Marcy sat down against the wall and started drawing in the dirt, waiting for something to happen. She was completely lost, as usual, and had begun to except it by just waiting for things to straighten themselves out.

Chandra walked over to her and sat down as well. The two had become fairly good friends over the trip and now that it was almost over...Well Marcy did not care to think that far.

"So...What exactly is this stone?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

"It's...It's not what everyone thinks it is. Now that we're here I guess it's safe to tell you...My father sent me on this quest to keep Cephalus from ever reaching the stone."

"Whoa, wait, what?"

"It's true. Although there wasn't much I could do against eleven other people. You see, the Rinopenya stone was hidden for a reason. It was far too dangerous for anyone to have possession over so the high authorities of each kingdom agreed that it should be hidden. They buried it in the mountain and to insure that no one would take it out they connected it to each major channel connecting each part of the world...If you remove the stone, the world slowly falls apart."

"You're kidding?" Marcy said, stunned by the intensity of their plan.

"No I'm not," Chandra shook her head.

"Well, then why would Cephalus and everyone else want the stone?"

"Over the centuries this knowledge has been lost, with only a few left that know the true story about the stone."

"Why don't these few just tell people?"

"They've tried. My father was one of them. No one listens, they don't want to listen. It's the only thing that gives them hope for a better future."

Marcy chewed on her lip and thought about the whole thing. It would take a bit of convincing to keep Cephalus or any of the others from getting the stone and who was to say that other people did not know about it? In fact, from what they had all been talking about recently it was more likely that people did know than if they did not.

"Well...How do you get the stone out in the first place?" Marcy asked curiously.

"It's rather complicated but I'm afraid Cephalus has it all figured out. All these stone tables have two medallion indentations, that makes twelve. It's the rule in this world that every royal must have a medallion and must wear it all the time. They can never take it off. 'When Nature Connects' is how the old saying goes. Pretty much it means that in order for us to get the stone we have to have twelve royals that have opposite medallions to put in the indentations. It also says that nothing from this world can touch the stone."

"Twelve royals? Well where are you going to find twelve royals?" Marcy asked, seeing the solution in the problem.

"You really haven't figured it out have you?" Chandra asked, a bit surprised...just a bit.

"Figured out what?"

Chandra sighed and made a sweeping motion all around the room.

"They're all here. Every one of them."

Marcy's jaw dropped and she sat there, completely dumbfounded. She had been traveling for several days and never knew that her comrades were all blue-blooded.

"You're kidding!...You're serious?"

"Yes, yes I am," Chandra told her solemnly, nodding.

"Of course they are not all King or Queen, or Prince and Princess. Most of us are probably Ladies and Knights, or something like that."

"You mean you don't know?"

"Well it's pretty obvious they've all been in hiding."

"What about...What about you?" Marcy asked, even more intrigued than before.

"I'm Lady Chandra of Salliet. Lady of Sunshine, if you want my appropriate title."

Marcy was not sure how to react to this. She had never met any royalty before and to be completely honest no one in that room seemed very aristocratic to her. They just did not strike Marcy as royalty even after Chandra had told her.

"So...What about everyone else?" she asked quietly.

"I think you've explained quite enough Chandra," Adrastea's foreboding voice spoke up.

She was now standing right in front of them and Marcy was not liking the tension that had immediately filled the air. She was quite use to Adrastea's tough demeanor but ever since they landed in that room it was almost as if everyone had grown afraid of...Of nothing really; and Adrastea seemed particularly intent on making everything worse.  

Chandra stood up and squared her shoulders. Even though she did not quite make it to Adrastea's height Marcy thought her upcoming speech would be rather fiery and more than enough to make up for the difference.

"Alright Adrastea, that's enough! I'm sick of you always butting into other people's business and pretending to be all high and mighty! I'm-" Chandra yelled, getting cut off before she could finish.

"Chandra this is very much my business. It's everyone's business! Now before you go on any further and start telling this little clueless brat about everything I suggest you stop and THINK!" 

Marcy was quite taken aback being referred to as the 'little clueless brat' and was about to argue her case, but Chandra beat her to it.

"Marcy is not a clueless brat and has every right to know what's going on!"

By now the two had attracted the attention of everyone else and the argument was becoming quite heated. 

"You know absolutely nothing Chandra. Nothing!"

"I wouldn't count on it you cheap shot!"

"Alright stop it!" Cephalus bellowed, Dagon and Diomedes helping to break up the two girls.

"You two are being ridiculous. If only you could hear yourselves right now."

Adrastea still was not ashamed by her outburst and shoved her way through everyone else, finding refuge in the opening of the tunnel they had come through. Chandra sat back down and folded her arms, not willing to admit that she was acting like a three year old. Marcy felt a little foolish herself, even though she did not really have much to do with the argument.

It took a while for everyone else to settle down once more but there was still a definite tension in the air mixed with anticipation. None of them except Cephalus and Weland knew who the last person was going to be. Marcy was afraid it would be some kind of disgusting critter who was King of the underground kingdom or something bizarre like that. So far she had encountered people with wings, people with anglers, people with pointy ears, reptilian creatures on two legs, and psycho path trees. It was all just, just too real for her. 

