Title/Starlight Fantasy
THE BOOK
Note to self: (In the process of still correcting it…Changing names around and characters)
By Yours Truly,
Bleh bleh bleh
Crystal Sanderz, at the age of 14, rested on a couch and watched the rain fall from outside. She heaved a small sigh and waited for the dreary weather to pass. Crystal usually bonds with her younger brother, William, but he was at a friend's house for the night. As she started to day dream her pet kitten open her little mouth to let out a small meow for attention. Crystal picked up her cat Iggy and started running her fingers through the soft fur of the kitten. It was the beginning of summer and for past few days it had been either, too cold or too wet. Crystal did not at all like the first several days of summer for it is mostly known as the season of sunshine and fun. The rain made everything still and peaceful except for just the sound of water taping lightly against everything it fell upon. At first the kitten on Crystal's lap purred loudly, but then suddenly she stopped and the hairs on her back went up as she looked outside. Iggy almost was hissing and started bearing her small fangs then jumped off of Crystal's lap as though she were hiding from something. Crystal was puzzled at her unexpected reaction. She looked outside hoping to catch a glance at the thing that startled Iggy, but saw nothing. She searched high and low for the missing cat, but could not find. Finally after a half an hour or so she gave up and decided to seek if her mother needed any chores to be done. Mrs. Sanderz was doing the laundry and indeed needed a quick errand to be run, so Crystal volunteered to do it. "What would you like me to do mom?" she asked. Her mother replied, "Could you please go take this plate of cookies to our new neighbors?" Their new neighbors had moved in not long ago, but had still needed to finish some housing. Crystal carefully grabbed the delicate plate that held the, fresh from the oven, oatmeal cookies and grabbed an umbrella before leaving. On her way towards the new comer's house Crystal caught a dark flash in the corner of her eye, but before she could even take a good look it disappeared. When she got to the door she rang the bell and waited several minutes. No body answered, so she rang it once more. Again nothing stirred in the inside. She shrugged and just assumed that they were probably still picking up furniture. Then she headed back towards home. Before she was half way there she took a small glance behind her hoping that she would get a better look of what she saw earlier. "Hmm...I thought I saw something near somewhere around here. Oh well" she said to herself. Right as she turned around there stood a tall dark figure clothed in black cape darker than the night's shadows.
The cape covered the body completely including the face. "You are the key! Starlight is your destiny!" it moaned in a serious manner, but before she Crystal could even blink, it vanished! She stood there bewildered on what had just occurred. Shortly after, the sky started clearing up and the rain ceased to fall. Staring as if she were stunned looked up at the sky, for the sun was shinning brightly, then slowly closing her umbrella, returned home. She entered the house passing her mother with out saying anything about what she had just witnessed and sat down in deep thought. "You look like you've seen a ghost! Why are you so pale?" Mrs. Sanderz said. Crystal did not even notice her mother was speaking and did not answer. This time Mrs. Sanderz in a more and concerned voice, she asked," Crystal! What happened? Were the neighbors there? Did anything bad happen to you? Answer me!" Crystal looked up at her mother's distressed face and replied, "Huh? Oh! Um, no they weren't there mom. Yah I'm ok just a bit worn out from the rain, but now it stopped and it's going to be a nice day today." As she said this she managed to force a smile to ease her mother's worried mind. She had decided not to mention about the shadow figure, at least not until she figured out what it was. Her mother was not quite satisfied with her answer but just shrugged and went on with the laundry. Crystal placed the cookies into the fridge rater. Her mind was racing on what she had encountered. "You are the key…..Starlight is your destiny, but what does it mean?" She said to herself. The door bell rang a few moments later and Crystal heard a familiar voice. "See ya Mac! Thanks for the ride and having me over!" William called to his friend. Mrs. Sanderz rushed to the door and greeted Mac's mom before leaving and then waved goodbye. Crystal's heart was pounding hard in her chest when she saw William. She wanted to tell him about the dark figure right away, however, she had to wait until he unpacked and then eat supper. As William started to unload his clothes from his back pack Iggy crawled from under his bed and seated herself beside his bag sniffing it curiously. She had a slip of paper around her collar and as she sniffed William's bag, it fell into it. William greeted the cat with a small pat and continued with his clothes. As he got towards the end of his unpacking he grabbed the mysterious paper by accident. "Huh this must have come from Mac's house! He probably put it in here or dropped it." He told himself. William placed the paper aside and finished up the rest of his packing. When he finished he opened the folded piece of paper and began reading it. He became very interested. It was called "Wonder Camp" and it stated when and where it was going to be, also explained about a summer camp full of fun and wonder. Crystal was downstairs helping her mom preparing dinner, when William came rushing down and showed his mom the flyer. "Can we go please? You and dad could get some time alone while Crystal and I go to this neat looking camp! Plus Mac will probably be there! It would be a blast!" When Mrs. Sanderz was about to speak, Crystal said in a disgusted manner, "We? What do you mean 'We'? I have no clue what so ever of what you are talking about." Mrs. Sanders was going to say something, until William blurted out, "Aw! Come on Crystal! It would be no fun without you! Plus the weather here is probably going to stay damp and cold!"
