A/N: Another chapter done! Only two more and then the epilogue. All will be revealed. Anyway, read and review, yah heartless readers. This chapter is rushed, but if you comment on where I can put more detail, I can actually make it better. =3


Ciel Chapter Seven-Chrysalis

I touch the wall, feeling smoothness. It is wondrous. Glistering like sunlight reflecting off ice, I see myself. She looks clear, almost transparent on the white walls. White? No, it's not exactly white. It's more transparent, yet not transparent. But it is not transparent like wax paper, nor is it transparent like water.

It's more like the hair gel I occasionally use when I wake up in the morning. Except all rocky hard, like rock.

"Run now!" Cathy screams, patting my back. "Follow me and don't look back!" I look back, and instantly regret it. A giant wave of hair gel rising higher than a five story building is in the middle of burying us alive. Oh my god. I peddle as fast as I can. The wave continues to pursue us, as if we are high quality hair products, and the gel is the daughter of a rich tycoon.

I stick to Cathy like a magnet, so close in fact I can see sweat drops from her forehead. But other than that, he face betrays no emotions, unlike me. In the floor, I can see the horrid reflection. That didn't last long. Because I only caught a glimpse of myself before the entire freaking floor disappears below me. Oh my god.

And then the gel got me. "Ah! Help! Help! Cathy! It got me! I'm falling! Ah!"

"Stop moving! It's me, stupid!" I shift my eyes about, and indeed Cathy's the one that got me. Then I shift my pupils below to where our shadows touch the ground, hundreds of feet below us.

"Cathy! We're falling! Do something!" No answer. I pound myself against her, wishing for any answer, but still nothing. Then, through her eyes, I feel her timing the amount of seconds before we impact the floor. "Whoa!" Or maybe not…. My stomach twists and turns, my eyes roll around their sockets, and when the loop-de-loop settle down, I feel like coughing up the baby powder I had when I was a toddler. "Whoa!" I repeat, feeling myself falling again. Cathy firmly holds my waist close to her, shifting her weight around so I can balance on….

On a tightrope size piece of solid gel.

Before I can even begin to steady my legs, my whole body falls again. The next moment, I see my sideways reflection on the wall; Cathy is lifting me with her arms without even breaking a sweat. That's not to say I'm…heavy…but I'm not a featherweight either, so it's like Cathy is either really strong, or is pushing herself to the limit. In either case, I'm really grateful and at the same time, afraid of her suddenly falling because of my weight.

Naw, she wouldn't do that. Would she?

As I'm making up my mind on these matters, I again feel my body flying through the air, along with Cathy. My head spins again and I feel a bump on my forehead. "Careful!" A pair of arms pulls me closer and I can feel a soft, warm sensation, the feeling you get when you eat fluffy marshmallows in a cup of hot chocolate. When the tremors in my brain stop, the first thing I witness is Cathy, looking down at me while we lie on the gel floor. Her breathing comes in tough waves, bashing me with the orangey mint in her toothpaste.

Spice pokes her head out, completely oblivious with the events that occurred. What I wouldn't do to be in her place right now.

I look around the landscape. The gel had creased. But even if the gel is gone, my breath is still taken away, by the magnificent city. An entire city encased in glittering diamonds. "Hey, stay here." Cathy mumbles between breaths. "I really mean it."

"I won't be going anywhere. Um, here's the water." I pull out a bottle and give it to her. She gulps down twice and hands me the rest. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but stay here and don't go anywhere else." She repeats.

"I won't but why? The gel stopped."

"Stopped? Don't be so stupid. It didn't stop. It'll move again after you step onto it again."

"You know something don't you?"

"Idiot, I know some of everything. The thing coating the city is called Adamasdyst. It's a substance harder than Mana stone, and when used correctly, it's even more powerful."

"More powerful! What!" My voice nearly screams. I didn't because the gel might hear me and come after me or something.

"Is that so hard to believe? Everything in this world has a weakness, Mana Stone included. Anyway, don't get close to that thing. I want you to stay as far from it as possible."

"Then how are we supposed to leave? Stay in this crevice and rot?" I certainly hope not.

"In time the Adamasdyst would go on a sleeping period. That's when we'll leave. Get comfortable, it'll be another three hours before it sleeps."

"Aww." I lie on the wall with Spice cradling on my tummy. Then a thought comes into mind. "Wait so if this Ada thing is stronger than Mana Stone and this place is so full of it, then…. You sent Lanny to go after people with the power like this! Are you crazy?"

"I didn't send him. He volunteered."

"He volunteered. Hmm. Oh something else I'm wondering. If all this Ada thing is stashed here, why don't they use it?"

"That's because it's snowing on this island. I don't know if I should say we're lucky or not. This supply is simply trapped here, because it dies when the weather condition isn't appropriate."

"Dies? Is it alive?" It never crossed my thoughts, but now that I think about it, it does moves. But it's cold too. Cold blooded?

