Day 244 - Leaving Planet Levi

Keylee and I were the first ones to land on Shadow Beach. We got out of our ships and sat down on the beach careful not to wander too far. I hated leaving and I hated this war. I was terrified of losing of losing my brother, my friends, and especially poor Rosa. I wrapped my arm around Keylee and pulled her closer at the thought.

"What do you think caused the Shadow?" I asked Keylee, trying to take my mind off of leaving.

"I don't know. I've only been here a few days longer than you. Skyler and Zane may know more about, or Ax and Reaper. I just know when it came it destroyed everything."
she replied.

Neither of us had much more to say. I couldn't think straight. We waited in silence for the others.

I shifted my weight on to one foot awkwardly. After a couple of minutes of silence, I asked, "So, how are we supposed to get there?"

My crew and I will be taking you on the Ghost Ship. We will set sail in just a few minutes and I thought I should give you fair warning before you bord.
This is not a normal crew. Don't talk to anyone because they will not talk back to you. If you have any questions or need anything while on board, you come find me. It's going to be a bumpy ride so if any of you get sick, don't throw up near me.
Now follow me so we can leave.

Once the sails are set and the ship is ready to go, we make our way out into the dark ocean. We'll travel for a few hours on the waters until we hit Skull Rock, then we'll take off for the planet's atmosphere. I wish I had more faith in this trip than the Empress...
After a few hours pass, I hand out the bottles of potion. "Drink these now before we get to Skull Rock. Drink the whole thing. You'll need it all to pass through the atmosphere. Once ouside it you should be fine."

"That would be Skull Rock. And that's not exactly smoke. That's the shadow that is cast all over Shadow Beach. And it will do you good not to ask any questions about it or come back to see it again. Ever. Now, if you'll all prepare yourselves we're about ready to take off."
I walked away but kept my eye on that Alex kid. I knew he had been snooping around Shadow Beach and would do anything to get back to Skull Rock to find out what it was. Maybe it's a good thing he does try to come back.
I watch the crew as they get ready to take off into the air. The ship makes a sudden jolt and throws the adventurers to their feet. I should have warned them. Oh well.
The ship takes off into the air and the sails catch the breeze. A few moments later we reached the atmosphere and I watched to make sure the adventurers didn't age any. If the potion doesn't work they could all die on the ship from old age.

. . . . .

They were fine. We made it through the atmosphere and out of the danger zone. The worst part was over.

There's not a lot going on out in space. Everything doesn't always have to take centuries to get to it. We could reach the Planet of Moredor in a few hours. Which is all the time we'll have while they are on the potion.
I sent the adventurers to bed to get some rest before they start their mission. The less they move around out here, the longer the potion will last.
At one o'clock in the morning we had finally reached the Planet of Moredor. It's not exactly the sunniest place in the world. My kind of place.
The crew and I made sure everything was set before we awoke the adventurers.
Once everyone was awake and on the planet, I told them which direction they needed to take. One of them asked me how I knew where to go. I told her, "let's just say I've been here before and leave it at that".
They all looked a little nervouse and scared at first. Then one by one they began to head off into the woods. When they were out of site, I sent one of my deceased crew members after them to make sure they were safe. The Empress insisted we have someone keep a close watch on them.
My part of the deal was done. Now time to head home and hope for the best.

"It looks kind of like a hot air balloon. I wonder where it's going?"
Most of us watched the rather large floating balloon through the tops of the trees. It was all one color except for the ropes that were on it; which were brown.
"Let's follow it and see where it's going."
While the balloon was floating through the air, we were running on the ground. One of us would look up occasionally to make sure we were still going the same way. The further we ran, the brighter the sun got through the trees.
All of a sudden, the sun was so bright we couldn't see. My eyes became clear just as I saw the edge of the forest. Reaper was running in front of me and I had to pull her back to keep her from falling off the edge. We all came to a hault when we realized where we were. We almost ran off into a gorge. The fog in the gorge was so thick that you couldn't even see the bottom.