Right when Mrs. Sanderz was about to speak finally, Mr. Sanderz arrived home from work and appeared to be in a happy mood, "Hey kids! Hi Hun!" he said cheerfully as he gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey dad!" Crystal said then William explained about the summer camp. "Dad, can Crystal and I go please?? Besides we aren't doing anything this summer, plus, you and mom would like to be alone for awhile." Crystal examined the invitation and commented on how it was pretty discounted price for a weeks worth of time. Then Mr. Sanderz said, "Honey this would be a perfect idea!" Crystal, William, and even Mr. Sanderz gave Mrs. Sanderz a pleading look. Mrs. Sanderz sighed and finally replied, "Oh alright. Besides, your father and I were just going to drop you off at your grandparent's house for the summer anyways." Crystal and William flinched at hearing this, including Mr. Sanderz acted surprised. Mrs. Sanderz gave her husband a wink and then laughed, "I'm only kidding!" As the days past the day of their departure was nearing. Still Crystal was having second thoughts about going. She had forgotten completely about the shadow figure and its message. Crystal kept reading over the flyer, but for some reason she felt that something about it was not right. She kept speculating over a specific area of the information that was bolded and read aloud, "Wonder Camp is an amazing place where your dreams come true in a way that you never would have expected! You also get to do many different projects that you will be able to experience!" She read it again, "Something isn't right! But what?" William, nearly jumping off the walls in excitement, was thrilled to go, despite his sister's suspicion. Finally the day of their departure had arrived. Mr. Sanderz viewed the directions of where a buss was to pick them up and from there bring them to the "Wonder Camp". Mrs. Sanderz was bidding Crystal and William to be polite, say please and thank you, and behave(what every mother bids you) when they arrived. "Did you send in the application?" asked Mrs. Sanderz anxiously. "Yes dear, several days ago and got a reply that they'd love to see them there." replied her husband. "All right then! We're ready to then!" exclaimed William in an excited manner. When they first arrived to where the meeting point was, there was no one in sight. Crystal asked, "Are you sure this is the correct place or date?" Mrs. Sanderz picked up the flyer and nodded to confirm that it was. Then after a few minutes later an old buss came driving up slowly and on the side you could faintly see the words, "Wonder Camp!" William was the first one to point it out and shouted, "THE WONDER CAMP BUS IS HERE!!!!!" Crystal in a disgusted tone said, "That's the camp bus…The so called 'Wonder Camp' bus?" "It's probably belongs to a theme of some fairy tale story!" William said optimistically.
