Chapter 10

Jimmy woke up with Dipole shaking him awake. The Wusyl balanced a silver platter of food on a small floating disk of earth and he struggled to keep it aloft. Jimmy noticed the dilemma and reached over. He grasped the edges and nodded gratefully to Dipole, who collapsed on the mattress.

"Thanks, Dipole," Jimmy said, surveying the food. There were some blueberry muffins with some pale looking tea. "What's this drink?"

"Matsuo made it out of Puyki blood and mint," Dipole said, pointing to the pale tea. "The creature looks like a small anteater with wings. It came here, injured, late last night. I helped her wipe off the blood from the table on the top floor and she saved it for breakfast. Isn't that resourceful? She says that Puyki blood is very strong."

Jimmy sipped a bit out of the glass. It was like tasting a cherry mixed with a strawberry. It was an unusual but not unpleasant taste. He ate the blueberry muffins with a gusto; he felt better after eating so much yesterday. He looked to his right and nearly laughed.

Vincent was sprawled on the floor, snoring and wrapped up in his own cloak. Shin was lying on his side, not facing Jimmy. His hair was light mahogany this time. Jimmy finished his breakfast quickly and felt full for the first time in a week. He burped a little and then put the platter down.

"Matsuo is up?" Jimmy asked, stepping quietly out of bed. "What time is it?"

"It's 5 AM Earth time," Dipole answered, flitting into the bathroom with Jimmy. Jimmy looked at himself in the mirror. He could hardly see himself. Then he realized that he had left his glasses on the nightstand. He motioned for Dipole to get it for him. Jimmy tried his best to comb his hair, but his hair kept bouncing up and his cheeks were red.

Dipole appeared, carrying Jimmy's glasses. He shoved them on and stared in the mirror. At first, he saw himself; unruly brown hair, serious brown eyes, and healthy white skin. Then a second Jimmy peeled off from the reflection and gagged back at him. It was a boy with the same hair, the same eyes, and the same skin; but it couldn't be Jimmy. This boy was strong – he looked confident yet he didn't smile, and he wore white clothing with blue-thread lining. He smiled finally at Jimmy, and his face lit up. Then that Jimmy shattered into a million pieces, and it was just Jimmy staring at his own reflection.

Jimmy turned slowly to Dipole. "D-did you see that?" Jimmy asked, stammering a bit from shock.

Dipole cocked his head to one side. "See what?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Never mind. Could you thank Matsuo for me about the great breakfast? I'll come up for seconds once I get dressed and take a shower."

"Shower?" repeated Dipole, puzzled. "Like a wash?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said, about to disrobe. "I haven't bathed in a week. I've been in the Forest the whole time."

Dipole crinkled his nose. "But you know about Showers. Do you know about Shiwers?"

"Shy-wers?" Jimmy repeated, lost again in Alkali's terminology. "What's a Shiwer?"

"Every time a new day starts you are instantly cleansed and replenished of any chakra or chi loss," Dipole explained. "It is more convenient that way."

"Oh," Jimmy said, buttoning his shirt again. "Okay. Should we wake up Shin and Vincent?"

"Maybe," Dipole said with a shudder. "But can I wake up Shin? I'm afraid of what will happen if Vincent wakes up."

"Why?" Jimmy asked, curious.

"Master Vincent nearly squashed me last night so I had to sleep on your pillow," Dipole said.

After shaking the boys awake, Jimmy headed upstairs. The interrogation room was empty. As Jimmy escalated to the top floor, he wondered if they escaped. Then he saw that Matsuo was happily packing blue knapsacks and decided that she had either let them go or let them go to hell. He hoped she had let them go – it would be cruel to kill someone.

"Good morning, Jimmy," Matsuo said kindly. "How was your sleep?"

"Peaceful," Jimmy answered truthfully. He looked at the silver apples that Matsuo was packing and asked, "What are you packing? Provisions?"

"You don't want to enter a new Territory only to find out you're allergic to their food," Matsuo said with a smile. "We don't know if you have any allergic reactions to Water Territory food, so we're going to play it safe. We should hurry, though. The gates close at 6 AM."

"The gates?" repeated Jimmy. He was echoing everyone this morning, it seemed.

