7. The Land of the Dead
There is nothing more unsettling than waking up to see a skull staring back at you. The lifeless hollow eyes blankly stared ahead. Several cracks spread out over the top creating a shattered mirror effect.
"Oh good, we're here," Sydney mumbled sarcastically and rolled over onto her back with a groan.
She felt like she had been caught in the middle of the running of the bulls. There wasn't a part on her body that wasn't sore. She managed to push herself off the ground and do a quick health check. She was covered in bruises and cuts, but seemed alright otherwise. No broken bones at least.
The pain was strongest on the left side of her head. She lifted a hand and tentatively touched it. Her hand came away covered with blood. She winced and rapidly wiped it off on the ground, pushing back the surge of memories that threatened to clog her mind.
That would need to be dealt with. Sydney glanced down at her shirt, debating how attached to it she was. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple white tank. In the end, the need to staunch her wound won out. She ripped off the bottom half of the tank top and turned it into a bandage around her head, leaving her in a torn crop top. A hospital would have been better, but this would have to do. This was one of those rare moments when she was actually thankful for all her training. Her basic survival skills came in handy more than once. She just hoped this new injury wouldn't scar. The last thing she wanted was to have scars cutting through both sides of her face.
She took a moment to assess her surroundings and current situation and saw Cade and Kairi were in a similar state. Both girls were pretty banged up and were groggily taking in the scene.
She was surprised to see that Cade wasn't freaking out. Instead, she looked absolutely curious about everything. Her inquisitive forest green eyes hungrily devoured everything in sight.
Everything was exactly how Sydney remembered it. No matter how hard she tried to forget it, the nightmares consistently reminded her. They had been strongest after being here the first time and had died down considerably since, but they still haunted her occasionally at night. She wondered if being back would change that.
The sky glowed an ominous maroon while black clouds swirled around like blood in water. The name Land of the Dead was very fitting. The small area they could see had no life or beauty in sight. Bones littered the ground and created small piles here and there. They had no idea what laid before them beyond their small clearing. Dark fog loomed around them, the occasional tendril reaching out like a dying hand looking for someone to hold onto. Soft moans and shrieks could be heard coming from the surrounding fog. The entire place reeked of death and decay. It was a place designed to frighten even the bravest of souls.
The ship had apparently come through the portal with them, though unlike them, it was scattered in several pieces. There was no part of it that looked like a ship anymore.
"Home sweet home," Kairi mumbled. She stood up, her knees wobbling as she regained a sense of balance.
"I have to say, I did not miss this place one bit," Sydney added. She sat up, not risking standing yet until she was sure she had her bearings back.
"Is it usually so... depressing?" Cade experimentally toed a nearby skull as if she was afraid it would come alive any moment.
"It's called the Land of the Dead. So yes."
"Fair enough." Cade shrugged. "So what do we do now? Just wait for Death to show up?"
Kairi shook her head. "Oh no, we have a lot more travelling to do. It'll be a lot like the last time we were here." She turned to Sydney.
"Please tell me we aren't going back into the Spirit Realm?"
"No, just here and purgatory. Hopefully."
Cade studied the other two girls. "How many times have you been here?"
"I've been here countless times, but Sydney's only been here once," Kairi answered.
"And that was one too many." Sydney groaned as she finally pushed herself off the ground and stood up, her vision burring for a few moments. "And let me guess, the entrance to purgatory is constantly moving just like the Spirit Realm?"
Kairi nodded her head reluctantly. "Unfortunately and the entrance to purgatory will be a lot harder to find. We had the Shadow to help us find the Spirit Realm last time. The only way we'll find the purgatory portal is if someone or something shows us. Other than that, the only thing I know about it is that it's always near the entrance to hell."
"Sounds lovely." Sydney folded her arms across her chest. "Which way do you suggest we go then? The fog is lighter on that side, but there's less creepy moans coming from the other way."
"Either way we're bound to have at least one near-death experience."
"Direction of less disturbing howls it is then."
The trio of girls set off in their chosen direction. The more they walked, the more they realized how sore they were from their dramatic entrance. There were places where it hurt to move and it slowed their speed down considerably. Given their time limit, this situation was not ideal, but they made do with what they had and worked their way through it.
"So why couldn't we have gone directly to purgatory?" Cade asked, trying to maintain a conversation while also satisfying her curiosity.