As they were loading their things into the bus, Mr. Sanderz asked the bus driver, "Is this the bus that goes to the summer camp?" The driver didn't say anything, but just nodded his head slowly. "We must be the first ones to be picked up." Crystal said to William as they sat down in the empty bus. As they started to drive away, Crystal and William waved good-by to their parents, blowing kisses and hugs to them. After awhile staying seated in the vehicle, William asked Crystal, "When will we be there and how much longer will we have to wait?" Crystal didn't answer for awhile. She was concentrating on the driver. Something about the bus driver caught her attention. William nudged Crystal causing her to jump a little. "What? Huh? Sorry I didn't hear what you said." William stared at her crossly and asked something else this time. "What are you thinking of Crystal? Why do you look so worried?" Crystal then lowered her voice and whispered to William, "That driver....Looks so familiar! But where have seen someone like that?" She and William took a small glance, but William didn't know what she was talking about. Finally the bus came to a stop and William was the first to ask, "Um excuse me sir, but how many stops until we arrive to the camp?" The bus driver turned around with his face hidden underneath his dark cap replied in a faint hoarse voice, "This is the last one." As soon as the driver spoke, Crystal felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She quickly grasped William's arm and pulled him towards her and whispered, "William! It's him! It's him!" She was almost in a panic as she spoke to him. William looked at her puzzled and asked, "Who? What are you talking about?" Crystal frantically tried to explain about the shadow, but she spoke so quickly he didn't catch a word she was saying. "William! It's the shadow I was trying to tell you, but I forgot!" William had known enough that they were in a desperate situation to escape, but before they could even get out of their seats the bus started rocking side to side violently. William quickly ran towards the exit door when he heard Crystal's voice shriek. He swerved around to find that the back of the buss had broken off and the bus driver had managed to capture Crystal and was about to jump off the moving vehicle with her! William's heart was beating rapidly in his chest. Quickly he ran blindly towards Crystal and clutched her hand in time, then grabbed a bus seat to yank her away from the kidnapper. The bus driver turned around and hissed, "Starlight is Your Destiny! Only You Can Save It. You are the Key!" William tugged as hard as he could, then finally Crystal slipped out of the driver's arms into a seat. The bus driver was too late to notice for after that, he had already jumped out of the bus onto a dirt road. William panting looked outside as the strange man picked himself of the ground and started brushing off the dirt. "Phew! Glad that's over with! Who was that guy Crystal?" exclaimed William, but before Crystal could even reply, she turned pale and pointed to the front of the bus. There, a cliff only a few feet away, was closing up on them. William had ordered "Quickly grab the steering wheel!" However, it was too late. They were in mid air heading straight towards the ocean. Crystal grabbed William and ducked down as they were falling. "Crystal! What now!? Do something!" William said almost crying with despair. Crystal stared at him, unable to speak, was too overwhelmed and just hugged him tightly. The bus crashed into the water with an enormous splash. Water started to cave in on all sides of William and Crystal. They struggled to swim to the surface, but the pressure of the water was holding them back, causing them to choke on water. Crystal finally made it to the surface and gasped for air. William however did not turn up. She had noticed, and began to search anxiously for William below the large waves.
William was still struggling to swim, but waves kept pushing him further down. After a few seconds, he gave up and just sank further into the dark ocean blue. Crystal was unable to find him and was drifting towards shore. She felt the soft ground beneath her feet and started walking from there on. Crystal fell to the warm sand and looked up staring at the sky. She was exhausted and worn out. When she shut her eyes, Crystal was wishing it was just all a dream. Someone had noticed her body lying along the shore and walked to her. A long dark figure had gently picked her up and carried her off. Crystal was later aroused by a loud noise of people shouting, seagulls squawking, and loud movement everywhere. She was definitely no longer on the beach. Someone had seen her eyes open and called excitedly to another "Aye look! She's alive! The little lass is awake!" At once a group of people huddled her and stared at her to see what she would do. One person had exclaimed, "By Jove! She is alive!" Another had also observed, "She isn't from around here! Look at the clothes she is wearing! Never seen anything like it!" Crystal had felt she woke up to a different planet. Everybody had English accents and some people were dressed up in torn clothing, while others wore elegant materials, and yet some in odd different looking clothes. Crystal was now aware of everything. She quickly sprawled to her feet, but began sinking down to her knees. She was too weak to even stand. She cried out loudly in pain moaning something, "William! William!" She was almost delirious. Some people pitied at the sight, while others just stared at her. Crystal felt her head spinning and was very nauseated for some reason. With great effort, she tried standing and staggered to an old barrel to support her. She was trying to talk, but only let out soft murmurs. She was about to faint from exhaustion and hunger. After a few minutes her legs gave out and she slid to the