"There are gates that link the Air Territory to the Water Territory," explained Matsuo. "It's to prevent immigration during the day. But the gates remain open at night for trade and close at 6 AM."

"Wait – trade?"

"You guessed it," Matsuo said, smiling evilly. "We're going to be selling David and Ilizar as trade."

Jimmy stared, open-mouthed at Matsuo. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Only in the Light Territory," Matsuo said coolly. "Now let's wait for the others outside. I'm all finished packing our gear and Glaci should have fed them by now."

They stepped onto the elevator and it began to descend. Jimmy took one last look at the dining room, and then the torture room, and then the plant room, and their bedroom, and finally the bottom floor which was misleading now that he had seen other sections of the house.

When they stepped outside, it was still dark out, but a small sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Jimmy froze when he saw a majestic navy blue fox in front of him. Then he remembered Dipole's description and decided it had to be Glaci. It had a magnificent white underbelly and a wise face. Its eyes were a mix of royal blue and a bushy tail that separated into white prongs.

"Glaci, hi," Matsuo said, petting its head. The Tomehio nuzzled Matsuo's hand, like a kitten. Jimmy reached over and tentively pet its back. Glaci's eyes snapped open, and it whirled its head around to look at Jimmy. Jimmy froze and wondered if he should've let Glaci smell his hand first…? But then it sat down, and rolled onto its stomach. Jimmy bent down and began to rub Glaci's white stomach and found himself liking this small addition to their team.

Shin exited next, with Aelia lugging his backpack. She and Glaci exchanged silent words through guttural noises and finally the two sat next to each other, satisfied. Last came Vincent, who was depressed. His forlorn face drew attention to his clothing: it was a white T-shirt with a blue wave insignia on the bottom-right corner. His shorts were completely blue, and his shoes were dark blue shoes with a zipper up one side.

"Vincent, what're you wearing?" Shin asked, cocking an eyebrow. His pale red eyes were accusatory. "You didn't rummage through Matsuo's stuff, did you?"

"I wish," Vincent moaned, "I might have found something better! Dipole and I were getting ready when I found clothes for us under our pillows. We're supposed to wear them in the Water Territory so we'll blend in."

Shin and Jimmy stared at the foreign clothing and wrinkled their noses. Even Aelia cringed away from the outfit.

"We have to?" Jimmy asked pleadingly to Matsuo, who nodded firmly.

"Yes," she said simply, "We'll stick out if we wear our usual clothing. You need to blend in until we reach the Chamber, which will take two days minimum."

Two days, Jimmy thought, a sinking feeling in his heart. Then, he remembered something. The prophecy that he had been told in the beginning. He fought to remember the words and it came crashing down on him:

You will have four by your side

One who has seen the world

One who will never be the same

One who will deceive and kill you unless you are cured

And one who is not what they seem.

The one who has seen the world will despise you

And yet will turn out as one of your greatest allies.

The one who will never be the same will prove to you something

And you must live your life with its lesson.

The one who will kill you will also be your best friend

And you must realize that there is more than one weapon.

The one who is not what they seem will mark the end of the adventure

Even though they have been with you since the beginning.

A battle doesn't have to be fought with your powers.

A friend doesn't have to love you.

A killer doesn't have to kill you.

And a mysterious person doesn't always have to be the least understandable.

Jimmy yelped as the prophecy ran around his head in circles, like music that was being pounded into his ears. He felt Shin hand him a piece of paper and a knife. Without really thinking, Jimmy cut himself on the index finger. The pain instantly ceased, but a new pain arose. He stared, horrified, as his blood pooled around the white paper like someone was drawing with it. He felt as if something was being sucked from his one little finger, and the tiny bit of blood that should've come out was like a fountain; sometimes it was stronger and sometimes it was weaker.

Then, his finger sewed up itself with a sharp sting and the blood stopped moving.

Everyone crowded around the picture. It showed Matsuo, smiling indifferently up at them, with Glaci in front of her. Next to Matsuo was Shin and Aelia, smiling at each other. Then came a girl they didn't know; she had shoulder-length hair with small bows on the side of her head. She wore a dress that ended where her legs began and she wore colored-in pants under that. She held a large sword over her shoulder and she grinned challengingly at them. Next to her was Vincent, who was sitting like a small boy on the back of a Guardian. It was a girl with white, pointed ears and large eyes. She wore a skimpy top and black under that, and had small wings coming out. She had high boots and wore it light blue.

