Ethereal

~Marcie~

I think that it all began that one Tuesday.

In my opinion, Tuesday is the worst day of the week. Not close enough to Friday, not far away enough from Monday. Not even in the middle. Just awkwardly waiting there at the beginning of the week.

And this Tuesday, it was raining.

I pulled my hood over my head and ran under the nearest tree as it began. I stared up at the sky in amazement--I had never seen so much rain all at once. My teeth chattered and I pulled my jacket around me, as I glanced through the heavy rain at the street that led to the school.

"Marcie!"

I heard a voice and turned, spotting a distant, blurry figure.

"Charlotte?" I squinted through the rain. It was ridiculous how much water there was--I was completely soaked already.

Charlotte's blonde hair was plastered to her forehead and she wiped it away impatiently. "This is crazy," She muttered, looking around us. The huge redwood tree offered some protection, but the heavy rain still managed to soak us.

"How are we going to get to school?" I shouldered my backpack and looked at the street again. The steep road had practically turned into a river--gallons of water cascaded down into a rushing mess.

"We could--" The rest of Charlotte's voice was drowned out as two things happened very quickly.

A bolt of lightning struck the redwood tree.

And the whole world disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There is a kind of half-state. An in-between-time where you're not quite sure where you are and what you're doing but you just are. It's the world of dreams and madness.

And sometimes, apparently, mushrooms.

I rolled over groggily, as if I had been sleeping for hours, and the small fungus was so bright it almost hurt to look at.

"Gaaaaah," I jumped back, falling over as it glowed a bright, unnatural blue.

I heard a noise behind me and got to my feet, startled and wary. A pile of leaves on the ground shifted and a head poked out--a blond head.

"Are you all right?" I rubbed my eyes in confusion and held out a hand for Charlotte. She pulled herself up shakily and I looked around, trying to understand where on Earth we were.

"Not on Earth."

"What?" Charlotte looked around frantically, rubbing her eyes as well.

"Not on Earth. Not on Mars, not on Venus..."

"Who's there?" I stepped forward. We were in a forest clearing, surrounded by towering trees. The voice seemed to be coming from all around us.

There was a snicker. "Not on Mercury, not on Saturn..." it echoed.

"You're very clever," Charlotte called. "Now show us where you are."

The mushroom glowed again.

"Mushroom?" I knelt down to look at it.

There was a derisive shriek. "Not on Mushroom, silly girls! Not on the Sun, not on the Moon..."

"Oh my god, shut up already," Charlotte muttered, looked around us.

"Not on the Stars..."

"So we're nowhere," I said exasperatedly.

There was another shriek and I shielded my eyes from the mushroom's sudden brightness.

"Nowhere! Nowhere!" It glowed brighter and grew.

Charlotte took a step back.

"Nowhere! We are Nowhere!" It chanted. The blue light grew, and the mushroom changed but the light was so bright that I pressed my hands to my eyelids and turned away.

"Nowhere! Nowhere...." the voice took on a more earthly quality and I blinked my eyes open.

Behind me Charlotte gasped.

"Oh," I said, relieved. "It's only a Goblin."

~Charlotte~

"Only a Goblin?" Marcie nodded causally, completely un-phased.

"Only a goblin? Marcie, you have got to be kidding me! A goblin that's ridiculous!"

"Yes Charlotte, a goblin"

She was giving me the Marcie look, the one that meant I was missing something. Why wasn't she shaken by this? It crossed my mind that the landing had been a bit bumpy and I wondered vaguely how hard one would have to hit their head before becoming delusional.

"Goblins aren't all that dangerous, at least not when they're that small and don't travel in groups"

"Since when did you become an expert"

"I wonder where we are." She said ignoring my snide comment.

"Well according to Mr. Glowing Fungus-"

"goblin"

"Right. According to Mr. goblin, we are Nowhere"


"We can't be Nowhere."

I thought about it for a minute.

"Perhaps we're caught somewhere in between two dimensions, like a void space so technically it wouldn't exist."

What was I saying? I mentally searched my scull for bruises. Nope none. Great, I thought I didn't hit my head, I'm just loosing my mind. I ran my fingers through my hair pulling at is slightly, the way I do when I can't think straight. I pulled my hand away quickly. My hair was dry, in fact all of me was dry, save the moisture seeping in from the damp earth to my back pockets.

That was impossible. I had been dripping wet not ten minutes previous. I looked over at Marcie. She too appeared perfectly dry. It just wasn't right.

Of course, nothing here was quite right. The colors were all just a little too bright, the grass a little too lush, the trees a bit too tall. Don't get me wrong, it was lovely, but unnatural somehow. This forest captivated you, pulling you in with the whispered songs of the wind, and gentle touches from stray flowers.

I suddenly felt like I was starring in an episode of "Doctor Who". But where was David Tennent when you needed him?

"Marcie, we should..." I started, but my friend was lost to this world for a moment. Her brown curls tangling unnoticed in the wind, absorbed in the alien beauty that surrounded her.

At the sound of my voice she snapped out of it.

"Go exploring? Brilliant, exactly what I was thinking!"

"Um no, that wasn't quite where I was going with that..."

"Come on Charlotte! This is literally a once in a life time experience!"

I shook my head, folding my arms instinctively across my chest.

"No Marcie. We need to find away out of here, we need to get back to-"

"Get back to what?"

That stopped me. I thought back to the argument that had finally pushed me over the edge. The conversation that had sparked a ludicrous idea. We would have been leaving today anyway, so what was the point? She was right, why go back, when there wasn't a whole lot to go back to?

"I'm going, whether you come or not" Marcie said. She appeared confident in her words, but I could see the hint of uncertainty that resided in her eyes.

"Alright" I said "You win, lets go on an adventure."

~Marcie~

I shook my head, as if to clear away cobwebs. Everything here had a dream-like quality, and I felt dazed as I turned to Charlotte.

"Well, in every adventure, you have to--"

"Eh!"

Charlotte and I both turned to the goblin. He looked annoyed at being ignored. His appearance was more mushroom-like now, with his wrinkly gray skin. His eyes glittered like goblin gold, and he twisted his crooked fingers together.

"What?" Charlotte said, turning to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, Mushroom. Either shut up or say something useful," I said, inadvertently naming him.

His eyes glittered and he hobbled over to Charlotte, pointing a bent finger.

"Golden hair, Sky-blue eyes," his mouth moved, but the sound came from the trees. It was the same echoing quality his voice had had before, multiplied tenfold.

"In darkest Night the Sun shall rise."

A breeze whispered through the trees, and I shivered.

Charlotte ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at the goblin, confused.

"What?"

"Golden hair..."

"Ok," I interrupted "We get it."

Charlotte looked at me, then back at the goblin. He turned around and muttered to himself.

"Sky-blue eyes, in darkest Night..."

"So...what were you saying?" Charlotte turned back to me.

I gave Mushroom a weird look before turning to her. "Oh. Well, before any adventure, we have to take stock of our supplies."

Charlotte nodded, and reached around for her bag, then turned around frantically.

"My backpack! It isn't here!"

I looked around and realized mine was missing as well.

I shrugged "Notebooks would be useless anyway. But-" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pen. "One pen."

"One chapstick," Charlotte added, searching her pockets.

"Well, we certainly came prepared." I sighed. "Not gonna lie, I had a ton of food in my backpack. Not to mention--"

Mushroom made a sniffing noise and ran up to Charlotte again, smelling her.

"What are you--"

"Shhh." I watched the goblin carefully. He walked around Charlotte, pausing every now and then, taking in the scent of her clothes.

"Do you know where our packs are? Have you smelled her before, Mushroom?" I said carefully. "

He turned to me with a sideways grin.

"Before," he said, pointing a wrinkled finger. Charlotte and I turned to see the ground move and form a huge hole that resembled a gaping mouth. A wave of stank underground air washed over us.

"Before," Mushroom repeated, turning to us triumphantly. "In Sub-Tërra."

I turned to Charlotte with a grin, and she sighed.

"Well," she murmured, following me into the hole. "Let the adventure begin."

~Charlotte~

I forced myself to enter the dark cave, feeling my whole body resist. At first I though my reluctance was the instinctual fear I had of dark places that could be potentially crammed with spiders. My arch nemesis. But it was more than that.

 Every fiber of my conscious being was telling me to stay in the warmth of that strange forest, as though the air was grasping at my very soul. Still, I pushed myself to put one foot in front of the other, there was no way I was going to be left a lone with the glowing mushroom. Harmless he might be, but the little thing still gave me the creeps.

WOOOOSSSHHHHH!!


I let out a shriek as both Marcie and I were thrown forcibly forward. The ground beneath us was shaking like a leaf , and I had a bad feeling it was about to collapse .

"Keep your head down!" I shouted, hoping Marcie could hear me over the cracks and thuds that sounded like falling rocks. So much for an adventure I thought we didn't even make it a mile. 


