The Crystal 3 - Jones M (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📗

Chapter 10

 

Emery's P.O.V

Everything around me was dark. I could make out some shapes, but they were barely lit. I looked around, trying to spot anything that looked familiar. However, I could hardly see anything; I could only hear the wind softly blowing around me as something kept falling onto my skin.

Oh crap. I hoped I had not ventured into an unknown environment. That would be what I would get for not going to Crystalia in the past 11 years.

My vision suddenly improved, and I began to get a clear picture of my surroundings. It was like a light had suddenly appeared. I turned to the source of it, and I noticed that there was a full moon. Gray clouds had encircled it, threatening to cover it again in a short time. Stars were also present to illuminate the night.

I looked around, noticing there were a couple of trees around me. They had no leaves. I also spotted something white slowly fall onto the ground. I focused on it, noticing it was snow. The ground was white and cold as the snow continued to fall on it. More snowflakes were falling, and I knew I had to quickly move to my home before I caught a cold.

I walked forwards through the snow, looking around and wondering where the hell I had teleported to.

After a while of walking, I stopped and took another look around, noticing something large on my left. 

It was the castle of Crystalia. For a moment, I just stood in the cold as I stared at it. There was no noticeable change at the moment. Two figures, probably the castle guards, were stationed beside the entrance, and they did not seem to notice me.

Thank God.

I moved forwards. After a while, I found myself stopping at the entrance of the castle. The guards looked forwards, still ignoring my presence. 

I stared past the guards, noticing the castle hallways and the busy castle workers moving about with their jobs.

The interior of the castle hadn't changed, and it was a reminder to me that I was back in Crystalia.

I didn't plan to stay there for long. 

I turned to walk away from the castle, staring at the direction of my home. I took a look at the guards, noticing they were still ignoring me. With a shrug, I began moving towards the direction where I believed my house was. 

I had passed a couple of people who gave me curious looks before going back to their conversation. After the recent events, I wanted to lock myself in my home. I wouldn't like it if people were to notice my sudden return.

I kept walking until I came to a stop at the house I had conjured up thirteen years ago. It was still the same, and it seemed as if some kind of spell had been placed over it to maintain its look. I walked towards the house, eager to enter it. Once I touched the doorknob, I felt a strong force push me away. I was sent flying, still shocked by the push, until I landed on the snow.

I was annoyed. My own house wouldn't let me in. I looked around and remembered I still had my phone. In an instant, I took it out and dialed Ashley.

"You're here!" she yelled through the phone, making me wince at her loudness.

"Yes. How did you know that?" I asked as I got up from the snow.

"Because I'm right here," Ashley spoke over my shoulder. I screeched in surprise before turning to face her.

"Welcome home!" she said before quickly coming towards me and enveloping me in a hug.

"Yay," I said with little enthusiasm. "Why is my house not letting me in?"

"Oh!" Ashley said before quickly going to the said house. She chanted a spell that was too quick for me to comprehend.

"You can now go in."

I sighed in relief before practically running towards my home. Once I was inside, I observed my surroundings. I felt around for the light switch, flicking it on a few seconds later. White light was emitted from a bulb on the ceiling, illuminating everything in the room.

I observed it and the other rooms, realizing that the house did not go through changes after I had left it. I walked towards the fridge, noticing it had a few food items left.

"I planned to do a bit of shopping this afternoon, but I talked myself out of it because I wanted to show you around," Ashley said.

"It's okay," I told Ashley before tears started to brim in my eyes.

"Emery?" Ashley asked cautiously. I walked towards her and hugged her before I started sobbing.

"There there," she said as she patted my back.

"I am the worst person ever!" I spoke onto her shoulder, knowing that it sounded muffled before retracting the hug. "I practically drowned the car in a frozen pond to make it look like I died."

"You did what you had to do," my friend said.

"It's... so hard. I feel extremely bad for leaving Rachel like that," I said as I looked down, shaking my head in regret.

"Emery, you are practically saving Rachel's life!" Ashley said. 

It was weird. What kind of person saves another by feigning their own death? But replaying the circumstances that led me back to Crystalia reminded me that she was right. I was keeping Rachel and Zack safe, but I was still in doubts about my actions.

"Look. You need to eat--"

"I'm not hungry," I interrupted.

"Okay, then you need to rest. You've had a long day, and you need a break from everything that happened today."

