Prologue:
Alchemy. It's something easier for me to understand rather than religion. There are so many rules when it comes to religion that it just makes my head spin or until I get annoyed with it. With alchemy, yes, there are rules too, but they are straight to the point, if you are clever enough for it that is. With taking up the art of alchemy, I have taken' a liking to Latin. Needless to say, I can hardly speak a word of it, but it does help when it comes to alchemy. Some say it is a crazy obsession, others think it is a childish phase. Immortality is no childish phase and nor is it an obsession...well, to others it might be, but I would never think to go that far. It is merely a hobby of mine. When I find the time, I study it. I will spend all weekend just reading and writing down notes. Alchemy makes the world more...interesting. Alchemy is science, it is magic and magic is something this world sorely lacks. You know what else it lacks: Adventure.
This is my story about going on an adventure and it is one I will never forget. How could I? I became part of a crew, sailing on a grand ship, I fought pirates, and I even fell in love. I'm no ordinary person and this is no ordinary story. If you are looking for ordinary then go someplace else. This is a story about going to different worlds. You can't imagine the creatures and other people I have encountered...ok, maybe you can, but I have to tell you in my own words and how it all started and how it all ended. I hope that at the end you won't be mad at me, or perhaps you would have made the same choice? Either way, I don't regret my choice. My name is Briar Edwards, and I am lucky to be alive.
Chapter One: The storm.
It was half passed nine at night and I was about ready to get on my last flight home to America. I would land in the in Washington D.C. with my dad and then I would sleep in the back seat till I got home, missing Italy in my dreams. I had been studying abroad for a year there and now it was time to go home. My little adventure was ending, or so I thought. Time was just waiting for me, I guess, to take me on an even bigger adventure. But how it came about was frightening. I truly thought I was going to die. On the brink of death and not being the religious type I was back then.
I was boarding my flight in London as the moon was just starting to shine brightly. It was beautiful, being above the clouds and listening to the plane purr softly. I could no longer see Big Ben and it made me a little sad, not knowing that that would be the last time I'd set my eyes on Europe ever again.
There was a slight rumble as I sat in my seat, my eyes closed and trying to rest before a long ride home. Thunder was heard below me. Was there supposed to be a storm tonight? No way. They would have delayed my flight if that were the case. Maybe it's just a slight storm and it won't mess with the plane. Wishful thinking, I know. That was not the case, though. It all happened so quickly and I was saying "Oh God!" in my head faster than the constant thunder being heard. I heard the pilot's voice over the intercom, but I can't recall what he said. I was too worried and when the masks came down that was when I really started to panic. Sure, I was used to flying, I did it many times and I thought for sure that this would be my end: to go down into the ocean I sailed over so many times in my life.
A huge crack was heard and it was so loud I thought I would go deaf from it. Instead, I saw the plane get torn in half and I wished then that I was blind. At least I would die not having to see the horror of those being whipped out and screaming. I realized then that I was crying and it wasn't just the rain getting inside the plane now. I was falling from the sky, my body strapped tight into my seat and my mask still on. As the plane turned to face the ocean I came face-to-face with my doom. But fate had other plans for me, other adventures. I shielded my eyes from bright light and held my breath.
My eyes flickered open, my head hurt and my body was sore and cold. I heard the soft sound of what seemed to be birds flying in the trees. I tried to open my eyes again and the first thing I saw was the ground at least fifteen feet down. This should not have bothered me, but seeing how I was only strapped into a seat that only partly connected to what was left of the plane, it really freaked me out. My mask was gone, no idea where it went to and no doubt all of my belongings were gone too. I was stuck in a white dress that went down to my knees and a light blue buttoned-up sweater, black leggings and black boots that went to my calf's. Don't ask why. I'm into a weird style and my style was finally paying itself off. Who wants to walk through the woods or an open field with sandals or slip on?
The braid in my hair was coming out and my hair tickled my face, annoying me. I braced myself as I undid the latch for the belt and held on to the two sides of the buckle, calculating how I was going to land this fall. Not good...was my assumption. I landed with a soft thud and tumbled to my hands and knees. The ground was hard and the dirt smelled like moss. Funny, there were no ponds or rivers, not that I could hear any. In fact, I couldn't hear the insects and the sweet song of the birds were gone. Did I miss something? I don't think so. Where was I? Was I dead? Oh, God. There I go again. If I was dead, was I in purgatory, hell, or heaven? I don't remember anything after the bright light; not even the hard smack of the ocean on my face. I thought for sure I was dead and so then I pinched myself. I literally pinched myself. Ouch! Yeah, I wasn't dead. So then where the hell was I?
