*
Cyan thought that The Land of the Sleeping was creepy.
But afterwards she realized that underneath The Land of the Sleeping was even more terrifying.
The group walked briskly, not one of them enjoying even a second under the barren land. Zethan led the way, charging quickly through the dark cave corridors. He was the most comfortable by far. Nel and Amyth strode behind him, both casting wary glances at what surrounded them, but comfortable enough to chat once in a while. Brin and Patrona barely seemed to notice.
At the back of the group, scurrying along with wide terrfied eyes, shaking hands, a pale face, and shut tight lips, was Cyan.
Somehow, the strange mutated eye-spider creatures staring intently at the group horrified her the most. They were eyeballs, single red-eyed eyeballs. Where veins usually connected to the eye socket, long black spider legs sprouted.
The bunches of them were deathly still. The walls were made of their red veiny piercing eyeballs, all slowly moving as the group walked. Cyan had almost choked when they first entered the caves.
Supposedly the terrain up on the dry land was becoming much too like mountains for the group. But even so, Cyan would rather balance on a rope over a cliff--than to have these eyes glower at her for an hour more.
She had shrunken into herself, averting the creatures' deathly stares. At some point Zethan had noticed and joined her at the back of the group.
"Creepy little freaks aren't they?"
Cyan nodded.
"W...were they the Splinters'..eyes?"
"Before. Since then, they ran off down here."
"Why..?"
Zethan glanced at Cyan, turning to the eyes crawling above them.
"...maybe they would rather look at each other than what's up there."
Cyan's eyes lingered on his face for just a second, before she turned back down to the ground.
"You aren't tired yet?" Zethan asked.
Cyan shook her head.
"Sure?" Zethan asked again, his voice mocking.
Of course she was tired. She just wasn't tired enough to admit it. She wasn't passing out yet. He lifted a brow at her, but she didn't seem to notice. She was staring at the ground still.
She was just saying 'I'm sure' when the walls began to tremble. The tremor grew harsher as the group stood as still as if they were part of the ground. Zethan was looking around cautiously, his eyes searching.
And just as quickly as the tremors had arrived, a tiny black flower sprouted at Cyan's feet. She looked at it, her brows furrowing as it grew; its roots spread across the ground rapidly. Its growth rate only increased and increased, and soon enough Cyan began to panic. Just when Zethan turned back, the roots shot up, tangling amongst themselves and duplicating faster than Zethan could swing out his dagger.
He started to slice and chop at the roots--but they had strengthened to appear to be metal themselves. Cyan stumbled back as the roots grew thicker and thicker. Only when she stepped back did she realize that she was standing alone on the opposite side of the root-wall.
"Z-Zethan!! Zethan---it's trapping me!!" Cyan whimpered, quickly dropping to the ground and digging.
"Brin! Brin--kick in the wall!" Zethan yelled.
Brin hurriedly did so, and the steely tangles bent under her foot. She kicked at it repeatedly, desperately.
Cyan watched, her heart calming as Brin's foot appeared through the metal.
They'll get me out, she thought. I'll just step right out, and we'll continue walking.
She kept those comforts hostage in her mind as the sound approached behind her.
It was the sound of rock crumbling, of the cave shaking, of something unknown becoming louder and louder, creeping closer and closer.
As Brin began to kick the opening wider, the wall behind Cyan crumbled. She jumped and screamed as the hand reached in and touched her back.
And suddenly the whole wall caved in. Cyan yelled in terror as she hurriedly scratched and clawed at the dirt.
Hands stuck in through the hole of the metallic root wall, they were of anybody who could reach in. Cyan recognized the tattoo on one, and grasped it between her bloody palms. She could hear Zethan yelling out demands at her. Specifically she was to defend herself and push the intruder away.
But all Cyan did was sob and yell as she clutched Zethan's hand in desperation.
"Fight Cyan!! Fucking fight!!" Zethan yelled as he grinded his teeth and grabbed at Cyan's hands.
"--I can't!!! I can't---I just can't!!!"
The male stepped up to Cyan. His thick black boots seemed to crumble the dirt beneath them. He towered over Cyan, so much so that she had to angle her head upwards to manage a glimpse of his face.
He was not the stranger from the day before.
He wore thick black jeans that were roughened and weathered. They had links and chains sewn into the sides, reflecting the black leather jacket he wore. He was of strong build, with a broad neck and strong jawline. He had black straight hair that stuck up higher round his scalp than his temples. His skin was tanner than that of Zethan's, and his perfect grin wider.
