Author's Note: Hi again, everyone! I added Six's point of view so this chapter wouldn't be too short! The beginning POV from Ella happened at the same time as Chapter 5. I hope it didn't confuse you too much, and I hope you enjoy it!
Ella's Point of View:
I don't notice that I've fallen asleep until I jolt awake again.
My eyes fly open, only to slam shut again against the bright blue light in front of me. Surprised, I notice that I'm back where I used to be, slumped across the pedestal steps, now with a transparent blue dome glowing around me. I look down, and notice that someone has draped a white dress on top of the steps, too.
I don't want to change at first, but my shirt still holds the pungent smell of smoke, and part of it had been burnt off in the fire that John created. Making sure no Mogs were in the room, I quickly yank the dress on and wriggle my way out of my t-shirt. I keep my jeans on in an act of defiance, though, and also because the room feels like it's below freezing.
The tightness of my hair makes me realize that someone braided it while I was asleep. I shudder, imagining Kelly reaching her pale fingers towards me without me knowing. Why hadn't I woken up? Maybe it was that water she commanded me to drink. I almost throw up at the thought.
I blink at the blue light in front of me, which must be a force field. To test this, I put my palm a few inches away from it and immediately feel a nauseating feeling shock through my chest. I quickly retreat backwards, only to fall across the steps and crash into a hard something. Groaning, I rub the back of my head and turn around.
I almost gasp at the exquisite carvings on the expensive-looking seat. Its arms are decorated with entwining symbols, and purple violets bloom across its glossy surface. Mesmerized, I reach out and push myself up into a standing position using the chair's seat. There's no doubt about it; it's a throne. I trace my fingers along a few symbols on the arm, until I recognize a few Mogadorian letters that Crayton taught me.
Those symbols spell my name.
My hand jerks back, as if the throne is on fire. Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I step back again. I can't panic.
I stare intently at the blue dome that surrounds me, trying to send a message to Marina, in hopes that maybe she can find me.
Marina.
Marina!
MARINA!
I don't hear anything but silence. It isn't usually this hard to communicate with the Garde, so the Mogs must have done something to my room. Frustrated, I concentrate on the force field, imagining the blue screen parting a little, just enough so that I can see through a tiny hole.
Six!
Astonished, I see a small gap slowly widening in the force field. I feel my thoughts flow out of my mind and into the vast, empty space.
Ella?
I almost collapse in relief and exhaustion.
Six!
My thoughts waver as I struggle to sustain the gap in the force field.
Ella, Eight's gone.
I know that from my dreams, but to hear it from Six is too painful. I slump onto the ground as I hold my hand out, willing the small gap in the force field to stay open. I direct more thoughts towards Six.
I know. We were attacked.
Six seems to know this, too, because I don't feel any sudden emotions on her side of the line.
Where are you right now?
I bite my lip. I don't know how to answer her.
I don't know.
I wish I could show her what I'm seeing right now. Maybe she'll recognize it. After all, she's been inside a Mog hideout before.
Maybe I can show her. I look around the room, soaking in all the details. The musty air, the bright tapestries, the cool tiles. I force all my thoughts to flow out in a stream past the part in the blue screen.
My hand trembles as it holds the gap open to let the visions pass through without physical contact. I picture the blank walls, the small door, the blue dome. I force myself to continue sending images towards her, images of the elegant throne, the stone pedestal, my white dress.
And lastly, my worn, haggard face.
Holding up the gap and sending all the visions starts to take its toll on me. I feel weak with exhaustion. Black dots start dancing across my eyes. The dark spots spread like india ink dropped on a cotton cloth until they almost cover my entire vision, and that's when I black out.
Six's Point of View:
Ella's real-time, telepathic video fizzles away as we lose contact. My heart's pounding, as if I just ran ten miles, and I have to take a deep breath to calm it.
Ella, we're coming for you, I say back to her as reassuringly as I can, but I can tell my thoughts are reaching her anymore. My fists clench. Leave it to Setrakus Ra to play the dirty way by kidnapping the youngest, and consequently weakest, Garde. My anger flares as I realize that Five probably planned this out. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a strategic plan, but he isn't getting away with it.
"Six?" Marina says quietly. "What happened?" I bite my lip. She's already broken down enough because of Eight. We all are. I don't want her to be laden with guilt after I tell her Ella was kidnapped while we were gone. I rub at my sleepy eyes and heave a sigh. I have to tell her; she'll find out eventually, anyway.
"Ella's been kidnapped by the Mogs," I mumble, and hear a sharp intake of breath. My eyes dart up to meet hers. I almost shudder at the lost expression on Marina's face.
She doesn't look sad or mad. Her eyes just look...empty. Like she's given up. "Marina..." I rest my hand on her elbow, and she jerks away. I feel a little hurt, but bite back my feelings. I quickly retract my hand. "We're going to find her. They're taking good care of her right now. She has much better living quarters than the other prisoners." Marina looks straight at me.
"Do you even know what they do with prisoners?" she hisses. "She's being tortured right now."
I take a deep breath. "She's not being tortured. She looks like she's being cared for," I say, though I don't really believe it.
Marina turns away and faces the window. I feel the room's temperature drop, and I shiver in the freezing cold. Frost starts making its way up the glass pane, etching white, pale lines across its surface. The temperature continues to drop until I can see my breath in front of me when I exhale.
