Chapter five

"Come on, Clarissa, you have to eat dinner. It's the best food you've ever tasted," Millerna. They were sitting in the banquet hall

"I don't feel so great. Dinner wouldn't help." She kneeled beside me.

"What's wrong? Come on you can tell me, I have experience at this stuff."

"Yeah, I know, but you know I know how to handle it best. Why don't I just go back to my room? It's better for me to wait it out."

"Ok, I'll have someone bring you your food," she sighed. Clarissa walked back down the hallway and to her room. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window at the starry night sky. Many rooms were lit, like her's, in the city below. The light flickered in the room, silhouetting her face.

God, why do I have to be so mean! I don't care if Vaughn loves me or not, he can't realize that you can't really love someone in five days, or however long it's been. I hate it; I hate how Grandma gave me this pendent. I hate how I came here. . . . but I can't leave. Somehow everything fascinates me. I can't get away. But Vaughn, there's something different about him than all the rest, and there's something different in the air. Maybe it's just that the air isn't polluted, like back home. What an asshole, how can Vaughn say stuff like that to me. You can't love someone in five days.

There was a knock on the door, and Clarissa didn't dare turn around, knowing it was Vaughn. "Come in," she finally pushed herself to say. He came in and sat down beside her on the bed.

***Editor's note***--I would like to apologize if there's any I's in any place they're not supposed to be in. I've been writing a lot in first person, and this is just about the only story that's in third person. I plan to make a website soon exhibiting them all. Another note: I might put an excerpt from on of my stories somewhere in here. Keep reading, and I apologize for any mistakes!****

"Clarissa, I really am sorry, I know you're probably thinking I'm an asshole or something, but Clarissa," Vaughn apologized.

"I know, Vaughn." Clarissa sighed, "Vaughn, I'm sorry, too." They sat there for what seemed like forever.

"Clarissa, remember when I first found you?"

"I guess, it seemed like a really long time ago. Too many things have happened I can't really comprehend it all, but yeah, I guess so."

"Well, remember how you said you got your pendent from you're grandmother? And you said how you'd tell me the story sometime? I want to hear it."

"Well, I don't know Vaughn; it's a really long story. I don't know if we can get through it tonight."

"Clarissa, I have nothing else to do. I'd rather listen to your story then go to this guy's birthday party. I mean he can really be a boring guy."

She smiled, "Well, ok. It all started two years ago when I got this pendent form my grandmother," she held up the pendent, "for my birthday. She had always told me stories about Gaea, and how she went there before. Adventure stories about how she went to Fanelia once and she had to battle these people and met the king and all. Of course, I knew they weren't true. Made up lands and fairy tales and such were never true, and there went many countries that had a monarchy as a government nowadays. You would never find "prince charming", and that's the way it was, you couldn't expect a fairy tale on Earth, and besides, they're wasn't any other planets, and NASA was sure they wouldn't find any with intelligent life on it. Back then, people thought of aliens as one-eyed one-horned purple people eaters, but they were crazy. I always knew I was different form them. I was more sensible, more serious then all of the other kids in school. They always knew when to point that out.

"Then, the year that I went to high school, and this was one of those good college like high schools that had campus like grounds. It was very different from my cheap middle school, with the tiles on the floor that would pop out, and the ceiling that would leak every time it rained. It was really nice, and everyone there was good and mature. That was the year my grandmother gave me the pendent. I got it for my birthday, and she said that it was from Gaea, and stupid me, I still didn't believe her, neither did my parents. They always told her to stop telling my silly fairy tales, and how I was already a daydreamer.

"A couple months later, I can't recall when, but then I stared having these dreams. Dreams about Gaea, and everything in it. I had dreams about the Great War a lot, too. I knew it was Gaea from what my grandmother had told me about. Then I got my powers, telekinesis, it started with moving stuff in my room, and I could lock the doors and all I had to do was think about it. My dreams came more often and soon I was having them every night. This really odd, seeing that all of my dreams came true and were nothing like what I was experiencing. Then in one of my dreams I saw Hitomi, the stories on the news had been about her a lot, the mysterious missing girl that had been swallowed up by a column of light. Then one night, I didn't have a dream about Hitomi and the Great War, and I didn't have a dream about Gaea the next night or the next, and I was staring to get worried. I started believing in Gaea more and more, wanting my dreams to come back. Waiting each day for the dreams to come. I knew I had to talk to Hitomi when she got back, if she got back. I was probably the only one who knew where she was. I had to ask her about Gaea. I waited each day until I found out that she was back, the news was all over it, and she had interviews 24/7. I couldn't realize how she was keeping up with grades and track.