He gazed down at Cyan with deep brown gleaming eyes.
He simply crouched, took Cyan's waist between his hands, and she was defenseless. Zethan was gripping Cyan's hands hard enough to make her flinch.
Cyan watched in horror as a firm hand laid on the ground beside her. She winced at the deep scarring that circled the man's wrists and palms. Almost as if a spinning torrent of blazing fire had grazed past his hands and arms.
Just beneath his palm, the dusty dirt glowed a brilliant cyan. And just as Cyan looked up to Zethan's hand, she froze as the metal roots sprouted from the dirt. They were glowing red, evincing an immense heat that Cyan could feel making her sweat.
It coiled round Zethan's wrist, and he jerked away from its blazing touch. Cyan could hear his furious scream, and eventually his fingers loosened on Cyan's hand. The stranger pried them off, scooping the twisting girl into his arms, and taking her away.
*
Cyan only had one thing that she could do: be stubborn.
She resisted and shoved at him all through the travel. She clawed, bit, slapped, scratched, screamed, kicked
but she never escaped.
When she resisted he held her closer, pried her fingers and teeth from his skin, lifted her so her feet couldn't drag, anything so she couldn't grasp even a glimmer of hope.
He had mounted her upon one of the lizard-like monsters she had seen before. She had jumped off, tried to run, but metal roots had tripped and held her.
As she laid on the ground, her tears soaking the dirt, for a moment she thought.
Avalon obeys him. What can I possibly do in a world that is controlled by him?
Nothing,
absolutely nothing.
He scooped the limp girl back into his arms. She had fallen deathly silent and still, as if just a lifeless doll. Her black eyes were gaping, distant with fear.
He mounted the creature again, tucking Cyan close to his chest and between his arms. She said nothing, did nothing, so much so that he checked to make sure she had a pulse a couple of times.
Meanwhile they rode through the pitch black night, he yawned and wiped at his eyes tiredly. Hours had passed, and Cyan was clutching her deathly silence.
He stared out, the mountain peak emerging in the distance. It was but a faint line in the darkness, but he recognized it at once. After a moment he began to drift into his mind again, entertained by his own thoughts.
And that was when he heard the faint thud just to his left.
At first, he only cast a sideways glance at the noise, expecting some Avalon creature to just be scurring along.
Then he froze in place.
Cyan stumbled up to her shaky feet, glancing back for just a moment before sprinting away.
The man jumped off his creature, charging after Cyan.
The man came upon her shoes. They had been discarded, and now she was silent as a rabbit, disappearing in the black.
Cyan pinned herself behind a great tree, one of the thousands in this new area. She carefully peered back, and found the outline of her kidnapper kneeling on the ground.
She watched him intently as the wind round him spun. It grew more and more violent, suddenly blowing towards the ground. A burst of cyan light illuminated his shoulders, shooting to his palms, and onto the dirt. Cyan gazed at the circle of glowing cyan light that spread and crawled away from his hands rapidly. It grew bigger and bigger, others formulating, until the ground appeared to be black liquid, and the rings ripples of water.
As she gazed at the glittering rings, she noticed one at her feet.
It was smaller, rippling faster than his, as if it reflected her heartbeat. She stumbled back, and turned up just to meet the gaze of the man.
She choked in fear, stumbling farther and farther back, feeling as if she wanted to run, but her body freezing.
She tripped on a tree root, falling into a sinking plot of moss in the ground, and turning up to see the man towering above her. He stared down at her, his brown full eyes seeming to pierce hers.
He reached down and Cyan flinched away. But as she froze, he spread out his palm.
At first she thought he might slap her, or was handing her something. But his hand was empty and he waited patiently.
He was helping her up.
Cyan eyed him cautiously, her brow twitching.
And just when he thought she was going to place her hand in his, she twisted away and scrambled up to her feet. His hand came down onto her back, her breath being knocked out of her.
Sighing, he turned her around, pinning her to the ground. As he stared at her, he flicked his fingers and Cyan watched in amazement.
Just above them, the trees' branches were wieghed down by the same metal roots that he seemed to be able to grow anywhere. They tangled lower and lower until they hung loosely around their heads. Cyan gazed at each of the ends as a blossom grew and sprouted. It revealed a blue glowing light, like an upside down flame.