And then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Silence settled over the now pitch black tunnel, broken only by the occasional sound of shifting rocks.

"Ouch!" I heard Marcie's voice say from the darkness. I heard her get up and start feeling for the wall. I sat up too and attempted to make my way in her direction.

"The entrance has completely closed up" I heard her calling from farther away "How cliche. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I called back. "Do you think it caved in?"

"That's the funny thing about it, the wall is smooth as though there had never been an entrance here"

"Are you sure your at the right wall? I mean, it is completely dark in here."

"No I'm sure of it. Come see- er feel for yourself"

I made my way over to her on my hands and knees and ran my hand over the supposed entrance. She was right completely smooth.I

"Well what now?" I asked sitting with my back against the wall.

"I guess we just keep following the tunnel, and see where it leads."

I opened my mouth to argue,but I realized there was nothing I could say.

"Alright, well down the dark sketchy tunnel it is then" I said, getting gingerly to my feet.

"Aren't adventures fun?"

"Mmm"

"Here grab my hand or something so that we don't get separated in the darkness." Marcie said

"Alright"

We started down the tunnel, but the going was painfully slow, on account of me tripping every few seconds. Story of my life.

"What do you think Mushroom meant, when he was going on about blue eyes and night and gold hair?" Marcie asked after a while.

"I dunno, little buggers probably mentally unstable"

"Charlotte, he spoke in prose. That's gotta be something."

"like I said, mentally unstable. S'what happens when you live your life resembling a mushroom"

But the truth was that little golden eyed goblin had unsettled me. What did he want from me? More importantly, why me? Why not Marcie? She was the brains and beauty, so why me?

"What I want to know is what Sub-Terra is." I said to change the subject

"I know. It's been bothering me too." There was silence for a moment. I mean it's obviously a place... I guess"

"Do you think it's where the tunnel leads?"

"No Idea, but I hope it leads somewhere."

I felt Marcie stop

"What is it?"

"Charlotte look!"

"Where?"

"There! Straight ahead of you! See look!"

"Marcie... I don't see anything"

"It's light!"

I squinted my eyes, and searched the black for some sort of change. There it was! I could see it! It was tiny, no bigger then the point of a needle. But it was there. Light!

~Marcie~

I squinted through the darkness, trying to make out the light again. If I looked at it straight on I couldn't see it, and it was only out of the corner of my eye that it appeared.

"What do you think it is?" I said softly, taking a hesitant step towards it. Charlotte followed slowly.

"Do you think it's...getting closer?" she murmured.

I stopped for a second and tilted my head, frustrated at not being able to look at it directly. "It's moving," I said suddenly.

And the cave lit up all at once.

The ceiling towered above our heads, and the walls widened out. Charlotte let go of my hand and we gazed in wonder as the twinkling lights grew.

They were bugs--hundreds of thousands of them. They covered every surface and formed a pulsing, entrancing light. They crawled all around us and Charlotte took a step away from the walls, shivering.

"What are these things?" I said, taking a step closer ad reaching out a hand. One of the small, bright creatures fluttered onto my finger and I giggled.

"How do you stand them?" Charlotte muttered. She wrapped her arms around herself and glanced around the cave warily.

Another one landed in my hair and nestled itself into a curl. A third landed on my shoulder and I stepped away from the wall, observing the one on my finger.

"They're like...Glow bugs," I said softly.

"Glow bugs, Glow bugs!" Mushroom's voice echoed gleefully throughout the room, and Charlotte and I turned around, stunned, trying to find it's source. The Glow bugs flew away in fright.

"Well we must have done something right," Charlotte said, turning to me. "He only repeats things if they're true."

I nodded. One Glow bug remained perched on my finger, and I looked at it thoughtfully as Charlotte looked around the cavern for the goblin.

It had tiny, golden, iridescent wings, bathed in the yellow glow of the others. The light seemed to come from it's whole body, more like an aura than a firefly's light. It fluttered it's wings and I smiled, bringing my hand up to let it sit on my shoulder.

"I shall name you..Deca." I whispered softly. I turned around to see Charlotte peering around the corner of a tunnel.

I opened my mouth to call to her when the lights went out.

All of them extinguished at once, except for the tiny glow of Deca on my shoulder. I put my hands in front of me, feeling my way through the dark.

"Charlotte? Are you there?" I called.

"Yeah. I'm--" some scuffling.

"Charlotte?!" her voice had been muffled. I put a careful finger on Deca and his light faded, as I backed up warily.

"Charlotte?" I whispered. There were footsteps behind me, and then--

There was absolute darkness.

~Marcie~

The first thing I did when I woke up was try to open my eyes. But the blindfold didn't really help, and so instead I tried to move my hands--they were tied together.

"Shhhh," said a voice in my ear, and I jumped.

I realized I was being carried. Somehow, I hadn't noticed it right away, but I was slung over someone's back, unable to move. I squirmed, scared of falling on my face, and the person shifted me forward.

"Charlotte?" I whispered. My voice sounded hoarse. How long had I been out for?

There was no answer.

Gradually, the hill got steeper. I was suddenly lifted up and placed carefully on the ground to walk, and I stumbled, falling into my captor. Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me upright, and then pushed me forward into the tunnel.

I felt a tickle near my ear, and realized Deca must still be on my shoulder, his light out, unnoticed. Somehow the thought comforted me.

We walked for what felt like an hour.

I stumbled blindly over a rock, and this time hands grabbed me and pulled me sharply to the right. I felt a sudden change in the air, and the hands fumbled with my blindfold.

It fell away and I gasped.

The underground city stretched on for miles. The houses, haphazardly placed and strangely shaped, didn't show and sign of streets or organization. They were all made of dark gray stone, or a clay-like substance, and in the distance a huge black tower rose out of sight into the inescapably black ceiling.

I was pushed forward, and this time I turned to look at my captor. He had wild auburn curls that fell over his eyes, but everything else about him was upright and neat, unlike the buildings we walked past. He seemed young, though, perhaps only a little older than me. He wore a dark gray uniform, with unidentifiable badges across his chest, randomly placed, it seemed, and covered with a strange form of writing. I squinted closely at them, thinking they resembled Anglo-Saxon runes, but he pushed me forward and we continued on our winding path past the houses.

The people we saw were dark, gray, and bent forward, in a hurry to get somewhere or do something, and old woman crouched over her basket of what looked like dead grass, hobbling past us without looking up.

Everything was silent.

We turned past a small, sunken house and a huge circular building came into view. The only rule of this place it seemed to follow was the color scheme--everything else about it was orderly and upright.

We walked up to the imposing door, and he pushed it open, leading me inside.

The first thing I saw was Charlotte, still blindfolded and sitting on the ground, tied to a post. A little girl with was braiding Charlotte's hair into tiny pieces, humming to herself. There were more people in the gray uniforms, gathered in a dark corner of the room.

"Ashan! What took you so long?" another young boy turned around as we walked in. His faded blond hair was cut short, and his dark eyes looked preoccupied.

"This one took a while to wake up," he said calmly.

"Marcie?" Charlotte said quizzically, turning her blindfolded head and pulling a braid out of the small girl's grasp.

"Charlotte--"

The door behind us burst open.

Everyone turned to stare at the newcomer, a boy in haphazard gray clothing who was out of breath and stared at us with wild eyes.

"Don't kill them," he said breathlessly, looked at the blonde boy. He pointed a shaking finger at Charlotte. "She's the Koreask!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We were sitting around a huge stone fire pit. Charlotte and I were holding mugs of something warm, though I'd been hesitant to drink mine. Blankets had been thrown around our shoulders, and all of those in uniform were whispering frantically to each other, glancing at us.

But the blonde-hair boy sat next to Charlotte, throwing logs in the fire and gazing at them perplexedly. Every now and then a spark would fall to the ground, blazing brightly. He nodded, as if it had spoken to him.

"So...could you explain exactly what a Koreask is?" Charlotte said softly, looking at the boy. He had told us his name was Tenin, but not much else.

He looked into the fire with a ponderous expression, before addressing Charlotte.

"It is our Champion," he said, staring into the flames. "Golden hair and Sky-blue eyes, in darkest Night the Sun shall rise..." he looked up then and twirled a finger around Charlotte's hair, and he laughed. "That is you of course--and it does not get darker than here!" he said, gesturing around us.

I coughed and they turned to me.

"There seems to be a flaw in your logic," I said pointedly.

Tenin looked at me with blank eyes.

"This little rhyme everyone keeps repeating. Darkest Night. How can you have darkest Night in a place with no Day?"

Charlotte looked at Tenin, running her fingers through her hair.

His face darkened and he tilted his head at me.

"Be careful what you say, girl. The prophecy has been set in it's course." he stood up. "And Sub-Tërra does not take kindly to blasphemers."

