Millie

When I woke up Mercy wasn't in the tree and Akizuki was reading again. Raj was asleep; he probably wouldn't appreciate it if I woke him up to ask how he was feeling. Blah.

I sat up and stretched; Akizuki looked up from his book and smiled. "Good morning." He had a nice smile. I wondered how things were going between him and Mercy. I'd guess pretty well, so far... except they'd both come back from that trip looking a little battered. Akizuki had bruises peeking out from his hairline on either side of his head and down his arms, and Mercy had a big black and blue spot just over her right elbow. I wished Mercy had told me more about what was going on down there. I couldn't tell how much of her silence was for me and how much for her, and that unsettled me. Usually Mercy is an open book, at least for me. I'd have to settle for making sure they were well prepared before I let her wander off again...

I jumped up. "Oh! Mercy told me to feed you! Sorry." I went over to the packs and started digging around, pulling out an apple to munch on while I searched. "Apple, granola bar, jerky? What do you want?"

"Water and jerky, and maybe some almonds or apricots, if that's ok."

"Sure thing! And you can have a sucker for desert, if you want." I still had over half my stash; if we didn't get out pretty soon, they were going to be the only food we had left.

He chuckled and waved me off. "I'm good, thanks."

I tossed him a water bottle and the little bag of apricots. "So, anything good in there?"

"Good? Not really, no. Informative, I suppose. But not the right kind of information, either. Nothing that tells me how to leave."

I wandered over and handed him a few strips of jerky. "What does it tell you?" It was weird to look over his shoulder and see the lines of characters that made no sense. Not knowing what was going on was making me grumpy. So was the darkness and my sister's... whatever it was she was doing. And especially Raj. Grumpy was practically a euphemism for what I was feeling about poor Raj.

Akizuki didn't sound all that cheerful either. "It confirms that there is a hellgate, and a ritual to keep it closed that used twin girls as the shrine maidens and also involved multiple priests and a group referred to as 'mourners', who appear to have been rendered symbolically blind. The butterflies are apparently a by-product of the ceremony, created to function as guardians of the village."

"I knew they weren't normal." Mercy came in through the village-side door, her hair damp with fog and the camera clutched in both hands.

"Mercy!" And she didn't even seem to have any new bruises. I hugged her, glad that that much at least had gone right. "See anything scary out there?"

"Nothing, actually. Made me nervous. Did you have a good nap?"

"Yeah. You're going again, aren't you." It wasn't a question. Akizuki was already standing and repacking his bag. Yipee. More waiting around in the dark. Raj had already almost emptied the batteries on the DS; I was going to have to get creative to keep him entertained this time.

"Sorry, munchkin. Take good care of the tough guy, ok? And wish us luck. We'll try to be back soon."

"Don't die," I demanded, and she chuckled.

"I'll do my best. You, too. See you in a bit." She slid her hand over mine, our fingers twining for just a moment in one of our secret hand signals, one of the thousands of little signs we'd built up with each other over the years. This one we'd used mostly when we were getting lectured; it meant 'I love you', and it made me want to cry. Instead I bit my lip and watched them walk out into the mist.

"Where're they going?"

I jumped and spun around to see Raj blinking at me blearily. "You're awake!" I moved back to sit beside him, smoothing the blanket across his shoulders. "They haven't found a way out yet, so they're going to search some more."

He blinked at me some more; it seemed to be a lot of work for him to focus. "And then we can go home?"

"Yeah, baby. Then we can go home. Just a little while longer. Do you want some water? Or something to eat?"

He shook his head. "I'm hungry, but I think if I tried I'd just throw it up."

Not good, not good, not good. His pain must be getting worse. He needed Simon, and all he had was me. "Can I rub your head or your feet? Or tell you a story? Or anything?"

Just being awake was making his breath come harder and his face pale. "Talk to me. Please."

"Of course! Anything you want, anything at all." I snuggled down next to him. "Let's talk about what we'll do when we get home. After Simon's through with you you're going to be laid up for a while. I think I should get you a new video game. One where you shoot zombies. Lots of zombies." That actually sounded really satisfying. "And I'll play it with you." What else? More stuff that would help him feel better... "And we can invite Sam and Aero over, and I'll make 7 layer dip and brownies and hotwings. And you can be as fussy as you want. I'll run all your errands for you, and take care of you- I'll even wear a maid outfit if you want. You know, the kind with the short skirt and ruffly apron? But not in front of Mom and Dad. They wouldn't take it well."

He actually managed a wheezy laugh. "Thanks, Mills."

"Whatever you want. And you know what? That goes for right now, too. You are not laying in a cave in a ghost infested little village with eternal night. You are laying on a beach. The waves are crashing just beyond your toes. Can you hear them? The sun is warm on your face, but there's a little breeze, and a cold drink by your hand. You want to go to sleep, but you also want to keep your eyes open, because I'm wearing a bikini. A skimpy one. And in a minute I'm going to need more sunscreen. The air smells like salt, and coconut, and you have sand between your toes. Can you feel it?"

"Oh, I can feel it." He wiggled one arm out from under the blanket and ran a hand over my head. "Your hair smells like pumpkin."

"Good. Then you smell that, too." He closed his eyes again, and I hoped he really could see it, that he could imagine himself out of this dungeon to someplace nice. "So, what should we do tonight?" I asked him softly. "Go clubbing? Or stay in and cuddle on the couch and watch movies? Or maybe a midnight swim? Walk on the beach?"

"Mmm. Eat. A lot. I don't care what kind of food."

My stomach had definite ideas on that point. "Oh, pasketti! And fruit. And maybe a smoothie. And... and... enchiladas. The kind all smothered in cheese and sour cream. A night in, then. We can play Uno!"

"And spoons. Andrea loves spoons."

And he loved seeing his little niece get all excited about it. "Perfect. Sounds perfect. You know, I think we really should."

"I think I should sleep. But first you should tell me a story."

"Of course." I propped myself back up on an elbow and started running fingers through his short, soft hair. "What story do you want to hear?"

"Read any good books recently?"

I thought about it. "Actually, yes. Hmm. Okay." The story sorted itself back out in my mind, forming a glimmering golden pathway out of our hole in the ground and into the great free sky. "Not so very far in the future..."