"Who are they?" Vincent asked, indicating the mysterious girls.

Jimmy shook his head, and turned the paper over. There, in red ink, was the prophecy, nearly written out. Everyone read it for a little bit and then Matsuo leaned back.

"So one of these people," she said, turning the paper back to the drawing side, "Will kill you, another will be mysterious, another will hate you, and another will change your life…"

Vincent stepped forward, and pointed to the girl with bows in her hair. "I bet she's going to hate you," Vincent deducted, "Since everyone here is nice to you. But then again…who's going to kill you… maybe the girl who's giving me a piggy-back ride? No – she's a Guardian."

Before we could further ponder this, Matsuo took charge. "We can't be late," she reminded them, and herded them towards the back of her small cloud tower. Before they left, Jimmy scooped the bloody scroll up into his pocket, hidden in the front of his shirt. There was a pocket of magic there where he could store it within his body from his chest. Most Earth siens' magic was strongest from the heart. The Water's strongest was from the arms; the Fire's strongest was from the back; the Air's strongest was from the waist down; and the Light and Dark's strongest points were located in their heads. There was a wagon, like that from the Oregon Trail, and chained to the front where the horses were was David and Ilizar. They looked remotely different, Jimmy realized.

David's hair had been cut shorter, and both had black tattoos on their arms. Matsuo gestured for everyone to enter the wagon from the back-side. It was actually quite nice; there were some bean-bag chairs, a table nailed to the floor for playing cards, and a bookshelf. Jimmy sat down near Matsuo, who took the reins of the horses that were going to pull the wagon. Shin, Vincent, and the Guardians randomly chose seats as well.

Then, the wagon started forward. Jimmy looked in front of them and saw two brown ponies that were trotting at a steady pace. When he looked behind him, however, he saw the city fly by him at an incredible speed. He didn't even feel like he was moving.

Jimmy pulled himself up to where Matsuo was sitting. Her company made it seem a little less uncomfortable. Shin and Vincent started to discuss battle techniques and the Guardians pitched in with their own ideas. Matsuo looked warily at Jimmy. "What is it? Are you wondering about the horses?"

Jimmy nodded desparate to feel like he belonged.

"They're mortal horses," Matsuo said simply, "But the fact that they're mortal makes their speed almost mach four here. The clouds aren't used to horses, so they speed it up to get rid of it. You know, sort of like speeding up the recovery of a foreign disease. We're taking advantage of that "immune system" right now."

Jimmy understood and watched David and Ilizar run to catch up with the horses. They were obviously scared and yet said nothing. They had to concentrate on being able to keep their speed up to the horses' and yet not lag behind or risk getting run over by the wagon.

"They're not talking," Jimmy noted.

"They can't," Matsuo said with a warm smile. "If they do, they'll be shocked painfully. It's part of the curse I put on their arms."

Jimmy watched in horror as the tattoo took on a new meaning. He would have to be careful with Matsuo more often; she knew how to do such powerful magic?

Then, the horses came to an abrupt stop. Jimmy and the others (except Matsuo) marveled at the gate they were at. It was open, but the horses felt like they had to stop. They were walking on a bridge that descended down onto a separate part of the island, which appeared to be nothing but water. But through the gates, if Jimmy looked carefully, he could see the outline of a tall, swirling spire of ice under the water. The gates themselves were icy and had icicles barring the way.

Matsuo stepped off the wagon and delicately tapped the gates. They evaporated like smoke, and the horses were jump-started into action. Matsuo jumped back onto the wagon just as they cantered forward. This time Matsuo hauled David and Ilizar onto the wagon, still chained, but not running. David and Ilizar were panting hard and they glared at Matsuo with venom.

Jimmy stared in awe at the air bridge; it was a wispy tendril of white with some potholes in it but the wagon progressed smoothly even over large gaps.

Finally, David spoke. "What part are we being sold to?"

A spasm rocked through his body, and he threw back his head. Blood spat from his mouth and he twitched horribly near Jimmy, who revolted and scooted a little closer to the edge of the wagon. When the convulsion stopped, David rubbed the back of his neck and glared at them, trying to press an answer.

