Destiny Island

Chapter 22

Darkness 

Since Ci Nada offered to help them, grudgingly, Amber thought she would be able to relax a bit, but that was impossible because of Ignacio and his inability to stay quiet. Their survival depended on Ci Nada, but Ignacio seemed to be unable to stop himself from further agitating her. He kept complaining about how dark and gloomy the place was, and how he didn't believe any sane person could live in such horrible conditions. Amber wasn't sure why he was acting like that, but she had a feeling that he was overcompensating for being scared of a woman, even if it was for a short time. At first, the dark fairy kept ignoring him, but the more he insulted her home, the angrier her expression became. Amber knew she had to do something to stop him, but not knowing him well enough, she wasn't sure what she should do. Soon enough her own anger took over, and she whispered angrily: "Stop acting like an idiot! Would you just please swallow your stupid pride and accept her help without complaining about every little thing!?" "I am not acting like an idiot!" he whisper-yelled as well. "Then you are an idiot because that is the only explanation I can think of that would explain why you are making someone angry when that someone is much more powerful and could squash you like an annoying fly! "Amber continued still enraged by his behavior.

" I am not an idiot!" He said very offended. "I am just stating the facts. You can't tell me that you don't feel how repulsive and negative this place is? This is not about pride or anything like that, I just don't like this place. And for your information, I am not complaining, I am just voicing my opinion." "Fine, could you please stop stating the facts, as you call it. What I feel or don't feel doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter, is finding the way out, and the only way for us to do that is with her help. So please control your male ego and stop voicing your opinions!" Amber stated firmly. That seemed to be quite offensive for him because there was angry fire coming out of his eyes, and he closed his mouth in a tight line of fury. "Well, that shut him up at least! I will deal with his diva personality once we get out of here. For now, the important thing is that while he is pouting he probably won't say anything stupid. How can an adult be so amazing at times and so stupid in other situations?" Thought Amber.

"Since the rude commentary is over I can tell you a bit about my home. I don't want you to leave this place without being properly educated." Ci Nada said a few moments later. "We are coming up to one of my favorite places," she continued as they approached a huge lake made of lava, " This is my pool. It's perfectly situated as it is just behind the castle and it is great for relaxing." She said as the hot air swept over their faces making them sweat more than ever. Finally, Amber and Ignacio could understand why it was getting warmer and warmer inside the cave. As they moved on, leaving the lava lake to their right, Ci Nada continued talking: "This place is completely to my taste. It is dark and unapproachable, but more importantly, it is so wonderfully disorganized. I love chaos, I thrive in it, and we have a lot of that right here. It's perfect. The darkness and negativity, it's my air, my sustenance. Don't get me wrong, this place is lawless, but there is one person everyone has to listen to, me." She said as a huge creepy smile engulfed her whole face. "I am the most powerful being here, and I like to exercise my power from time to time," she said as she tore out a nearby stalactite and threw it just above Ignacio's head. Luckily Ignacio seemed to finally be able to completely grasp their situation and said nothing, although it seemed like he had a lot of trouble controlling his boiling anger.

"Many creatures of the dark share my appreciation of this world. There are moles, warms, dark fairies (although not as powerful or as evil as me), the worst of the dark witches, even the boogeyman lives in the neighborhood. There are many more dark creatures that you have never heard of or seen but trust me they know all about you. Everywhere you go, know one thing, there is always a creature of the dark following you. Maybe you can't see it, maybe you can't feel it, but it is there. It might strike when you least expect it, in the most unexpected ways. Remember that nightmares are not always nightmares, sometimes they are much more than that, just a bit of friendly advice." She said with a creepy voice that Amber felt wouldn't allow her to sleep for the next few nights. "You see," she continued in the same hair-raising voice "we have this special gift to just merge with the shadows. It allows us to quickly move between shadows and become intangible, shadowmelding we call it. I must say it comes in handy when we need to teach someone a lesson." She said as her eyes burned with a strange satisfaction, or the closest to it she could feel. Amber had a feeling that she enjoyed the memory of torturing someone or something like that, so she hurried to change the subject. She did it in hopes that it would wipe off that smug expression that began to creep her out.

"Why are you telling us all this? Why warn us when you don't even like us?" Amber asked. "Oh, you stupid girl, don't you understand? I am not doing this for you, I am doing this for me. There is nothing more fulfilling than the fresh smell of fear in the morning. I can see that you are afraid now and you will still be afraid when you leave my kingdom. And even if nothing happens you will still live in fear, because you will possess the knowledge of what might happen. If I haven't told you about this, you would have been a bit afraid of me and then after leaving you would have forgotten all about me and the fear you felt. But this way, this way I get to give you... let's call it a parting gift. You will be afraid of your own shadow, literally, because there is always a chance that a creature of darkness is lurking inside the shadow. The Law that we are bound to respect says nothing about the dreams, and we all know how terrifying the nightmares can be." She continued. During this whole exchange, Ignacio just kept walking, not expressing any thoughts or emotions besides the obvious anger in his eyes. "Here we are, " Ci Nada finally said as they behold the light of day "see you in your nightmares. " Were her parting words that echoed in Amber's mind as they finally stumbled out into the beautiful sunny day. The smell of fresh grass and flowers was so refreshing that she couldn't help but lay down in the grass and enjoy the beautiful day for just a few moments.