Miriuo and Niruk

Arya and Everly glanced at each other in dismay. "Exactly the reason we couldn't get out." said Everly.

"I'm afraid that we'll all be stuck here forever..." Arya added, sighing.

"Are you sure?" Keienia said. "I think I found a way..." She pointed to the back of the room. The outline of a small doorway was carved into the wall.

"What?!"

"How did you find that?!"

Keienia winked. "Luck."

"How are we going to open it, though? Everyone knows a locked door is no use without a key!"

"Hmm..." Keienia said. "We'll have to find the key to the door. By searching these tunnels, of course."

"Then," said Everly. "These communication devices will come in handy again."

A moment later...

Keienia shouted, "I see something sparkling ahead!"

Arya said, "Describe it, please!"

Keienia thought for a moment. "I can't make out the shape. Just a weird and glowing thing."

Suddenly, Everly gasped. "I see one too!"

Lila found a tunnel forking slightly to the right. She stepped into that tunnel. "Same..."

"Arya? Did you find one?" asked Everly.

"No, not ye—" Arya suddenly shrieked.

"What happened?!" all three of them yelped at once.

"Nothing. I found my glow object. It just dropped from the ceiling of the tunnel."

"Now what are we supposed to do?" said Lila. "Touch them or something?!"

Keienia thought for a moment. "I honestly think Lila's right. Why would these glowing objects appear in front of us at the very same time? It isn't a coincidence."

"So..." Arya murmured. "We have to touch these objects?"

"It seems so," Everly answered. "But how are we supposed to touch one? I can feel the electric waves from where I'm standing."

"Do you..." Keienia started. "Never mind, it's probably a stupid idea."

"Let's hear it," Everly said.

"Does any of you have sticks? Hooks? Rope?"

"Uh, no," Arya answered. "We had scarce equipment."

Keienia sighed. "We'll have to touch the objects, then."

"Darn," said Lila. "I was hoping for another way."

"Well, what other ways are there?" Arya exclaimed.

Lila groaned. "None..."

"Yeah, so we have to follow what Keienia suggested, or else we'll be stuck in here forever."

They heard Everly say from her end, "Lila, if there's one thing, I definitely learned about you in this brief period of time, is that you like groaning." Everly chuckled.

"I've definitely noticed that too," Keienia replied. "Ever since the lake."

"Lake? What lake?" Arya and Everly were curious. "Sounds very interesting."

Lila said sarcastically, "When I fell in, something actually interesting happened!"

"Well, maybe not for Lila. But to me, it was interesting."

"Anyways..." Keienia said. "Do you guys agree or not?"

"I do," Everly and Arya chorused.

"Lila?"

"FINE...."

"Fine? Only that? Just say yes."

"Fine, YES. But what'll happen when we touch it?"

"Nobody knows. We'll only find out by touching it." Keienia took a step forward and bent down. She stretched her fingers and said, "3... 2... 1..." And everyone knew what to do at zero.

A luminous flash of bright light filled the tunnels. Lila screamed.

Everything swirled around them, and they were caught in a tornado of time.

Lila, Keienia, Everly, and Arya were spun around countless times. Suddenly—

"Oof!" They landed in the room with door.

But something was clearly different about everything, not just the room.

1. There was no door

2. Everything except for each other seemed faded

3. There were two other humans in the room

4. The walls were more crudely carved.

Lila blinked and looked around. She spotted her companions and 2 more people. One was a girl, who sat with her arms wrapped around her knees on the opposite side of the room. The other was a boy a little older than the girl, pacing around the cave as if impatient for something to happen.

"Who are you people?" she said.

They did not seem to hear Lila. So she turned around to Everly, who had landed beside her. "Everly, are you as confused as I am?"

Everly answered, "I think so. Who are these people?"

Lila sighed in relief. "PHEW. You can hear me."

"Yeah, what if I can hear you?"

"Well... those people—" Lila jerked her head in the direction of the boy and girl. "—whoever they are, can't hear me, so, I was hoping you could hear me. And have you realized how weird our surroundings are?"

Just then, Everly shouted, "Keep saying something! You see, when we're talking, everything around us becomes more vivid, and that means every time we talk, we're entering their reality! Right now, I think we're stuck between time, and more near our reality than theirs. Keep saying something!"

Lila was surprised and hesitated. "But—" she spluttered. "I don't have much to say!"

"Anything!"

"Oh... um..." Lila thought for a moment and then started saying, "I am a dog I am a dog I am a dog..."

Everly burst into laughter. "Seriously..."

Lila blabbed on, "... I am a dog I am a dog I am a dog..."

Keienia and Everly joined her. "...I am a dog I am a dog I am a dog..."

Arya said from the opposite side of the cave, "... I am a dog I am a dog I am a dog..."

And then, they realized Everly was right. Everything started getting brighter and it seemed like they were in the cave now.