"We're selling you at the Gyung Yun," Matsuo said quietly. "The Working Men's."

David revolted in horror. As if to make up for the pain, Ilizar yelled, "Are you crazy? Before he died, they sold Hitler there! HITLER! And he didn't even survive the master he was sold to! On the mortal world they still thought he died by their stupid hanging causes!"

Ilizar flopped like a fish, racked by pain into the wagon. Shin yelped in surprise and scorched Ilizar nearly clean through. Ilizar howled and crawled away from everyone, near Matsuo and yet far away from Shin. He rubbed his large hands tenderly, and scraped off some of the dead skin.

Jimmy was staring at Matsuo. "A Working Men's society or something?" Jimmy pressed.

"The Working Men's is a guild that tortures and kills siens," Matsuo explained coldly. She glared steely-eyed at David. "They take siens and impress them into slavery. They will die a slave, never to become free. It's the second-worst place to be on Alkali."

"Second-worst?" Jimmy asked, gripping the seat tightly with both hands. What could be worst than slavery?

"There is a morbid jail in the Dark Territory," Matsuo said ominously. Her voice dropped low so only David, Jimmy, and Ilizar could hear her. "It is said that no one escapes it – no one has for a good fifteen years. That is a long time to be imprisoned. Those who do not pass certain regulations after three years are imprisoned in the jail forever. Most of those brought in for the three year trail are prejudice choices – 60 are Dark, 20 are Fire, 5 are Water, 5 are Earth, 5 are Air, 4 are other siens like David with extra abilities, and the remaining 1 is Light. The worst part is that in Emmett's Jail, once you are taken back to your cell after failing the 'regulations' and declared an official member of the jail, they take away your powers."

Jimmy felt his heart stop. His knuckles turned white. His face was drained of color, and he knew it. David and Ilizar were still, frozen, thankful that they were at least allowed to keep their powers.

They take away people's powers.

This echoed in Jimmy's head. Who would go through this torture? Tough siens, yes, but would anyone deserve such punishment?

Dipole crawled into Jimmy's lap, and beamed up at him. "We're on clouds!" he said giddily, pointing to the close-up water. Then, his face faded into something of that of disbelief. Jimmy gazed out across the water. There, sitting waist-deep in water were two people. One was a girl with gray-ish black hair and red eyes. She wore black clothing that was soaked through, and next to her was a shivering boy, with red-black hair and a tuxedo. What were they doing?

They both looked each other in the eye at the same time. Jimmy shuddered, and he froze. They had fangs. Not wolverine fangs – real fangs. They were curved and soaked in blood. Yet only one of them was bloody. Vampires? They existed here, too?

Matsuo noticed them, too. She halted the horses, and gave the reins to Shin, who poked his head up to see what was wrong. "Don't move," she said, addressing David and Ilizar more than Shin.

She stepped off the cloud bridge, dropping on the water below. She walked on it, gracefully, leaving circles around her feet. Jimmy, without thinking, jumped after her. As he was falling, he realized what he had done. He was about to yell when he smashed his nose into a solid wall. He stood up straight, shocked. He was in a black bubble. He couldn't see through it all. Yet what he was on was solid. Was he dreaming? Had he drowned and died? Death was quick on Alkali –

Then the bubble opened up, and laid him gently on the water's surface. The boy's hand was glowing black, and he was holding his arm. The girl patted his back and handed him to Matsuo, who carried him wordlessly back to the wagon on air. The gray-haired girl followed, stepping where the clouds disappeared. Jimmy sat on the top of the water, wondering how he was going to get up.

Then a bubble of water formed around him, shimmering and glistening like morning dew. He rose through the air, passing the gray girl and Matsuo, who carried the boy. When Jimmy could grab onto the cloud bridge, the bubble popped in a spray of water, soaking most of the people.

"Hey!" Vincent yelled, jumping out of the wagon. "You got me wet!" He tackled Jimmy in the air and they both nearly plummeted to their deaths if Vincent wasn't an Air Sien. They nose-dived back for the water, and Vincent cuffed Jimmy's head lightly. Then, he gripped Jimmy's arm and hoisted him onto his back. They skimmed over the top of the water, creating waves as they sped past it. Then, Vincent executed a sharp rise upwards at a 90 degree angle. Jimmy nearly fell off. He was enjoying himself, he would admit as they landed on the wagon.

