Chapter 9:
Tisha and the others walked slowly up the stairs, no one saying a word. When they got to the main floor Waz was waiting for them, and greeted them with a smile.
"Come," he said, "I will take you to see Prince Will."
He led them back to the throne room and entered. The scene was much like the one the previous night with the Prince in his throne, Imazo and Inazo by his side, and Silver standing in one corner.
"From the looks on your faces I assume you learned the story of our land. I know it must be hard for you all to understand." the Prince said rising from his chair. "Now," he continued, "being that The Seer is through talking to the four of you, you are all free to do whatever you like. Explore all you like, but none of you are to leave the castle grounds. Our gate keeper Braken will see that none of you wander away."
With that the Prince dismissed them and they walked out the same way they came in, only with the absence of Waz.
Once outside the door Chase asked, "So what now?"
There was silence for several minutes before Tisha answered, "I think we should take the Prince up on his offer and take a look around the castle."
They walked together to the main hall, and then went their separate ways. Tisha headed upstairs with Jase, and left him on the second floor as she continued to the third floor. Chase and Tharin decided to go together outside and look around the grounds.
Tisha wanted to learn more about the so called "power" inside of her and her friends. She was hoping to find someone or something that could tell her more. She went through nine different rooms before she found one with some books, but not one of the books she found referenced anything about the two dragons or the spirits.
Jase had no real reason for going off on his own. He wanted to get away from the others last night, and with the information he just heard he needed it now more than ever. He didn't feel any different from when he was back home aside from his constant fear that something was going to happen to Miyo. Jase walked into a few rooms and looked around before he decided to go back down to the main floor, and join back up with Chase and Tharin. At the time Chase and Tharin were walking towards the castle gate.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tharin asked a little nervously.
Chase's expression hardened as he replied, "Not really, but I want to make certain we can't go and help Miyo."
"Wait a minute," Tharin said stopping Chase, "Didn't that Seer guy say not to do anything that might…"
"Yeah I know, but I can't just sit around and do nothing." Chase interrupted.
Tharin sighed as Chase pushed past him and waited at the gate for it to open.
"Where do you think you're off to?" asked a voice calmly.
"I want to go outside, please." Chase called out.
A young male climbed down the wooden ladder and folded his arms as he stood in front of Chase with a smile.
"I don't think so, the Prince ordered me to keep our guests inside the castle grounds." he stated.
Chase and the man stared at each other for a few seconds before Chase smiled back at him.
"I'm sorry, I had to give it a shot." he stated as he extended a hand and continued, "You must be Braken, I'm Chase."
The man shook Chase's hand and replied, "Yes, I am Braken. It's nice to meet you."
Tharin introduced himself in the same manner and Braken stated, "Forgive me, believe me if it were my friend I would want to rescue her as well."
Chase nodded and said, "That's alright, I'm sure she'll be fine."
Soon Jase came out to join them and introduced himself as well.
"Did you get bored already?" Tharin asked jokingly.
Jase shook his head and they left it at that, as they could all feel the tension in the air.
"Well, we're sorry to have bothered you Braken, but we really don't know where or what we can do." Chase stated with a frown.
Braken was silent for a few minutes in thought before he answered, "If you can find Caitlin she may be willing to give you a tour of the castle, or at least talk with you."
Chase's eyes grew wide as he remembered, "Of course, I almost forgot Mrs. Leon was here. Thank you Braken."
Braken bowed and started back up the ladder calling over his shoulder, "Kaza, have you seen Caitlin?"
A young man with silver hair and green eyes turned and called back, "Yes, the last time I saw her she was in the Room of Mirrors."
"Thank you Kaza!" Braken called, then down to the boys, "The Room of Mirrors is on the sixth floor. Walk all the way to the end of the hall to your left and it's the last door to your right. If she isn't there came back to me."
"Thanks again Braken." Chase called back to him. The three turned and walked back into the castle.
"Hey Chase?" Tharin started, "Why do you want to find your teacher so much?"
