I'm ALIVE!

I am so incredibly sorry I have been MIA for so long. You don't even want me to get into how many problems I have been dealing with. Health, family, work, relationship issues... UGH.

But anyway, I finally managed to find time to update this story. I will put up a few chapters tonight.

As for those wondering about my Inuyasha story, I am still working on it I am just having a bit of writers block when it comes to the battle scene. I am just not very good at writing fight scenes. But I will try and work it out.

Anyway, yeah for the return of Melody and Trace!

When she opened her eyes, she was standing inside a small cave. The sun was shining through fluffy white clouds. Tall pillars of rock looked like they were growing out of the ground. A small wooden bridge led over a small stream. In the distance, she could see a large rock blowing… bubbles?

Melody shook her head. She had stopped questioning the things she saw in Ages.

She took half a step forward and her foot hit something. Looking down, she saw the linking book back to Tomahna lay open on the ground. Frowning thoughtfully, she picked it up. When she touched it, the necklace glowed.

Yeesha was standing in the cave, her hand reaching for the book. As she touched it, someone grabbed her. The little girl screamed as she was dragged away from the book, knocking it to the floor.

Melody screamed herself and dropped the book as the memory faded. When Trace linked in moments later, it was to find Melody on her knees breathing heavily.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, kneeling and taking her by the shoulders.

In between deep breaths, she told him about the memory she had seen. "That poor kid is going to be messed up for life. Of course considering the history of her family, she was destined to be messed up from the beginning wasn't she?"

"Having Gehn for a grandfather and Sirrus and Achenar for brothers certainly didn't help the odds."

"I hope Atrus and Catherine will forgive me."

"The only way they wouldn't was if you gave up before saving her."

Melody's eyes flashed. "Who said I was going to give up?"

"Then what are you doing here on your knees when you should be tearing this Age apart looking for Yeesha?"

She straightened at the truth of his words. Trace smiled when her shoulders went back and her chin lifted stubbornly. "Alright," she said. "No more wallowing in despair."

Giant white moths flew over their heads as they walked along the paths that wound through the stone pillars like a maze. Melody was momentarily distracted by the bubble blowing rock, especially when she discovered she could hold a bubble in her hand without it popping. No wonder Yeesha loved this Age.

The next cool thing they passed was a willow tree with white puffs on it. When Melody blew on the puffs, they floated on the breeze. Taking one, Melody rubbed it against her cheek.

Trace cleared his throat pointedly.

Melody held the puff up to him. "It's fluffy."

"I noticed."

"Okay I'm going," she said, disappointed that he didn't share her enthusiasm.

They rounded a corner and came to a stone walkway the led to a stone archway. A woman in grey robes and what looked like a painter's hat was there, tending some flowers. What do you know, Melody thought, this Age actually has people on it.

When the woman stood and looked at them, Melody saw she had dark almond shaped eyes and white paint down her nose and across her cheeks.

"You have finally come to us," she said to Melody with a smile.

"Have we… met?" Melody asked uncertainly.

"No," the woman shook her head. "But Yeesha has told me so much about you that I feel like I know you. And you are wearing her necklace so I must assume you are Melody."

Melody then noticed a similar necklace around the woman's neck. "You are Anya, one of the Protectors."

The woman nodded. "One of six actually. You are searching for Yeesha."

"You know she's missing? How?"

Anya touched her necklace, looking troubled. "I have seen some strange memories around Serenia, memories that I cannot explain. And there have been sightings of a strange man. And," she smiled. "I can read the worry in her eyes."

"But you haven't seen Yeesha?"

Anya shook her head. "Not since we gave her the necklace two weeks ago. The necklace you now where."

"Oh… right…" Melody said, looking down at it, then back at Anya. "Is that a problem? I mean, I didn't go through a ceremony or anything."

Anya smiled. "You did what you had to considering the circumstances. It will not be held against you. Have you seen memories?"

Melody nodded.

Anya's smile deepened. "Then you are a very special person indeed. It takes someone of considerable insight and strength of mind to use the memory crystal without training and meditation."

Melody grinned at Trace. "You hear that? Insight and strength of mind."

Trace snorted and looked at Anya. "Yes, the crystal certainly has plenty of empty space to work with."

Anya laughed as Melody shoved him. "Yeesha spoke the truth about you two. You will always be together. Your years will be long and happy."

Melody and Trace looked at each other, then looked away uncomfortably.

"I will gather my sisters to help find Yeesha," Anya continued. "In the meantime, you should consult the counsel. They always know more about what's going on in this land than we do. Follow the ceremonial path to the counsel chamber." With that, she left.

Melody looked up at Trace to see him watching Anya speculatively. "Religious fanaticism or just plan strangeness?"

"I'm not sure," she said and shrugged. "Let's do what the weird lady says."