"Marina, we'll find her. We'll find her and rescue her," I try to say with conviction. I step closer to Marina, and she stays unresponsive.
"Marina?" I see her flinch.
She whirls around as the glass behind her shatters into a million shards, trimmed with glistening frost. A gust of frozen air hits me like a tidal wave, and I'm pushed backwards by its force. "How do you even know that? How can you be so sure?" she nearly screams.
I flinch backwards as icicles form from the low ceiling, encircling Marina. The gleaming ice columns stretch like crystal fingers in front of me. With my telekinesis, I break off the one closest to me and hurl it out the window. I hear the ice cracking as it makes contact with the concrete sidewalk.
Marina now looks up, her eyes wide. I know she can't handle this any longer. Her legs tremble and collapse underneath her, so she tucks them in and rests her forehead on her knees. I hear a sniffle as the icicles stop moving. I sigh and look down, lingering in the silence. A few minutes tick by, punctuated with quiet sobs from Marina. Comforting her should have been Eight's job, but I have to try.
"Hey," I whisper. "Marina."
No response.
"I know we can do this."
Silence.
"Do you know why? I know we can do this because the elders believed in us. And I know we can save Ella because of Nine. He's willing to kick anybody's a** if they bothered any one of us." I pause. "especially Ella."
Marina looks up, and I think I see her lips twitch. I smile and sit down next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She sighs and slumps down a little, her head resting on my shoulder. I'm glad I cheered her up a little, even though I'm so unused to this. This should have been Eight's job, I think again.
"Ok," she mumbles, lowering her eyelids again. Tears decorate her lashes like ice crystals as she closes her eyes. The room gradually starts warming up again, and the icicles begin to drip onto the floor. I let out a long-held breath and relax as it eases out of my chest, no longer lingering in a white cloud of moisture.
"Hey guys!" Nine interrupts, stepping into the room. Marina mumbles something. I think she told him to shut up.
"What, Nine?" I ask, a bit miffed.
"I've got breaking news!" He whips out a phone. If only we could all recover as quickly as he does. Wait. Where did he get that phone?
"Did you steal that phone?" I ask, incredulous.
"Um," He says sheepishly. "You don't know that I'm not going to return it."
I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms.
"Ok, fine, I stole it. But it was justified!" he protests. I roll my eyes. I feel sorry for whoever annoyed him this time. I hope he didn't make too big of a fuss. "Look, Six, he was asking for it. I saw this guy bullying these kids, and I remembered what you said about not drawing attention to myself." He pauses for my approval. I give it reluctantly in the form of a nod, and he continues. "So instead of kicking his a**, I just stole his phone," Nine declares proudly.
Situations like these make we wonder how we deal with Nine everyday. I roll my eyes again, but feel myself grinning. Marina raises her head to peer at Nine, who does a little grimace that I guess is supposed to be a sheepish smile.
"Go on, what's the news?" Marina grumbles, but not without a small smile. Nine's looking pretty proud of himself now. I might need to deflate his ego during training later.
"Ladies," He pauses for a dramatic effect. "I have found the location of Johnny and our friends." He flicks the screen with his index finger and shows us an article about a burning field in Paoli, Indiana.
I read aloud, "'Ignited Field May Be the First of Many Attempts to Burn Down Hoosier National Forest. On Thursday afternoon, the property of a long-time town resident was set to flames by an unknown source. Neighbors recall seeing large flares "out of nowhere" that soon led to the whole field's decimation.'" I skim through the rest of the article.
Nine glances towards us. "So what do you guys think?" I shake my head. That must have been John. I'm a bit worried about them, but since no casualties were mentioned, they should be fine.
"That place is probably swarming with Mogs," I say.
"We should go," Marina mumbles. "We should go," she repeats, louder, just in case we didn't hear her. Nine nods in approval.
"I vote in!" he declares. "Do you guys want to hitch a ride on a truck? A train?" Nine asks gleefully. He rubs his hands together, and I'm almost caught up in the excitement. I should probably stay sane, though, as Marina's too tired to do so just yet. I'm just learning now to appreciate all that she's done for us that I didn't really realize before.
"Since you have a phone already, why don't you find us a train or something," I suggest to Nine. He looks incredibly smug as he tells us he already found a freight train station nearby. I stifle a yawn and agree to come along.
Nine claps his hands together. "No time to waste! Let's go!" I groan as I push myself to my feet and offer a hand to Marina. She immediately takes it and pulls herself up.
Ten minutes later, I find myself packed and ready to go at the door. I'm so glad we're finally doing something. I'm not happy yet, but I'm hopeful. Maybe we still have a chance.
A/N: So, how did you guys like it? Thanks for reading! Reviews and tips would be much appreciated! :)
Do you guys think this is too dramatic? I had fun writing about Nine!
To those of you who have read this story before March 15, I rearranged the chapters of my story to hopefully create a better flow :) so please don't be confused when you go back for Chapter 1 and find Chapter 5 in its place!
I'm probably not going to write many chapters with 2 points of views, so this is a special one! It just so happens that it's the number of my favorite character, Marina!
Have a great Spring Break, everyone! (If you have a vacation/break where you live!)
-Ashley Sky :)
Special Thanks to:
Meerkat78: Thank you so so much for your reviews, advice, and our quirky conversations!
TheThoughtsofKarasu: Thanks for your tips and comments!