***********************************
Everything was turning into a mind numbing haze. People are yelling and screaming and shouting. Blood is dripping from the side of my head, and I feel someone trying to drag me back. I never asked for this. My curiosity urged me to trust a stranger, and this was the result. This is too much power for anyone to have. Getting something from no effort? That's just not how the world works. My mind and body are still numb. Everything is getting darker, until I see nothing.

************************************

I wake up with a gasp of air. I'm breathing so fast that it feels like I ran a marathon. What kind of dream was that? There was a fire, but now I don't remember much else. My long, blond hair has been tangled into a rat's nest with how I'd been tossing and turning in my sleep. Ugh. What a wonderful Monday morning. Nightmares and bad hair all in one.
I wistfully pull myself from my warm, cozy bed and step onto the freezing wooden floor. How I wish I could spend five more minutes in my nest, but apparently the government thinks school is good for teenagers. Lots of shady druggies and people constantly judging you must be their definition of 'good'. My feet drag on the floor with each step as I head over to my closet. I shove the door open, probably with more than enough force, and pull out the first hoodie I see.
I know some girls spend hours on clothes, and hair, and makeup, but I could care less. After a while, I clomp down the stairs of my house wearing a light blue hoodie and jeans. I brushed my hair to try and keep it down, but that's about all I care do to.
The kitchen is empty. In fact, the entire house in empty. Why am I not surprised? Both my parents travel for their work, and my older brother avoids me like the plague. I think the freedome's gone to his head. He probably didn't even come home last night. I don't even bother to see what sorry excuse my parents left for me on counter.
The only thing I do before leaving the house is grabbing a poptart from the cupboard. Then I'm outside and walking towards the imprisonment that is school. Just another day in the life of Tessa; dull and routine. Or at least that's what I thought.
On my way to school, I notice a large truck driving by. It's one of those two door trucks with the large trunk. Boxes of all sizes are tied down in the back, seeming to be competing to look the most suspicious. I don't look up when the truck passes, not wanting to catch the driver's eye. My curiosity has me looking as soon as the front of the truck is pass. That's when I see it. I never saw it fall or hear it hit the ground, but it's there now.
A small, black box is laying on the street. I can't help but look around nervously before walking over to pick it up. I mean, it had to have fallen from the truck, but it doesn't look like they'll come back for it. At least that what I tell myself to make it feel less like stealing. I snatch it up off the street and dash back onto the sidewalk with my prize. My feet keep bringing me closer to the school as I examine the box.
It's really nothing special on the outside, but it's more of the inside that holds my curiosity. The tape on the box mocks me when I furiously scratch at the edges. They make everything teen-proof these days. The tape does eventually give way to my own frantic clawing. The sunlight glints off the object inside. My breath catches in my throat at the golden chain. That can't be real gold...... can it? The silky, golden chain snakes down to a deep, purple gem. The gem is held in place with silver wound around it, the metal carved and bent into the shape of a dragon.
It's beautiful! The necklace looks like something out of a fairytale. And I just basically stole it. No, I found it fair and square. Who am I kidding? I stole it, but the truck hasn't come back for it, so now it's mine. I push away the guilty thought that the truck driver probably doesn't know it's missing. Such a pretty thing deserves to be worn, not kept in some display case like it surely would've been.
I loop the chain over my neck and quickly tuck the gem underneath my shirt as my school comes into view. Every girl in that place could try to take the necklace from me. A strange possessiveness seizes me at the thought. It would probably be safer in my book bag, but I don't want to take it off. No one will get close enough to see the shining chain, anyways.
And now comenses another day in the pit of teenage hormones and anxiety inducing pop-quizzes; also known as school. Fortunately, I've timed it just perfectly. The screaming bell rings just as I step through the doors. The already forensic hallway explodes into a bustle of activity as my fellow students scurry to their first classes. I myself try not to be trampled while being swallowed by the masses.
The tardy bell has just rung by the time I get to my first class. Our so called 'history' teacher seems to have forgotten what time their own class starts. Sitting there in the classroom, eavesdropping on the loud conversations around me, is when I notice someone new in the class. I probably wouldn't of cared if he wasn't staring at me like a maniac. He's not even staring at my face! He looks up when I clear my throat, catching my dark glare. His whole face goes beat red, maybe finally realizing what he's doing, and quickly turns away.