ground unconscious. People, who were watching her, gasped and quickly ran to give aid. An old woman called out to her son to help give aid. The son was an adult, strong with a scruff beard and heavy set build. He picked Crystal up and carried her off. When Crystal woke up she found herself inside a small room and a candle flickered by her side. A few minutes later the elderly lady and her son came in bringing in a small cup of tea and some bread. "Hi. You must be starving! You've been unconscious for about a day." The old lady spoke tenderly as she set down a hot cup of tea and some buttered bread. The son sat down on a stool near the foot of the bed. "I'm Lillian Panlas." And then she pointed to a tall and heavily built man who looked around his 40's, "and that's James my son." Crystal gave them a faint smile and was delighted with the food they presented to her. She quickly drank the tea and ate the bread. Then when it was finished she put the tea cup near the wooden dresser by her head and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much for your hospitality. My name is Crystal." Then a thought of her beloved brother started forming in her mind, causing her to almost cry but held them back. Shaking the thought away she looked at Mrs. Panlas and asked, "Where am I? What is this place?" The old woman replied, "You're on a ship deary." Crystal shocked, cried, "A ship! How on earth did I get on a ship?" James said in a gruff voice, "Well we just saw ya lying on the ground unconscious. Then my mother called me to help. I wasn't completely shocked. Most people here pass out every so often from too much sun, or just sea sick." Then Mrs. Panlas added quickly, "But we were surprised about seeing someone like you appearing on our ship. We've never seen such clothing, nor accent. You're surely not a pirate either." Crystal's eyes got big. "Pirates?" she repeated. James nodded his head slowly, "Yes, pirates are nothing but trouble these days! Raiding ships and stealing goods." Crystal started flicking her forehead franticly and then started murmuring things. "I have got to wake up! This is just all a hallucination! I'm really in the bus sleeping having a nightmare!" Mrs. Panlas and her son stared at her in baffled expression. "What are you doing?" James asked Crystal as he watched the girl flick herself in the forehead.
Crystal then looked at them for a while waiting for them to just disappear. They did not however. Feeling embarrassed she couldn't decide whether to just cry or continue to arouse herself by flicking harder. "You should rest deary. I think you're still tired." Mrs. Panlas said and laid Crystal's head down. Crystal, still flicking her head, allowed Mrs. Panlas to recline her down onto a soft pillow and was neatly tucked in by Mrs. Panlas as though a mother would do to a baby. James and the old woman left Crystal to sleep. Crystal stopped flicking her sore head and rubbed it. "I'm truly not dreaming! Worse of all! I don't know where I am, I lost William, there's pirates still living, I don't know what year it even is, and then made a fool of myself by flicking myself in front of real existing people! Oh I wish I were home now watching the rain, rather than this!" She was staring at the ceiling and felt a sudden jerk of the ship as though it were stopped completely. People outside were shrieking in fear and she could hear rustling of feet. Crystal quickly sat up, grabbed a small robe, and quietly tiptoed to her door and peeked through a small keyhole. Everyone was screaming something franticly, but Crystal could not understand what they were shouting. Then a group of men scurried throughout the ship dressed in brightly colored rags and were equipped with weapons. The people were obviously running from them. Crystal didn't recognize them at first, but then after a second look she finally figured out what the people were running from and shouting. "Pirates!" She staggered to the ground, quickly trying to find a way to escape however; there was no exit but the door that leads outside to the danger. She was panicking because if she were found then that would probably be the end of her, however if she was not detected, the ship would eventually be blown to bits. Crystal waited for her path to be clear. She was about to make a break for it. Taking a big gulp she opened the door slowly and sought cover behind a pole from being seen. People were running pass her, as well as pirates chasing them. As soon as they passed her she ran to another and yet another pole. Stealthily she managed to make it towards the steering wheel of the massive ship to only find a dead captain lying on the ground. Crystal searched the captain that may have been any use to her. A map, compass, and sword were all she could really use. She opened the map and was shocked to see it did not resemble anything like today's maps. Instead, it listed a bunch of places she had never even heard of .Crystal quickly equipped the sword around her waist noticing she was no longer wearing shorts and a tee-shirt, but only a gown with a robe over it. She hid the map beneath her robe and the compass around her neck. Right when Crystal was going to sneak away a pirate saw her and shouted to his men while pointing towards her. Crystal, noticing the pirates glaring at her, stopped. Her eyes widened as soon as they were walking towards her. She knew she was spotted and was now running for her life. The pirates chased madly through the ship's deck trying to capture her. Crystal was at a dead end and unsheathed her sword, not knowing how to use it, but was hoping to intimidate them. The pirates looked at her blankly as she trembled with sword in her hands, and laughed. Some of them mocked her while others were enjoying the time of the amusing moment. Filled with rage at being ridiculed, Crystal stopped trembling and charged after them blindly.
