28.

I would never grow tired of the inertia that stirs and twists in your stomach while flying. On the contrary, I had quite my fill of the sickening rush of stomach acid that came with plummeting at high speeds straight to the ground.  Beast's wings were tucked tightly under his body as we made the drop to the clearing. As I clung to Beasts neck, Lucy did to mine, nestled safely between our two bodies. If the wind were hot, it would have flat ironed my hair straight as it whipped out behind me. But it was cold and biting instead, tearing at my clothes as if they were as thin as paper. Just about the time I wanted to scream from the cold, Beasts wings snapped out and we began to glide.

Lucy's head popped out from under me as I sat up on the Gryphons back, watery eyes blinking.

"It's okay. You can sit up now if you want. The clearings just over there." I pointed to the thinning trees and the young girl sat up immediately.

Gently, Beast glided down and landed with a jolt on the ground. The trees loomed tall over us, their leaves still in the absence of the wind. It was still bright, but I couldn't see the sun or where the light was coming from, I knew it would be dark before we knew it.

"Come on." I held my arms out for Lucy.

Reluctantly, she slid off Beasts back and I helped her to the ground. The Periwinkle appeared out of her jacket as Beast trotted off to the tree line. She buzzed out of the fluff and flew around Lucy's hair.

"She wants to go." Lucy chimed.

"We will be leaving as soon as they—"

Alvar and Lucius dropped from the sky, landing with only a soft thump with their glamour. Lucius' dusted off his cape and Alvar withdrew a dagger from his waist. With a nod of Alvar's head, we were ready to go.

"Lead the way."

I coughed back a laugh as the tiny Periwinkle and the little girl pranced ahead of us, the youngest taking the lead.

It took us an hour to weave our way through the ruins of the city, the smoke forcing us to stop every so often so we wouldn't cough up a storm. Alvar and Lucius seemed to be unbothered by the destruction within the city, a sight of war they had seen perhaps one too many times. But with no past conflicts up my sleave, each crumpled building brought a wave of guilt and a pricking in the back of my eyes. Somehow, it felt as if it were my fault; that ignorance was no more of an excuse than offensive defence.

Briefly, shadows would pass at the edge of my vision, but none stayed long enough to be identified. The black masses reminded me of Hollywood depictions of wraiths and poltergeists; hovering featureless things occasionally moaning in agony, refusing to speak any words.

Beast had never before been as on edge as he was moved through the ruins. Walking along side the little girl, his shoulders were tensed and his head drooped like a lion stalking its prey. Paws making no sound on the rocky pavements and wings tucked tightly against his body, I doubted any living creature would anticipate his silent attack.

I kept catching myself in anticipation for another kind of attack; one from soldiers of the crown, but I soon realised that the people we had seen from above were either gone or in hiding. Although it eased the worry of an attack from my mind, it made me even wearier of entering the palace where all the city people may have been waiting.

Just as my thoughts were finally ordering, an unburnt structure rose from crumbled remains of the city; the spine of the empire, the last thing holding it all together. Contrasted against the bleakness of the fallen city, the skyscraper was mighty and magnificent. The thin body of the building spiralled upwards like trails of smoke from a coffee, the curvature defying the laws of physics. The exterior seemed to be made entirely of different shades of glass, combining together to reflect the same shade of darkness I had seen on the Kelpie and the Wraiths. Like the palace of the First Plane, the top disappeared into the sky, clouds hiding its true size from the naked eye.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Beast resounded in my mind.

I reached out for the softness of his feathers and sunk my fingers into their warmth. I sighed as I felt the gold thread that connected us buzzing with unused energy. A colour flashed, the image of a smile, and the heat of happiness and nervousness flushed my cheeks as Beast projected his emotions upon me. 

"Me too." I projected my own inner workings; delight at the beauty of this new world, but dread in the wondering of what was to come.

