Chapter 9. The Golden River

The backpack came in handy.

Allison's pocketknife, dagger, new watch (spin the face of the watch and it became a shield), and a set of clothes which would turn into armor were neatly tucked into the first layer. After a few seconds, Allison put the pocketknife into the smallest layer and the watch onto her wrist. She stuck the dagger as far into the pack as possible. She did not need any crazy voices talking to her once she started using the blade.

Her quiver and bow were over her back. Allison wasn't sure why they gave her a quiver and a bow, or why they gave her any weapons, but she felt a little cooler with them.

Allison blushed. She hated defining herself as 'cool'. It seemed strange. But it was just cool to have real weapons with her.

The clock read 10:39. Seven more minutes until she could try the frame again. One more hour until training. But there was one problem. She didn't know the code to the frame, or what was beyond it. There could be a sleeping hydra, for all she knew.

Allison stood up and placed her hands on her hips. Then she opened the door. Mulan had told her that the hallways were unsafe at night. In day, they had to be safe.

Allison started down the hallway. She didn't go to the right, because that was the stairway leading to Mess Hall. Instead, she went left.

There were several offices lining the walls. Allison caught sight of the three pigs in one of them, a gingerbread man in the other (probably just a guy in a costume), and Mulan in the third.

Mulan had an office? Strange.

Allison continued down the hall and turned left. Now she was definitely in a new environment. The floor, walls, and roof were glass. There was a golden liquid--thin and free-flowing like water--that trickled down the panes and pooled at the roof and floors. The liquid glowed as one, and Allison realized that the entire hall was covered in liquid. She couldn't see a thing past the...golden water? She decided to call it golden water.

Curious, Allison followed the sloping hallway to a set of spiral staircases. The stairs were also glass, and there were thin panes of walled glass right on its sides, with more liquid running through the panes.

The stairway was very beautiful. A domed roof reached about fifteen feet higher than the stairway, four barely visible alcoves on each side. It was only visible at her angle, and the people in the hospital probably didn't even look up.

Allison followed the water down the stairway. It coiled like a snake, sometimes twisting left or right, branching out to several floors. Allison suddenly realized that the stairway was like the trunk of the tree--and there were balconies and different floors around the stairway--like branches. The stairway was one continuous path down to the ground, but there were several passageways branching out of the main path. The water traveled everywhere by ingenious pulley systems.

Allison continued down the stairway, noticing the absence of people and the unnatural quiet of the golden liquid. The liquid gave off a lot of light--enough to illuminate the whole passageway. But the glow didn't sting, hurt, or leave spots in her eyes. It was like liquid light.

Even though the panes had no roof, Allison didn't touch the liquid. What if it had poison or dangerous chemicals in it? She traced her finger down the smooth wood handle of the stairwell, circling down...down...down...

Finally, she reached the bottom. Glancing up, Allison caught her breath. The domed rooftop was a beautiful mosaic of colors, throwing light over the stairway. It really did look like a tree--a really, really big tree. Made of glass and liquid light and polished wood.

It was nothing short of amazing, but Allison was most interested in the fountain.

The liquid light showered into a marble basin from two directions. Even though the stairway had evened out, the passageway of the liquid had not. The passageway for the liquid had curved up at about five feet to the bottom and had vanished into the glass rooftop, emptying in another marble basin with holes in the bottom. That liquid had dripped through the holes into the basin Allison was looking at.

The basin seemed to be glowing extraordinarily brightly, but Allison saw much more than its brightness. A Chinese Yin-Yang floated on the surface--barely outlined by a gold only slightly brighter. There seemed to be Yin-Yang's everywhere. Suddenly it seemed much more than a symbol.

As if in a trance, Allison approached the basin, blinking back the light. She touched the marble basin. It was warm to the touch.

A voice, ancient and tired, echoed through the chamber. You have entered the chamber of the T'ai Chi. Drink, Worthy One, from the Fountain of the Golden River.

Allison stared at the liquid. She remembered something about the Golden River, something about...she forgot. T'ai Chi was easier to answer. It was a circle, which gave birth to Yin and Yang. The Chinese Yin-Yang was actually a T'ai Chi.