I burst out laughing and everyone in the room turned to stare confusion written on their faces.

~Charlotte~

The room Tennin showed us to, was nothing I had expected. The walls were gnarled, riddled with knots and ridges. Almost like a very old tree trunk. The whole room was a muddy brownish grey, but oddly not unpleasant.

Apart from being identical in color to the walls, the furniture it's self seemed normal enough. a small sink and kitchen in one corner, a bed in the center of the room located against a wall and a door that led to what I could only assume was a bathroom. But by far the most extraordinary feature was the far side of the room. Every inch of it was made of glass and it showed a view of the entire city, in all its decrepit glory

I was entranced by the view. Entranced and slightly horrified. I walked over to the widow, letting my fingers brush the glass as I starred into a city of mud. I had been blindfolded when walking through it, but now I could see its bent, sunken, and broken personality and I felt hot tears breech my eyes.

"It looks worse from above" Marcie remarked joining me at the window.

"Why is it like this?" I asked

"Our city is dying." Tennin responded, staying where he was.

"What you mean like the economy? The government? What?"

"No the city. The city is dying."

"Like a living thing?" Marcie asked.

"Living thing! Living thing!"

Mushrooms voice came out of no where. Both Marcie and I looked around, but Tennin didn't seem to notice anything.

"Yes."

"You mean to tell me this city isn't a city, but something living?"

"No."

I tore my eyes away from the city and turned them on Tennin.

"Wow, you really have a way with words" I said letting the sarcasm ooze out of my voice.

"Look, it's not exactly something you can explain, it's knowledge citizens of Sub-Terra are born with. It just sort of, is."

I knew my face was easy to read. Confusion. I just couldn't wrap my head around a city being alive.

"Char, why is the sky blue?"

I looked at Marcie. What did she mean?

"Marcie that's not exactly rele-"

"Back home," she insisted "Why is the sky blue?"

"I dunno. There's some sort of science behind it but I-"

"Yes, yes, yes, but to most people why is the sky blue?"

"I... I guess it just is..."

"Exactly. It just is."

And then I understood what she meant. The people here just accepted it, because it had always been that way. And for the time being I would have to do the same.

"Hmm," Tennin said "You might be useful to have around, friend of the Koreask"

I closed my eyes and sighed

"It's Charlotte. And that is Marcie"

"She might be Marcie, but you are the Koreask"

I looked at the ceiling attempting to mask my frustration. Was this boy trying to irritate me?

"What an interesting choice of paint" I looked over to Marcie who had left the window and was brushing her fingers lightly across the furniture."

"It's not paint" Tennin said, his eyes still trained on me. It was unsettling.

"What do you mean? Then how does it get to be the same color as the walls?"

"He's right! look! It's like its attached!"

I hurried over to the small kitchen and ran my index finger along where the counter met the wall. Where there should have been a gap or a crack between the counter and the wall, the counter top met smoothly with the wall, making only a slight crease.

"It looks as though it's growing out of the wall."

"Growing! Growing!"

Marcie and I looked at each other, it seemed like we would have to get used to our little goblin.

"Very good Koreask" Tennin said

"Charlotte. Charlotte. My name is Charlotte!"

Tennin only shrugged indifferently.

"To me, your are the Koreask"

I sighed and sat down on a large chair near the window.

"So if your city is dying, what's killing it?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"We don't know. That's why we need you." I looked into his hazel eyes, was that a hint of pain I had detected?

There was a knock on the door, and one of our kidnappers entered. He had red hair, Ashan I think it was.

"I got it." he said to Tennin"

"Got what exactly?" Marcie asked cautiously

"You'll see." he said flashing her a smile. "We were only expecting one person for this room not two. So we'll have to... shall we say, adjust the settings."

he rummaged around in his uniform pocket and came up with a stick of sorts. He made a full circle around himself and then turned back to Tennin.

"Uh, Tennin, which one is it?"

"Over the door"

"Right."

Ashan walked over to the door and reached up inserting the stick into one of the knots in the wall and giving it a sharp twist as he did so. Then before my eyes the large bed in the center of the room split into two. I jumped up, taken off guard by the sudden change.

"Did that just-"

"Yes." Tennin said. "Wonderful, isn't it."

"What is this place?"

Tennin laughed dryly

"Koreask, welcome to the center of Sub-Terra"

~Marcie~

Over the next few days, there were three things that I became very sure of.

The first was that Ashan was the kinder of the two who watched over us. He and Tennin would take turns, Tennin standing at unwavering attention at the door and Ashan sitting in a chair by our beds, telling us stories and laughing. Once, he even brought us a game--two small sticks. When Charlotte and I looked at them confusedly, he stood up and pointed to the wall where one of the knots was glowing. I ran over and tapped it with the stick, and a new one appeared over Charlotte's head. Like bored kittens, we found this game was exceedingly entertaining.

The second thing was that it seemed like we would never set foot outside of our little room. Once, I tiptoed past a sleeping Ashan and made it almost to the end of the hallway before he lifted me up and slung me over his shoulder, none too gently. That was the first time I saw him truly angry.

But the third thing was perhaps the most unsettling of all, and it was the presence of Tennin. On the first day of our capture, I sat him down in a chair and stared at his badges, symbols and scripts running through my mind until frustrated, I decided I could not read them. It was only later when Ashan taught some of them to me, and I had time to stare, that I realized Tennin was a very important person indeed. My presentation of this news to Charlotte was met only with a shrug of slight annoyance.

Tennin still refused to call her by her name. I could understand it, almost. To him, Koreask must have been a word of hope. But sometimes, even I felt the snideness behind this name, and I regretted the one time I called Charlotte that jokingly--tears of hurt sprang to her eyes.

But on the matter of Tennin, the last thing that bothered me was this--that he would always fix Charlotte with his unwavering gaze. Once, I joked about how Tennin could have just been the Koreask himself, if not for his stupid brown eyes, and immediately Charlotte corrected me.

"Hazel," she said softly, turning over in her bed. "His eyes are hazel."

I watched Tennin closely after that.

And then, once we had lost all track of time and I had turned my hour marks on the wall into doodles of trees, Ashan opened the door.

"You have a visitor," he said, and I wasn't the only one who jumped out of bed excitedly.

The figure that entered our room was stooped, hunched, and old. At first I almost didn't recognize her without her basket, but as she shakily lifted the hood of her cloak I smiled.

"Hello," I said, grinning widely. I couldn't quite explain why I was so happy to see her. Perhaps just because she was a new face. Perhaps because I had seen her on the day of my capture, and to me she represented freedom, to walk the streets.

But mostly it was her aura. And as I squinted in concentration, I could see that it was a bright, shimmering pink that snaked tendrils across the room and made everything bubbly and perfect.

Although that was the opposite of her appearance. She seemed old, fragile, and like she was about to fall apart. I helped her over to the bed.

It was the first words out of her mouth that endeared us to her forever.

"Now, my dear, what is your name?" she said, turning to Charlotte.

Her expression was of wordless happiness. She opened her mouth and closed it, and I gave her a minute so she could say it herself.

"Charlotte," she whispered happily.

"What a beautiful name," the woman said, taking a careful seat on my bed. "Mine is Haiga."

"Aren't you--why don't you call me--" Charlotte stammered.

"My dear, I'm quite sure by now you know what you are. And should you need reminding, there are two young lads willing to help you. But as for me, I shall address you by your name. I am a word-weaver, you see. Just like--" she turned to me, putting a hand on my shoulder and smiling. "--this one,"

My eyes lit up and I grinned.

"Word-weaver, Word-weaver!"

Charlotte and I didn't even acknowledge Mushroom's voice, but the old woman looked up at the ceiling with an annoyed expression.

"Pesky goblins," she muttered.

I looked at Charlotte.

"Now," she said, leaning back into the bed. "I have much to say and very little time to say it. You--" she pointed at Charlotte. "You are being hunted. I suspect at least Lodorvrin knows of your presence, and by now, Descar-Dran is readying it's ships. No amount of guards and wards will find you safe here."

"Wait," Charlotte interrupted. "What are these places? Why would they want me?"

"You are the Koreask," I said, standing up and pacing suddenly. "In darkest Night...I knew it!" I turned to the woman. "The prophecy doesn't refer to Sub-Tërra, does it? All the kingdoms..." I looked at Charlotte. "All the kingdoms want you to make everything right again. They all want you."

Charlotte's face paled and I looked at Haiga.

"You're right," I said. "We're not safe here."

~Charlotte~

Sub-Terra was always dark. So dark I often wondered how anyone could see anything. Even so, one could always tell when it was night. The city settled. The lights went off all at once as though Sub-Terra was closing it's eyes to sleep. It was peaceful somehow, as if the terror and dread of the waking hours was relieved, if only for a little while.

If you looked hard enough, you could see glimmers. Little flickers of light, coming from the few people still awake. It held a mysterious beauty to it, and no matter how hard I tried I could not hate Sub-Terra.

