Marina woke with a start, gasping loudly for air. She sprung up into a sitting position and immediately regretted her decision, as a wave of nausea washed over her. She turned over to throw up when she suddenly noticed her surrounding. Her eyes widened and she immediately forget all about her condition.

Where am I?

She was sitting in the middle of a barren abandoned land, which was filled with ice blue smoke. The smoke seemed to be floating as if it were a body of water. It was so quiet that she could hear her own breathing. Even the smoke seemed to be whispering past her. She slowly stood, fear engulfing her. She took in a deep breath to calm herself down and smoke escaped from her nostrils. She took a few steps forward, the smoke moving with her.

"Hello? Is there anybody here?" she called out, only to find her own voice echoing back to her. She gulped and continued moving forward, looking around for any sign of life.

"Marina..." a female voice whispered.

She froze as chills sent vibrations through her body. Taking in a shaky breath, she looked around, trying to detect the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" Marina called out, trying to get herself to keep moving forward but her legs failed to cooperate with her.

"Save me, Marina Mae..." the voice called out again. Marina turned around immediately, thinking the voice came from behind her but there was nothing there. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly as she shuddered.

"Where are you?" Marina yelled, her voice echoing back angrily. Suddenly, the smoke thinned to her right, creating a pathway. Terrified but curious, she began walking down the cleared route, glancing around her. How could a place be so barren and empty? What had happened there? She stopped short when something came into her line of sight.

"What is that?" she muttered, furrowing her brows. Walking closer, she gasped at what she saw. A single rose, a magnificent shade of midnight blue, grew in the middle of the barren land, shining brightly as though it had a beam of light illuminating it.

"Come..." the voice said. Marina blinked in confusion. Is the rose talking? Before she could comprehend what wa happening, she began walked up to the flower as though it was pulling her towards it. She stopped a feet away from it. From that close, she could make out every petal and vein of the rose.

"Beautiful," Marina muttered, crouching and examining the flower in awe. She tried to look away but it was as if she was pulled into a trance and kept moving closer to the blue rose.

"I am hope. I am trapped. I am lost," it seemed to whisper. Marina's confusion kept increasing by the second.

"What do you mean you're lost? Where are you lost?" Marina whispered back, finding it unbelievable that she was actually talking to a flower.

"I am trapped," it whispered again, the voice echoing around Marina.

"Where?" Marina pressed on, furrowing her brows.

"You must save me, Marina Mae."

"I am a child! What do you expect me to do?" Marina cried out, frustrated and annoyed, "Just let me go back home!" Suddenly, the rose pulsed as if it had a heartbeat, its petals glowing bright, and the smoke around Marina turned into a whirlpool, engulfing her. She immediately shielded herself by raising her arms around her face. The smoke created a wall around her and Marina started panting, having trouble breathing. Suddenly, the wall of smoke started showing her scenes from Azure Gul. Shocked, Marina lowered her arms and squinted, trying to make out the scenes. She saw the Healers' Zone, everything as she remembered it and gasped when suddenly, the entire Zone was engulfed in flames, homes burnt to the ground and crops destroyed. In a split second, the scene changed to show the Warriors' Zone as it normally was, only to burn everything to the ground in the next scene. Marina felt her vision going blurry as tears stung her eyes.

"WHAT IS THIS?" she yelled, her voice muffled because of the smoke around her. It didn't stop there, for the scene changed to show the Healers' Zone, calm and organized, before turning into a nightmare with all buildings flattened to the ground and bloody, dead bodies littering the streets. Marina tried to look away but she couldn't and felt like she was going to throw up. The scene immediately changed to show the last Zone of Azure Gul, the Teachers' Zone, in all its magnificence, and turned everything to rubble the very next second. Marina let out a shaky breath, tears streaming down her face.

"PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" Marina yelled again, letting out a sob. The whirlpool of smoke around her suddenly filled with bright white light and exploded, throwing the young girl to the ground with a hard thud. Marina winced and let out a groan in pain, rolling over to her side.