"Maybe. No one can prove it yet, so it remains to be a theory. But I do believe it is living. For a long time too. Adamasdyst, while being very rare, has watched over this world evolve and advance. It's like all of our witness." She looks at the sky, and I did too, finally noticing there's actually a sky. And I could have sworn I went down a long elevator into some deep cave area with lots of lights.

"Whoa there's a sky!"


Three things I learned about Adamasdyst from Cathy. One, Adamasdyst dies too easily when the weather is not right, like what happens when you are at the beach and you forgot your sunscreen because your parents spoiled you with so many swimming suits so it took you hours to find the right one (I took all of them with me). Two, Adamasdyst is the hardest substance possible, much harder than Mana Stone, which is harder than diamonds. So then that means Adamasdyst can destroy Mana Weapons. Three, only one country has it, Mu Lung, and they don't have a lot either.

Three things I learned about Cathy in the last two hours. One, she's not really tough at all, with lots of whining, she'll melt like parents (who likes to spoil their daughter). Two, she speaks like she cares about no one but herself, but I can distinctly tell she's having a tough time speaking like that (from my intuition). Three, she have a preference for purple, which is my favorite color as well as the color of my hair.

Three things I can conclude. One, Adamasdyst is really dangerous and scary. Two, from my previously concluded fact, Mu Lung is really dangerous. Three, Cathy clearly have a soft spot on me because my favorite color is also purple, and she cares a lot about me. Just a little more and maybe I can really get her to talk to me.

"Follow me." Cathy orders me. Spice, seemingly able to understand human language, travels up my coat and settle around my chest, tickling me.

"Hey, wait for me." I hurriedly brush myself and check the ground for any items before moving right behind her. "Why do you have to walk so fast?"

"Because I'm anxious." Anxious? Did she just said 'anxious'? No way. "Look forward."

"I don't see anything. Oof." I bump into something hard and smooth.

"Here, keep it on." She hands me a pair of expensive glasses with purple lens. I slip it on and begin to see lines, no curves. Like the shape of a human body, human arms, human legs. Ada thing devours anything it touches, so, can these be real people?

"Cathy! People! There are people here! They are people, right? And Lanny! Lanny could be here too! He's safe, right?"

"I don't think so. If he's encased in Adamasdyst, then he'll be nothing but a living statue. So don't hope to find him here, at all."

"Oh. That's true. It's so hard. There's no way to break free from it. I guess it would be better if Lanny isn't here."

"We should find the next log as soon as possible, then we'll be able to tell if he's alive or not. Or maybe—" A whoosh of air passes by us, and immediate we split before the monster crash into us. It was the same one as before, and in the middle of its rocky skin is an empty spot.

"You did that…." I mumble in surprise.

"Lime, stay back. This monster, it has to die. I'm going to use my full strength." With her good arm, she raises the sword and stand firm at the face of the behemoth. The beast eyes glow a deep shade of yellow as it readies its attack. "Blizzard!" The air thickens. Sunlight becomes cold. Clouds become dark. Snow piles at the bases of our feet. And once I feel harder to breathe, that's when I take my first step back. Then a second. Then a third. And pretty soon, I'm running behind the closest cover I can.

The monster charges. Blue auras flashes like lightning and icy spears strike like thunder. Frigid gusts batter my cold body and I blow into my mitten. Then I find everything frozen. Icicles form on the edges of my fingers, my lips and even the eyelashes has a mysterious coating of ice. Even the saliva on my tongue is on the verge of freezing. Even every strand of my purple hair has traces of snow.

But at least, I didn't have it worse than the beast. Because when I look up, all there is is the frozen corpse.

"Ice Strike." Cathy adds, shattering the ice sculpture. It breaks off to its individual components: the head, the spikes, the legs, the torso.

"Will I be that strong too?" I look at the staff tucked onto my satchel's belt then back to Cathy. Then the staff. Then Cathy. I did this for about a million times, and stopping when she turns around. Snow falls off her blonde pony tail and in the quiet, enclosed space you can literally hear the snow breaking on the ground. "Cathy!" I race toward her like a child getting picked up by her mommy.

And I quickly fall back. Her body felt like ice itself and one good look at her, I can tell she's not well at all. "Are you alright?" I ask, fully knowing the answer.

"I'm ok." Her breaths come in rapid huffs. "We have to find the next log immediately."

"You're pushing yourself too hard! It was too powerful for you to control so even you got hurt by it! That's why you told me to step back, right?"

"When did someone like you become so sharp?"

"Even I know you will hurt yourself if you're doing something you've never done before."

"True, I guess they teach that to new Magicians these days. Hey, what are you doing?" I adjust her good arm around my back.

"We're going to find Lanny together."

"Hey, I don't need help to walk!"

"You can't complain this time. If I leave you, you're going to drop, and then you'll lose all your pride."

"I won't think you're competent just by doing this!"

"I know. I don't have a question to ask you anyway, so we'll call it even."

"You're starting to annoy me."

"And the best part is, you can't do anything about it."