We passed through it now, moving quickly. Tennin stayed close to me, an ever constant and unwanted shadow. I knew Marcie was somewhere behind me, probably with Ashan. We traveled surrounded by around eight guys, are whole protection detail. I recognized all of them by now, but I couldn't name them.

 I could hardly get to know them, because when they were around me they stood at attention and addressed me as miss, m'lady, or simply as the Koreask-- a tittle I had come to hate. They only answered direct questions, and even they never said more then they had to.

Plus, it wasn't like I had spent a whole lot of time around them. They would stand in now and then when Tennin and Ashan were called away.

"We need to move faster." I heard Tennin mutter

"What exactly are we running from?" I asked breathlessly. I had never been the greatest runner.

"I can't explain now, just keep going." at that, I stopped. I just stopped running and stood stalk still, glaring at Tennin.

Ashan ran straight into me and we, along with Marcie toppled and fell head over heels. I jumped back up as quickly as I could. Tennin had noticed and was running back.

"Are you daft girl!?" he basically screamed at me.

"Tennin keep your voice down!" Ashan hissed at him

"No, I'm not daft." I said "I'm just kept in the dark."

"No pun intended" Marcie muttered.

Tennin reached for me, and I could see he was planning on carrying me, to where ever we were going. But I stepped out of reach.

"Pick me up and I scream." I said looking at him straight in the eye. I hated to sound so petty. but I only had one power over these people, and that was refusal.

I drew myself up, attempting to look imposing.

"I am supposed to save your city. But I can't help you, if I keep being cut out of the loop. So tell me, what the hell are we running from?!"

Tennin's face suddenly lost it's edge.

"Please, we cant stop now. I will tell you. I promise, but right now we need to keep going. We need to keep you safe" There was a pleading tone to his voice. It took me of guard and felt surprise register on my face.

"Please." he said softer.

I shook my head, knowing I would regret what I was about to say next.

"Fine. Can you at least tell me where we are going?"

 "A safe house. We call it Scarrow."

"Thank you." I said "Alright what are we waiting for? to Scarrow it is."

And we took off running into the blackness.

~Marcie~

Tennin and Charlotte were dark ghosts ahead of us, rushing through the darkness. The only thing I could see was Charlotte's hair, glowing in the dark, and even that was lost as we hurtled around corners. At those times, Ashan would take my hand and pull me sharply one way or another. I supposed the people of Sub-Terra simply had better vision.

After almost ten minutes of this rushing madness, we turned a final corner and I saw our safe house.

Scarrow was the black tower.

It was still far enough away that I could have a whispered conversation with Ashan. He leaned in as I opened my mouth to speak.

"I wish to speak with Haiga," I said softly.

He shook his head, looking ahead of us at the dark street. "That is a foolish wish."

"It isn't," I said forcefully. "She said--"

"You are lucky that I even let her speak with you," Ashan said. "She has been shunned by the city. Her Sight is weakened and old, and she spreads blasphemy."

"What kind of blasphemy?" I wanted to know, having been accused of such an act myself. We ran past a house with a flickering light.

He shook his head again. "Why must you ask those questions which are most likely to get you killed?"

That sparked another question. "Why haven't I?"

This time Ashan looked at me, and we slowed down slightly. "Haven't what?"

"Why haven't I been killed?" I stopped completely and folded my arms, looking up at him.

His eyes glittered. "Are you taunting me?" his voice took a serious tone.

"I know you wouldn't kill me," I said calmly. "But what I wonder is, being a friend of the Koreask is really enough to keep me alive? Is it really all that is keeping me alive?"

"These are dangerous questions," Ashan hissed, pulling me forward again. His laughing demeanor was completely gone.

"They're the important ones," I said simply. "The truth is, I know why you can't kill me."

His mouth quirked. "Do you?"

"Yes. I know you can't kill me because I'm intriguing. I'm your link to another world, because I am not of your world. Your Koreask--" I gestured ahead of us. "--she was prophesied. She belongs. But you're not quite sure how I fit in at all, and so you're waiting and watching and wondering what crazy thing I'm going to do." I grinned up at him. "Stick with me, kid. I do a lot of weird things."

Ashan was smiling now too, a hesitant, breaking-the-rules kind of smile, and he stepped closer to me.

"Ashan!" Tennin's harsh whisper made me jump. Charlotte stood behind him, looking at me quizzically.

Ashan stepped away from me but took my hand, and we were off running again.

"I love how he blames you and not me," I whispered.

He squeezed my hand and we ran faster.

Scarrow loomed closer, darker even than the darkness--I wondered what it was made of.
"Obsidian," Ashan said simply, and I looked up at him.

We reached the door. Tennin stood in front of it for a moment, hunched over, and I realized he was working on the intricate set of locks. Finally, he stepped back and pulled Charlotte through first. I stepped in after her, and I caught the disapproving look he gave to Ashan.

The rest of our guards stayed outside of the tower, and Tennin swung the door shut with a resounding thud. Charlotte shivered and gave me a worried look. Then her eyes widened--I followed her gaze and glanced down at Deca, who was glowing brightly.

Before, Charlotte and I had kept our lights on at all times. More for morale than fear--we knew our guards were right outside the door, and we simply couldn't bear the sadness of the dark. Now, in true darkness, Deca climbed through my hair, pulsing light happily.

"Keep your creature under control," Tennin snarled softly as he passed me, taking Charlotte's arm and leading her up the stairs. Ashan and I followed silently as Charlotte shook him off and stomped up the stairs.

We walked for perhaps a half hour. Ashan walked behind me, and once the stairs were so steep I tripped and fell backwards. Ashan caught me and I had a sudden dizzying view of the drop. He pulled me close and swung me upright, and when Charlotte turned Tennin simply pulled her forward.

At the top of the stairs, there was a circle of doors. Tennin headed towards the first with Charlotte, and I started forward but Ashan took my arm.

"We should keep them in separate rooms," He called calmly to Tennin. I looked up at him with a frantic expresssion, and Charlotte glanced at Tennin.

He fixed Ashan with a cool gaze, and I looked back and forth between them, trying to understand their unspoken language. Finally Tennin nodded, and Ashan pulled me backwards to a room on the opposite side of the staircase.

"Marcie--" Tennin slammed the door on Charlotte's voice and Ashan pulled me into the room, closing our door as well.

I looked up at him with a pained expression. "Why--"

"We can't have you making any plans," He said simply, taking a seat on one of the beds. He looked up at me with a serious expression.

I saw the lie in his eyes and laughed.

His mouth twitched and he looked around the room, sighing.

"There are only some things I can tell you. You must never allow Tennin to know that I am telling you this."

I sat down on the other bed, facing him. I folded my hands and looked at him expectantly.

He bit back a smile. "You are very correct in your thoughts for your extended survival. If the Order had it's way, any potential threat to the Koreask would be eliminated immediately."

I laughed. "Because friends are so dangerous."

"They are dangerous when they question the order of things," he said softly. He looked at me intently. "When they challenge prophecies and place untrue things in the Koreask's mind."

I stopped laughing and leaned forward. "Ashan, what lies did Haiga tell? Why do you think her Sight is clouded?Why is she shunned?"

He gazed at me without blinking.

"She said that the Koreask would not save Sub-Terra."

~Marcie~

I stared at Ashan for a moment, before voicing the words I knew would get me into a LOT of trouble.

"She won't."

Ashan's eyes blazed and he stood up. "You would do well to remember that it is only by my intervention that you are still alive."

"Your intervention? Please." I stood up as well and faced him. "How well do you think an emotionally grieving Koreask will function? You cannot kill me."

"You speak about your life with such certainty," He said icily.

"And you speak of the future with such certainty," I shot back. "Don't shoot the messenger. I'm only here to tell you that you have false hope for your city."

"But at least it is hope." Ashan and I stood looking at each other coldly for a moment, before the door was flung open.

Tennin stood in the doorway, and his face was pale.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I guess they aren't worried about us making escape plans anymore," Charlotte remarked as we waited inside her room.

"That was just an excuse anyways," I said absentmindedly, pressing my ear to the door, trying to here the whispered conversation between our guards.

"...idea how he found out."

"Oh please, like that really matters?" that was Tennin. "Anyways, he's here now. And he wants to see her."

I heard Ashan shift his weight nervously. "Just tell him that we don't know--"

"Do you take me for a fool? Of course I tried to tell him that. But the Prince of Lodorvrin certainly puts great trust in his sources, because he is refusing to leave until we present her."

Ashan gave an irritated sigh. Charlotte slid off the bed and crouched down next to me.

"What does Arin say?"

"Nothing, as usual." Tennin said irritably. "He only comes out to give useless orders."

Ashan snorted. "Who would have thought that the Order's top officer would be so quick to dismiss our leader..."

