GEOSphere

Part One

My journey began like all journey’s do; with that first step. I’d been hiding in the barren lands of what used to be a town, behind it’s fortress like walls, never daring into the unknown. Until finally, I’d had enough of how I’d been living. I opened the doors and stepped into the dark woods that surrounded the tall wooden walls and ventured out. I was curious and helpless; too naïve at the time to know what could happen to someone like me.
I looked around at my surroundings, noticing how there were trees everywhere compared to in the open lands of what had been my home. I was so close to nature and wildlife, it was amazing to someone like me who’d been locked away for so long. There was quite a plentiful amount of berries and such, so I used it for my occasional meal. I was out in this area to see the sun rise and set at least 3 times.
I’d been going like that for awhile, nothing slipping up on me yet, but it would all soon change. I came to a clearing and there were finally a couple of trails. In fact there was a sign, pointing directions towards what I would soon find to be towns. At the time, I knew about as much of the world as a toddler would.
“Well, lads, what ‘ave we’ere?” a strange sound came from behind me. I turned to see what it was and I surprised to see other people there. I hadn’t ever seen one of them before (besides for myself, of course)! I was about to smile, but then I noticed these people were looking at me kind of funny.
That was when I remembered that these kinds of people were called men.
“Was amatta lil girl?” one taunted
“You look rather confused,” another taunted
“W-who are you?” I finally was able to say, surprised again by my voice. I hadn’t ever had to talk before so I was amazed that I already knew how.
“We’re the ones who are gonna show you ‘ow to ‘ave some fun, lil miss,” the first grinned and approached me, reaching one hand towards me.
“Let go of me,” I didn’t understand what was going on when the guy grabbed my arm and I tried to jerk away from him.
“Now, now, no need to be like that,” he attempted to pull me closer again, but I jerked again and then I heard a thud and the other two men jump. I looked up when I heard a thud and saw that the guy that had grabbed me was laying on the ground, a rod protruding from his forehead. Then I gasped a scene flashed through my head.
I’d seen something like that before, except there was fire all around. A village burning to the ground, someone standing in front of me, guarding me, another just off to the side, on their knees, and one huge bulk in the front, that seemed to have a black aura surrounding him. All around us there were bodies on the ground.
I heard the two men start to run and looked over my shoulder as another group of men came up on horses. I was prepared now, my nerves on edge after my latest memory discovery.
“Are you alright, madam?” the one that seemed to be in charge asked me.
“Huh? Oh, yes, I’m fine,” I shook my head, putting my hand to my forehead.
“Good,” I looked up to see him remove his helmet, “Because it would be a terrible thing to see my cousin is harmed before we could successfully retrieve her,” he grinned what was meant to be a charming grin.
I remembered him almost immediately. He was my dear cousin Drake Garrick, quite the ladies man. Annoying in my opinion, but hey, it wasn’t my place to talk. I also seemed to remember him being my enemy at one point, but I wasn’t going to poke my nose in businesses I was still uncertain of. He helped me up onto his horse and then turned and started towards his starting point.
I knew Pheoin too well. I had obviously been here once before my memories had been taken away. I also had the dim memory of my Uncle, I guess, being in charge around here, but I guess I was about to find that out for myself. It was a bustling, lively, no elbow room kind of place. Stalls lined the streets and people pushed between them to get to those stalls. How I suddenly remembered this, I did not know, but hey I’d take whatever I could. It was better than being completely confused.
I rode with Drake and his men to the front steps of what must be the palace because there were no stalls and I could actually walk with getting run over. Drake and I went inside, and I followed him from there, watching my surroundings with curious eyes.
“Drake, you’ve finally returned, my boy!” A large man, obviously in good shape, with a large, bushy white beard and short, kind of spiked white hair, was sitting in a chair in white I assumed was the throne room.
“Father, I only left this morning,” Drake laughed a bit, “And my trip was nearly cut in half. Seems Nautica here came to meet us!” he motioned to me, still laughing.
“It’s a good thing they came along when they did. I had three rather scruffy looking men moving in on me,” I said with a nod and a shudder.
“Ah, there you are Nautica, my beautiful niece!” Uncle, as my suspicions were confirmed, got up and made his way over to me, pretty much picking me up in a tight embrace.
