Gemstones: The Steller's Rebellion

Chapter 9

"Mother..I tried! I could've handled myself! You didn't need to come and help!" Leah yells at her mother. "Well it didn't look like it, now did it?! I wouldn't count being stuck in a water sphere with a prisoner bracelet and chains on doesn't count as going well!" Her mother replies.
I open my eyes slowly, and see that Ryan and I are hung upside down in a small room. "Ryan?" I say, as I hear Ryan yelp. "What..." Ryan says, but then realizes what happened. I grab my feet, and try to unlock it. All the blood drains from my face, and I reach toward my neck. "My gemstone! It's gone! She is gonna regret this!" I exclaim as I hear Leah footsteps come toward us. "Hurry! Try to get your feet free." I say. I pull on the restraints as Ryan takes out a wire I had from his mouth. "I knew we were being drugged, I managed to get this wire without choking on it either!" He whispers as Leah's footsteps get closer. I struggle with the restraints, but Ryan gets his feet free. "Ryan! Help me!" I exclaim. He helps me with the restraints, and helps me down. "Thanks" I say.
I hear Leah put the key in the lock, and
I lead Ryan to a corner next to the door. Leah opens the door and walks in. "What the?" She says before I kick her in the side of the head, and knock her out. I grab the keys, and lock the door when we get out of the room. "Now where's the exit?" Ryan asks. "Over there...if you can get there without dying." Someone says. I look behind me toward the fireplace, and see Yasmine. "Leah was always my least favorite child, never accomplished any missions." She says. She has a hammer, and my gemstone is under it. I stop, a wave of fear washing over me. I fall to my knees, and feel anger and fear and pain. "What do you want?" I ask, as Ryan sits on his knees next to me. "I want you to let me in Archway without being harmed, and I want everyone's gemstones." She says with a wicked smile. "No...I can't." I say. If I die, Ryan dies, Leah dies, then my kingdom. It's a lose, lose situation. "Ok." Is all she says. She lifts the hammer, and I scream,"Ok, stop! Stop! I will help!" She lowers the hammer, and I look at the gemstone she was about to crush. It is attached to a string, not a silver chain. It's not mine. I sigh with relief, and wipe my forming tears away. I see a necklace on Yasmine's neck, and realize it is indeed mine. She tucks it into her shirt, and I form a plan in my head.
I stand up, and Yasmine holds the hammer over the gemstone. "Where is a map." I say. "Why?" Yasmine asks. I stare at her firmly, and she grabs a rolled up map in the corner. She unrolls it on the table, and I look at it. "Well?" She says impatiently. "Hold on. Geez. No wonder everyone wants you dead. So bossy and impatient!" I say. I look for a route home, and find one. I point at Archway as if I am studying Archway, and then say, "If we go in the back of the castle, with you in a cloak, I can get you in. Then at night, there will be a party for my return, and you can steal gemstones there. I will...protect you. But you have to give me my brother's gemstone if you want me to do this." She nods, and we shake hands. She hands me Ash's gemstone from her pocket, and I say, "And our stuff, and my gemstone." She sighs, but nods. She gives us our shrunken bags, and I take out my sword. I put on my gemstone, and put Ash's gemstone in the bag. "The exit is this way, come." She says, and motions for me and Ryan to go toward the exit. I kick Yasmine in the chest, and she crashes into the wall. We run, and I open a portal. We jump through, and I close it. We crash onto the ground, and I sit up. "The forest, again. Rewsan Forest this time though." I say. We get up, and start running. All of a sudden, we fall through the ground, into a hole. We scream, and land with a loud thump! We break through planks of wood, and My back cracks as I land on something hair. "Ow! Ugh, that hurt!" Ryan exclaims as he brushes dirt off his clothes. I roll down, and cough out the mouth full of dirt I just swallowed. I put a hand onto my back, and it heals. I sigh with relief, and sit up. "Where are we?" Ryan asks. "I have no idea!" I exclaim. I stand up, and look around. There are big round tables, broken and ripped up chairs, dirty and ripped streamers, popped balloons, and a stage. I walk over to a table, and see a book. I open it up, and look at the date. February 23, 2016. "Man, it's 3001... how long has it been?" Ryan asks. I shrug my shoulders, and flip through the ripped pages. "They are...humans. They look so...happy. It says 2016-2017 year book and prom pictures." I say in amazement. Ryan's eyes widen, and he looks at the book. "GRRRARRRARRR!" I hear something down the hallway. I form a fire in my hands, and go down the hallway. I look to see it was just a cog (A mix of cat and dog). "What are you doing down