Secret of the Keys

A nice walk?

Three Months later.

In the amount of time I've had I've learned a lot from Coral. I've gotten use to all of my star dresses and I've learned to work with all of my spirits. By now I think I'm the best kid in P.E. I've also improved at algebra and history, thanks to the tutor lessons with Joshua.

I climb off the bus and go straight into the house. I leave my backpack in my room and I grab my pouch that have my gate keys and put it on my belt. I pull on a light sweatshirt. Then I stuff phone onto my pocket. I walk out into the nice afternoon. I didn't know where I was going so I went in a random direction.

I walk for a while and soon I'm under the cover of the trees. I see a man walking too. He is tall and fit. His short hair is a dark shade of brown. His eyes are hazel. He is looking down with earbuds in both of his ears. I ignore the man since I usually see other people walking on nice days.

Right after the man passed me a dark figure slammed into my side and I went tumbling down the small hill into the forest. I jump up in time to watch the dark spirit looking figure disappear. Magic! I quickly get myself off the ground and my hand hovers over my keys.

"Who's there?" I called out. Suddenly the man from before came running through the trees. I grab one of my keys and is about to summon it, but the man rams me, knocking me onto the ground with great force. The key goes flying out of my hand into the grass nearby. The man roughly grabs me by the arm pulling me off the ground. As soon as I'm on my feet begin wiggle to break free from his grasp. I wiggled so much that the man had to readjust his grab. I took this time to get out of his now slightly loose grab. I run as fast as I could through the woods.I run around trees and rocks. I jump over sticks and roots that stick out of the ground. I look back to see him gaining on me.

The next thing I know my foot twists painfully and I'm falling to the ground. My head collides with something solid and everything goes black.

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I open my eyes to see a dark cell. I could hear dripping in the distance. I lift myself off the floor, my head still throbbing. I check for my keys to see they removed my pouch. I stand up, but as I put weight on my left leg a pain shot through my ankle. With a yelp I fall to my knees. I move so that my leg is in my view. I gingerly touch different spots on my ankle.

"I don't think it's broken." I mumble to myself. I pull myself up again, this time I lean against the bars. I looked up and down the hallway to see I was at the end of the hall, and that I was by myself. No guards. No prisoners. Fear and realization rose in me. I look around the cell for any possible way out. Nothing, no cracks, no holes, and no windows.

I shake the bars in case they were loose at all. As sturdy as ever. I check the lock to see I need a key. A ring with keys hung on a hook at the opposite end of the hallway. Next I check the hinges. They were on tightly. Finally I fell back onto my butt.

I spent forever trying to come up with a plan to breakout. I was pulled out of my thoughts by a guard pushing a plate of disgusting food and a cup with water through the bars and into my cell.

"What time is it?" I croak, from my lack of talking, not expecting him to answer.

"Six O'clock." He said gruffly. Then he left without another word. I took a bit of the food and tried it. I covered my mouth to keep myself from vomiting it back out. I grab the plate and throw it through the bars so that it hits the wall opposite of me. I take the water and look at it. Clear as day. I take a small sip and it tastes fine. I drink the rest of it to help my now dry throat.

Now I resume planning my escape.

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I jolt awake at the sounds of shouting.

"Let them go!" Yells an all too familiar voice.

"Shut up." I guard from yesterday said. I hear Elizabeth yelp.

"Get your hands off my daughter!" Coral yells.

"I told you to shut up." The guard said his voice rising. I crawl over to the bars and I see two guards, Coral, Elizabeth, and Joshua. The first guard had a gun pointed at Joshua's back. In his other hand he had a tight grip on Elizabeth's arm. Tears were running silently down her face. The other guard from yesterday was holding Coral's hands behind her back as she struggled against him. They all have magic restraint cuffs. The family of three were pushed into the cell next to me. I waited for the guards to leave before I said anything.

"Hey Coral, are you guys all right?" I ask worried.

"Raven! We are fine. Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm a bit hungry but otherwise I'm fine."

"That's good." We sit in silence for a bit before an idea comes to me.

"Does Elizabeth have a bobby pin?" I ask.

"Yeah why?" Coral responds.

"Can I have it?"

"Sure." Coral says, confusion lacing her voice. I hold out my hand so it is in their view and I feel her press it into my hand. Once I have it in my hand I begin bending and twisting it. I try turning it in the lock. Nothing happens so I pull it out and start bending it differently. Then I try it again. The lock clicks and I swing the door open. I steady myself on the wall and limp to the end of the hall where the keys hang. I grab them and limp painfully back to the Jones.

"Is your ankle okay?" Coral asked once she was out of the cell. I unlock her cuffs before continuing to the other two.

"I think I twisted it." I say wincing. Coral requipped into a nurse's outfit. She pulled an ankle brace out of nowhere. It fit on me perfectly. "Thanks."

"Lets go and be quiet." Coral said holding her finger to her lips. We all nod our head and follow her down the hall. We stop at the doors when we hear voices.

"Is that small girl really the one to open the gate?" One guard said.

"Of course. She has the celestial keys." Another one said. Everyone's heads turn towards me.

"What was the gate called again? The gate of stars?" The first one asked.

"No, you idiot! It's the Eclipse Gate!" The second one nearly yelled. Coral, Joshua and I all look at each other wide eyed.

"What is the Eclipse Gate?" Elizabeth whispered.

"A very powerful time machine." Coral whispered back. The guards now were talking about random, unimportant things. Coral equips into Heart Kreuz Armor. Then she requips a sword into her hand. "You three wait in here." She quickly opened the door and slipped out closing the door behind her. We heard only a few noises before she opens the door again. "Can you guys help me get these guards into one of the cells." She carried one in while Joshua and I dragged the other one into the closest cell. We made sure to lock it before we finally leave the hallway.

"We need to find my keys." I say.

"Then we have to find the Eclipse Gate so we can destroy it." Coral adds.