This gives me chance to stare back at him. It's only fair! Usually I recognize everyone in this filthy dump, but I can't put a name to this one. I roll my eyes when a few girls in the corner are basically drooling over him. The guy's got black hair and he's wearing a black jacket. Emo much? I guess he's not ugly, but you can't judge a blobfish on it's looks. It's also strange when the teacher, finally arriving, seems not to notice the addition to his class. Whatever, it's not my problem.
That is until after class, when the dark-haired boy reaches out and snatches my arm when I round a corner. I yelp in shock when he pulls me into a janitor's closet. These things are suppose to be locked!
"What the hell is wrong with you?", I scream at him, stabbing my elbow into his side. He grunts at my attack, letting me go in surprise. I can only backup deeper into the closest with his back towards the door.
"What do you want? Sicko!", I growl at him. He seems shocked and confused at this, not snapping out of it until I shift on my feet.
"O-Oh, that's not wh-what I meant", he nervously stutters out, "I just need to talk to you".
"In a freaking janitor's closet?", I snap back. He cringes a little at that.
"Are....Did you put on some sort of necklace earlier today? Or did you find something shiny like that?", he awkwardly asks me. At this point, my curiosity is starting to overcome my seething anger.
"Maybe. Why do you want to know?", I ask him.
"Well, I kinda need to know if you found it or not", he tells me. I narrow my eyes at him. The two of us have a brief, but intense staring contest, before he sighs.
"I know that you have it, but I guess I just wanted to be sure", he says, pulling out a chain from underneath his own shirt. This one has a silver chain, and only a small gem embedded in the eye of a silver dragon's head.
"How do you know if I have one of those? Maybe I'm never seen something like that before", I haughtily snap. I'm a terrible liar, and we both know.
"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into", he chuckles, shaking his head with a smirk. I frown at that. Curiosity is my own personal sin, and I'm defenseless against the temptation. Slowly, I pull out my necklace from underneath my hoodie. The guy's smirk quickly disappears as he balks at me.
"What? You wanted to see the stupid necklace", I say, even as a part of me withers at calling it stupid. He doesn't do anything for a moment, before once again grabbing onto my wrist.
"Ok, you need to come with me", he quickly gushes, turning around and pulling me out the door. I never noticed the second bell go off. Now the hallways are barren and empty.
"What!? I don't even know you!", I protest, trying to retch back my arm.
"I'm Caleb", he says, glancing back at me before continuing to pull me down the hall. I end that real quick. My heel comes down on his toes, making him yelp and stumble back away from me.
"Why do I have go anywhere with you?", I ask, crossing my arms.
"Look, um-",
"Tessa", I interrupt him.
"Look Tessa, give me one hour to explain things to you, and then I'll let you leave if that's what you really wanted do", Caleb pleads with me. An hour, huh? I'm already late for my second class. My parents probably won't care if I skip. Heck, they probably won't even be home this week. Even my brother wouldn't notice. I can spare an hour, or maybe it's just my stupid curiosity getting me into trouble again.
"Fine. Let's go. I assume you have a car", I finally say, striding past Caleb. He looks like he expected me to argue more, but he quickly regains his composure and starts moving, taking the lead.
"Yeah, something like that", he replies. Whelp. I didn't imagine that my average Monday would turn out like this; skipping school with an Emo stranger because of a pretty necklace I picked up off the street. I follow Caleb outside, almost laughing at how easy it is to slip out one of the fire escapes. They should really put alarms on those things.
"Ok, where's your car, cause I walked here" I ask Caleb. He gets an almost amused smirk on his face at that.
"When did I say we were driving anywhere?", he laughs at me, "We're taking the easier route. Now, hold onto my waist".
"What? I just met you today!", I protest.
"Hey, I promise that everything will make more sense soon, but for now, you just have to trust me". Maybe it's the way he looked so hopeful that made me do it. It could of been his outstretched hand and his quirky actions that made me agree. Actually, it was probably just my restless curiosity. I take Caleb's hand, and he immediately pulls me close to his body. My face flushes a bright red when he holds me against him, with an arm wrapped awkwardly around my torso. Caleb takes his necklace in one hand, closing his eyes.
"Domum", he mutters, and I'm instantly blinded by violate light. I get the brief feeling of falling before my feet are on solid ground again. My feet stumble when Caleb lets go of me.
"What was that!? You speak Latin?", I gasp out.
