"She's gone?" Merriman exclaimed- in a tone that showed that he was
actually trying to be emotional, but not quite successful. No matter how
hard he tried, he would never be able to express normal human emotions, the
centuries of pain and suffering, and longing prevented that. Besides,
Merriman, 'lose his cool?'
"Yeah. We went up to her room at breakfast- she hadn't come down when she usually did, and we couldn't hear anything upstairs either." Said Simon unhappily. Perhaps it was his fault. Perhaps she wasn't kidnapped; perhaps she left because he had been annoying her so much.
"Yeah. We went up to her room at breakfast- she hadn't come down when she usually did, and we couldn't hear anything upstairs either." Said Simon unhappily. Perhaps it was his fault. Perhaps she wasn't kidnapped; perhaps she left because he had been annoying her so much.
Suddenly a voice came from behind him, as someone's hand rested on his shoulder.
"Simon, it's not your fault."
Simon turned around and gasped.
"Grace! How. I mean, I didn't see you come over here."
She grinned mischievously.
"She's right Simon, don't think it's your fault, remember the state of the room? She would never have done that!" Reassured Barney.
Merriman finally broke his conversation with Will, when she saw Grace materialise behind Simon. His mouth seemed to twitch into a smile, but as quickly as it had come, it went. She noticed him glancing at her, and walked towards them. Will glued his eyes to the ground.
"I see you've mastered the use of your powers."
"No- it still only works when I'm angry, but I know how to materialise again."
Will took his eyes of the ground in wonder, and sneaked a gaze at Grace.
"Merriman? What are you talking about?" Asked Will, not trusting himself to speak to Grace in case he said something to offend her again.
"You will soon see." He replied enigmatically.
He called Barney and Simon over.
"Gummery, I think we should really go and-"
"Find Jane- Yes, I agree. But I don't think it would be wise if we all went."
"WHY NOT?" Cried Barney and Simon in unison. So Gummery did think of them as useless- they didn't have any cool powers like Will or Grace, did they after all?
"Let me remind you that your parents are coming home tonight from the trip to Exeter."
"Oh sh-"
"Simon." Warned Barney.
"Er. sorry Gummery."
"I know you all want to come with me but."
"It's okay, I'll stay. I'm not much use to anyone anyway." Said Barney gloomily.
"No, Barney actually, I think Simon should stay too."
"Ah! No-way! When Jane's in trouble? Let Will be the hero?"
"Grace will be coming too, actually."
"Grace?" Said Barney. Okay- so he wasn't allowed to go, but Grace could?
"I know she's not as close to Jane as you all are- but she's going to be quite helpful to us. Especially with her new power."
Everyone's eyes trailed over to a demure looking Grace.
"Grace, would you care to demonstrate?"
"I- I can't, you know that."
"Yes. yes you can." Merriman cleared his throat.
Bran despises you already- he thinks you're stupid, and it was pointless to find you in the first-
"NO! STOP!" Screamed Grace out-loud- and as everyone cocked their heads around to where she had been standing before- to find that she had vanished.
"Has it worked?" Whispered Grace from somewhere to the right of them.
"Yes. It has." He replied quietly, savouring the expression of the other children at the 'sight' of Grace vanishing right before their eyes. "You said you could-"
"Yeah, I will, give me a second."
And a few moments later, Grace materialised out of thin air next to Merriman.
* * *
"So, how are we going to find her?" Asked Simon a while after they had got over the shock of Graces' new power.
"She should be wearing the bracelet I have her a while ago. It happens to match the necklace that is in Will's possession at the moment."
"Er. sorry. I just kind of knew about it. and how to use it. I couldn't think of any other way to find you."
Merriman nodded and closed his eyes. Awkward moments passed by in which no- one spoke to each other, and at last, Merriman's eyes opened.
"I can't say exactly where she is. but I have found an area near, I think where she is. But we must leave now."
"Okay," Sighed Barney. "I'll be at home if anyone needs anything." He said downheartedly. He knew that he wouldn't be much help to anyone, but he still wished that he could have gone. "Good luck, all of you, and see you later." He nodded once at Simon and head back.
