The Kuth stood on top of a cliff, surrounded by woodland. From the tower Andy was in he could see the ocean in the west. Waves crushed against the beach at the bottom of the cliff. The sun had set and the sky had grown dark. Stars twinkled and he sighed as he stared up at familiar constellations. He looked for Aquila, connecting the dots in his mind as his eyes moved from the brightest star, Altair, to its nearest bright neighbor Tarazed, until an eagle formed. There was peace in staring at the stars and he'd hold onto that.
He knew a lot about the stars and planets. He'd spent his childhood reading every astronomy book he could get his hands on. On his tenth birthday his aunt had gotten him a telescope and he'd spend night after night looking up at constellations. The Aquila was his favorite. He was glad; however foreign this world was, at least he had the stars. There made him feel small yet enormous. Infinite in his mortality. There made him feel comfort in existing. If that even made sense.
"There you are," someone spoke and he brought his gaze from the stars to his sister.
"There I am?" he furrowed his brows. "You're the one who ran off."
Anna shrugged. "Can you blame me?" she came closer, standing next to him on the balcony. Her gaze rose up to the waxing crescent moon. It was the same size as earth's moon but the color was off, instead of a silver luminosity this moon glowed a misty green. "This is... crazy. You know that. Right?"
"Of course," he said and turned his head to the east. Just above the horizon another moon rose. It was almost full and a radiant pale blue. It was larger than earth's moon, about twice its size. "But it's kind of impossible not to believe when the evidence is everywhere."
Anna frowned. "You believe what Nyx said?" she asked.
He turned back to her. Their ebony dark eyes met and he saw the doubt and fear in her gaze. She was afraid. He was too. "Do we have a choice?" he asked holding up his right hand, showing his tattoo. She frowned even deeper as she looked at it.
She pinched her lips together and shook her head. "It looks like we're caught up in this whether we like it or not."
"And aunt Layla?"
"We'll get her back," it wasn't Anna who answered. The twins turned to find Sage. She looked better, all her cuts and bruises had healed. Andy was curious to know how that worked but he had enough new information for a day. "I can't pretend to know what the two of you are going through. You probably feel like your whole world has been turned upside down. You're worried about your aunt, I get that, but trust the captain. We'll do whatever it takes to get her back."
"And in the mean time?" Anna asked. Andy could tell they were thinking the same thing. Could they go back home?
"I'm sorry, but you can't go back to earth." She glanced at their hands. "The captain thinks you're safer here. The Wythynians might try to get the amulet again and seeing as it's chosen to attach itself to you, it's better if you stay."
Andy could see in his sister's eyes she was fighting with herself to object. She didn't want to stay here, not in this foreign world. He didn't either. But neither of them said a word.
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Fifteen minutes after Sage had left, she returned telling them their carriage was ready. Anna wasn't quite sure what she expected to find once they reached the entrance. A horse drawn carriage, maybe. The kind she'd always beg her aunt to take her on when she was seven and they visited the fair. The "carriage" was nothing like a carriage, not the ones she'd seen. To begin with, it wasn't horse drawn. Anna could definitely hear the soft rumblings of an engine.
Though there were some resemblance in body, this carriage was sleeker and more metallic. The wheels were lower and smaller. She'd say it looked more like a car but that wasn't quite right. A combination of the two perhaps.
Inside were four seats, two in the back facing the front and two up front facing the back. Anna climbed in after Sage and Andy after her. He settled next her in the back. Sage pressed a button on her armrest and a transparent screen descended between then. A map appeared and she typed in coordinates and the carriage started moving. Reeling from the sudden jerk of motion Anna dug her nails into the arms of her leather seat. They were going fast, faster than any carriage and faster than most cars.
It was a moment before her body adjusted to the speed and when it did, she looked out the window and watched as the world around them blurred. She saw lights as they passed what she thought was a city. She turned to ask Sage but sunk into her seat as she watched the older girl scrolling through a device in her lap. It suddenly reminded her of her phone. She pulled it from her back pocket and turned on her screen.
"It's not going to work," Andy said and she turned to him. "I already tried mine."
"Oh," she said as she let it sink in that she wouldn't be able to contact her friends. The realization hit her like a boulder. How was she supposed to survive without them? What would they think happened to her? They were going to worry about her. They'd notice something was wrong and then...
There was nothing she could do about it now. All she could do was hope, hope they'd find aunt Layla soon. Then she'd go home and this world would be nothing more than a distant memory.
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A cool breeze blew past Anna as she stepped out of the carriage and into the night. She inhaled deeply, savoring the freshness of the air after twenty minutes in the enclosed carriage. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, she was exhausted, more so than she had been in a very long time. Andy stood next to her his gaze fixed ahead, he was looking up at the two-story gothic house which stood before them.
It was built of stone and in the darkness of the night a shadow was cast upon it. Anna shuddered, taking a step closer to her brother. The fear of being swallowed up by the building overtook her for the briefest of seconds. There was an impalpable strength to the bold arches of the windows and doors, a rigid vigor to the unmalleable iron gates that surround the house and an inert danger to the glow of the blue flames flickering by the entrance. Something inside of her told her to stop here, to not go any further. The thought was irrational, she knew it. But her instincts screamed danger.