Before any of the pirates noticed, Crystal had slashed at several of them, clearing a way to escape. She finally had a chance to escape and jump off the boat. Right when she was about to jump someone grabbed her arms and quickly tied them. "NO!" Crystal screamed as she was being dragged away from her only escape. "What a little runt you are!" grumbled a pirate who was carrying her away. She was brought across a plank leading to her captive's ship. It was a lot bigger than the ship was she was on, and it had a black flag hoisted on a large mass in the center of the boat. She also was aware of some of the crew had been from another ship that was raided previously, but now are slaves to whomever the captain of the ship was. She was lined up with a few other remaining people from the other ship. Crystal then recognized Mrs. Panlas and her son James standing right next to each other, they had been captured also. It was then when Crystal heard a loud booming voice barking orders to the crew. It was the captain. He was stout and fairly round, although he looked less horrible then he really was, no one dared to near him during his fits. The captain was ill-tempered and crude. He was dressed in fine dark clothing with jewelry dangling from him and ring on every finger. Crystal knew he was not a pleasant man to be around. "I am the Captain, Irin Olance, of my ship, the Gloomin' Sails, and you are to become part of my working crew or shark bait." said the Captain in a thunderous tone. Capt. Olance was viewing each and every prisoner checking to see if any would be worthy enough to be part of his "collection". When he got to Crystal he glared into her eyes waiting for her to tremble, but instead Crystal held his icy gaze, which slightly impressed the captain. She was telling herself to be strong at that moment for William and when the captain passed, she let out a sigh of relief from what she thought, his ugly face. When he was done inspecting the prisoners, he whispered into one of his crew member's ears, "All of em' looks in good shape, except for that little scrawny old lady over there." He pointed to Mrs. Panlas as she trembled. Everyone turned towards the old woman. "You mam', are of no service to me or my crew and shall be disposed of!" He growled. Crystal was devastated at the decision. James couldn't stop himself from speaking out and shouted in objection, "You heartless man! This is, but an old defenseless elderly woman! You can't possibly rid of her!" Everyone gasped and with wide eyes stared at him. Captain Olance turned away from the old woman and stood in front of James. "And you are? A typical weak minded foolish peasant of course!" scoffed the captain. "The only foolish one I see here is you!" retorted James. The two men were at each other's throat and were about to explode in rage. Mrs. Panlas tried to end the conflict by interfering, but instead Capt. Olance shoved her to the ground and shouted, "Away with you witch!" Mrs. Panlas fell to the ground while everybody gathered around the captain and James. Crystal rushed to help Mrs. Panlas, who was very weak now. Filled with fury, Crystal stomped to the scene of the two men and got in between them. Then captain barked, "Out of the way! You have no right to interfere with this!" He was about to push Crystal out of the way, but then she took out her saber and tried to slash him but only managed to break off some of the rich materials Captain Olance was wearing. James saw the deep hatred in the captain's eyes flare up as he saw some of his gold chains fall onto the ground in pieces. James wanted to fight the bitter man to the death, but knew he had to help Crystal from certain danger. The captain was choking in anger and stepped a few paces back stunned. As Crystal was ready for combat, James noticed a sneaky grin on Capt. Olance's face, but Crystal hadn't noticed. Irin Olance was reaching into his jacket pocket to grab something. James instantly knew what it was….It was a pistol. Quickly thinking of a way to warn Crystal, James cried out, "Crystal look out! He's got a gun!" Capt. Olance glared at James and quickly took out his pistol aiming at the man's chest. Crystal following the gun's target saw it lead to James and shrieked. The bullet was shot and out rang a loud crackle. It was unclear with the smoke everywhere. As soon as it lifted there was much shock in the air. There lying on the ground dead with a bullet in his chest, lay Captain Irin Olance. Crystal saw Mrs. Panlas gasping for breathe and sweat dripped down her cheek as she collapsed to the ground. It was obvious that Mrs. Panlas turned the gun on the captain right before he shot.