"Simply because he is unhelpful in times of crisis," Tennin muttered.

A sudden idea came to me and I flung the door open. Tennin and Ashan stared at me blankly as I grinned wildly at them.

"Guys, guys--I have a plan."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Prince of Lodorvrin was nothing if not extravagant.

I noticed this as we passed his luxuriously clad servants and copious wagons full of supplies. Before we even met him, I could tell he was going to be arrogant, boastful, and irritating.

Charlotte reached down to scratch her leg. She was wearing a long, flowing, cream colored gown. Hundreds of jewels had been placed around her neck and arms, and every few minutes she would adjust them with annoyance.

It was the chained girl who had put them on us. Keeping her head down under Tennin's watchful glare, she had adorned Charlotte with the glittering pieces of jewelry. Luckily, I escaped with a simple purple dress.

"At least we're clean," I said reassuringly to her. She gave me a doubtful look.

"Listen," I said, moving closer. "Remember our plan?"

"Oh, I forgot it, actually." She smiled weakly. "Of course I remember."

I grinned back and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, darlin'. They're gonna love you."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Charlotte muttered as we walked up the steps to another huge, rounded building. It was similar to the first one we had seen, and as Tennin opened the door for us I saw that the inside was the same as well.

Except for the people in it, of course.

I knew immediately which one was the Prince because I could barely see him. So many attendants were crowded around him that I had to stand on my tiptoes to get a look.

Yup. Definitely full of himself.

But the second thing I noticed was the truly interesting thing. Both of his eyes were different colors--the first, a vibrant emerald green--and the second, a bright sunset orange. As he turned these unsettling eyes on us, a slight smile crossed his face.

"Welcome," He said, spreading his arms as if he owned the place. I heard Ashan's derisive snort from behind me.

He stood and walked towards us. Tennin stepped forward to meet him.

The Prince fixed him with a questioning look.

"Welcome to Sub-Terra, Prince Dominiv Rei Aska." Tennin gave him a short bow.

Dominiv looked around the room and then back at Tennin before giving a small laugh. "And where is Master Arin? Surely the arrival of a Prince merits his presence."

"And where is the King? Surely the arrival of the Koreask merits his presence." Tennin said without missing a beat.

The Prince looked at Tennin for a moment and then chuckled, patting Tennin on the shoulder as if they were old friends. Tennins shoulders stiffened.

"Not to worry," the Prince said, smiling. "I'll just take these two and be on my way."

"Take?" Tennin said, moving closer to Charlotte.

"Two?" Ashan said at the same time, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Dominiv looked between the two and laughed again. "Certainly. It is well known that Lodorvrin is in great need of the Sun." He smiled at Charlotte." But not to worry, we will return them perfectly safe. After all, Sub-Terra is certainly not lacking for darkness!" He spread his arms again and his attendants chuckled.

"Why is it that you need both?" Ashan spoke up. The Prince turned to him, smile unwavering.

"Do you not see it?" He pulled me forward. "Is there no one Sighted among you?"

The room was silent.

He looked down at me with dancing eyes. "Their auras are intertwined inexplicably. Both of them are necessary--one could not possibly function without the other." He trailed a finger down my cheek and then looked around the room. "You truly must look into finding another Seer."

I glanced at Ashan and raised an eyebrow.

He frowned at me pointedly, and then stepped forward to reclaim me from the Prince's arms, when my plan went into action.

The wall exploded.

The dust swirled around us, blinding everyone. There were shouts and crashes as the attendants hurried to escape frantically.

I twisted in the Prince's grip, perturbed at this new turn of events. He held onto me tightly, pulling me in the opposite direction of where I needed to go.

I could not see his outline in the dust, but I could see something--the flickering light of his aura.

I pulled against him without success, when I felt a sudden tickle against my ear and something flew past my face. I turned away just as Deca exploded with light in the Prince's eyes. I slipped out of his grasp as he bent over in pain and his aura swirled an angry red.

I ran towards one end of the room, towards a tapestry. I slipped behind it and ran down the passageway as quietly as I could, hoping I wasn't too late.

"Finally," said a voice.

I turned the corner breathlessly and grinned to see Haiga supporting a limping Charlotte. The bottom of her dress was stained red.

"Clever girl," Haiga mused, as she helped Charlotte along the corridor."Sending me your message with that bug of yours. But I do wonder, how you convinced your captors to stage such an intervention."

On my shoulder, Deca fluttered gently, tired out. I grinned at Haiga.

"It was easy," I said, bending down to look at Charlotte's leg. She winced. "I just told them we'd run towards them."

We all laughed. I wrapped a piece of torn cloth around the gash in Charlotte's leg, and we made our way slowly down the tunnel. There was a small window a few feet above us, and outside I could see Scarrow.

"Haiga," Charlotte said, noticing the same thing. "Aren't we going in the wrong direction?"

"Oh no, dear girls. There is still one more person we must help escape."

I thought for a moment. "The girl in chains? Who is she?"

Haiga turned to us with a weak smile. "My granddaughter. Lida."

~Charlotte~

I'm going to retrace some steps for a moment, and take you back to a few minutes after we entered Scarrow.
Marcie had been whisked off with Ashan to another room, and I was left with the stoney Tennin.
He led me to a room, that was significantly smaller then the one I'd been in back in the heart of Sub-Tërra. Smaller it may have been, but it was sharper. The walls were painted black, but the molding was white, and the pillows and quilt were a blood red. It had just one small window, that faced only never ending blackness.

As soon I heard a click of the door closing, I turned and faced Tennin.

"You promised." I said staring at him levelly

"I know." he said his eyes ever calculating

"Who's after me?"

"Everyone."

"Care to elaborate?"

He sighed, and walked past me, staring out into the dark.

"It's not just Sub-Terra that's dying." He said after a moment. "Its all the cities, well kingdoms really, every single one of them are loosing their light."

"Like they've been infected" I said

"Yes, I suppose you could say that."

"So where do I fit in?"

"You, you are the Koreask. You are the prophecy." he paused for a minute. lost in thought. "You see, thousands of years ago, when our cities were just beginning to grow, the leaders came together and formed an alliance. One that stated they would not attack each other, etcetera etcetera. To preserve said alliance, the leaders formed an organization called the Zadax. Their purpose was to keep the leaders at peace, and stop the known land from falling into collective war."

"Kinda like the U.N" I muttered

"Hmm?" He glanced at me for a moment.

"Nothing. Go on."

Tennin shrugged and continued talking.

"The Zadax were said to all have mysterious powers of the mind. They were all seers and they wrote their predictions and prophecies down in a tomb. Well, the alliance between kingdoms could only last so long. A hundred years passed and the lands fell into war, and Zadax was eradicated. But after so long being separate from their kingdoms they felt the could not go back. And so, as the war progressed the Zadax disappeared, leaving only their tomb behind. Which, as I am sure you have guessed, contains the prophecy about you."

He turned back to look at me, searching my face.

"Well, there you have it."

"That still doesn't explain why we're running." I pointed out.

"All the kingdoms know about the prophecy. All of them want you."

"But Sub-Terra can't have that." I said lightly

"We are doing what is best for our city. And that means keeping you alive." He took step closer to me, so that we were only inches apart. "At all costs"

I had spent long hours observing Tennin. he had impossibly straight poster, a sharp face, and dark blonde hair nearly brown, and then there were those eyes. I looked into them now, they were so hardened, so cold. And yet, I knew they were just walls. I could see the flickers of pain that crossed his expression every now and then and I understood. We were more similar, Tennin and I, then anyone could ever guess.

He closed his eyes, and turned away from me, but as he did so I noticed something. Thin pink lines ran across his eyelids basically cutting them in half. Had they always been there?

"Tennin wha-"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Report!" Tennin cried out

"Sir! Permission to enter! Sir!"

"Granted"

The guard came in, I didn't know him. He made a B-line over to Tennin and said something I couldn't quite hear.

"Damn it all to Kaeist!" Tennin shouted, and ran out of the room.

~Charlotte~

So there we were, one pissed off prince, one exploding wall, one ruined gown, one nasty gash, and a half of an escape plan later.

We ran towards the girl, she was huddled up, pressing her body against the post as she attempted to shield herself from the chaos.

"Koreask!" I heard Tennin's voice from far off

"Marcie, we don't have much time" I muttered to her softly.

"Marcie!" Ashan's voice now joined in the calls.

"No we do not." Marcie looked looked worriedly behind her as she helped Hagia along. But the old woman was going slower and slower, and while she was determined, I realized that this was probably the most excitement she had faced in years. I tested my leg, the pain had subsided slightly and it held weight. I glanced at Marcie and I knew we had, had the same idea.

I stopped the old woman.

"Haiga, stay here."

"But my granddaughter!" she looked at me, raw distress showing on her weathered face.

"I know, I know. I'll get her."

