“.......ace.” I could hear a faint voice calling me. “Jace Princeton,” it said, a little clearer this time. The voice was soft, gentle, and female. I could feel my eyelids flicker. Someones hand gently shook my shoulders. My eyes slowly began to open. The first thing I saw was a candle on a stone wall. And then I felt a massive push in my head. I went up to rub my temple, and I noticed my arms were pretty badly bruised. I gently pushed one of them, and winced. What happened? Where was I? I couldn't remember anything. I looked up, and jumped a little.
A girl was kneeling over me. At least, I think it was a girl. It had long red hair, but it's skin was a pearl white, and looked tighter, and smoother than human skin. It's big eyes looked so feline, and shallow green with the curve at the end. It's face also had an odd black, swirl like vine pattern encircling it's eyes, and cheeks. Growing out the side of it's head were ears shaped like a goat, and perched backwards, and pointing up. It was wearing a yellow skirt that was loose and carefree looking. It's shirt was off the shoulder, just as loose as her shirt, and the same color as it's skin. It had breasts, so I guess it was a girl.
“Are you awake?” she asked me.
I nodded.
“Okay, good because you have to get up.” She got up to her feet, and that's when I saw Mr. Morris lying on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. It all came back to me in a rush. Nero and his minions, his cane with the black stone and the book, him taking Eden, along with everyone else, Tia. Without thinking, I jumped to my feet and grabbed the strange girl by her throat, and pinned her against the wall. I ignored the fact that it sent my whole body aching.
She put her hands up. “Please, don't hurt me. I am no enemy.” she said with a scared look on her face. She looked scared, and I slowly released my grip.
“So what are you?” I asked.
“You could say I was a nymph of sorts. You may call me Anastasia.”
“Okay then, Anastasia,” I started, “how do you know my name?”
She smiled a little, revealing teeth in such a perfect alignment. “It's a gift of mine. I look at you, and I know almost everything about you. I also know you happen to have a little sister who is mentally disabled, am I correct?”
That stopped me for a second. “Yeah, I do,” I said, wary.
“You also have a serpent tattoo on your arm.” she added.
I crinkled my eyebrows. “I don't have a serpent tattoo.”
She cocked her head, and her ears twitched a little, like an animal. She also crinkled her eyebrows which made the dark, curly vine pattern on her face crinkle also. She reached for my left arm. “This is not a serpent tattoo?”
I snatched my arm away. “No, it's a birthmark.”
“You mean it's permanently branded into your skin?”
“Yes...”
“Then it is a tattoo. And it is shaped like a serpent.”
I examined my birthmark again, knowing serpent could be another name for snake. I was shaking my head slightly, sure this was all just a dream. There's no way all that stuff with that Nero person and his disciples could have been real.
“Wait,” I said suddenly, “Do you know who Nero is?”
“Yes,” she said, but she hesitated before she said it.
“Can you tell me?” I asked eagerly.
She bit her lip. “No,” she said.
“Why not?” I said, louder than I meant to.
“Because it is not my place to say.”
“Okay then. Could you tell me what happened to my friends?”
“No, I cannot. If you want to find out what happened to them, you must come with me.”
She grabbed my left arm again and tried to pull me away, but I snatched it back, and stayed in my place. She snapped around to face me. She tried to grab my arm again, but I backed away from her.
“I'm not going anywhere with you.” I started. “You don't know me, you just know things about me, and I don't know you. You haven't told me anything that would make me trust you.”
She took a deep brearth. “I told you, it is not my place to say. The only thing I can tell you is, you are a good guy in all of this.”
She reached for my arm again, but I backed away again, shaking my head.
“Look,” she stated, “I can tell you want to get out of here and find some answers, and I am telling you, the only way to do that is to come with me. I can understand why you would not trust me, especially after what you just witnessed, but you must, because I am your only way out of here.” She finished sternly.
