Across the Divide and Through Valhalla

Finding a Way Out

Chapter 3

As they started down the tunnel, Sherry pulled her lantern around to see why it had quit working. It might have been broken, but if it had just been shut off, they could use the extra light. Anything to make the fireballs go away would be fine with her. She was relieved to see that the casing wasn't cracked, so she checked the batteries and banged it a couple of times to see if she could at least get it going for a while. She breathed a sigh of relief when it finally flickered back on.

Once it was on again, she passed it to Kaylan and had her give the other one back. She repeated the inspection of the other lantern and was even happier to find that the second one had just been shut off. She was even more relieved that she didn't have to say anything to the others. As soon as the first lantern had flickered on, they had allowed the fireballs to go out.

Under different circumstances, she might have been fascinated by the display of magic, but at the moment, it was a harsh reminder that her life was never going to be the same. She pushed that thought back as she didn't want to focus on what being a l'cie meant while she was still around strangers. And she definitely considered them strangers, even if she knew who they were.

They hadn't traveled far before the tunnel they were in narrowed slightly and started a slight incline. It made Sherry a little nervous, as they had climbed several slopes to get to the room they had found the rest in. If they were going to intersect with one of the tunnels they passed through earlier, they would need to find a way down as well. So far, it was a moot point, as it was a single tunnel. The one time they thought they found something, all it took was a light shined in to realize it only went back about ten feet.

She tried to keep an eye on the rest of the group as they continued to climb. She smiled slightly at the sight of Zack with an arm around Cloud's shoulder. The shorter man was trying to smile back, but she could tell it was strained. Her heart broke a little at the realization that this had to be hard for him. Not only was the man he considered an enemy nearby, but the friend he thought he had lost was chatting up a storm. She cringed as she also realized that the next few days were going to be hell for her. She had no idea how to tell them how she knew who they were.

She noticed that most of the others were watching her as much as she was watching them. If they caught her eye when she looked back, they gave her questioning glances, but she ignored them all. She needed time to think before she could even try to formulate an answer.

They had been walking for nearly an hour when Zack tried to approach her. She rebuffed his attempts to start a conversation, even though she felt a little sorry for it. She was surprised, however, when he turned to talk to Kaylan and managed to help her relax. She smiled at the sight of the two of them talking animatedly about nothing. She felt a little relieved that he wasn't bombarding her with questions. It was doubly good since the only thing she knew about the men around them was what Sherry had told her through the years. It wasn't that they both didn't game, but Kaylan was stressed out by turn-based, and Sherry hated shooters.

It wasn't long after Zack had Kaylan thoroughly occupied that one of the others made a move to join her. She was relieved that it was Noel, but she treated him the same way she had Zack. Noel was more persistent. He ignored the fact that she wasn't really answering and kept talking. "I can understand why you might be hesitant to talk to us if we do come from different times, and I guess I can see why you might think that. Caius... he doesn't seem much like the Caius I knew."

She finally turned to him and gave him a nod. "I imagine not. Given the way he is dressed..." She let her voice trail off as she looked back and noticed they were all listening to her intently. Finally, she turned slightly and looked at the man in question while she walked backward. She was glad that Noel reached out to steady her when she nearly tripped on the uneven floor. She gave him a smile but didn't turn back around. Instead, she spoke. "Caius, have you met Yeul yet?"

She heard Noel gasp next to her but ignored it. Her gaze was focused on Caius' frown. It took him a moment, but he finally answered. "I am her apprentice guardian. How do you know of her?"

She gave him a sad look before looking back at Noel finally. The look he gave her was confused, but she ignored the question in his eyes. She turned back to Caius. "I'm sorry you got pulled away from your duties. I'll do everything I can to get you back quickly." She looked at the others. "That goes for all of you."

She didn't wait for a response before she turned back around. She knew the present conversation probably made more questions than what they had before, but her mind was already a whirlwind. Noel lowered his voice when he finally spoke again. "He came to the village when Yeul was born and has always been her guardian. He was never an apprentice."

She gave him a level look and tried to hide her sadness at what she was about to say. "You were right. That isn't the Caius you know."

At that, Noel finally fell back. She was glad that no one else tried to talk to her, although it looked as if both Cloud and Genesis thought about it. She knew she would need to talk to Cloud and Noel both by themselves at some point since they both represented the end of the timeline for both worlds. She tried not to think about what might happen to them both if things worked out the way she was suspecting they were supposed to, at least according to the images she was still trying to sort through.

The group continued for another half hour in relative silence. Even Zack had lowered his voice when he realized he was really the only one talking. They were brought up short when the ground seemed to fall away in front of them. Sherry knelt down and got as close to the edge as she could with the lantern. She was glad that the edge seemed stable. She was also pleased when she found that she could see the ground below them. It was about fifteen feet or so, but not so bad that they couldn't climb down.

As she moved to sit back, something down at the edge of her vision glittered in the light. She laid down on her stomach and leaned down a little further. It looked like the tunnel below them was at a crossroads, so to speak. She could feel her heart speeding up at the possibility, but she clamped down on it. She didn't want to get any of their hopes up until they could tell for sure. She called back over her shoulder. "Hey, would one of you guys with enhanced eyesight come here for a moment, please."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand came down on her shoulder. She looked over to see Genesis had already moved to her side. She scowled at him for making her jump but managed to keep her voice neutral. "Can you tell me what you see in the adjoining tunnel below, there at the edge?"

She tried to point to what she was looking at, but he gave her a smirk before he jumped down. She stared at him in shock as he calmly walked to the edge of the light and looked back at her. She shook her head at his obvious enjoyment of showing off as he turned back to her. "What are you looking for?"

She ignored his tone of voice as she pointed again. "Can you tell me if there is anything on the wall to your right?"

He looked back again before he looked up. "There is a small red arrow here. It is pointing to the tunnel behind me."

"Yes!" She realized how exuberant her exclamation was and tried to be a little calmer as he gave her a strange look. "I marked all the pathways we took with an arrow back to the entrance, so we could easily backtrack when we got ready to leave. If there is a red arrow there, then we can easily find our way out. We just need to get everyone down."