Ivy opened her eyes after recovering from a blinding bright light to find herself standing on a cliff overseeing thousands of illuminating phoenixes flying in on the other cliffs around her. Their beauty was magnificent and glorious. There were some intertwining in the mating dance while some were taking flights around.
The one which caught her attention was in an averted hue of dark red from the head which soften to yellow at the bottom. It was flying directly into her direction as it stationed itself in front of Ivy as though inviting her up on a ride. When Ivy was about to take a leap onto it, she heard Avinha’s voice.
“Have you lost your mind on the way here? Aren’t you a phoenix yourself too? Can’t you transform and fly?” He grunted as he changed into a dragon form and took flight. She watched him in awe as he flew away in his charming black scales but scoffed as he turnaround forming an “S” shape in the sky staring back at her as though waiting for her.
“Hurry! We don’t have forever here!” He growled and huffed a breath of fire in agitation as Ivy tried recalling what she had to do to transform.
“Easy… Block out all the noises and channel your inner power to transform.” Ivy heard a voice talking to her but it was in her mind. It sounded so familiar like Daisy’s. Only then she realised the voice came from the Phoenix in front of her.
“Mama…” She naturally called out as tears welled in her eyes as she smiled widely.
“You do know which mother I am to you, don’t you? I am Phoenix’s and Avinha’s mother. Come on, my dear…” She cooed for her to attempt her transformation as Ivy focused on her Phoenix form in front of her which is a depiction of Daisy. As her thoughts rumbled in her mind, she instantly took a wobbly leap that landed her on top of Daisy.
“Good job my dear…” Ivy beamed at the praise Daisy gave as she grew more confident and flew close by her.
“Are you named Daisy here too? Where is this?” Ivy asked in mind.
“No, I am not Daisy. I am Madra. This is your home, my dear. The Land Inklong’s tribe. Further up is where I live with the Sea Inklong’s tribe.” Ivy looked in her mother’s direction for a moment.
“But you’re a phoenix…” She recalled only the dragons live by the sea.
“That’s why I named him Phoenix too. You will know when you see him anytime soon. I’m married to the king of the Sea Inklong tribe. We all naturally do. Your name is Ivy here because your mother was named Petunia. It’s only right for the nature of your name to follow hers among the flora although you’re both a phoenix. All thanks to your land ancestors in the past life.” Madra explained which captivated Ivy’s thoughts.
“But how is it that I am a twin with Phoenix?” Ivy questioned in her mind.
“That’s in another lifetime, my dear. Here, you’re destined to be husband and wife with him.” Madra replied in mind to her which made Ivy fly on autopilot mode.
Only when Madra shifted in front of her to shield her from knocking into a cliff that she averted her wings to turn to the left with her.
“Pay attention, my dear. You don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of the family.” Madra reminded as Ivy tried her best to obey and fly her best till they reached the sea. She realised it was exactly the same place she went to with Jason where they were stoned to death. She felt a little upset at the thought of it.
Madra then landed as she greeted her husband, the king of the Sea Inklong’s tribe. Ivy wobbly followed Madra’s way of greeting by lowering her head slightly as their feathers bend slowly to the ground. She did not dare to even look at the king’s face as her gaze fell onto Avinha who was standing proudly next to the magnanimous dragon king. However, a shimmering hue captured her attention on the king’s left and it was the golden dragon incarnation with a glowing ember at the end part of the body.
Jason. She thought in her mind, unable to take her eyes off him.
He too was looking directly into her gaze. Good to see you again, Ivy. He greeted in his mind but Ivy could feel a distance in his greeting. Madra smiled hearing their greetings.
However, she reminded herself this was not the reality but the past of Avinha where she was on a mission to figure out a way out of the tower. The realisation made everything go blurry before she finds herself back in the jungle again.
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It was just her and Avinha alone.
“Not bad… Someone realises her purpose after all.” Avinha teased as he circled her.
“What do you mean by that?” Ivy questioned while being alarmed by that illusion.
“The past will disappear the moment you realise its purpose. Looks like you realise the appetiser earlier was distracting your purpose. It was a reminder to you to pay attention to identifying what I had sacrificed in the past for you to be who I am today…” Avinha warned Ivy as he stared right into her eyes with a hinge of anger.
