A/N: Sorry this took so long to put up! I literally had no free time for the entire month of June I just needed a break, especially when I found about my injury...so it took a lot longer to get this up than I had originally planned . I'll try to publish the next ones faster, but I'm taking heavy coursework and have several volunteer/internships/summer projects to work on so I might be a little slow going forward... I hope you all enjoy it anyway :)
Chapter 2: The Nightmare
"Do you really have to go?"
"Yes Gina, I must."
"But Professor…"
"Samuel please, it will not be forever."
"But why do you have to go?"
"Because there is an emergency and I am needed elsewhere. Hopefully, if all goes well, I will be back soon."
"Does that mean that we don't have class until you get back?"
"No Denton, there will still be class. Mrs. Brunel will teach in my place while I'm gone."
"Well then…"
"Yes, there will still be homework Denton. Mrs. Brunel will keep track of everything for me, and I'll be checking upon my return."
"Not fair…"
"Now all of you, shoo! You get the rest of the day free today, but class resumes tomorrow!"
"Yay!" the kids chorused as they scampered out of the room – all of them except Gina and Lynne.
Professor Raine sighed, gathering up her bags that she was taking with her on her trip. She had received a frantic message late last night from Lloyd, asking her to come and meet him. She told Gina and the others that morning, and asked them to stay after everyone else had left. She had not, however, told Lynne who the message was from. But as Raine glanced at her, her tense posture said that she had already guessed.
"Professor, what's wrong?" Gina asked, her face tense with worry.
Raine mentally snapped herself out of it. It was not the time to consider it. Later, maybe, and perhaps she could speak with Lloyd about it when she saw him…
"Aunt Raine…" Gina was obviously worried if she called Raine "Aunt".
"Don't worry about it Gina," Lynne said flatly, three pairs of eyes swiveling to look at her, "she just doesn't want me to know that the letter she got was from Lloyd."
Gina gasped. Raine floundered to find a suitable explanation under Lynne's intense stare. "Lynne," she began, "it's not like I didn't want you to know…"
"Whatever," Lynne muttered, cutting Raine off. She turned her head slightly so she wasn't glaring at the Professor any longer, but before she hid her face Raine saw something in her eyes that Lynne didn't normally like to show – loneliness.
Raine's face softened slightly, but at the same time her mind hardened. It wasn't fair or right of Lloyd and Colette to abandon their only child and not ever return or even write to her. She knew from experience how painful it could be when you were betrayed and abandoned by people that you loved and trusted.
"So, where are you going," Gina asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Raine focused on Gina, taking her mind off Lynne and Lloyd and what she was going to say to him when she saw him. "Palmacosta," she said, "It seems that everyone's gathering there."
"Really?" Gina perked up. "So then you'll see my parents?"
"Yes."
"Can you say hi to them for me? Oh! And can you tell them to fill out my recommendation form already? The school still hasn't gotten it!"
Raine chuckled. "Of course, Gina. You should not have to miss out on a fine education just because of their tardiness."
Both of them glanced at Lynne, but her expression made them wary of asking. As if sensing that they were looking at her, she snorted and said, "No, I don't need anything. And I have nothing for you to say to them."
Silence followed her words, while all of them searched desperately for something to say without offending anyone further. Finally, after several minutes of unsuccessful attempts, Lynne sighed and said, "I have a request, however."
Raine perked up. "Of course, what it is Lynne?" She smiled encouragingly.
"Can you…if you see her, can you say 'hello' to Yuina for me, and ask how she's doing?" Lynne asked.
"Of course Lynne, I'd be happy to."
Lynne smiled for the first time. "Thanks Professor."
Raine nodded, while in her mind she was thinking about Yuina. She knew that Yuina and Lynne shared a close bond, especially since Lynne took Yuina in a few years back when she suddenly showed up at the village entrance, weak from travel and with no memory of her past. The poor girl didn't even know her own name. Lynne took her in, and they soon became almost like sisters. They were almost never apart from each other, but Yuina had left a few months ago to try to find out more about her past. It had been a sad, yet hopeful, separation, and Raine knew that Lynne missed Yuina terribly.
"Professor, what is this 'problem' about?" Gina asked, breaking up Raine's thoughts.
"I'm not quite sure Gina, Lloyd wasn't very specific in his message."
"Oh," Gina huffed, obviously disappointed in the lack of information. But she perked up as a thought came to her. "I'll bet it's related to all the weird incidents lately. Like people going out of control and randomly attacking each other on the streets! What do you think Lynne?"