Chase shot him a look as they started up the stairs and replied, "I overheard the Prince and Silver last night say that Caitlin was at Blake's castle, and was wondering if she saw Miyo."
Jase and Tharin's breath caught in their throats as all three quickened their pace. It took a little longer to get to the sixth floor then they estimated, and had to stop on the fifth floor to catch their breath. They were down the hall equally as fast, and paused again to regain their composure outside the Room of Mirrors. All hoped beyond hope that Caitlin was still in the room as Chase opened the door.
Tisha walked through the entire third and fourth floor, and finally had to sit down on the staircase to rest. She was no closer to finding answers to her questions than when she started. Tisha had paged through a total of thirteen books and had found nothing. She wanted to ask someone if the castle had a library, but everyone she tried talking to turned her away with apologies of being too busy to talk to her. Tisha thought for a few minutes and sighed with the only option that presented itself to her. She racked her brain for two more minutes, and when she still could not come up with a solution she got up and walked down to the main floor, and continued down to The Seer's room.
Taking a deep breath she whispered to herself, "I must be out of my mind." and knocked gently on the door.
The instant she stopped knocking The Seer's voice said, "Come."
Her heart almost burst form her chest at the rapid answer as a bead of sweat ran down her face. Tisha opened the door and walked into the room letting the door close behind her. The Seer was standing by one of his book shelves and was facing Tisha with his eyes open.
"What can I do for you, my dear?" he asked coldly.
"Um, I'm sorry to bother you again, but I was wondering if you could tell me more about how to awaken our powers." Tisha asked timidly.
The Seer blinked his eyes slowly before answering her, "Of course, please have a seat."
Tisha nodded and sat in the same chair she had not an hour ago as The Seer walked to a different book shelf and took out a worn gray book. He sat opposite of Tisha once again and opened the book.
"Now, shall we begin?" The Seer questioned with a smile.
His fierce eyes burned holes into Tisha's green pools. She nodded and took a breath, cursing herself inside for her curiosity.
"The easiest way," he began, "to awaken your powers is to use them."
Tisha looked confused at The Seer and stated, "But I don't even know how to use my powers."
The Seer smiled, closed his eyes and asked, "Have you even tried to use your power yet?"
Tisha was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Um, no…I haven't."
The Seer opened his eyes and stated, "Put your hand out and focus." Tisha put her hand out and did as The Seer told her. "Put it palm up, the power can flow more easily that way." he instructed with his eyes gleaming.
Tisha nodded and twisted her wrist so that her palm was facing up. She stared at her hand for a minute then closed her eyes and focused her mind even harder, resulting in a short spurt of pain in her head.
After a minute more Tisha stopped and said, "I don't think this is working." and dropped her hand in frustration.
The Seer put his hand out like Tisha's and stated, "Give me your hand." Tisha hesitated for a second before placing her hand in The Seer's. "Now concentrate as you were, but look into my eyes this time." he said. Tisha obeyed and began concentrating again, she was a little concerned staring into the deep crimson eyes of The Seer, but she calmed down after a few seconds. Soon Tisha's hand began warming and she started looking down, but The Seer said in his cold tone, "Don't look away from my eyes, not yet." Tisha nodded and kept her eyes glued to The Seer's. Her hand was growing warmer, and finally The Seer let go of Tisha's hand and said, "Okay, you can look now, but stay focused." Tisha looked at her hand and gasped, floating a few inches above her palm was a bright green sphere of energy.
"So is my power awake now?" Tisha questioned in amazement.
"No," he replied, "just because you can use your power does not mean it has awakened, although you are one step closer to it now."
The two men closed around Miyo; the red haired one put his arm around her shoulder, and the silver haired one pressed his hand against the gate a few inches away from her head.
"Listen, I don't want any trouble." she stammered, her face growing red.
The red haired man smiled and asked, "Trouble? We didn't say anything about causing you trouble, did we Shiva?"
The other, Shiva, shook his head and stated innocently, "No, we didn't."