"One day she opened up an e-mail account, and I knew I had to e-mail her. Titling it 'Gaea', I sent to her an e-mail that said something like 'I know what happened in Gaea, Hitomi, I need to know more about Gaea. I need to know what happened.' I waited and waited and a month later she responded, 'How do you know?' I wrote, 'My pendent, it has a power. Meet me Rockefeller Square, New York, Sunday.' She was there, of course, I didn't put a time on the note, but I knew when she was going to be there. I came up behind her and said. 'It's a bit chilly today; too bad we're not in Gaea'. She immediately started telling me about Gaea, and asking me questions about how I knew. I told her about the pendent, and how it gave me a gateway into Gaea from my dreams. I asked her how the Great War ended. We talked every Sunday after that. She told me about everyone, and of course, I was the only one who she could tell, other people wouldn't believe her. They wouldn't believe about Gaea, and if everyone knew, then they would try to find a way to get here and try to take over this world.

"I tried to get here, too, using Hitomi's method, but our pendants were different, even though they came from the same world, they were very different. I could never get here, no matter how hard I tried. It was impossible, but I knew in my heart that I would meet everyone on Gaea that she had told me about. And a day later, my grandmother died, I didn't cry much, because I wasn't a person that cried very often. I just prayed that she would go to heaven, and be happy, thanking her for the pendent. I told Hitomi about it, too.

"Then one night, I had a dream about Hitomi, not in Gaea, though. She was on an airplane, and in my dream, it crashed. She had died and there was nothing that I could do. I knew that she had died, and there was nothing I could do, Vaughn, do you know how that feels? You didn't know that she was going to die the next day, and you couldn't tell here, or warn her or anything, Vaughn, you don't know how it feels, to have one of your best friends die," Clarissa told. Tears streamed down her eyes as she buried herself into Vaughn's shoulder. He cradled her as a single tear came down his eye, too.

Finally, Vaughn said, "Clarissa, you have to go on. Hitomi would've wanted me to know. Clarissa, please, continue." She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her dress and continued with her story.

"Well, I sent many e-mails to her, but they were never retunered. I convinced myself that she hadn't died, and that I was finally having normal dreams, but still, my e-mails were never returned. A month later, there was no such e-mail address as 'Hitomigirl101' anymore. I knew it, and they had the crash on the news, too. They didn't know that she had died in the crash, they just thought she was 'missing' again. They didn't find out until a year later that she had actually died in the crash, and that she was never coming back, but I already knew. No dreams came back to me. I never dreamed about Gaea again, I was the only one on Earth that knew about Gaea. I would never be able to share Hitomi's story with someone that knew about Gaea. I was the only one.

"Soon after, my life went on without her. My grades picked up and I was doing well in school. Every now and then, I would think about Hitomi, and wish I was in Gaea, knowing I would never get here. I would promise her that I would get there someday and tell you.

"Then one day, I was walking to one of the classes, I think it was Algerbra two, and a flower blew it's way onto my pile of books that I had in my arms. I sat down, looking at it, noticing that it wasn't from around here. I was wondering where it came from, when Gaea came into my mind, I got sucked up by a column of light and dropped in Fanelia. That's when you found me," Clarissa ended. The moon had disappeared in the sky, and the lights in the city below were long gone. The candle light in the room had dimmed.

"Clarissa, I never knew. Why didn't you say anything before?" Vaughn asked.

"I don't know. Maybe, . . .. .. ... ..... no, never mind. Forget I said it."

"Clarissa? I'm sorry I asked you. I didn't know."

"No, Vaughn. I had to tell someone. No one on Earth would understand how I felt at that moment. I guess, it was good I told someone."