"Are you coming?" Sage asked. She'd crossed the gate and stood looking back at them with her brows furrowed and her lips pursed.
Anna opened her mouth to say no, of course she wasn't going anyway near that house. It was haunted. She was sure of it. If this world was real, if somehow witches—or whatever they were—were real, what's to say ghosts weren't?
"Come on," Andy said before her lips could form any words. He put his hand out for her to hold and in that one gesture she found her strength. She took his hand and nodded before they both followed after Sage.
They hadn't held hands like this in years. It was something they did when they were younger. But somewhere along the way they'd outgrown it. It seemed silly to Anna in that moment. How could she outgrow her strength? She was braver when Andy was standing next to her. Like on their first day of grade zero when everything was so new and different, when everything they'd known their first five years of life was changing, Andy had been the one to give her strength. He was her strength.
The foyer to the mansion was what one would expect from a foyer, spacious and with a grand staircase to the second floor. Sage shut the front door and came to stand in front of them.
"You must be exhausted," she said. "The bedrooms are upstairs. I could show you, unless you'd like to eat first."
Anna wanted to sleep but her grumbling stomach whined for first priority. She nodded and Sage led them into the kitchen. The kitchen was just as lavishly large as the rest of the house. With stone walls, wooden flooring and the crackling blaze of the hearth there was warmth to the room the rest of the house did not exude. Anna sat at the table and Andy sat across from her.
In the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a shadow crossing the door and for a second, she thought of the ghosts she'd feared haunted the house. "Andy," she said, in a shaky voice. He looked up and turned to where her gaze was drawn.
A girl, not a ghost, walked into the room. She was about the same height as Anna, with wavy brunette hair and the same sparkling cobalt blue eyes as Sage. She had soft features: a button nose, slender lips and round eyes. She wore a fine floral chemise dress, it reached just short of her ankles. She was barefoot. She stared at Anna with a blank face but piercing eyes.
"Salena," Sage said, from behind them and the girl looked up. "This is my older sister, Salena. Salena, this is Andy and Anna. They'll be staying with us for a bit," she said and Salena nodded. She didn't say a word as she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table and left.
"She's a bit shy," Sage explained, as she moved towards the table, she placed a plate in front of Anna then one in front of Andy. It was a sandwich. Anna sighed in relief, she'd been half expecting some strange alien dish. But this seemed to be a normal sandwich, complete with bread, cheese, ham and lettuce.
"I hope you don't mind, it's basically the only thing I can make," Sage said.
Anna shook her head. "It's okay. Thank you," she said. Andy nodded his head and took a bite.
"What Nyx said earlier," Anna said a moment later, "about our family being important to this island. What did she mean?"
Sage took a bite of an apple then shrugged. "The islanders take nobility very seriously. The Echowoods come from a long line of nobles."
"Wait, really?" Anna said excitedly.
"Oh no," Andy said giving her a look.
"What?" Anna pouted.
"This is definitely going to go to your head."
Anna chuckled. "Of course, it is. It's not everyday someone tells you you're descended from nobility." She turned back to Sage. "Do we get a castle?"
"Ah..."
"She's joking," Andy assured Sage and she smiled.
"It's okay," she said. "It's just a little strange though."
Both twins furrowed their brows. "What do you mean?" Andy asked.
"It's nothing bad," she said. "It's just I thought you'd know. I mean this is your family's history. The amulet, your family's status, everything, I thought your parents would have told you."
"Oh," Anna's smile dropped and she frowned. "Our parents died when we were five."
Sage eyes widened. "Oh, my gods, I'm sorry. I didn't—"
Anna waved her off. "It's okay," she said. "They died a long time ago. We barely even remember them." The atmosphere in the room had changed to something more somber. Anna wished to changed it back. "Anyway," she said in a cheerier tone, "we've always had our aunt. She's the one who looked after us, who raised us."
Andy frowned. "She didn't tell us either," he said resentfully.
"She probably had a really good reason," Anna told him.
Andy's frown did not relent as he said, "Maybe."
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"How long are they staying?" Salena asked, looking up from her book.
Sage shrugged. "I'm not sure." She crossed the study and plopped down onto the armchair across from her sister's. "The captain instructed that I bring them here."
Salena frowned. "You know you can call her mom, right?"
"She's my commanding officer," Sage said.
"She's also your mother," Salena argued. "I swear, sometimes I think the both of you forget that."
Sage chuckled then winced when pain shot through her abdomen. She clutched her stomach her face twisting. Although her wounds and bruises had been healed her body still ached. Going against a Valek soldier alone had not been the wisest decision on her part. Considering the fact this had been her first solo mission.
Salena was frowning when she looked back up. "Are you in pain?" she asked, setting her book aside and getting to her feet.
"I'm fine," Sage tried to wave her off. Ignoring her, Salena placed her hands on her shoulders. "I'm serious Lena, you don't have to."
