Void Of Stars (Part 3) [Collab with Annie Persson]

"Carry on arguing, I don’t care. We have all the time in the world. It’s only my family that’s going to die soon anyway.” I said sarcastically, and everyone in the room went quiet.

Nix had just explained that now the sun and stars are gone, the moon and Earth will start to dissolve, starting with the highest point. Anything that wasn’t grounded (or in other words, anything that wasn’t buried in the ground in some way, shape or form) and got dissolved… Well, that meant it wasn’t coming back, even if we managed to restore the sun and stars. So, basically, if we didn’t hurry, Faith and I wouldn’t have a family.

“Do you have any ideas?” Ras asked, a sceptical look on his face. I really don’t like Ras. I shook my head, mimicking his face. Ras rolled his eyes and looked at Faith. Before he could speak though, I said:

“I don’t have any ideas, but maybe Nix does. They’re his ancestors’ writings after all.” Faith nodded in agreement and everyone turned to Nix. He blinked twice, thinking.

“Well,” he said slowly, “I suggest we try to find the Sanctum first and see if we can find the original writings. Then, based on what we find, we can figure something out. Hopefully.” I looked around and Ras and Faith were both nodding.

“Ok, so it looks like we’re doing this. Nix, you’re going to have to show me a picture, map or drawing of this place so I can get us there.”

“Right,” He said looking around, “I think I have a map around here somewhere….” As Nix was rooting through some draws, a portal inexplicably popped up right next to me. I jumped away from it, its sudden appearance startling me.

“W-who did t-that?” Faith asked pointing at the wormhole, “I-I thought y-you had to h-have a m-map or something?” She looked at me and I frowned at her stuttering. She hadn’t done that since we were kids.

“Well, I don’t think it was me, this one doesn’t feel right.” Ras shifted his weight and rolled his eyes again.

“What do you mean ‘It doesn’t feel right’?” He squinted at me like he was trying to see inside my head. I made a face at him.

“I mean, when I make a wormhole, I can always feel it sort of pulling me like I need to go through it. Usually, I don’t hesitate to go through it, so it’s not too bad. But his one…. This one doesn’t have any sort of pull or anything.” Ras took a step towards me and peered through the portal.

“Well, if this ‘Sanctum’ or yours is a big stone house with moss all over, then I guess Hope found it without a map.” He said, shrugging and looking at Nix. Nix had on his ‘thoughtful’ face, so I knew he was trying to figure something out.

“Hm, I guess since the Sources are gone maybe you don’t have to know where something is? I mean, one of the expected side effects of the Sun being gone is less control over your magic, stuff like unexpected portals and things randomly disappearing and reappearing. So maybe this is an advanced side effect?” Ras sighed and shifted closer to the wormhole in Nix’s living room.

“Look, it’s here now and we’re wasting more time trying to explain Hope’s ‘weird feelings’ towards the hole. Can we just figure this all out later? The world is literally ending and all you can do is-” I cut him off.

“Ok, we get it. Nix should go first, he probably knows what to expect best.” I stepped aside for Nix and Ras to go through first. As Ras passed me, he mumbled something that sounded like “How would you know?” but I couldn’t be sure. When Faith tried to pass me, I held out my arm to stop her.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you and Ras, but I don’t like him and I think you should be careful. Also, when was the last time you stuttered? And why is it back? I thought you had lessons and stuff for it.” Faith sighed and pushed my arm aside.

“I-I don’t know w-why I’m s-stut-tering, but it has n-nothing to do w-with Ras. I th-think It’s the st-stress of trying t-to save the w-world and a-all.” She stepped through the portal and left me no choice but to follow. Even if it felt wrong.

When I came out the other side, I almost fell on my face thanks to an uneven stone. Nix caught me and helped me get my balance.

“Careful.” He said, pointing to all the hazards around us including the massive brambles as thick as my forearm. I nodded my thanks and understanding, watching where I placed my feet.

Everyone had gathered at the huge wooden doors that led into the stone castle. I tried to hurry over, but the brambles had other ideas. When I finally got myself untangled, Nix was placing his hands on one of the doors and it disappeared.

Nix led us around for a while. Eventually, we got to a part where it was too dark to see, having left all the glassless windows behind us. I held my hands out in front of me and bumped into something soft. Someone grabbed my arm and I reached out, trying to figure out who it was in the complete darkness.

“Hold on, everyone, I grabbed a box of matches before we left. I just - need to… Ah, there they are.” Seconds later I heard the rasp of a match and saw Nix’s grinning face right in front of me. Faith was the one who grabbed my arm and she looked a bit pale, hanging onto me even after Nix found a discarded torch and lit it. He waved it around a bit and we all studied our surroundings. But something didn’t feel right…

“Where’s Ras?” Faith said, her voice cracking in alarm. She let my arm go and walked over to Nix, tore the torch from his grasp, half-running, half-walking around the little corridor we were in.