"Of course I speak Latin, it's the language of magic", he replies nonchalantly. I numbly stare after him for a moment as he strides forward. I knew it. He's crazy. What have I gotten myself into now? I scramble after Caleb, finally looking round. I have no idea how we got here, but now it looks like we're underground. The spacious tunnel is lit by electric bulbs in the ceiling. Welp, I'm not getting home anytime soon. Might as well see how this plays out. I glare at Caleb's back. Did he knock me out or something just so he could take me to a cave? Now I wish I would've stuck a pepper spray in my bag this morning.
"Ok", Caleb speaks up, "Quick history lesson, you know that giant meteor that killed the dinosaurs?".
"What about it?", I ask with some suspicion.
"Well....um, I don't usually have to explain this to anyone, so sorry if I make no sense. That meteor had some sort of space crystal in it. I never really paid attention in history class, but that's where the purple gems in our necklaces come from", Caleb drones out, stumbling over his words.
"......And?', I ask him, not believing anything he says.
"So something happened with how the space crystal reacted with all the electrons in the air, and magic became a thing?", Caleb says, seemingly not too sure about what he's saying.
"You expect me to believe that?", I flat out ask him. Caleb glances back at me with an awkward look, shrugging.
"You're gonna have to believe it pretty soon". I'm about to ask him what he means, but then we round a corner of the tunnel. Both of the walls drop into a wide, underground ravine that goes up for what seems like miles. I gape at the houses built into the sides of the space. Different layers of raised walkways line the cave wall and give access to the buildings. Lanterns, string lights, and open flame pits cast everything with warm light. Not only are the buildings on the walls, but various plants are growing from large gardens suspended by thick cords.
"Pretty, isn't it? We make pretty much everything we need down here, but we do have a couple of large vents and one staircase to the surface", Caleb says, smirking at my dazed expression. It's beautiful. How does something like this even exist? Caleb takes my wrist again when I don't move, guiding me deeper into the cavern.
"You're a bit unusual for what I normally deal with, so I should probably take you to see my Princeps", he explains.
"That's leader in Latin, right?". "Looks like someone's been studying", Caleb chuckles. We walk up one of the ramps to the lowest raised platform, and I suddenly realize how many people are actually here. I didn't notice them at first with all the other things to stare at. There has to be over 200 people moving about the platforms. A group of young children run, laughing and shrieking, right past Caleb and I.
Everyone looks normal, the only strange thing about them is where they're living. I swear that I even see someone wearing a pink tanktop that I saw in a store window a while ago! While we pass close to one of the strange houses, an older man walks past us. He sends a smile towards Caleb, and he returns it. What really grabs my attention is the necklace that's wrapped around his neck. It's an exact replica of Caleb's! I don't speak, too busy taking everything in and listening to Caleb.
"From what I've cared to learn, us Gem Wielders moved here after the First World War. No one wanted to be involved in anything like that again", he explains, "I was born here, trained, and sent up to the surface every now and then. And now you're here, too".
"But why?", I ask him.
"I told you, magic. There's a little less than a hundred of these necklaces. And the one you have", Caleb says without looking back at me.
" I think I'll need a little more proof to believe in magic", I spit back at him. I hear him mutter something, and Caleb turns back to me with violate fire on his hand. I yelp and stumble back in shock.
"Believe it", he says, shaking his hand and putting the fire out. Then he spins around and keeps walking. Ok, so that happened. Let's get this straightened out in my head. I'm underground, surrounded by a secret society of witches. The thought of Caleb in a witch's hat almost makes me laugh out loud. So these so called witches use a rock from space to do weird things. Ha, mine is bigger. Would they try and take it from me? Why would Caleb bring me here if he could just take it from me? I have to skid to a stop to avoid crashing into Caleb when he suddenly stops.
"We're here! Ready to be the center of attention?", he doesn't give me time to protest before he continues, "Great! Here we go!". The building before us looks like the courthouse back in my own town. It's made of brick, and at least two floors. I can't tell how big it is because of how the back disappears into the rock. The entire place gives me a sense of foreboding; danger, maybe. Could I still convince Caleb to take me back? Before I can ask, I'm being dragged through the doors. My feelings of unease only increase inside the building. I've felt relatively safe up until now. Am I just having anxiety from meeting the leader of such an isolated place? Everything happened so quickly, and I still don't know why.