I took the rest of the messy braid out of my hair and whipped my hair forward and then back, holding it back with my hands to put it in a tight bun. I looked around at my surroundings more closely. What a strange place, I thought. So, I did the first thing I could do: walking. I was stuck in an unknown place. I wasn't even sure I was in Europe or America. From the looks of it, it seemed to be some kind of Asian land. Maybe I was wrong? Totally wrong? I could hear bugs a couple of feet away from me, hiding in bushes. I didn't dare peek at them, afraid they were dangerous. Or maybe they were tiny, harmless bugs. I was too chicken to find out. Screw that! My stomach growled then and I was either hungry from walking so much or it was out of fear. Maybe it was both? Ugh! I was getting so tired of walking around. Sure, I'd like to hike once in a while, but this was getting annoying. From a distance, I could hear two voices, either they were bickering or...or something. Did I dare follow the voices and see who it was? I was pretty tired of being alone and not knowing where I was, so I took on the crazy idea and followed the voices. What would be even crazier is if the voices were only inside my head and the oxygen I took in from the trees and plants were feeding me some kind of poison and I was slowly going nuts. What a thought!
I slipped and fell on some mud, getting my knees and palms dirty. I cursed and picked myself back up. The weakness in my knees was finally starting to show. I felt wobbly and nervous. Scared even. I had no idea what was going to happen, how could I? During this time, of course, I had no idea I was in another world. I still thought I was on earth. Could I call it that anymore? Perhaps the people here called this place earth. I never asked.
As I walked, the voices getting louder, I came to a halt. I wasn't going crazy. There really were people! I smiled a bit and clutched my sweater. Suddenly afraid and feeling very stupid having gone with this idea. I got down on my hands and knees and crept over to the two groups of people talking. I stayed very low and moved slowly. The trees and bushes kept me well hidden and thank God for no bugs!
I watched them talk. Good, they spoke English. A tall husky man who had the face of a dog almost and a big nose talked the most. He was trying to make a deal with another man. He was tall and skinny and he had a big grey hat and a grey trench coat on. He had long fingers that seemed to have sharp tips like razors for fingernails. I liked the look of the dog face man better. He had more colors. The two groups didn't exactly look very nice, but I still liked the dog face man's side better. "Come now," he said. "It be easier on the twos' of us."
The man in grey spat to the ground. "Pah! I'd rather sleep with the mermaids. Let them take me to my watery grave and sleep forever." his voice was scratchy and it made me cringe.
The dog face man crossed his arms and sighed. I noticed his right leg and it caught me off guard. A robotic-like leg pushed out some smoky air and I watched in fascination. Then he repositioned his right arm to be on top and I saw that it was robotic too.
I moved a little closer to get a better look, I was careful about moving any twigs that would get in my way. My breathing had slowed down so much I almost lost my breath. I had never tried to be this quiet. "There will be plenty there to go 'round." the dog face man said.
The man in grey looked like he was getting fed up and took an angry step forward. "Plenty go 'round eh? Hah! I knows how ya think, Silver. Never 'nough to go 'round! I's never give it up!" with that he turned to walk away but then stopped. He looked my way and I put my face to the ground completely, afraid that he might have seen me as he turned. I didn't hear him say anything and I wasn't hearing his foot-steps get closer so I picked my head back up and he was still looking. I ducked again and that was when I heard a twig snap behind me. Oh shit! I thought. I looked back, still on the ground and saw a big muscled man. He was shirtless and his pants seemed too big and too short all at the same time. He held them up with a rope and at his sides were two thick daggers. He didn't look like a man, though. A big, ugly man who looked like he was carved out of wood and brought to life like Pinocchio. I couldn't bring myself to laugh at this though.
He picked me up and I hardly made a sound. I knew I was screwed and I kept quiet, letting him grab hold of my sweater from the back, twisting it into his fist. He pushed me through the trees and out into the open where the two groups stood. The grass went to my knees and the ground felt mushy. I stood a few feet away from this man named Silver and the man in grey. They both looked at me very surprised, as if they had no idea what to do with me or better yet, why a girl like me was out in a place like this in the first place. "A spy!" the tree man said, his voice thick, sounding Russian to me. Why did a tree man sound Russian? Was I in Russia then?
The man in grey turned and pointed a nasty finger at Silver. "Is she your spy? I knew it! Kill them all!" with that last sentence my body went still and I closed my eyes. I heard the group roar in pleasure. They were itching for a fight.
"Calm down ya maggots!" I heard the man named Silver yell and I opened my eyes again. His arms were raised, trying to calm everyone down. I had a feeling he was trying to get out of this situation from the beginning. He didn't want to fight with this man. He just wanted to take his men and leave, but that was proving to be difficult and with me in the picture, I wasn't sure if he had any new tricks up his sleeve. He looked at me with his one red eye and I think my eyes got wide after that. I never noticed it before. "A spy? Bah! I's aint never seen this girl before!" The man in grey growled. "I swears!" he looked back to the angry man.
"That so? Then you's would have no problem killin' her then?"
I looked back at the man named Silver and I gave him the 'please, no' look. He saw it too. "Why kill a helpless child? She be dead by next dawn for sure." I wasn't sure if I was happy to hear that, but at least I knew he didn't want to kill me. I felt the cold, hard hands of the tree man grab the back of my neck hard and I moaned in pain, leaning forward and trying to get away from his grasp.
"I'll jus' have one of me own men do it then." said the man in grey. "Ya gone soft, Silver. Too soft."
"Ah, jus' let 'er go won't cha, Stickler?" Stickler? So that's what his name is.
