• “Now what?” I ask. Dad comes forward and takes my hand. He lifts it up like I’ve won a wrestling match.
    “Hail Sienna Price -- The Phoenix Orator,” Dad yells. The crowd responds with a “battle cry” type yell. I blush at all of the attention. Dad then leads me back to the white building. The crowd separates like before but with a new-found energy. I look at all of the faces in the crowd. They all seem happy, but they also looked a little frightened. I scan the crowd and see the elven boy that I helped. My eyes widen as he looks up and smiles. His smile was like a new 100 watt bulb. His eyes glimmered and he disappeared into the shadows. I blink a few times, but he doesn’t return. Bewildered, I come back to what’s happening around me. We finally stop at the white building and Dad turns me around. He bows and turns to go into the building. I realize that I have to bow too. I bow, not very gracefully, and turn into the building. Dad shuts the main doors and turns to look at me.
    “We have a lot of talking to do,” he says ushering me into the same room we were in before.
    “I have one question first,” I say hesitant. He nods.
    “Who was that boy elf that disappeared when we were coming back?” I ask.
    “He’s Erro. He’s our messenger to the other Wanderers in other worlds,” Dad says sitting down on the couch.
    “Oh. I was just curious. He looked a little different than everyone else,” I say sitting down too.
    “He is. He just appeared here one day and he’s been a little bit of an outsider to the locals…but enough about that. We need to talk about you,” he says crossing his legs. I nod and he begins to tell me the history about past Orators.
    “It’s just remarkable that you have this gift. It has never been seen in humans. Ever. I was also surprised that Dianna openly spoke to you. She hasn’t made a public appearance in over 30 years. Dianna was the last Orator. She was part of the elven race, but she had a little human in her. I believe her mother was from elfish decent and her father was a human. Anyway, she started talking to Ignis, one of the older Phoenixes, when she was about 16. He told her so much on the history of Phoenixes that she grew to love them. So much in fact, remember how she exploded into flames? She asked Ignis to give her the gift of fire so she could try and live like them. She lived with the Phoenixes all her life and loved every minute of it. Until the very end, well, you saw how it happened. Usually Phoenixes are reborn from the ashes, but because Dianna wasn’t a Phoenix, she died and will never come back to us,” Dad says with a solemn look on his face. I had a feeling that he looked up to Dianna, even though she hadn’t been seen in 30 years.
    “Did she ever keep a journal of all of this stuff she was learning?” I ask.
    “It’s rumored that she kept a diary of everything Ignis told her. Nobody has ever seen it though. Maybe tomorrow we can go over to the forge and take a look around,” Dad says getting up again. Just then, I thought of something.
    “How long have we been gone?” I ask worried about Jessie.
    “Don’t worry. When we pass through, we make a copy of ourselves so that it doesn’t look like we ever left,” he says smiling. Just then, Sophia flies into the room.
    “I’ll take you to your room Sienna,” she says politely.
    “’Night hon. See you tomorrow. If you need anything, just call for Sophia,” he says giving me a hug, just like when I arrived at his house.
    “Good night Dad,” I say back. I don’t really hug him. I just put my arms around him and pat his shoulders. He lets go and leaves the room. Sophia gestures towards the door and we leave the room. We climb up the staircase and enter into a long hallway. She flies ahead of me and stops in front of a door. To my surprise, the door opens with no problem. My face must have shown my surprise because Sophia laughs a little.
    “Haven’t you ever read a fantasy novel? We fairies have magic silly,” she says almost giggling. I blush a little by my stupidity and then look into the room. It was amazing. The four poster bed had sheer curtains surrounding it like one a princess might have. The floor was plush carpet and the walls were painted a light blue. The window looked out to a glittering lake surrounded by trees on three sides. In front of the window was one of my favorite things.
    “A window seat! I’ve always wanted one,” I exclaim sitting down on the plush padding upholstered in a dark blue floral pattern. I smile a little, but I start to remember Jessie.
    “She would love this room,” I think to myself. My thinking got interrupted by Sophia.
    “We didn’t know that you were coming so naturally we don’t have anything of yours. There are however some clothes in the wardrobe that might fit you. There are some towels and things in the bathroom if you need them,” Sophia says rather formally.
    “Thank you Sophia. You’ve been really nice to me since I’ve gotten here. I really hope that we can become friends,” I say really meaning it. I think that Sophia would be a really nice friend to have in Grimm.
    “You’re welcome. I hope so too,” she giggles. She gives a little wave and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. I get up and walk over to the wardrobe. Opening it, I see that there isn’t any clothing from this century, maybe not even the century before that! I take out what seems to be a nightgown and carry it into the bathroom. I take off my dirty clothes and put on the nightgown. I get out of the bathroom and crawl into bed.
    “Good night Ruby,” I send.
    “Good night Sienna. Sleep well,” Ruby responds. Smiling, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.