Nezani lay in the grass in front of her family’s sanctuary for what seemed like forever before Spirit whispered to her to get up.

Worried they didn’t survive the trip she frantically looked to her sides for the items her parents gave her and relaxed her tense body as her eyes ran over the bags.

She wondered if she should open the bags now, but decided to wait.

“Spirit my mom said to find her in there” she said pointing to the arboretum. “What is she talking about? Is she alive?”

“The opposite child” Spirit said “It is time for you to enter the arboretum”

Nezani collected her items, stood up and walked over to the large wooden doors.

“She’s Back” The voices of the door whispered.

“Who are you? Do you know?” the door questioned.

Annoyed with the question she asked jokingly “Who are you?!”

“We are many” The door answered matter of factly.

“Well, I am Nezani Rose Meti! Daughter of Anne and Darnell! And apparently the lucky one of my linage who gets to live! Open the damn door!” she said fighting back tears.

Readying her lips to apologize the sound of gears and wheels began to echo through the space around them.

The tree that was etched into the wood began to change. Nezani watched with curiosity as the etching moved to a single point to create a circle. A hole began to form in the middle of the hole, growing bigger and bigger to reveal the sight of ivory gears and a solid gold keyhole.

“Great, a keyhole for which I do not have a key” Nezani said.

Just then she remembered the bag her mother had given her.

What are the chances?

Rummaging through the bag her hands landed on something cold and slim. Grasping it, Nezani pulled the item out and set her eyes on a golden key attached to a woven leather necklace.

Not hesitating she put the key in the hole and turned it to the left.

A rush of wind from the doors knocked her back a few foot steps. The doors continued to open the wind subsided.

“welcome, Welcome, WELCOME” Voices echoed through Nezani’s ears the dome began to illuminate, she watched as the light in the outer chamber of the arboretum turned on section by section making a complete circle until there was a bright white ring encapsulating the outer section.

Spirit gently pushed Nezani towards the doors.

The first step inside of the chamber she felt a rush of energy come up through her feet and run up her body to the tips of the curls siting atop her head.

A glowing light began to circle her feet and continued up until it was around her head. The shoes Nezani was sporting had been switched out for basic leather sandals. Her clothes now the softest linen dress flowing with gold accents. Gold rings and bracelets adorned fingers and wrists.

Nezani continued to take in the view around her while voices ring out around her. Under her feet is the greenest manicured grass she’s ever seen. The width of the section of the dome must be at least a half a football field wide. Directly in front of her down a path of large trees stood another door.

I guess that’s how I get to the next part of the arboretum.

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“Nezaniiiiiiii come child” the voice blew through the wind into her ears.

Hesitating a bit but feeling oddly calm and unafraid Nezani began to walk toward the sound of the voice. Wind continued to rush past her ears, carrying the sound of the voice beckoning her.

She continued to walk through the indoor grove of trees until she came upon a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a sunken in section of white marble. It looked like a coliseum for one with descending stairs wide enough to be a seat and a small space at the bottom that would fit one person. Surrounding the clearing surrounded by the greenest juniper trees. The smell of their pines wafted into Nezani’s nose.

The wind that had guided her to the clearing began to circle around one of the trees closest to her. Nezani watched as the surrounded trees seemed to move themselves out of the way and an old juniper tree with an L shaped trunk seemed to glide gracefully and rest just at the edge of the marble slab.

Once in place the roots of the tree rushed violently into the ground below. It seemed to be sucking something up through the ground. Nezani could see flashes of light or energy rush up through the trunk of the tree and into the leaves.

The most beautiful pink and purple flowers began to bloom on the branches of the tree, opening to reveal small spheres of glowing light.

Nezani wanted to reach out and touch the bulbs but decided against it after locking eyes with Spirit and hearing them say loudly in her skull Do Not Disturb.

Rushing her hand back to her side she turned her head so that her face was not visible to Spirit and mockingly stuck out her tongue.

“Do not Jest Nezani!” spirit yelled.

Snapping back to reality Nezani turned her attention back to the beautiful tree in front of her.

