The Fifth World 2

Bo: I stand up after being thrown onto the bright green grass from the portal. I brush myself quickly and remove the grass and twigs from my clothing and hair. Derek does too. Once finished the both of us look at Johnson who is already standing. He gazes at the scenery around us, admires it. I can see the love in his eyes, the warmth... he is home too. I realise that it has been a very long time since Johnson has returned to the Fifth World. I guess he has not been back since he escaped, which was before I was born.

"Where to?" Derek asks.

It surprises me that he does not seem at all fascinated by the fields and then mountains surrounding us... but then again, there are beautiful mountains like this in England.
I turn to Johnson who is still completely besotted by the trees, the long and green grass and of course the snowy peaks.

"I know this place," I whisper upon realisation - because, in fact, I do know this place.

I take a few steps slowly and then move my body around so I am seeing everything around me, a complete three-sixty. I have walked through here before. I continue to turn, very slowly, as I take in everything around me, breathe in the fresh, open and clean air and I finally stop when I stare at a forest that lies at least a kilometre ahead of us, clearly visible over the empty field.

"What is it?" Derek asks me.

"The City of Hargon lies through there," I say quietly.

Images of the Academy run through my mind... when I walked into it, the grand building that looked more like a castle... so beautiful and old, so giant... so intriguing. I also remember Cynric's home, his little cottage... and that night I stayed over and was so very tempted to go into his room to join him-

"That was your home? For a while?" Derek asks me.

I shake my head, "No, not my home... but it was everyone elses."

"It was mine," Johnson finally speaks to us, I gather that he has been too lost in his thoughts to bother with us, but finally he does, "It was your mothers. It was the perfect city, the perfect home... that was until the true evils of the world were revealed to us."

Derek looks at me and I can tell by his expression, and his eyes, that he is uncomfortable and confused. I do not say anything to him nor do I say anything to Johnson. I just stare at the forest beyond and remember that even though the city is beautiful, the legends beautiful too and the many of the people... there are evils in that city and it was and never will be my home.

"It may take a day for us to reach Seabrooke," Johnson says, "are you both willing to walk the entire way non-stop? Or would you prefer to take it slow and stay the night in the mountains?"

I shiver. I have stayed in the mountains before and it is definitely not comfortable in any way possible. I refuse to stay there again. It is cold, unsafe and definitely unreliable.

"No," I say and look at Derek who I believe is thinking the same thing I am, "we walk the entire way to Seabrooke... non-stop."

Cynric: I am standing in the middle of many white tents, in the middle of what is our town, our home; Seabrooke. I look around to see that many people have gathered up ahead and in front of them I spot Caine along with members of the Seabrooke guardians. I run to see what the fuss is about and notice that Caine is carrying the Seabrooke horn. I push through the crowd, hearing them hiss at me. A lot of them stop when they realise who I am. These days, I am important to Seabrooke.

I spot a Thorne... and then another and another. Three of them and they are all dressed in the same kind of clothing you would see on someone like Jasmine or Colt... they are soldiers, covered in armour with velvet fabric sitting underneath. It is through the royal red velvet that I assume these Thornes are Royals, if not then very important Thornes.

Two are male and one is female. The two males are both young, possibly Bo's age. They stare at each and every one of us with disgust. I know that they are longing to kill. The male on the left has long and wavy walnut brown hair. His eyes are dark and his body is clearly athletic, overly athletic for a Thorne. It would not surprise me if he were someone like Colt. The other male has almost pure white hair and it too is long and wavy like his comrade. If it were not for their hair I would assume these two were brothers.
The female on the other hand is athletic but not overly. I would assume that she would be more like Jasmine; the Thorne who was a Royal and who had come to attack Bo at Christmas. This Thorne has long red hair that curls to the midst of her back. Her skin is a porcelain white and she is clearly beautiful. She reminds of me Janine. I quickly look away from her as it pains me to look at her face.

"We do not seek a fight," the woman says to Caine, her voice with plenty of authority, "clearly there are only three of us here and if we were looking to slay your people, we would have brought hundreds more - not that we would need it."

"Then why are you here?" Caine responds with the same authority in his deep voice, "To insult us?"

"This is Paris," she says and gestures to the Thorne with dark hair, "and this is Ronald," she gestures to the Thorne with the white hair, "My name is Alexandra and we wish to bargain with the Council."

"I am surprised you would attempt to bargain, there must be some kind of catch. Normally I would assume that if you Thornes wanted something you would simply take it and kill anything that crossese your path."

Alexandra laughs and it echos in my head, her laugh is high pitched and ear torturing, I hate the way she throws her head back when she does so, "Do you really believe we are such monsters? Show us to your Council."

Felicity appears beside Caine and I can tell by the expression on her face that she is about to become very hostile. Alexandra looks at Felicity, up and down, and then shows a soft smile before returning her eyes to Caine.

"Show us to your Council-" Alexandra commands Caine but Felicity interrupts.

"You will not speak to the Council nor will you show your faces within these walls again," Felicity hisses, there is venom in her voice, Alexandra is taken aback, "Leave now and I will resist to escort you out of town myself."

Alexandra stares at Felicity and then looks at Paris and Ronald before shrugging once, "As I said we do not want a fight and if you will not bring us to your Council then we will simply tell you what it is we want."

"And what makes you think we will give it to you?" Caine asks.

"We know that the hybrid intends to return to the Fifth World but we are not certain when. What we are certain of is that she will come here almost immediately. You will be the first people in the world to know of her arrival and when she arrives you will bring her to us."

My eyes narrow almost immediately. They want Bo. They will always want Bo. There is no way in the world that I will let them have her.

"Nobody will do that for you," Felicity says in a deep tone.

"For me?" Alexandra asks and then scoffs once, "No, of course not but there are plenty of others many people would do this small request for. Over the years we have obtained plenty of Fifth World Humans whether they are required for testing or if we simply feel like it. In the end, those we have captured usually do benefit us in one way or another." Alexandra looks at Caine and smiles, "Does the name Lucius mean anything to you?"

I notice Caine's spine stiffen. A very cold expression overcomes his face. I close my eyes and I shake my head. Bo told me about Lucius. He was locked in the dungeons with her for a few days. He had been there for years and nobody knew it... finally, Bo did.
I know Caine loves Bo but I know that he very much loves Lucius. I am not certain whether or not he will sacrifice Bo for Lucius. I cannot trust him at this point. People do stupid things for love, if anyone knows that, I do.

Alexandra then looks at Felicity and smiles at her, "What about Solomon? Does he mean anything to you?"

Felicity breathes out a heavy breath and again, I close my eyes and I shake my head. These evil Thornes. They plan to corrupt us. They would love this. This is their plan. They want to corrupt the town that has been united because of the corruption in this world... they want to do it from the inside out and I fear that they could.

Now they have taken Solomon. Who knows how long he has been in captivity for. Solomon was Felicity's Angelican and I have known him for a long time. He may not have been the most friendly of Angelican's but he does not deserve to be where he is now. Nobody deserves that. Felicity knows it too. I know she cares for him very much.

"You have taken him?" Felicity whispers.

Alexandra raises an eyebrow, smiles and nods her head once, "There are many other names I could announce and I am sure many of you would know them, love them." Alexandra, Paris and Ronald take a few steps back before Alexandra begins to speak again, announcing it to everyone around, "Fulfill our request by bringing us the hybrid and you will see those you care about. Free them of their torture, of their torment and show them the love they deserve. You are people of Seabrooke, are you not? Rescue them, fight for them. Do what is right."

The Thornes each turn around, sprint towards the hills and are gone in a blur.