I backed away a little, pressing my back against the stone wall. I looked down at the floor, causing my dark brown hair to fall in my eyes. I closed my eyes, and took a deep brearth, trying to relax myself. Lifting my head back up, I caught sight of Mr. Morris, still lying there in a pool of blood.
“He's dead, Jace.” Anastasia said bluntly. I turned my head to her. Her cat eyes were sad, and her ears twitched a little. She started walking toward me. Her straight red hair was swaying around her shoulders. When she reached me, she put her hand on my cheek, leaned in to my ear, and whispered “I am sorry.” When she backed away to see my face, she was crying a little.
“Okay. I'll go with you,” I said, giving in.
“Okay.” And with that she gently grabbed my left arm, and made her way past Mr. Morris, to the darker end of the hallway. “Hold on,” she said. She put her arm around my waste, and began to wave her hand around. The next thing I heard was a “woosh” that reminded me of when Nero fled. I couldn't see anything, but I felt like I was flying through the sky, without a care in the world. I could feel wind on my face, and all over the rest of my body, and it was exhilarating. I took another deep brearth of it all, letting the air fill my lungs and lift me up higher into the black sky.
“Bend you knees,” I heard.
I couldn't react in time, because just as soon as we were flying, I was face down on a marble floor, making me feel the cut on my forehead.
“Are you alright?” Anastasia asked, slightly panicked.
“Yeah, I think so,” I responded, trying to get to my feet. Anastasia got hold of my hand to help me the rest of the way.
The sight in front of me was surreal, and at the same time, Medieval. The buildings were magnificent. Most were average sized, but it was the structure of them all that caught my eye. The doorways were arched, and the doors were a deep russet red, with two black iron bars going across them, like the door to a castle. The buildings themselves were made out of a tan stone. The little town was filled with colors of red, black, tan, and white, all blended together in a way that was nice to the eyes.
“Where are we?” I asked, taking in everything.
“This is Madelia,” Anastasia answered.
The people were all hustling and bustling in a way that looked anxious, and also nervous. Even the outfits of the people looked a little odd. The girls and women were dressed in those big obnoxious hats you only see rich people wear, and headbands with huge bows on them, and medium to long length dresses dresses with bright colors, and the guys in those pants from the 1800s, and vests.
One couple talking in particular stood out to me. They were both crying, arguing about something, and the man pointed to the sky in the distance. I followed his finger, and saw what was probably the biggest building in this little town. It wasn't really a little place to eat, sleep, or a persons house, but more like a tower. It had a top part of the tower was flat, and stretched horizontally across a little portion of the sky, but what was above that gave me an uneasy feeling. Right above the flat top, was an ominous looking, dark purplish spot, that marred the clear sky. I looked at Anastasia, who was also staring at it with a cross of anger and fear. She hurried and grabbed my arm again to drag me away.
“Come on, we do not have time to gawk. You have to talk to Sicarius.” she said as she speed walked me through the town.
“Who's Sicarius?” I asked.
“You will see.” she answered.
“Let me guess,” I started, “It's not your place to say?”
“You catch on quickly.”
As I was walking through the town, I could hear panicked cries from all of the people as I zoomed past them. One in particular, stayed in my head. A little boy was crying onto his mother's chest, while she caressed him, and told him everything was going to be alright. Her voice said one thing, but her face told a whole different story.
“We are here.” We stopped in front of a building that was different from all of the others. It was the standard house shape, with a triangle roof, but also different from everything else, the exterior was a deep blue, with mixes of green. The door was a little wood door with a brass doorknob. Anastasia stepped forward and knocked on the door three times. I stood back, waiting for what was behind that door.
The knob turned with a click, and slowly opened, and behind it was an old man. He was old, but he was tall, and healthy looking. He had a white beard to his neck, and he was bald. His wwrinkleswere soft, and more accented by the warm smile on his face. He was draped in a blue robe that matched his house color, and his green eyes were welcoming. I slowly began to relax.