"Woah," was all I could say. We just stood there for a moment taking it all in.

The same boat we were following suddenly turned into hundreds. Across the way was a huge castle. I'm guessing that's where Rosa is.
I noticed the sun was gone and the clouds were out. Then I noticed that the fog had cleared, too. You could actually see the bottom. There was a river running all though it. The water was so clear you could drink out of it. That would be a good place to get water if one of us could get down there.

"I think it's a good idea to find a hotel and all, but I don't think we are going to find one in the forest. We should just back before we get noticed."

"You girls stay here for a while and the boys and I will try and find a way across the gorge."
I hugged Reaper and she whispered 'be careful' in my ear. I smiled at her and started back to the edge of the forest.
"I think we should walk along the edge of the forest and see if we can find a way across it. We can't have the girls fly us over because I think it would be too obvious. What do yo guys think?"

"Yeah, I don't think flying is a good idea around here. I'd hate to chance it. Around the forest then?"

Alex, Zane, and Sasha agreed.

We walked through the woods and back around to where the gorge was. The fog made it hard to see anything. Tons of balloons were still flying overhead, I hoped none of them recognized us. We walked around the edge of the gorge to look for a way over. I thought I saw rocks around the edge. I bent down and felt through the fog, there was a stone bridge going over the river. At least it felt like a bridge. It was hard to see anything through all the fog.

"Hey, guys I think there is a bridge over here, come on."

We crossed the bridge to the other side of the river, after walking a bit father the fog wasn't as bad. We came up to what seemed to be a small city in the woods on the outskirts of the castle. The castle was still a good distance from where we were at. I could see lights up ahead, we came up to a small in.

"This looks like a safe place to stay. If that castle is where they have Rosa then we should be close enough to keep an eye on them, but still far enough that they shouldn't be able to find us for a while. What do y'all think?" I asked.

"Sounds good. Let's go back and tell the girls."

Just as I was about to turn around, I noticed someone walking into the inn. They were completely human! All the other invaders where half robot, half human. I noticed another human across the street from the inn. All these people were human. Why? Everyone we faught had been half robot.

I wanted to talk to them; ask them a few questions, but I knew the girls had been waiting for a few hours and they would be getting worried. We will be back soon, I'll just ask them then.

I followed the others back across the bridge and through the forest.

----------

As we were walking up to the girls, I heard Reaper say, "I think they're lost.... Or they've been captured. Either way I'm getting impatient and this forest officially freaks me out."
"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore. Jace found a bridge, which leads to a small town where we found an inn; so you ladies won't have to sleep in the dirt tonight."

I laughed a little and helped Reaper up off the log. She replied in a sacarstic tone, "Oh, but snookems. I SO wanted to sleep in the dirt and have little buggies crawling all over the place. A campfire we can roast something on. It's forever been a dream of mine! .... NOT! Fluffy pillows here we come!"

"Snookems? Really?" I asked as we started to walk back to the bridge.

"Well... I was trying to give it a little 'I'm so pitiful' effect. No good?" she asked.

"Haha, no. Not really. Nice try though."

We made it over the bridge just fine and continued on our way to the town. When we got there, I noticed there were more humans out than before so blending it would be okay. The inn was in the middle of the town and while walking through I saw a few supply shops. None of the stores were in perfect condition but they weren't completely falling down, so they should have a few things we might need.
We made it to the inn, walked in, and found the owner.

I blinked. "Well. At least we know what happened," I said slowly, while we were on our way to our rooms. I saw someone stepping outside of their room. They had some very odd, cat-like eyes. And that hair... it seemed familiar.. I elbowed Zane in the stomach. "Ow! What was that for!" He said angrily. I pointed my head in the mans direction. "I can't tell if we know him or not," I whispered in Zane's ear. "Well, the guys covered in glitter, who else could it be?" He whispered back. "I don't know. We've never been here, maybe a lot of people here sprinkle glitters all over themselves." Zane rolled his eyes. "Magnus? Is that you?" I asked. He turned around. "Skyler! What are you all doing here?" He asked.

