Beyond ~ The Dark Ages

10 ~ Trapped

I blink rapidly, trying to recognise my surroundings but I don't. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. If my eyes aren't decieving me, then I'm currently lying on a cloud. I sit up and swallow. It's like I'm in the sky....millions of stars twinkle around the cloud I'm seated on and the wind is cool, almost chilly. Unlike this cloud, the others move around slowly.

Now this can't be right. Clouds aren't supposed to be able to hold anything, they're supposed to be extremely fragile water bodies, so why is this one as soft as a cusion? I suddenly have the feeling that I'm being watched. Slowly, I crane my head to the back.

"Ahh!" The momemt I see her, the cloud dissaperes and I fall on the white ground. Clouds float around me, some bumping into me and dissolving. I train my suspiciously confused eyes on her, and she tilts her head to the side as if examining me. A slight smile plays on her lips. "W-who are you?"

Her smile widens. "Amalthea. Daughter of the moon. Moon spirit. Whatever it is you want to refer to me as" her eyes follow my every move and it's creeping me out.

"Where am I?"

Her eyes twinkle like a star. "The moon"

"The moon?"

"Yes"

Oh...my head is swimming in absolute panic and this woman isn't helping at all. My hand rest on my hips as I scan my surrounding once more. No doors, no ceilings...just an endless array of stars and clouds. Maybe this is the moon. Oh this is so unnerving. What about my friends? Are they okay? Oh my goodness Angelo!

"He's fine" Amalthea states.

"What?"

"Your friend Angelo. He's fine. And Luca. And Thora. Azar. Aerwyna. Mason. Donatello. Tatiana. They're all okay."

"Okay how do you know them?"

"Anything that happens under the moon doesn't skip my attention" she relaxes into her chair; a heavily decorated throne. Every inch of it is covered in stones...."Moon stones.." she completes.

"Can you stop with the mind reading?"

"Oh, but it's fun" she says while playing with her staff. It's a long silver staff with the same mark that sits on her forehead.

"Why am I here?"

"Why don't you tell me about yourself first"

"I thought you knew everything that happened under the moon. Then you should know a lot about me then"

"But I want to hear it from you"

I exhale.

"What is your name? Who are you?"

"Maraja Aslan. Enchanted. Daughter of Asherah Aslan, first daughter of the now passed king and queen of Allozan; Naida and Sirius Aslan" phew that felt good.

A radiant smile forms on her features and it's blinding. "Well, well, well....I've watched you, Maraja. Nothing slips my gaze, but the reason for your immense power has managed to....elude me. It's funny," she sits up and leans foward, resting her two hands on her glittering staff. "So much power. So little knowledge. You don't even know the slightest way to go about controling your magic"

"And that affects you...how? Listen all I want to know is why you brought me here. If you're not willing to let me know, then please return me to my friends"

"Bold. But not brave" she stands, her gown pooling like a pond beneath her. One step at a time, she descends the stairs from her throne and approaches me. "The waterfall you and your friends found was created by me" she cirlces around me. "I'm very protective over it and I got worried when I saw a group of power owning teenagers there. But I was drawn to you. Your power. It will draw many others. Some bad. Some good. Some evil" she stops beside me. "I suppose you already knew that" she heaves a lazy sigh. "Keep them close; your friends. Because each and every one of them have an important role to play in defeating the coming darkness. You, being the centre of it all of course"