Chapter 1: And This Fits Together How?
Calissa rode up the white beach in a small, black and silver hover car. The moonlight reflected off the ocean and lit Calissa's path. In the moonlight, Calissa's intense, emerald-green eyes looked even more brilliant. Her long dead-straight, orange hair was held out of her face with a metal headband; the strands were blowing backwards. She was wearing light-blue jean flares and a black sweater, very unlike a princess.
Calissa was very grateful to have gotten out of the palace that night. But now she had to hurry back. If her father, King Geriaes of Laelern, knew that she had gone out among commoners, he would be angry.
The giant palace suddenly appeared in front of Calissa, but still quite in the distance. Calissa drove into the woods and took some time to hide the car; taking her laptop computer out first. She then continued towards the palace on foot with the computer.
When she arrived at the palace, Calissa used her computer to bypass the security. The entire time she was worried that someone had noticed her absence and that they would be in there waiting for her. She slowly opened the door and stepped in.
The palace resembled something from an old sci-fi movie. The inside walls were made out of Alir, a white, plastic-looking material. Alir was the strongest material to date, and it was semi-light. At these times of virtual peace, there was no need for palace guards. Guards were long ago replaced by computers. It would be almost impossible for someone outside of the royal court to get in or out of the building, almost.
Calissa quietly made her way down the right hall. She was almost to the stairs when she realized that she had forgotten something. Before Calissa could react, beams of purple light criss-crossed through the room. Calissa froze, caught between three beams. She paused to think about her options.
"I have to get over to the security computers," Calissa thought. She tightened her grip on the little computer in her right hand. She brought her left arm in, over one of the beams. She knelt down on the floor, careful not to touch the light beam by her tummy or the one behind her. She slowly turned around and went very carefully towards the security computers located on the wall of the main hall. She sometimes stood up to step over the lower beams.
Almost there, Calissa froze. She lay on her tummy with a beam under her chin, a beam four feet above her, and beams above and below her left foot. She turned her foot and slid it between the beams, just barely not touching them. She got on her knees, careful not to sit too high and touch the beam above her, and turned sideways. She lifted her body's right half over the beam and then her left.
Now, there were only a few beams between her and the security computers. She jumped up, not seeing the high beam in front of her because of the way the hall lights were shining on it. She was startled when she came face to face with it and jerked backwards. Her computer went flying out of her sweaty grip, hit the glossy floor, and slid a few feet. Calissa said outloud, "No! I can't turn off the beams without that."
She got back down on the floor and crawled through the beams, toward the laptop computer. It had landed below two parallel beams that were a foot above the floor and behind a lower beam. Calissa reached between the two light beams above it and tried to get a grasp on it. She could almost touch the top with her fingertips. "A little more," she thought, licking her lips. She leaned forward. Calissa lost her balance and fell facedown through all three beams, her right foot hitting a fourth.
A very irritating and loud siren went off. Calissa grabbed the computer, jumped up, and ran so fast down the right hall that she almost fell several times. Everyone in the palace had already began to rush into the main hall.
Calissa ran up the stairs, pushing past everyone coming down. When she got to the top, she took off down the hall towards her bedroom and crashed right into her adviser. Both girls stumbled backwards. Calissa grabbed onto a hall table and kept her balance. The other wasn't as lucky. She fell back onto her back.
A moment later, the other girl began to stand up. She looked about nineteen, four years older then Calissa, but about nine inches shorter than Calissa-who was five foot, nine inches. She had green eyes with large, blue rims and blonde hair with silver streaks; short in the back and slightly longer as it got to the front. She was wearing thin metal glasses, black leather pants, and a low-cut purple shirt with silver designs.
The girl yelled over the noise, "What's going on, Calissa?"
Calissa yelled back, "Someone tripped the alarm." It was almost true. Suddenly the siren stopped.
The girl asked in her normal voice, "Where are you going? And where were you? I went to your room, but?"
Calissa cut her off by saying, "I was downstairs when the alarm went off. It's nothing, really." She paused and then continued, "I'm really quite tired, Mariah. Night, ?kay?"
Mariah eyed Calissa carefully. She finally replied, "Good night."
The two went off in separate directions. Mariah went downstairs; Calissa to her bedroom. The rest of the night at the palace was silent.
A girl, about the age of fourteen, with shoulder-length, black hair with orange highlights clawed her way out of a ditch in the ruins of an old city that used to be topped with a dome made of clear kintera, a now out-of-date building material.
The city had once been the capital of Laelern and Utopia. It, along with a few other cities in the area, had been abandoned a hundred years ago after a violent cevariki (a type of astrophysical material) storm hit the area. Now, this area was forever dark and cold because the storm's leftovers had blocked most of the sunlight from coming in. Even with the new technology, there was nothing to be done about it, everyone just left the area, and the capital was moved to Katoki. But, supposedly, the great goddess, Averi, sealed the object of her power in an old temple. She had many traps set up in the city to prevent anyone from taking it. As long as it was there, power would remain with her and Laelern would be the dominate country.