Ivy tried to hide her fear by flashing a smile only to have her attention turned to the shrieking voices of familiar figures. They were the nymphs who bullied her and were running from the forest which was set ablaze by Avinha back then.
Knowing it was an illusion, she daringly walked into the smoke but found she was coughing from choking on the smoke. Avinha quickly dragged her out of the pathway and threw her further away from the smoke.
“Are you out of your mind?! That’s real smoke there! Are you so desperate to die than to learn the past?!” Avinha scolded as Ivy sat realising it was the first time she ever saw him enraged and it was because of her.
Is he really caring for me or is this another trick? Ivy questioned in her mind knowing Avinha did not have telepathic abilities to be able to read her mind.
“If you would like to die, at least figure out the way to leave the tower first!” Avinha yelled angrily as he scoffed and sat by the cliff trying to calm himself down.
“So, you knew? It was really to head to the past to figure the way out?” Ivy questioned as Avinha snarled at her.
“Do you think I have plenty of time to fool around? I have a kingdom to rule but yet I am stuck in this useless tower with you imbeciles!” Avinha fumed as Ivy was a little convinced by his claims.
“Fine, I will stay alive and work with you in finding clues to escape the tower. Having said so, the smoke remnants seem to be a good place to start.” Ivy walked ahead as Avinha trailed behind only to reveal an evil grin.
Avinha knew Ivy had fallen into his trap though he must admit earlier his act was partly genuine. Though his ulterior motive was to own her by tricking both her and Jason to think they were out to look for clues to leave the tower, he definitely did not want her dead on his watch.
When Ivy realised the black trail was the body of the dead nymphs, she tried to control the urge of throwing up. She could hear soft whispers of the ivies telling her the clue was the formation of these nymphs.
She ran back to a tree and began to climb it, ignoring Avinha drowning in his own thoughts as he stood beneath the tree she climbed. She studied from on top to see the formation of the Inklong’s tribe code.
-) -) {}
The above code was in a circle. She had seen the code before except she remembered it was in a different form.
1. o) o) {}
She knew it meant dragon but she could not decide what it meant.
Does it mean the current formation means death since the dragon’s eyes were closed? She questioned as she squatted on the branch, trying to analyse further only to realise all the possibilities led back to the interpretation of the dragon’s death.
She let exhaustion overwhelm her for a moment in the midst of denying the fact that she accidentally slipped off the huge branch in a free fall.
Ivy woke with a deadlock feeling in her voice chords as she felt restricted from moving her muscles. In mind, she realise it was sleep paralysis again which she had nearly forgotten how long it was since the last relapse.
Fortunately for her Nick was by her side and knew all the ways to help her out on such an event. The moment he gave her a pinch on her cheeks, she gasped loudly trying hard to catch her breath as Nick hugged her trembling self. She leaned by his chest listening to his heartbeat and slowly calming down. Sitting in the back seat of the car reminded her of the good old times as she held on tighter to Nick for refuge.
“It’s alright… It’s alright… It was just a dream. It’s over.” Nick comforted as Ivy continued to hold on to him while recalling the pretty incarnation of Daisy as a phoenix and the golden dragon incarnation of Jason which slowed down her breath by a lot. Tears well in her eyes as Nick gently rubbed her back.
“It’s alright.” Nick tried comforting her as she blinked her tears away.
“I miss him. I really do. What am I to do?” She mumbled without wanting an answer but Nick surprised her in reply.
“Guess distracting yourself with work would help? I wanted to say head back to studies since it would definitely be what Jason wanted for you but knowing you and the circumstances now, getting slowly involved in the business would help. Even if discreetly monitoring from behind.” Nick suggested as Ivy pondered.
“You’re right. I shall head to the office tomorrow to have a look. Besides, I still have my office room on both sides.” Ivy smiled as she hugged Nick.
“Thank you,” Ivy whispered gratefully.
“Thank you too… I will be at ease knowing you would be busy while I am busy with the talks too.” Nick said in return as they smiled in each other’s arms.
Ivy plotted in mind to discreetly head back to the business and Manes would be the best place to start since Marcel is in Landsfield. If she wanted to monitor the situation and think of other ways to counter Jeremy, sitting as a puppet manager in Rahi’s office in Manes would definitely do the trick for now.
Her mind wandered back again to the beauty of Jason’s form as she closed her eyes trying to hold on to that memory. It was comforting as ever with the addition of knowing Daisy would be by her side to support her too.