A violence urge to protect my companions suddenly overtook me, rushing through my consciousness like cocaine; sending my body into overdrive. I had only known Lucius for a few weeks, and as awful and annoying as he was, there was a part of me that felt like he was a distant relative, maybe even a brother. Lucy reminded me of Virgo when she was younger. Her little face brought back the memories of my early teenage years, where I was more of a mother to my sister than the real one ever could be; making dinner, walking her to school, and teaching her how to read and write and pass all her grades until she was old enough to figure it out herself. My soul was quite literally tethered to Beast, my first friend after Lucas was taken from me. And my heart, as much as I wished it wasn't, had begun to feed off Alvar's small touches and smiles, each beat a desperate attempt to pull us closer together.

Staring at the huge doors, my body shuttered. As easy as it would be, I didn't want to die either.

I reached out my hand for Lucy and called Beast closer with my mind. His fur pressed into my side as we huddled together, strong as a group. Alvar and Lucius were close behind, swords drawn and stances ready for an attack.

The doors opened, untouched by our hands, pulled by the magic that lived within the palace walls. It was dark inside, like the dark that one stumbles through in hallways after waking suddenly at 2 am. We crept inside, eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness. When everything suddenly came into focus, I realised that the dark glass walls refracted light from outside to create a throbbing dark light.

The periwinkle buzzed and zipped through the hall with ease, but somehow my body already knew the way. Like the thread that tied my life to the gryphon, there was a thread that tied me to my other half. I knew we were approaching her, that we were close, and strangely I knew that she meant us no harm, as long as we did not harm her. My focus was so centred on my doppelgänger that my surroundings slipped by me unnoticed. If the hallways were decorated, full of furniture, or even people, I wouldn't have known. All I knew was that she was in the other room, waiting for me.

My body halted before one of the large glass walls. I wanted to run straight through it, but I feared the others might not have been able to follow me.

"Alvar, hold onto me. Lucius, hold onto Beast."

"Why?" Lucius said annoyed, scrunching his nose.

Alvar wasted no time and linked his hand through my free hand, a tiny smile curling the corner of his lips upwards.

"No humanoid Fae from the First Plane can enter unaccompanied." I stated, although I was unsure of where the knowledge came from.

I knew Beast would have no issue, as he served no authority except for my own. Lucy and the periwinkle could walk through unharmed, as shadow creatures of the realm. And I could enter, as I belonged to no Plane or World, only myself. Without hesitation, I walked straight into the wall.

My body fell through the glass like it was mere curtain of silk. Lucy also came through easily, stepping up to my side before she let go of my hand. Alvar followed behind, landing heavily with a small stumble. Beast and Lucius materialised next to us, Lucius looking like he was holding in an uncomfortable burp.

When we were all together, we finally took in our surroundings. The same dark glass covered the walls as before, but this room was brighter than the others, centred on the empty throne in the centre of the room. I couldn't tell if the room was circular or square, for whatever remained of the corners was shrouded in shadows. And they weren't normal shadows either. Black masses like the ones I had seen on the street floated, unmoving, their eyes replaced with black sockets focused on me. Next to the throne stood the Kelpie I had first seen on the night of my performance, it's thick fur dripping black liquid onto the floor. Its mouth was open in a wide, unnerving smile; it's horse teeth yellowed and cracked. And a top the throne laid a gigantic black wolf, the size of a pony; it's fur smoking silently as its beady red eyes held my gaze. It let out a low grumble, not aggressive; more like it was confused or uncertain.

The black wolf rolled slowly off the throne and began to trot over to us. Beast took a protective step forwards and snapped his beak, but the wolf only cocked its head at him. It walked closer, it's nose sniffing the air before my feet. Once it knew I was not afraid of it, it stalked even closer and circled my body. Alvar tensed, his hand going to his sword, but I held a hand up to signal I was okay.

When it was satisfied, it stood and yipped, trotting back to the throne. This time, it walked around the base of the chair and disappeared behind the back, barking.

"I see you've all met Noir. My apologises for not coming sooner, but I am not very good at introductions." And there she was, or there I was.

Except this version of me was more frightening than I could have imagined. She looked so unbelievably human. Compared to the perfection of the Fae whom I had been staring at for the past weeks, she was insignificant. Her nose was too large on her small face, the dark freckles splattered across the bridge tampering with the completion of her otherwise already patchy dark skin. Her eyes were dull, her hair drooping on her cheeks like it hadn't been washed in weeks. She was far from the perfection of the Fae. I was far from the perfection of the Fae.