“Good to see you too, Uncle,” I said as I returned the embrace. It’d been so long that I’d seen anyone, much less had someone that actually cared for me.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and get some food in you,” he said and ushered his maids into the room.
I probably turned a shade paler than normal at the idea of his maids taking care of me. I swallowed quietly and just grinned and bared it. They got me all primped up and even styled my hair, making me look like some princess, and then threw on this red sundress saying it was too hot for anything else. After they were finally done, I was drug off to the dining hall where they sat me near Drake and Uncle. I grateful I stuck around at this point. Some decent food was just what I needed and just what I got. I hadn’t felt quite so good in a long time. After dinner, I stayed and talked with my uncle, figuring out what all had happened since we last talked. I found out about Leveran, a vicious man who had separated the teams a long time ago, my sisters kidnapping, and how Drake was engaged to a rather cold hearted princess, but it was one of those ones where neither of the children ever had a say in the matter.
After Uncle finished, it was extremely late, so I went off to bed, gladly being put into a simple gown. I lay down on the soft bed and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. My dream was a bit blurry but I could remember little things when I awoke. I remembered a dark haired, pale skinned guy with dark blue eyes, standing protectively in front of me, and his eyes full of love.
The next morning, when I awoke, I was full of a nervous kind of energy, and I needed to get rid of it somehow. “I’m going into town, Uncle!” I called and ran outside the palace doors and down into the town, looking at all the stalls and such. It was about just after lunch of my second day in Pheoin. I was beginning to familiarize what times people came out and which ones they didn’t, and right now was one of the times where you had no space to walk.
“Excuse me,” someone said as they bumped into me.
“No, excuse me. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing,” I apologized and helped them pick up the food they dropped. When I grabbed a fruit the same time they did, I realized it was a guy. I looked up at his face as he looked up to me, and I gasped a bit. This was the same guy I saw earlier but I recognized who he was now! As I looked into the deep blue eyes curtained by the shaggy black hair, the name burst from my lips.
“Edward!”
“Shush!” He clasped his hand over my mouth and looked around, “You mustn’t say my name, love, you’ll have us both hung up by our toe nails!” he hissed lowly.
“Why? What happened?” I asked as I pried his hand away from my mouth.
“I was accused of trying to kill your dear cousin, but it was all to frame me. It’s actually a group of vampires that weren’t too happy with…with me being friends with you since you’re an angel and all,” he had paused.
I had a feeling he’d changed the words a bit, but I kept to myself.
“Why? It’s not like you were going against any vampire rules to do so,” I acted offended.
He shrugged then lifted a hand before I could proceed, “You have to call me just Silas from now on, okay? No one here, not even Drake remembers that that’s my last name,” he smirked and I smiled.
“I feel like all my puzzle pieces are showing back up,” I sighed contently as I stood up, tossing his piece of fruit back and forth.
“Well, don’t get too comfy with it….I’m not supposed to be alive, Nautica,” he sighed, “So you can’t really hang out with me,” he mumbled that part. He obviously didn’t like that at all. He seemed to hiss as he said it.
I turned on him, “What? But, Ed- I mean Silas! I’ve finally found you again and you’re telling me I won’t be able to see you again because you’re not supposed to be alive anymore?” I demanded, crossing my arms.
He grabbed one of my arms softly and led me away from the curious eyes around us, “Look. If I were to hang out with you, Drake would find out. If he remembers anything about me it’s either my face or…,” he stopped
“Or…?” I prodded, wanting to know what he was getting at.
“Or how I act around you,” he finally said and my brows furrowed. He sighed, frustrated now, “Never mind that. I just can’t hang out with you here. Not with Drake around. When he goes on his hunts and such, then we can hang out, okay?” he gave me a cheesy grin.
I giggled a bit, “Sure, Eddie,” I said, smiling. I figured while no one else was around I could call him what I wanted. He grinned hearing me call him that so he must have liked that.
“Nautica, where are you?!” I heard someone called from the street that I had just been on.
“I guess that’s my parting call,” I sighed as I looked over my shoulder.
“Later then,” He grinned, liking the fact we would see each other again just as much as I seemed to.
