the end. We might as well be trained to guard like Yellows. I mean why are we really here? Who are we fighting? What's the point? Maybe we are just an army waiting for an opportunity to fight.

I am torn from my thoughts when Ava drops her medal tray in front of me. I raise an eyebrow and glare at her. We haven't spoken since my outburst at her last week. Yet she keeps coming back. Part of me wonders if she considers Kim and I her friends.

"Can we help you?" I sneer. She rolls her eyes.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight." I don't believe her for a second.

"So, what are you here for?" Kim asks.

"To give you some valuable information." We stare her down, waiting for her to speak. "Apparently the princes are gone today. We are on our own today." Ava picks at her food as she says this. I silently thank heaven above for them being gone. I get to work on my own powers today.

"Gone? Gone where?" I am the first to ask. Ava picks up her fork.

"Bride shopping," she says in a monotonous voice.

"I wouldn't call that valuable information," Kim murmurs under her breath. Ava slowly puts the fork in her mouth. I glance at Kim who has dropped her mouth slightly. Ava looks at Kim.

"Well, it was going to happen at some point, Kim. They were never going to go for you." Ava says in a pitiful voice. Kim shakes her head.

"That's not it. I'm just a little surprised, I mean I would think Queen Joanna would try to push off her son's marriage until the last possible second. She's like the devil herself, I can't believe she would just hand it over that quickly." Kim is right. What is Joanna planning? And why so soon? I wonder if I should tell Sage. I glance at Ava considering what Kim said.

"I'm not wrong." She says to Ava.

"You're not right either." Kim sighs and goes back to eating. Ava's glare hardens onto my face. "What do you think, Octavia?" She questions me as we stare at each other. Don't give her the satisfaction.

"I think Kim is right. Why would she give it up so quickly?" I sneer at her. I can feel Kim smile beside me.

"I don't know about you, but I would never even think about marrying into a family with a mother like that. You would literally be walking into a trap." Kim says in a matter-of-fact tone.