SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 9- Overwhelmed

"Sweetheart, wake up." I can hear Nanea say nervously as I suddenly jolt out of my nightmare. When my eyes open, I nearly scream in fear but manage to stop myself. I can barely catch my breath as I sit up, trying to get the room to stop spinning.

"Is it always this bad?" I hear another woman's voice say, but I can barely see enough to be able to tell who it is.

"It's been getting worse recently, I'm not sure what to do." Nanea sighs "Tessa, can you hear me?" she asks as she squeezes my hand. I quickly nod as I rub my eyes, and suddenly, I see Aurora standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" I ask nervously as I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"I came by to drop something off this morning and Nanea heard you talking in your sleep. Are you alright?" Aurora asks worriedly.

"I think so, that was just a bad nightmare." I sigh as I lean my back against the cold stone wall.

"I've been told that this has been happening a lot recently," Aurora states, Nanea looks worried.

"I guess, I just don't really know why. It's not like they have to do with anything that's going on." I explain as I glance between them. With Aurora here too, I feel like I'm not going to be able to talk my way out of having to have this conversation.

"Dreams tell stories that our conscious minds aren't ready to see yet, sometimes though, they keep us trapped behind a door that we so desperately want to open." Aurora explains "Do you think that these are just a grotesque reimagining of things that you may be struggling with?" she asks curiously.

"If they are, I have no idea why. I don't really want to talk about it." I sigh.

"Sweetie, I don't think that you should keep this to yourself anymore. They're just going to keep getting worse if you try to push through this alone." Nanea sighs worriedly as she sits beside me, gently placing her hand on my knee "We just want to help you."

"I... I don't really know what you want me to do." I state nervously as I look out the window at the sun, then suddenly realize what time it is "Holy shit, I'm late for school!" I say, ready to jump out of bed.

"Easy there, kiddo. Brendan already went to tell Miss Ashley that you would be out today." Nanea explains.

"Wait, why?" I ask, confused.

"The reason that I stopped by, aside from dropping off some books, was because Roxie sent me to come to get you. After talking to you last night, she has something that she wants to show you. But only if it's okay with you, of course." Aurora explains happily. I can't help but feel even more confused now.

"Why me?" I ask nervously.

"You made a good first impression." Nanea smiles "Come on, how about it?" she asks excitedly.

"Um, sure, I guess?" I say as I start to climb out of bed.

"Great!" Nanea says excitedly "We'll leave you to get dressed, come outside when you're ready to go." She explains as they start to go. Once I'm alone, I change into a simple tank top and a short skirt. I feel strange, unsure of how to dress to go see the Empress again. Yesterday, we watched her get drunk with her sister, but going to the palace feels like a whole different can of worms to deal with. After taking a few deep breaths, I head outside. The town is still bustling, cleaning up after last night's festivities and preparing to set things back up as normal. People stop and wave at Aurora as we walk by, seeming happy to see her in town. Aurora is always busy as the high-priestess, so she doesn't have a lot of time to head out of the palace. Regardless, people seem excited to see her again.

As we cross into the upper part of town, I stare up at the vast temple before us. This impressive work of architecture always seemed to draw me in, I couldn't help but admire it every time we were this close. As we ascend the stairs, I gaze up at the main entrance, seeing the guards standing post and backing away as we cross the threshold. The inside is just as magnificent as the outside between the carved stone walls, the artwork, and the red carpeting over the stone-tiled floor. It's all a lot to take in at once. As we pass through the throne room, I am surprised to see that it's empty. Aurora continues leading us through the maze-like halls until we reach what appears to be a sanctuary of sorts. Intricately woven tapestries cover the walls and old relics filled the shelves. Across the room, I can see Roxie hunched over a table, looking over a few open books.

"I'm back," Aurora says as she casually waltzes in. Nanea seems surprisingly underwhelmed as we step inside, while I can't stop gazing around the room. Suddenly, Roxie turns excitedly as she comes over to us.

"Welcome, welcome." she says as she looks at me curiously "So, what do you think of the palace?" she asks.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm overwhelmed by it all," I explain as I glance up at the sky-light in the center of the ceiling.

"Good reaction, hun." she smiles as she waves us over to the benches "Come, sit." We all follow and sit down. I watch as Aurora and Roxie seem to be staring at each other, like they're waiting for the other to say something.

"What were you working on, if you don't mind me asking?" Nanea asks curiously.

"Studying a few new experimental healing spells." Roxie begins "I'm hoping that combining the two will produce the results that I'm looking for. But, enough about me. Tessa, I'm told that you experience nightmares fairly regularly. Please, forgive my curiosity, but I am fascinated by the inner workings of the mind and would like to hear a little more about them."

"Wait, who told you about them?" I ask nervously, then suddenly see Nanea holding her hand up.

"Sorry, we ended up talking about it after you went home last night." Nanea explains sympathetically "You know how worried I've been about you lately, and they are the best after all." I can't figure out why, but knowing that she was talking to other people about this makes me upset. I try to hide my frustration, but apparently, I'm not doing a good enough job.

"Please, don't be angry at her, she was only trying to help you." Roxie explains sympathetically "Like I explained last night, I understand how scary it can be when you are being tortured by your own mind."

"I get that, but for you, it was because of a memory. This on the other hand is just bizarre, I don't really know how to explain it, but... I... um..." then suddenly, I realize that the three of them are staring at me "What?"

"Tessa, listen to me;" Aurora begins as she leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees, holding her hands together under her chin "I know that you haven't been wanting to talk about what you've been seeing, but we think that there may be something bigger going on here with you."

"...What are you talking about?" I ask nervously.

"We don't think that these are just dreams. From what we've gathered, they seem more like memories trying to push their way to the surface." Aurora explains calmly.

"That doesn't make any sense, they're too bizarre to be memories." I state anxiously "It doesn't seem like they're relevant to anything that I've been through before, not to mention they're completely dark."

"That may not be true." Roxie explains "If you were young enough, you wouldn't remember the context anymore, but that doesn't mean that the events didn't happen."

"Tessa, do you recognize any of the names you've heard in them?" Nanea asks worriedly.

"No, they rarely ever say names. I mean, last night, there were two people talking, but they never..." I stop as I remembered something "The woman, her name was Sona. I swear, I've heard that name before, but I can't remember where." Suddenly all of their eyes grow wide, causing a chill to run down my spine.

"Did you just say, Sona?" Roxie asks, her face beginning to grow pale.