I nodded in agreement, allowing Ashley to take me to what seemed to be a bedroom. The only source of light was the moon, coming from the window and partially illuminating my bedroom. I lay on the bed as Ashley moved around to cover me with the duvets. She then covered the windows with the curtains.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Ashley said as she left the room. I spent some time in the room tossing and turning, remembering how I had been forced to leave Rachel. After an indecipherable amount of time, sleep took hold of me.

***********************************************************************************************

The next day

Zane's P.O.V

"Good morning, Mr. Marsh," a couple of my students greeted me as they entered the classroom.

"Good morning to you, too," I replied with a smile. I looked around the large classroom with delight, observing with excitement how my life had turned.

I felt like it was only yesterday that I was a musician. I was sad once I had to retire because I had no idea of what to do when I would come to Crystalia.

When I moved to Crystalia, I had taken a course on becoming a teacher. It seemed like a totally unexpected thing for me to do, but I thought it would be great. The course lasted a year, and I was immediately enrolled as a music teacher in one of the few schools in Crystalia. It was not like I needed a paying job while I was around; I already had a lot of cash stored up from my career as a musician, but I wanted to do something to occupy the lots of free time I had.

The classroom I was assigned to was designed to provide comfort and a sense of home to the students. There were a couple of music instruments present; a few plush sofa sets and chairs were spread around the large room. Large windows that provided the view of the Crystalia Mountains were also present.

At the moment, the class had already begun filling up. Minutes later, as I was about to start the lesson, a knock sounded on the door. I turned to find Logan at the entrance.

"One moment," I told the students as I made my way to my former bandmate. 

A couple of years ago, the band had split up. We all felt like we needed to form our own image, especially since we were getting tired of the boyband thing we had going on. It was hard for everyone at first to grow their own independent image as musicians. We pushed through, and in spite of all that, we managed to remain friends.

"Hey, Logan. What's up?" I asked him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, Liam sent me here. He said something about reminding you to go shopping for your place."

My eyes widened in shock.

"That can wait. I'll go later, okay?"

"Erick also needs you and Liam's help with something. I don't know what it was, but he said it is very urgent."

"Okay. I'll go."

"I can take over for now," Logan offered. He was also a teacher in the school, but he mostly focused on literature.

"Okay. Thanks," I told him.

"No problem," he replied, walking towards the classroom with a smile as I quickly left.

 

Emery's P.O.V

The smell of eggs and bacon woke me up. I immediately got up from the bed, only to be momentarily stopped by the growl of my stomach. It was slightly painful, a reminder that I had not eaten anything on the previous night.

I ruffled my hair as I slowly walked towards the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Ashley greeted with a loud voice. If it weren't for the delicious breakfast she was cooking, I would have been annoyed.

"Mmm," I mumbled lazily as a reply, walking towards the shelves of stacked plates and cups. Minutes later, Ashley and I had settled in the dining room. We slowly ate our breakfast as we engaged in conversation.

"So, are you ready to go out today?"

I scrunched up my eyebrows.

"No. I planned to just lie here and watch movies all day," I replied. Ashley rolled her eyes at me.

"You can do that later. After breakfast, I want you to go shopping with me. We need to fill this house with important stuff, like a freaking TV."

I blinked my eyes at Ashley. She was about to swallow a forkful of an egg when she noticed my look.

"What? I told you that Crystalia had advanced in the last years."

Ashley had indeed done so, but I had no idea of how advanced Crystalia currently was.

"Crystalia? Advanced?" I asked her, not bothering to hide the shock in my voice. "I find that hard to believe."

She furrowed her eyebrows at me.

"Didn't you see the huge city on your way here?" she asked.

"What city?"

Ashley stared at me with a confused expression.

"You must have come through the Joshalia forest. No worries. You'll see it when we get out."

Joshalia? What?

An hour later, we had finished breakfast. I took a short while to get dressed up.

"Ready to go?" Ashley asked. I nodded and we exited the house, locking the door behind us.

I looked around, noticing only the castle and the forest far behind the house.

"Seriously. What city?" I asked just as Ashley grabbed my hand. In one moment, my surroundings changed from that involving my house to that of a city. My eyes widened at the view.

Tall buildings were erected almost everywhere around me. A road was even placed a few feet away from us, but it seemed like nobody was utilizing it. There were also street lights that were currently switched off. A few people were walking along the pathways, busy with their own matters. I looked behind, noticing more buildings and the Crystalia Mountains. They seemed to be the height of my thumb from where Ashley and I stood. What shocked me more was the fresh air rather than that of smoke.

"Wow," I spoke.

"I know, right?" Ashley said. "And to think that this is ten miles away from the castle."

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Come on. We have a lot of shopping to do," Ashley