Chapter Two: Lost and Found
Crystal sat down in a shady spot in the corner of the school yard. Suddenly, the school bully, Robin McCane, marched out of the school. Crystal guessed he had just completed his quest to fire another teacher. Robin was one of the few student bullies who got away with no sidekicks. Actually, it came as no surprise that he had never needed a few extra helpers: Robin fired the worst teachers, wrecked the school, and made sure that any kid who wasn’t fit to live be crushed. That “any kid” included Crystal. Robin hated Crystal more than a runner hates a sore ankle. Crystal, who knew this very well, immediately hid in the bushed wall behind her. As she sat down, something hard, and very much more solid than the soft soil, connected with her butt. “Ouch!” She cried aloud, then clapped a hand to her mouth, before quietly pulling out… a book. Very old by the look of it. The faded gold bindings were falling apart, and the red embossed title was peeling, but Crystal could still read the letters formed: The Lands of Secrets. Every page looked well-thumbed and slightly soggy from the moisture of the dirt. Crystal didn’t get to look inside, because at that moment Robin McCane tore open the bushes, trumpeting a triumphant, “Ah ha!” Crystal backed against the school wall, clutching the book behind her back in her shaking hands. “You thought you could get away, did you?” he growled, pulling her out of the bushes. His nails digging into her arm. Crystal didn’t say anything. Robin drew back his fist, when Crystal’s fingers absently opened the book in her hands, pulling it from behind her unconsciously. “Wha-” Robin began, when suddenly the book began to glow. Crystal gasped. Robin backed away. Kids ran toward them, screaming and shouting in amazement and terror. The book shook, and Crystal dropped it on the asphalt. A jerk from somewhere in her legs caused her to fall forward. Crystal closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall on the hard concrete, but after ten long, agonizing seconds, Crystal opened her eyes to find herself… floating? In an atmosphere of glittering silver stars and revolving shapes, before BAM! She landed straight on a dusty road. She sat up, trying to recognize her surroundings, when thump. “Ouch!” Crystal cried, clutching her head. The Lands of Secrets fell open beside her. “Wha-” Crystal started, but she was interrupted by a scratchy voice. “Don’t just stand there, come in!” It said, and Crystal looked up. She caught a glance of a green, leathery hand and trees and blue sky, and– everything vanished into a sandy black. A scratchy hand grasped her and pulled her down. “Let me go!” Crystal said, or, well, she tried to say. All that came out was “Le-” before Crystal’s mouth filled with sand and dirt. She landed on solid ground, and her knees buckled from the sudden solidness. She blinked several times, and coughed out dirt and grass. “Where am I?” she asked, before spitting out a worm and another bit of dirt. “Yuck!” she cried, but the scratchy voice said again, “You better get used to it. That entrance is the only way to get in and out of this house.” “Who are you?” Crystal wanted to say, but her breath caught when she looked up to find a green animal with a hard brown shell. “Are you…” she began, but the stranger interrupted her again. “A turtle? Yes.” He turned to her. “Sit down, will you?” He asked, motioning toward a couple toadstools (much too big for Crystal’s preference) gathered around a log held up by a couple of stumps. When she had taken a seat on the spongy stools, the turtle handed her a steaming cup of green liquid. As they sat in silence, Crystal took the chance to look at her surroundings. The house was quite simple: Clearly underground, small and round, and everything was made custom-fit for the house. A kitchen, chamber pot, armchair by a crackling fire, and a big bookshelf stuffed to its fill with thick books. Simple. The turtle had baggy skin, big black eyes, and was wrinkly all over. “The name’s Fig,” the turtle – Fig – spoke. “Let me guess: You’re the new empress?” Crystal spat out her small sip of tea, (which was fortunate because it tasted like rotting swamps) and gagged. “What?” she gasped, gulping air down. Fig gave her a look. “The new Empress. The replacement for the Realm.” Crystal frowned. “Whoa, back it up. What’s the Realm, where are we, is this real, who are you, and most importantly, what do I have to do with this place?” Fig smiled a turtle-y grin – which looked like a smirk to Crystal – and walked to his overstuffed bookshelf. Then he stopped. Looking back at Crystal, his smile faded into a look of shock. “WHAT! You–I can’t believe–no… it can’t be!” Crystal jumped up, spilling the rest of her tea on the table. “What? What? Why–” Fig turned to Crystal, his face amazed. “Then you are the one who can stop this madness.”