Luckily, once they entered the other 'reality'­­­­, they stopped chanting 'I am a dog', or else the two others would be extremely confused.

The boy noticed them first. "Who are you people?" he asked. He spoke in another language, but like the English that they understood.

"Who are we?" Everly said. "No one to you."

"No one?!" the boy said. "You can't possibly be no one!"

The girl crept up behind them. She was as scared as her brother, but slightly more wary. "Please, who are you?" she peeped.

"Why must you know?" said Lila. "We've barely met."

"Wait—" Arya started. The others turned to her. "I think I found a loophole in all this."

The others fell silent. They had no idea what Arya was talking about.

Arya continued, "The thing is, we—not including you too—are stuck here wherever, whenever, however. And that means that we have no way to get back to our time—"

"Wait, are you saying that we belong to different times in the world?" the girl interrupted.

"Yes, obviously—your clothing, accent, etc, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is... obvious."

The girl made a face. "Not to me!"

Lila rolled her eyes. "What she means is that we're stuck here, and we don't know how to get back—we know that already—so we better start getting used to each other."

"And why? Can't we just part ways and end this situation?" the boy fumed. "You guys are crazy."

"That's rude. What if I say you two are crazy?"

"Then I would scream."

"You're crazy."

"Ugh."

"Hm, maybe not so crazy anymore."

"I am NOT, I repeat NOT, crazy! Remember that?"

"You have to remember, too, to not be crazy."

"Argh, I don't have memory problems!"

Arya sighed. These two were not getting along. Unlike what the point meant.

"Shut up," Arya ordered agitatedly, crossing her arms. "Lila, I can't believe that even though you know what I mean, you're still acting rude."

Everly fished a slip of crumpled paper and a pen out of her pocket. She scribbled something on the paper two times and ripped it in half and threw each part to Lila and the boy.

The boy frowned. "What?"

Lila repeated, "'Stop, both of you'?"

Exactly what Everly was trying to say. Stop, both of you!

"F-I-N-A-L-L-Y." Arya let out a sarcastic sigh of relief. "Thanks. And you two, my name is Arya."

After introducing themselves...

"Why did you tell them your name!?" the boy (Niruk) shouted at the girl (Miriuo). "They're strangers!"

Miriuo argued, "Ugh! You fear too much for things that are not a tiny bit threatening and not to be feared of!"

"How would you know? For the last time, they're strangers, and strangers are not to be trusted!!"

Miriuo frowned. "How would that apply to this situation?"

"Stop arguing, you two." Arya ordered. "I have something to tell you all."

"We're listening, I guess."

"Keienia, Everly, Lila, and I are currently in the past to us, the present to Miriuo and Niruk."

"Yeah?"

"Basically, we just messed up the past—"

"—and that means we messed up the present—"

"—and if we messed up the present, we messed up the future!"

"Uh-oh."

"But what if you didn't mess up the past, and this was supposed to happen??"

"How would those objects take us into that tornado if it wasn't on purpose? How would we have come here if it wasn't supposed to happen?" Keienia said at last.

"Yes, I think she has a point."

"Maybe you were wrong about messing up. the past, though not wrong about worrying."

"Did I hear you right? This is a bit puzzling..."

"Great. One of us needs to explain.".

Lila groaned. "This is hopeless."

Suddenly, a bright flash filled the cave.

Words were traced all around them.

When light has gone

Then dark will rise

From within the earth

To the endless skies

When light shall fail

When dark flows through

There is only one thing possible

That you can do

You wish to defy the darkness

Straight and tall

Then follow the path of Viqura Deha Rin

And end the darkness for once and for all

"What does 'Viquara Deha Rin' mean??"

"Nothing that I know of..."

Keienia whispered to herself, "Follow the path of Viqura Deha Rin... Viqura Deha Rin..."

"Keienia, do you know anything about Viquara Deha Rin?" questioned Lila. "It certainly seems so..."

"Yes." Keienia sighed. "I know what Viquara Deha Rin is referring to."

"Mind translating?

"Viquara..." Keienia drew the word in the air. "Is Crystal. Deha would mean 'pure' in this occasion, but it was originally intended to mean 'clear'. Rin is 'light' or 'glow'."

Viquara Deha Rin

Crystal Pure Light

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Niruk exclaimed. "Crystal Pure Light?!"

"That's where the confusing part comes in: in this language there are no conjunctions or any of that."

Viquara Deha Rin

Crystal Pure Light

The Crystal of Pure Light

"Keienia, what is this crystal?"

Keienia shook her head. "I have no idea."

"And what does it mean by 'darkness'? The last time I checked the world was perfectly fine."

"Well, this is the past to us, so things might be different."

"Right."

"Miriuo, Niruk, was there anything happening before you came here?"

