Chapter four

The next day, when Clarissa could finally walk without permission, she boarded the Crusade to go to Melaso. There wasn't any kissing in the halls this time because this was the first trip that Vaughn wasn't there with her, but she arrived without any troubles. Tren was surprised to see her at dinner that night. Dinner was quiet, too quiet for Clarissa. She sat across from Tren, occasonally looking up at him from her full plate of food. She didn't eat much, and it wasn't because she didn't like her food. The room was too akward to be in. Every time she looked up at her plate, she would try to get Tren's attention, but not really want to. She finally got sick of the silence and got up from her chair. She walked out of the room, only taking a breath when she left.

Clarissa roamed the halls, frequently looking up to see where she was. She didn't want the same thing to happen as it did in Fanelia. Then she found herself at the library. Clarissa noticed that the books had been put back in their places, but still walked into the room. She touched the table before she sat down, getting a feeling from it. I guess the only way you could describe it was as unique. Nothing she'd usually get from touching a table. The air felt like someone else was in the room. Clarissa noted not to turn around immedeitally, but she lost her patience. She turned her head towards the door. Tren was standing in the doorway. She looked back to the table which her hand still rested upon.

"Why'd you come back?" he asked.

"I needed to know more. Truthfully, I wouldn't of came back in the first place. It's hard to walk around the halls without feeling anything from it," she explained.

"What do you mean?"

"I just get a vibe, a sense from everything. A vision comes from everything now." She paused, thinking about what she might say, "I almost died in Fanelia. I got so crazy that I almost fell off a cliff."

"Things in Melaso have been unpleasent. Maybe you've felt that, too."

"It's snowing," she mentioned.

"Yeah, it always snows this time of year."

"You know, I've been thinking up a theroy, and this one's pretty understandable. Well, maybe it's not really, but it could be true. You know that you can't see Gaea from Earth, right, but you can see Earth from Gaea. And everyone on Gaea knows about the Mystic Moon, but almost no one on Earth knows about Gaea. And since Gaea and Earth have the same time, even though I don't believe time is a correct measurement, but I'm thinking that their's a hole in time. It's like parellel universes. I'm thinking that that since the Atlantians made Gaea out of a last resort, then that means that Earth was potentially destroyed. Since on Gaea they considered that this planet was made, that means that Earth was destroyed because Gaea wouldn't have been made unless Earth was destroyed. I can prove that because it was a last resort to save the people. That means in the parellel universe, Earth was never destroyed and Gaea existes," Clarissa explained.

"So you're saying that the Mystic Moon and Gaea are in two parellel universes. In one universe, Earth was never destroyed and people still live on it, but in the other, Earth was destroyed and Gaea was made. Then how come we can see the Mystic Moon?" Tren asked.

"That's where the hole in time comes to play. There's a hole in between the two worlds that lets people travel between them, but the only thing that's holding them open are the pendents. I'm not sure how many there are, but I think that my pendent and Vaughn's pendent are the same. I think that one was made, but since there's a time hole, then that means that one was on Earth and one was on Gaea, seeing that both universes were made. The hole only seems to be visalbe on Gaea, though. I'm not certain why." Clarissa looked out the small window at the Mystic Moon. Strange to think someone would believe anything I say.

~~*~~

"Strange," Clarissa said the next morning. It had stopped snowing, and the sun shown apon the glossy surface. The light relected off of her eyes. So if the pendent is a protal between two worlds, then what does my past have to do with it? It was a question that had been intriguing her for several days. The windows ran down to the floor in this hallway. It reminded her of several buildings in New York City. There was a black flash at the side of her vision. She looked over to the side of her, looking for the answer. She starred for minutes, waiting for it to come back, but it never came. Clarissa kept on walking in the hallway, cautiously looking out the windows, waiting for it to come back, but it never came. She abrubtly turned around once or twice. Clarissa knew that she was being followed, but every time she looked, nothing was there. She ignored it, and put it in the 'tricks' section of her mind.

A creepy feeling then shook her. She touched the glass of the window and immediately closed her eyes. The blackness of the vision soon opened up to contain a white backround. It started snowing, and she got a message from all of it. Beware the Past. Seek the truth. The light is not as it may seem. She slowly opened her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. Clarissa kept walking, and disregareded the statment. The windows soon disappeared as she walked out onto the balcony over looking the city. It was the same one that she had looked over when she first came here. Clarissa walked towards the railing, looking down at the city below.

A hand placed itself on her shoulder. She quickly turned around having a worried look on her face. The black flash went through her mind as she looked at the person. Her worried look Vaughnished as she said one word, "Vaughn." She smiled. "You didn't have to come."

"So. If it was my desicion, I wouldn't have let you come to Melaso in the first place."

"You don't have to hide your feelings from me. We both know that you really love me," Clarissa smiled once more.

"So, what's wrong with coming? It seems like most bad things happen in Melaso. Nothing wrong in protecting you," Vaughn explained.

"I don't need to be protected, but if you want to I guess it's ok." Clarissa smiled. She started to think about her previous thoughts. What's the connection?

"You're worried."

"No I'm not," Clarissa responded.

"We both know that you're no good at lying."

"Only in certain circumstances." Clarissa turned away from him, looking back at the city.

"You're really worried. What is it?" Vaughn asked.

"You really want to know. Ok? You know how we both have pendents? Well, they're the same pendent. Don't say anything. I know it sounds weird, but it's true. I'm not sure how it connects to Victoria, but it seems that she knows more than us." She turned back around, looking into Vaughn's eyes. Her pendent glowed. "How do I figure it out?" Vaughn calmed her down.

"It's ok. It's come with time. Just wait," he comforted.

"I can't wait! It might cost me my life!"

He put his hand on her cheek, "Waiting might not cost your life."

She sighed, taking his hand off her cheek, "But, it is my perception that makes me see otherwise." She let go of his hand and walked away.

~~*~~

"What if I can lure her to the Mystic Moon, come back, destroy my pendent so that she's trapped in that world forever," Clarissa suggested. They were trying to figure out how to defeat Victoria sensably at the meeting. Everyone who knew about the situtaion was there.

"How would you do that?" Tren asked.

"Easily, Victoria only comes in my dreams, which means that I could have a dream and open a portal, get her to the mystic moon, come back and destroy the pendent, which leaves the portal closed, forever."

"I'm not letting you do that. Something may go wrong," Vaughn said.

"It's the only way. She's coming after me, not you."

"Fine, we can set it up when it becomes a threat, but I'm coming with you," Vaughn ordered.

"How would you do that? It's dream, you can't be in my dream unless I wish it to be that way."

"I will go with you."

"Ok, then the next time Victoria appears in Clarissa's dreams, then that's the end," Tren said as he got up from his seat and left the room so that Vaughn and Clarissa could talk.

"You don't have to do this," Clarissa said after the silence.

"Yes, I do. I can't leave you there." There was a breif silence before Clarissa started laughing. "What? Did I miss something?" Vaughn asked.

"No, it's nothing. I don't want to argue. You can come with me, I just don't want everything to be too complicated."

"I don't get it. You sure I didn't miss something?" Vaughn asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, it's fine." She got up from her seat and walked over to Vaughn. "Are you sure you're ok? You look surprised."

"I am surprised. You didn't argue. You've changed." Vaughn stood by Clarissa.

"I'm not sure anyone could've stayed the same." She walked out of the doors.