"So, how are we going to get there?" Asked Simon, watching Barney's back gradually fade in the distance. "And is Bran coming?" He added as an after thought, but contiguously regretted it, when he saw Merriman, Will and Grace glare at him.
After a rather long session of glaring, Merriman's expression softened, and his eyes twinkled. "I think actually, it would be wise if Bran came."
Grace glowered in disbelief, her eyes blazing.
He took a step towards her reassuringly. "Grace, you can't run away from him forever. We may need his help."
Oh great. So Bran, just to add to the number of other 'stuff' that had been going on recently in her tragic and inextricable life, she had to deal with Bran coming with them. She couldn't deal with him! She had to be careful. and hide her emotions. But she couldn't do that! Why did he have to do this to her? Torture her. He knew how bad she felt when she was around him. How much she ached and longer to just go over to him and embrace him, and tell him how much he meant to her. But that wasn't possible. Of course not. So she had to fade away in the background, while he didn't even notice that she was standing there. Great, she so enjoyed being ignored by her own brother. But. she couldn't always hide her feelings, she couldn't always try to avoid him. Maybe if Merriman realised how much difficulty she had in trying to keep the truth from Bran, then he would let her tell him at least that she was his sister. maybe. Before she changed her mind again, she replied, " I understand." She sighed.
Merriman nodded, "Wait here, I will get him, and we can leave as soon as I return."
* * *
Half an hour later, everyone was ready to set off to rescue Grace, with Bran, and a few seconds later, with the help of Merriman's help of course, they appeared at a clearing in front of a dense forest. Everyone was silent, awing the beauty of the trees and the way they seemed to glow as though a torch was lighting each one up inside, making the leaves look magical and glittery, still somehow shining in the sparse sunlight. Simon however, shuffled his feet impatiently, and crossed his arms, inspecting the vast grassland behind them. He could barely make out a few cottages like little specs of dust sitting on the horizon, the sky a exquisite shade of orange and pink, looking very much like a painted picture.
Unexpectedly, Grace spoke in a hoarse whisper. "It's a labyrinth, the forest is merely a disguise. Anyway who goes in seldom comes out again."
"Grace? What on earth." Began Merriman in bewilderment.
"It's easy- you just sort of, half close your eyes, and it blurs, and all those trees disappear and all that's left is the walls of the labyrinth glowing red."
"Old Ones, we don't have this power do we?" Asked Will cautiously, still not very sure of how he should behave around Grace.
"I didn't think so."
"Uh, okay, that new power is pretty cool and all, but how are we going to find our way?" Asked Bran determinedly, waiting in anticipation of what might happen once they were in there. No point in wasting time after all, there was no knowing what they might have been doing to Grace by now."
"I will lead you. Though it may take some time." Grace replied, not realising that she had just replied to Bran.
"We should make haste. I'm worried about what they may have been doing to Jane in our absence." Said Merriman.
"Yes, we should. But beware, there may be obstacles."
* * *
About three hours had passed, the company were still slowing struggling through the Labyrinth, Grace stopping every now and again to see which direction she should take when there came a crossroad.
"Hey, can we please take a break? My feet are killing me here." Moaned Simon, wincing as a twig dug into his ankle and snapped.
Bran scowled over at Simon. "God, you're so lazy. Get fit Simon."
"I'm sorry Mr. I'm-all-high-and-mighty-because-King-Arthur-is-my-dad."
Bran froze in his tracks, and Merriman glanced almost nervously over at Grace to see how she would react to Simon insulting her brother, but she seemed unfazed and her face was blank, as though she was in her own little world, not paying attention to what was happening around her.
Bran's face went red in anger. "You little son of a-"
"Boys! That's enough, we're all tired, but we can't stop now, we have to find Jane."
Simon didn't reply, though obviously annoyed that he couldn't reply to Bran's latest insult. He hated it when he didn't get the last word.
"We're almost there." Whispered Grace amidst all the commotion.
"Where?" Asked Simon wearily.
"To the heart of the labyrinth."
"Uh. just wondering, but aren't we trying to get out of the other side?" Asked Simon.