"She's all I have!" Haiga cried, struggling as I tried to sit her down. "Take your hands off me!" She was screaming now her voice betraying all her fears. I took her face in my hands and looked her in the eye.

"Haiga, listen to me! Listen to me! I wont leave here without her. Please. You have to trust me" She relaxed slightly and that was enough consent for me

Marcie was already a few yards ahead of me, and I sprinted to catch up, pushing the pain out of my mind. I reached the post a few seconds after her, she was already struggling with the lock. The little girl's eyes were wide as she stared at us. And tears began to pour down her cheeks.

"Hush now. We are going to get you out of here." I told her "Got any ideas?" I asked, turning to Marcie

"Maybe one.... Hold on." She looked around and found a small mettle shard. She inserted an end into the lock and began to work at it.

"Can you actually pick a lock?" I asked

"I dunno yet." she said, grinning at me. "I've never tried."

"Koreask!" I turned around to find Tennin right behind me.

"We need to go. Now!" He grabbed my wrist, gripping it so tightly I could feel my flesh bruising. I struggled to pull away but that only made him strengthen his grasp. I stopped flailing and stepped closer to him holding my ground.

"There they are! The Koreask and her friend!" We both looked in the direction of the voice and found the Prince's guards were heading our way from the other side of the room.

"Let me go Tennin" I said turning back to him.

"No. We need to go. Right now."

"I wont leave her!"

Tennin looked down at the girl.

"She is the descendant of a traitor. Leave her" his voice was cold, and I jerked back revolted.

"She is a child!"

"Of a traitor!"

"I Wouldn't care if she was the child of Hitler, I wou--"

"Hitler...?"

"Never mind. The point is, she is a child. An innocent child who has done no wrong to anyone. And I won't leave her." I tore my wrist away from him and turned back to Marcie.

"Any luck?"

"No." She said still frantically fumbling with the lock. I knelt down next to her, taking the mettle.

"It won't budge!"

"Let me try." I looked up to see Tennin beside me. I let him take my place. "If I can just..."

"What are you three doing?" We all turned to see Ashan coming up behind us.  "Have you gone mad?!" He said directly to Tennin.

"We need to get her free!" Marcie shouted at him.

"Oh for spirits sakes!" Ashan drew his sword and in one slice had cut the chain from the post. Marcie flashed him a smile as we all stood up.

"Here they come!" Ashan called

I swept the little girl up in my arms and we all began to run.

"Marcie! Haiga!" I shouted to my friend.

The six of us made it to the exit and we began to run through the city streets. Dodging the grey clad people people as we rounded sharp corners.

The little girl clung tight to me burring her head in my shoulder. I concentrated on keeping my feet from getting tangled up in each other. But it was no use, the pain from my leg coupled with my lack of coordination planned my inevitable fall.

"Ow" I gasped as I tripped on a bit of uneven ground falling awkwardly in my attempt to protect the child.

Tennin dropped down beside me and helped me up.

"The girl!" I winced

"I've got her." He muttered.  I shot him a grateful glance and kept going. Marcie slowed to my pace.

"Hows your leg?"

"It's okay for now, but I don't know how much longer I can keep going" I admitted to her softly.

"Haiga too, I think Ashan is going to have to carry her soon."

"Tennin, where are we going?"

"I don't know. Ashan has been taking the lead. Every place I know will have been compromised.

"Here we are!" Ashan was standing a little ways ahead in front of small broken down house. "Home sweet home." He murmured stroking the sunken exterior. Ashan flashed us all his famous smile, then opened the door.

"Mother! I'm home!"

~Marcie~

"Thank Kaeist you're home safe!" came the immediate reply. Something large and soft hurtled towards Ashan, and since I was standing on his immediate right I was a casualty of the hug.

She smelled like cinnamon, which was certainly enough to make me like her instantly. That and her chocolate-brown aura, swirling happily around Ashan's brilliant scarlet.

"Oh!" Ashan's mother spotted Haiga and her smile faltered. Charlotte stepped towards her, still carrying Lida, who was clutching her shoulder.

"Please," she said simply.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The arrangement was simple. It didn't take us long to come to terms with the fact that Lida and Haiga simply were not suited for our journey. A perturbed Caera let them stay in her home anyways, after much pleading from her son. All this happened very quickly, and soon four of us left the house, clad in black, with bags of fresh baked bread slung over our backs.


The plan itself was very simple. We were off to find the tomb, Ashan said. What use was a Koreask if we didn't know how to use it? The meticulous records the Zadax kept would certainly be of use.

As for finding it, apparently the location was common knowledge--it was getting in that was the challenge.

It was very slow going. The streets that we had run down these past few days turned out to have almost no hiding places, and since our goal was stealth rather than speed we met many difficulties. Almost every ten minutes we would pass one of the Prince's attendants, and what ensued was a frantic, impromptu game of hide-and-seek, usually ending with the four of us pressed together in some strange combination, waiting with bated breath.

This went on until I turned a corner and ran straight into the Prince.

Arms seized me immediately, and I could hear shouts as Charlotte and Tennin struggled behind me.

Prince Dominiv looked down at me with a triumphant smile, both hands squeezing my shoulders painfully.

"Your capture has proven to be very inconvenient indeed," he said coolly, as his guards brought Charlotte and Tennin towards us. He looked at her and smiled. "But not to worry, Koreask. If you two cooperate no one will be harmed."

"He's lying," I blurted out, watching the malicious blue threads in his aura. The Prince turned to me with a piercing gaze and tilted my chin with a finger, looking closely into my eyes.

"A Seer," he breathed, tilting my head this way and that. "And a Natural one as well. You may prove to be very useful indeed." he snapped his fingers and an attendant materialized at his side.

"Take them to separate carriages," he said, still watching me carefully. "Their fate may be intertwined, but for now we should not unleash power we cannot control."

And with that, he turned and walked towards one of the luxurious carriages.

That was when I noticed Ashan was missing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At least I had the supreme honor of riding with the Prince. Not. I wasn't quite sure where they had put Charlotte, but I hoped that at least she and Tennin were together. They couldn't deny that they simply functioned well together, and that in his own, stick-up-his-ass kind of way, Tennin truly cared for her safety. Whether for the future of his city or for her...well, there was something.

I felt a pang at the thought of how my own guardian had abandoned me.

"I too am Sighted," The Prince said thoughtfully, interrupting my musings. "But it is a learned Sight, and cannot always be trusted."

I rolled my eyes. "I feel so honored to be blessed with this miraculous gift," I recited in a monotone.

Unfortunately, he caught my sarcasm and he leaned in. I flinched.

"Do not be afraid," he said softly, holding out his hand, palm up, in front of him. "Watch."

His reddish-orange aura flickered, until I saw it--a tiny, swirling ball of bright blue energy, spinning in the center of his palm. I leaned forward and he closed his fist suddenly, and little blue sparks escaped the cracks of his fingers.

"Intrigued?" he said, looking up and fixing me with his unnatural eyes.

I sat up again and looked away.

"I already know plenty of magic tricks."

We rode the rest of the way in silence.

After a few hours, we stopped and we started into a tunnel that was too narrow for the carriages. Several of the Prince's attendants followed us, and separated me from Tennin and Charlotte.

And so we walked, deeper and deeper, until the Glow bug on my shoulder was pulsing a brilliant, bright light that outshone the lanterns and pierced the darkness around us.

"Stop," Prince Dominiv said confidently, holding out a hand. I snorted for Ashan--he would have been disbelieving at how arrogant this Prince was, assuming he knew these tunnels so well.

"Bring the Koreask forward," he said in a commanding tone.

That time I did let out a chuckle, and he raised his eyebrow at me.

Attendants hastily moved aside behind us and Charlotte came into view, Tennin close behind. The Prince gestured for her to stand next to him and snapped his fingers. This time, the servant that appeared was holding a long object clad in black velvet.

"Koreask," he said, turning to Charlotte, and I saw her frown in annoyance. "Your time has come. Prove yourself to the Kingdoms." he knelt down and the servant placed the object in his hands, and he drew away the fabric with a flourish.

A dark silver sword glittered wickedly in his hands.

"A treasure of the Zadax," Tennin whispered reverently. "But how did you come to find it?"

Dominiv smirked. "Did you really think the Crown Prince of Lodorvrin would arrive empty handed?" he held out the sword to Charlotte and she took it, holding it in front of her in awe.

"What am I supposed to--"

A low rumble echoed through the tunnel, and then, a distinctive growl.

I nodded in that direction and gulped. "Well there ya go."

Charlotte turned just in time to see the creature.

And when I say creature, I mean mist.

And when I say mist, I mean the porous, putrid gas that it excretes from it's body.

That's how we never knew what it looked like.

Everyone, understandably, took a few steps back. We found ourselves in a small cavern we had passed moments before. The monster approached slowly, hissing.

