Until Forever (1st draft)

Part the Twenty-Sixth

After frantically barricading the door with furniture, Geneva fled the bedchamber and raced toward the stairs. She had to get away from this monster! The top of the staircase came into view quicker than she dared hope—she wasn't sure she would even be able to find it in her blind panic—but that sliver of encouragement was quickly dashed when she heard footsteps coming up towards her. Instantly she abandoned the stairs and resumed her sprint further down the long corridor, stopping to peek into random doorways in a seemingly futile attempt to locate an exit. A distant voice shouted after her but she couldn't understand the words.

Finally she came across a room with an inside door that was open to gleaming sunlight. She dashed into the room and through the doorway only to find herself on one of the many balconies. Leaning over the railing, she realized it was far too high to survive a jump, and the sheer rock face was impossible to climb. Footsteps echoed behind her, followed by a booming voice.

"Geneva! Geneva, wait!" It was Nellaf.

She spun in arbitrary circles on the balcony, repeatedly looking up and down as if she had missed seeing an escape route and now it would suddenly appear, but there was nowhere to go. She was trapped.

"Geneva!" The voice was closer. Very close.

She pressed her back against the wall, just to the side of the doorway, hoping that she wouldn't be seen if he didn't come all the way out onto the balcony.

"Geneva?" his voice was lower now, calmer. Geneva's lip quivered with fear.

Please walk by. Please walk by.

Nellaf stepped through the doorway and Geneva caught her breath. A long, bulging rucksack was swung over his shoulder. He turned and looked at her.

"Geneva? What are you doing? Why are you running?" He started to walk towards her.

"No!" she screamed, suddenly gulping air again. "Stay away from me! You stay away from me!"

Nellaf froze in his steps. He stared at her, his own beautiful silvery eyes now wet with tears. "What...what has happened?" he asked her.

"Just...stay away," she sobbed as her wobbly legs gave way. She slid down the wall and collapsed into a seated position, eyes closed, hands squeezing her temples. How could she possibly deal with this? How could she ever make sense of this whole tangled mess in her brain?

"Geneva, let me help you," he said as he tried to approach her once more, his hand reaching out.

"Stay back!" she screamed again, slapping his hand and scurrying away defensively as far as the wall and railing allowed, panting like a cornered animal.

"Tell me what happened," Nellaf said calmly. He removed the rucksack and let it drop to the stone floor, then he sat down beside it, keeping the distance between them. "Please explain what has upset you."

The truth was, she didn't know what had happened. She didn't know anything anymore. Her mind tilted toward unconsciousness, unable to cope any longer.

"You seem frightened," he commented.

She gazed over at him. He appeared...normal. He looked like he had always looked. Not like a fanged monstrosity.

"It is remarkable how well you have adapted to an unknown world," he continued, "but obviously some things will be more confusing than others. Confronting the unknown can be unsettling; frightening even."

Yes she was definitely confused and unsettled and frightened. What had happened back there? What was that creature she had seen? How did it suddenly appear?

"Geneva? Are you all right?" Her eyes locked onto his. They were warm and reassuring, not terrifying. They were bright and silvery stars shimmering with compassion, not black cavities lusting for her soul.

Was this really him? Could she trust him? Was it possible that the Faerie Tail Ring had revealed his true form? Or had the ring revealed the true form of an imposter? There was only one way she would ever know. She reached for her pocket and discovered that the ring was gone. She had thrown it away!

"May I show you something?" he asked as he slid a few inches closer and opened the rucksack. He removed a strangely shaped object about the width of his palm, and it appeared to be made of a smoky gray crystal. Her gaze quickly lifted from the object back to him. She wiped her tears and focused on his eyes, straining for even a fleeting glimpse of the disturbing empty sockets that would now be burned in her memory forever.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It is the Starheart," he said with a smile. "I have finally found it. That is why I was not here when something frightened you."

"How...how do you know that's what it is?" she asked.

"I know," he said with another smile. "But see for yourself. Hold it in your hand and you will see your most sought desire." He held it up and it gleamed in the sunlight despite its drab color.

"W-what?" Her eyes left his to look back at the object.

"Here, see for yourself. Take it." He held it out in his fingertips, careful not to move any closer for fear of upsetting her. She simply stared at it, then at him. Was this a trick?

Nellaf sighed, then leaned forward and set it on the ground closer to her. She continued staring at it, noticing new details now that it was out of his hand. The gray color was actually moving, pulsing almost too slowly to perceive like smoke trapped behind glass. Three crystal stems protruded about an inch from different sides of it, their edges jagged as if they had been broken.

Geneva reached out and picked up the Starheart. It was completely dry, but felt wet, and its cool surface immediately warmed in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around it, a remarkably satisfying feeling, and looked back up at Nellaf.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now open your hand and you will see that which you most desire."

She looked at her hand and watched her fingers unfold from it. The smoky cloud within dissipated and the clear crystal revealed a three-dimensional image that caused Geneva to yelp.

It was the face of her mother!

Geneva looked back at Nellaf, speechless as tears returned to her weary eyes.

"Now that we have the Starheart we can use the Black Keys to unlock it," Nellaf explained.

"But I..." Geneva paused to wipe the tears with her sleeve. "I don't understand."

"Opening the Starheart will bring you to what you most desire," he said, moving closer to her. "Geneva, it will bring you home."