Moments passed and nezani watched in amazement as the beautiful tree settled. The flashes ended and the wind subsided. Through the loud silence the voice that had called out to Nezani spoke again.

“Take a seat, welcome to your training child. Here you will learn about our family linage and the basic skills you will need to hone, in order to get through to the next section of the arboretum. My name is Henrietta and I have been chosen as your basal guide.”

Nezani stepped down into the space and sat on the stair closest to the base of the tree.

Let’s do this!

----------------------------------------

That night Nezani slept in a dreamless slumber.

Again, awaking to the warmth of the sun, she turned in bed staring out at the courtyard of the hotel.

Just a couple of weeks ago she felt so out of place and lonely. And now? She had family she had never met, a linage and a life that she didn’t know was here waiting for her. And her parents, she chuckled at the thoughts she kept of her parents from the past. Old, boring, average: all verbs she used to use to describe them. Now she was learning that they had flourishing, successful lives here in this realm before having to flee.

Spirit gently rested a hand on her shoulder.

Training starts today beloved.

And with that Nezani got herself out of bed and ready to meet Henrietta back in the arboretum.

She sped through the delicious hearty breakfast of savory oats Otis whipped up and walked decided to take the long way to training today.

She strolled leisurely down the brick road trying to lengthen the minutes. For some reason she was a bit apprehensive to finally start training.

What if I suck? She thought.

Shaking the thought away she turned down the pathway to her family’s arboretum and walked in to see Henrietta waiting for her arms folded.

“One would have thought you were running away” she smiled to Nezani.

“I promise you I will guide you through everything you need to know, gently, and I will make sure you have what it takes to move to the next level of your training, now let’s get started, take seat”

Nezani walked over to where Henrietta was sitting and sat next to her.

“Get comfortable, run your hands through the grass. Take your sandals off, put your feet on the ground, tell me what you feel?” Henrietta directed.

Sitting Nezani ran her fingers through the grass.

So plush

Take her shoes off she sank her body into the grass and go comfortable. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax and focus on what she was feeling.

“Place your palms down on the grass and focus” Henrietta spoke.

Focusing a little harder, Nezani was unsure of what she was supposed to be ‘feeling’. Internally she felt a lot of things, but nothing was coming to the surface now.

As she continued to lay on the ground, she felt a faint wave of energy roll over her body. As she opened her lips to announce to Henrietta that she had felt something, the faint energy rushed over her body again.

Noticing a rhythm to the wave, Nezani opened her eyes and began to look at the grass beneath her. With each wave of energy, she watched the grass vibrate and hum.

“What you’re feeling is the energy of your people. Underneath us, is an intricate network of energy. True to its name this arboretum holds thousands of trees. While these are special magic trees, they are trees no less. The roots run far and deep into the soil connecting to one another and the river in the inner chamber. Connecting to, harnessing and embodying this energy is what you will learn during your time with me.”

“I feel a bit sad Henri” Nezani said, deciding on the shortening of her trainer’s name on the fly.

Turning to look back at herwith one eyebrow raised high, Henrietta responded.

“Oh?”

“Well, where I grew up it was just Mom, Dad, DJ and myself. We didn’t really have anyone else. The woman I call grandma is just a nice neighbor that welcomed my parents into the neighborhood when they first got there. I never thought I had roots, anywhere, in anything. I didn’t really mind, but now I’m so happy I do. I have something that keeps me connected to my parents and my brother now that they have passed on.”

A small tear escaped Nezani’s eye.

Looking into Nezani’s eyes Henrietta placed a warm palm to Nezani’s cheek.

“As you learn the ways of our people, you will learn that everyone past, present and future flow through these roots and into us when we tap into our powers. This is what it means to be Meti, when we die we return to these roots and help those who come after us. Like me, I have passed, and yet here I am, in front of you, helping you learn the ways of pour people.”

Nezani sat, emotional sure to the weight of what Henri was telling her. In that moment, she gained a deeper resolve and appreciation for the place she was in currently.