Wings

Chapter 29: Reina

Colors swam slowly into focus, mostly purples mixed with blues and a ton of grays. Soft murmuring came from my left. I groaned, my head throbbing. I blinked, feeling my cheek on cold stone. As some of the colors started to come together, I made out a purple boot. Following it up, I saw a translucent guy a little older than me. He had a faint purple glow, with dark skin and white hair along with a pair of beautiful royal purple eyes. I blinked. He blinked back. Another, older man appeared behind him. This man had pale skin, with brown eyes and black hair. He too had a purple glow. I looked around at my surroundings. I was in a cave that had a lot of overgrowth around it. Heck, there was a dojo and small houses to boot! A ledge led to a lake that led into the depths of the cave. Crystals popped up everywhere, giving the place an unnatural lighting. I turned back to the guys, whom I felt I knew from somewhere.

"She's awake." The older man looked at me, smiling. "How're you feeling?" His voice had an electronic hint to it.

"I'm alright. You?" I said this last part out of habit and manners. 

The man chuckled. "I've seen better days. And by the looks of it, so have you. If you wouldn't mind, my child, that you've rested, it's time to learn."

I smiled, the action making my head spin. "O-Of course, sir. Mind if I call you Sensei? You sorta look like one." It was true, he had that fatherly look that hinted at being tired yet unwilling to admit so.

"If you wish, child. Now, let us not dawdle." He turned around and started walking down the small slope towards a flat area upon which a dojo-like house stood, without a roof, more adorned and protected by statues than the others. I felt slightly insecure, my heart beating a little faster as I got up and followed him, the boy behind me. Mind you, it wasn't just fear that made my heart start to race. I felt power radiating from this enclosed area. Surely this must be what caused life to sprout up here.

As we walked down the cobble path, the boy seemed to glitch out like a computer system and he vanished. I gasped. Sensei looked back.

"Oh, don't mind that. Cohen does that a lot."

"Is that his name?" Stupid question, I know.

"His last name, yes. His first name is Zyphener, but he goes by Ty." He smiled. "Oh, here we are."

The massive double doors swung open to reveal Ty, who turned around, his cloak billowing behind him. We walked into the room, and in the center supported on a pedestal decorated with countless glowing runes. Ontop of this pedestal stood a large, rotating purple crystal. Energy literally burst into the form of sparks here and there around it.

"Touch the Crystal." Sensei commanded. I looked at him like he was insane, and he looked calmly back. I shrugged and walked slowly towards it, flinching slightly as I did so. I could feel the heat and energy yet it didn't affect me. I reached my hand out, cautiously, and put my palm on the Crystal. It's color brightened to a pale purple, light and energy swirling around it. The light grew and I had to close my eyes. I removed my hand and the energy faded, returning it to it's normal state as I opened them again.

"Very good. Your training begins immediately." Sensei grinned at me, and Ty nodded, his face expressionless. 

"Training? What do you mean? Can you please explain what's going on?"

Sensei's eyes closed.  "You're in the Temple of Time. This place is an ancient fortress, built around the Crystal of Life. We're Crystal Keepers, the unique few who were born to protect it. There hasn't been one since me, about five decades ago. We're going to train you to protect it."

My eyes went wide with understanding. "You're dead!"

They nodded. "Anyways, let's get going. First things first, flying. Now, I believe in what some would call a barbaric method, but so far it's worked." Sensei smiled at me and nodded once. Ty pushed me towards the ledge and grabbed my hand. I felt my face go warm. Then he jumped. I shouted in surprise as we fell towards the water. All of a sudden my dream came back to me. One word echoed through my head as blood rushed to my head.

Wings.

I gave a cry of defiance of physics, and made my dream reality. I looked at my reflection, and a great big pair of blue and purple dragonfly wings sprouted from my back as if created by the shining crystals. They caught on the air and I flapped them. It was beyond easy. Ty had a pair, too, black and purple, and he was grinning at me. I smiled back, painfully aware that he was holding my hand and that I looked like a mess. My black hair was beyond messy and my tan skin was smeared with dirt, but he didn't seem to mind.

I looked at my reflection, the water stirring ever so slightly as the wind from our wings hit the surface. Then it began to bubble. A dark mass was gathering under us. Ty gave me a look of deep regret and he let go of my hand and zipped back up to land. I urged myself to go up, and started to until a tentacle made of the inky black substance shot out of the water and wound itself around my ankle.  Panic rose in my chest as I fought it, but the more I fought the tighter and more forceful it dragged down. Another inky tentacle shot out and grabbed my other leg. My wings worked frantically, but to no avail. 

Looking up, I cried out, "Help!" But they weren't there. I was alone. Kung Fu Panda randomly jumped into my head, how Po had to relax before he could escape the finger trap. Out of desperation I relaxed, but I only got sucked down quicker. At this point, I was thigh-deep in this stuff, so I fought, but nothing worked. Just as it reached my back, trapping my wings, I felt something stir inside me. Wow. So cliche. 

I closed my eyes and reached inside myself, feeling something like a fraction of the Crystal's warmth. I felt the crystals in the cavern, and saw what they could see. I saw myself neck deep in the gunk, but it was like an out of body experience where I couldn't feel it. I felt the lives of the previous Crystal Keepers, the joy, the satisfaction, the pain. Unable to keep myself from being pulled into the memories, I lost myself among them. As the memories flowed from joy to pain, me taking them in all the while, learning, everything suddenly went dark. I was cut off from the warmth inside me, yet was stuck in this realm. I looked around, and a massive pair of blood red eyes opened, narrowing in anger.

State your name and business. It said in my head.

Unable to stop myself, I blurted, "Reina, and I was simply looking around-"

No one merely looks around, foolish girl. There was some hesitancy after I said my name, rage burning more deeply in those eyes. Now, let's see what you were really up to.

I felt something like a big hand made of ice close around my throat, and my conscious went cold- at least that's what I think it was. Memories since the second I arrived on this planet flashed before my eyes, all the while I was suffocating. As it came to the point where I woke up in the cave, a strong hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back to reality. I saw those large red eyes and heard a scream of utter rage. I saw a flash of me being pulled under, and then my vision cleared. 

I was leaning on the crystal, drenched in sweat, shaking uncontrollably. Ironically my wings were still there. The hand on my shoulder was Ty's.

"Please, dear child, forgive me. I had no idea that'd happen; it usually takes years of training to be able to see the memories within the crystals. Yet, never in all my years has that happened...." Sensei's eyes clouded briefly. 

Looking up into Ty's eyes, I saw concern swirling in them. I managed a weak smile, and his expression only deepened with regret. I reached my hand out to him and patted his arm in reassurance. A faint smile flickered over his lips and he looked at Sensei. Sensei muttered something and Ty led me to one of the little houses. In it was a cute little desk, some paintings, and a bed. Half delirious, I turned around on impulse and gave Ty a peck on the cheek, watching as he went red. I shut the door and flopped onto the bed, falling into the semi-merciful grasp of sleep until it started to haunt me with those glaring red eyes. As I feel into a deep sleep, cold overtook my body once more as I relieved it over and over again, sensing a power within that became more and more prominent as it replayed, and even some fear in those red eyes.

A/N: Sorry it took so long xD TAKE A GUESS AT WHO THE EYES BELONG TO!!!!!!! AND IF SHE HAS A CRUSH ON TY OR NOT (duh, obvious as day)