Unfortunately Anya failed to mention that the counsel chamber was empty.

"Where are they?" Melody asked irritably. "Off on a coffee break?"

"Perhaps they only meet at certain times," Trace suggested. "We'll have to find a way to call them."

Continuing down the path, they came to an area near one of the large bodies of water. Across the way, they could make out what looked like a village. It must have been the one Yeesha mentioned, where the children and men lived and worked. A rope tied to a post stretched across the water toward the village. Melody guessed there was a raft or boat on the other side and the people moved to and from the village by pulling themselves along the rope.

Melody's attention then went to something that she had to do a double take on.

A very large white flower that reminded her a little of the flower in Edanna grew near the water. That had to be the memory chamber that Yeesha had written about in her journal. It was beautiful and Melody instantly wanted to go inside. She followed the path toward it, Trace following cautiously.

Near the flower, they came upon a wooden structure that had been built over a large hole filled with water. Gears moved and what looked like a pump was pumping air down a tube into the water. Melody peered into the water and could make out a large dark shape.

"Melody be careful," Trace told her. "You don't know what that might…"

He didn't get to finish. The dark shape, which turned out to be a submarine, rose from the water. They could see a man inside.

"Sirrus!" Melody exclaimed. "It's Sirrus!" She jumped across to the door. Hanging on to the side, she banged on the glass.

"Melody!" Trace shouted, moving toward her.

Sirrus turned and spotted Trace first. Hurriedly grabbing some things off the floor, Sirrus went out the other side. Trace' heart stopped as he saw Sirrus toss something inside the submarine. A green light shone as the inside of the submarine as it fell apart and Melody lost her grip. Trace raced forward and caught her before she could fall into the water.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"That jerk!" she shouted angrily. "That's the second time he's tried to kill me!"

Trace suppressed the urge to sigh. If she was shouting, she was fine. "I don't believe he saw you. He was looking at me."

"Once again, not the point!" she stepped a little closer and tried to look into the water. "What was he doing down there that he didn't want us to know about?"

"I don't think we're going to find out any time soon," Trace said, studying the damage to the submarine.

Melody moved around to the other side, but couldn't see where Sirrus went. The necklace glowed as she passed the detached door.

Achenar's voice. "Use their harvester, are you crazy?! What if somebody notices?"

Sirrus' voice was insulting. "You think you can hold your breath long enough, go right ahead. But we can't begin the tests without at least a few empty memory globes. Which only grow down there."

"Fine," Achenar spat out. "But you're stealing the filled ones if we need them."

Melody was more confused than ever. Memory globes? Empty and filled ones? They only grew in the water? Why were they stealing memory globes in the first place? What 'tests' were they running?

A new thought entered her mind. One that chilled her.

Were they conducting some kind of tests on Yeesha?

She told Trace what she had heard. "They are working together after all! I swear if they are hurting that child…"

"It's worse than that," Trace said, frowning darkly. "If they are stealing filled memory globes, that means they are taking someone's families memories. And I doubt they care about keeping them intact."

Melody's eyes widened. "I didn't even think of that. How can they do that?"

"This isn't just about Yeesha anymore," Trace said. "We have to stop them before they do irreparable damage to the people of Serenia."

They went inside the flower/memory chamber. The light shining through the petals gave the inside a blue glow. Stone markers that had human faces carved into them stood like sentries off to one side. Globes hung from the ceiling like ornaments. Each globe was a different color and glowed with the memories that filled them. Wooden circular stairs led up to the second level of the chamber. It was a small room with a stone bed on it and some kind of organic screen with a space for a globe to be inserted.

Melody stepped onto the bottom step and the necklace glowed.

Achenar's voice. "Wow. Do you think its memories that make them shine so vividly?"

"Goodness brother," Sirrus said mockingly. "You're starting to sound like Father already. Who cares how vividly they shine? Just as long as they do what we need."

"Right," Achenar agreed, then added. "I bet your globe will turn out ugly as sin."

What in the world…? Melody thought. Were they going to put their memories in globes? What would the purpose of that be? And what did it have to do with Yeesha?

Out of habit now, she told Trace about the memory.

He thought for several minutes, looking at the globes thoughtfully. "There is something that bothers me."

"Only one?" Melody asked.

"Remember what Yeesha wrote in her journal? Sirrus told her about these globes."

Melody saw where he was going. "Right. He must have been here before. Which leads to the question…"

"How old are the memories you've seen here?" Trace finished. "Obviously the one with Yeesha was recent, but the last two I wonder about."

"We'll just have to keep going and hope I find more memories that will clear things up."

One side of the flower was opened a bit. Bright sunlight streamed inside, bathing a small flower in the middle of the lower level in a warm glow. The flower moved and pulsated like it was alive.

"It's acting like a heart," Melody said. "Do you think that's what it is? The heart of the memory chamber?"