“I know he was with us before it got this dark, He was walking right next to me! Where is he? Ras!” She was walking carefully down the hallway, in the other direction from where we came. Nix called out to her, worried she was going to get lost.

“Wait! Faith! Look, I have a map of the place somewhere, we can look down any adjoining passages until we find him, ok? Just wait a sec.” Faith stopped and Nix started rooting around in his pockets. I decided to study the hallway a bit more. Suddenly, I noticed something above Nix’s head. It looked like the base of a statue, but I couldn’t be sure. As I watched, it grew upwards, as if it was coming back from being disappeared. My eyes widened as I realised what was happening.

“Nix!” I called out, diving for him, right as the statue finished forming and plummeted.

*****

Hope pushed Nix over just as the statue finished forming, and they fell on the stone floor of the corridor. I ran over to them.

“Are you okay?” I asked, dragging Hope up.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Her face was red – either from her fall or the fact that she'd fallen on top of Nix. She turned to him. “Are you okay?”

He got up, rubbing his head. “Ouch, you're heavy,” he said. “And... thanks.” They chuckled awkwardly and looked at the ground for a few moments before shaking themselves and looking around.

Nix gestured to the statue. “That couldn't have appeared naturally.”

“Who...” Hope began, then trailed away, her expression hardening. “I knew we shouldn't have trusted him.”

“Who do you –“ I started before realising who she meant. I flared up. “We should be worried about him, instead of accusing him of something he can't have done! He's not even here.”

“Exactly. He's not here.”

“Why are you so suspicious of him? You're just jealous that – that – oh... never mind...” I blushed and trailed away. Hope smirked and shook her head. Her string showed a mixture of amusement and worry.

“We should've kept you two apart,” she said, and I stuck my tongue out at her. Childish, but I felt childish – then I stopped and worried. I was doing immature things without even thinking about them; I'd spent too long away from the castle. From my family.

Suddenly my worry increased. “Where is he we've got to find him what if he's hurt what if he's dead?” I spluttered, growing restless. I turned away from my sister and Nix and started marching down the corridor in the opposite direction that I had before. The march changed to a run as I grew more and more anxious.

I heard Hope's voice from behind me, puzzled... but not worried at all. “Faith, come back. We'll be more likely to lose each other if we split up.”

I paused without turning and waited for an explanation. Then it dawned on me. I twisted and walked back to Hope. Blushing and looking at the floor, I returned her worry string. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

Nix smiled. “When that happens again, give the emotion back as soon as you can, okay? We don't want you burdened with all of our problems as well as your own,” he said in a brotherly tone. Or brother-in-law... I wonder.

“After all that trouble, are we even going to try and find him?” Hope said impatiently.

“Who, me?” I looked up from the floor as Ras popped out of a nearby room. Hope and Nix whirled around, pure surprise on their faces, and I gave a mixture of a snort and squeal.

“Hey, don't scare us l-like th-th-that,” I reprimanded with a laugh. Darn, why do I keep stuttering? Hope gave me a knowing smirk, and I blushed. Then she turned back to Ras with a hand on her hip.

“Why did you do it?” Hope asked at the same moment as I said, “Where were you?”

He ignored Hope, smiling sheepishly and answering me. “I... had to go.” Hope rolled her eyes as I snorted. Ras glared at her, then took my hand and started walking along the corridor.

“And I found a library,” he told me. I turned back to look at Hope and Nix, who weren't really paying attention to us. Hope tilted her head in our direction, and they both shrugged. Nix held out his hand for Hope to take, and eventually, they followed us.

I turned my head to hear that Ras had been speaking. “- and I can't see why everyone finds it so impossible, but don't tell anyone I said that,” he finished.

“Um... I d-didn't hear a w-word you said,” I said tentatively.

He grinned. “Never mind, I was just prattling. Trying to fill empty space, you know?” I laughed.

After a few minutes, we arrived at a large door. Ras let go of my hand to open it, and I walked in, looking around me in wonder.

The library had only one wall, that surrounded the whole room in a circle. Dusty shelves full of dusty books stretched upwards towards a dome ceiling, and I gasped. It had to be magic that kept the books in the middle of the dome from falling out. Soft, forest-green silk lined the floor, and navy-turned-to-grey silk armchairs dotted the room. It looked so cosy and surprisingly peaceful. As if it had been improved by its time without humans.

