Unstable

Chapter 35

--- Xander's POV ---

We fell for what felt like forever, but was probably only a couple minutes. All of a sudden, bright sunlight blinded me as we plunged out of the hole and into the underworld.

Hurtling toward the ground at high speed, we screamed in terror.

A foot from the ground, we stopped, gravity squeezing the breath out of me. My eyes darted around, wondering who or what could've saved us.

The woman from before?

She would've been better than who was actually waiting for us.

Dia looked at us impassively, then flicked her hand, and we dropped to the ground with a thump.

I groaned, and rolled over. The harsh sunlight was blinding in contrast to the gloom of the hole. Nothing but the blue sky was above us.

Aither complained, "I don't want to do anything like that ever again."

I agreed. It felt like everything in my body was squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste..

Struggling to our feet, Dia looked at us with pity.

I coughed, "Thanks."

She shook her head, "Don't worry about it."

"So, are you going to kill us now?" Aither regarded Dia with suspicion.

"No, why would I kill you?" As she said this, her gaze darted down to the tattoos on my hands. "I was the one who gave you those invitations."

I thought she didn't want us to see Fox anymore...

"This doesn't mean I like you two," she said stiffly, "I'm doing this for Fox."

"Did he ask about us?" I inquired hopefully.

Dia rubbed her arm, "No, she hasn't mentioned you or anything about the human world since you left."

I deflated, "Really?"

Aither didn't say anything.

"I gave you those invitations because, well, Fox hasn't been quite the same."

"Obviously. Why wouldn't she be mad at you?" Aither scoffed.

"No, this is different. We expected she wouldn't be happy with us, but usually she doesn't hold a grudge for longer than a few days." Dia sighed. "It's been months since we last saw Fox smile."

I was about to tell her she deserved it but she cut me off.

"It's a lot more serious than you think. If you saw her eyes," the demon shuddered, "It's like she's dead inside."

I inhaled sharply, a memory rushing back.

At the mall, when he was crying. His eyes had no life in them.

I looked at Aither, "Maybe we should believe her."

He folded his arms, "Fine. Let us see Fox."

"Small problem," Dia said, "Dion isn't exactly on our side. He thinks Fox is fine. We need to be careful to avoid him when we're in the castle. At least until we find Fox."

"Can't you just teleport in and talk to him?" I asked.

"Today's her birthday, it'll be really hard to do that when she's going to be constantly surrounded by people. There's a chance you might even be arrested on sight because you're not supposed to be here."

"Lead the way, then."

Dia nodded, and pointed at the castle behind her. "We're in a field near the edge of the castle grounds. I can get you closer, but from there you'll be on your own."