Miyo was wringing her hands trying to think of something she could do or say that would get the men to back away from her when Abel called down, "Ranzo, Shiva!"
Imminently the two men backed away from Miyo and both called back, "Sir!"
Miyo looked up to see both Abel and Alister glaring over the edge of the platform at the two men.
"What are you doing with her?" Alister demanded with fury.
Ranzo's brow drew together as he struggled to find his answer, "Nothing sir, we thought she was one of the Lady's friends."
"Well she's not," Alister said, "and we would appreciate it if you treated her with some kind of respect."
Both nodded and Abel and Alister disappeared from view.
Ranzo sighed with relief and came forward, "Forgive our rudeness, we did not mean anything by it, my lady."
Miyo gave him a reassuring smile and replied, "It's alright, I shouldn't be surprised dressed the way I am."
"You know, now that I get a better look at you that dress makes you look very beautiful. You look like a princess." Shiva said.
There was that word again, "princess…Do I really look like a princess?" Miyo thought to herself.
"Does the little princess have a name?" Ranzo asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Miyo." she replied.
Ranzo and Shiva introduced themselves and both apologized to Miyo once again. With that they left and continued on their way before she realized that their names sounded familiar.
"Wait!" she called after them. They turned back to her as she ran to catch up to them. "Abel said before that he and Alister needed to talk to a Ranzo and a Shiva, would that be you two?" she continued.
The two considered for a moment before Shiva answered, "Yes, we are the only two here with those names. I would imagine Prince Blake wants a status report again."
"Don't worry princess; they know where we'll be. They have to finish talking to Avagon before they bother with us." Ranzo said with a smile.
Miyo blushed slightly at how different the two seemed after being scolded by Abel and Alister.
"If you're running their errands with them then we'll see you again shorty as well." Shiva stated with a smile of his own.
They both nodded to Miyo and continued on their way again. Miyo was left with a smile on her face as she turned and went back to her place by the gate. She was standing for a minute before her smile faded as some thoughts began passing through her mind. She wondered if her family was missing her yet, or if they even noticed she was gone. She also wondered if Tisha and the others had tried to locate her yet, and she hoped they were not worrying too much.
If they could see the land she was in they would no doubt want to be with her. Everything about it was beautiful and magical, and the people actually treated her like a real person. The one thing Miyo feared the worst was that she was dreaming, but something inside her told her that it was real, and that she should believe it. A few minutes later Abel and Alister came down from the gate, and the three continued on in the direction Ranzo and Shiva heading in a few minutes earlier.
'They didn't bother you too much did they?" Alister asked coldly.
Miyo shook her head and replied, "No, once the two of you talked to them they were really quite nice."
"Those two," Abel started, "they always have to cause trouble don't they?"
This brought a small smile to Alister's face; it was true that every time they turned around it seemed Ranzo and his older brother Shiva were always in some sort of trouble. They walked back into the castle, this time the opposite way Miyo was familiar with. There were far more people walking in this part of the castle than Miyo had seen before. She felt like she was in a completely different castle.
Most of the men walking to and from their destinations were in the same armor she had seen while standing in front of the gate, but a handful of men and women walked slowly and with very tired eyes.
"Is there something wrong with those people?" Miyo inquired motioning to one of the woman.
Abel looked for only a second before turning his eyes away and replying, "No, they are just suffering hard times."
Miyo wished to know more, but once she saw the look in both Alister and Abel's eyes she did not press the matter.
"Miyo, if you do not wish to see Ranzo and Shiva again you are welcome to go back to the courtyard to wait for us." Abel stated as they stopped at a wooden door trimmed with shining silver.
Miyo considered this for a moment before saying, "No, that's okay. I'll come with you."
Alister and Abel looked in her bright green eyes; she was an odd girl indeed. Not just any one would dare seeing those two again after being harassed by them.
"Something must be troubling her; perhaps she was scared of something." Abel thought to himself.
"But what would frighten this poor girl so?" Alister finished.
Without another word Alister knocked on the door twice and the three entered.