Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 23: Nephinae

Grace, Artemis, Marylyn and I waited quietly for a while. It had been almost an hour and there was no sigh of Haren. Still, we waited. I could feel Harens aura, so I knew he was still alive, yet, somehow, I had a very bad feeling.

In an instant the familiar aura was gone. Replaced, instead, by something dark. Something...evil. At that moment I knew something was wrong. I jumped to my feet, but at that moment an invisible force pushed me down. I couldn't move, and the others seemed to be similarly affected.

A feminine laugh echoed through the room as the figure of a woman with black hair and purple eyes came into view. She wore a wicked grin and held a black crystal in her hand.

"Thanks for making this so easy to get," she chuckled, waving the stone around. I could feel an aura pulsing inside the black stone. It was distorted, and not like what I knew, but it felt like Harens aura," I'll be taking this, so you'll have to make do without for a while. Unless, of course, you'd like to try and stop me."

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Grace demanded.

The woman laughed," I've already got what I came for."

"Give him back!" I shouted to the surprise of everyone, including the strange woman.

She smirked," so... you could tell, huh? I'm impressed, but I'm going to have to say no to that. See, I worked really hard to get this, and I'm not about to give it up so easily. If you want it back you'll have to take it by force. I wish you luck; it won't be an easy task without your strongest player."

With another laugh, the woman disappeared along with the crystal—with him. When she was gone, the pressure holding us vanished as well, and the four of us could move again.

"Who was that?" Grace was the first to speak after a moments silence.

"We have to go after her," I said, surprising everyone again.

"What? Why?"

"The crystal she had... I could—I could feel Harens aura from it, but it wasn't like his usual aura. It felt...tainted. That woman...she did something to Haren, and she took him with her." Saying it out loud, I could hardly believe the words myself. After all the time I've know Haren, I've never seen him loose. Which meant that woman was strong. Really strong, and that was a problem.

"So that's what she meant by strongest player?" Artemis asked.

I nodded, not wanting to accept the truth myself.

"If that's true, then we really will have a hard time taking her down," Grace said," especially if she was able to beat Haren."

"What are we supposed to do now? I mean, we have no idea where they went. How are we supposed to find them?" Artemis asked.

"...I think we should continue our mission," I said," somehow I get the feeling that woman is connected to them." The others nodded," Well then, I guess we should break the news to everyone."

Led by Grace, the four of us made our way back up to the main floor of the ruins. It was almost three by the time we got back, and we found the others waiting for us.

"You're back!" Elviya exclaimed, the first to notice us," are you guys ok?"

"Where's Haren?" August asked," he was with you, wasn't he?"

"We...need to talk."

"What's going on? What happened?" August demanded.

"Everyone...Harens been...captured by the enemy." Grace said, clearly struggling to keep her voice steady," we don't know where he is."

"What do you mean he's gone? What happened down there?" Silver asked.

"We found...that the lower levels of the ruins block magic. Marylyn and I were attacked by a black wyvern down there, and, after Haren went to fight it, a strange woman appeared. She told us we had to fight her to get Haren back," I explained," I have a feeling this person is connected to the group we're supposed to be finding, and I think continuing the mission is the best way to find her."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Aien huffed," Harens the strongest member of our team. He was our leader. If he was taken down then what chance do we have?"

"If we want to do something about this, we'll need to be organized, and we need a plan," Artemis said.

"That means: we need a new leader," Grace added.

"I think it should be Nephinae," Radelia said.

"I agree," Sylviana nodded.

"Alright, let's put it to a vote," Grace said," those in favor, raise your hand." Everyone's hands went up," then we're all in agreement."

"So? What now?" Nym asked.

"Let's rest for a while. We all could use the sleep," Radelia suggested. The others agreed.

With so much on my mind, I had a hard time sleeping. Wanting something to do, I crept away from the others and made my way outside.

Snow crunches under my boots as I walked over to a rock and sat down. I could see my breath on the air, but the crisp cold felt refreshing. For once I didn't mind it. After a few minutes, it started snowing. I watched as the gentle flakes floated to the ground. Before long, it started getting brighter; I looked up to see the sun just beginning to peak over the horizon. It was morning, and time for me to make a decision.

"Am I really the best person to take his place?" I wondered, hugging my knees to my chest," can I trust myself to make the right decisions? For me—for everyone?" I shook my head," no. Everyone is choosing to believe in me...but...what's the point if I don't even believe in myself? If I hesitate—no. I have to be strong. For them. Even if it means faking it. I won't let anyone see me hesitate. Just like he does."

"Hey. Thought I'd find you out here," I jumped at the sudden sound of Radelias voice. She walked over and sat next to me," the sunrise is pretty from here, huh?"

I looked up to see the black sky staining various shades of purple, pink and gold as the sun rose ever so slowly. With the snow having stopped, it was a scene from a painting.

"Why did you pick me?" I asked quietly.

"It...felt like the right choice," she shrugged,"...Haren puts a lot of trust in you, so I thought it would be right for me to do the same."

"I think...I think I've made a decision."

"Well, we're all ears." I turned at the sound of Silvers voice to see the others all standing behind him.

I took a deep breath, and, with the dawn of a new day at my back, I made a decision," I'm going to keep moving forward. This isn't the end of my journey, but I understand if it is for yours. There are still things I want to do. Places I want to see, and I'm going to do it with the people I care about. I'm going to win. Wether this world likes it or not."

~this isn't going to stop me. I'll find you, because we still have adventures to go on~