James ran to her side and started kissing the old woman's face in joyous affection. The pirates who were loyal to their captain rounded up the prisoners and threw them in the dungeon while the others aided their fallen leader. The leader hadn't completely been killed, but was on his death bed. The last words he uttered in bitterness were, "Get rid of that girl and her friends!" and slowly died. Crystal, Mrs. Panlas, James, and the other captives were huddled into a small dark dungeon below some floors of the ship. A bright light appeared in the distant and a couple pirates came from it. Taking the prisoners out of their caged rooms, they began roughly shoving them out towards the deck of the ship. "Execution time." said a frightened slave causing one another into a panic. As they made it up and out of the dark dungeons they were held in, they had reached land and had already been docking the ship. Crystal could see a large city just ahead as they were nearing land. At first the light blinded them but slowly they saw pirates were dressing into rich clothing those of a wealthy noble. Crystal knew without a doubt that they were stolen from other rich owners that they had bombarded. With the prisoners looking like rags and the pirates looking like slave owners, they were going to sell them to the people of the city. Most of the people were full aware of what was going to happen. As they were led out in chains dragging their feet, they were to be sold as a slave. Several lords and nobles took interest and began talking to the merchants as they pointed to some of the prisoners. One of the towns' people, who took notice of the scene, caught Crystal's attention. It was a tall slender fellow who had a dark red tattered shawl thrown across his lower face, kept a distance between the commotions of the merchants. He had long shaggy light blonde hair that covered his eyes and an old hat. James gave Crystal a small nudge as he sat beside her on a creaky old bench. "It'll be alright lass. If we get sold, I'll make sure that we stick together no matter where we may sail. I promise." He said patting Crystal's back. Crystal sighed and nodded her head adding a small grin. One of the pirates violently grabbed James chains and dragged him off. Crystal quickly followed, as well as Mrs. Panlas too. While they were walking, Crystal saw something twinkle around one of the pirate's waste, "What is that? It's…It's a key!" Mrs. Panlas noticed young girl's excitement and questioned her with a face expression. Crystal quietly whispered to her and a slight grin appeared on the elderly face. James was brought onto a fairly large wooden platform and was being sold. Crystal tightened her fist and said to Mrs. Panlas, "What happens if this doesn't work?" The old woman stared at her for a while and then Crystal replied, "If it doesn't work...Then we have nothing left to do." The enemies were caught off guard when Crystal clumsily stumbled into one of them, who had the key dangling loosely from his waste, and grasped the golden key. Everyone had their attention on Crystal, who was just sitting there with a key hanging from her fingers in an overwhelmed look. She quickly unlocked her chains and threw the key to Mrs. Panlas. James took action and punched one of the pirates causing several of them to jump on him. Mrs. Panlas was trying to free herself while James was flinging men off of him. Some of the merchants started to crowd around Crystal and were all going to grab her ,however, as they ran towards her, she was grabbed by the arm and slid under them without them even realizing it until it was too late. Each of the men had clashed heads and was knocked out or punching one another. Crystal turned around to see who had saved her, but no one was there. James managed to fight off his attackers, except there were more men who jumped on him. Mrs. Panlas and Crystal squeezed their way through the busy crowd and made their escape. James broke his chains by smashing it on one of his enemies and escaped because it was so chaotic the pirates didn't even know who they were attacking. Crystal and Mrs. Panlas paused in a small dark ally to catch their breath. "Where's James?" huffed Mrs. Panlas. "I don't know. It was so hectic, that I didn't even get a chance to see if he escaped!" replied the girl. As they walked around the empty streets, Crystal noticed something strange and stopped. Mrs. Panlas stopped as well, but did not know why. "What's wrong?" Crystal put her finger to her lips to indicate to be quite. Out from a dark corner came James stumbling to the ground covered in filth and wounds. Mrs. Panlas ran over to him and sat down beside him, carefully stroking his hair she said, "What is happening? Our lives seemed to be so peaceful, but now I fear it is not going to be easy from here on. We need to watch each others' back and help get through this all." Crystal gave her an agreeing nod and put James's arm over her shoulder as she gently lifted him up. Mrs. Panlas was on the other side trying hard to hold up the man's heavy weight and gave out a huff each step she took. "I'm afraid we aren't going to make it at this rate. It's near dark and there are bound to be danger everywhere, especially when the pirates are probably looking for us.