The boy was barely conscious and the girl watched him with steely eyes. She looked at the troupe in front of her: Jimmy, Matsuo, Vincent, Shin, Aelia, Glaci, Dipole, David, and Ilizar. Then, she said bluntly, "Are you going to the Water Territory?"

Her voice was stale and dead like autumn leaves. David's head jerked up in surprise, and Ilizar flinched. She glared at them as they moved. They instantly froze, and even David couldn't resist yelping, "She's got a tattoo on her arm!"

No one noticed David jerk uncontrollably. They were all staring at the girl's tattoo that was indeed visible. It was a black star with two cross-bones in the background. Matsuo's eyes widened in disbelief. Then, she shook her head and said quickly, "Get in."

Everyone filed into the wagon, and even the boy was carried inside. David and Ilizar watched the girl and the boy with interest. In the wagon, Jimmy sidled next to Shin, opposite of Vincent and the Guardians. The girl sat in the middle, and the other boy leaned against the wall near Matsuo.

"Explain," Shin said. Everyone eagerly leaned forward, expectant. "What are you doing in the middle of the bridge in the water with this boy? What's with your fangs? What happened?"

"I can't tell you," the girl said smugly, her face smiling. A fang peeked through her lips. "But I can tell you some things. But be more specific and one question at a time. I'm only accepting your ride – not your journey. I'm on my own."

Everyone nodded wearily. That would contradict the prophecy if they stayed.

"All right," Matsuo said, twisting her head around. She turned herself around comfortably, and kept one of her boots close to David's head in case. "What are your names?"

"My name is Ayaise," the girl said. She pointed to the boy slumped against the wall behind Jimmy. "His name is Pan."

Jimmy instantly felt guilty. Hadn't Pan been injured? He bent down and glimpsed at Pan's wound on the arm. It was very deep, and had nicked a nerve. The muscle was torn in several places, too. Jimmy placed his hands over Pan's arm, and let his chi flow cautiously. Pan sighed as the skin sewed itself up.

"Thanks," Pan murmured. He gazed at Jimmy sadly.

"No problem," Jimmy replied earnestly. He was proud of himself – he knew how to heal now! He wasn't sure how he had done it, though – was that how it was supposed to work? "My name is Jimmy. You're Pan, right?"

Pan smiled. He appeared cool and collected – almost like a con-man. "Yep. I'm sorry that we have to bother you. Ayaise and I just agreed that we'd go on an adventure together. We're… going to stop something."

Jimmy patted Pan's shoulder when he recognized his pained face. "I'm sorry," Jimmy whispered. "I won't ask about it. So you're Dark Siens?"

"Yeah," Pan said, licking his teeth. Jimmy noticed again that this boy had fangs. One of them was chipped. "But we're sort of…umm…blood-drinkers."

"Oh," Jimmy said, slowly, his happiness dropping. Then, it rose again. He grabbed Pan's hand, to Pan's shock, and added, "But don't let that make you feel uncomfortable. I know how it feels to be judged. I'm…I'm a Lexard."

They stared at each other for a second.

Then, Shin broke the silence. "That's Jimmy," he said, gesturing toward Jimmy. "He's an Earth Sien. But now he's a Lexard. It gets a little complicated."

Ayaise nodded, and she turned to Matsuo.

Jimmy inspected the wound this time. It was gone, and all that was left was a pink scar. Both boys smiled triumphantly.

"Would you like to sleep?" Jimmy asked, thinking that Pan might be tired.

Instead, Pan yawned and shook his head. "No. I don't – ah – want to do anything I'll regret. I'll stay awake."

Jimmy nodded, and moved back to his seat next to Shin. He badly wanted to know what Pan might regret, but he didn't want to press the boy. He was tired and had been injured. Besides, Ayaise was telling a story of some kind:

"…looking for an Avatar to stop something we're running away from," Ayaise answered, looking at the ground with a pained expression. "I promised to get someone out and Pan got his powers drained…"

It all came crashing down onto Jimmy. The horrors he had just heard – this was a survivor? These two were survivors?

"You're from Emmett's Jail!" screamed Jimmy with shock.