“Later!” I waved as I ran back out onto the road.
“There you are!” Drake came up beside me, panting a bit.
“Sorry, dear cousin, I got lost,” I gave an innocent grin.
“Well, I guess that makes sense, seeing how you’ve been gone from here for over 2 years,” he said, nodding.
“Wow, it has been awhile then, hasn’t it?” I said, taken off guard by the time frame. I hadn’t seen Edward in a year and I highly doubt either of us changed appearance wise. Edward still had his long black hair, which still looked like he just got out of bed, and his pale skin still had the same sheen as it normally did when he went out into the sun. His eyes seemed darker, but that could just be me. I noticed now that Drake hadn’t changed much either. He had short, cropped chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a dark tan saying that it was ‘his lucky charm’. Sometimes, Drake really disgusted me.
“Anyways, I was coming after you to tell you not to run off just like that. Wait a minute and maybe get a guide or something,” he said.
“Why wait when I can see it all myself and figure out where everything is on my own?” I asked confused by the over complicated idea he was throwing at me.
“Because it isn’t safe for you to be alone. Did you not learn that from your little misadventure in the woods?” he raised a brow at me.
“Well, I seemed to have made it just fine so far. Then again, I was alone for three days last time rather than five minutes,” I reminded him and walked into the crowd, following it back towards the palace.
“You never know, your chances may change,” Drake said when he finally caught up with me.
“You’re still talking about that? Didn’t I just end that conversation like 10 minutes ago?” I asked, shaking my head at him, going inside the palace, tuning him out as I went towards my room. I was getting to see Edward again and for some reason that sent a thrill through me.
I waited patiently all week for Drake to leave, but he seemed to be taking his time now that I was back. Finally, I all but booted him out of the castle onto his hunting trip. Once he and his men were out of the city, I went and searched every nook and cranny for Edward. My first day of searching was unsuccessful. By the end of the second day, I had almost given up, but finally, the fruit of my searches arrived and I found him by a fountain late at night.
“Edward!” I called and ran over to him. He looked up, rather startled, “I’ve been looking all over for you!” I said cheerily.
“You have?” he blinked, “I had no idea. I’ve been rather busy here lately. That group I was telling you about has been around and I’m trying to get it through their heads that there’s no need for them to worry,” he sighed, running a hand through his tousled black hair.
“I’m sure everything will work out in the end,” I told him, sitting on the edge of the fountain, looking into the water at my reflection. My straight brown hair fell down just past my chest, but I noticed something different in my mirror image. My eyes seemed clearer, and instead of dark hazel, they were almost a crystal green kind of color, “How odd,” I noted aloud.
“What?” Edward looked at me, not noticing what my epiphany was.
“Nothing, nothing…Tell me about this group of people that aren’t so happy about you being friends with me,” I turned so that I was facing him. There were fewer distractions if I wasn’t facing the water, but there would always be something that would cause me to lose my train of thought.
“Well, they’re a group of Elder vampires that have always obeyed the rules, and made sure others have. They’re rather upset with me for breaking quite a few, just by being friends with you. They’ve threatened me several times now, saying if I don’t straighten my ways, which they had believed I had in the time that we were separated, they’ll kill you as the consequence,” he said, talking lower as he reached that final note.
“Kill me? Well, some threat that is,” I rolled my eyes and Edward sighed, putting his hands on his side and turned to face the other way, “What?”
“You always say stuff like this. You never take your own life importantly, Nautica,” He said in partial annoyance as he turned to face me again.
“Well, obviously, it’s not too important because I was left to die in some deserted town,”
He sighed, patting my shoulder then stood back up, “Come on,” he took my hand and pulled me up.
I followed Edward around for the rest of the night, not thinking of anything but just enjoying my time with him. It had been so long, but it felt comfortable enough. It was like we had never been apart. And as the saying goes, time flew like a bird on an upward draft. It was the same the next day too.
“Meet me outside the gate tomorrow,” Edward told me at the dawn of the third day I’d been back with him. He had been holding my hand today and carefully slid it away, much to my disappointment. He kissed my cheek as he started to back away
“Alright,” I smiled then went back to the palace, anticipating the events to come. We didn’t do much here in town since Edward was trying to keep his identity a secret and whatnot, but maybe, since we were going outside of town, we could actually do something.
