The End of All

Chapter 5

•Cole's POV•

When I woke up the next morning my head had been cleared of the fog. I didn't hear my muse either, so I assumed she was taking the day off. No big deal, even formless muses probably have other things to do. I stretched before forcing myself out of my comfortable bed.

When I was dressed I padded out onto the deck, having left my shoes in my room. The others were already up and gathered at the front of the ship. Jay waved me over.

"Cole! Feeling any better, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine. What's everyone looking at?" Jay pointed, and I followed his finger to the distance. A relatively small, lone mountain-like form loomed in the distance. Something was reflecting light at the top, casting rainbows onto the ground below. My chest was tight. This was it, this bare mountain was where Zane was. Frankly, I was terrified. What if Zane didn't want to see us? What if he didn't want to see me?

"We should be there in about twenty minutes, so everyone get ready." Nya turned and walked briskly to the bridge. The others dispersed as well. I stayed where I was for another minute before following suit.

My preparations were quick. I only really needed to change and pull my shoes on. With my scythe secured on my back I met the others on the deck, my chest still tight.

"Whatever fight you find, I will help guide you."

I smiled. So you're back, I thought. I heard a soft chuckle in response.

"The mistress of this place is not fond of my skills. Her rainbow barrier prevented me from entering for a short while."

I frowned. Who could possibly hate something so helpful? Well I like you, so as long as you stick with me you'll be fine.

"Cole... Cole!" I snapped back to reality and looked around. We had landed, but I hadn't even noticed the bump.

"You were spacing out again. You sure you're gonna be ok?" Jay elbowed me in the side lightly.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Let's get going then. We're wasting daylight." Kai huffed before beginning his approach. We followed closely, our small group worried about what would happen. The older members of our group had stayed on the ship- Dr. Julien's idea- to follow once we assessed the situation. I could only imagine what horrors we would find through the gaping entrance before us. For once I wasn't ready for a fight. It was as if something inside me, some switch, had turned that off.

"There better not be anything crazy inside. I mean, not that I couldn't handle it, but we don't want to find some monster with a taste for metal." Jay rambled. We would have shushed him, but honestly his talking kind of helped lessen the tension. I was the first to enter the cave.

"Ah!" Before my eyes had adjusted, something hard and heavy knocked me onto my back, pinning me so I couldn't move. "Guys, help!"

I heard Kai's laughter somewhere behind me as I struggled, the dark mass in front of me becoming clearer as my eyes adjusted. A smile came to my face as I joined in Kai's relieved laughter.

"Rocky! Oh man, it's good to see you again!" I rubbed the dragon's nose and it growled in content. At least the mega dragon was ok, and that was a good sign for Zane.

"So you've arrived. He said you'd come" The new voice was startling. I turned my head to find the enemy, pushing Rocky's head off of me. Turns out there was no enemy, just a bored looking girl whose outfit was a green blouse and skirt with a black corset. I frowned. Was this some sort of trick?

"Woah, who are you? And where'd you come from?" Lloyd took a step back.

"Darcey. The others sent me to welcome you." She sounded as uninterested and tired as she looked. "So welcome, I guess."

"Thanks?" Kai started speaking as I picked myself up and brushed dirt off my clothes. "But we aren't here to have tea. We're looking for our friend Zane, have you seen him?"

"Hm. Yeah I know him. I guess I could take you to him." She started to slink off towards the door.

"Woah, wait a minute. We aren't actually going to follow her, are we? It could be a trap! Zane could have just been bait!" Frankly I couldn't help but agree with Kai's outburst, but still...

"We don't really have any other if we want to find Zane." Lloyd nodded.

"Cole's right. We have to go with her."

We started to follow Darcey, and a feeling of dread filled me, though not for the reasons I expected.  We followed her through a door and up a long, spiral staircase reaching up into the mountain.

"You really trust this woman?" The voice was back.

We don't really have a choice.

"And yet for all you know she could hold a dearer place in his heart than you." A spark of envy coursed through me. Muse was right. Darcey seemed so casual about Zane being there, so they had to know each other. But how far did their relationship go?

"So how do you know Zane?"

"Huh?" Darcey looked over her shoulder at me. "Oh, yeah. We've, uh, we've known each other a good while." She shrugged as we approached the top of the stairs. "Though it's probably better that the others tell you, y'know? I wouldn't, like, tell it too good."

I let it be, but her words weren't comforting. Even if she brushed off their relationship, there were others to worry about. And if they somehow had a deeper connection to the nindroid, well, I didn't stand a chance. My stomach was in knots from anxiety and envy.

"You ok?" I heard Nya whisper to my left. I turned to look at her.

"Yeah, just... just nervous." In truth I was far from ok. Along with my stomach being out of commission, it felt like someone was starting to tap roughly on the inside of my skull.

"You sure? You look pale."

"I'm sure. You don't need to-"

"We're here." The abrupt stop caused me to walk right into Lloyd's back. Darcey continued to speak. "Welcome to the inner sanctum, blah blah blah. They had a whole speech ready but I don't feel like doing that so let's just go."

The tapping inside me changed to light pounding as the monotone girl swung the door open and led us inside.