"I have to go now then. Can I miss training? Please?" I question.
"I don't know. You're going to have to go to training today and then we can talk about what we need to do about this." Stacy informs me calmly.
"What do I have to do?" I let out a shaky breath.
There are too many questions forming in my mind and not enough time to get them answered.
"First, you are going to have to get a permission token from a stage four. Those are pretty hard to get because stage fours don't usually grant them to people, especially not stage twos. Many people have bad intentions too; some people want to go to Earth just to see people they lost, which is not allowed at all.
"Then, you have to find a stage three who is willing to take you to the Underworld, which is also hard to find because most voyagers only go to Earth, or the middle world, and back. Very few actually have experience with the Underworld because it is so hard to get out of there. No stage three voyager is going to actually want to go. Once you acquire those things, you are going to have to inform a person of authority that you have to miss some training." Stacy explains.
"Are you a person of authority?"
She shakes her head. "No, unfortunately I am not. I am only a stage two. This person has to be a stage four that isn't the person who granted you the trip."
"We don't know any stage fours." Brooke adds.
"I only know of one." Stacy sighs.
"Wait." Brooke's eyebrows raise. "What about Tanner's brother? Isn't he a stage four?"
"I think so." I try to remember if Tanner told me what stage his brother was, he has to be at least a stage three.
Stacy squints her eyes to think deeply. "I suppose that would work. But you need to understand how much danger you are going to be in. Even if you go, you might not be able to even get into the Underworld or rescue him. You don't even know a stage four to grant you a token, do you?"
I shake my head. "Do you?"
Stacy doesn't say anything for a moment, then her eyes light up. "I do know somebody who could help, but I doubt he would let you go. Stage fours usually don't let just anybody leave the Afterworld. It's harder and more serious than you think. Let me think about this for a while, but for now you need to get ready for training." She shuts the door before I can respond.
Brooke mouths "I'm sorry" before following Stacy out of my room. I collapse onto the floor and wish that I could just go back to sleep and never wake up.
After so many days of worrying, my worst fears have become a reality and there's hardly anything I can do to make it better.
I feel claustrophobic and restless, like I need to get out of my room and take action, but what could I possibly do? I don't know anything about the Afterworld and I've been a stage two for only a few days. I don't know how anything works and I certainly don't know how to save my brother from the Underworld. This is way out of my league.
***
It's quite crowded here in the school building. Everybody is gathered into one place and until we separated into groups, I felt overwhelmed like I was at a concert or something.
Brooke, Jack, me, and a few others were in one group with an instructor who was talking about designers; basically nothing I haven't already learned. Brooke and Jack are whispering amongst themselves but I don't add anything to the conversation. I haven't said anything in a couple of hours.
Brooke knows that I don't like to talk when I'm upset, so she usually keeps her distance. I don't take offense to it.
But I want something to distract me, I want something that would keep my mind off of the fact that my brother is basically in hell at the moment and I'm here doing completely fine. I have the nerve to complain up here when so many people are burning in the Underworld for all of eternity. I hope Nick won't be one of them. He isn't going to be one of them.
And if I were to get permission to go and meet every requirement needed to go to the Underworld, I would have to return to Earth, which would just make it harder for me to get over the fact that I am dead.
I can't pay attention to anything going on during training, even if I tried. I'm impatient and keep counting down the seconds before I can get out of here and figure out what I need to do to get Nick.
"Is she okay?" I hear Tanner whisper to Jack. I don't hear his response, but I can make out the word brother once or twice.
"What happened to her?" He asks.
Jack shrugs.
"It's nothing." Brooke replies because she knows I can hear what they're saying. I also told her that I didn't want anyone to know about this because it would only make things more difficult. I want to wait until I know if I can save him to tell people.
I turn to Tanner. "Hey, is your brother a stage four?"
He narrows his eyebrows like he's confused by my question, and I'm not surprised because it's completely random. "How did you know? He became one a few days ago. Why?"
I smile to myself and I can see Brooke's expression change. "Just wondering."
—————————————————————
I add a bit of creamer to my coffee and take a seat at one of the tables in the café. It might have actually been the place that I sat with Brooke and Jack on my first day of training, when things were simple.
I remember how I had a weird feeling in my stomach that day.
The weird feeling.
It's because of Nick isn't it.
I knew I wasn't worried about him ever since I've been dead for nothing.
If I was sure he would be just fine I wouldn't be worried, but I subconsciously knew this whole time that something bad would happen to him.
I lean my head against my hand as my arm props it up against the table.
Stacy sits down in front of me with a few papers in her hands. She doesn't look happy or upset, just neutral.
"Alright I have some good news and some bad news. I'll begin with the good news since it's more relevant." She sighs and holds up the piece of paper towards her face to read but pauses before doing so. "How are you doing, are you okay?"
I nod. "I'll be fine." I lied.
"I checked the lists and talked with some of the people I know and I have concrete proof that Nick is supposed to be up here. That means that you are more likely to get permission from a stage four, because you have good reasoning and pure intentions." She explains, then tightens her ponytail. "Tanner's brother's name is Lucas and he is a stage four. I found his dorm and to your luck, he is still a guardian angel. A stage four granter and a stage four guardian angel have the most authority out of any stage or path. You're lucky, Julia. You should know that."
"Do you think he'll let me skip training?" I inquire.
Stacy smiles. "Considering the fact that he's your friend's brother, yes I do."
I smile. "That's good then."
She frowns and begins running her hands through her hair. "I still have the bad news."
"Oh." I sigh. "What is it?"
"The bad news is that there are very few voyagers with sufficient experience to take you to the Underworld and back up again. That is most likely the factor that will prevent you from helping Nick. You won't want to go with someone who doesn't know what they're doing, that would be a waste of time and a waste of your life in the Afterworld. It might get you reincarnated. Not only that, it's very easy for a voyager to opt out of a journey, so I'm afraid your chances of even making it to Earth, let alone saving your brother are very very small."
What do you guys think will happen?
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- SS