Into the Darkness

Chapter Nine

In the morning, Loki woke me up and I rolled over and fell off the bed.

"Smooth. Get up. The trials start in an hour." He smirked. I looked at him as he left and blew hair out of my face. I changed quickly and put my swords and all my weapons on me in their proper place. I walked down the hallway and Loki had one weapon. A sword.

"That's not fair." Loki complained.

"Loki, it is fair. All the weapons that you own can be used in the trials." Zapian replied. I smiled and zipped up my boots.

"You have two days but I doubt it will take that long. You will have to find your own food and water. The sword has a mind of it's own and it will kill you if you attack it. No one is smart enough to fight it. You will fight against yourself, each other and lastly the sword. And possibly me. If the sword is in it's mount, I will be there. So I urge you to be careful." He explained. Loki sighed and I nodded.

"See you out there." He disappeared and there was a door toward the back forest where both of them lie before us.

"Your probably just going to go after it." I smirked.

"Not anymore." Loki gulped. I smiled and opened the door. The trees were slightly neon but not vibrant. I stepped forward and stumbled on a branch.

"What does he mean when he said we will fight ourselves?" Loki asked, helping me regain balance before falling.

"I don't know." I replied, trying to think of a way to get light in this place.

"You could always try to get light by creating a dome and repelling darkness." Loki told me.

"You just love snooping in my head, don't you?" I snickered.

"It's a fascinating place." He smiled. The door shut once he got in and I sighed.

"I don't know how to make domes." I informed him.

"It's a form of water and air. The repelling is a branch of light and water. Figure it out." He sighed.

"How do you know that?" I wondered.

"I studied the branches of powers for the past hundred years." He smirked.

"Over achiever." I sighed.

"That's when I captured you the first time, I didn't go in the water. But I didn't know you were clever." He said. I rolled my eyes and stood there for a second, trying to think.

"I need rain." I said.

"What?" He wondered. I turned to him and glared slightly.

"Shut up and watch." I said. I had a gut feeling I was going to get this right but I had no idea how.

"Are you thinking or you just giving up?" Loki sighed. My blood started to boil and I turned to him. I held two fingers up in between us and a spark came from them. Like a blue lightning spark.

"That's it!" I smiled. He smirked and I rolled my eyes. I pointed my fingers to the sky and lightning flew, attracting rain clouds. Loki watched in awe and I smiled. It started to rain and I stopped the rain in a dome shape over the whole forest. I created a light dome underneath the water one and smiled. It was brighter than usual.

"Well at least I can fully see you." Loki smirked.

"Funny. Let's get going." I sighed. The ground started to rumble beneath my feet and it jolted me to the left, splitting me from Loki. He disappeared from the door, into the trees. I fell back into a clearing and gulped.

I got back on my feet and brushed myself off. Survival was key, so I must find water. And of course this really was easy for me because water was everywhere. I dug into my bag to find a bottle and I held out my hand over the grass. Water came streaming up and I directed it into the bottle till it was full.

Food. Where could I find food? Walking around, I found no berries and nothing around me. I stepped foward and fell into a hole. It was deep enough for me to not get back up. But there was a growl on the other side of the hole. I gulped and turned to see a white tiger.

"Don't eat me." I put my hands up in defense. The tiger stepped forward and got a closer look at me. My breath caught in my throat and fear took over.

"The princess." The tiger said in a British accent.

"Um...hi." I gulped.

"I'm Clovis, the white tiger. I was actual a real person till I was tempted by the light sword and it turned me into a white tiger because I was selfish." He said.

"Well Clovis. Nice to meet you but I would like to get out of here." I sighed.

"Well you have powers. Figure it out." He said.

"I'm tired of people saying that." I groaned. He smiled and curled up.

"Anything to eat?" He asked.

"How long have you been in here?" I wondered.

"I was here two days ago. And evidently this was here." He sighed.

"So you turned into this tiger two days ago?" I wondered.

"No a hundred years ago." He said.

"That's-"

"Yes, I came to here to find the sword of light to fight off Loki but I grew mad and desperate and Zapian turned me into a white tiger. So I ran off and stayed in a forest, trying to find someone to relieve me of this curse." He curled up.

"Do you know how to get back to your human form?" I questioned. He shook his head and I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I started doing the pattern with my fingers and I opened my eyes to see the gates again.

"Aaliyah. What's the matter?" My mother wondered.

"Nothing. I just came to discover myself." I replied. I walked around to find any source of books and every one watched my every move. It was a little scary and I sighed.

"Do any of you know anything on Zapian?" I wondered. My mother's eyes widened and nodded. She ran off into the clouds and I smiled at the others.

"Is she usually like this?" I wondered. A blue streaked man nodded and I assumed he was Osias.

"Nice to meet you Osias." I told him.

"I am very honored to be meeting you." He smirked. My mother came back with a gigantic book and I went over to the book.

"Wait, did you say Zapian?" Osias said. I nodded and opened the book.

"He was my best friend." He sighed. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him.

"Was? It's sounds like he died?" I asked.

"Was as in he is consumed by a dark spirit. The light sword is trying to attack him but is too good. You can't let Loki get the sword or he will destroy it and it will be too late." Osias said.

"Too late?" I gulped.

"The dark spirit is Thanos old one. When Zapian and I came to that place, the spirit overtook him without me knowing and he went mad. I forged the light sword and he took it from me and killed me after the other colonies came. It was an unknown part of the mystery of how I died. He ran off and hid the sword for himself." He explained.

"Okay so what do I need to do?" I wondered.

"Get to the light sword and hit Zapian in the heart with the sword. Then it can be destroyed because there are many ways to bring back the light. But the sword will kill off the dark spirit and bring back Zapian." He said. I nodded and he smiled.

"Your very brave, Aaliyah. I believe you can do it. I have watched you and observed your works. You know what to do. We live inside you. You can always ask us to help." He said. I nodded and he hugged me. It felt really great to be hugging the first Stargazer. He let go and it all disappeared in front of my eyes.

"I understand." I said. Clovis raised his head and smiled.

"Understand what?" He wondered.

"I know what I have to do." I smiled. Everything became clearer for me after talking to Osias. It all makes sense now.