"We need to find shelter." thought Crystal as she paused to catch her breathe. The skies began to cloud and a minute later rain began to pour down. "I can't go any further. Please…Please take my son James and run to a safe place. I can not help. I am only being a burden for you, Crystal." wept Mrs. Panlas, who was soaked with heavy rain and tired with the day's journey, as well as being weak from old age. Crystal laid James down and gave Mrs. Panlas a comforting hug, then insisted, "We can do it! Just hang on there. We will get through this, all of us, I promise." By then Mrs. Panlas surrendered to a deep sleep and lay beside Crystal. The young girl sat between the two worn out bodies in the hard cold rain and the dark cloudy night. As she sat down, she wrapped her hands about her knees and silently cried. A sense of warmth surrounded her after some time. Crystal looked up and saw a tall young boy with an umbrella over his head; however, she was too worn out and thought she was dreaming again. He had a huge grin across his face and his eyes dazzled with mischief. He bent down towards Crystal and said softly, "It's going to be alright. I have come to help you." As he lifted her up he signaled to several villagers to come help carry the others to shelter. Crystal looked at him and gave a weak smile and whispered, "T-Thank you…" and then she fell asleep. The boy laughed quietly and continued walking. Memories flew through Crystal's mind as she slept peacefully, events before and during her latest adventures. The moment when she first discovered the shadow, to when she last embraced William and then the rescuing of now. All of them flooded her mind. As she dreamed, she started feeling something hot on her forehead. Crystal moved, but could not figure out why she wasn't going anywhere. Before she knew it she started to open her eyes and found herself neatly tucked inside a rather large bed. She touched her forehead and there was a warm wash rag over it. She was confused at first and then flash of memory from the night before returned to her. Crystal blinked and turned to her side to find the boy who had saved her, sound asleep on a rocking chair. A plump maid with rosy cheeks and a warm smile entered the room with a tray of some hot tea and soup. "How are you Miss? Please don't be a stirrin yet. You happened to be caught down in the weather at the wrong time. Lucky for you, young master Han saved you just in time. You have a slight cold, but you are recovering well."
She gently placed the tray on Crystal's lap and slid silently from the room. Crystal removed the rag from her forehead and as she sipped her tea she wondered, "Where are James and Mrs. Panlas I wonder? I hope they're ok." She turned her head over to the boy who was worn out and had an old hat pulled over his eyes as he slept. "Who is that boy? Why did he save me? Has he been here all night watching over me?" She wondered, and as she went towards her soup, the boy mumbled, "Your friends are ok. Do not worry, neither of them is deeply wounded, nor do they have high fevers. I apologies, had I not come sooner, you would have not caught a cold." He tilted his hat upwards and properly lifted himself into the chair and cleared his throat. "My name is Lian Han. Friends call me Han, but you may call me whatever you please. I am at the age of 16 and an only child. My mother is a widow and I help organize and arrange the needs of our lands and members of this house." Then he quickly added, "I will word I have on the tippy top of my tongue you until you recover from you cold. Please feel free to roam through my residence and any of my servants would be more than happy to assist you with anything you may need. If you need me, I will be in the library tending to my educational needs." Then Crystal shyly asked him, "Um…Were you watching me the whole night?" Han shuffled his feet uneasily and looked towards the ground. Then Crystal continued, "I mean you must be tired after watching over me all night. I truly do appreciate your company, but you should really get some rest now." Han, shocked, lifted his head and stared at Crystal. He nodded gratefully, and headed towards the door. As he began to shut it, he glanced back at Crystal and said to himself, "Crystal Sanderz? Could this possibly be the one they sent?" and then shut the door. After dozing for a while Crystal woke up and rubbed her eyes. She stretched out her arms and yawned. She looked around and spotted on a near by table were some fresh clothes and a small note next to it. She pushed off her covers and dropped her feet to the ground. She slowly walked towards the note and gently picked it up and read it. "Dearest Miss Sanderz, it is to you whom my every concern that I will attend to your all needs. I may not be of much of a service to you but allow me to give a pleasant tour of the Young Master's Mansion, requested by the Young Master himself, and I have set a fresh pair of clothes for you to wear and in the bathroom are clean towels and all your needs in there for you. Sincerely, Mrs. Flossie." She stared blankly at it for a while then folded it up neatly again. As she picked up the clean clothes and headed for the bathroom she heard a creak by the door and stopped to listen. No other sound was heard so she continued. After her bath she was getting dressed and she heard a knock on the door. She quickly put on her clothes and ran towards the bedroom door and opened it. It was Han.
