Chapter twelve

Evelyn teleported in front of the S.O.M and made her way to the crowd of students who had gathered in the large field next to the school.

She spotted her friends in the large crowd of students and Leia waved her over. "Am I late?" she asked as she joined the group.

Leia shook her head. "You're not late-it's just that students tend to come super early to school on Crystal Hunt day."

Leia was obviously telling the truth-not that she would lie-because it looked like the whole school was there. After about fifteen minutes more of waiting, Headmistress Melerana teleported in front of the sea of students.

A teacher nearby passed her a microphone and projected a huge screen of her with a megaholopod.

Headmistress Melerana looked fancier than usual- she wore a purple gown embedded with white pearls. Her brown hair and golden earrings which dangled from her ears shook as she spoke.

"Students, as you all know, it is the day of the Crystal Hunt!" she announced, her pearly white teeth showing as she smiled. "Yes, the day all of you have been waiting for has arrived. Now, all the groups in Levels one to four, you will be accompanied by a teacher. Those who are level five and above will be free to explore on their own as you are old enough."

"The Crystal Hunt will last for eight hours and 45 minutes exactly. Then you need to teleport back here immediately-not a second more. After that, we'll do some announcements and you all will be able to go home."

The sea of students cheered.

"Right, now, form your groups, everybody and start deciding where you'll adventure first."

Evelyn, Leia, Asher, Brooke, Camila and Amelia formed a group.

Leia squealed. "I'm so, so excited!"

Camila examined her polished nails, which were now white at the tips with white ribbons. "We know, Leia. You've been saying that everyday ever since the announcements. Anyway, does anybody have a holopod? We need at least one or two people with a holopod so we can reach out if we need help."

"I do," Evelyn, Asher and Leia said.

"Perfect- I actually have one too. Now, does anybody have a timeteller? We need to keep track of the time."

Only Evelyn and Amelia said "I do," this time.

"And I believe everybody has their teleballs, right?" Camila asked and was answered with nods.

"Now where will we go first?" she asked.

"I know! We can adventure Glacier Peaks first. A lot of ice users found their power crystals there-and who knows? Maybe Evelyn or Brooke might be an ice user." Asher suggested.

"Does everybody agree to adventure Glacier Peaks?" Camila asked.

The whole group nodded.

"Then we should probably stop by a clothes store first. Our normal winter wear won't be enough to keep us warm. Does everybody have money?" Leia asked.

The group nodded again.

"Alright, I think we're ready!" Camila announced, then the group turned their attention on Headmistress Melerana.

They waited for a few minutes more before she spoke. "Now that all the students have formed their groups, can the leftover students who didn't manage to get into a group head to the left side of the court? You'll be formed into a large group and will be monitored by three teachers, no matter the level."

The few unlucky students who didn't manage to get into a group shuffled over to the left side.

Headmistress Melerana continued. "Right, and can Mr. Rodney follow that group over there? Yes, that level eight group of students. Those are the troublemakers."

Evelyn watched a stern-looking teacher join a group of level eight students with tattoos and smirking looks.

"Alright, now that that's settled, I would like to announce that this year's Crystal Hunts and the Crystal Hunts after this year will be a little different because you have to carry a band-aid kit. Every group has to have one."

Evelyn bit back a groan. Weren't band-aid kits heavy? Wouldn't it slow down their adventuring time?

"Aw, come one. Why do you look so glum? It's just a band-aid kit." Leia said when she noticed Evelyn frown.

"Aren't band-aid kits heavy? Won't they slow down our adventuring time?" the words slipped out of Evelyn's mouth.

Leia laughed. "Band-aid kits aren't heavy at all. What are you talking about?"

Just then, a teacher came over and passed them a band-aid kit with the hospital sign on its front. Then the teacher handed them a small gadget and walked away.

Leia placed the band-aid kit on the ground and pointed the gadget to it, pressing a button. The gadget made red rays and the rays hit the band-aid kit, making it shrink.

Evelyn rubbed her eyes- what was she seeing? How was this possible?

She knew she shouldn't be shocked-of course it was possible in Celestria. But it still looked like her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"It's the shrink-o-largerator 200. It shrinks and enlargers stuff," Leia explained and tucked the gadget and the band aid into her pocket.