“I have found him, Sicarius,” Anastasia said. I raised my eyebrows at her. 'I have found him?' I looked at Sicarius, who was now staring at me. His eyes were examining me with the intent only an old person could muster, and I felt like I was a museum piece on display for curious spectators. His eyes wandered to my left arm, and on my birthmark. The smile on his face went a little bigger.
He looked back at Anastasia. “You did well,” he said, and she looked at the floor and smiled, pleased with herself. If she could blush, I'm sure she would have.
“Come in,” he said gesturing us with his hand.
Anastasia led the way in, and I followed after her.
The inside was even more peculiar that the outside. It had a musty, ancient smell, but at the same time, it smelled homey. It was only one room. A table was closest to us, and on the left side of the room. A stove and oven was next, and on the right side, and in the very far back was a bed that was made neatly, with simple colored sheets. Against the walls were countless shelves that were filled with dusty looking books, and weird looking trinkets, and other items you would find in a role playing game. The only normal thing was a fish bowl, and swimming inside it was a little gold fish. While Sicarius was roaming the shelves for something, I made my way farther down the shelve I was on, stopping on something that looked like a wand. It was long, and red, but with a black tip. Something about it seemed to glow, and I felt the need to touch it. I reached up, slowly extending my arm and -
“Don't touch that,” Sicarius stopped me. In his hand was a suspicious looking yellow liquid, and a sponge. He grabbed a chair, and lay it out for me. Anastasia was on the other side of the chair. I don't know why, but it made me feel trapped.
Knowing I couldn't do anything about it, I sauntered over to the chair and sat down.
“Put your head back,” he told me. He took the vial of yellow liquid, and dumped a little of it into the sponge. Then he took the sponge and moved it over my cut. I expected it to sting a little, but it didn't. It felt like sunshine on me face. It made me relax finally.
“I see you've met Nero,” Sicarius said to me with a little chuckle.
I popped up out of my seat.
“You know Nero!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, I do.” He said. “Sit back down.”
I sat.
“When you met Nero, did he have a book and a cane with him?”
I scanned my memory. “Yes, I can remember a cane and a book.”
“Did this cane have the Black Diamond sitting on top of it?”
“Yes,” I responded.
“That diamond, is cursed,” he said, his tone and his face going dark.
He paused a second, as if preparing himself. I looked at his face, and I could tell I was going to be sitting here for a while.
“The book in his hand, that was the Book of Psaris,” he launched into his story. “It is filled with prophecies and glimpses of the future.”
“The future?” I asked in awe, my eyes bulging out of my head a little.
“Yes, the future. Naturally, everyone wanted for themselves, hoping to take a peak at their future, but no one who obtained it was ever happy.” His voice was deep, and haunting. “The reason being, it held frightful stories not meant for human eyes. The main prophecy, being the one of the Black Diamond.”
My heart was beginning to beat a little faster, but I ignored it, already entranced in this story.
“'Only the blood of a pure heart may activate the Black Diamond, and henceforth, open the black hole,' so it is written.” As he said this, his eyes were distant, looking out into space.
I was fixated, until my mind hung on a certain phrase. Only the blood of a pure heart may activate the Black Diamond. My mind then wandered back to Nero, and how he said he needed a pure heart. And that's when he took Eden, Tia, Liam, Gracie, and everyone else.
“What do you mean 'the blood of a pure heart?'” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I mean, a pure-hearten person must die in front of the Black Diamond in order for it to activate.”
I rolled over that in my head. Nero said Eden was his pure heart. Sicarius had just said a pure heart had to die in order for the black whole to open, and at that my mind went back to that purplish spot I saw in the sky. A single tear slid down my face as I made the horrifying, heart wrenching connection.
“Oh my God,” I was shaking my head in denial. “He killed Eden,” I choked on the words.
“If the Black Diamond is not stopped, the black whole will consume all worlds.”
“Who wrote this book?” I said, the tears streaming harder.
“Nobody knows. But it is a theory that the one who authored the Book of Psaris is the same one who created the Black Diamond.”
