Death's Embrace

"France!" I pulled away from Drear. "Come on, we have to go." We both shifted into the void and traveled quickly.

"Pick a spot." Drear's voice suddenly echoed around me.

"What? I don't know where!"

"So?"

"So! You pick!" I insisted.

"No! You!"

"Drear!"

"LEA!"

"HERE!" we both yelled and attempted to drag the other out. We landed on soft, green grounds and looked at each other in surprise.

"Any idea where we are?" I asked Drear.

He shook his head, eyes narrowed. "Something is blocking this place from surveillance." he whispered.

"That isn't allowed!" I hissed. "Not from us!"

Sam suddenly appeared right in front of us. He turned and jumped. "Lea! Drear!" he sighed in relief.

"Ya, hi." Drear brooded. "Now, we know you are planning to try to attack Shymal to get Bridget back, but I think-"

I froze as a cold blade was pressed against my throat. Drear was in the same position I was and his hand clamped down on mine. Sam was looking at his buddies who had just arrived. "Guys, they're friends. It's cool."

The blade was quickly removed as the other men- or whatever they were since I could tell they weren't quit human- stepped back. They moved next to Sam, lurking around him. Their eyes never left us once.

"Sam," I began, "Where is Bridget?"

Sam scratched his head, "Well, we aren't exactly sure. We sort of came here to find out."

Drear folded his arms across his chest, "Why here? What's here?" I cringed slightly; Drear wasn't exactly his friendliest right now. I didn't want any problems. I just wanted to find help Bridget and find the staff before Shymal did. Maybe even win back the sword so all this could be settled once and for all.

Sam smirked, "Because Bridget left a clue for me here."

I frowned, "What do you mean she left a clue for you here? Are you telling us she saw she would be kidnapped?"

Sam shook his head, "No, something about Shymal blocks Seer sight. Maybe that's why you can't see what he's doing." he looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. Drear tensed and looked down at me. Crap, I hadn't told him that I couldn't see anything about Shymal anymore. As Life, I was supposed to be able to and-

"Then how would she leave a clue if she didn't know she would be kidnapped?" Drear shifted so his side was pressed against mine.

"I said Seer sight. There are many other skills they have and do not speak of." Sam glanced around and spotted whatever he was looking for. Drear and I exchanged confused looks and followed.

"Bridget protected this place for this purpose." Sam explained.

"How?" Drear and I asked together. A Seer shouldn't be able to do that. No one should be able to do that...

Sam rolled his eyes and placed his palm on the earth. He muttered strange words under his breath. The ground began to rumble as the earth split open to reveal a fissure of brilliant, off-white light. The crack widened and shaped itself into an octagonal form of perfect measure. "In we go." Sam dropped in.

Drear nodded for me to go ahead, so I stepped forward and jumped down. My feet hit the hard, cold floor and sent a shock of impact through my feet up to my knees. I cringed slightly, but the discomfort quickly faded.

"Drear, you coming?" I called back up into the dark sky above us. I could see the stars glimmering overhead.

"Ya!" Drear called. He jumped and landed right beside me, rising to his full height while looking around. "Hmm, I've heard of these."

"Heard of what?" one of the members of Sam's group asked as the others quickly followed our lead.

"Pocket Re-"

"Not now! Focus!" Sam called, feeling along a stone wall. I blinked, suddenly realizing that was the only stone wall here. The others were a cream colored tile just like the floor. "Come help me!" Sam sighed in frustration.

I moved forward quickly, Drear by my side. "What is it we are looking for?" I asked, running my hand along the cold wall. I stopped suddenly and stared.

"What?" Drear whispered in my ear.

"Feel this." I took his hand and placed it over where I had just had mine.

He frowned, "Feels like a small stream of air."

"THAT'S IT!" Sam rushed over and beckoned for us to move out of the way. I jumped back and pulled Drear back with me- he didn't jump out of the way for anyone. He gave me a look and I just smiled. Drear tried not to smile back, but he didn't succeed.

Meanwhile, Sam was tracing the crack of air along the wall to the edge. I watched interestedly as he knelt to the floor and felt around. "Aha!" he breathed, pulling a small, metal rod from somewhere I didn't see.

"What on Earth?" I frowned. Drear just shrugged.

"Just wait." Sam whispered excitedly. He felt his way back along the wall and had to stand on his toes to reach the top. He pulled another small rod out of somewhere I didn't see. Alright, what was all this?

Sam gave me a triumphant smile as he held the two silver rods, glistening in his palm. "And now..." he turned back to the wall, "Watch." Sam took the rods and held them away from his body towards the stone wall. A hole began to grow in the stone, eating slowly away at itself until a large door way was presented. Sam grabbed a torch off the wall and proceeded in without another word.