I was overly anxious as I walked to the gate, still fighting some of the late evening traffic, but even with my eyes looking straight forward, I still managed to run into someone and fell onto my rear on the paved path, “Sorry,” I stood back up, looking to make sure I hadn’t hurt them but noticed that they hadn’t budged. I got a cold chill down my spine as I quickly realized that I was standing in front of a group of Elder vampires, or in the very least a minor one.
“Excuse me, but...Are you an angel?” the leader, obviously, asked me, taking a step in my directions, “And if you are, would you’re name be Nautica per say?”
“What if I am?” I said obstinately, crossing my arms and standing my ground firm as if I thought it would make them leave me alone or something.
“Well, if you are, then we can make this trip extremely short,” he said and before I could even take a breath to reply, I was snatched up and the guy was carrying me away, knocking me out in the process.
In the unconscious state I was in, I found it strange how quickly time seemed to pass for me. As if my life just wasn’t stable enough for time to get a good grip on it and it kept letting go or loosening up. I didn’t understand that I was just simply forgetting the minor details because I found them to be unimportant as most probably would. I wished somewhat for it all to slow down and let me get a better grasp, but obviously it was doing no such thing. The time flew while I with Edward and while I was away from him, never slowing down to let me catch my breath.
I awoke again inside a cold and rather cramped room, chained to the wall. It was just like the stories said. Vampires were barbaric compared to the way angels lived which was probably why the two groups were enemies (If no one caught that, that’s the key reason Edward is in so much trouble).
I sat up and looked around, feeling completely confused. I didn’t like it here about as much as I didn’t like the smell. I knew I was in for trouble now because a group of Elder’s had me and if I knew any vampire rules it was one: kill all angels. The thought of that rule alone sent chills down my spine and I curled up against the wet stone walls.
“Well, well, our new guest has awoken at last,” an eerie voice said to me. I looked up to see a deranged looking vampire gazing at me like I was a delectable snack.
“How lovely,” I muttered to myself, “I must be in Hell,” I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes.
“Well, that’s not nice,” the vampire chuckled, and I looked at him in annoyance, “I’m trapped here, just like you,” he pointed a bony finger at me and I saw the shackles on his wrists.
“Why?” I couldn’t resist asking the question.
“Well, I’m afraid I can’t answer that, but you’re in here because of what you are. Seems wrong to you doesn’t it?” he cackled and I thought he’d lost his mind for a moment, “Our lovely vampire lords are so kind and intelligent. They make sure no one breaks the law and that all angels that step foot on earth are taken out….which has me wondering why you’re being held prisoner. Are you involved with a vampire?” he asked.
“Aren’t you just inquisitive?” I made a sarcastic look at the vampire and sighed, leaning back against the wall again.
“Well are you?” he asked, crawling as close to me as he could get, which wasn’t very close but I still cringed back away from him out of disgust, “Come now, stop playing stupid, girl, and answer the confounded question,” he snarled at me now.
“Yes! Now for the love of all that’s holy, get away from me!” I snapped back at him, pulling myself completely up against the wall, “You vampires can be such an execrable species!”
He hissed angrily at me now, moving so that he was back on his bench, but his cold, red eyes were piercing into my own now, “Stupid angel, now which demon is it?”
“His last name is Silas,” was all I was going to answer, but I felt I had to reply somehow.
“Silas?! Edward Silas?!” he got wide eyed and pulled as far away as he could now
“What?” I questioned, surprised that one, he got who I was talking about just by the last name, and two by his reaction.
“You obviously don’t know the boys reputation. He’s been known to attack angels from barely a glance, and vampires, too, if they don’t respect him. I’m surprised you’re still alive! Unless…,” his eyes seemed at a distance now.
“Unless?” I pressed, wanting to know what this creature that claimed to be a vampire was accusing my Edward of.
“Unless he’s just using you to see if the legend of how to make angels fallen is true,” he almost sneered. I wanted to gag at the thought. It couldn’t be true. I thought Edward was different than the other vampires, maybe the only one with some morals. I couldn’t believe how easily I fell for it, “Then again, I don’t know what goes on in the boys head, so it’s not like I can say. You’ll have to ask him yourself!”