As the gas poured into the chamber, my eyes watered and I felt dizzy. Quickly I put my sleeve up to my face and breathed deeply, running away from the gas.

And that's when I saw Charlotte.

She was standing on a pile of stones. It was tall enough that it put her at eye level with the beast, that is, if we were able to see it's eyes.

It moved forward, a huge mass of--well, something. It was impossible to see, as the dark cloud of gas hung over it. I heard it's claws scrape against the floor as it headed towards Charlotte. A servant ran past me, breathing heavily with fear. I couldn't see Tennin or the Prince.

Charlotte held the sword with both hands, steadying herself on the rocks and brandishing it in front of her. The monster moved forward and hissed.

In a sudden movement, it flicked out what must have been a tongue. Charlotte cried out and stumbled backwards, and a bright red gash appeared on her shoulder.

The beast moved even closer, and I could make out one of it's claws, gripping a rock a few feet away from Charlotte. It lashed out again, and this time Charlotte raised her sword against it, and in return got showered with a green, slimy substance.

"Charlotte!" I called. Deca flitted down my arm and I cupped him in my palm, still straining anxiously to see her.

The monster pressed ever closer, and it lashed out at Charlotte, hitting it's mark more often than not. She swung the sword, and jabbed it at her attacker, but to no avail--it was virtually invisible.

It's tongue snaked out and hit her square in the chest. I heard her cry and she fell to one knee.

And suddenly, Deca lit up.

Not with a light, but with a power. And as I held him in my hands I felt as though it were coming from me. A radiant, golden light that swept across the cavern and banished the gas. It dissipated before my eyes and I could make out the scaly, serpentine outline of the attacker.

With a yell, Charlotte stood suddenly and plunged her sword deep into it's skull.

It spasmed violently, giving and earsplitting shriek before falling to the ground with a thud, green blood oozing from it's head. Charlotte stood atop the mountain of rocks, breathless, and gazing down at the carcass.

"Charlotte!" the voice was not mine, and from the other side of the rock I saw a figure run up to Charlotte as she turned.

I just recognized it as Tennin when he pressed his lips to hers.

~Charlotte~

Surprise registered on my face as Tennin pulled away.

"You used my name" I said softly.

Marcie snorted from where she was

"He did a bit more then just use your name." She remarked. I ignored her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, keeping his eyes locked with mine. His face was creased in worry and he kept a tight hold of my hands.

"Yeah, I-" We heard a soft applauding from further away. The prince materialized from the shadows.

"Well done Koreask." He said "Your clumsy, but brave. And as for you my little seer, well done as well. Hmm harnessing the power of a glow bug... interesting" He turned back to me and then seemed to noticed Tennin for the first time "Oh!" he laughed "What a charming turn of events. A soldier, and the Koreask.... Or considering your past, the former Koreask and the Koreask."

"What?" Marcie and I said together

"Oh, he hasn't told you?" Dominiv chuckled darkly.

"That's enough Dominiv" Tennin said darkly

"Oh we don't like that do we?"

"I said enough."

"Well, it's of no matter to me. Though, I rather like seeing your squirm." He turned back to me. "We aren't done yet Koreask. Oh no, not yet. Come along now." Guards melted out from the remaining mists, one of them grabbed Marcie and the other two were coming towards Tennin and I.

"Stop!" I shouted. The Guards starred at me, unsure of what to do next.

"Don't just stand there, get her!"

"Don't you dare." I hissed at them. They stopped looking back at their prince.

"I am the Koreask. I am the prophecy. You have no idea what I am capable of."

 I was bluffing. I was no more capable of taking these three, then decca. In fact, the little glow bug might have a better chance. But, how could they know that? They believed with every fiber of their being that I was the person that was going to save them from the darkness. They had to believe I knew something, knew what I was doing.

"Don't move." I commanded. I knew we had approximately three minutes before the prince overrode this command.

I pulled Tennin down the pile of rocks and grabbed Marcie. Then the three of us were running back the way we had come.

"That was a clever trick Koreask." We all looked up to see Ashan was running along side us, as though he had been there the whole time.

"Ashan!" Marcie cried.

"Hello love." he said with a smile.

"Where have you been?" Tennin asked.

"Me?" he laughed "I've been with you guys the whole time. You really think I'd just abandon you?" He was looking at Marcie when he said this. I wondered if she noticed.

"I was working on a way to get all of you out of there, but then this one" he gestured to me "Came up with that little show."

"How did you escape them?" Marcie asked

"Never mind that now, we have to get out of here. Then we'll have time to talk."

We all agreed and kept running. I had been beat up pretty badly in my fight with that thing. And my leg hadn't healed all the way yet. I just hoped I wouldn't fall again.

"Go after them you idiots!" We head the prince cry.

We pushed ourselves to go faster, and soon we were out of the tunnel.

"Where to now?" I asked breathlessly

Ashan shrugged

"I'm all out of Ideas, how about you Tennin?"

"Well, there is one place we can go. Gralad."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gralad, was perhaps the most breathtaking place I had ever seen. Even in the dark the place glittered. We had turned corners and gone down impossibly small alleyways. I wondered how Ashan and Tennin knew where we were going because, even though I tried to keep track of the turns we made, I was lost within three minutes.

Ten minutes of running took to a thick grove of bent and broken trees-- the first trees I had seen since Nowhere land. Tennin took the lead then, confidently walking through the forest.

"Careful," he said "this forest was meant to keep people out."

We made it through the trees unharmed and what we saw was beyond our wildest imagination. It was huge. Surrounded by walls on all sides, it was obviously some sort of fortress. But the most striking feature was what is was made out of. White stone. Stone that let out a glow no amount of Darkness could kill.

"It's beautiful" I whispered.

"Welcome to Gralad, the old Palace of  Sub-Terra.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What did he mean?" I asked Tennin, once we had gotten inside. Marcie and Ashan had gone off to explore. I had been invited along, but I didn't relish the thought of being a third wheel.

"When he said you were the former Koreask?" Tennin sighed and looked at me, pain showing in his eyes.

"There was a time," he said pacing the room, "just after the city began to decline, that Sub-Terra's economy dropped drastically. For the first time in thousands of years people were experiencing true poverty. Wedges were drawn between classes and the city was thrown into chaos. Then began the frantic search for the Koreask. For you. But people were so desperate they would do anything to make money, so when the government put out a thousand hix reward for the first person to find the Koreask, people went mad."

He stopped thinking a moment.

"People began to make their kids Koreasks, in anyway they could. Changing their hair, putting lenses in their eyes." He shuddered. "My mother was one of those people. I was to be her Koreask. Most people were found out. A misstep in the hair change, a faulty lens. But my mother was smarter then that. She enlisted a mage, an old friend of the family. He magicked my hair blond and put unbreakable lenses in my eyes."

"That must of hurt." I remarked "The lenses I mean."

Tennin turned to me,

"You have no idea" he said, and then it was my turn to shutter. "When he was through with me I," he laughed "Well I could have been your brother. My mother took me to the palace and they let me in. I looked so real, and they needed someone. I was only four then. Anyway I spent the majority of my youth as the Koreask, the hope of the nation. But it couldn't last. The mage had stayed with me, alongside my mother. The two pretended they were married and that he was my father." A look of disgust crossed Tennin's face

"Well,  he got so comfortable in the palace, he became sloppy and one day my lenses broke."

"That explains the red line on your eyelids" I said, more to myself than to him.

"You noticed?" He seemed surprised

"I'm observant." I said simply "It also explains why you always let Ashan take the lead. You don't trust your eyes do you?"

"It was my fault we were captured." he said a pained expression on his face. "These damned eyes always fail me.

I laughed lightly

"Tennin that was inevitable. Bisides," I said smiling "I quite like your eyes"

He looked away from me and continued

"Anyway, my eyes were bleeding but no one knew what it was. They rushed me to the medicine woman. She was able to save my eys but our game was up. The city was furious, the order mandated my death but I was only ten. I was lucky for the General, General Exic was his name, had taken a liking to me and he protected me saying that he would take me as his responsibility and teach me to be a soldier for the order."

"And your mother?"  I asked softly

Tennin sighed and stopped pacing, and sat with his head in his hands

"He couldn't do anything for them. It was a miracle the order let him keep me. They were carted off to Calix and executed."

"I'm so sorry." I whispered

"No, don't be" he said suddenly standing up. "She was a traitor to the city."

"She was also your mother." I said crossing to him. I rested a hand lightly on his arm. "It's okay to grieve for her."

He looked at me then, and I saw a Tennin I had never seen. I saw the child that was left alone in the care of a strange man. The child who had lost his mother and then had to grow up hearing everyone say that she deserved what she got.

"I am so sorry." I said again. and then I wrapped my arms around him. He tensed and then relaxed, and we just stayed like that.

The child, and the lost girl.