"Do we follow?" I whispered to Drear as Sam's group followed him in.

"I don't see why not." Drear took my hand and walked forward determinedly. We walked along the dark, wet tunnel. The only sound was of the footfalls of the people ahead of us. Occasionally, someone would slip or bang against something with a sharp intake of breath.

"Here!" I heard Sam call and saw the torch light- only a pinprick in the distance- turn down a tunnel branching off to the right. Drear and I soon reached the spot and entered a wide archway that led into a cave. The rocks around it glistened as if moonlight splashed over them, but there was no moon. We were still underground. This didn't make much sense to me, but I enjoyed the strange scene nevertheless.

Sam and his party were searching the rocks while Drear and I stood there waiting. We had no idea what they were looking for, but Sam must have known. Or at least I hoped he did.

It didn't take long for one of the men to yell out in triumph. I watched Sam jump over the rocks to reach the man. He took the scrap of cloth the man was holding and held the torch over it so he could see it. He frowned in confusion.

"This is pointless. We could find the staff on our own at this rate." Drear muttered impatiently.

"I'm telling you, Bridget has some important part to play in this." I whispered back. "I can't quite see it all, but I know she does. I think she is the only key to finding the staff."

"Fine." We turned our attention back to Sam.

"Well?" one of the men asked impatiently.

Sam shifted and looked up at everyone, "It doesn't say anything."

"You mean it's blank?" one man asked in disappointment.

"Ya..."

"Let me see." I held out my hand. Sam put the piece of old cloth in my hand and I studied it. Drear looked over my shoulder curiously. I walked toward some of the glowing rocks so that I might get some better lighting. I stared as a spidery black ink grew over the cloth as soon as the light touched it. "It looks like some kind of star chart." I shrugged.

Drear came over and studied it, "It looks blank to me."

"You don't see that?" I turned to look up at him in shock. The writing on it was now glistening like the rocks were.

"No..."

"Well, you see the rocks glowing right?"

"Glowing?"

"Is she delusional?" one of the men whispered to the other.

"I heard that, Pete!" I rounded on him, automatically knowing his name. Hey, Life was my job after all. "But let's not dissolve into petty squabbles. Now, this isn't a star chart, but I have no idea what it is nor do I know how to read it."

Something tickled the back of my memory just then. I didn't know how to read it and I knew Drear couldn't, but what if Jeton could. He had been Life for far longer than I had...

"Great. She doesn't know. Leave it to Bridget to do something weird like this. It's going to get us kill-"

"You little piece of-" Sam had the guy by the shirt.

"Hey, cool it guys! I think I know someone who might be able to read it!" I stood rigidly next to Drear.

"Who?" he whispered in my ear as the others pulled Sam of the guy.

"Jeton." I murmured back to him. "Come on." I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the void with me. We were topside in seconds. The darkened green hills rolled lazily around us as the trees danced in a cool breeze.

"Crap, Lea! They're going to think we stole their clue! They're going to be pissed!" Drear growled.

"You weren't so worried about that before!" I retaliated. "Besides, it will take them awhile to get back up here. By that time I will have gotten Jeton to tell me what the heck this thing means." I waved the now-blank cloth around.

Drear sighed, "And how do you plan on contacting Jeton? He isn't of this world anymore."

"Precisely." I nodded. Drear looked at me suspiciously, filling in the gaps of information I had chosen to leave out.

"Oh no." Drear shook his head suddenly. "No."

"Come on!" I whined.

"No! Lea! I'm not going to kill you!"

"I don't want you to kill me. Just try to..."

"That makes a lot of sense." Drear turned away angrily and began walking off.

"Drear!" my voice echoed around the lolling hills. He stopped and turned to look back up at me.

"What if this plan of yours goes deathly wrong?"

"It won't! You can't kill me, remember?" I folded my arms across my chest as he walked back up to me slowly.

"So let me get this straight, you want me to try to kill you so you can go see Jeton?"

"To have him help read the map, yes." I nodded.

"How are you going to bring the map along?"

"I have it in my head. Don't worry about it." I kissed him on the cheek. "Now, are you going to try to kill me or not?"

"I don't like this, Lea..." Drear pulled me into his arms.

"You don't have to like it, but it's the only way." I stared up at him. "Now hurry up before Sam and his buddies surface. I don't want to be out of it when they arrive."