Before Evelyn could ask a few questions that were swirling around in her brain-particularly How does it shrink and enlarges things?!- Headmistress Melerana continued.

"And with all that said and all the band-aid kits being passed out and shrinked, it's time." she said in a tune that Evelyn just couldn't stop but getting giddy and excited.

The sea of students cheered so loud Evelyn had to cover her ears.

"It's time for the Crystal Hunt to begin!"

The sea of students cheered even louder.

"You may begin adventuring in three...."

Headmistress stared at the timeteller clutched in her palms as she counted down.

"Two...."

"One!" 

Confetti rained from somewhere, showering the sea of students in rainbow slips of paper.

"Let the Crystal Hunt began!"

The group squeezed together to get close to Leia, who held a teleball in her hand.

She threw the the teleball up and teleported them to in front of a clothing store.

Camila took the lead and pushed the glass doors of the clothing store open. There was a musical note when they entered and Asher headed to the men's winter clothing section while the girls headed to the women's winter clothing section.

"Ooooh- look at this!" Camila grinned as she eyed a sparkly hot pink tight dress with frills at the end.

She walked over to the dress like she was drawned to it. She picked up the end of the dress, examining it.

"Should I get thi-" she started, but Leia interrupted by pulling back her by the arm.

"Nuh-uh, Camila. No shopping today-we're just here to get winter wear. If you start shopping now, by the time the Crystal Hunt ends, you'll still be shopping."

Leia dragged her towards the women's winter wear clothing section, and Amelia, Brooke and Evelyn tagged along from behind.

When they arrived at the section, Camila squealed and yanked her arm back and broke free from Leia's grasp.

She ran to a light pink winter jacket with white faux fur lacing the top and bottom and held it up. "Isn't this cute?"

Then she gasped and slung the jacket over her right shoulder and ran to a table where a pair of fur boots with heels were on display.

She tried the boots on, which fit perfectly on her feet. She modeled them and twirled around the room. "These boots are cute too!"

After about ten minutes, the girls met up with Asher at the counter to pay.

Evelyn had gotten a white puffy winter jacket with faux fur lining at the neckline paired with white furry earmuffs, a pair of white gloves and sleek, white winter boots. 

Asher had chosen a black coat paired with black boots and black gloves while Camila had chosen the same light pink winter jacket laced with faux fur, white earmuffs, a pair of pink gloves and the same fur boots.

Amelia's fit was similar to Evelyn's, but she had a pair of fur boots instead of sleek white winter boots.

Leia-like Evelyn-had a white puffy winter coat, white boots and a pair of white gloves as well. Brooke had chosen a white winter coat too with white gloves, white boots, earmuffs and a pair of white gloves

"Woah," Asher said when he turned to them. "You all look so identical-why are you guys dressed in all white and dressed in mostly the same stuff?"

Camila cleared her throat. "First, I'm wearing pink and white- not just white. Secondly, I think I'm talking for not only me, but us, when I say we girls share the same good taste. I mean, why are you dressed in all black? At least add some white into the mix."

Asher shrugged and reached up to tussle his light blonde hair, turning back to the counter to pay for his winter wear.

The girls payed for their winter wear too, and when they were done they changed into their wear and gathered around Camila, who threw a teleball up in the air and teleported them to the Glacier Peaks.

Evelyn felt the snow crunch under her boots as they teleported into Glacier Peaks. She wrapped her arms around her waist and her teeth chattered. Even with the thick and heavy winter wear, it was still freezing but it was worth it because Glacier Peaks was one of the most beautiful places Evelyn had ever been to.

Even though it was extremely cold and filled with snow, there were still trees and plants and natures and animals. There were purple, pink, green and blue trees surrounding the area and there were glassy, frozen lakes. Icicles hung from the trees and Evelyn could make out some....peacocks?

They looked like peacocks, at least, but a thousand times more beautiful. Their feathers were shades of pastel blue, pastel green, pastel pink, pastel purple and white. Their beady black eyes shone blue when their the rays of faint light flashed at them and their feathers were much bigger.

"Are those....peacocks?" she asked, pointing at the peacocks, which had gathered around a frozen lake and were pecking at the ice with their beaks.