“Is there a way to stop it?” I said, sure my face was pale white.
“Yes.” He got up and went back to one of his bookshelves and pulled a book that was covered with dust. He slammed it on the table, and a dust cloud blew up, making me cough a little.
“This book was written by my ancestors, the same one who built this here town, to counter act the Book of Psaris. My ancestors called this the Book of Itha.”
I drew my hand across its learthery binding. The pages were a little ripped, but like Sicarius said, it was written by ancients.
“Also created by my ancestors, was Iridescan's Amulet.” he reached into one of his pocket, and slowly pulled out a gold chain with a gold, solid circle hanging off of it. He held it up to me. It looked like it was missing it's middle piece.
“Like the Book of Psaris, the Book of Itha tells the story of this little beauty right here,” he said, waving it in my face. “I see you noticed it's missing it's piece. Well, my ancestors were worried about the security of it, and to protect it, they separated the middle piece into eight different factions, and spread them throughout different realms.” I nodded my head, drawn to the story again. “'Once one piece is found, the next one will reveal itself by opening the portal to its realm,'” he quoted another passage. “I have the first piece right here actually.” he reached into his pocket again, and pulled out a small red stone, that like the Black Diamond, was translucent, and seemed to glow from the inside. The sight of it made my birthmark burn, in a good way.
“So, which realm is this?”I asked.
“It's not really a realm at all. It's more like...” he stroked his beard, trying to find the words. “You could say it was between realms.”
“Wait, if you have it, why don't you just find the other pieces?”
“Because it is not my place,” he said, repeating Anastasia.
“So who has to find them?”
A smile slowly spread across his face as he stared at me. “You,” he said.
I choked on my brearth. “Me?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes, you.”
“Why me?” I asked again, my voice more than a little shaky.
“Because, you are the 'Boy with the Serpent Tattoo.” He said, staring at my birthmark. I quickly slid it under the table. Sicarius brought my arm up and lay it on the table. With his bony finger, he traced the birthmark to my elbow.
“The Boy with the Serpent Tattoo must travel through these realms to find the pieces of the Amulet. 'When all pieces are found, the very last piece shall reveal itself.'” He looked at me. “However, just finding the pieces won't be enough to stop the Black Diamond completely, it will only give you the power to do so. In order to completely stop the Black Diamond, The Boy with the Serpent Tattoo must harness the power of Iridescan's Amulet to defeat the Black Diamond's wielder.. That wielder, would be Nero.”
Nero had thrown me 50 feet clear with just a flick of his hand, and he didn't even touch me. How could I possibly fight, let alone defeat him? Sicarius' mouth was moving, but his words were barely clicking in my head. I was overwhelmed by what he was saying. This had to be some weird dream, and I would wake up any time now, and get ready for school. I pinched myself, but nothing changed. “Listen, I want to help. I do, but I can't be your hero, or whatever.”
“But you are the hero of the prophecies-”
“No, I'm not. I can't even throw a dodge ball.”
Sicarius examined me again. “You doubt yourself.”
“I'm honest with myself,” I replied.
“Listen, um...”
“Jace,” Anastasia interjected.
“Jace,” he said, “you have a lot of strength that you don't give yourself credit for.”
“I know. I'm weaker.” I sighed. “Look, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to find yourself another hero.”
I snatched my arm back, and got up from the table.
“Jace, wait,” Anastasia said after a period of silence. “You can't go.”
“I can, and I will,” I told her.
I turned the knob, and left into the little town known as Madelia.

The bright light of the outside hit me like train. Trying to get as far away from this place as possible, I started walking forward into the little town, or Meldina, thinking over all I had just been told.
So this dark, prophetic book called the Book of Psaris, which was written by an unknown author, tells a tale of this stone called the Black Diamond, and the unknown author is rumored to have created the Black Diamond. In the Book of Psaris, it is written that by the killing of a pure hearten person in front of the Black Diamond, it will activate and tear a black hole in the sky.