"Very well. If you're sure..." Drear whispered uncertainly and leaned his head down so his lips left mine. The kiss started out very innocent and light, but it didn't stay that way for long. The cold, crushing darkness rushed over me as his lips pressed firmly against mine. I tried to struggled, to push him off at the last minute, but he was too strong. The world was fading away. I knew I was lying on the ground in the grass. The world dimmed. Drear was still there, his cold lips on mine. Then darkness followed...

A blinding flash of light exploded out of the nothingness. I shielded my eyes and waited, my breathing heavy and labored. The dark was behind me; the light was in front of me. I felt like I was being torn between two worlds...

"Lea?" a voice echoed out of the light. A figure was walking towards me, just barely discernable through the blinding light.

"Jeton?" I called as he got closer and closer.

"Lea!" he stopped short, just inches away from me. "What are you doing here!? You're supposed to be back on Earth! You're supposed to be-"

"Jeton, I need your help with something and I need it quickly." I cut him off. I really wanted to get back before Sam and his buddies did. I didn't want to leave Drear alone there.

"It's fine, Lea. Time works differently here." Jeton reached out and wrapped his hand around mine. The darkness behind me and the light in front of me melded together in a whirl of violence, crashing together to form a neutral grey. The land around us faintly echoed the land around the manor that Jeton and Drear had lived in for centuries. The one Shymal and Paul had taken over and warded against us now...

"What do you see?" Jeton asked me carefully.

"That isn't important! There is this map and-"

"No." Jeton held up a hand as a slow smile traced his lips, "This is far more important at the moment. Besides, time works differently here. You'll get back to- to Drear soon." his face morphed into a slightly pained expression. I wondered about it briefly as my stomach clenched, but decided it was probably all in my head. "What do you see?" he asked softly once more.

I glanced around the place, "I see the land around the manor, only it is as if everything is in a fog. Everything is grey and bleak." Jeton only nodded. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Drear would be very unhappy with me if I told you." Jeton shook his head and walked forward. I followed him and brought the map into the front of my mind. I focused on my hand and it materialized before me. Jeton looked back to see what I was doing. His bright green eyes dulled when they took in the map. "You only came here on business, didn't you?"

I blinked, "Jeton?"

"I'm sorry." he shook his head and closed his eyes in another sort of pained expression. "That was rather unprofessional of me." he walked over and took the map gently from my grasp. "Hmm, who wrote this?"

"A Seer named Bridget." I shrugged, "Can you read it?"

Jeton was laughing by now, "Good old Bridget. She was quite a strange child."

"Then you know what it says?"

"Of course." Jeton handed the map back to me with a mischievous smile and turned to walk off.

"Mind telling me!" I ran after him. I matched his stride and gazed up into his face, but it was suddenly unreadable. Not a hint of emotion flickered across it.

"If I tell you right now, you'll rush back to Drear."

"To help him!" I frowned. "He's stuck in a potentially bad spot."

"He's Death. He can handle himself."

"But my body is back there. He would have to guard it." I stopped and looked at Jeton strangely. He stopped too and looked back at me. "Why won't you just tell me what the map says? What was with that question about what I see?" I waved my hand around at the still gloomy landscape. "I don't understand what's going on. I just came to you for help..."

Jeton sighed but remained where he was, "You and Drear aren't ready for this new turn of events. I saw this coming the day I transferred my powers to you."

"Saw what? What are you talking about?" I clenched the map unconsciously in my hand. This was all so very confusing. I just wanted to know what the map said so I could help Bridget so Bridget could help us get the staff before Shymal.

"Lea, sometimes life is very confusing. Sometimes it is difficult to understand until you see things in retrospect. Even then it can seem like nothing but chaos."

"Just tell me what the damn map says, Jeton! Are you trying to keep me here with your riddles?" I fumed.

Jeton's face softened, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do, Lea."

"I knew- huh?" I stared at him.

Jeton walked to the right a little ways and seemed to be staring at nothing. "Do you know what I see?"

"No..." I watched him carefully. He turned back to me.

"I see the place where we first met." Jeton's eyes locked on mine. The surroundings took on that of the rocky shore looking out to sea. The place where Jeton had taken me that day he transferred his power to me. I remembered that day. Jeton had even said something about that being the first place we had met. I didn't know what he was talking about then and I sure as heck didn't know what he was talking about now.

"What does that mean?" I asked as the surroundings faded to grey for me.

"It means that I am in a different emotional place than you. You are focused on the balance of life and death. It preoccupies your thoughts beyond anything else. That is why you see the manor where Drear and I lived. It is still confusing to you though, hence the grey fog."

"And you're seeing this place where we allegedly first met because you're preoccupied with that memory?" I tilted my head.