"Do you mean like a war or something?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well... there was a small dispute between Cevenain and Avhunin. It's been going on for a long time, so we don't know if there will be a war or not."

"What are Avhunin and Cevenain?"

"You don't know? They're two kingdoms."

"Oh. Then this must be more in the past then I thought... What year is it?"

"Um... YEAR?"

"Woah."

"What?"

"You don't even know what years are?"

"Back to the topic... you said there was a dispute going on, possibly the start of a war?" ­­­­­

"Yes."

"Where are these two kingdoms?"

"Uhh... Avhunin is a few thousand miles north of the Black Forests, and Cevenain is 100 kilometers southwest of Avhunin. I honestly don't know how they started the argument, being 100 kilometers apart. Besides, no one dares to cross the Endless Abyss. The Endlesss Abyss is nearer to Cevenain."

"Welp, where's that?"

"Um... there." Miriuo pointed above Everly's head.

"Where?"

"Argh, in the future, didn't you also drop into the Endless Abyss?"

"Wait a minute...That was what you call the Endless Abyss? That makes no sense! It's not endless!"

"Not my problem. It's probably so deep that the explorers thought it was endless and marked it endless on the map."

"Then those people didn't think of falling in to test if it was endless or not!"

"Haha, very funny."

"Even if they did, would they ever grow wings and fly up again to tell?"

"Obviously human beings can't grow wings!"

"Wait, Miriuo, I have a question." Lila said.

"Ask."

"Does the lake Erivnira lay between the Endless Abyss and Cevenain?"

"Well, yes, there's a lake, but I don't think it's called Erivnira."

"Hm, then it must have a different name. I mean, it is the past..."

Suddenly, Keienia cried out, "I know now!"

The others rushed over. "Where?!"

"The path?"

"Don't be silly! Not the path. I figured out, Viquara Deha Rin is some sort of curse or spell. If we find it, then it may possibly stop this war."

"Ok... do you know how to follow this light? Do you just check where the light source is?"

"No, not that easy. By following the light of Viquara Deha Rin, you must feel Deha Rin within yourself; the Crystal of Pure Light is the heart of all light. Not as in the light you turn on with a switch, but the light that creates the good will.

"Further, no being with evil intentions can feel the aura of the crystal, which means no being with evil intentions can sense the light."

"Hold up. I thought you can see light, not sense light."

"Did you forget, the ability of sight is one of the five senses?"

"Oh, right."

"Where's the path?"

"There. The glow is very dim, but it's still visible."

"I think I see it now..."

"Do not be tricked!" Keienia warned. "The crystal gives off sparks of light to trick those who seek the path. Do not follow the lights that flash. Those lead to traps and eventually your doom; you must notice the subtle difference between the false and true paths."

"False and true paths?!"

"Didn't I just explain that?"

"Right... why does the crystal try to trick you?"

"There are evil souls in the world. The crystal will not reveal its location to anyone easily."

"What? But wouldn't evil people not know how to find the—never-mind."

"Where's the light?"

Keienia sighed. "I cannot tell you."

"Why?"

"Each soul has a different perspective of the light."

Miriuo gasped. "Does that mean—"

"—yes, we must split up."

"But what if one of us get in trouble?"

"Everly and I only have enough devices for four people," Arya reminded them.

"Perfect," said Keienia. "I can duplicate two of them."

Arya held two out. Niruk made faces at the devices as if they were disgusting insects. "What are those?" he shrieked.

"Relax, they're probably just objects people fiddle with in the future..." Miriuo said, rolling her eyes. "Something that our time clearly doesn't know about."

"That still doesn't explain how they work!"

"Didn't know you were asking for that."

"Wasn't it obvious?"

"No, it wasn't! You said, 'what are these things', not 'how do these things work'!"

"Now you know what I mean, don't you?!"

"Why are you asking me if I obviously don't know the answer? Ask them."

Niruk turned to Lila. "Hey you!" he barked.

Lila jumped. "Yes?"

"How do those things work?!"

Miriuo hissed, "You're being rude!"

"Well, oops!" answered Niruk sarcastically.

Lila took this as a chance to slip away.

"Miriuo, Niruk, are you going to accept the quest or not?" Arya said.

"I never said I didn't agree!" Niruk fumed.

"Fine with me,"

"So, where's this light?" Niruk asked.

"Did you even listen to what Keienia told us about each person's perspective of the light?"

"Uh-huh, I did listen to Blue Girl."

"Hm... I'm not so sure about that." Miriuo stifled a giggle. This was too obvious; if Nirul had paid any attention at all to, he would most probably remember names. " Did you remember anything she was talking about?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, a bunch of yada yada about light blah blah blah crystal blah blah blah evil blah blah blah scrolls blah blah blah..."

"Seriously? You're supposed to be my older brother, yet you pay no attention to important subjects in life? You're supposed to be the one reminding me."

"And why?

"Because you're older. Obviously."