A Perplexing Dilemma

Athelia looked up from her thoughts. She had been wondering of the state of the world; more specifically, her world. When they had left that dimension so suddenly, it had seemed as if the very fabric of time had been thrown into chaos. All their work, hers and Dr. Russel's, had been for nothing. And when we were so close...

She looked out across the landscape, her gaze settling on the group of her new acquaintances. They were circled around a campfire, wrapped in large leaves they were able to find in the forest, and were currently sleeping the night away. Athelia used to revel in her inability to grow weary - it meant she had more time and effort available to channel toward research, toward Dr. Russel's experiments when he finally had collapsed from exhaustion. Tonight, however, she longed for nothing more than being able to close her eyes and forget the issues of the universe, as her companions were doing.

She averted her gaze and instead looked to the sky, marveling at the millions of twinkling lights that blanketed the heavens. Each one had its own story, its own bit of life to share, swirling with energy. If she could only reach out and grab that energy, she felt as if her existance would finally make sense-

"Gazing at the stars again, are we mistress?"

Athelia turned to face Gammon. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

"You just got here, didn't you?"

"Possibly."

Athelia couldn't hide a grin. Gammon had the habit of being mysterious, although he usually failed at his attempts, and looking rather silly after doing so.

"I want to see those stars, Gammon," she said, "I want to be up there with them."

Gammon eyed her surprisedly. "Athelia, are you going back to your Caelvitanian beliefs? You all but abandoned those decades ago."

"I'm not sure. I guess it's just the strain these past few days of alternating between frantically surviving and not doing anything has just got me a little on edge. But it's true. I want the stars in my hands again. I feel dark without them here with me." She did indeed seem dimmer than usual.

"Athelia, we've been having this discussion ever since I met you. The stars aren't alive. They are big masses of energy and light hovering over a bend in the fabric of space. It's impossible for something so structurally simple to sustain life, let alone contain it."

"What are we, Gammon? We aren't even as great as the stars - we don't have the energy or the gas or near the size of a star, and yet we exist. We live. We create. Is it really so difficult to imagine something greater than us also has these gifts?"

Gammon sighed. Athelia's irroneous beliefs that stars were the paradisical beings that watched over the cosmis were foolish, but eons of bickering hadn't changed her mind any other way. Caelvitanians, he thought. Who'd have thought such foolish people once held the greatest technology in the history of the universe before the natural selection process of life decided their collapse?

Gammon started. He had realized something. Athelia was getting dimmer. He glanced at himself to see that he was as well. What is going on?

"Athelia! We need to get back to the others now!"

She looked into his eyes, still filled with wonder and longing. "You go ahead. I will say my goodnights to Master Jacob in a moment. For now, I need to reaquaint myself with the stars. Who knows? If this is indeed a separate dimension, there may be new ones to know."

Gammon flew away to get a better view of what was happening. What he saw terrified him.

From the darkness behind Athelia - behind where he was just standing - tendrils of an unnaturally dark energy were reaching out for the both of them. Athelia was still gazing at the stars, half focused, oblivious to what was happening.

"Athelia!" Gammon shouted, but she didn't hear him. The tendrils wrapped their way around her until the head was all that was visible. Her light was so dark now it was difficult to even know she was there.

With a sudden constriction, the tendrils engulfed the area where Athelia was standing. There was a gust of gossamer-thin light whisps, then all evidence that Athelia had previously occupied the space had vanished.

Gammon tried to scream. He tried to call for help. He tried to jump forward at the essence that had just taken Athelia away from him. All he knew was that a moment later he was speeding as fast as he could to the safety of the camp, where the fire still glowed.

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Jacob woke with an excruciating pain in his entire arm. His entire body seemed to be convulsing with the sheer agony. He looked at his arm to distinguish the source of the pain. What he saw startled him.

The wristband that Dr. russel had given him was surging with power at an astonishing rate. Electric arcs were leaping off of it and linking to his skin, hence the pain.

With a yell, he frantically scraped at the latch holding it in place. In his panic, he jumbled with the catch for a few moments before he managed to rip it off of his wrist and thrust it to the ground.

Waking Revelations

Amorak slowly opened his eyes to the faces of all those he had met in the past few days. At first, he got a warm feeling inside, but this was quickly replaced by a wall of indifference that had sheltered him for his entire life. He pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Back off, people," he said irritably. Obediently, they took a few paces back. Never once did they take their eyes off of him.

Each of them bore a different expression. Elsteba looked as if she was fighting the wishes of every muscle in her body to run up to him and throw her arms around him. Jacob wore a film of slight impatience, though failing to hide the happiness inside. Both of the holograms, Gammon and Athelia, were hovering over the rest, almost directly between Amorak and the sun. The light made it impossible to see their faces; indeed, it was a wonder he had even known they were there in the first place.

Then he saw a new face, one he hadn't seen at first. This face was older by far - he appeared to be in his mid-fifties. What shook Amorak far more than his appearance, however, was the expression that it contained; interest, concern, and maybe a little ... fear?

"What happened?" Amorak asked hesitantly, directing the question to the whole group but never taking his eyes off the newcomer. Something didn't feel right about him.

Jacob started to respond, but Elsteba cut him short. "It was really incredible! Remember that bright light? It was actually a spaceship owned by Alsifar here." She gestured at the newcomer. "According to him, you saved us. That is so cool, Amorak! How did you do it?"

This revelation was enough to distract Amorak from Alsifar. "...What?"

"Oh, don't be so modest, Master Amorak," Gammon said, "We are all trembling with anticipation. Do tell us how it happened."

"Maybe I can assist our oung friend here," Alsifar said. Amorak's eyes snapped back to Alsifar's, judging his every move, assessing every word he spoke. He couldn't put a name or reason to it, but something about Alsifar made every fiber in Amorak's body scream out ENEMY.