“H-how long have I been here?” I asked, not wanting to continue the topic.
“About two or three days, actually. I’m surprised that neither Silas has come to get you nor the Elder vampires haven’t killed you. Wait, a moment! You’re that Nautica girl they’re so worried about!” He pointed his bony finger at me.
“Who doesn’t know my name yet?!” I sighed exasperatedly.
“We all have. Every single one of us vampires was told to kill you if we found you, since Silas refused to do it himself. And if we were in groups, to try and kill Silas if he was with you,” the crazy vampires replied.
“Then why did the Elders kidnap me?” I was confused.
Before he could answer, a holy arrow, which I recognized by its golden color and slight glow, lodged itself into the vampires head. A scream lift my lips, only because of the abruptness of the attack. I looked to the cell door I was in, waiting to see if the attacking angel would show themselves. Obviously he’d either shot the arrow from an extreme distance, or he was taking his time, because it seemed forever before he showed up at the door. He jumped when he saw me and aimed his arrow at me. He hesitated when he saw I didn’t react and then lowered it.
Recognition passed on his light toned face and he swept his dirty blond bangs from his brow before pulling out the keys he’d taken from the security guard. He unlocked the door then stepped inside warily, “Nautica?” he questioned. I wanted to growl. I was getting tired of people knowing my name before I knew who they were. He must have seen my irritation because he put his hands up in a defensive manner, “I was sent to find you,” he explained. When he saw I wasn’t about to knock his head off his shoulders, he came over slowly and bent down to undo my shackles, “My name is Troy. If you’re quiet, we may be able to get out of here without any trouble,” he was talking slow, and patient, trying not to make me upset again.
Too bad for him, it had the opposite effect, “We’re going to be in trouble either way, aren’t we, since you killed a lot of vampires?” I asked my voice still tense from aggravation.
“Yea, so? Vampires are abominations,” he said then saw the new anger that flashed across my face and sighed, “Oh that’s right. You’re the vampire lover,” he mumbled and helped me up off the floor.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” I half shrieked as I yanked my hand away from him. If he thought I was going to let him insult me and Edw--….me that way, he had another thing coming!
“Nauti, please,” he sighed with impatience.
I stopped him, holding my hand up abruptly, “How do you know that nickname?” how did I for that matter?
"Your sister gave it to you, remember?" he raised his brows.
"But how do you know about it?"
"I was dating your sister before Leveran kidnapped her," he explained.
I gasped, "Oh yes! I remember that now!" I waved my hands in excitement before I hit him hard on the shoulder, "Don't make fun of me you big jerk!" I crossed my arms with a huff.
He laughed, "It's about time you realized I was picking on you," he said, then started to pull me away, out toward the way he came.
"So how big of a mess did you make?" I asked as I followed, "And how are we going to get Rhysln back?"
"First, not too big, just the necessary, second, I don't know. I've been trying to find him, and it's been rather unsuccessful, to be honest," he sighed.
"What of Edward, do you know if he's still in Pheoin?" I asked, worried.
"He was there?" he turned to me, shock written on his expression, "And he didn't try to kill you?"
"No, of course not," I was offended that he was thinking so lowly of my beloved, but then again, there was a year of my life that I spent in a demolished town, that he would have been wrecking havoc all this time and I would have never known.
"Sorry, it's just Edward's changed a lot. He might have loosened back up since you're alive and not dead like most of us had assumed," he noted with a shrug. I gave him a rather blase kind of look, wanting him to explain what had happened in my absence, but knowing Troy, if I still did, I wasn't going to get it. He turned back around and led me away from the jail area. As we turned the corner, we came to a halt, face to face with a cloaked figure.
Immediately I knew I had nothing to fear, even though intuition reminded me that the Elders wore the cloaks. The hood dropped to reveal a young girl with curly brown hair and pale skin.
"Oh, you two are supposed to be here," she said with a bell-like voice, "How did you get here?"
"We got lost in an underground passage, Abigail. Can you help us out without us getting caught?" Troy asked. Abigail? How did he know this girl?
"Sure, but next time Troy, stick to the land you know. It might keep you alive," she nodded and turned, leading up towards a passage way.