Topaz: Sorry for the super delay everyone! This is the last chapter that I wrote when the idea was fresh in my mind. Any after this will probably feel a little different...I apologize if that bugs you! Thanks to those of you who actually REVIEW and tell my stuff about WHY YOU LIKE THE STORY!
Diclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story.
Chapter Six
A Glimpse
Jim was progressing slowly down his chosen path when he heard Johan cry out. "JOHAN!" he turned and ran back the way he'd come, turning at the fork to go left, fear coursing through his veins. It had been foolish of them to come down here without any knowledge of what could be living here! How could he have been so stupid! Jim silently cursed himself for his idiocy, he knew better than to have explored the unknown without knowing ANYthing! It was at this point that he came into a chamber and stopped, gawking at the sight before him. The walls of the chamber were pure, clear crystal, sparkling with a rainbow light which came from the center of the chamber…from…Johan? The blue-haired boy was floating amidst a circle of seven colored crystals, eyes closed. Jim could only stare as the beautiful rainbow light engulfed the room, and then a mysterious wind whipped up and blew the bandages away from his right eye. He gasped, he'd only taken those bandages off once before, and he'd ended up fainting! But this time, no ill feeling washed over him, rather a warm sensation. He looked up to see Johan in front of him, staring at him, with…rainbow-colored eyes? Jim took a step forward, then another, and another, until he was standing but a couple inches away from his friend. "Johan?" Jim asked tentatively. Johan's whole body seemed to be made of crystal, he looked almost…fragile. And his eyes, though bright in color, they held such pain, such wisdom, completely unlike Johan's cheerful turquoise eyes. "Johan!" he lightly touched the boy's arm. Johan lifted one hand, and pushed Jim away, then the rainbow light faded, leaving Jim standing in the chamber. He noticed his bandages were back on, and that Johan lay on the ground before him, "Johan! Are you okay?" He ran to his friend's side, worried.
"Did you hear that?" Judai asked Cobra and Sho as they exited the tunnel, "It sounded like Johan!" He was about to turn around when Cobra placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder and said, "You must be hearing things, prince. We must keep moving if we want to get away from the palace before the sun is up." "Come on, Aniki, this is what you wanted, right?" Sho took his friend by the hand and gently led him away from the tunnels. "Well, yeah," Judai muttered, and followed, glancing once over his shoulder before they left the caves behind.
"Johan! Wake up!" Jim pleaded, his un-covered eye watching for signs of life. Johan was breathing, that was good, but he looked pale, and wasn't moving. Gently, Jim shook the boy, "Johan, c'mon, it's Jim. Get up or I'll feed you to Karen!" Johan let out a small whimper and opened his eyes just a bit, "Jim?" "Yeah," the castle servant was relieved, "You had me scared." "What happened?" the blunette tried to get up and found his whole body resisting. "Um..." Jim wondered if he should tell his friend about what he'd seen, "You just-ran into the wall, you must have slid on something, or tripped." Johan gave him a funny look, knowing Jim was keeping something from him, but what? Then he saw the beautiful crystal walls of the chamber, "Wow…" he smiled, "It's so pretty." Jim noticed a faint rainbow flicker in Johan's eyes, then vanish, "Yeah, it's very pretty, now how about we go?" whatever had just happened with all those crystals and the rainbows, he didn't want it to happen again. "It feels…right…" Johan murmured, too quietly for Jim to hear. Then his friend helped him up and together they headed out of the cavern.
Johan was slowly getting back to his old self, and he chattered softly about the crystal cavern, but Jim didn't join in, he kept his gaze straight ahead, thinking. What was that? Jim wondered, It was so strange. I don't EVER want to go back in that place again! It scared the heck out of me! Beside him, Johan's eyes narrowed, Jim only got like this when something was on his mind, what was troubling his friend? "Jim?" he cocked his head, "Is everything ok?" "Um, yeah," the boy answered, "LOOK!" They were at the exit and before them the sun was just creeping over the horizon, painting a beautiful picture on the canvas of the sky. They were outside the palace!
Topaz: Thanks for reading. I'll try to update more often.