Jeton nodded slightly and looked away out at the sea that only he could see, "Like I said, I'm in a different place than you are, Lea. I fear you'll never join me here."

"Jeton, what are you really trying to say?"

"I told you, Drear would not like it." Jeton shook his head. "I suppose I shouldn't withhold the information you seek any longer." he pointed at the map waded in my hand. He took it from me once more and unfolded it carefully. "You see these?" he pointed to the complicated lines traveling through the strange pattern of triangles that crossed over an evening sky. "These are her Pathways."

"Her Pathways?"

"Yes, the Pathways of Bridget's life. She won a bet with me years back and took them. See, every life can go multiple ways. These are the paths her life might take." Jeton explained carefully.

"How is this of any help? Are we supposed to figure out which path her life went down and use it to find her?"

"Precisely. See, you aren't as bad at Life as you really think." Jeton smiled in amusement when I stared at him. How did he know how incompetent I felt? "Now, as Life you should be able to tell which one she is traveling down. Does one of them stand out to you?"

"Yes." I pointed at one. "This one."

"Good. Now would you like to learn an interesting trick?" Jeton smiled wickedly at me.

"Okay..."

Jeton tossed the map up into the air and the lines shot off the cloth. The surroundings darkened and took on the form of a valley under and evening sky. I jumped back as thousands of lines crisscrossed and curved through the evening air. Jeton was walking around following a single line I knew was Bridget's- somehow I just knew.

"Alright, Lea. Any idea what this all is?" Jeton looked over at me in the twilight.

"I'm guessing this shows how lives are connected?" I tried.

"Yep." Jeton nodded. "This will help us figure out precisely where Shymal has taken Bridget. Look here." he pointed to a spot and I came over. "You see where this grey line takes over this light blue one? The blue is Bridget and the grey is Shymal. Now, they travel this way together. Pick a spot, if you would please?"

I shrugged and touched a random spot where the two lines were combined into one thick cord of grey. The world around us shimmered into new scenery. "Where are we?"

"We are where Bridget is- sort of. This is only a picture. Looks like.. Sector 12 B. Tell Drear that. He'll know where to go."

"Right." I nodded. I still didn't understand their crazy mapping system of the world.

"Right." Jeton nodded and the map materialized in his hand. He handed it to me and the surroundings shifted back to that evening setting.

"Hey-before I leave..." I glanced around us.

"Yes?" Jeton's voice sounded hopeful.

"Why can I see this when I could only see the grey fog before?"

"Did you notice these are still the grounds around the manor?" Jeton asked quietly.

"No...but now that you mention it."

"You can see things more clearly because you are starting to understand a little more about Life and Death. You are still preoccupied with them, however. Now I have a question for you."

"Uh oh."

"Nothing bad, I assure you. You don't even have to answer me. Just promise me you'll give it some thought."

"Okay."

"Lea, why do you think you are so obsessed with keeping the balance between Life and Death? Do you feel someone will win in the end?"

"Win what?"

"You tell me." Jeton's eyes took me in. "Just something to think about while you go defeat Shymal and save Bridget. Do you remember what Sector?"

"12 B."

"Good girl. I suppose this is goodbye then, Lea." Jeton sighed.

"Why?"

"Well, I don't think Drear is going to agree to multiple attempts on your life."

"I'll be sure to annoy the heck out of him before asking. That ought to make him more agreeable." I smiled slightly and Jeton laughed.

"You'd risk your life to come see me again?"

"Well, it isn't much of a risk. It isn't like Drear can kill me." I pointed out, "But I think I would even if that wasn't a factor."

"Good to know." Jeton smiled. "See you again then, Lea. Say hello to Drear for me."

"Will do, Jeton." I nodded, suddenly wishing I didn't have to go. Wow, how I really didn't want to go. I would miss Jeton terribly. I-

Jeton was studying me curiously as if he saw something new going on behind my eyes. I felt like he was looking into my soul. He only smiled softly and turned away...

I sat up and gasped. I was back on the hillside in the dark. Drear was hovering over me anxiously. "Sector 12 B!" I spoke as soon as Sam and his buddies filed out of the opening in the ground to surround us angrily.

"Lea! I thought I lost you for a minute there!" Drear had pulled me to my feet and was hugging me.

"Really?" I though guiltily back to that brief span of time when I did not want to leave Jeton for the world. "Well, you didn't lose me. Now let's not waste any more time. Sector 12 B. Jeton said you would know where that was." I pulled away from Drear slowly. He looked at me curiously and nodded slowly.

"Let's go then!" Sam growled impatiently.