"If you go home now, this is the home that will welcome you," Marina heard the female voice say and she sat up slowly, glancing at the rose. She felt angry and confused, and wanted nothing more than to pluck the flower out by its roots.

"Then what do you expect me to do? How am I supposed to save you?" Marina yelled furiously.

"I will come for you."

"When? How will you find me?" Marina asked, limping over to the flower.

"When the time comes, I will find you, Marina Mae," the voice replied.

"But how will I know that it's you? Will you take a human form?" Marina asked again, collapsing next to the rose and stared at it intently. Suddenly, the rose began to look blurry and Marina rubbed her eyes, trying to refocus them. The image didn't clear out but continued to fade out. The smoke started thickening around her.

"WAIT! You haven't answered me yet! How will I know?" Marina yelled as the smoke thickened even furthered. Marina coughed and covered her mouth with her arm. Suddenly, she felt drowsiness overcome her and she blacked out.

                              . . . . .

"She's awake!" Marina heard a faint voice cry out as she stirred, letting out a moan. Her head was pounding, as though she had crashed into a boulder head on. She tried to open her eyes but they felt very heavy so she gave up after a few tries.

"Take it easy, little one," she heard a familiar voice say and felt an hand touch her arm softly. Adelia?

"Oh thank goodness my darling is awake!" another voice cried out in relief. Mother? Marina tried to open her eyes again and succeeded in opening them a tiny bit. A foggy image of a powder blue ceiling came into view. Where am I? She groaned as she pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Marina! Easy!" she heard Adelia say as she felt a hand on her back, supporting her as she sat up.

"Where am I?" Marina mumbled, her voice thick. Her throat felt coarse, as though she hadn't had any water in a long time. She coughed, her body aching and sore. She blinked repeatedly to regain her focus. Her head began to throb and she raised her hand to her head, groaning. She was sitting on a bed in the Medical Center owned by Haline's family.

"We brought you back to the Healers' Zone after the sandstorm subsided," Abrum replied, walking up to Marina. She squinted as she slowly looked up him. Sandstorm? Her eyes suddenly widened as the memories started coming back to her. She gasped as they hit her all at once, the storm, the mirror, the barren land, the rose, the voice.

I will find you, Marina Mae...

Overwhelmed by everything, Marina rolled over and threw up on the floor of the Medical Center. Haline's mother came running over to clean up the mess, as Mabelle rushed over to her daughter to hold her as Haline brought her some water.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Marina stuttered weakly. Abram and Adelia stood in the corner of the room and observed Marina quietly.

"It's a miracle that she actually woke up," Abram muttered. Adelia turned to him in question.

"A miracle?" Abram nodded.

"You know how I said that the mirror drove its last seer mad?" Adelia nodded.

"I lied," Abram confessed, causing Adelia's eyes to widen.

"The last person who unfortunately saw into the mirror was actually a dear friend of mine. After he glanced into the mirror, he had a seizure and died at the spot," he explained, looking down. Adelia felt like she couldn't breathe and turned to look at Marina, who was sipping the water Haline had brought her.

"She's a miracle..." Abram glanced at his daughter.

"She is indeed. However, when the time is right, I will ask her what she saw in the mirror," he said seriously, crossing his arms.

"Do you think that's wise, Father? Do you think she would be willing to share what she saw? Would she even want to recall her experience with the mirror?" Adelia asked, concern lacing her voice.

"She will need help in decoding what she saw in the Black Water's Eye," Adelia furrowed her brows.

"The what?"

"The mirror she glanced into is called the Black Water's Eye. It was discovered a very long time ago in a land  far from Azure Gul. Even though we made it seem harmless, Haline was right about it being dangerous. It was very dangerous," Abram stated, his eyes darkening.

"Why keep it then, Father?"

"I did not have a say in whether or not we should have kept it. That decision was made by the Monarch." Adelia's eyes widened in shock.

"Even the Monarch knows about this?" Abram nodded.

"And they have yet to find out that someone has survived the Eye," he stated.

"Will you be telling them, Father?" Adelia asked. Abram pursed his lips, sighing.

"Not before I judge the gravity of the situation myself."