"The other side?" She paused thinking for a moment before replying. " At the other side, there is-"
But before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed onto the ground as though she had been shot.
* * *
-~*Grace Unconscious*~-
Her eyes fluttered open. She groaned. Why was her head hurting so much?
She slowly managed to lift herself off the ground. Where was everyone? Why was it so quiet?
"Merriman? Simon?" She tried to shout, though not very successfully since she could barely open her mouth. Her lips felt cold as though she had been stuck in temperatures below zero degrees for the past few hours. "Wiiilll?"
She heard faint footsteps behind her, and turned shakily around, dreading what she would-
The Lady.
"Grace, you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."
She remained silent, her face impassive, trying very hard not to let show the swelling of all the emotions inside of her.
"Grace? Talk to me, are you alright?"
"Why- why are you still talking to me? After all I did to you.?" She stuttered.
"I understand!" The Lady took a step toward her, her eyes full of compassion and longing for Grace. "And I forgave you for it because I understood. it's okay Grace." But then she stopped in her tracks and her expression turned sombre once again, " but that still doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be here."
"But- we came to rescue your messenger." Said the Lady, her voice turning unusually cold.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Yes- yes I do, we're here to save Jane, and we're not turning back."
The Lady's eyes glossed over. "To save her, you must sacrifice something to the Other Side."
"What? Anything!"
"A life." Grace remained silent as The Lady continued. "At the Other Side."
* * *
Grace's eyes snapped open. ". there is death." She choked out.
She gazed up into the worried face of Will, his arm acting as a cushion for her head and his free hand clasped tightly in hers.
"Grace? Snap out of it!" Whispered Merriman from her left, slapping her hand gently. "Where is death?"
She surveyed her surroundings briefly, watching the sun slowly set behind the clouds in a clearing through the trees- pink and dark purple reflecting off the tops of the trees. She let her eyelids fall heavily on her tired eyes. "On the other side of the forest, there is death."
Everyone's faces changed from worried expressions to horror and bewilderment at her morbid words. "There must be a sacrifice made, only then can the other three enter the realm of Odin."
* * *
Did you like this chapter? Oh the depressing-ness, lol. Oh, and just for those who don't know, Odin is um, this death dude from Norse mythology. Anyway, yeah, please review!
"Yeah. We went up to her room at breakfast- she hadn't come down when she usually did, and we couldn't hear anything upstairs either." Said Simon unhappily. Perhaps it was his fault. Perhaps she wasn't kidnapped; perhaps she left because he had been annoying her so much.
"Yeah. We went up to her room at breakfast- she hadn't come down when she usually did, and we couldn't hear anything upstairs either." Said Simon unhappily. Perhaps it was his fault. Perhaps she wasn't kidnapped; perhaps she left because he had been annoying her so much.
Suddenly a voice came from behind him, as someone's hand rested on his shoulder.
"Simon, it's not your fault."
Simon turned around and gasped.
"Grace! How. I mean, I didn't see you come over here."
She grinned mischievously.
"She's right Simon, don't think it's your fault, remember the state of the room? She would never have done that!" Reassured Barney.
Merriman finally broke his conversation with Will, when she saw Grace materialise behind Simon. His mouth seemed to twitch into a smile, but as quickly as it had come, it went. She noticed him glancing at her, and walked towards them. Will glued his eyes to the ground.
"I see you've mastered the use of your powers."
"No- it still only works when I'm angry, but I know how to materialise again."
Will took his eyes of the ground in wonder, and sneaked a gaze at Grace.
"Merriman? What are you talking about?" Asked Will, not trusting himself to speak to Grace in case he said something to offend her again.
"You will soon see." He replied enigmatically.
He called Barney and Simon over.
"Gummery, I think we should really go and-"
"Find Jane- Yes, I agree. But I don't think it would be wise if we all went."
"WHY NOT?" Cried Barney and Simon in unison. So Gummery did think of them as useless- they didn't have any cool powers like Will or Grace, did they after all?
"Let me remind you that your parents are coming home tonight from the trip to Exeter."
"Oh sh-"
"Simon." Warned Barney.
"Er. sorry Gummery."
"I know you all want to come with me but."
