City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I have to go now then. Can I miss training? Please?" I question.

"I don't know. You're going to have to go to training today and then we can talk about what we need to do about this." Stacy informs me calmly.

"What do I have to do?" I let out a shaky breath.

There are too many questions forming in my mind and not enough time to get them answered.

"First, you are going to have to get a permission token from a stage four. Those are pretty hard to get because stage fours don't usually grant them to people, especially not stage twos. Many people have bad intentions too; some people want to go to Earth just to see people they lost, which is not allowed at all.

"Then, you have to find a stage three who is willing to take you to the Underworld, which is also hard to find because most voyagers only go to Earth, or the middle world, and back. Very few actually have experience with the Underworld because it is so hard to get out of there. No stage three voyager is going to actually want to go. Once you acquire those things, you are going to have to inform a person of authority that you have to miss some training." Stacy explains.

"Are you a person of authority?"

She shakes her head. "No, unfortunately I am not. I am only a stage two. This person has to be a stage four that isn't the person who granted you the trip."

"We don't know any stage fours." Brooke adds.

"I only know of one." Stacy sighs.

"Wait." Brooke's eyebrows raise. "What about Tanner's brother? Isn't he a stage four?"

"I think so." I try to remember if Tanner told me what stage his brother was, he has to be at least a stage three.

Stacy squints her eyes to think deeply. "I suppose that would work. But you need to understand how much danger you are going to be in. Even if you go, you might not be able to even get into the Underworld or rescue him. You don't even know a stage four to grant you a token, do you?"

I shake my head. "Do you?"

Stacy doesn't say anything for a moment, then her eyes light up. "I do know somebody who could help, but I doubt he would let you go. Stage fours usually don't let just anybody leave the Afterworld. It's harder and more serious than you think. Let me think about this for a while, but for now you need to get ready for training." She shuts the door before I can respond.

Brooke mouths "I'm sorry" before following Stacy out of my room. I collapse onto the floor and wish that I could just go back to sleep and never wake up.

After so many days of worrying, my worst fears have become a reality and there's hardly anything I can do to make it better.

I feel claustrophobic and restless, like I need to get out of my room and take action, but what could I possibly do? I don't know anything about the Afterworld and I've been a stage two for only a few days. I don't know how anything works and I certainly don't know how to save my brother from the Underworld. This is way out of my league.