Chapter 21

Rachel tumbled through a void of nothing and landed on her back. She groaned.

"So this is my head…. kinda mean since there's nothing here." The girl sat up.

"Uh… hello? Anyone there? Anyone at all?" Sighing, she stood up and studied the small island of rock she'd landed on. Her body had taken up almost the entire thing. Her sharp eyes caught an engraving. Kneeling down, she brushed her hand over it.

It began to glow purple and white, and she made out the shape of The Crystal of Azarath before it was blinding. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and shielded her face with her hand.

Mainland

When it faded, the girl blinked and rubbed her eyelids gently. A grin found its way onto her face.

"This is much cooler." She stated. She was still on a floating island in the middle of nowhere, but it was much bigger and less rocky. Lush fields of grass covered surface with trees and flowers. A small, lone mountain with a fantasy-style observatory stood proudly on the other end of the island. The island itself was about as big as a football pitch and could probably house Giganta happily. A summer breeze kissed Rachel's skin, and she was expecting to be cold as she was just in her pyjamas, but looking down, she saw that that wasn't the case.

She was wearing the same clothes that she was when Roy had interrupted her meditation session a few weeks ago, a dark purple, knee length dress with a black leather jacket and her fingerless black leather gloves.

"Woah… this is awesome. I wonder if…" she tried to fly, and was delighted when she rose up into the air. Now with a better vantage point, she scanned the island. There was a small waterfall on the right of the mountain that trickled down into a stream. Carved into the face of rock, there was some kind of massive doorway, with nothing behind it. It was decorated in a morbidly beautiful way, edging on gothic and was giving a strong stay away vibe.

So, doing the most obvious thing, Rachel flew up to the top of the mountain and set down at the doors.

"Nevermore." She murmured, reading the sign hanging above. She walked to the door, about to push it, but it glowed slightly and swung inside gently.

"Um, ok…" she said and walked in. There was a carving of a raven on the far wall and on either side of her were 3 swirling portals, the only difference to the one that Rachel had made earlier were the colours, and the fact that they had bases.

"Woah…" she breathed. She decided to walk up to a pinkish-orchid colour. There was an engraving on the base. 'Tranquillity'. Rachel smiled softly and stepped through.

Tranquillity

As soon as Rachel's eyes adjusted, she gasped. This place was beautiful. She was on another, smaller island of grass, with a waterfall and plenty of flowers and plants, more than what she decided to call the Mainland.

A pure white dove with pastel pink eyes flew over and tweeted at her. She grinned and it bit the leather of her jacket, gently pulling her towards the waterfall. She put her finger out, and the dove settled on it with a chirp.

"So you want me to go in there? Let me guess, there's a secret cave behind it?" The bird nodded, though Rachel wasn't all that surprised by this point. She sighed and spread her free hand out. The water parted to reveal a small tunnel. The dove took off from her finger and flew through the gap. The girl hovered and followed the pure white bird.

She'd read at some point that a dove was supposed to represent calmness and tranquillity, so it made sense as to why it was here. Rachel was too busy thinking to see that she'd reached the end of the tunnel, which let into a small cave.

The dove glided onto a wooden perch to her left, and there were orchid pink crystals that bathed the stone in a soft hue. But what most caught Rachel's attention was the girl sitting on a cushion, cross-legged in a meditating pose with her eyes closed, the same as Rachel's. She had black and red shoulder-length hair, the same as Rachel's. She was wearing a soft green oversized hoodie and black skinny leggings, though it and her skin were tinted with the same colour of pink as the portal.

The girl opened her eyes and smiled softly. Her eyes were a pure pastel pink, matching her crystals perfectly.

"Hello Rachel. I'm Tranquillity. Would you like to sit down?" Rachel, still in a bit of a trance, stepped forwards and sat on the pillow opposite Tranquillity.

"This must be a bit confusing for you, mustn't it?" Tranquillity giggled and stopped floating. Rachel nodded.

"Well, let me explain. There are sev- six portals on the Mainland. Each of those transports you to an Emoticon's domain. You, of course have come to my domain, which you'll be grateful for. Intellect talking your ear off is probably not the best way to start. But anyway, each Emoticon is a different part of you, and they look how you did when they were strongest. Me for example, you were at your most calm when you were with Dick, he was teaching you his native language Romani, the other week."

Rachel perked up. "That's why you're wearing that hoodie I stole from him!" Tranquillity smiled.

"Yes, Dick always knows how to make you calm and happy. So any questions?"

"Yeah, what other Emoticons are there, and who is the dove?" Tranquillity grinned.

"Well, the others would be mad if I introduced them for them, so I think you should wait." She winked. "As for Lana, she is my familiar. Each familiar represents the Emoticon. The dove represents calmness."

Rachel nodded. It felt great to know more about herself, though this probably isn't how most people would do it.

"The Spell Book said that the Mirror of Erisid is supposed to 'control my demons'. How do I do that?"

"By meditating." Tranquillity replied simply. "You can do that here with me. Its more or less my purpose." Rachel nodded again, and they both smiled.

"Well, I think it's high time you met the others. Maybe I'll see you at some point soon?" A full grin spread across Rachel's face, before she faltered.

"How exactly do I get back to the Mainland?" she asked. Tranquillity told her that there will be a portal where she first stood on the island. Then, she bade the girl goodbye, and hovered above the ground, meditating. Rachel stroked Lana's forehead, who cooed at her, and left the cave. A short flying trip back to the outside, and Rachel spotted the portal.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of grass, and stepped through the purple portal, back to the Mainland.