"It's okay, I'll stay. I'm not much use to anyone anyway." Said Barney gloomily.
"No, Barney actually, I think Simon should stay too."
"Ah! No-way! When Jane's in trouble? Let Will be the hero?"
"Grace will be coming too, actually."
"Grace?" Said Barney. Okay- so he wasn't allowed to go, but Grace could?
"I know she's not as close to Jane as you all are- but she's going to be quite helpful to us. Especially with her new power."
Everyone's eyes trailed over to a demure looking Grace.
"Grace, would you care to demonstrate?"
"I- I can't, you know that."
"Yes. yes you can." Merriman cleared his throat.
Bran despises you already- he thinks you're stupid, and it was pointless to find you in the first-
"NO! STOP!" Screamed Grace out-loud- and as everyone cocked their heads around to where she had been standing before- to find that she had vanished.
"Has it worked?" Whispered Grace from somewhere to the right of them.
"Yes. It has." He replied quietly, savouring the expression of the other children at the 'sight' of Grace vanishing right before their eyes. "You said you could-"
"Yeah, I will, give me a second."
And a few moments later, Grace materialised out of thin air next to Merriman.
* * *
"So, how are we going to find her?" Asked Simon a while after they had got over the shock of Graces' new power.
"She should be wearing the bracelet I have her a while ago. It happens to match the necklace that is in Will's possession at the moment."
"Er. sorry. I just kind of knew about it. and how to use it. I couldn't think of any other way to find you."
Merriman nodded and closed his eyes. Awkward moments passed by in which no- one spoke to each other, and at last, Merriman's eyes opened.
"I can't say exactly where she is. but I have found an area near, I think where she is. But we must leave now."
"Okay," Sighed Barney. "I'll be at home if anyone needs anything." He said downheartedly. He knew that he wouldn't be much help to anyone, but he still wished that he could have gone. "Good luck, all of you, and see you later." He nodded once at Simon and head back.
"So, how are we going to get there?" Asked Simon, watching Barney's back gradually fade in the distance. "And is Bran coming?" He added as an after thought, but contiguously regretted it, when he saw Merriman, Will and Grace glare at him.
After a rather long session of glaring, Merriman's expression softened, and his eyes twinkled. "I think actually, it would be wise if Bran came."
Grace glowered in disbelief, her eyes blazing.
He took a step towards her reassuringly. "Grace, you can't run away from him forever. We may need his help."
Oh great. So Bran, just to add to the number of other 'stuff' that had been going on recently in her tragic and inextricable life, she had to deal with Bran coming with them. She couldn't deal with him! She had to be careful. and hide her emotions. But she couldn't do that! Why did he have to do this to her? Torture her. He knew how bad she felt when she was around him. How much she ached and longer to just go over to him and embrace him, and tell him how much he meant to her. But that wasn't possible. Of course not. So she had to fade away in the background, while he didn't even notice that she was standing there. Great, she so enjoyed being ignored by her own brother. But. she couldn't always hide her feelings, she couldn't always try to avoid him. Maybe if Merriman realised how much difficulty she had in trying to keep the truth from Bran, then he would let her tell him at least that she was his sister. maybe. Before she changed her mind again, she replied, " I understand." She sighed.
Merriman nodded, "Wait here, I will get him, and we can leave as soon as I return."
* * *
Half an hour later, everyone was ready to set off to rescue Grace, with Bran, and a few seconds later, with the help of Merriman's help of course, they appeared at a clearing in front of a dense forest. Everyone was silent, awing the beauty of the trees and the way they seemed to glow as though a torch was lighting each one up inside, making the leaves look magical and glittery, still somehow shining in the sparse sunlight. Simon however, shuffled his feet impatiently, and crossed his arms, inspecting the vast grassland behind them. He could barely make out a few cottages like little specs of dust sitting on the horizon, the sky a exquisite shade of orange and pink, looking very much like a painted picture.
Unexpectedly, Grace spoke in a hoarse whisper. "It's a labyrinth, the forest is merely a disguise. Anyway who goes in seldom comes out again."
"Grace? What on earth." Began Merriman in bewilderment.