"Magnus! Shouldn't we be asking you that question?" I said.

Magnus just glared at me.

"Well, they took Rosa and we are here to find her. Now why are you here?"

"I am going to take my cat, Chairman Meow, for a walk." He replied and pointed to his feet. A tiny animal that resembled a rat was standing behind him.

"But what are you?...how did you know we were here?..Is that really a cat?"

He sighed. "I have important things to take care of while you bunch of incompetent teenagers frolic around the planet and try to get yourselves all killed.
Now, no offense but the only one among you who seems somewhat formidable is Alex." Magnus winked at Alex. "I'd say it's been nice meeting you all here but, in fact, it hasn't. It's been quite awkward, and frankly, the next time I see a single one of you will be far too soon." said Magnus.

Magnus turned and walked down the hallway, his cat following at his feet. He ran his hand through his hair and glitter went everywhere.

"I swear he is gay, did you see him wink at Alex?" I whispered to Keylee. She just giggled.

I sneezed and dusted off the shiny blue glitter from my clothes.

"He's cool and all, and I love how he gave us wings and powers, but he still gives me the creeps." I shivered and, what do ya know, it rained sparkles. I sneezed again.

"Jeesh! Where does he get all that sparkle?" I huffed as I turned and unlocked the room that Sasha and I were to share. It looked pretty normal. Two beds, a mini-fridge, kitchen, window, bathroom. I waved goodnight to the others and stepped inside with Sasha. As i pulled the heavy black curtains from the windows, I shivered as a chill grasped my heart. The world out there looked dark, cruel, and menacing. Think of Rosa. I told myself. You have to save Rosa.

Sasha came up behind me and peered out. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like "We're in hell," and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I breathed in his clean scent and drank the moment in. With a kiss on his cheek I smiled weakly and hastily turned away from the window and downed the last of the potion from my first bottle. Then I grabbed my silk night gown and slipped into the shower (glad to wash off the sparkles.)

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as Magnus walked away. "He's so weird," I muttered to myself, unlocking the door to me and Zane's room. I walked in and collapsed face-first on the bed, not bothering to change or unpack. I was too tired. And what was the point, anyway? I might not have time to change back to normal clothes tomorrow, I wasn't even sure if I had packed pajamas. And if I unpacked, then I'd just have to pack again, which is always a bore, and we might not have time whenever we leave, which would hopefully be soon. It's really depressing here, and I don't think anyone likes being here. I decided to not worry about this stuff tonight, and to just try to get some sleep. "Night, Zane," I said, sighing.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen as I woke. It felt alien not having the sun shine in my eyes or having golden light creep into my dreams.

I shuddered as I dressed in a simple black halter top, jeans, and sneakers and combed my golden blonde hair. I woke Sasha and helped him pack his things. As we were leaving to meet the others in the lobby, I caught a glimpse at my reflection.

I looked... different. My eyes were blazing brown; maybe even golden amber. Messy waves of blonde hair framed my face. I had never looked so determined, frustrated, or..tired. I sighed as my wings turned a light silver. I did need my beauty sleep, but I wouldn't until Rosa was safe on Levi. I was surprised to see that some blue sparkles remained on my broze skin. I sighed. "I'm gonna kill Magnu-" I was cut short as the sparkles suddenly lifted off my skin and stuck to my wings, turning them dark blue and sparkly. Suddenly I wasn't tired and was full of energy. I lost my sleepy haze, and all my doubts evaporated.

"Did you just...I just.. blue sparkles...gave me energy...?" The look on Sasha's face told me I wasn't the only one. I smirked into the mirror. "Okay. Magnus can live. This time." I could almost see him smiling mischeivously and then dissapearing in freaking blue sparkles. Sasha and I hurried out to see if this had happened to the others.