Mai woke up early the next morning. Not that she could tell that from within the dark cave. The first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes was that the torch had died out. The second thing she noticed was that she was snuggled up against something warm.

"Oh," she thought, "This is nice..." That's about the time reality had hit her.

Her eyes shot open as she sat up straight. This, luckily, didn't wake the thief, which was the warm thing she had chosen subconsciously to snuggle with. She looked toward him, slightly terrified of the fact that they were so close, and even more terrified that she had...liked it.

Mentally screaming at herself, she resisted the urge to turn around and slam her head into the cave wall.

After calming herself down, she noticed that her clothes were pretty dry, so it was probably early morning by now. That's about the time Zed decided he was cold and grabbed his lost source of warmth, which happened to be Mai. She blinked as she was being hugged like a pillow by the sleeping thief.

Red-faced, the poor girl tried to wiggle her way out of his grip, but that only made it tighter. After a few minutes, she gave up. Then she started to hear footsteps.

Feeling a sweat coming on, she shook, trying to wake the pillow huger. "Psst! Hey...! Wake up..!" She whispered nervously. "Zed, I swear, if you don't wake up, I'm going to kill you." Her harsh words were only met with muffled whines though. He's impossible!

The footsteps came closer and that's when Mai noticed that they had a torch in hand. That wasn't creepy at all.

Now a bit motivated, she tried to wake him again. Then the stranger spoke. "Zed? Mai?"

Great! They know our names! She thought, becoming more nervous, but it all washed away when the stranger came into view. She blinked.

"Lucas?!" The thief's sidekick also blinked, but not for the same reasons...It took all of his willpower not to burst out laughing at the scene before him, for he knew that if he did, he would die one of two ways. By Mai, or by Zed. So in order to keep his life out of danger, Lucas decided that it would be best to keep his mouth shut. 

Despite her embarrassment, she had had enough. "Zed..." Her low voice made Lucas take a step back.

"I AM NOT A FREAKING PILLOW YOU MORON!!!!!" Though she had yelled into his ear, he slowly opened his eyes, as if he had had a peaceful awakening. He leaned back to look at her face for a few minutes before going back to his original position to sleep, still holding Mai as if she were a pillow.

Mai had managed to hit him as hard as she could in the head. Lucas couldn't help but laugh as hard as he could and almost dropped the torch in the process.

  ~ ✿ ♥ ✿ ~  

A yawn was heard a few minutes later from one of the men behind the captain, who had stolen the torch and stomped off in front of them to hide her embarrassment. Lucas waited until Mai was seemingly out of earshot to look at Zed. "You might be fooling yourself, but you're not fooling me. Just go for it man."

Zed glanced over at him and then forward to the back of Mai's head before glancing to the ground, nodding.

"Oh, the exit." The boys looked forward to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Following it, they finally made it out of the cave, but what they saw, had surprised them all.

They had walked into a huge clearing, surrounded by the same cliff they had fell/climbed off of. In the middle of the large clearing, a very tall, and old, stone tower stood. Vines and flowers climbed up it in many colors. A stream ran around the tower as a moat. Outside of the moat were fields of wildflowers until they reached the cliff walls. The cave behind them seemed to be the only way in or out of the place.

Mai squinted, the sun's sudden light forcing her eyes to refocus. Zed and Lucas whistled at the same time at the sight.

"What....What is this place..?" Mai asked, putting out the torch, as there was no need for it now.

"Dunno, but it's only a bit intimidating." Zed commented.

"Yeah...That moat is a bit weird too. Are they trying to perhaps, protect something?" Lucas thought out loud.

The two boys glanced at each other with that thief-like glint in their eyes. Before Mai could even protest, they were off towards the tower. She only sighed while readjusting her satchel for comfort before following after them. Somebody has to keep the two out of trouble...Or so she told herself.

Mai noticed that the two had stopped in front of the moat. With a raised brow, she walked up next to them, looking down at the water she found it to be a strange color. "Anybody want to tell me why the water is...Pink?"

"No idea." Replied Lucas. "Maybe it's poison of some sort?"

"I never liked Pink..." Mai pondered on it. "I'd say that swimming is out of the question."

"No kidding. Maybe there's a bridge." Zed suggested as he started walking around the moat.

The two followed. "Like there's going to be a-" She had caught herself off as they came around the corner where, in fact, was a wooden bridge. "No way!" Cried Mai and Lucas, who seemed to have his own doubts.

Zed only rolled his eyes as he stepped across the bridge. The other two waited until he reached the other side safely before daring to copy. Once on the small island, the three started looking for a way in.

Mai caught herself trying to trip again on roots. "Ugh..I hate plants..."

Zed chuckled. "I think plants hate you back."

She only laughed. "It's a love hate relationship, really."

Lucas, who was amazed that the two could hold a casual conversation, watched them in amusement. Well, he was until he stepped onto a stone, that sank into the ground and caused a doorway to appear. He blinked, barely able to see the stairway through the net of vines covering the entrance.

The rumble of the stones caught the others attention quickly as they looked at it blankly. "Okay, so this is getting weirder." Said Lucas as he started pulling down the vines. The other two followed suit, and soon the doorway was cleared.

The three were surprised to find that the inside was nicely kept. It wasn't dusty, and there were no cobwebs. In fact, the walls seemed to be...shining. As they walked up the stairs, they noticed that there were candles lit.

Mai glanced around. "Do you think somebody lives here?"

Lucas put on a thoughtful expression. "But wouldn't they leave the tower? The entrance was covered in vines, hadn't been touched in a long while."

Zed was about to comment when a soft hum filled his ears. He stopped and Mai almost ran into him. "What-"

"Shh!" He cut her off so she would be quiet. She did, hoping for an explanation. "Listen." Was all he told them.

After a few moments of silence, the hum had become louder. A hum of a girl's voice.

Mai's eyes widened as she listened. "It can't be..."

Zed looked down at her, witnessing for the first time that she had a shocked look on her face. Before he could ask about it, she started running up the steps. After a quick glance to one another, the boys followed her quickly.

Mai came to a halt in front of a pair of tall doors. They were carved and painted in beautiful designs. The hum had turned into a soft song. So familiar to Mai's ears that it almost made her cry. The boys caught up to her as she placed her shaking hand onto the door's handle.

She held her breath as she turned the handle. Being unlocked, the door was easily opened.

The room itself was large, being the top of the tower. Everything in it was painted, including the walls and ceiling. There was little furniture, but many different items lined the walls. Things ranged from household items and cleaning tools to random things such as antiques and supplies.

But Mai couldn't see any of those things, for her sight was locked onto the teenage girl standing in the middle of the room, with a broom in her hand.

The no longer singing girl had on a light blue handmade dress, and long blonde hair that was a few inches longer than it as it barely brushed the ground behind her. Mai stared into her bright blue eyes, finding them the same as she remembered.

The girl stared right back into Mai's dark green ones. Shock seemed to take over as her grip was lost on the broom, that fell to it's doom and was sadly forgotten for the rest of this story.

The staring contest began, and the boys only looked from one girl to the other curiously.

"...Elizabeth..?" Was all Mai could say as the shock started to settle.