I looked up at the dark purple spot in the sky, that now that I look at it closer, moved in a clockwise direction. I went a little cold.
If the Book of Psaris, and the Black Diamond are both not stopped, it will consume all worlds, dimensions, and realms. The Book of Itha was written by Sicarius' ancestors, and Iridescan's Amulet, which also created by his ancestors, were created to counteract the Black Diamond. Iridescan's Amulet was split into eight different pieces and spread throughout different realms in an attempt to protect it. The Boy with the Serpent Tattoo must find the eight pieces to Iridescan's Amulet, harness its power, and use it to defeat the Black Diamond's wielder, and apparently, the Boy with the Serpent Tattoo was me.
Thinking of it all made my head hurt. I rubbed my forehead to try to ease the pain, when I realized I didn't feel any blood. The gash on my forehead was all healed. Noticing my arms, I also noticed the bruises on my arms were gone. I lifted up my shirt. No bruises on my stomach either. The yellow liquid Sicarius rubbed on my head must have been some kind of healing serum. He was willing to do that for me and he didn't even know me. That means he must be a good person, right? I shook my head. No, it doesn't. He only wants me to be in my best shape so he can use me to fight his battle.
Walking even further into the town, a sudden truth slammed into me. I had no idea where I was. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't know how to get out of here. As far as I'm concerned, I'm stuck here.
No, your not, I told myself. You're going to get out of here, you just have to ask the right person.
I started looking around to see who might have any clue. I saw a potter, and a weaver outside talking and smiling. They were both wearing scarfs wrapped around their heads, and drab looking dresses you'd see on waitresses. They looked like friends to me. They were also pretty old, and probably lived like this all their lives. They were guaranteed to know something right?
I slowly approached their work stations, plastering a friendly smile on my face. “Hello,” I said cheery.
They looked at me like I was crazy. They eyed my clothes in a peculiar way, and I realized I was still wearing my gym uniform. I got it now, compared to everyone else, I must have looked like I was out of my mind.
“Hi there...” the potter said, unsure if she should talk to me. I ignored the blatant thought that was all over her face, but remained unspoken.
I still smiled, continuing. “I'm a little lost,” the look on the weavers face said 'clearly,' “could you help me find my way out of here?”
They crinkled their brows in unison. “What do you mean by 'find my way out of here?'” the weaver asked.
“Like, is there a way out of Madelia?”
“There is no way out of Madelia. At least not that I heard of. What about you,” she turned to the potter.
“I haven't a clue.”
I dropped my head. I was dead wrong, and these two were useless, and not to mention rude. When I lifted my head up, I still kept my fake smile. “Well thank you for your time.” I said, waving as I tried to hide my annoyance.
Come on Jace. There's got to be someone is this town that can help you. I looked around desperately, brushing the confused looks people gave me off my shoulders. I starting jogging forward, not really looking where I was going. I was almost traveling at full speed, and the people around me were starting to blur.
I had to get out of here. There was no way I was some hero of prophecies or whatever he said. Full blown running now, my hair was blowing back around my head. My eyes were completely uncovered, but I still could barely see through the haze of my desperate tears. I was about to break into a sprint when I ran into something hard, and knocked me to the floor. I slowly opened my eyes to see what looked like a restaurant. On the door was a picture of a pot with steam coming out in all its clip art like glory. If there's a person who may know something, it would be a chef right? Chef's know everything.
I immediately got to my feet, and pushed through the door.
The aroma from the kitchen immediately hit my nose, sending me into a delicious daze. I sat there, inhaling the smell of spicy soup when a New York accent snapped me out of it.
“Hey you!” a lady behind the register wearing an apron and holding a spatula yelled at me.
The restaurant itself was small, and the kitchen was literally right behind the counter that held the cash register. There were few tables, about ten, and each had three chairs to them. I guess every place in Madelia was small... “You just gonna stand there, or are you gonna bye somethin'?”
