CHAPTER 15 – FEAR

It didn't take long before a group of people sat around a fire to eat some food, and Lucy and Robin were reluctantly invited after wanting something to eat. Robin Hood was there as well, which Lucy got anxious over seeing as she hadn't told Robin of who he was yet. But she couldn't do anything to stop it. After all, they were just guests now.

Robin looked over at Lucy, whose eyes were dim and head was low. So after a while of silently eating some obscure meat that they cooked by the fire, she decided to try and cheer her up.

"Hey, I know this is stressful and you probably just want to go home but I promise we will find a way out of here.". Lucy said nothing.

"Even if it's hard and even if I have to figure out how to use magic without someone making me extremely pissed off that I do it by accident, we'll figure something out."

"I know..", she interjected. They both fell silent for a moment. "I just wish.. that it didn't have to be this hard.". Robin got sad looking at her upset.

"I just wish it wasn't this hard to get my family back together," she cried.

Robin wrapped her arm around the distressed child beside her. She knew life wasn't fair, she'd known that for a while. But she wouldn't give up on this. She'd never give up on giving Lucy hope.

The two of them were eventually led back to the castle, where they were surprisingly offered a room to stay for the night. It was only just as Robin was going into there after climbing down the stairs from the poor excuse for a washroom that Robin Hood passed her.

"Hey, you're that girl from earlier aren't you?", he asked.

"..Well yes.", she responded. She wasn't too sure how much she could trust this guy. "May I ask, why did they offer us a place in the castle? ..I mean, we're just passing by."

"Why wouldn't anyone offer a place for two lost girls to stay in overnight?", he responded.

After a short pause, Robin continued to ask more questions. "Tell me, your friend told me that everyone all from different realms came here after years of being practically non-existent. If this chief knows everything, then why did that happen in the first place?"

"I thought you said you would not ask more questions."

"Well, can you please just answer this one? Maybe just a few? I have the right to know", she pleaded.

He sighed. "Everyone here was trapped in some sort of dark void for years. Some for centuries. They were all taken by some form of darkness, mostly without explanation, and they've been considered dead ever since. But around a year ago, we all woke up in this realm and practically built an entirely new world here. We're not sure exactly why but the theory is that someone crossed realms when they shouldn't have and caused all of us to end up in the same place somehow."

Robin just looked blankly for a second, until she suddenly realised. "Oh.. it was Henry then!", she said under her breath.

"Who?", he asked.

"Oh, no one you need to know.", she quickly responded.

Robin Hood once again looked in confusion.

"Well, I best be off. I suppose I'll see you around.", he said after an awkward silence.

"Ok then. Goodnight.. uhm..", Robin said awkwardly once again, seeing as she didn't know his name.

Robin Hood paused, before turning slowly and answering her question. "It's Robin. Robin Hood."

For a second, she felt a spike of shock or anxiety run through her. Despite knowing that it couldn't be who she was suspicious that he was, in that single second the name shook her as if she'd been burnt. But, as soon as she brought her senses back, she put on a smile before closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, sure you are."

Inside of there, Lucy seemed to be waiting for her to come in. They were to sleep on what were practically stacks of hay, which were politely covered in rags. Although they weren't actual beds, they both knew it was the best they could do.

"Well, I guess it's time to go to sleep then.", Robin smiled before sitting down on the stacks in front of her.

"Robin?", Lucy said in a quiet voice.

"Yes?"

"Did he tell you his name?"

Robin once again began to feel more anxious as she said those words. Despite knowing that there wasn't anything wrong, she couldn't stop her mind from subconsciously fearing who he really was. But once again, she pulled a small smile.

"You knew it didn't you?"

Lucy looked downwards, as if feeling responsible for some sort of crime. But Robin didn't care.

"I know, you were probably scared to tell me. It's not him though, trust me. There's barely, barely any chance that it is. There's nothing to worry about". She ended up finding herself laughing at the irony of her last sentence, as if mocking herself.

Lucy felt a wave of relief rush over her. "Okay. You're not mad, right?"

"Of course I'm not! Now, let's go to sleep.", she said before blowing out the candle beside her and lying down.

The two of them spent a few seconds sitting there in the dark, ready to drift off into their dreams and forget about the rest of this unreal world. But Lucy then remembered something.

"Robin?"

"Yeah?", she whispered.

"Do you think.. do you think my mom is worried about me?"

Robin stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

"Do you think they're looking for me?"

She then mustered up the best response she could find in her head, despite knowing that she'd regret it in a few moments and think of how pitiful all of her discussions were.

"Of course they are, but there's nothing to worry about. I promise you we'll get home soon. I mean, heck for all we know time might pass differently here. After all, it was dark when we were in the woods earlier wasn't it?"

Lucy didn't talk back. There wasn't much to say.

"Just..", Robin hesitated.

"Just go to sleep. We'll figure it out. I promise"

[a/n: that's all for today! Sorry this was kinda a short chapter, but I'm working on quite a bit at the moment so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. I'll probably include a lot more about the events in hyperion heights next chapter, so stay tuned :D ]