At ten years old, Vivian saw her mother crying, sitting on a chair in the main room, holding a stone of deep blue: a raw sapphire.
      "What's wrong mom?" She asked.
Her mother flinched. Startled, she stared at her child with wide, red eyes.
      "Oh, Vivian. I was just thinking about your father," she explained.
Her mother rarely mentioned her father so this piqued her interest.
      "My father?" Vivian frowned.
      "I've avoided the subject for so long, but you deserve to know." Her mother confessed.
Vivian sat on the floor patiently, waiting for her mother to explain further.
     "He was the most handsome man I ever knew-strong jaw, black hair, deep blue eyes..." She turned the stone in her fingers.
     "He was tall. Smooth, deep voice, almost like a storm. He spoke kindly, never raised his voice. His favorite color was blue-- bright blues. We used to spend time together along the coast, often hand in hand. One day, we were walking through the sand, and he suggested that we try to find rocks that looked like each other's eyes." She closed her hand over the blue crystal.
    "I thought that was a wonderful idea, so we separated in search. He returned to me not ten minutes later, stone in hand. I had already found his stone," She passed the small stone to her daughter, Vivian admired it with a new affection. A new object for her mind to meet.

Her mother stood and walked over to the wooden bookshelf, reaching toward a book titled Lilies and Lilacs. She handed it to her daughter. It was a short novel about a young girl named Lily who learned the Language of Flowers and took up residence in a hollowed out tree in the middle of the woods. Vivian held it to her chest, waiting for her mother to finish whatever she was doing. Vivian heard a few clicks from her mothers hands but her view was obscured by her back. Once she turned around, Vivian's eyes landed on the box she held. It was a small wooden chest no larger than a foot long and half as wide, and a triple moon symbol was carved onto the top. On the right side of the box the Aquarian star was etched, and the left side showed an eye with many lines leading out from it and smaller designs embellishing it.
      "Inside that box are special items I've gathered over the years. Open it." Her mother instructed.
Vivian carefully opened the latch and pushed the lid open, peering in. Inside was a small stone the color of her mother's eyes. Inside the lid were lines of a language she didn't know and small drawings of flowers right underneath; she traced them with her fingertip. She carefully examined the other objects in the box: a shell from a hermit crab, a dried tulip, a necklace with a sun pendant, a few smaller, polished stones (peach moonstone, crazy lace agate, carnelian, an opal, and a chunk of howlite). There were a few other things, but her mother put the sapphire inside and closed the box.
     "That box is yours now, but there's one more thing you need to know-" Her mother got cut off by a scream.

Vivian put the box down and rushed outside with her mother, panic flooding into her mind. Her mom looked at the woman laying on the ground, bleeding out. She had been stabbed.
     "Angela! What happened? Who hurt you?" Vivian's mother frantically questioned.
     "Bel, you need to get out of here, take Vivian and go, now!" Angela gasped.
     "Not until you tell me what's going on." Her mother insisted.
     "Witch hunters, looking specifically for you, they said it, they said your name. Belladonna, bring us Belladonna," Angela explained.
Belladonna had been wrapping cloth around the wound and was applying pressure.
     "The whole town consists of witches, we are all in danger."
     "They said they'd spare everyone if they got you, I didn't tell them, I wouldn't."
     "It'll be okay Angie, breathe, I've got you."
     "But who's got you?"
Vivian and her mother snapped their heads in the direction of this new voice, from a man Vivian didn't recognize. Her mother put Angie's hands over the wound to keep applying pressure.
    "Go away hunter," Belladonna commanded.
    "No, I came for a witch, so I'm leaving with a witch," he growled.
    "Stay away from my mom." Vivian demanded, protectiveness replacing fear.
That man took one look at her, and suddenly three more men appeared behind him, laughing to themselves maliciously.
    "You have a daughter? Maybe she's the one we need."
Vivian has seen many expressions on her mothers face before but nothing was as unsettling as the fear and panic on her face now.
    "Run Viv! Get into the woods. GO!"
    "I don't want to leave you-"
    "I'll be just fine, run."
Vivian took off toward the trees, the place she had been forbidden from traveling into, the three men racing after her.

Ten years old, not understanding, running for her life, jumping over fallen trees, losing stamina, with three men chasing her.
Ten years old, tripping over an exposed root, getting grabbed, being pinned down, screaming, with a knife to her throat.
Ten years old, with a protector she couldn't see.