Trace shrugged. "Plants are living things. And we have seen strange things in Ages before."

Melody nodded. "If a rock can blow bubbles in this place, why can't a flower have a beating heart?"

Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, they turned to leave. As she passed one of the stone people, Melody touched the face accidently.

Something flashed in her mind so suddenly she gasped.

Yeesha's face. She looked scared. Tears were in her eyes as she struggled in some kind of chair.

Trace gripped her arm to steady her.

Melody pulled back her hand and stared at the stone face in shock.

"What is it?"

"A memory, I think. But this one was different. This one was so intense and fast."

Trace looked closely at the stone face. "There is a thin line of crystal running down the nose," he said. "It must be the same crystal as the necklace. What did you see?"

"Yeesha," Melody said shakily. "She's strapped to a chair and she's terrified." Looking around, Melody spotted another stone face and made a beeline for it.

Achenar, trying to cut a rope that bound a very shiny stone.

She ran to another.

Sirrus, holding a blue memory globe and grinning evilly.

She staggered backward, the room was spinning around her but she didn't care. She touched another face.

Yeesha, crying and screaming as she tried to break free of the bonds that trapped her in the chair. "Mommy!" she cried. "Daddy!"

Melody fell to the ground, feeling incredibly sick. In more ways than one. She felt arms lifting her up, carrying her out of the chamber and into fresh air.

"Breathe," he told her.

She did as she was told, holding on to his shirt tightly.

"I want you to take that necklace off."

She shook her head, not trusting her voice yet.

"I won't argue with you about this. Your mind can't take this much stress. You will end up hurting yourself."

"I… can't," she gasped out. "Those… memories… are out only lead… to finding Yeesha."

"You will be no help to Yeesha if you end up in a vegetable state."

Slowly, the world was becoming steadier around her. "The memories in there were very intense," she explained. "I shouldn't have seen so many so quickly. I've learned my lesson. I'll be more careful now."

"Why must you always learn things the hard way?"

She shrugged. "I've always been more of a hands-on person."

Footsteps caused Trace to set Melody down and move in front of her.

"What happened? This is terrible!"

They relaxed. The voice was a woman, but not Anya.

They were by the destroyed harvester. A young woman was staring at the machine. She had on red robes, a crystal necklace and had wild orange, red and yellow striped hair. Red paint marked her nose and chin. Her skin was darker than Anya's and her eyes were large and the color of honey.

"How are we supposed to save the memories of the old ones if we can't harvest any globes?" she asked worriedly. She looked at Trace and Melody. "Forgive me. I've seen so many of Yeesha's memories of you that I forgot you do not know me. I am Yannin, one of the Protectors. Are you alright?" she asked when she noticed how pale Melody was.

"I'm fine," Melody said dismissively. "What did you mean by harvesting globes?"

"You've been inside the memory chamber," Yannin said. "You've seen the globes? They contain the memories of the old ones in our village. We save their memories in globes right before they die. The memory chamber stores those memories so that future generations can see them in Dream."

"Dream?" Melody asked.

"It is what we call the place we go to see the memories. We call it Dream because you have to be asleep to see the memories inside the globes."

"What about the memories I've been seeing with the necklace?"

"Those are strong memories of people close to you that occurred in that area. In order to see the memories stored in the globes, you have to go to sleep inside the memory chamber with the globes inserted in the machine. Then you journey to a place we call Dream to view the memories. Empty globes for storing our memories are formed underwater, and we gathered them using the harvester. So if I'm unable to fix it… Excuse me, I must see how bad the damage is," she started to walk away, then looked back. "I was supposed to tell you, the counsel are gathering in the counsel chamber. They want to speak to you," she told Melody. "Good luck."

Melody looked at Trace. "You should go with her and see if you can help fix it."

"And where are you going?" Trace asked.

"To the counsel chamber."

"You shouldn't be walking around alone," Trace told her. "Both Sirrus and Achenar are around here somewhere."

Melody pointed. "I'm just going up the path to the counsel chamber. I'll stay there until you come. I'll be fine. Trust me, neither Sirrus nor Achenar want to run into me."

It took some convincing, but finally Trace agreed. He moved to the other side of the harvester and Melody started up the path.

Trace surveyed the damage to the harvester, watching Yannin to see her reaction. "This is horrible," she said. "I don't know if we'll be able to repair it."

"Is this the only harvester?" Trace asked.

She looked up in surprise. "No! There's an older one near the old memory chamber."

"The old memory chamber?"

"I'm sure you've noticed that the memory chamber resembles a giant flower and it has a heart. It grows old and dies just like any other living thing. The memory chambers only last for a hundred years, then they die as another grows. The sun stone keeps it alive by reflecting the sun's rays directing to the heart. Once a memory chamber dies, the pollens inside can get deadly. But there is nothing wrong with the old harvester."