"Well, it's really late, I guess I better get going. See you tomorrow then?" Vaughn suggested.

"Yeah, well, yeah," she sighed as Vaughn left, "No," she spoke before he could shut the door, "Vaughn, please, stay."

"What?" he questioned.

"Vaughn, I want you to stay," she repeated.

"Clarissa, you know I can't stay. I mean, I am the king and everything. I...I can't, Clarissa."

"I know," she sighed, "But, Vaughn, I'm really upset. I mean, I've never talked to anyone about it before, and it never made me said, but Vaughn, you must be sad. I know what she means to you. Hitomi told me, I mean, who else could she tell. No one else knew about it. Vaughn," she wiped a tear from her eye, "Vaughn, you have to be sad. Maybe it just didn't hit you like it hit me, but talking about Hitomi makes me feel like I could of done something for her. I could've stopped her from getting on the plane, but I didn't." Vaughn came back into the room, shuting the door behind him.

"Clarissa, I guess I can't deny it, but I know what it's like to lose Hitomi. It's happened twice. We decided it was the best thing for her to go back, she had all her family and I couldn't think of a way for me to go there. I know what it's like to lose people, I've lost a lot. I know there's--"

"I know, too. My mom and dad died when I was about two years old. I think about them every night. I remember when they died, these people came and took all of my belongings. They said I was going on a trip to my grandmother's. A long trip, at that. I never went back to that house, and I stayed with my grandmother all the rest of my life. That's how I knew about Gaea so fondly. She always told me those stories. Then when she died, they never gave me a direction. They put me in an orphanage until I turned eighteen. Then they let me go. My grandmother had paid for the school the first year, so I continued going there. Now I have no one left, no one to turn to. Some of these few nights, I've considered staying in Gaea. It would be for the best. I know that no one would proclaim me missing, since I lived with no one. Nobody has cared about me my whole life. So, seriously, I know how you feel."

"That's ok, I don't need the 'I know how you feel' thing right now. You don't need to say anything to me. I know that you want me to stay. All that's happened has just been weird. I hope everyone's ok."

"Vaughn, I know that you're saying 'I hope everyone's ok', for only one reason, you everything in Fanelia isn't ok. For all I know, the town and the castle could be burnt to ashes."

"But you don't know Fanelia, the way I do. You don't even know about the people in Fanelia."

"Ok, so I don't, but the fact is, they destroyed Fanelia, and not to mention Palace. We don't even know who the people are that are after you. We can't go back to Fanelia, because they'll be waiting for us there. I'm sorry if my history is getting in the way of this. I just don't want it to happen again, Vaughn."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Nothing, you wouldn't understand. Still, the problem is, is that they'll track us down, like they did the last time. It won't stay the same, and we can't keep hidding. I've told this to you already, Vaughn, we can't keep running. I know you can fight. Maybe not an army, but I know you can fight."

"Clarissa, everything will be fine. I don't know how, or why, but I know that everything will be fine. Can't you feel it?"

"What I feel is lose, pain, and destruction. That's all I see in my future."

"Clarissa, listen to me, don't you remember that kiss?" he asked.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry I was so selfish," she apologized.

"Selfish? Why?"

"Well....nothing. Yes, I remember."

"Well, anyway, I know that I wasn't the one that kissed you. I know that you want me to stay, so I will. I don't care sbout what's happened over the past few days. I don't care about anything else, either. You just asked me to stay, so I will. I know you're sad about Hitomi's death, even though it was a year ago. I just want you to know that after your story, I felt sad about her death, too. No one else would understand about her. I never thought anyone besides me knew her so well."

"Because, they wouldn't understand. They didn't know her as much as you. I don't cry much, but Hitomi was special," Clarissa said.

"Hitomi was special. My life changed so much when she left. I didn't talk much before the war. I don't really talk a lot now, either."

"But, you do, you talk a lot to me. Why is that Vaughn?"

""I don't know, I guess I could talk to you to make up for the silence between me and Hitomi. You remind me too much of her, even though your nothing like her. I was wishing it was he that came in the column of light, but I never knew it was you." Clarissa was staring into space. Probably thinking about something, Vaughn thought. "Clarissa, what are you thinking?" he wondered.

