Training is back on and it's been hard the last few days. Every day we learn more about combat fighting and now we have started to learn how to fight with powers. Which is way harder than I thought. Max and Cedric have taught us how to make shields and rings of fire to defend ourselves. We have learned that every power can have a defensive and offensive mode, you just have to learn how to use it. The offensive mode is using your powers to fight but if I use my fire it would not burn them. Defensive mode requires burning when you fight. Since we are practicing on our teammates, we use the offensive mode. I find it hard for me to fight with offensive mode, knowing that fire and blend of three other powers fights to come out from under my skin. I asked Kim what she thinks of offensive mode and she seems to like it. Says it comes naturally to her. So, I guess it's just me.

Almost every day, Kim and I go to the library and read. She claims it's therapeutic. While she reads fairy tales and fiction stories I read about the Blue and yellow powers. I study how they use their powers and what their everyday looks like. I secretly wish Dale placed me as Blue with them rather than the Red. At least I wouldn't be training all day, but instead learning and growing plants and creating water sculptures. The Reds have no purpose. We are trained like soldiers only to be useless in the end. We might as well be trained to guard like Yellows. I mean why are we really here? Who are we fighting? What's the point? Maybe we are just an army waiting for an opportunity to fight.

I am torn from my thoughts when Ava drops her medal tray in front of me. I raise an eyebrow and glare at her. We haven't spoken since my outburst at her last week. Yet she keeps coming back. Part of me wonders if she considers Kim and I her friends.

"Can we help you?" I sneer. She rolls her eyes.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight." I don't believe her for a second.

"So, what are you here for?" Kim asks.

"To give you some valuable information." We stare her down, waiting for her to speak. "Apparently the princes are gone today. We are on our own today." Ava picks at her food as she says this. I silently thank heaven above for them being gone. I get to work on my own powers today.

"Gone? Gone where?" I am the first to ask. Ava picks up her fork.

"Bride shopping," she says in a monotonous voice.

"I wouldn't call that valuable information," Kim murmurs under her breath. Ava slowly puts the fork in her mouth. I glance at Kim who has dropped her mouth slightly. Ava looks at Kim.

"Well, it was going to happen at some point, Kim. They were never going to go for you." Ava says in a pitiful voice. Kim shakes her head.

"That's not it. I'm just a little surprised, I mean I would think Queen Joanna would try to push off her son's marriage until the last possible second. She's like the devil herself, I can't believe she would just hand it over that quickly." Kim is right. What is Joanna planning? And why so soon? I wonder if I should tell Sage. I glance at Ava considering what Kim said.

"I'm not wrong." She says to Ava.

"You're not right either." Kim sighs and goes back to eating. Ava's glare hardens onto my face. "What do you think, Octavia?" She questions me as we stare at each other. Don't give her the satisfaction.

"I think Kim is right. Why would she give it up so quickly?" I sneer at her. I can feel Kim smile beside me.

"I don't know about you, but I would never even think about marrying into a family with a mother like that. You would literally be walking into a trap." Kim says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, I would marry him. I would be an even better queen than her." Ava smacks her palm down on the table.

"Unless she kills you first," I say in a vulgar tone. Ava clenches her fork with her fist.

"I think it's time to go train, Octavia, don't you think?" Kim asks me. I smile at her.

"Yes, I think it is," I say getting up. Kim follows me and we leave Ava wallowing in her anger.

Once Kim and I reach the training room the rest of the students have shown up and realized none of our instructors are here today. We set up the matts and separate from each other. Kim and I partner up and do a few warmups. We form balls of fire in our hands and control them to disappear. We slowly move into practicing our shields and rebounding each other's powers. I make my shield easily, but it takes a couple of tries for Kim to get hers going. I help her and then I shoot fireballs at her and she rebounds them slowly, but surely. As Kim creates a fireball, I see Ava with Jeremy making her shield. It is powerful and controlled. Why can't mine look like that? I quickly rebound Kim's ball. She accidently fires another one and I quickly shield myself from it.

"Oops, sorry Octavia," she says putting her hands to her face. I give her a nervous smile.

"It's fine," I say reassuring her. I glance at Ava who is laughing with Jeremy at us. Kim's face turns crimson. "Ignore them." Kim locks her eyes on mine and we start to focus again.

"Hey Octavia, catch this," Ava threatens across the room. Her words register in my head as she pushes a huge flaming fireball towards me. Energy lights up in my hand and I quickly rebound it back to her. Her eyes widen in surprise when it comes back to her and then she quickly diffuses it. I hear a few claps from the trainees around Kim and I that were watching. Jeremy gives me a cold stare while Ava tries to shake it off. I still don't understand why he is still friends with her.

"That was so badass, O," Kim says. My instincts tell me walk away. This is too much attention. I don't need a reputation here. Too late.

"I'm going to go train in the other room," I say to Kim.

"I'll come with," Kim says. I shake my head.

"No, you stay. I need to be alone." I give Ava one last glance and then exit the room before anyone notices.