here?" I say. It whimpers and runs away. I shrug my shoulders, and walk back to Ryan. "That was odd." Ryan says. I look around, and say, "We should leave. They will probably find us soon." He agrees, and I form a vine to climb up the hole. "Come on!" I say. We climb up the vine, but it snaps. "What the?!" Ryan says before we fall back down. A cloud of dust forms around us and moths fly everywhere. I cough up a storm, and swat away most of the moths. "Gross!" I say. Ryan coughs one last time, and I look back. "Miss me?" She asks, as she throws a knife at my sleeve, pinning my arm to the ground. "Leah." Ryan growls. "You like my cog transformation? Neat huh?!" She says with a wicked grin. I grab the knife, but it shocks me, and a wave of electricity washes over me. I scream, and look at my hand. It is black, burned, and covered in blisters. I cringe, and yank my sleeve up and down. My sleeve rips, and I am free. Leah sighs, and anger builds up inside of my, wanting to burst out. I don't control it this time. I form a wave of fire behind me, gettin all the anger I had inside of me, and putting it to work. Her jaw drops, her eyes full of fear and tears. I form shields around Ryan and I. Leah screams, and curses. I go down onto one knee, and slap my hands against the ground. The wave goes over me, and fills the entire room with fire. Leah screams with agony as it crashes onto her. I form a sphere made of fire around her, and she screams. The fire burns her, and her skin starts burning away. I wave my hands in front of me, and the fire disappears. Leah collapses, and gasps for air. Most of her skin is burned off, and her face only has burned muscle and messed up eyes. She looks like a burned up skeleton..but with a layer of scorched muscle. I cringe, and Ryan vomits at the smell. I smell her burned skin and blood, and her burned up hair. Leah wriths on the ground, and gasps for air. I kneel down next to her, and place one hand on her disgusting burned forehead and her even more gross foot. I close my eyes, and her body starts to heal quickly. Her clothes look brand new, and her skin is spotless. She sighs from relief, and rubs her neck. "Well that was....horrific torture." She said. "Why did you heal me, why didn't you leave me to die?" I smile, and reply, "I am not the kind of person that does that...torture stuff. But I know you just followed orders. I just see something in you...that...I don't know what it is. Plus you are the only one that can help me get my brothers gemstone back. And I could sense the curse your mother placed on you so you follow orders. I removed it with the fire." She smiles and thanks me. Ryan walks next to me, and he says to her, "Just don't anger us again, or we won't help you." Leah stands up, and I form another vine. All three of us climb up, and Ryan helps me out the hole, and I help Leah. She thanks me once more, and I make a lamp. "I am coming with you. I took your brother's gemstone, and I deserve the punishment." I look at her, and reply, "Why are you so nice all of a sudden, besides the fact I lifted your mom's curse?" She smiles, and tugs on her shirt. "I have been trying to get away from my mother all my life, and now I know you can protect me from her. I don't wanna be a Steller. I am sick of following her dumb orders." I smile, and put my arm around her shoulder. She smiles back, and I form a portal. Ryan jumps through, and then I put half my body in. I wave for Leah to come in, and she walks toward me. "GOT YOU! TRAITOR! YOU BROKE HER CURSE! NO!" I hear Leah's mother yells as she sprints toward us. "COME ON!" I scream. But it was too late. Yasmine grabs Leah's ankles, and I hold her wrists. "LET ME GO MOTHER!" Leah screams. Leah kicks Yasmine in the face, and we tumble through the portal. I close the portal, and we collapse in front of Archway. "You guys okay? Let me guess...Yasmine?" Ryan says as he helps us up. We both nod, and brush all the dirt off. All of a sudden, Leah collapses. "Leah!" I exclaim. I look at her ankles, and they are torn and bloody. I place my hands on her bloody ankles, and chant a spell. "Jeahd Seah Yebba Biea Neiw Meuia Apiz Neax!" I chant out loud. Leah's ankles glow, and start healing slowly. Leah gasps, and smiles slightly. I look at my blood covered hands, and lift them up. I lower them back down, and all the blood is gone. "Do you have any limits with your power?" "Yes. I can't be in one land and use magic in another, I can't heal broken bones fully, I can't heal natural causes of death or sickness, there are certain types of venom and acid that can burn me and I can't heal it with magic..." I list the rest of my limits for five minutes as her ankles continue to slowly heal. We help Leah up as her ankles heal, and carry her to the gates of Archway. "Why won't they heal?" He asks. "Steller Venom. Powerful stuff." I reply swiftly.