~Marcie~

"Did you believe it?" I said, looking up at Ashan. We were making our way through the dead forest, searching for some sort of food.

He paused for a moment and then nodded. "Well, a young boy couldn't exactly tell the difference between a true Koreask and a false one. I suppose I believed it--at least to the extent of my limited understanding of exactly what a Koreask is."

"And what exactly is a Koreask, then?" I probed, climbing over a fallen branch. Ashan held out his hand but I had already hopped down.

"A Champion. A Savior, of some sorts. One who will bring light to darkness."

"Those are all things I've heard before. Tell me something new and interesting." I sat down cross legged on a stump, looking up at Ashan expectantly. He grinned and sat down next to me.

"Well, there is something rather funny,"

I scooted closer and widened my eyes at him. "What?"

He chuckled softly. "Well, all of this fuss about the Koreask...it's all rather silly,"

I stared at him. "Why?"

He grinned at me. "Because no one knows how to use one."

We burst out laughing together. After a moment I wiped tears of mirth from my eyes and smiled at him. And then I put my hand to my head suddenly, groaning.

"Ashan..."

"What is it?" He got up suddenly and moved to kneel in front of me.

"Ashan...we're so stupid!" I lifted my head. "There we were, at the tomb, monster dead, and what did we do? Run. We're such idiots."

"You're speaking about the records," Ashan nodded. "Yes, their presence would have been useful. But for now--" He took my hand in his. "--Our priority is the safety of the Koreask. We must first keep it from greedy Lodorvrin, and then we will be free to use it."

"Her. Charlotte. Not 'it'." I said absentmindedly. Ashan looked at me for a moment and then sighed.

"Charlotte."

"Did you ever wonder, what's going on with those two?" I said thoughtfully, looking in the direction of the white castle. Ashan took his seat next to me again, looking in the same place.

"They are very similar," He remarked.

"And very different." I said, gazing up at the ceiling of the cavern that soared above us into darkness.

"I suppose. Your friend is very strong."

"Are you saying Tennin isn't?" I looked at Ashan and raised an eyebrow.

He looked at the ceiling as well, lost in thought. "He is in his own way. But he is too strong--he pushes others out in order to build up a solid core, a heart of stone that no one can break. " He looked at me and winked. "Except for, it seems, a certain golden-haired maiden..."

I winked back. "Those crazy kids."

Ashan laughed and looked out across the landscape. "Indeed," He murmured, brushing a stray curl out of his eyes.

A dusty wind swirled towards us, and I lifted up my arm to shield my face as tiny flecks of dust peppered us.

"Why is it--sharp?" I asked questioningly. The dust bit into my skin, and a trail of red trickled down my arm.

"Get down," Ashan said suddenly. He grabbed me around the waist and we jumped behind the log.

And then, it was raining.

We huddled together underneath the log and I reached out a shaking hand. I pulled it back instantly with a cry--it was stained red.

"What is this?" I said, horrified. Small, sharp slivers of silver were falling from the ceiling, destroying anything they encountered. The log we were under was being peppered with the tiny shards.

Ashan simply pulled me closer and looked ahead, his eyes calculating. A piece of the cutting rain fell through the log, leaving a trail of blood down his cheek.

"We have to get to the castle," I said, reaching up and wiping it away with my finger.

He was still silent, shifting his position so that he hovered over me, shielding me from the rain.

"I think," He murmured, very close to my face. "That it's time for another magic trick."

He nodded at Deca, and I reached out to cup the Glow bug in my hand. He gave off a flickering, worried light.

"It's ok, darlin'" I said. "Let's do our thing."

I held him close to my chest and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath.

And nothing happened.

I opened one eye and glanced down at him. His light was fading, and he flittered his wings nervously in my hand.

"C'mon," I murmured. But it wasn't so much to the Glow Bug as to myself.

Ashan didn't look at me, only pushed me deeper into the crevice between the log and the ground.

The falling shards were larger now, about the size of neeedles. The log groaned and Ashan looked up, fear flickering on his face.

I looked back at Deca frantically. But his light was completely extinguished now, and as he gave one last spark I lifted him up to put him on my shoulder.

"I know what to do," I said.

Ashan turned slightly to look at me, his expression one of worry and disbelief. I smiled at him.

"We run."

I didn't give him time to think. I knew that if he had even a second, he would try to protect me, hovering over me as we made our way to the castle. But I knew this was a matter of speed, and so when I jumped out from under the log I was off, and I didn't look back.

They were the size of tiny daggers now, and hammered down relentlessly. I pulled my jacket over my head, running as straight as I could toward the glowing walls of Gralad.

I stumbled, and spots of pain racked my spine. I made my way forward, and one of them sliced my cheek.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist, and suddenly my feet left the ground. Ashan held me in his arms, bent forward, running faster than I ever could have.

I wrapped my arms around his head, trying to protect it from the sharp rain. I felt it cut my fingers, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

And suddenly it stopped.

We were through the gate, and Ashan set me down, gasping.

At that moment an arrow whizzed past my face.

In one swift movement Ashan pulled me to him and spun around, ducking down a side corridor. He held my hand and then pulled me suddenly through a hidden passageway. We ran quickly down it, and then he turned again and we were in a small, crouched space with a narrow, horizontal opening. He pulled me along carefully as he crouched down, looking through the space.

I leaned forward and I saw we were above a huge, circular room.

"How do you know an abandoned castle so well?" I asked breathlessly.

He put a finger to his lips and pointed through the crack. I looked again and saw the truly important thing--Charlotte and Tennin, both brandishing swords, standing in the middle of a circle of raggedy looking people.

"They're trying to get rid of us," I whispered, sitting up and peering through the opening. "The rain. It's not natural--we're underground. So these people--"I looked down at them. "They want us out. That's why they made that rain, to get us. And then they came to the castle."

My face paled. "They want Charlotte."

As soon as I spoke those words, one of the men spoke.

"We have no use for a Koreask," his voice boomed. I assumed they had just been talking. "Kill them."

The others advanced on Charlotte and Tennin. He pulled her close.

Ashan cleared his throat suddenly and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Eh!" he shouted through the crack. the men hesitated, looking around wildly.

I pulled him down. "What are you doing?!" I hissed. He shook me off and yelled again."

"But do you have use for a Chorosin?" he called.

The men looked around again, And my heart sped up, even though I knew they couldn't see us.

"A Chorosin?" the man, the large one that had spoken before, called warily.

"A true heir," Ashan yelled. "And if these people come to harm, you shall never see my face." his voice had taken on a strange, unnatural quality. It was almost...commanding.

All of the men dropped their swords and fell hastily to their knees.

At that moment, a blond blur jumped at the leader, holding a shining silver sword to his neck.

Charlotte pulled him to his knees, holding her sword steady and whispered something I couldn't hear. As the other men jumped up in haste, he raised a hand.

"Stop."

Ashan shook his head and called again. "Do not harm them!"

"Same to you, Charlotte!" I called. I wasn't quite sure what all of this Chorosin business was, but I trusted that Ashan at least had a plan as he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the passageway and down a set of stairs.

We reached the doorway to the circular chamber, out of breath. Ashan stopped for a moment and drew himself up. He was already quite tall, but now he seemed even taller, and somehow regal. He strode into the room, still gripping my hand tightly.

"Ashan Rei Chorosin," the man gasped, Charlotte's sword still at his throat. Her eyes widened at the sight of us, but her grip didn't falter.

I looked up at him questioningly, but his eyes were fixed on the leader, and he nodded curtly.

"My good man. It saddens me to the people of Gralad stooping to such lows, unbefitting this sacred city."

He made a derisive sound, wary of the sword at his neck.

"You should know as well as anyone, that Gralad has gone to Waste," He spat, looking at Ashan levelly.

The other men shifted nervously, murmuring to each other.

"Perhaps due to your reckless use of the Kriskan rain," Ashan said coldly. "A unique defense, if I remember correctly, established by my father and placed in your care." His eyes narrowed. "This Waste is indeed your own creation, Grebon."

Now, Grebon laughed, and Charlotte pressed her sword against his throat. He swallowed, and stared at Ashan with laughing eyes.

"Yes, our fault, the common people. It had nothing to do with our fleeing Rulers, who left us to fend for ourselves against the Rae-saeed ourselves."

Ashan sighed, walking closer to Grebon. I followed slowly, warily.

"Ashan...what's going on?" I slipped my hand from his and tilted his face towards me.

He fixed me with an unreadable look. "Do you remember, the first day, when you met Master Arin?"

"The Shadow Man," Charlotte murmured.

"He was the king here," Ashan said softly, watching my face. "Before, when Sub-Terra had rulers. But when the country went to ruin, the aristocracy fell and reverted to the Order, an underground, more covert way of dealing with matters."

"I don't care about Master Arin," I said, searching his face. "What does he have to do with you?"

Ashan met my gaze.

"I'm his son."