The Golden River...that was a different question. It was one of those fairy tales she had read in what free time she had in the IBS. Golden River. Wasn't there this guy who had two younger brothers...?

Allison walked to the Fountain. She took a breath and plunged her hands into the boiling concoction.

At first, the liquid was freezing cold--which probably meant that it was so hot it was overcharging her senses. The liquid, surprisingly, stayed in her cupped palms. None of it dripped down.

"So I just drink?" Allison asked.

There was still no response.

"Okay...here I go."

Allison put her hands to her mouth and drank.

The liquid was sweet and spicy at the same time. It was like Red Hots combined with caramel, a little salt added.

"Oh, this is good..."

Allison reached down for some more, but all the golden water in the fountain vanished.

The basin on the roof now had no holes. Allison wondered if it would overflow.

Glancing down, Allison saw that the T'ai Chi was still at the bottom of the basin, burning a silver circle into the bottom. She swallowed, and, more on instinct than anything, placed her palm on the T'ai Chi.

The result was immediate. Allison's vision swam with black dots. Then it disappeared.

She was in a dark cavern, with dirt walls and a black ceiling.

There was a girl standing before her. Short black hair, dark brown eyes.

Allison realized...it was her. That girl was Allison, though not Allison.

The girl smirked and smiled cruelly. "Yes, I'm you. Yet I'm not you."

Allison backed away. "Who are you?" Her own voice sounded faint an wispy in the chamber.

"I'm you," the girl said. "I'm you now, I'm you before, I'm you after. I have spawned from your darkest thoughts, your hatred, your sadness and guilt and anger."

The girl's eyes glowed golden, and Allison nearly yelped. "Stop that! It's scary!"

The girl laughed quietly. Her eyes turned back to normal, and, in one sudden move, she grabbed Allison's arm.

"Daughter of Heaven, I cannot harm you here. You are under the protection of the T'ai Chi. But after that, I can play with you however I want."

"I repeat--who are you?"

"Your counterpart."

Allison reassembled her name. "Nosilla?"

The girl seemed shocked. "Who would have a name like that? That just sounds wrong." She glared at Allison. "No. I am Emilia."

"Does that have any special meaning?"

"No. It was a name chosen for me. Its origin, Aemilius, means rival." 

"That's great to know. Now, can you get out of my vision?"

Emilia chuckled lightly. "I control all visions now. Soon, you shall see how visions can be very, very deadly."

Emilia's eyes burned golden again, and she vanished in a flash of golden light.

The scene shifted. Now she was standing at the edge of the cliff. A foamy ocean roared below, battering relentlessly at the rocks. As she watched, a figure rose up from the waves.

It was a woman, her hair as blue as the waves, her face white and pale like the foam. She was wearing a dress of sky-blue, and her eyes were pure silver.

"Alpha," the woman said. It didn't seem like she was moving her lips, just that the sound was coming from the ocean. "Queen of Hearts. G-clef. Eighth note. Delta."

"Who are you?" Allison shouted. The woman blinked at her, and she closed her eyes. Then the woman vanished back into the ocean.

The scene shifted again.

Allison was climbing a mountain, a golden orb cradled in her hands. She was a taller, leaner woman, with bright golden hair and defiant blue eyes.

"Lady Irya! We must hurry!"

Allison nodded, and glanced at the man beside her--thick chestnut hair, bottle green eyes. "Hugo," she said. "How far away are the enemies?"

The man also had an orb--a blood-red one. "They're almost here," Hugo said. "We must hurry."

Allison continued up the slope, battling brambles and branches. At last she reached the summit.

Five other comrades were lined up there.

A short, pudgy woman, with bright red hair and pale green eyes. A tall, lanky man, with sandy brown hair and bright hazel eyes. A tanned, buff man, with curly black hair and dark brown eyes. A medium-heighted woman, with black hair pulled up into a bun and light blue eyes. And another man, obviously the leader of the seven, with dark chestnut hair and large, bottle green eyes.

"Thalia," the man said to the black-haired woman. "Is the ship supposed to be here by now?"

"Yes," the woman replied fearfully. "I fear they are delayed by our enemies."