Lynne didn't reply. The conversation reminded her of what she saw yesterday, down in the cave…
*flashback*
As she proceeded forward, Lynne noticed that, despite the conspicuous lack of cobwebs, the cave was quite old. Occasionally, there was writing along the wall, in what seemed to be the ancient language of the elves, but she couldn't be certain. As she progressed, the writing turned into pictures of people in armor, fighting endless battles. Over each battle, was a thick cloud with three words repeating over and over. Lynne cursed her inability to read Elven or even Angel, which was close to Elven, but she didn't stop to examine the walls for very long. She knew she'd be wasting her time anyway. But as she walked down the long corridor, she couldn't help the feeling that what the pictures were telling her was a warning.
Eventually, Lynne's legs became to grow numb from walking for so long. She trained almost every day for hours at a time, but at the moment she felt as if she had been walking for leagues. She fervently wished that she was getting close, but the walls never changed shape or pattern, so she had no indication of how far she'd traveled so far.
Just as she was about to give up hope of seeing anything but monotony, the cave suddenly changed. It didn't get any wider or smaller, but the rock that made up the walls went from a light-brown stone to a slick, black stone that was cooler and made Lynne shiver as she approached it. She stopped short at the point where the two stones met, her mind screaming at her to turn around and run away. However, her instincts were telling her that the answers she sought were through that darkness. Lynne's mind and instincts warred but she, like her father, lived by trusting her heart, and her heart wanted answers. So, steeling herself, she took the plunge and started stepped over the boundary line, determined to reach the end.
She didn't go very far before she regretted that decision.
As soon as she stepped over that line, a wave of energy rammed her, almost making her fall back to the light side. But, determination still intact, she pushed forward, her arms wrapped around herself as if they could keep her from crumbling from the sheer force of the energy coming at her in waves. Her head was throbbing, her teeth clenched to the point of pain, and her legs moving as if they were stuck in a mud pit – very little. Unconsciously, she grabbed the locket that hung around her neck and recited a small prayer. Almost immediately, the strength of the onslaught died down a bit – but it was enough to make moving easier. Still clutching her locket like a lifeline, she pushed forward, almost running in her hurry to reach the end before whatever it was regained its strength.
This tunnel was shorter than the one she had previously traversed, but the longer she ran the more warped her perspective became until she couldn't tell how long she had been running.
Then, her head started pounding, and that feeling she felt so often nowadays filled her again. It made her want to lash out at everything and anything. She felt anger rising inside her, swirling around and pushing against her walls, screaming for a release. Old, petty annoyances suddenly seemed life-threatening, and old feelings suddenly were pushed to the present, making her remember every little nasty and hate-filled thought she ever had. Lynne dropped the torch and clutched her head with both hands, trying to drown out the rising anger. Her teeth clenched in a snarl and her body automatically moved into a fighting stance. One of her hands inched down towards her swords, like there was an unseen enemy that she needed to face. No! she screamed silently – the last rational part of her brain trying to snap herself out of this. No, stop! I'm not angry! I'm fine! I just need to keep moving! With that thought in mind, she forced her legs to move forward, inch by inch, her mind screaming with anger, her body filled with rage – but she was determined to reach the end.
Slowly, she moved farther into the cave, unaware of her surroundings. All at once, the rage dissipated, all the old feelings being buried once more. Lynne took several deep breaths, calming her heart rate back down to normal, her mind becoming clearer with every passing second. Then, when she felt normal again, she slowly opened her eyes. What she saw made her gasp in shock. In front of her was a stone dais, upon which rested a pedestal with a carved inscription. On the pedestal rested a stone block with more inscriptions and what looked like charms placed over the top. She cautiously crept towards the dais, hoping to read the inscriptions on the pedestal and stone block. To her dismay, they were both in the same language that was on the walls before, but the style of the writing on the block looked similar to that of a spell, Lynne noted. She stared at the structure for a moment more before slowly reaching out her hand towards it. She stopped about an inch away, her breathing getting faster in fear and curiosity. Should I touch it? What could happen? Something bad, but, then again, maybe not. Should I? Should I? Her mental war continued until the power that had attacked her before suddenly picked up force again. Startled by the sudden onslaught, she screeched and jerked her limbs as if to ward off an attacker. Unfortunately, the hand that had been hovering near the pedestal knocked into the stone block, making it crashing off the pedestal and onto the dais.