The most horrific sound she had ever heard broke through her crying and the men's triumph. She shut her eyes, the men screamed, and the weight had been lifted off of her. She sat up quickly and crawled backward, her eyes falling upon two mutilated bodies ten feet from her, and farther back the body of the third man, the one who grabbed her, strung up in between two trees, his intestines winding around the branches like vines.
Vivian began crying, scared. A soft rumble came from behind her, breath hit her neck. It gave her goosebumps yet also felt warm and comforting. She didn't dare turn her head to look back, she was frozen, staring off into the woods, back toward her home.
    "Mom.... Angela." Vivian whispered.
In a moment, the breath was gone and the presence with it, the ground opened up beneath her and swallowed her up, roots pushing her somewhere. She passed out in shock. She later woke up in a strange cave, except it wasn't just a cave. It looked like the inside of an underground palace. She stood up slowly, careful so as not to make herself dizzy. She scanned the room, torches, and lanterns brought light to this ethereal place.

She walked over to a small table, carved from oak with two chairs on either side. There was a glass of fresh water which she happily drank, and a pitcher for more if she wished. The crackling of a fire grabbed her attention and she looked over past the table to the back wall. A small fire was burning within a case of obsidian, solid on every side except the one facing her that still had a barrier of obsidian but it was carved into elegant designs allowing heat to be released between the etched lines. It sat at the same level Vivian's head in height. Right below the fire was a wooden stand with a silver platter sitting atop. She reached out and grabbed it, carrying it back to the table.

The fire had kept the food within hot, but not too hot. She lifted the case and the most incredible smell blessed her nose. She examined it and noticed a beautifully cooked steak, wrapped in bacon, with mashed potatoes by its side with a volcano of dark gravy spilling out-- just the perfect amount. Next to the potatoes and steak was a bowl filled with a soup Vivian didn't recognize, but was excited to try. Next to that plate was a smaller one with a single slice of apple pie on it, along with a fork and knife for the meal. Vivian was hungry but she worried that it might be meant for someone else and they wouldn't be happy about her eating it. But she couldn't help but feel like it was meant for her. She ate all of it, the bacon wasn't cooked to her mother's usual crispiness, complementing the steak perfectly. The soup was mildly spicy but slightly sweet and all savory. She finished the whole plate and the pie, leaving hardly a crumb.

After a meal like that she felt exhausted, and the warmth and comfort of this place relaxed her. Leading her to a drowsiness level she never felt before. She had completely forgotten about the horrors from earlier, but just then, she heard a scurrying sound, like some small animal had entered this room. She looked around and found a cat lurking around a corner, remembering that body language was important to cats, she sat crisscrossing on the floor with her arms out, resting on her legs with open hands, palms facing the ceiling. The cat stopped for a moment to observe her, Vivian just smiled and waited patiently. It slowly approached her and nuzzled its soft head into her right palm, using her finger to gently massage its own neck. It purred happily and looked into her eyes. It was larger than the average house cat. Its fur was incredibly soft and easy to run her fingers through, and mostly a dark orange with black stripes all over along with some black spots beneath the eyes and along its nose. It looked more like a tiger than a house cat. It had the most enchanting golden eyes, speckled with green around the pupils. It began to walk away from Vivian and stopped at the doorway to look back at her.
    "Are you asking me to follow you?" She asked.
It gave a cheerful meow in response.

Vivian stood up and followed it out the door frame and into a long hallway, she only walked for about fifteen seconds before the cat sat in front of a door, pawing at it carefully using its pads instead of claws so he wouldn't leave scratch marks. Vivian looked the door up and down. It was smooth with painted vines stretching along the borders, flowers occasionally blossoming from it. A small field painted the bottom, green and gold like the cat's eyes.

Above her head Vivian noticed a space of light blue painted with puffs of white on it, along with a bird of some kind, she couldn't see it too well. She grabbed a hold of the carved jade handle, twisted, and pushed the door open. Inside was a room with a vanity, a dresser, closet, a few smaller pieces of furniture including a desk with a chair, and a large bed. The bed frame was a type of dark oak with matching oak bed posts on each corner, the pillows were large and looked perfect, the pillow casings were pale green with small dark green leaves embossed into them, the large blanket that covered the bed was a deep green that matched the leaves along with golden branches sewn onto it with pale green vines wrapped around them. She stepped inside, leaving the door open, and rolled onto the bed, within moments everything went dark, and she had the deepest sleep anyone could ever hope for.