It was dark.

I blinked several times, letting my eyes adjust to the lack of light. I was outside, and it was cold. I shivered and looked around. My heart almost stopped.

I was completely alone.

"Erek?" I called. "Toby?" No answer. My voice echoed loudly in the dead silence that surrounded me. I swallowed hard.

Where were they? Where was I for that matter? I closed my eyes as I thought of the Ellimist's words. A Universe that should not exist… a blending of worlds…

A blending of worlds…?

I opened my eyes and fully took in my surroundings for the first time. Although it was dark, it was getting lighter. The sun was rising in the sky-

I choked on a gasp. The sky… It was wrong.

That was the only thought that came to me as I stared transfixed at it. It was wrong. It was blue, yes, the blue of Earth's sky, but at the same time it was a startling red and gold color. And it was also green, with jagged bolts of lightning. I stared straight up and saw that the colors were divided into different pieces. It was almost as if…

As if someone had mixed three different worlds together.

What was this place? It wasn't natural at all. And why was theOne here? A chill went through my body.

"Ellimist," I whispered. And suddenly I knew.

I knew how Elfangor and Loren and the Visser had created this place.

I knew how the Abomination had been made.

I knew how Tobias had been born.

I knew everything.

I gasped out loud, my hands flying to my face. Oh no, no…. it was too much all at once. So much emotions, so much feelings… I could feel the pain, the love, the fear, the joy…

Was this how the Ellimist felt? All knowing, all powerful, all at once, so that it was almost too much to handle, too much to comprehend…

What was wrong with me?

Cassie?>

I jerked around, my heart thudding in my chest. "Ax!" I cried joyfully. I began to rush to him, but I stopped. Something was wrong.

He looked the same, only older, older and perhaps a little wiser. It was hard picturing this formidable Andalite playing with words or choking down a cinnamon bun.

I'm so glad you're here! The others and I are waiting for you! Come! Prince Jake was worried.>

My heart leaped, despite the fact that I was married with children, despite the fact that I had not seen Jake in five years. But still I hesitated before running to him. He stared intently at me with his main eyes, but there was no sign of his usual smile there.

Cassie,> he said again, this time a note of anger creeping into his 'voice'. You must come.>

"Ax," I said, taking a slow step towards him. "Where are the others?"

Near. I will take them to you. Just come here and take my hand.>

He held out his small Andalite hand to me, and I tried to make sense of all the thoughts in my head. My head was still ringing from all the information I had somehow received, and there was something… off about Ax. I had long ago learned to trust my instincts. Now here in this bizarre universe that had no right existing, I wasn't about to throw all that away.

"Cassie, get away from him!"

Erek's voice made me turn my head as I took a step back from Ax. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his stalk eyes whirled around to the android, and his tail went up. That was definitely not like Ax. I saw the hate in his eyes and I knew for sure.

Ax was a Controller.

Cassie! Jake wants to see you! You must come!>

It hurt my heart to hear his name again, and it took all my willpower to ignore his words. They were lies, they had to be.

I never did like you, Cassie,> he sneered suddenly, sensing that I had seen through the facade. All your moralizing, your hypocrisy. It was a war! Someone had to die. And you, you would rather save Yeerks, our enemies, than us.>

"That's not true!" I cried. "You know that's not true, Ax. I know you can hear me-"

He laughed then. You think I'm a Controller, Cassie? Is that what you think? Don't be foolish. I am part of the One now, and I am free. You foolish humans! We should have left you to the Yeerks! The only good human is a slave.>

It ripped me apart to hear his words. "You are not Ax," I said coldly. "Go away, whatever and whoever you are."

His eyes flashed with fury. "You heard her," Erek said, and I was startled by the venom in his voice. "Beat it."

The One will have you, Cassie! Just like he has the other Animorphs! He will have you! >I cried out in alarm as Ax vanished suddenly.

"What was that?" I cried. "It wasn't Ax."

"A part of the One," Toby said. She was standing behind Erek. "And at the same time, Ax. That was the dark part of Ax we saw. The One has the good side of him trapped somewhere."

"With the Time Matrix," I said suddenly. "That's where he has to be. That's where all of them have to be. And we'll find the Matrix," I looked up, at the spiraling clouds, painfully aware that Elfangor and Loren had once done the same thing, so long ago, "in the center of this Universe."

They did not ask me how I knew, and I did not ask them how they knew about the One. There was something about this place, something that… Or perhaps it was the Ellimist, manipulating quietly in his usual way, giving us the information we needed to survive.

Maybe it was better not to understand these things.

"We may run into the others," Toby said slowly. "But they will be like Ax. Cassie, can you… will you go on anyway?"

It stung deeply, in my soul, to think of the others like Ax, the darkest parts of them the only parts free. Would I be able to handle it? That was what Toby was asking. Could I handle the others saying things that were them, yes, but only in the deepest dark part of their souls?

We all have some darkness inside us. Even me. I could handle it. I would have to.