It took a while for her to realize that Vaughn was actually talking to her, "Huh?"

"Never mind. I just asked you what you were thinking."

"Sorry," she paused, "I was thinking about Hitomi a year ago. You were talking about her, and, yeah, sorry." She held the tears back form her eyes, even though they were coming anyway. She started to cry, trying to wip the tears from her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Hitomi's probably somewhere safe. You knew her better than I did," Vaughn confessed. She started to cry more, and laid her head on Vaughn's shoulder. It felt heavy to Vaughn. "Clarissa, eveything's ok. Your fine. Hitomi's happy. Clarissa please don't cry. It makes me feel like I did something wrong." She took her head off of his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I...I didn't want you to feel like that. I don't want to talk about Hitomi, or anything that's happened in the last few days." She laid down on the bed, "It's early in the morning, and I'm sorry I kept you up so late." Clarissa yawned.

"Maybe you should get some rest. You look really tired."

"No," she yawned again, "I'm fine, really."

"Clarissa, get some rest."

"Ok, but remember, you promised me you'd stay."

"I know. I wasn't planning on leaving." With one more yawn, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Vaughn was sitting in a chair, with his legs up on the desk, and his head tilted forward, with his eyes closed. Asleep, I suppose, Clarissa thought when she woke up. He had kept his promise of staying. There's nothing to do now, she thought as she picked out the dirt from underneath her fingernails, I wish he would wake up. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window at the city below. It felt a little bit cold inside the room. Maybe Vaughn's cold, too. There was a big silence in the room, which they didn't have last night. She continued looking at the people outside, getting up this early, and setting up their shops in the streets.

"What are you looking at?" Vaughn asked from across the room.

"Something I could look at untill you woke up,"she answered.

"So I'm awake. Sorry I slept so long."

"Yeah, I know, I was tired too, you just didn't show it. What about breakfast?"

"Too early, but I suppose we could go now," he answered, getting up out of his chair.

"No, I'd rather wait." There was a long pause between the two of them. Small talk was nice, but not nessecary. Clarissa just sat there for awhile, staring out the window. Time passed, but Vaughn felt like it was forever. He stode behind Clarissa, watching her gaze. She seemed so patient to him. Every breeze that came un the window, ruffled her hair. She sighed, "It reminds me of back home. Well, not in a bad sense, anyway. It was so quiet in Grandmother's house. I had no siblings to annoyed me. It was so peaceful."

"Well, I think it's time to leave. Breakfast will be ready soon." He didn't want to talk about her life on the Mystic Moon. It made him think too much about Hitomi. It might even make her think too much about everyone she's lost, Vaughn mentioned to himself. They headed down the hall to breakfast.

~~*~~

"No, it isn't possible. They couldn't of found us yet. No one could've suspected our plans," Vaughn replied, going into a rage.

"Suspect the unsuspected," Clarissa quietly mentioned in a whisper to herslef.

"Well, it's true and we have to get out of here now!" Millerna suggested.

"Then I guess we have to leave," Vaughn agreed.

"No, I'm not leaving tonight. They can come get us if they want, I don't even care," Clarissa replied, "I told you before, I'm not running!" She stomped off to her room, closing the door behind her. The sky was getting dark.

"Clarissa," Vaughn sighed.

"No, Vaughn, I'm not leaving tonight. Not tonight."

"We have to leave. It's better to run that fight."

"Vaughn, only cowards run."

"Only cowards fight."

"Shouldn't you be caring about your kingdom now?"

"There's nothing left to care about."

"Well, we don't even know who we're up against. I'm not leaving."

"We have to leave, Clarissa!" Vaughn yelled.

"I told you no!" I chair came up of the ground and floated in midair a second before slamming into the door.

"Fine, but Clarissa, I only want to protect you."

"Then it's settled. We're staying tonight."

"But we're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Fine."

"Fine," Vaughn said as he left.

Thank goodness, fighting with him takes away all of my energy, Clarissa thought. She closed her eyes and laid on the bed. "Ahh--!" Clarissa screamed, but she was cut off by a hand that muffled her screaming. Another hand knocked her out as they went out the window, into the darkness of the night.