Whether Alsifar noticed or not, he made no mention to it. "The light you saw eirlier was indeed my spacecraft, but Amorak shielded the whole planet from the true intensity of the light. Otherwise, you all would be blind at best, and burned to a crisp at worst.

"From the minute he sensed something was wrong, his body started seeping out a dark mist, nearly invisible, which blanketed the entire planet with several shades of darkness. If my light hadn't ben present, it would have seemed like the darkest night you have ever seen."

The others all looked at Amorak with a mixture of speculation and awe, but Alsifar retained his same level of concern, if not more so. Amorak returned the look in kind.

Athelia seemed to understand at least a bit of the interaction between Alsifar and Amorak, and decided to steer down a different path. "Let us be joyful now," she said, clasping her hands together, "We are all still alive and well. Let us look on toward the future with high hearts and happy spirits. Jacob, be a dear and help me look for something that we may prepare for dinner."

This was taken as a general gesture to disperse. Alsifar turned his back on Amorak, hiding his gaze from the young man.

As soon as Amorak was free of the old man's gaze, he immediately relaxed - maybe too much. His body reminded him through his aches that it was not done resting yet. Obligingly, Amorak, laid back down on the earth, his mind full of thoughts of new possibilities. Dark mist? When was I able to do that? Then he remembered his vision; the darkness of the chamber, the chanting figures, and the single figure on the table...himself. It was too much to take at the time; Amorak was still tired, and his body was commanding him to rest.

The last thing he heard before he fell into a dreamless slumber was Jacob saying, "Oh great, he's going back to sleep..."

What Is Your Purpose?

Elsteba looked out over the land, her emotions turning over in her stomach. She sat on an outcropping that overlooked the whole area she had become familiar with the past few days. From her perch, she could see the vast expanse of the ocean, as well as the small island that Amorak lived on, as well as the place where the other three members of the party now stood. Amorak was still out cold with no real guess as to when he would arise.

Now that she was alone, without the constant strange happenings occuring everywhere she looked, she got her first real opportunity to mull over what had happened over the course of the few days.

Where am I, she thought, and how can I get home? And then outloud, projecting her voice out as far as she could, "Where am I?!?"

The only response was her own anguished voice crying back to her from off in the distance. She felt so very alone, and so very homesick. Jacob had been sent here from his home, and this was Amorak's home. As for Alsifar, from what he had said, he didn't really have a home, and even then he still had come willingly and knowingly. Only she didn't have a real reason to be here; she didn't even know how she got here, and much less what she was supposed to do now that she was here, if she was supposed to do anything.

She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She felt so feeble and weak for even thinking these things. At home (wherever home was) she had been tough and independent. Whenever a boy had approached her with the assumption that she was easy, they quickly learned otherwise. At home, she was a master. Here, she could barely be considered a puppet, and likely no more useful than a rock thrown at a mirror.

"Having a rough time, little one?"

Elsteba whirled around, startled. Standing behind her, barely visible in the sunlight, was Athelia.

"Don't scare me like that!" Elstema yammered out, "I nearly swallowed my lungs!"

Heart still pumping, Elsteba stood up. How long had she been there?

"I am sorry. I could tell you were thinking, and what you were thinking about was causing you some concern."

"...you are correct," said Elsteba. Then she turned her back on the teacher and stared out over the ocean, not looking at any particular thing.

Without looking, she could feel that Athelia was still there, watching her. How she longed to be alone with her thoughts, so she could at the very least savor the peace of the moment.

"Do you wish to talk, little one?" asked Athelia tentatively, "I am a hologram, and so I am a very good listener."

Elsteba almost immediately flatly refused her offer, but something inside her begged to tell, needed to spill her sorrow onto another person. A sorrow shared was a sorrow relieved.

"...alright," Elsteba said finally, "Just promise you won't tell the others."

"You have my word."

So Elsteba recounted her past. She told of how the school system always seemingly treated her unfairly, how she had always felt as if something was wrong, and how she had no real friends. She then talked of what had happened in the transfer tube, how she got stuck, how she walked through abyss, and how she eventually found herself on the patch of grass.

"...And even when I was comfortable, Amorak stormed over the next morning and got mad at me for laying on his property," Elsteba concluded, "I don't blame him or harbor any mean thoughts. I just think of how fate must enjoy keeping me constantly unhappy."

Athelia was silent for a small while, and Elsteba couldn't make out her facial features to distinguish what she was thinking - she was hard enough to see in the light, any attemp to make out details was futile.

"You have been under a great deal of stress," she finally said, her eyes kind and full of motherly affection. The look puzzled Elsteba, for she had never seen that expression directed at her before. "However, " Athelia continued, "you show great promise, little one. To be as strong as you are and still be able to feel these emotions...that shows you are among the great of your kind. You are a prodigy, and, sadly, prodigies are rarely happy for a great deal of time into their lives.

"But do not lose hope, little one. You have the power to shape a wonderful future for a great many people, and in so doing, find your true happiness. Have faith. When you find your happiness, it will be greater than the happiness of anyone else in existance, and you can count yourself among the great and true of all time."

Elsteba was left astonished at her words. To think she may be a prodigy was, of course, absurd. She was a normal person who has had a lifelong string of bad luck, and that was all. And yet...

A warmth from deep inside of her filled Elsteba with a simmering passion. She could feel it working through every fiber of her being, from the tips of her fingers to the tapers of her hair. For the first time in her life, she had an overlying purpose blossom forth. She didn't yet know what the purpose was, but the mere feeling made her leap inwardly with joy.

Athelia watched her with quiet amusement, then said, "Come, little one. Your friend stirs and will wake soon."