"The Land of the Dead is the entrance to the underworld," Kairi began, shooting Cade a nervous smile, not sure how she would adjust to all the information. "It's the main area for travelers, spirits, and demons to move through and get to their final destination. There are five realms branching off of the Land of the Dead including purgatory, hell, the Sea of Dreams, the Land of Nightmares, and the Spirit Realm. Each place is as terrifying and deadly as the last. The entrances to these realms are unstable and are perpetually floating around."
Cade nodded like this was all second-hand knowledge to her. "And you said the only way to find the gateway to purgatory is having someone tell us where it is?"
"Or something. There are a plethora of strange and mythic creatures here. Trust me, it won't be long before we run into several of them."
"Like that Shadow thing you mentioned? What's that?" Cade questioned without thinking about it, her thirst for knowledge getting the best of her.
Sydney stiffened and clenched her fists. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
"But I do!" Cade put her hands on her hips, again taking in all the sights encompassing her. "I could write an excellent paper over all this. It would be one of the greatest discoveries the world has ever known."
Kairi and Sydney both immediately halted, their heels digging into the dirt and ash. "Cade, no one can know about this place. There are millions of other worlds and universes out there and they are kept secret for a reason. If people found out about the Land of the Dead, any of the gods or goddesses, or magic they-"
"Kairi," Sydney swiftly cut her off. "You're doing that thing where you talk too much again."
Kairi blushed and turned around, pretending she hadn't said anything at all, but Cade had heard her loud and clear.
"Gods and goddesses? Magic? What are you talking about?" Cade crossed her arms and remained in her spot, refusing to move until she got some answers.
Sydney groaned and ran a hand down her face. "There's a lot more to the space-time continuum than you know and you don't need to know."
"Well why not?" Cade replied stubbornly, not understanding why they were withholding all this knowledge from her.
"Because you're normal," Kairi replied
"Normal?" Cade cocked an eyebrow at them.
"Yeah, like you're just a mortal," Kairi shrugged apologetically. "You've got no magic nor special abilities. You're not a god. You're not a Returner. You're not even a warper. You have no involvement in these affairs and therefore you don't qualify as someone who needs to know this information. It's kind of a strict law we have."
"And the fact that nearly everyone else important to me in my life gets to know this information doesn't count for anything? Or the fact that I'm literally standing in the middle of it all right now?"
"Well..." Kairi gave Sydney a sheepish look, ready to give into Cade's questioning. "She has a point."
"Kairi, you know the rules." Sydney crossed her arms. "And I don't feel like getting arrested."
"But she could be considered a warper at this point. Or if not, we could claim her as one. She is basically a part of all this now." Kairi put her hands on her hips. "And since when do you obey the rules?"
Sydney sighed and shook her head, her bloody field bandage giving her the appearance of an injured soldier caught in the middle of a battle. She gave Cade a long, hard stare. "You cannot write about any of this. You can't even talk about this to any of your science colleagues. Got it? This is kept hidden for a reason and there are a lot of people out there whose job is to prevent information like this getting out. They will not hesitate in coming after you."
Cade dropped her arms. "Fine, it's not like anyone would believe me anyway. They'd all think I'm some sort of loony. Sam certainly did when I told him."
"You what?!" Kairi and Sydney's jaws dropped. "Cade! We said we weren't telling the boys about this!"
Cade's hands shot up in defense and she stumbled two steps back. "Calm down. I just said he didn't believe me."
"But what if he tells Joe or Fred? They know about this place, and they'll believe you," Kairi panicked.
Sydney pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear if they try to come after us..." She shook her head. "They won't survive."
"It's not like they know how to get here," Cade defended herself. "And even if they somehow managed to figure that out, they're not crazy enough to come after us."
"I can't believe you two are crazy enough to go after them." Sam shook his head in disbelief. "You do understand how mental this is, right?"
"Stop being so negative, Sam. Besides, this isn't any more insane than the girls going there in the first place." Fred rolled his eyes. "Find anything yet, Joe?"
Joe shook his head. "Nothing. I figured The Book would have something, but I can't find anything."
It was well past midnight by this point. Fred and Joe had taken their kids to their grandparents' houses, claiming there was an emergency and they would need to babysit for an indefinite amount of time. The relatives had of course been worried, but Joe and Fred were in and out so quickly, they didn't have time to listen to their questions that they didn't even have the answers to. They had all regathered in Joe's home and were currently frantically flipping through The Book to find any sort of knowledge about the Land of the Dead.