Caleb is now leading us through some sort of waiting room. Is it just me, or has his grip gotten tighter on my wrist? The room is carpeted, even with carpet on the walls. I recognize it from a movie I saw once. A room like this is meant to soundproof another room. If something in here is so important that it needs to be soundproof, I'm not sure that I should really interrupt.
"Caleb? I don't-", I start but he interrupts me.
"No, this is exactly what's supposed to happen", he says, his playful tone gone, "You're going to fix our little problem, Tessa".
The warning bells in my head had finally kicked on, only now they're screaming. I try to stop walking for a moment to question Caleb, but I'm surprised and scared when he yanks me forward. Did I fall straight into a trap? Was Caleb's goofy and teasing personality all just an act? It's strange how my courage from earlier seems to now shrivel up.
"Caleb? Can you tell me what's going on?", I try again. He doesn't answer. Instead, we finally stop again in front of another large door. Caleb still doesn't say anything when he shoves open the door and pulls me inside after him. It's almost like he's from one of those 'mission impossible' spy movies.
When I see what's going on inside the room, I would've froze on the spot if Caleb had let me. The room is circular ins shape, rising pews all along the walls, packed with people. Every single person in the room is staring right at us. That includes the two men standing stiffly in the middle of the room. It doesn't take a genius to realize that must have been arguing over something. It's like a giant debate stadium. Caleb enters the room without batting an eye at all the people.
"Stay here", Caleb tells me when we're a few feet away from the two. I don't think I could have argued with him, even if I wanted to. Looks my curiosity had over done it again. Caleb goes over to talk to two of the men, leaving me by myself. They talk in hushed tones as the other man stares straight at me. No, at the necklace that I forgot to tuck back under my hoodie. Caleb and his Princeps only talk for about a minute as the audience waits in anticipation for...... what ever I'm here for, I think? The entire room feels tense and ready to burst. Before the Princeps can speak, the other man that's been eyeing me down talks first.
"So, the Crystal Heart is found again", he says, in an almost sarcastic kind of way, "Looks like all our problems are solved! What does this.... girl think of our little Civil War?".
"She's an outsider! Obviously she doesn't know anything about what's going. Why'd you bring here her, Caleb?", the Princeps speaks, seeming irritated.
"B-But she has the Crystal Heart. Surly the voice of the Crystal has appeared now to make their-", Caleb starts, but he's interrupted.
"How many times do I have to explain it to you? Rocks are not alive, Caleb! We have real problems, and you're just chasing a fairytale", the Princeps barks. Caleb's mask of indifference seems to crack at that. Whatever they're talking about, Caleb really believes that it was real; that he was making a positive difference by bringing me here.
"Enough of this! All this talk, and you refuse to see how we can not stay buried alive in this prison", the second man growls, "And now you let two children just barge in here. The time to talk is over! This is War now". The room finally explodes into chaos at those words. Massive fireballs are being thrown back and forth across the room. Either side of the room obviously supported different people, and now everyone is turning on one another.
I never could have reacted fast enough with the wizard battle raging around me. It doesn't even cross my mind to duck when something slams into the side of my head. I'm not even sure what it was! I think Caleb might have screamed my name when I hit the ground, but I'm not for sure.
Everything was turning into a mind numbing haze. People are yelling and screaming and shouting. Blood is dripping from the side of my head, and I feel someone trying to drag me back. I never asked for this. My curiosity urged me to trust a stranger, and this was the result. This is too much power for anyone to have. Getting something from no effort? That's just not how the world works. My mind and body are still numb. Everything is getting darker, until I see nothing.
When I open my eyes again, everything is still dark. Everything except for a faint, violate glow. My body feels weightless. All my thoughts seem slow and muddled. But I'm not dead. The pulsing pain in my head confirms it. Wherever I'm at, the only feature is the ruff walls that I can barely see with the purple light. It almost looks like scales. What I hear next, I can't really describe as words. They're more like facts that I memorized for one of my history tests, just now moving to the forefront of my mind.
"You see how your species squabbles over what is mine? They would hide my pieces away, they would cause destruction for others using my pieces. None can even fathom what I am. You will gather my pieces. You will hide them and my heart where none will find them".
These words stick in my head when I start to regain consciousness, the purple light still shining from the Heart. My past and future seem to pale in the importance of this task. The Voice of the Crystal Heart is real, and I'm going to do what he asks of me. This is why I'm here.
And I'll do whatever it takes to make the Crystal whole.