***

The library was stunning. I stood there for a minute, just taking it all in. Eventually, Nix had to drag me forward and I stumbled towards him, tearing my eyes off the beautiful ceiling and paying more attention to where I was placing my feet. The floor was still uneven here, much like the rest of the Sanctuary, and I had to focus to not trip. Nix let my hand go and started studying the titles. He ran his hand down the spines as he read, mouthing the words to himself so he could take them in faster.

“Over here!” Ras called, Faith hanging off him. Sometimes I couldn’t believe she was younger than me, and other times my two-year advantage really showed. This was one of those times. Nix looked away from the books and frowned. He carefully went over to Ras and looked at the book on the table. I joined him and if I stretched, I could just see over his shoulder. Nix shooed Ras and Faith away from the book, kneeling down by the low table.

“This is it, guys. This is the book that will tell us how to stop this. It will give us clues on how to find the thief and how to return the Sources.” Nix said, reverently flipping through the pages. Suddenly, Nix stopped flipping the pages and started reading. I tilted my head so I could read what was on the page, but it was in some strange language and the writing was small and cramped. Nix was studying an illustration and gasped.

“Of course! Naturally, they would’ve hidden it.” He looked up from the book and turned to me.

“Hope, do you ever remember seeing this symbol in the palace anywhere?” He shoved the book towards me, and I had to push it away a bit so I could focus on the little symbol he had his finger next to. I squinted, trying to remember where it was. Suddenly, another wormhole appeared next to me, but this time I could tell it was from me because I felt that familiar tug towards it. Everyone turned towards it and Faith pointed.

“That was you this time, right?” She said, raising one of her eyebrows at me.

“Yes, this is one of mine. Come on, I think the symbol is through here.” I stepped through and screamed as I fell. I had stepped into thin air. The floor was about ten feet below me and I fell hard to the stone floor. Nix and Faith stuck their head through the wormhole and Faith gasped.

“Are you ok?” Nix asked, sitting down and putting his legs out of the portal to make the drop smaller. He landed next to me and rolled. He got up and rushed over to me, making sure I was ok.

“I think I’m fine, it’s just my arm, I landed on it funny.” I tried to sit up, but when I moved my arm a bolt of pain raced up to my shoulder. I cried out and clutched my shoulder with my good hand.

“Here, let me help.” Nix kneeled beside me and helped me sit up without bumping my arm. From my sitting position, I shakily got to my feet, still cradling my injured arm. Faith and Ras landed behind Nix and me, Faith squealing a bit as she fell. Ras groaned and held his leg, rolling back and forth.

“Ras!” Faith said going over to him and touching his arm lightly, “What’s wrong?”

“Ah! My leg.” He said through clenched teeth. Nix was looking for the symbol he showed me, slowly raking his gaze over the stones in the wall. I joined him, leaving Faith to sort Ras out. Then I spotted it.

“Here!” I said excitedly pointing to the stone it was on. Nix came over and smiled at me.

“Well done, Hope! Here, let me just….” He said fiddling with the stone. There was a scraping sound and a section of the wall moved back and then to the side, creating a dark passageway. I glanced back at Faith and Ras, wondering if we could leave them.

“Faith, do you think now that we’re back in the castle, you could try and find Mum and Dad? You could warn them about what might happen and you could get Ras to a healer.” Faith looked back at Ras who nodded. Faith put Ras’s arm around her shoulders and got up with him slowly. Ras paled and his gold eyes widened as he tried to put weight on his leg. I could’ve sworn his eyes were brown when we were in the Sanctuary.

“How far away are your parents?” He asked, wincing.

“They shouldn’t be that far. Besides, we can find a servant and ask them to bring a healer.” Ras nodded and Faith looked at me.

“Be careful, ok, we don’t know what’s down there. I- I just want you to be ok, ok?” She said, looking concerned. I sighed and smiled gently at her.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Worry about Ras, he’s getting paler by the second.” She nodded and helped Ras hobble down the hall. Nix and I looked at each other.

“So, are you ready? Faith was right, we don’t know what’s down here. It could be dangerous and you’re already down one arm.” He gestured at the arm I was still holding carefully.

“Look, I’m coming with you and that’s the end of it. I can handle myself.” I strode forward and into the passage.

It was dark and I could feel the cobwebs brushing over my arms and face. It was like the tunnel had grown feathers. I realised I couldn’t hold my arm in front of me to make sure I wasn't going to hit anything, so I hung back and let Nix pass me. It was a bit tight, but he managed not to hit my arm.

“Don’t you still have those matches?” I asked, following closely behind him.

“Oh yeah, thanks.” He said, rooting around in his pockets again. He eventually found them and seconds later the passage was filled with light. I couldn’t see much past Nix’s back, but he obviously could see where he was going because he sped up. Then, there was nothing under my feet.