She had not looked anything like the Umbra I had seen in the visions I shared with the prince.

"You must also forgive the state of the kingdom, the army attacked hit the capital only a few days ago. All of the people had to be moved up the tower."

"Who attacked you?" Lucius asked abruptly, even though we all knew the answer.

"You did. Or, at least, soldiers like you did. They were sent from the First Plane."

"Why'd they attack you?" Lucius pressed. I wasn't unsure if the rest could hear the faint quiver of guilt in his voice as he hoped he had not been following an unreasonable ruler.

"I imagine it was supposed to seem like this was consequence for the King's death to your kind. But we know it wasn't for any one particular reason. The corazón has wanted this plane destroyed for a long time, before it was beyond her control."

"The corazón?" It was Alvar who spoke up now.

The conversation that met my ears had inhibited my motor functions, so as much as I wanted to speak up, to ask the millions of questions I had collected over the past few weeks, including how the hell I had a doppelgänger and what that meant for my soul, I could not. I only stood, dumfounded, mouth agape, as the alien creatures continued their conversation.

"Yes. The Corazón; The Anima; the Cor Meum, all names for the heart of the fae.  As you know, she is weak, dying, ever since we entered the realm." She extended a finger and gestured between us. I shut my open mouth. "In truth, she has been dying for a long time. So when we entered, a split soul, the first one to cross the boarders in many long years, her power latched onto you. As she dies, you will inherit her power."

"And you will inherit the Umbra's when she dies." It was then that my voice finally managed to form a small whisper. "You will bring the Reckoning."

"No," Her sudden response startled us all, and I shared a panicked glance with Alvar. "You will."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alvar cried out as I stumbled backwards, an invisible hand punching my gut and inducing a wave of sickness.

"I will be neither Anima or Umbra, and you will be both."

Alvar's eyes widened, and he clutched at my side, keeping me steady on my feet. My doppelgänger seemed confused at our reactions, disappointment etched onto her features.

"You do not understand. Currently, I posses the powers of the Umbra, that much is true. She sacrificed her life to live on inside of me, but she instructed me of what is to come. She had powers of premonition, so she saw her death and every misfortune that was to fall on this kingdom. And she only saw one way that her people would be free; if we combine our souls once more so you can break us out of this plane."

She sighed and raked her hands through her hair.

"You must forgive me again, for I thought you knew. The Anima didn't just send you here to find me; she sent you here to trap us, so you could never get out and retain her powers; so this Plane could die. She has blocked all portals from this plane to the others. The only way out of here is if we can combine what we have and force open one of the old portals. I know you don't want this power, you think it will make you evil, that I am evil. But I assure you that is only The Anima putting those ideas in your head.

"Do you know why The Umbra split from her first body? Through heart break. She was not the darkness of Corazón, she was the pain, the loss, the suffering. Just as I am your pain, your loss and your suffering. We fractured the first day Lucas was reported missing, when our parents ignored us, and when our sister became a beautiful independent girl, no longer in need of us. And we split when you were taken, when you were willing to let go of your life because you no longer feared death. That is all I am. That is all a Shadow is."

My heart thudded, a tear slid down the length of my nose, and my fingers trembled at my side.

"Without my darkness, you will eventually become as emotionally inhibited as The Anima, who kills her own kin in order to keep her power. If we can become one, we can save everyone. And if we don't, everyone will die. There is no other choice."

It was hard to argue with my own thoughts, materialised in a new body. If there was another way, I could not see it. Even when I was battling with the knowledge that The Anima had locked us in this world to keep herself in power, I questioned the bigger picture. I still didn't understand why the Shadows were such a threat to the First Plane, but looking at the unidentifiable glint in my doppelgängers eyes I think I was going to find out.

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Hey guys! Sorry I wasn't able to update last week, uni caught up with me and I hit a majors writers block where I just couldn't do anything.

Hope this long chapter makes up for it :)

Comment your thoughts!

Vote if you enjoyed :)

xx Charli

(unedited-sorry for any typos)