Ayaise flinched as if she'd been slapped. "Yes."

Jimmy faltered, and he said brokenly, "I mean…I … I'm sorry…I didn't…"

Ayaise shook her head, and appeared to grit her teeth. Then she replied, "Its fine. Yes, we escaped. But Pan…they took his powers. I am lucky."

Then, Shin said with realization beside Jimmy, "Wait – but didn't Pan use a bubble to save Jimmy from hitting the water?"

Ayaise set her jaw and said, "That is a complication."

They glared at each other for a little bit. Finally, Shin dropped the subject. "Fine."

Ayaise leaned back, content. Then, she announced, "I'm more interested in your journey. What are you doing, going to the Water Territory? And who – may I ask – who are those two boys?"

"David Bamako and Ilizar Zumi," answered Matsuo with a wave of her hand. "They're bandits who tried to steal something from us. We're selling them to Gyung Yun's, the Working Men's."

Ayaise stiffened, and she murmured, "Very well."

She stood up and walked next to Pan. She held his hand and she watched them all silently.

Jimmy found this behavior odd but decided not to question it. Maybe they were a brother and sister team? They didn't share any resemblances but the teeth…perhaps they were, though.

"We'll be reaching the gates within two minutes," Matsuo reported from up front.

Jimmy turned to look at Shin and Vincent. They seemed far away – hazy, almost… something was distracting him. What was it?

His shirt was moving.

He ripped the bloody scroll out from the chakra spot from his heart and it writhed in his hand like an animal. Ayaise and Pan's heads jerked up hungrily as they smelled Jimmy's blood.

Everyone stiffened as Jimmy opened the scroll. The picture had been replaced by that of the blue-haired girl with bows. She was lying on her back on a mat, staring at a wall. She clutched a piece of paper to her chest and she was curled up on her side.

The paper struggled to worm out of Jimmy's grasp. Surprised, he let it go. It shot in front of Ayaise's face, finally landing on her lap. She sniffed it delicately, and then her face contorted horribly. She choked and began to cough, and then Pan was patting her back nervously. Matsuo turned to look at Ayaise anxiously. "What's wrong?" Jimmy asked, bending over the girl.

"It's…it's Methyl!"

Methyl, Jimmy repeated to himself. He had heard that name from Vincent before.

Jimmy was flattened by this fact. "Shin doesn't like me. He hates me."

"Even if that's true, he needs you," Vincent said, smirking a bit. "Just as much as he needs Matsuo Ayumi and Methyl."

"Met- who?"

Vincent's eyes grew wide. He turned away hastily and said, "No one."

"I heard you say "may-thel"," Jimmy retorted accusatorily. "Who is he?"

"Methyl is a girl," Vincent growled. His pupils enlarged as he thought about something. He had to shake his head several times to wipe away the spell that was about to erase his memories. Cursing, Vincent turned to Jimmy. "Shoot. I changed the prophecy a bit by telling you about Methyl. Well, if hell's going to freeze over, might as well tell you about Matsuo. She'll be joining you real soon and Methyl too, okay?"

"How do you know about Methyl?" asked Vincent, drawing closer. He too recognized the name.

"Methyl…oh…" Ayaise dabbed her eyes with her sleeve. She said warily, "You know her, too?"

"She is part of our prophecy," explained Shin impatiently. He ignored Jimmy's shocked expression and added, "Vincent talks in his sleep."

"Aww, man!" Vincent groaned, flying backwards a bit in despair. "I must've inherited it from your snoring, Shin!"

"I don't snore, Vincent –"

But Jimmy was concentrating on Ayaise's words. "She's in Emmett's Jail for Evil. I couldn't take her with me…I left her a note, telling her I'd find an Avatar to bust her out…oh…"

Jimmy groaned. "Emmett's Jail for Evil?" he repeated. "Has anyone ever 'busted' someone out before?"

Ayaise shook her head furiously. "No! No! Nothing like that! Otherwise I wouldn't be here right now! No, no one has ever escaped Emmett's Jail that I know of except me and Pan."

Suddenly the wagon halted to a stop. Jimmy could see the icy gates looming up ahead. They were so close.

Then Matsuo turned around. She took a deep breath. "We're breaking into the toughest jail in the world, aren't we?"