The man's face was lit up, and Cyan could feel his eyes looking at her every feature.
She blushed at his grin, looking away and staring at a tree in the distance.
"Cyan. How I've longed to see your face again..." He sighed.
Cyan glanced up at him, confused.
"I know--I know---I'm nothing but a stranger, a kidnapper, to you; I deserve nothing more. But you, Cyan...."
He then cupped her cheek, brushing his finger against her skin. She watched his eyes glitter, his cheeks pink.
"...it's amazing---astounding--to have you here at last. When I heard my commander had found that the disturbance was you--oh I could've fallen dead there, my heart unable to keep up with my glee."
She was staring up at him, her eyes gaping into his. She wore a slight frown. He laughed for a moment, then stood, keeping Cyan's thin wrist in his hand.
He pulled her up to her feet, walking as if he didn't notice her feet dragging.
"Come along," He smiled kindly back at her. "I must introduce you to everyone else."
He kept her firmly pressed against his side as she started to kick again.
*
The sky was darker than usual. The wind blew cold, leaves tumbling across the hard plains. Brin had explained that they were heading towards a place called The Whispering Waters.
And Amyth was still in Avalon.
She consoled herself that there was nothing she could do. Cyan was her only door back to the Twelve Headquarters. In order to get there herself she needed to enter her own world.
She stared at the key in her palms. It was a pink-violet shell, small enough to fit in her palm.
The Twelve had never liked her to go into her own world. Nel did it often, so his world was large--as big as a mansion--with every single detail being thought out and his ideas taking shape easily.
Amyth never stayed in hers very long, despite how comfortable and blissful it was to her. Therefore, hers was only a reflection of her room at the Headquarters, large, clean, elegantly adorned, and filled with her hobbies.
But even with the help of her world, she needed to want to be at The Twelve Headquarters in order to open a portal there. And no matter how she tried to convince herself, the portal would not open.
Nel seemed pretty pleased. He grinned at and hugged Amyth constantly, overjoyed that she was rebelling--even if she didn't mean to.
The others did not smile through the travel. Patrona never smiled, Brin was teary with anxiety, and Zethan was furious. They were almost running across the land, and when Amyth dared to complain, Zethan shot her a glower so furious she felt insulted.
Before she knew it, Patrona had sweeped her off the ground. Amyth nervously glanced up at the fierce Lioness, but relaxed in her arms as Nel grinned back at them.
Soon enough Brin was carrying Nel on her back. He protested over and over again, yelling that Brin shouldn't carry a grown man; But of course, fatigue persuaded him onto Brin's back.
Zethan charged in front of them, angry with himself and with Cyan. She could've fought back, he thought, knowing her powers, she could've easily shoved the kidnapper away.
But of course, Zethan thought, he had almost forgotten that he hadn't received the creator he thought he would've. His creator was brave, curious, imaginative, spontaneous, stubborn, powerful---not....
...Cyan.
Now he had to go and rescue her.
How many more times would he have to do that?
*
There were more people like Cyan's kidnapper.
Many more.
They all wore the same type of clothes, with straps, rings, and latches everywhere. They were a weak-bodied bunch, most very scrawny just as others were big.
As she stepped onto the soft cushioning green grass, Cyan looked around with wide eyes. It was located inside a towering dark mountain that the lizard-like monster had easily scaled.
The cave was completely flattened at the ground, a carpet of sweet-scented grass beneath. The entrance was an arch, tangled with wooden roots, flowers, and herbs that crawled and curved around the high cieling. There were openings in the round roof, piercing the mountain's rock and allowing the cool Avalon breeze to sweep by.
All around them were people, bustling about as if they had no time. Some carried strange equipment, others just seemed to be running around with no direction. Yet as fights broke out over who shoved who, Cyan noticed that she and her kidnapper were in an empty sphere of respect and smiles. They stepped aside and allowed them to pass, eyes crowding Cyan. She felt herself blush, but she kept looking around at the foreigners.
They were strange. All had some kind of oddity to them. They had bags under their eyes, pimply faces, dark looks, tight lips. Cyan would've expected to see them in the back of a crowd somewhere, or in the corner of a classroom, hunched over themselves so as to deflect attention. They stood between and amongst the bright eyed, wide smiled and the loud laughed, they were the fillers of society.
They were people like her.