Lynne stared at the pedestal in horror as black tendrils began to seep out of it. They slowly rose up and out, gaining strength and solidity as they began to take shape. Lynne stepped back in horror, but she stepped too far and her toe caught the edge of the dais as she tumbled to the ground. She landed on her butt, rubbing it to alleviate the soreness. But then another pulse shot around the room, brining both her hands back up to her hand. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as waves of pure, overwhelming power came out of the pedestal and crashed over Lynne's body.
After a while, the magnitude of the power began to decrease until it almost disappeared completely. After another moment, Lynne hesitantly opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at the dais again. Upon seeing what was there, the young warrior's eyes widened and she began to scream….
"Lynne! Lynne! Wake up!"
Lynne's eyes popped open and she sat up straight, knocking her friend in the head. "Watch it!" Gina said, smacking Lynne's arm while rubbing her nose. Lynne blinked at her friend, trying to clear her head. Then, realizing what she had done, she flushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry Gina," she said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to whack you like that."
The young elf shrugged it off, already forgiving her best friend. But then she frowned, her concern from a minute ago coming back. "Are you okay Lynne?"
Confusion crossed the young warrior's face. "Y-yeah, why?"
"U-uh, well, you see, Professor and I were talking and you dozed off, you know, and, um, we knew that you haven't been getting much sleep lately so we let you just stay there to, you know, catch up on your rest, and Aunt Rai–I mean, the Professor decided to leave and pack, you know, for her trip, and, um, I said I'd stay and watch you to make sure that, you know, you'd be safe. But then I dozed off 'cause I was getting sleepy watching you sleep, but then you started mumbling and scrunching up your face, like you were having a nightmare, and then all of a sudden you started screaming, and I got really scared so I tried to wake you up, but shaking you didn't work so I started yelling at you to wake up and then you did and then you bumped my nose and…here we are."
Lynne stared at her friend as she tried to process what Gina said. After a moment, she slowly nodded, realizing that her "nightmare" had been what she had been thinking about just before she dozed off. She grimaced at the thought. Unfortunately, Gina took this the wrong way.
"Oh, did you not want me to wake you up? I'm sorry! I thought that I should, especially after you started screaming and all, and –"
"Gina," Lynne said, exasperated and happy that her friend cared at the same time, "just – stop, okay? I'm glad you woke me up. Thanks."
A huge smile spread across Gina's face. "Really? That's great! You're welcome!"
Lynne looked out the window, and frowned. "It's getting late, why don't we go home? I still have homework to do."
Gina agreed, and the two girls talked and laughed until they reached Gina's house. She waved, and then raced inside, probably going to check on Raine, who she lived with while her parents were away. Lynne smiled and waved back before putting her hands behind her head and whistled (way off tune) as she walked to her house, which was on the very edge of the village.
In her house, Lynne went to grab some food before starting on her homework. She quickly made a sandwich and poured some water to drink, bringing it to the table where she could eat and work. About halfway through, she cried out in frustration and smacked her hands down on the table, making it shake so hard that a few pencils and an ornate box fell to the floor. Grumbling incoherent curses, Lynne bent down to retrieve the fallen items, her hands stopping just before she touched the box. Cursing herself for her hesitation, Lynne grabbed the box and set it down in front of her on the table, pushing her homework stuff aside. She stared at it for a long moment, memories rushing around her head in a frenzy. Finally, she took a deep breath, popped the latch, and opened the box. Inside was a beautiful necklace with a solid gold chain. On the end of it was a black rock that had a faint, otherworldly sheen to it. Lynne hesitantly picked it up and turned it over and over in her palm so it caught the light, revealing the swirling mana caught inside of it. Lynne's breathing hitched at the sight. Then, with a jerk, she dropped the necklace back into the box and slammed it shut, locking it. Breathing heavily, she pushed it away from her, and then rested her head on her hands. "No, no I can't," she murmured. "I-I'm not ready."
Sighing heavily, she got up from her chair, resolving herself to finishing the homework up in the morning before she made her daily rounds. Taking one last, long look at the box, she headed to her room and shut the door, severing her mind from the problem, for now.
A/N: Yeah, I'm definitely putting up the rest hopefully in the next couple of days. This chapter got realllllyyy long (3,000 words O.O) so I had to cut it off. I'm still working through the plot, but I'm pretty set on the next chapter so that should be up soon. XD
Anyway, please, please, please review! The more feedback I get, the better and faster I write! Even if you're just going to yell at me for how sucky my writing is is welcome. And yes, I did mean to cut off the flashback there *evil grin*
Thanks for the support ^.^