"I thought I might find you here Cephalus," Aileen's voice broke the silence.

"And I knew you'd find me here," Cephalus answered evenly. 

"Where did she come from?" Marcy asked Chandra in a whisper. 

"The entrance."

Marcy had the urge to make a sarcastic remark but decided not to. After all, it was rather a silly question. 

"Of course, we do need your help to get the stone," Cephalus told Aileen.

"What makes you think I will help you? You don't think I was about to hang Adrastea for absolutely no reason do you?"

"Could have fooled me," Adrastea mumbled in her little corner.

"I had no other choice honestly. She knew where the stone was."

"Why are you trying to keep us from the stone anyway?" Cephalus asked, slightly puzzled.

Marcy and Chandra snapped their heads towards Cephalus and swallowed hard. This was it. Whether he believed it or not was a completely different matter all together.

"If you remove that stone you'll break the seem and the world will collapse." 

"That's just a tall tale that our ancestors told us to ensure that no one would misuse the stone," Cephalus told her, waving his hand about.

Chandra looked up at the ceiling and groaned. This was exactly what she had feared.

"No, it isn't," Aileen replied.

She really could not think of anything else to make him understand. There was no way to prove it except by removing the stone...Suddenly an idea struck her and she turned to Cephalus.

"Even if you can get the stone out of the chamber, nothing from this world can touch it."

Cephalus smirked and started to walk across the room. They could all tell he had been waiting for this moment.

"That's why we have Marcy. She's capable of holding it without anything happening."

Marcy was too concerned with the present situation to realize that they had been lying to her the whole time, but it still did not change her mind about anything.

"What makes you think I'll help you?" she asked, folding her arms.

"You want to get home don't you?" Cephalus replied.

On the inside Marcy wanted to slap his face right off and she would have, but it would probably destroy any chance of her getting back to earth. 

"That's what I thought," Cephalus said after Marcy did not answer. 

"Well you don't have any hold on me," Chandra spoke up.

"And you can't get that stone without my medallion."

Cephalus turned his dark gaze on her and grinned in a way that made her more than slightly uncomfortable.

"Will that be so hard for me to get?"

"Excuse me?" Marcy suddenly spoke up.

"Was that just a threat? That sounded like a threat. Were you threatening her?" 

Cephalus sighed and rubbed his temples. Marcy really was slow on the uptake and had a tendency to say everything that came into her mind, which had started to get on his nerves.

"Look, this stone is the only chance any of us have. Do you want to throw that away?"

"No it isn't! It's the only thing that will definitely destroy everyone and everything!" Chandra contradicted.

"Um...May I suggest something?" Deirdrie spoke up quietly.

The room was suddenly quiet as everyone turned their attention to her.

"Who says we need the stone? None of us are enemies,"

Except one of us, who is an enemy of all of us, Marcy thought bitterly of Adrastea.

"It's clear that we have all had a high rank in the past and that should serve to our purpose. Once we get this stone, what do intend to do with it? As far as I know, or care, it's just a rock. Let it stay that way. There's more than one way to skin a cat."

"She's right," Dagon agreed.

"May I suggest a trip back to the woods on a secondary road that Adrastea and I took. The nymph pool is located there and they will tell us what we need to do."

Adrastea suddenly leaped out her whole and grabbed Dagon by the collar, catching him by surprise.

"YOU LITTLE SNAKE!" she yelled, pulling out her knife.

"STEA!" Deirdrie shouted, completely shocked.

"YOU LIED TO ME! YOU TRICKED ME INTO GOING THAT WAY! YOU WANTED ME TO LOOK IN THE POOL!"

Dagon, who was now fully aware of the the knife that came flying at him thrust his right hand up and grabbed her wrist. By now she had let go of his collar and he twisted her arm around back and shoved Adrastea against the wall.

"Drop it," he said calmly.

She did not comply.

"Drop it!" Dagon ordered once more, pulling harder on her arm.

Adrastea still did not let go of the knife. 

"I will break it Adra, don't think I won't!"

For a moment there everyone stood in shock, thinking that he might actually have to break her arm. However, eventually his words penetrated through the think cloud that was fogging her judgement and she let go of the knife.

"Now listen closely," Dagon whispered quietly.

"I did not lie to you. If you remember correctly, you chose that road. You were the one who refused to go the other way, not me. Yes, I admit, I did want you to look in the pool but it was for your own good...Now just think about that for a while and try to contain yourself. Knifes are dangerous you know...You could have hurt someone."

After a minute of letting that soak in Dagon let go and picked up the razor sharp knife, handing it back. Adrastea looked at it for a second and eventually took it, putting the weapon back in her belt.

"Use it on your enemies, not on your friends," Dagon told her in a softer tone.

Everyone was deadly quiet, not knowing exactly what to say next. Deirdrie knew that Adrastea was prone to yelling at people but to the extent of actually pulling a knife on anyone, this was definitely a first. 

The silence stretched on even longer, filling every corner of the room and Adrastea felt something inside the pit of her stomach. Something she had not felt in a long time...Guilt?...Yes, yes it was definitely guilt, and she knew right then that it would not go away for a very long time.