Her kidnapper noticed her pause. He gazed at her as she stood tall. She lifted her eyes, looking in every direction, her breath coming slow, her shoulders dropping. He couldn't help but take her hand in his and smile at her dumbfounded expression.
"Strange isn't it? To feel people like you near?"
Cyan just stared up at him, taking one last look at the strange crowd before her kidnapper led her up a flight of wooden stairs.
She entered a room. It was circular, with wide open windows on every wall. On one side there was a strangely shaped bed, one that molded to the curve of the wall. On the other end was a dresser, a closet, and a fancy restroom. The walls were made of roots, flowers, rocks, and metal. Up in that room, a 360 view of Avalon was right outside the window.
The man stepped in and sat on the bed, smiling at Cyan.
"How do you like it? I picked the highest mountain just for this view." He said, his eyes also ensnared by Avalon's beauty.
Cyan tore her eyes away from the magestical vibrant illuminous hues of Avalon's sunrise. She stared at the man.
"Who are you? Where am I? What...what do you want from me?"
The man sighed as he laid his head on his shoulder. After grumbling as if he were tired, he cast a sideways glance at Cyan.
"I hoped your first words to me would be a bit...sweeter."
He sat up, a grin spreading on his dark face.
"We are the Volterians."
Cyan stared into his brown full eyes, her brows furrowing.
"No, you didn't create us, no matter how I wish that you did. I," He stood, stepping up to Cyan and leaning so his face was right before hers. "am Myster. Myster Volterian. With a 'y'. I know you don't remember me,"
Myster brought something out from his pocket. He handed it to Cyan and closed her fingers over it. She watched his eyes gleam.
"but long ago...you stole my game from my hands, beat my high score when I said that girls couldn't play video games, and burned it to a crisp."
Cyan turned down and saw the game system in her hands. It was blue, and melted horribly with black scars and metallic roots tangling and piercing the system. She felt at the indents on it, on where her hands almost fit perfectly.
"Your mother attempted to make me forget all of it, and for a time, I did. I lived like all those Volterians down there, balancing between being bullied and being hated. But that game system is what always kept me thinking. And slowly, I started to remember. I remembered every detail--how you chased me down, tackled me--how your hair glowed, your eyes turned into galaxies--oh it was amazing! And this,"
He pointed down to the game system.
"This wonderful item--once I remembered you--I begged and begged for it to bring me to you--not knowing that I was building up my volt at the same time. Then it suddenly opened your portal, the oval with the strange water and black roots!"
And suddenly a portal shot open besides them. Myster grinned as five others opened. Cyan stumbled back.
It took her complete focus to open one.
"And I found your Avalon. I made my home here, and Avalon accepted me with open arms! See how it loves me??"
A dozen more portals opened wide, the ground illuminating cyan and roots growing around them. Myster stepped closer, grinning wide.
"I learned everything there was to know about Avalon. I've seen every sight." He cupped her cheeks. "And I can confess whole-heartedly, that I love Avalon. Therefore, I love you."
Cyan stared incredibly at him.
This place was indeed very strange.
...very strange to feel like a clover in a crowd of them instead of the dirt between the flowers.
...very strange to have someone look at her with the expression Myster held.
...very strange to be told those words.
...very strange to feel someone's breath upon your lips.
Cyan's eyes shot open. He was leaning closer, cupping her cheeks, his lips only an inch from hers.
She suddenly threw herself forward in desperation--headbutting his face and shoving him back. He stumbled backwards, his eyes searching Cyan's. His cheeks flushed as he laughed.
"I-I'm sorry Cyan, I forgot that you probably still have your first kiss don't you??"
He ruffled her hair as she flushed in rage. He didn't seem to notice. He probably interpreted her red cheeks as her being flustered.
He pecked a kiss on her forehead, said goodnight, and left the room.
Cyan heard the lock click from the other side of the door.
She clenched her hands into fists.
He was about to kiss me, she thought. Kiss me! Did he think that I would let him? That those strange words would grant him my lips?
She glared at the door, as if it had betrayed her. After all, it locked her in instead of Myster out.
Cyan gloomed on the bed, gathering the blankets and hugging it tight.
She thought over the night, contemplating the situation.
She was trapped hundreds of feet in the air, with windows she could open wide and escape through. But this was a very high mountain, she thought, one stumble and I'm dead.
She recalled how she had grown wings once; they were large and beautiful. She had tried to fly away from Nel.
She dug her face in the white pillow.
I can't do it.
