Back at the rolling hills and moss-covered rock that was as big as a small house, Lady Gisela showed Ana how to enter. She brushed away some moss, revealing a shiny silver square.
"Now, I haven't programmed your DNA into the sensor yet, so here's what you do when I do." Lady Gisela licked the square, and the rock rumbled, lifting slightly. Ana and Gisela squeezed under, and Gisela levitated them down a-
"Is this an elevator shaft? So, you're basically a human elevator?! This is so cool!" Ana squealed.
"What is an elevator shaft?" Lady Gisela asked, as they got out through the doorway closest to the top. "Never mind," she added as Ana started to explain.
Ana shrugged. "Where are we?" she questioned. Looking around, Ana saw the packed dirt walls were covered in wallpaper, with what looked like piles of balloons filled with liquid, a small but deep pool, two saunas tucked into a corner next to each other. The space wasn't huge, but it wasn't small, either. More like an elementary school-sized gymnasium.
"This is where we practice our skills," Lady Gisela said. She pointed to the pool. "Holding your breath," she pointed to the saunas, "extreme temperatures, one is hot, one is cold," pointed to the balloons, "telekinesis, basically the opposite of what you humans call tug-of-war. Oh, and of course, we practice levitating in the hole we just exited. Gisela gestured to the chasm.
"Can I do any of those things?" Ana asked.
"I don't believe so since you don't have Elvin genetics. However, our, er, physician has a solution. She will explain it when you see her. Now." Lady Gisela grabbed Ana's hand, and they dropped down the shaft again.
"This is our meeting room," Lady Gisela said, leading Ana into a small room with doors guarding their entry to the shaft. It had a long crystal table, with matching crystal chairs. Ana sat in one, and Gisela sat in the one across from her.
"Ana," she said, "Welcome to the Neverseen. You will wear this all the time," she instructed, handing Ana a cloak not unlike her own, just a simple black hooded cloak with an eye on the right arm.
"I will now explain your mission. In Loamnore, if the treaties go as planned, we will deliver an ultimatum to Miss Sophie Foster." Lady Gisela slid a photo of a young girl- the girl they'd seen in Atlantis!
"Who is Sophie Foster?" Ana asked.
Lady Gisela chuckled. "She's complicated. All you need to know is that she's dangerous, and it's your job to capture her. As I was saying, we will tell Miss Foster to meet us in the Dwarven Marketplace, but I believe she will try and surprise us. She will send a team to the Marketplace to 'protect' the dwarves, but she and another team will be in King Enki's throne room. She will assume we will take the dangerous King's Path, created by King Enki to be a hard mental challenge elves may face in their lifetimes. I have, though, made it clear in negotiations that a dwarf will see us safely in and out of the throne room, not by the King's Path. I may, however, need to promise King Enki Miss Foster and her friends. In that case, when the dwarves capture Miss Foster and her friends, you must first knock the dwarf away from Sophie. Next, Glimmer will flash a light, and you'll use it to leap to the Lost Cities with Miss Foster. Is that clear?"
"Couple questions. First, where am I going to hide? Like, before I take out Sophie?"
"Our shade will hide you with shadows," Lady Gisela answered.
"How do I light leap? Is that what you did with your wand thingy to get us here?" Ana asked.
"Our physician will cover that," Gisela said simply. "Now, I'll take you to her."
They dropped down the shaft again.
********************
"Hi! You must be new. I'm Jewel," the black-hooded figure said. They were clearly in some sort of doctor's office, with clean, white, sterile surfaces. Jewel led Ana into a small room with a mattress on the floor and huge, floor-to-ceiling window-cupboards filled with different-coloured vials.
"I'm An-" Ana started, but Lady Gisela interrupted.
"Algorithm!" she nearly shouted over Ana. "Her name is Algorithm."
"But that's not even a name!" Ana argued.
"Hush. Here at the Neverseen, you never reveal your identity." Ana noticed that she'd pulled her hood up. "Here, you may still call me Lady Gisela, only because my identity is crucial to my plan. Jewel is not her real name." Lady Gisela nodded at the physician.
"Lady Gisela, would you mind? I need to explain, and I think Algorithm would like some privacy."
Gisela nodded stiffly, leaving Ana alone in the small, sound-proofed med-room. She pulled her hood tighter over her head.
"I can't believe. One second, I'm trying to save my mom, the next moment, I'm in this strange world that I just learned existed and being forced to trust strangers and- sorry. I'm rambling. What were you saying?" Ana asked, hugging herself.
Jewel sat down beside her. And to Ana's surprise, she took her hood off. Jewel smiled. "I don't like to keep secrets between myself and my patients. Especially before a life-threatening medical treatment. My name is Jolie Ruewen."
A/N and on that bombshell, I'm out!
(jk)
YOU ARE READING
The Missing Prophecy (pjo/kotlc) book 3
مغامرة(Takes place after all pjo books, during Legacy in kotlc) Nine-year- old Ana Jackson is on a mission to find the prophecy her mother got before she died. Ana's goal is to follow the clues her mother left and use the prophecy to defeat Echidna, and r...