I slowly walked over to her, assuming she was the cash lady, and the chef. She looked different from everyone else. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail that rested in the middle of her head, and her shirt was blue. She was her own person from everybody else. She had to know something. I took a seat in one of the stools in front of the counter.
“Actually, I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Well, your not gonna get an answer unless you order something.”
“Okay...” I said looking for a name tag. That's peculiar. She didn't appear to be wearing one. I looked up at her menu. There were a variety of things, most of which I had never even heard of. “I guess I'll take the spicy mushroom soup looking stuff,” I said. I couldn't pronounce the name...
“Coming right up.” she said, thankfully, understanding what I meant. She turned, whipping her ponytail in my face, almost hitting me. I turned my head away. A guy was standing outside the opened doorway, frantically handing out fliers. He was no older than 30, wearing the standard outfit for men in this town. I could barely make out what he was saying. I craned closer, and felt an unmistakeable twinge of guilt. He was shouting 'Apocalypse.' And then he started frantically pointing at the sky.
I wanted so desperately to help. So much, but I didn't know how. Ever since my younger sister was diagnosed with Asperger's at four, I had become her protector. Her 'squishy' as she called me. But that was different. When ever she needed my help, it was from little 13 year old boys her age. The whole universe wasn't at stake.
I quickly repositioned myself on the stool, and snapped my head back to face the chef to see the soup stuff glide under my nose.
“That was fast,” I chuckled.
“It happens when you've been doing this your whole life,” she answered bluntly. I nodded. I was just about to dig in when she said, “That will be 15 gledos.”
I looked up at her with a 'what did she say?' look on my face.
“What are gledos?” I asked.
“Gledos, you know like money,” she answered while rubbing her fingers together. “Don't tell me you don't have any gledos?”
“Well, I...umm..” I sat there mumbling like an idiot. “Well, let me see what I have,” but the chef lady was already reaching under her counter for something. I fizzled through my gym short pockets, trying to find something before she pulled out an intercom or something. I didn't find anything. And she was already stating to come up from under the counter. Damn it.
Her head came up from under, and I stiffened, waiting for her to call security or something. I heard a clang, and she pulled out a cage, with a bird inside. I stared in bewilderment as she reached in and pulled the bird out of it's cage, and, to my utter shock, put the side of its head to her lips, like she was kissing it. But then her lips started to move against it, as if whispering. She moved her face, and held the bird up to the ceiling. It flew, flapping it's blue feathers, making a single one slowly glide to the floor. It settled on a plank on the ceiling. I was staring at it intently, with extreme curiosity.
What happened next nearly made me fall out of my chair. The bird opened it's beak, and I expected it to squawk. But instead, it began talking. Like, actually talking, but with the ladies voice.
“Security, we have a code 4532. Stealer, I repeat, stealer,” it twanged that same New York accent. I was too stuck on that fact that it was a freaking talking bird to really notice it was talking about me.
Coming from the two back doors, two big burly guys dressed in all black busted through. They didn't register in my head until they gripped up my arms and pinned them behind my back, as well as slamming my face to the counter, pulling my open mouthed gaze away from the blue bird.
“I'm gonna guess your not from around here. Any other person would have ran as soon as I went under the counter.” I looked up, to find her shaking her head, moving her dark ponytail. “Get him out of my sight.”
I felt my arms nearly yanked out their sockets as I was dragged out my seat. Just like in that gym class, I knew struggling would be pointless. She started to turned back to her work station, but she stopped halfway. She slowly turned back to me as I was being dragged out.
“Are you...” she stopped her question. Well actually no, I just didn't hear the end of it because I was tossed out. Pretty hard too. I was flailing my arms, trying to grab onto air, but I slammed into the marble floor, smacking my head against it. The force made my body bounce twice. I opened my eyes, and rubbed the back of my head. This was the 4th time I smacked my head against something. I had a concussion for sure. My vision was red, but was slowly starting to clear.
