Timeless

Chapter Twelve

Alex's POV

Of course, I could almost never get a peaceful night of rest with nightmares plaguing me every so often. Which had to be happening now, as we tumbled into the Time vortex, into the unknown. Once again. This was really getting old.

It was dark. So very, very dark. I could see nothing but shadows as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. Now, it wasn't like I was afraid of being alone in a pitch-black space, but I would have been more comfortable if there weren't those voices. And I had no idea what they meant.

"The Octet Court," they wisped. The voices moved around me, never staying in one place. "The Court rules over Time, from beginning to end. They know, they know, they know. Wisdom of the ages. The masters of the clock."

Then one voice was singled out among the rest.

"Find us, you will have to pay the price." The voice was sweet, like honey, but it seemed to have a darker edge to it. It reminded me of when I was younger and alone, standing at the docks, watching the sailors come in off their boats. I had run there to sulk and cry, burrowing myself into the smallest ball possible in the corner. I hadn't known where else to go; my parents had just died so I was alone. A large racket shook my out of my misery, and I peeked out of my hiding spot to investigate. Sailors poured out of a ship, yelling about something that sounded like... Sirens? They had lost half their crew. A lone boy was shoved out of the crowd, stumbling back. He looked around my age, and he looked scared. A lonely light shone in his eyes; it reminded me of my own. He seemed to be the only one that noticed me.

"Sirens!" he shouted, running over. "They lured in half the people." Then the light in him seemed to break. "My father. He's gone."

I hesitated. I had never been good with socializing, but I asked, "What about your mother?"

"She died in the sickness two years ago."

I remembered that clearly. It had taken my younger brother; he hadn't even been a year old. Against my will, my voice shook as I said, "I'm alone too. My parents..."

"We could stick together," he offered, "That way we won't be alone. I know another girl that lost her parents. She could join us."

"What's her name?" I asked carefully.

"Natalie. What's yours?"

"Alex."

He smiled, and it seemed to light up his entire face. How could he be so cheery? I wondered.

"I'm Jasper."

My own nightmare shook me out of my blissful memories.

"There's a clock ticking for all of us," the voice hummed. "But the question is, how much time is left in your clock?"

I gasped awake, shooting up off the ground. I heard a groan to my left and looked over.

Jasper was sitting up, rubbing his head with the heel of his hand. "I guess we just landed here. But... it's like we fell out of the sky."

"We probably did," Natalie sat up as well and blinked. "Great, now where are we?"

We were surrounded by thick, tall trees. They cast shade over everything, making it seem so much darker than it probably was. In all honesty, it was a nice contrast from the desert. But it was cold. Shivers were sent down my spine, and I hugged my arms to my chest as I stood up. A soft glow caught my eye.

The Time Orb was already here.

Jasper and Natalie seemed to realize this as well.

"How can it be here?" Jasper wondered aloud. "It usually takes us ages to find it."

Nat picked it up. "Well, then, let's go home."

But when Jasper and I placed our hands next to Natalie's on the Time Orb, nothing happened. There was no flashing light as we entered the vortex. There was no feeling of lightheadedness as everything went black. We didn't move at all. The Time Orb glowed softer, hardly emitting any light at all. It looked broken.

I turned to look at the forest. It sent off bad vibes.

"So we're stuck here. The one time we find the Time Orb, and it doesn't even work," Nat threw her hands into the air. "This is fantastic. We're stuck. Here. In a creepy forest of all places. Great. Just great." She slipped the Time Orb into her pocket and leaned against a tree, her eyebrows furrowing. Jasper joined her, and we were silent as the sounds of the forest echoed around us. Then there was noise.

A crunch of the leaves.

A snapping of twigs.

And we were all on edge.

Of course, it could have just been an animal, but we have spent years in a forest. We knew what animals sounded like, and that wasn't an animal. We drew our weapons and slipped into a defensive circle, back-to-back.

A flash of blue. Then purple.

Then-

"Lower your weapons and you will not be harmed." A girl stepped out of the shadows, raising a bow. An arrow was nocked, but the bow wasn't drawn. I had a feeling she could aim and fire in a second.

"There's only one of her, and three of us," Jasper whispered.

"No. We're not taking her."

"Wise choice," she mused, and stalked around us in a circle. She had an accent; it would be something like British, if we were at home. "Seeing as there are more of us."

Half a dozen people clad in blue and purple robes jumped out. All of them had bows as well.

"Take them," she ordered.

"I swear, if we're thrown into another cell I'm going to go insane," Natalie muttered as we were led out into the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~WE HAVEN'T HAD A TIME SKIP IN A WHILE~~~~~~~~~~

Not a cell. Good.

But it was a courtroom.

"We really have to stop getting captured," Jasper groaned.

~~~~~

Natalie : we really do

Jasper : yup, this is getting ridiculous

Me : sorry guys