He curiously looked at her and then asked, "How are you doing? Your fr-" He was cut off abruptly due to James' impatience and was pushed aside. "Crystal! You're ok! My, my, you look so pale but yer recovering! That's a girl." As James continued to talk, then Mrs. Panlas came limping in with a tear in her eye. "Good to see you again. Thanks goodness you're ok." Then she nodded to Han, "Thanks to this young man, we were able to make it out alive." Han bowed in a humorous gesture towards them. James gave a hearty laugh and patted the boy on the back. Han stumbled a little forward from James' pat and gave a awkward grin. They talked for awhile but then shortly after, was interrupted by a plump maid with rosy cheeks. It was Miss Flossie. " Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know you were all talking. Sorry! Please excuse me. It's a message from your mother master Han. She said it's about time for supper." she said embarrassed at first. Han smiled at her and replied, "Alright Miss Flossie, tell her I'll be present in five minutes. I need to clean up first." and then dismissed her. "Mmmm! I wonder what's fer supper. Never ate at a fancy place like this." Miss Panlas gave him a sturdy look and said, "You better behave yourself James. This is pretty formal thing you know?" Han quickly added, "Oh don't worry! You're our guest! Feel free to whatever style you normally eat. You will enjoy tonight's course meal." With that, everyone was pleased. At the dinner table everyone was all cleaned up and seated. Mrs. Panlas was seated across from James and Han was seated at the very end of the table, while his mother sat on the other end. Crystal sat right beside Han's mother. The chefs came in with marvelous looking on trays and appetizers. James stared at them with disbelief while Miss Panlas stayed modest occasionally giving James a look. They began eating and Mrs. Han spoke first. "So Crystal, I hear my son found you. It must have been really terrifying to be out there alone. How on earth did you end up in such a situation?" Crystal looked towards her quickly wiping off her mouth. "I was…Um…Well you see…" Mrs. Panlas saw her struggling so she cut in, "We got lost. We're new here." Crystal giving a look of gratitude to Mrs. Panlas, sighed in relief. "Oh dear, lost? Well welcome to Daleville. You'll find it very pleasant here if you're not in the lower part of the city. The docks these days aren't that safe ever since those pirates and smugglers have been taking action." James gave a questioning look towards his mom and Miss Panlas gave a sharp glare right back to him. While James was stuffing a roll into his mouth Mrs. Han asked James, "So James, are you the father of Crystal? And is Mrs. Panlas your mother perhaps?" James raised an eyebrow while his roll dangled from his mouth. Mrs. Panlas slapped her forehead in embarrassment and could not bare to see what would happen next. Everybody sat there a bit awkwardly staring at James who was silent. Crystal spoke up and said, "Um. No he isn't my father. He's my…uh…Uncle. And that's my Grandmother." Mrs. Panlas thought it as a little help back. Everybody continued to eat and chat heartily. Mrs. Panlas and Mrs. Han began talking about the landscape, while James butted in frequently. Han and Crystal occasionally said something to each other but hardly talked at all. After supper was finished, the maids came in and cleared off the table and then desert came in. James looked at them with round eyes and Crystal and Mrs. Panlas seemed to be full but still complimented it. Mrs. Han sat there happily looking at everybody's expressions. When they finished the maids came once again to clean up for the night. Mrs. Han retired for the night and Mrs. Panlas was exhausted. James and one of the servants, sent by Mrs. Han, went to go explore the property while Han escorted Crystal to her bedroom.