Trace nodded. "We should be able to take parts from the old harvester to repair this one. It's worth a try."

With her excellent sense of direction, Melody managed to get lost on the many winding paths. Somehow she ended up near a large old wilted brown flower. It was obviously an old version of the memory chamber. Evidently the flowers had expiration dates. Curious, she went toward it. The counsel could wait a few minutes.

She came to a bridge that crossed over a gap. As she approached, she heard the sounds of someone struggling. Someone was climbing the thick roots that grew down into the gap. Melody flinched and backed away when she realized who it was.

Achenar.

Her first impression was that he was large, like a giant. He was easily taller, broader in the shoulders and beefier in the arms than Trace. His hair fell to his shoulders in thick tangles. He had a fuzzy beard and mustache. He reminded her, more than ever, of a bear.

He had a large stone in his hand. He pulled himself onto the bridge in front of her. Melody froze, hoping he wouldn't see her.

Which, of course, he did.

When he saw her he froze and she tensed, ready to run.

"Wait," he said, holding up a hand. "Please. Listen to me." He looked at the stone in his hand, back at her, then at the stone. She could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. "This doesn't look good, I know. But it's not what you think. I'm just taking it for a little while, borrowing it. I'm just borrowing it. I'm going to put it back."

"Achenar," Melody said slowly. "Where is Yeesha?"

He was looking around. Was he watching for Trace maybe? Did he know about Trace? "It's the plan," he finally said. "Sirrus' plan."

"What is he planning Achenar?" Melody asked, trying to keep her voice a mixture of calmness and authority.

"He's got Yeesha!" Achenar said angrily.

"Where?!" Melody demanded. "Tell me where Achenar."

"I want to stop him," He said, looking down at the stone, then glared into the distance. "He's a nutcase."

Melody almost bit her tongue in half to keep from yelling at him. He had the nerve to call Sirrus a nutcase?! That was like Hitler calling The Emporer from Star Wars a dictator. "Where is he?" she asked.

"He's here," Achenar told her. He suddenly looked at her sharply, pointing a finger at her. "Don't let Father come here! Or you'll screw up everything!"

"Achenar," Melody pleaded. "I just want Yeesha to be safe. Tell me what's going on here."

"Find my journal," he told her. "The one from twenty years ago."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sirrus doesn't know I kept one. I hid it in a stone pillar in the forest near where two rivers are crossing. It'll explain everything."

"Why don't you explain?" Melody asked, exasperated.

"Sirrus is mad," Achenar continued. "He's going to kill Father! And I've got to stop him!"

Without warning, he took off running.

"Achenar wait!" Melody called. "Come back! Tell me where Yeesha is!" She tried to chase him, but his legs were longer than hers and he seemed to know where he was going, unlike her, and he was soon out of sight.

Trace was removing parts to the old harvester when he heard Melody's shouts. Dropping everything, he ran up the path in time to catch Melody coming from the other way.

"What's wrong?"

"Did a big guy carrying a shiny stone come running this way?"

He looked at her like she'd lost a few marbles. "I think a better question is why aren't you at the counsel chamber?"

"I saw Achenar!"

"You what?!"

Briefly she told what had happened. "Then he ran off. I thought giants were supposed to be slow."

"He didn't try to hurt you?"

"No, he was hard to talk to. It was like at times he was having a different conversation than I was. One thing is for sure, he didn't sound like he was working with Sirrus. I always assumed Sirrus broke Achenar out of his prison Age so they could pull of this scheme of his, but now I'm starting to wonder. If they aren't working together, how did Achenar escape?"

Trace looked thoughtful. "And he said he wanted you to go find his journal?"

Melody nodded. "I can only assume it's in Haven."

Trace stared at her. "Are you saying we should leave and search Haven for a journal that a mentally unstable person kept while helping his homicidal brother with a plot to murder his father?"

"Well if you're going to be negative about everything…"

"I don't see how you can joke about this."

"It keeps me sane. As for Haven, I think we should go. If anything, we'll find out if Achenar is trustworthy or not."

"What about the counsel?"

"The counsel can play poker for all I care. This is more important. I'll talk to them when we get back."

Yannin had walked up and heard the last few minutes. "If there is something important you must do, please go. You have moved the bigger pieces. I can handle the rest."

Trace dragged a hand through his hair, looked at the sky and sighed. "You will go with or without me so I might as well go with you in an effort to keep you from killing yourself."

"You're a prince," she said, patting his shoulder.

"My sisters and I shall be on alert for anything out of the ordinary," Yannin assured them. "Especially any men."

"If you do see them, stay away," Trace warned her. "They are both very dangerous."

After saying goodbye, they made their way back to the Tomahna linking book. Melody went first.

So... heh... you should be used to me lying by now. I swear we will be going to Haven soon.