Shattering Crystals

Lynda coughs once, twice, three times into her sleeve. I don't know how she's wearing a long sleeved shirt on a hot day like this, but she still claims to be cold.

"Are you okay?" I ask, wondering if I should go buy some medication or something. Everyone else has been able to stay relatively healthy on this journey (a shock).

"I'm fine," Lynda says, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Her voice is rough, hoarse. "Let's go."

Once again, we find ourselves in front of the yellow house, waiting for the door to be answered. This time, Teena herself opens the door.

"Why are you here again?" Teena asks, exasperated. I begin to wonder the same thing. "I already told you..."

Leave her and go on.

Marigold's voice is faded, but surely there. What? I ask her, but get no response.

"We came to -"

"Say goodbye," I tell her, cutting off Lynda. She shoots me a panicked, confused look. "I know there's no way you'd agree."

Her annoyed frown slips into a grin. "Thanks," she says. "I knew you'd understand."

"Wait, what?" Lynda says to me. "I thought we were here to..." But I just shake my head and wonder if listening to Marigold was the right idea.

"Too much for me to leave," Teena says. "I'd never be happy in the magical world."

By looking at her, you can just tell that her words are true. I can't stop looking at her face; though she is no great beauty, her smile makes up for it. She exudes pure happiness. Will I ever be like that?

"And that is why we're leaving you here," I tell her. "No point in going, really."

"Yeah, I know." She takes a step forward. "And one more thing... The disaster happened three days before your wedding, and when you would become ruler."

"Oh?" I say, wondering what she means by this.

"What I mean to say is... You'll be a great ruler." She smiles softly this time. "It's your destiny."

----

"I can't find it!" Lorraine says, frustrated. She throws the world map on the ground.

"Maybe I shouldn't let Teena stay," I say, leaning over the arm of my chair to retrieve the map. I pick it up and set it back on the round table. "Maybe that's why we can't find the next location."

"Yeah," Lorraine says. "I say we kidnap her. It worked with Katalina."

"But Marigold..."

"Who cares what Marigold says? How do we know she's right?"

"Because this whole thing would never happen without her. We need her."

Lorraine sighs. "I guess you're right. But what do we do now?"

I twist the ends of my hair between my fingers. "I don't know."

Get to the teleportation point. You have everyone.

"Teleportation point," I blurt out automatically. "We have to get there."

"Where would that be?" Lorraine asks.

"I don't know."

"Ask her," she says, with large amounts of duh in her tone.

Marigold? I try. Help? But she's gone. I can't feel her presence in my head.

"No use," I say, shaking my head. "She's gone."

"I'll call a group meeting," Lorraine says. "We will figure this out."

----

"So, we have to find a teleportation point," Lorraine says, authority written all over her face. I can just see her standing in front of a board with all sorts of complicated plans written on it, us being the students and her teaching us things no one else could teach. "Does anyone have any clue what it is?"

The group is silent. Apparently, they don't know either. "Anyone?" I try. They all shake their heads and I groan. But Lorraine just nods and continues.

"Didn't expect so..." she says. "So we'll just have to figure it out."

"And how the hell are we going to do that?" Cody asks. "We've got nothing to go on."

Find a place where people disappear.

"Where people disappear," I say as soon as I hear it. Marigold's voice is weak, faded. She vanishes.

"People disappear everywhere," Elise points out. "We disappeared, technically. "

"Does that mean we're gonna disappear forever though?" Ashlee says, biting her lip in a rather unattractive way.

"No," Dean answers, showing basic common sense. "But I can kind of remember something. A place where a lot of people disappear."

"They didn't disappear," Lorraine says, "or Marigold wouldn’t be sending us there. I bet they teleport away."

"I think I know!" Connor exclaims. Everyone turns to him, surprised that an Earthborn would know. "I did a project on it... It makes sense."

"Spit it out," Lorraine says. "We're timed, you know."

Connor takes a deep breath and exhales. "The Bermuda Triangle."

----

I shove my clothes into a bag, shrinking them easily. For a fifteen-year-old girl, I don't care about clothes much. I let Lorraine pick my outfits, anyway. Today's outfit is a pink floral print tank top and a denim mini skirt. Not the first thing I would choose, I do admit that it is a cute outfit.

We're leaving. Again. Katalina said she'd take care of it all. That we would get to Bermuda in the best way possible. I can't imagine what she has in mind.

Connor pointed out that we could go to Florida and enter the triangle from there. It would be easier that way. But Katalina insisted on seeing the beautiful pink sand beaches of Bermuda before leaving Earth for good.

Lynda asked, once again, if Wessley could go instead of Connor. It nearly broke my heart to tell her no again. But I had to. I would never leave Connor behind. If only there was a way to bend the rules...

I walk into the bathroom and grab my toothbrush off of the marble counter top. I stop and smile at myself in the mirror, for once liking what I see.

But I kind of miss my old self. This face doesn't feel like... me.

I had always needed braces, and my teeth were slightly yellowed. But now I have the smile of a supermodel. My eyes are a dark blue. Strange, because I have a blurred memory of them being lighter.

My long, pin-straight black hair falls elegantly over my shoulders, reminding me of a waterfall. Gorgeous.

This is a face to die for. That is a definite truth. And I had done nearly nothing to get it. Feels so good, but feels so wrong.

My smile turns into a frown as I remember that everything comes with a price.