The Goddess Crystal

Chapter 5: Uncertainties

Holy shit. You're not real. You're just—

A fairytale created to entertain the locals? I assure you, Jillian, I am much more than that.

Skye is still watching me, and, seeing how I'm unresponsive, I must look pretty stupid right now. "Jill, are you okay?"

I blink, hesitating. What am I supposed to say? That I'm hearing a made deity's voice in my head? "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

He studies me for a few seconds. "Are you sure?"

I sigh, hoping it looks realistic. "Yes, I'm sure. But, like I said, I'm tired. I'll just take a rest, okay?"

Skye nods reluctantly, probably sensing I'm not being truthful. But I just want some privacy. "Okay."

As the door closes behind him, my shoulders droop with a sigh. I close my eyes and flinch as a laugh trickles into the room, unheard by everyone else.

Why the hell are you trying to talk to me? Are you trying to scare me? If so, good job so far.

That, Jillian, is something you will find out by yourself. I apologize if I've frightened you; it is not what I intended to do. That boy...who was he?

My eyebrows pull down in confusion. Are you talking about Skye? Why?

A light breeze pushes past, a feeling of deep thought brushing along. Hmm. His spirit is different than I would have thought. Something is weighing on his mind, it seems.

Maybe it's what he still hasn't told me...What? What is it?

A sudden silence fills the room like thick static, followed by a faint pop. Excuse me. I have to cut this conversation short, Jillian. I still don't have the power to have lengthy connection with this world. Not anymore.

And the silence returns, so loud I feel scared to break it. I sigh, my heartbeat finally settling down after the high speed chase it did.

That certainly wasn't normal.

I find Skye outside the base, reading the book I got from the Goddess. Yeesh, that sounds weird.

He looks up when I stop in front of him. "Have a good rest?"

I sit next to him, grateful for the shade of the large tree. "Not really."

He closes the book and sets it beside him. "Why not?"

I bite my lip, looking down. "Thinking too much, I guess."

Skye turns his eyes on me, saying, "I thought so. What's on your mind?"

"Lots."

"Like what?"

"Namely, what you aren't telling me." I look away, intent on the entrance to the base. "You're not being truthful to me and I don't understand why. What is it that you won't tell me but Leith apparently knows about?"

I hear him shift, barely damp grass rustling. "It's very complicated, to say the least."

"Why aren't you telling me?"

The silence is stifling, and his voice is equally soft as he says, "I'm afraid that you might react badly."

A piece of bark comes off in my hands and I pick at it, shards flaking off. "I don't know how I'll react if you won't tell me anything."

He sighs. "It's about the first time we met. Any why I pursued you in the first place."

My head jolt ups, eyes at attention. "What about it? You said you liked me because I'm different."

"That's only partly correct."

My mouth feels filled with cotton. "What—"

A series of loud knocks from the direction of the door cuts me off. "Hello?"

I growl, though I know the person couldn't have done it on purpose. Just the same, something in the back of my head reacts at the sound of the girl's voice and I turn around.

She's maybe a few inches shorter than me, brown hair pulled back with a bandanna, though it keeps falling back in her face, despite it. A nervous tick or something makes her fidget with the hem of her shirt. A memory itches at the back of my mind and suddenly I recognize her.

"Celia?"

She jumps, head whipping around with her eyes wide. She mouths something like a curse. "Jill? Is that you?" Celia's eyes dart to Skye for a second before going wider.

I clamber to my feet, anger pooling in with the hurt, the conversation forgotten. "You—you told on Skye1"

Celia scrambles backwards, trying to keep the distance between us the same. "I had to!"

My arm jerks backwards, and I know Skye has stopped me. I growl struggling. "'Had to'?! Why the hell would you have to?" I jerk my arm. "Let go of me, damn it."

Celia stares at us, and I can tell she's starting to hyperventilate. "I had to! Do you know how much it was eating at me?"

"Eating at you?" I snarl, my anger finally spilling over. "What was eating at you? I was a suspicion. A correct one, yes, but still a suspicion!"

Tears spring to her eyes, but her face flushes with indignation. "You knew! You knew who he was and what he did, and you still didn't tell! You can't blame me."

"Oh, yes, I can. Thanks to you, Blackthorn disowned Skye. I bet you told that monster about your 'suspicion' that my parents were working at home, didn't you? You're the reason Skye shot his own father!"

Celia stops and stares at me, suddenly quiet. "H-he shot the President?"

"Accidently. But that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't found out where we were!"

Her face goes red again. "I would never do that to you, Jill."

"Huh?"

"I would never want to get you hurt. In fact, that's why I told on Skye. I thought he was going to hurt you. So I told on him to get him out of your life."

I stop struggling, breathing heavily, staring at her incredulously. Hopelessly. "You...nearly got us killed." Me, trying to hold onto the anger.

Celia's eyes can't possibly go any wider. "I never meant that to happen. If I had known—"

"But you didn't. You didn't know."

She sighs, looking like a little kid again. "And for that, I'm sorry."

Tears prick my eyes, and I don't even try to hold them back. "So..you were only doing it for me?"

She smiles sadly. "Yeah, I was." She looks at Skye. "And I'm sorry about what happened."

Skye smiles forgivingly. "Not a problem, Miss."

Celia returns her eyes on me, sad and guilty. "I'll leave, if you want. I'll—"

I cut her off with a hug and we both cry.

Diamond, enchanted

Shall break my chains

Sharp edge, demanded

To let loose the rains

Tempest Bound: Yes, the last part implies she got another suckish poem written by yours truly and delivered by you-know-who. But, I don't exist in this world, so she must have written it herself, hmm?

Anyways, I'm terribly sorry for the wait. Plot-bunnies (one of which is for an original story) severe procrastination and sheer stupidity on my part caused this. Again, I'm horribly sorry and disappointing in myself. I mean, I make you guys wait this long, and this is all I have to make up for what I did?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall go hit my head on the wall and let my brother take over the computer.