"Call them again!" The lanky man demanded. "We have to get out of here."

"Arburn, quiet." The dark chestnut-hair man turned to Thalia again. "Try to call again. The rest of you, arm yourselves."

Allison retreated into the cover of a hawthorn bush and pulled out a crossbow.

There was a sudden yelling, and there were about a hundred wolves in the clearing.

The lead wolf sniffed the air. "Spread out!" He snarled. "They're here!"

Allison primed her crossbow and aimed at one of the weaker ones. The whole group was not turned her direction. She would have to hit the wolf directly in the heart. Or else her pellets wouldn't do any damage, and the wolves would all notice her.

Thalia had gone to call the ship. It was six against a hundred.

"We have the Auriae, remember?" Hugo murmured. "We can defeat them."

"They're not working," Allison hissed. "Quiet."

The wolf commander snarled something, and the wolves barked in agreement. Allison aimed. She let the pellet fly.

After that, it was a complete party of chaos. The wolf she hit fell with a yelp, and its comrades growled and snarled.

Ninety-nine angered wolves left.

Allison threw throwing stars in the direction of the wolves. She chucked daggers, pebbles, sticks, anything she could get her hands on. She fired more pellets from her crossbow.

It was no use. They were losing.

A wolf was suddenly in front of her, a sword in his hand. Ten feet tall. He was the Wolf.

"We want to Auriae," he hissed. "Nothing else. Give them to us and we shall spare you."

Allison primed her crossbow, aiming it at the Wolf. The Wolf, in response, laughed. "Irya Tariesh. You know that death is not a prison for me like it is for my comrades. Fire, then. Fire at me."

Allison didn't fire. She felt the Auria in her hand heat up.

Allison yelled, and suddenly she was flying--fifteen feet above the Wolf's head. Hugo smiled at her and concentrated. He vanished, reappearing behind the Wolf.

"Well played," the Wolf called. He turned around faster than anyone could turn and knocked Hugo off the edge of the cliff.

Allison screamed as the orb Hugo was holding vanished. She stuck her Auria into the leather knapsack and aimed. "Stay back."

The Wolf ignored her. Instead, he swung around, hitting the leader and sending him sprawling. "Behold," the Wolf whispered, "the Master Auria."

The orb he was holding was pure white.

Allison realized too late what was going to happen. The sky turned dark, lightning flashed, and everything blacked out.

Allison's eyes flew open, and she backed away. Her palm was smoking--a silver T'ai Chi now permanently tattooed into her palm.

"Oh, gosh," Allison muttered. She wiped her palm on her new pants, hoping to erase the mark. Her head rang with the visions. Slowly, the water dripped back into the basin, and soon the fountain was full again.

There was something terrible about the chamber. She didn't care if it gave you creepy visions. There was something wrong with this place.

Allison stifled a scream and ran back up the twisting stairs, her footsteps echoing on the glass steps. The domed roof neared, and she raced back onto the floor where she started, the taste of blood in her mouth, gasping for breath.

She wanted to cry. There was much more than the silver T'ai Chi on her palm that would stay with her. There were those visions. She couldn't trust any of them. And the first one--with that girl named Emilia--that had been much too real. Emilia. She had looked exactly like Allison. Perhaps Allison had only been dreaming about evil twins. Maybe it was just a strange vision.

The second vision: the lady. Alpha, queen of hearts, g-clef, eighth note, delta. She was sure that that was the code to the picture frame. But why would the code appear to her in a strange vision from a blue-skinned lady?

The third vision was the most disturbing. Those seven orbs--one with each of the people--they were called...Auria? Auriae for plural?

Allison stood up. It should be well over 10:46 by now. Her training, whatever that was about, would start at eleven. If she wanted to try the picture frame, she'd better hurry.

Allison raced back to her room, rehearsing the code the lady in the vision had giving her. Alpha, queen of hearts, g-clef, eighth note, delta. She knew all of those symbols. It was easy enough.

Allison shut the door behind her, breathing hard. Time to act. "Curtain up," she demanded. "Now."

Author's Note

I'm using a lot of Allison right now, but I'll get to Jason a lot later.