I walk down the hallway to the last room and shut the door behind me. I breathe a sigh of relief. Now that I have a room to myself to do whatever I want. I swiftly set up a target at the end of the room and put a matt down underneath me. I shake my hands out and let the fire build beneath my skin. I raise both hands and form a large powerful fireball. I focus on the target and release it. The target bursts into hot flames. I move quickly and let the water build under my skin this time. I slowly form a water ball just like with the fire. I cast it onto the target and the fire goes out with a loud hiss. I smile in satisfaction. The water under my fingertips turns into bright light. The lights in the room flicker and the ball of light slowly grows from my fingertips. The lights go out and now I am staring at the bright ball of light in my hand. I lightly smile and toss it up in. the air and catch it in the other hand. I throw it into the air and the lights come back on. I feel a sense of power and courage that takes over me. Something that no one can take from me. Not even Ava. But there is a wave of curiosity that fills my brain. The part of me that is unexplored and undesired. A dark surge passes under my hands as I turn towards the target. The energy is more powerful than the rest. It fills my entire body from head to toe with power. The dark shadows emerge from my palms. I watch in disbelief. I use my strength and pull them into a tight black ball. The ball shoots straight out of my hand in lightning speed on the target. It looks as if someone splattered black paint all over it. I form a new fire ball and cast it onto the now black target to make it look like I burned it.

"Wow, you're getting good," a voice says behind me. I spin around in shock and fear. Max is leaning on the doorframe. How much did he see? I try to hide my worry.

"Thanks," I say in a shaky voice. He grins with his white teeth.

"Why aren't you practicing with the others?"

"I needed space," I simply say. He nods in understanding.

"I heard what happened," he says referring to Ava. Of course.

"You mean Ava attacking me and then me kicking her ass?" I smirk. He laughs out loud and stops leaning on the doorway.

"Yeah, that." He cooly puts his hands in his pockets and I smile. "You should go to dinner." I blink and realize how much time has passed since I walked into this room. I nod. I pick up the matt and lean it against the wall.

"Looks like we might need a new target," he gestured to the scorched and drenched target.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away," I blush and look down at my feet.

"Keep it up, Octavia," he says as I move towards the door. I nod and walk out of the training room.

When I walk into the dining hall Kim is just about to sit down. She waves to me and I wave back. I get my food along with the others and sit down across from Kim. I don't spot Ava which is good.

"How was the rest of training?" I ask.

"It was good. I trained with Jeremy for a bit because he got tired of Ava." I laugh under my breath. "How about you? I saw one of the princes walk down towards your room when I left." Kim questions me as I pick up my napkin and fork. There is writing on my napkin. I put it in my lap and quickly read it. Midnight. D. I look back at my food and pretend like nothing happened.

"Yeah, he was just checking on me. He needed the space." Kim makes a noise and I glare at her. "Did you want to say something?" I challenge her. She shakes her head with a grin and takes a bite of food.

After dinner I head back to my room and grab my towel to take a shower. I shut the door behind me and turn on the shower. I strip out of my clothes and stare at myself in the mirror. I close my eyes for a second and look back at myself. For a split second I am surrounded by shadows. Dripping like water off my body. My mind flashes back to the man in the story book. I blink and then it's gone. Steam fills the bathroom and I slowly step into the scalding water. I let the beads of water roll off my shoulder as I run my fingers through my hair. The energy beneath my bone's rolls into a calm wave that spreads through my body.

After my shower I draw and sketch on one of the few pieces of paper that I have until midnight. When my clock strikes twelve, I put away my drawings and quietly sneak into the dark and empty hallway. I pad down the stairs and head towards the hall near the library. When I get to the back of the castle I emerge outside where Sage and Dale wait for me. They're backs both straighten when the see me.

"Good, you came," Dale seems relieved. Sage looks as stern as she did the last time I saw her. "We're waiting on one more person." I give Dale and Sage a confused look.

"Who are we waiting on?" Fear creeps into my veins. Dale and Sage are suddenly focused on something behind me. Who-

"Sorry I'm late," A familiar voice says. My eyes widen and I turn around. My lips part when I see Max standing in front of me. His face contours into a surprised and confused face.

"Octavia?" I think my heart has stopped beating.

"You two know each other?" Sage steps in beside me.

"Sort of," I force out. Max glances at Dale.

"Wait, is she the..." His voice dies out. Everyone knows what he was about to say. I break my stare away from him.

"She's the last one." I hear Sage say next to me. Max stares at me. "We need her. She has pledged herself to the Resistance."

"We arranged this meeting for you to meet each other and work together inside the castle." I turn to Sage and Dale.

"Have you planned something yet?"

"Not yet. We're getting there. We need a good opportunity so we can get you both out without them noticing." I glance at Max. Does he want out too? Why has he agreed to help? He's the Queen's son.

"We will meet again soon to discuss more." Dale says to Max and I. "You should go," he says to Sage. She nods and looks at me.

"Hang in there." I nod.

"You two should go," Dale says to us.

"I'll walk her back," Max says. Dale gives me a reassuring smile and then I turn to follow Max.

We walk in silence down the hall. I hardly know what to say to him. He's on my side now, but how do I know the Queen isn't behind this?

"Why didn't you tell me?" He silently says under his breath.

"You're the Queen's son." I say as we move through the shadows in the stairwell. He is silent for a second. We approach my door and then he turns to me.

"Does anyone else know?" I shake my head. Cedric does, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Dale was the one who got me through, and he introduced me to Sage," I say. I meet his brown eyes. Chocolate. They glisten when he shoves his hands deep in his pockets.

"You don't trust me, do you?" He whispers.

"Not really," I sigh. The corner of his mouth quirks up. In this dark lighting I can see the resemblance to Cedric in his face. "Can I trust you?" I whisper. He meets my eyes in the dark and takes a step towards me.

"You can trust me," he says. His breath hit my face and I suddenly feel like I'm in a simulation. This can't be real.

"Always?" I say in the tiniest whisper, but so he can still hear.

"Always."