“Who are you?” a high, squeaky voice asked me. I turned my head to see a little girl, no older than seven. She was blonde, and she was wearing a blue bow in her hair, and a bright red medium length dress. She knelt down beside me. Her face was examining mine, and she reached her hand up to touch my forehead. “Are you alive?” she asked me.
I smiled, chuckling a little, and propping myself up on my shoulders. “Yes, I'm alive,” I said. At least I thought so.
“So who are you?” she asked again.
“My name is Jace. Jace Princeton.”
“My name is Schia.”
“Schia? That's different,” I said.
She cocked her head. “Really? It's pretty common here. There's one other Schia in my class.” She scrunched up her little face, pursing her lips. “Why are you wearing that?”
I looked down at my gym clothes, biting my lip trying to decide what to say to he. “Let's just say I'm not from around here.”
Her big hazel eyes got even bigger, and she started hopping up and down eagerly. “Are you the hero?!” she asked in a rush.
Shit. I wanted to say no, and then get up and run, but I couldn't tell her that. Or do that for that matter. I most likely was this hero person. The problem was I didn't want to be. Whoever was this hero, he had to save all worlds and realms from absolute destruction. Who would want that kind of pressure on their shoulders?! Because I most certainly didn't. I was only 16 for crying out loud!
“Nah, you can't be the hero,” she said suddenly, interrupting my inner turmoil. “The hero is supposed to be big, and strong. You look kind of weak.”
I think I was offended by that.
I smiled at her as she launched into her big description of what the hero was going to be like. I couldn't help but laugh at her descriptions, as everything she said couldn't have been more opposite to me. It was weird, she was six years younger than my sister, Katie, but she reminded me of her so much. The way she was so innocent about everything. How adorably clueless she was about the real world.
My sister... Sicarius said the black whole would consume all worlds. Did that include the Earth I knew. Would that include my family? Thinking that it might have hurt my heart.
I shook my head. You're not going to think about this now, I told myself. You're over thinking things. There's no way, that included Earth. Right?
Wait a second. Maybe Schia knows something. The innocence was a good coverup for keeping secrets. The one who knows the least, knows the most.
“Hey, um, Schia,” I started, stopping her story “this is going to sound like a weird question, but, could you help me find a way out of here?”
“No,” she said bluntly for the second time. Was everyone in this town so straight forward?
“Why not?”
“Because there's no way out. Unless you're the hero. He's a dimension traveler. That's the only way.”
“But why is there no way out?”
“Well I don't know. The only way out of a dimension, or area between dimensions is to be a dimension traveler. You came here with some weird looking girl thing. I saw you earlier.” She stopped her choppy sentences and looked at me. “There's no way out of the dimension you came from, is there?”
I thought about this for a second. Earth was Earth. There really wasn't a way off of it, unless you were an astronaut. Judging from the way they did things around here, I assumed they didn't have that kind of technology yet. There intercoms were talking birds...
“No,” I answered. “There isn't.”
“Then there really isn't a way out of here either,” she said, air quoting 'out of here.'
I sighed, and plopped back on the marble floor. She was right. She was so wise, yet she was only 7. Well, I technically wasn't wrong. The one who knows the least, really knows the most.
Sudden truth slammed into me. If I wanted to get out of here, I could only do one thing.
“It was really nice talking to you, but I got to go, okay?”
“Okay,” she got up with a little bounce on her feet, and walked away.
I got to my feet, and began walking back to Sicarius' house. But then I stopped.
Earlier, I just kind of ran without direction. I had no idea where I was, and had no idea where I went. Okay Jace, don't panic. Madelia isn't that big, and his house sticks out like a sore thumb. You'll find it in no time. I turned around, and collided with a long, blue, solid cloth. I backed up a little bit, and in front of me, was Sicarius, Anastasia by his side.
“Are you looking for someone?” he asked with a smile on his face.
I nodded.
“I knew you'd come around,” Anastasia said.