She shut her eyes, breathing slow. Her mind circulated millions of plans that night; each one's defects were mended till perfection. But she laid on the bed, her familiar company of cold creeping into her arms, and misery glazing over her eyes.
*
Cyan woke the next morning with the creaking of the door.
She sat up, shrinking into the wall behind her. She was recalling that she was not in fact, in Zethan's arms surrounded by her companions, but locked away in a tower above people like her.
Myster stood at the door, stepping inside and smiling at Cyan with a wide white grin. He left the door open and Cyan thought of bolting for it. But as she started up from her bed, another man appeared at the exit. Cyan froze, dismayed.
Myster stepped up to Cyan, acting as if he hadn't noticed.
"Just as I imagined! You're adorable when you wake up, just look at your messy hair!" Myster laughed as he ruffled Cyan's hair.
"--I have to get back to Zethan."
"--Are you hungry? You must be famished right?? We have breakfast downstairs--"
"I have to get back to Zethan."
"Did you sleep well? I imagine it mjst be pretty cold up in this tower.."
"I have to get back--"
"I got it the first time." Myster finally hissed.
His smile dissapeared as his eyes dropped to the wooden floor. He tensed and sighed. Cyan watched him warily.
"I understand you want to get back to Zethan," His eyes met Cyan's. "But that's not what I'm asking you. Answer me. Do you need anything?"
Cyan turned around, pulling the covers over her head and burying herself in the bed's warmth. She stared blankly at the wall, sighing silently.
"I have to get back to Zethan." She muttered.
Myster grinded his teeth in anger. She was being surprisingly difficult; he couldn't have ever imagined her to be so stubborn. He kept visiting her throughout the day. He visited at every empty moment in his schedule. He asked her if she wanted water, food, company, blankets, something to entertain herself. He even left her trays of food and water, but she wouldn't touch them.
But she always just said the same words, and kept sleeping in the bed. She never seemed to move from her spot, not even to acknowledge Myster's presence. Myster was astounded at how long she could sleep.
At the dead of night, he sat in her room. He leaned against the door, carving a wooden block with his sharp miniature knife. The flame of the lamp wavered slightly, casting its warm glow on the floor and around Myster.
In the shadows, Cyan still laid on the bed. She stared out at the wall, surpressing the growling of her stomach and the dry smacking of her lips against her tongue. She kept her breathing still, as if she was asleep, but Myster wasn't fooled.
The wooden shavings layed all around his black jeans and the ground. He absently brushed them away.
A low gurgling sounded. He glanced up at Cyan, who had tensed.
"Your breakfast, lunch, and dinner are ready dear." He mockingly muttered. "In fact, they've been waiting for you, and your stubborness let them go cold."
Cyan kept still and silent.
Myster grumbled and continued on his carving.
Then her stomach growled again and Myster shot to his feet. Cyan spun around, scrambling back and off the bed. Her sleeping feet stumbled and she collapsed onto the cold floor. She desperately dragged herself away, but Myster grabbed her feet and pulled her beneath him. Myster swiftly pinned her limbs down.
Cyan whimpered in fear and turned away, shrinking into herself.
"I don't understand you Cyan, why do you like that creature?? You two could not be more different--and yet you want to go back to him??"
"H-he's my Signum. He's going to be furious at you for kidnapping me--even if you meant no harm. He'll kill you."
"Oh I am aware of that," Myster grinned. "and I don't really give a shit. I've never gotten along with anybody like him anyway. Not him, not--what were those two womans' names again..."
"But he'll kill you! I need to meet with him beforehand--show him that----"
Cyan's lips stopped moving. She stayed deathly still, her eyes locked upon Myster's. He had muttered the names. The two names...
...Rine and Omena.
Cyan sat up, her eyes locked upon his. He took notice and sat up as well.
"W-what? W-what did you just say?"
Myster eyed her curiously.
"That I never got along with Zethan, Rine, or Omena. That trio were always together, and I tended to avoid them."
"Y-y-ou...."
Cyan's tongue felt heavy. Her eyes widened till she felt they might fall out of her face with her river of tears that pooled.
"...m-met..Rine...and O-Omena...?"
"....Yeah. Cyan--what's the matter? Are you crying?"
He cupped her cheek, and jumped when he found it wet. His brown full eyes locked into hers, searching the gaping holes for their cause of tearing.
He met them.
He saw them.
They were...
...alive.
*