The cat-like girl who had climbed out of the ditch was about 4'11". She was wearing black, cargo shorts and a long, dark-green, long-sleeve shirt that was only buttoned at the second, third, and forth buttons. She turned around to help her friend out of the ditch. The other girl looked about two years older. She had knee-length, dark-red hair. She stood at about 5'4" and was wearing a black mid-rif and blue jean shorts.
"I don't know if we can survive another one of those traps, Lan. We should just leave," the red-haired girl said, out of breath.
"We can't leave without the Averian Orb, Fayer. With that orb, we will be very powerful and rich!", Lan said, clutching her hands together. Her large caramel eyes lit up.
"Why are we risking our lives for something that may or may not be here? We don't even know if it exists or not.", Fayer said, sounding a little upset.
Lan thought a moment before answering. She replied, "Fayer, this is the perfect place for that orb to have been hidden. It isn't like I chose this place at random. It was here a hundred years ago when it was kept by Queen Esderay, and as far as anyone knows, no one moved it." Lan adjusted the strap of her bag and said, "Come on, Fayer, let's go. I want to get to the old church before nightfall. This time, don't set off any more traps!"
Fayer's dim, green eyes widened. She replied, "Me?! Lan, it was you that set it off! The second one was my fault, but the other three were because of you!"
Lan just stared at Fayer. She said calmly, "Uuhhh?no. You did."
Fayer gave up. She knew that Lan never admitted when she was wrong about anything. "Whatever," Fayer muttered.
The two girls continued to walk. About three-fourths of the way there, Fayer stopped walking. Lan stopped and turned around. "Fayer? Are you okay?", Lan asked sleepily.
"I heard something," Fayer replied without looking in Lan's direction.
"There can't be anything in here. There's no food or water for miles," Lan said, sounding irritated.
Fayer shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She said calmly, "That makes no difference if it is a kavie."
Lan looked surprised and said, "A? kavie? Kavies don't exist, Fayer."
Fayer looked at Lan, "They said that dragons didn't exist, but they did. You can't know. Anyway, I think we should check it out. It sounded so sad?"
Lan sighed, "Fine. But I'm tired, we'll come back in the morning. Come on, Fayer."
Fayer paused for a moment and then the two continued to the church.
Somewhere in Neldia, the country west of Laelern, a seventeen-year-old girl with wet mightnight blue hair that was almost shoulder-length and silvery-blue eyes sat in her bedroom window, watching the sky. She shivered and thought, "There's no way I'm going to get any sleep tonight." She pulled away and walked over to her closet. She changed into a pair of flares and a tight, blue-swirl shirt with Japanese writing on it. She clicked off her computer that she was using earlier to write a story and took her ID card out of her purse. She used the elevator to get down to the first floor. She grabbed her silver-gray jacket and yelled, "Naubu! I'm going out for a walk."
Naubu, her brother, replied, "Fine, Anner. Be back before two."
Anner put a baby-blue bandana over her wet hair and opened the door with her ID.
Anner lived in Kiivara, Neldia. Kiivara was a small city full of huge buildings and statues. The crime rate was extremly low, like most places on the planet Utopia in the year 214 RS. Anner had lived in Kiivara since her parents were killed in a quake, nine years earlier. Now, Naubu was the only family she had.
Anner shivered. No matter how much she wanted to go home, she wouldn't let herself. She had to stay out longer.
"Hey, girl, stop!", a male voice yelled.
Anner turned around and saw a girl dressed in black with chin-long, black hair, dark eyes, and freckles running towards in her direction. The girl dodged past Anner with an upset hoverbus driver running after her. He stopped next to Anner, out of breath.
"What did she do?", Anner asked in her soft, quiet voice.
The man took a moment to rest and then answered, "She hid on my bus, so she wouldn't have to pay. I was already here before I noticed."
Anner softly replied, "That doesn't seem so bad. She is just a kid."
The man noticed a card on the ground that he had not noticed earlier. He picked it up and said, "An ID card? Zara Talentae, huh? Well, I'll keep this," the man said, walking off with the card.
Anner was too tired to react. She stood there for a moment and decided to forget the girl. She continued walking, knowing that she was almost home.
Zara stood at a corner, hoping that the girl she saw earlier would come that way. When Anner went by, Zara followed from far behind. "I hope that she is the one. She looks like she's up to it? I hate to do this to her," Zara thought.
Anner was nearly home when she suddenly stopped walking to catch her breath. She heard a snapping sound behind her. She smiled because she knew who was behind her, but she didn't turn around. "How long have you been following me, Ms. Talentae?", she asked softly.
"I'm sorry," Zara said. She stood holding her hands up by her chin.
Anner turned around slowly. She asked, "Why are you following me, Zara?"
Zara stared at Anner's face. "I need to talk to you? Anner Yuukara, right?", she asked with her eyes fixed on Anner. She stepped forward slightly.
"Yea? how did you know?", Anner asked. Her eyes widened and she started to go through her pockets. "I didn't drop my ID, did I?", she asked.
"Oh, no," Zara said. She stepped forward a little more with her arms crossed over her chest and looked down. "I'm on a mission? The Averian orb of Laelern is in danger. If it is distroyed or obtained by someone evil, this world will be consumed by darkness."
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