"It's easy- you just sort of, half close your eyes, and it blurs, and all those trees disappear and all that's left is the walls of the labyrinth glowing red."
"Old Ones, we don't have this power do we?" Asked Will cautiously, still not very sure of how he should behave around Grace.
"I didn't think so."
"Uh, okay, that new power is pretty cool and all, but how are we going to find our way?" Asked Bran determinedly, waiting in anticipation of what might happen once they were in there. No point in wasting time after all, there was no knowing what they might have been doing to Grace by now."
"I will lead you. Though it may take some time." Grace replied, not realising that she had just replied to Bran.
"We should make haste. I'm worried about what they may have been doing to Jane in our absence." Said Merriman.
"Yes, we should. But beware, there may be obstacles."
* * *
About three hours had passed, the company were still slowing struggling through the Labyrinth, Grace stopping every now and again to see which direction she should take when there came a crossroad.
"Hey, can we please take a break? My feet are killing me here." Moaned Simon, wincing as a twig dug into his ankle and snapped.
Bran scowled over at Simon. "God, you're so lazy. Get fit Simon."
"I'm sorry Mr. I'm-all-high-and-mighty-because-King-Arthur-is-my-dad."
Bran froze in his tracks, and Merriman glanced almost nervously over at Grace to see how she would react to Simon insulting her brother, but she seemed unfazed and her face was blank, as though she was in her own little world, not paying attention to what was happening around her.
Bran's face went red in anger. "You little son of a-"
"Boys! That's enough, we're all tired, but we can't stop now, we have to find Jane."
Simon didn't reply, though obviously annoyed that he couldn't reply to Bran's latest insult. He hated it when he didn't get the last word.
"We're almost there." Whispered Grace amidst all the commotion.
"Where?" Asked Simon wearily.
"To the heart of the labyrinth."
"Uh. just wondering, but aren't we trying to get out of the other side?" Asked Simon.
"The other side?" She paused thinking for a moment before replying. " At the other side, there is-"
But before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed onto the ground as though she had been shot.
* * *
-~*Grace Unconscious*~-
Her eyes fluttered open. She groaned. Why was her head hurting so much?
She slowly managed to lift herself off the ground. Where was everyone? Why was it so quiet?
"Merriman? Simon?" She tried to shout, though not very successfully since she could barely open her mouth. Her lips felt cold as though she had been stuck in temperatures below zero degrees for the past few hours. "Wiiilll?"
She heard faint footsteps behind her, and turned shakily around, dreading what she would-
The Lady.
"Grace, you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."
She remained silent, her face impassive, trying very hard not to let show the swelling of all the emotions inside of her.
"Grace? Talk to me, are you alright?"
"Why- why are you still talking to me? After all I did to you.?" She stuttered.
"I understand!" The Lady took a step toward her, her eyes full of compassion and longing for Grace. "And I forgave you for it because I understood. it's okay Grace." But then she stopped in her tracks and her expression turned sombre once again, " but that still doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be here."
"But- we came to rescue your messenger." Said the Lady, her voice turning unusually cold.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Yes- yes I do, we're here to save Jane, and we're not turning back."
The Lady's eyes glossed over. "To save her, you must sacrifice something to the Other Side."
"What? Anything!"
"A life." Grace remained silent as The Lady continued. "At the Other Side."
* * *
Grace's eyes snapped open. ". there is death." She choked out.
She gazed up into the worried face of Will, his arm acting as a cushion for her head and his free hand clasped tightly in hers.
"Grace? Snap out of it!" Whispered Merriman from her left, slapping her hand gently. "Where is death?"
She surveyed her surroundings briefly, watching the sun slowly set behind the clouds in a clearing through the trees- pink and dark purple reflecting off the tops of the trees. She let her eyelids fall heavily on her tired eyes. "On the other side of the forest, there is death."
Everyone's faces changed from worried expressions to horror and bewilderment at her morbid words. "There must be a sacrifice made, only then can the other three enter the realm of Odin."
* * *
Did you like this chapter? Oh the depressing-ness, lol. Oh, and just for those who don't know, Odin is um, this death dude from Norse mythology. Anyway, yeah, please review!