"I wonder if it's like After Time," Joe mused, lost in thought.
"After Time?" Fred tilted his head. "What's that?"
"Doesn't matter." Joe waved his hands dismissively. "But The Book only revealed the information about it once it heard us start to talk about it and that was the only way we could get there. Maybe the Land of the Dead works the same way."
"It's worth a shot," Fred responded with a shrug.
Sam groaned. "Maybe this is a sign that we shouldn't be going. Ever think of that?"
"Why are you being so resilient, Sam? I thought we went over this already. The girls need our help," Fred stated matter-of-factly.
"What if they don't? Why are you so determined that they can't do this without us? There's a reason they chose to do this mission by themselves. Unlike the two of you, I actually have faith in my girlfriend. I know that she's strong, smart, and capable enough to do this on her own. Cade's the most amazing women I know. If she can't do this, no one can." Sam waved his arms for emphasis.
Joe and Fred shared a knowing look, small smiles appearing on their lips. "You really sound like you love her."
"Of course I do." Sam put his hands on his hips, not sure what they were getting at.
"Then why haven't you married her yet?"
Sam's mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. "Wha- What? Cade and I are busy people and unlike you two, we aren't in a rush to get married. Where is this coming from?"
His friends both shrugged nonchalantly. "Are you sure Cade's on the same page as you about all this? Because maybe this trip is a way for her to get away from you and have some fun with a new man."
"Cade would never do that!" Sam baulked, shocked at his friends assumptions.
"Don't come crying to us when she leaves you for someone else all because you wouldn't make a move."
Sam balled his hands into fists. "That's it. I'm going, but not because I think they need our help. I'm going to prove you guys wrong about Cade."
"Whatever." They rolled their eyes and looked back at the magical blue book resting before them. "So you think if we talk enough about the Land of the Dead, a new page will appear that can take us there?"
"In theory."
"What are we waiting for then? Let's see," Fred tapped his fingers on his chin thoughtfully, "what do we know about this place?"
"Kairi told me about this place called the Spirit Realm."
"Oh, yeah! And she used to tell me about her Reaper friends."
Fred and Joe eagerly babbled on and discussed everything they knew about the Land of the Dead. Sure enough, The Book started to glow a feint green indicating that it was working.
"Finally," Joe sighed with relief. "I was worried we didn't have enough information about it." He skimmed through The Book until he discovered the new page.
'The Land of the Dead' was written across the top and several pages were filled with maps and information. Joe's eyes searched until they came upon a list of entrances.
"It's just a bunch of numbers." He frowned and knitted his eyebrows together.
"They're coordinates." Sam rolled his eyes.
"Do any of these look close to Bermuda?" Joe pushed The Book in front of Sam so that he could have a better look at it.
"Well, Bermuda is north of the equator and west of the prime meridian." Sam's finger ran down the list of numbers. "This is the only one that would be in that area." He pointed at coordinates that read '26.832933, -69.112175'.
"Great. Let's get going." Fred hurriedly reached over the table to make a grab at The Book.
"Wait!" Joe yanked it away before Fred could seize it. "We can't use The Book to get there."
"And why not?" Fred scowled and crossed his arms.
"Sydney said the reason I never got skilled with The Book is because my Warp Wizard magic conflicted with it. Now that I'm actually using those powers and they're a lot more present and stronger than they were when we were kids, who knows how bad of a warp it will take us on." Joe carefully kept his blue book out of Fred's reach.
"Then how are we supposed to get there?" Sam asked. "We could fly like the girls did, but then we'd be a full day behind them and we'd never catch up with them."
A sly grin appeared on Fred's face. "We don't need to do that. We have our own ticket down there right here." He threw his arm across Joe's shoulders.
"Fred," Joe cautiously slipped away from him. "What are you talking about?"
"You told me that you could warp without needing any device. So you can warp us there using that special magic of yours." Fred smiled like it was the greatest idea anyone had ever come up with.
"I could try," Joe rubbed the back of his neck. "But I've never warped like that without Sydney and I've never had to take this many people. Not to mention, I'm not exactly good at it."
"I have faith in you. We'll be fine. Start doing your little Warp Wizard thing and let's go. The sooner we find the girls, the better." Fred closed his eyes and waited for Joe to begin.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Joe gave in as green mist started to swirl around them and they were gone in a bright flash of green light.
A/N - Sorry for the delay! I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner!