"Just you wait! I'll…." And the squabble goes on and on. We keep each other company like we're long time friends. We learn many things from each other and again I see her smile, one that came from deep within the heart. And I know because she is laughing too, at very silly things. Before either of us understands it, we are having fun. As it turns out, she's not a bad person after all.

Taking three hours worth of time we head towards the direction the compass points to: north. Then Cathy puts her hands out.

"Stop." Cathy says.

"Oh come on, stop trying to trick me into leaving you. It wouldn't work."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. The compass direction changed."

"Don't tell me it is broken!"

"No, this is normal. When this happens, it means we're here."

"Huh! W-w-w-w-we're here! What!" Left: nothing. Right: Cathy. Front: nothing. Back: nothing. Above: sky. Then that means…. "So you're saying the time capsule is buried below us, in Adamasdyst!"

"No. If you tilt the compass sideways, it will point there." We stare at the cloudless sky, then at each other.

"There's nothing there."

"Don't be so sure about that. Take your staff, and shoot your best Thunderbolt into the sky."

"Are you sure about this?" She gives me a reassuring nod. "Alright. Thunderbolt!" I direct most of my Mana onto the tip of the staff until a nice round ball forms. And with one swing, three strings of lightning shot through the sky. Then, like what Chicken Little once said, "The sky is falling!", triangles of equal sides and equal angles break off one by one from the bottom; the pieces disappear into smoke before they reach the floor. Bit by bit the concentration of smoke dilute and bit by bit a shadow emerges up there. "Am I seeing things? Is that a building in the sky?"

"Yes, there is."

"Hey, you two down there! Hold on! I'll find a rope!" A voice from above calls. The person retreats into the shadow and reappears. It drops a thin rope downward, stopping midway between us and the sky.

"Teleport." The scenery shifts all of a sudden and before I know it, blood rushes into the crevices of my head. I'm hanging. Upside-down. Hundreds of feet in the air. And dangling on a rope. Oh my god

"Teleport," We shift around ten feet up. "Teleport," My lunch shifts around ten feet up. "Teleport," My blood pressure shifts around ten feet up. "Teleport," My lunch falls around tens of hundreds of feet below. "Teleport." My body collapse around ten feet from the rope.

"Blarg!" I spill out more of that mustard…disgusting…kind of mushy…filled with whatever I ate…substance. Argh. That Cathy, she should warn me before doing something like that.

"You!" A voice calls. I look up, clutching my stomach, and take a good look at the man dropped the rope, before throwing up again. He had silver hair, and wear glasses. His white suit seemed old and wrinkled, like the skin of old people. It was horrible thinking about wrinkled clothing, and that made me barf more. Then I remember the silver hair. Yang Ignotch, he was commander of Ludibrium.

"So this is where you were hiding!" Cathy drills her fist into the iron man who dropped the rope. He falls back a little and before he can strike back, Cathy pins him onto the ground with her knee. "Where is Anhel!"

"It's been ten years. You need to learn to relax." He says, calm, stoic, and a little bit of toughness.

"Relax? I knew something was fishy with you! At that time if Infinitas would let me, I would beat the truth from you! Eight years I've been looking for you! And the first thing you tell me is relax! You need to know your place!"

"The one that needs to know your place is you!" As quick as a blink the entire struggle changes, with Yang standing tall and Cathy pitifully on the ground. "I do not want to fight you here. But I would answer anything you have." He lets go and walks towards the building.

"Cathy!" I run over to her, seeing her reddening cheeks. You can see the palm mark on her skin. "Hey you!"

"Don't go." Cathy whispers, holding onto my sleeve. "I'll go with you." I pull her arms around my shoulders and stomps forward, taking big leaps to reach him faster. As he near the sliding door, I hurry a little more, slipping in there before the door closes.

The next picture was…. "Welcome to the Containment Laboratory. Sit down, make yourself at home as best as you can." Yang sincerely greets as if apologizing for before. Or perhaps he's pretending nothing happened at all.

"What the hell is this?" Cathy yells. And I would yell too if I have the strength to speak. But as I stare into the deep yellow eyes of the monsters, they stare back at me. All sixteen of them, they stole away my strength. I'm pale. I can feel it. And under me, Spice shivers too.

Their light blue armors are menacing.


Upcoming Chapters (and I'll release them all at the same time):

Lanny Chapter Eight-Invitation (ooh, what will happen!)

Ciel Chapter Nine-Invitation (where is Lanny?)

Epilogue (will there be a sequal?)

Adamasdyst: A word I conned up which is a mixture of adamas and dyst. Adamant came from adamas and adament meaning hard and firm, a diamond basically. Adamas means unconquerable and invincible in Greek, I believe. Dyst came from juste which means fair, just, reasonable, or correct in French. Then in Danish, juste developed into dyst meaning fight or struggle. And finally dyst turns to dust, fine grains or particles. So Adamasdyst can be translated into "diamond dust" a fancy way of saying "ice". But unintentionally, it could have a deeper meaning, such as "the eternal struggle for righteousness".

Oh and thank you Lyrei for commenting. I feel so much self-esteem with a praise from you. Here, have a cupcake.