"It's okay, I've been practicing," she tried to reassure her. It didn't work. Salena had only been training as a healer for a couple months now. She was a gifted witch but lacked the skill of a well-trained healer. The last time she'd tried to heal one of Sage's injuries, the cut hadn't stopped bleeding for hours.
"No, really," she got to her feet, taking a step away from her sister. "I'm fine, nothing a bit of sleep can't fix."
"Okay," she sounded disappointed. "Goodnight then."
"Good night, Lena," Sage said before leaving the room.
>>>>>>>
Sage's room was on the second floor, on the side facing the garden. She walked up to it, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Maybe she should have let her sister heal her. She had never had a great tolerance for pain. She hated it, in fact. But being a guard had taught her how to endure. Pain was a reality she could not hope to hide from, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. Eventually, everyone gets hurt. Sage believed that but she'd hold onto every moment before the pain struck.
She sighed deeply, pushing her door open. And as she walked into the room she started undoing the straps around her forearms, removing the iridescent silver-blue vambraces. She stopped short when—
Sitting on her bed with her face half hidden beneath an ellie grey cloak was... "Val?"
Val lifted her head, pulling off the hood of her cloak to reveal a smile. "You're back!" she said with a heavy sigh. Then got to her feet.
Sage smiled too then as if remembering something terrible she frowned. "What are you doing here? If your mother—"
"It doesn't matter," Val took a step forward and stared at Sage with her double lidded expresso eyes shining. Val was an inch shorter than Sage. She had a slender nose, bowtie lips and a heart shaped face. Her hair was bleached white and shaved on one side. "I was worried about you? How did it go? Are you okay?" she took another step closer to her but stopped when Sage flinched. "Did you get hurt?" Her thin dark brows furrowed in concern.
"I'm fine, Val," Sage said as she gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She stepped forward, removing the gap between them. "You don't need to worry about me." She wrapped her arms around Val's waist before kissing her cheek.
Val's face flushed a rosy color. "I don't think I'll ever stop worrying," she said in almost a whisper. She ran her fingers through Sage's hair, then said, "I'm glad you're back," and kissed her deeply.
>>>>>>>
Andy couldn't sleep. He'd always had trouble sleeping at night, something he had combated with hours upon hours of online video games. He'd either end up playing until the morning or he'd end up so exhausted he'd collapse. But with nothing but the quietness of an empty room and the overbearing weight of his thoughts he knew there was no hope of sleeping tonight.
He decided to take a walk. There was hardly a whisper to stir the slumbering house as he made his way through the great hallways. There were too many turns and all the doors where quite similar but remembered the way they'd come. Once he was downstairs he eased his way out through the front door, which no one had bothered to lock. Blue flames glowed at the sides of the entrance, and he looked out to the gate they'd walked through. The carriage was gone.
He'd spent the entire drive to the house trying to figure out how the carriage worked. It wasn't magic, at least he didn't think so. It had an engine. It seemed to work the same way a self-driving car would. It didn't require a driver. Maybe it operated with some sort of artificial intelligence. Andy would have really liked to get a closer look at it.
He sighed before shrugging and stuffing his hands into his pockets. He made his way around the house, walking with his gaze drawn up. There were three moons in the sky now, the first one, the glowing misty green moon, was close to setting. The second, the pale blue moon, was at its peak above the world. And lastly, the smallest of the three, a blazing golden moon, with dark craters visible from where he stood, was past the horizon. It was full at the moment and Andy stared at it in awe.
He wondered how three moons affected the planet. The night was definitely brighter here than on earth. Would the moons affect the oceans differently? Make the tides greater? He wanted answers and he couldn't wait to find them all.
He stopped walking once he reached the garden. He sat down on a bench and watched the stars. Aunt Layla used to stay up with him when he was younger and he was too afraid to fall back asleep after a nightmare. They'd lay a blanket in the backyard and watch the stars together. She'd tell stories her parents told her, of a distant world where the stars shone bright because they were souls. She told him about a goddess the people of this world called the Star Bringer. She moved at night, collecting the souls of all the deceased and placed them in the heavens, where they would watch over the ones they'd left behind.
It was always just a story to Andy. He thought his aunt told it just to make him feel better about his parents' death. That they were still watching over him and his sister. He never believed it. He never wanted to. But in that moment, despite everything he thought he knew about the world, despite the fact he'd never once believed in souls or an afterlife, he wanted that story to be real. He wanted his parents watching over him and his sister. He wanted them watching over aunt Layla.
The sound of something crashing stirred him from his stupor and he turned his head to find a grey cloak whipping in the wind as a girl with white hair gripped onto a window sill, her feet secured in a foothold within the stone wall.
"Careful," someone whisper shouted. It was Sage, Andy realized when she stuck her head out through the window.
"I'm always careful," the other girl said before she kissed Sage's cheek and then started her descent down the wall. She held onto the iron trellis mounted onto the wall. Once she was on the ground she picked up something. A bag? It had to be the crash sound that had startled him.
Andy watched in silence from the shadows of the garden as the girl disappeared into the night.