Stickler pulled his hat up more and bared his teeth angrily. "SOFT!" he spat.
"This is all just a misunderstandin'," said Silver. He readjusted his red bandana on his head.
Before Stickler could say any more, something rumbled behind us in the trees, making the birds fly away...something big. The footsteps could be heard from at least a mile away. "It's come back!" cried Silver. "Round your things up, men! We gots to get outa here now!" The tree man let go of me then. I was no longer a problem it seemed like. I saw Stickler and his men head in one direction while Silver and his men went the other. "Don't just stand there, child!" Silver yelled at me, his red eye glowing brightly as he took my hand. We ran for it then. Ran for the trees on the other side. I kept up with Silver fairly well seeing how his right leg seemed to slow him down just a bit. Did it hurt him to run like this?
I heard a loud echoing roar close behind me and I looked back. I saw large feet walking quickly, but they seemed to have headed in Stickler's direction. Were we safe then? The feet looked like rocks all stuck together. I had to turn away then but I turned too late and didn't notice the branch sticking out and I rammed my head right into it. I fell flat on my back and my ears started to ring. Damn it! I heard Silver tell me to get up and yanked me to my feet. It was hard for me to keep up with him now and it hurt to try and keep my eyes open.
My lungs were hurting and my legs left like they would give way at any moment. Perhaps the boots were a bad choice? As my version became better and it didn't hurt so much to try and see I saw that we were headed toward a ship. A ship? On land? Ok, where was I? This can't be Russia! I was officially done with trying to figure out where I was. I was quickly hauled up into the ship by a floating circular solar device. I didn't question it or fight those who helped me to the ship, though, I felt like I was getting closer to my doom.
Silver's voice called out to his men, telling them to set sail. I thought to myself, How the hell are you going to set sail? You're on land, stupid! Within a minute or two I felt a rumble and then the ship actually floated off the land and I too started to float. "Flip the switch!" Silver yelled again. And just like that, I landed with a thump to the wooden surface and I sat there, trying to take it all in. We were floating off into the sky and soon the stars came into view. It was space but it wasn't space. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Suddenly all I thought I knew about science was a lie or maybe just a small part of the big truth. I was a science girl and all this was making no sense to me. I've never even heard of alchemy like this. Was this some kind of trick?
Once we 'set sail' I picked myself up and took a good look around. I saw creatures all around me. They weren't men at all. Some stole glances at me while others rushed pass me trying to get things done. I felt a hand rest on my left shoulder and I turned around fast. It was Silver. "Easy now," he told me. "We's outa danger for the moment." he gave me a nod.
"Where the HELL am I?" I said. "And who the hell are you people? Or WHAT are you?"
Silver hung his head for a second and then looked at me again. He tried to smile but couldn't. "Follow me, lass." he didn't give me time to respond and pushed me forward a bit and then walked in front of me. I followed him into what looked like the cabin area. For a regular sized ship, it didn't look too bad. Silver closed the door behind me and I continued to stand as he took a seat. "I's suppose ya have a lot of questions." I nodded quite a few times. "Shoot," he said.
"Where am I and who are you?"
He nodded his head slowly. "You're on ship Helena. We jus' escaped from a planet called Jagerveen. My name is Silver and I wouldn't call me self a captain, but I do run this ship."
I gave him a puzzled look and went along with it anyway.
"Planet?" he nodded. I laughed then. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" I questioned. "Take me home. Now."
"Whoa! Hold on there, lass."
"Stop calling me that!"
Silver gave me a stern look. "You listen to me, girly. On this ship, you show respect for higher up's. Last time I checked you's were on the bottom." I swallowed hard. "Now ya listen to me. I saved your life, show some respect or I's cast ya off this ship!"
"I doubt you would do that," I told him. "You couldn't kill me back there and I doubt you could do it now."
His robotic arm turned into a gun then and I took a step back as he pointed it at me. "Is that so?" he questioned. I nodded. He sighed then and his robotic hand went back to normal. He rubbed his head. "I's gettin' too old for this." he looked up at me. "What's your name?"
Feeling a bit more comfortable I rested my hands behind my back. "Briar. Briar Edwards." I told him.
He raised his brows. "Briar, eh? Pretty name. How did you's end up in Jagerveen?"
I shrugged. "I was on my way home from Europe and there was this storm. I remember the plane splitting in two and then I ended up here."
Silver looked at me like I was crazy. "Never heard of Europe before. That a faraway planet?"
I laughed a little, getting annoyed. "Uh yeah? On earth. Heard of it?" I said a little rudely.
Silver's eyes got wide. "Earth did ya say?" I nodded. "Ah! Count me stars I should! I be lookin' at a Goddess right now. You best not be lyin' to me."
I gave him a weird look and bit my lower lip. "What are you talking about? Of course, I'm not lying! Where else would I have come from?"
Silver looked at me as if he was about to break some bad news to me. He leaned forward on his knees and said, "Earth has been gone for thousands of years. Lost to us completely."
My heart started to thump faster. "I'm afraid I don't understand," I told him honestly. What was going on? How long had I been sleeping? What happened during that storm? And what was anything anymore?