"Almost right. These are PEAKcocks. They're pretty similar to peacocks, but much more beautiful and they live on mountain peaks, hence the name peakcocks." Leia explained. "And now they're pecking on the ice of the frozen lake to drink the water underneath. Their beaks are designed to be extra-sharp so they can do that."

The group stayed silent for a while, watching the peakcocks peck at the ice.

Then Camila rounded up their attention. "All right, group. We didn't come here to see peakcocks-we're here to find our girls power crystals, remember? And there's a time limit for the Crystal Hunt too- we still have about eight hours and ten minutes, so let's get a move on."

The group nodded and they started trudging through the snow.

They trekked along the snow in silence for a long time until Asher broke the silence by exclaiming, "Dude, it's freezing here and my feet are freezing too," he motioned to his boots, which were covered under white snow. "The snow's so cold even my boots can keep out the cold. If we don't stop and rest for a while and get our feet outta the snow, my feet-alongside with my boots-are going to turn into blocks of ice. And I'm not kidding-my feet went numb about twenty minutes ago."

"You and your complaints," Camila sighed. "But...I guess we have been wadding through the snow for quite a long time, so....fine. Let's find some shelter. A cave or something."

Camila looked around. "Do you guys see anywhere we can crash for a while?"

The group shook their heads.

"Let's walk around to find shelter, then."

Camila led the group forward, and after walking for about ten minutes, Asher spotted a cave.

They waded across the snow to the cave, and before anyone could go in, Leia stopped them. "Let's make sure nothing lives here first, or we'll disturb them or it."

She peeked her head into the cave and called out, "Hello? Is any animal living in here?"

When there was no reply, she went in and the rest of the group trailed behind her.

"Finally!" Asher exclaimed when he entered the cave. "Oooo-it is warm in here! Nice change from the cold."

The group sat on the ground in a circle.

"Are your obtusces glowing?" Camila asked Evelyn and Brooke.

Brooke dug out a heart locket from under her winter jacket and shook her head.

"Oh, you have a necklace obtusce too?" Evelyn asked. 

Brooke shook her head and opened the heart locket, revealing a little jar-half the size of her thumb-with a drop of blue-green water inside which sloshed around as she shook it. "This is my obtusce. I just wear the locket to put it in it, so I won't lose it."

"Oh. Smart." Evelyn said, turning to Camila. "And, um.....what do you mean by 'glowing'?"

Leia joined the conversation for her explanation. "When your obtusce is near your power crystal, it'll glow." 

"Huh," Evelyn said, pulling her necklace out of under her puffy winter jacket and shook her head.

Camila groaned. "No offence, but the thought of wading around through more snow with the snow up to my ankles is not thrilling." she shuddered. "Asher was kinda right-it's super cold out there and it's kinda nice in here- I mean, not an ideal place to crash out for a while, but it's warm."

"Maybe neither of us will be ice users," Brooke stared at her locket. "I mean, I have never felt like I would be one. Do you?" she turned to Evelyn and Evelyn shook her head.

"Hmm....what about we walk around a little more and if we really can't find anything, we can go somewhere else." Camila suggested and the group agreed.

They stayed in the cave for a little while more before setting out into the snow, but after walking around for a short time, they were attacked by a blizzard and hurried back into the cave.

"Ugh!" Camila grumbled when they took refuge in the cave. "We're wasting way too much time- we only have seven hours and thirty-five minutes left. We need to be faster and pick up speed, but of course a blizzard has to slow us down!" she let out her frustration by kicking a nearby rock.

"Calm down-" Leia started, but was cut off by the cave rumbling. "Um...do you guys feel that?" she asked.

"What's happening?" Asher yelled when the ground started shaking. 

"Is it an earthquake?" Evelyn asked, grabbing ahold of a rock to steady herself.

"But we don't have earthquakes- there's literally an 'earth' in front! Unless...unless it's a starbreak-but that's not possible. Starbreaks only happen at night." Asher answered as he helped Brooke grab ahold of a rock stuck to the cave's ground and helped Camila after.

Evelyn helped Leia and Amelia grab ahold of rocks to steady themselves.

The shaking continued for a little while before it abruptly stopped.

"What was that?" Leia asked and was answered with a scream.

"BROOKE!" Asher exclaimed, and Evelyn followed his voice to where he was standing. A rectangular hole had appeared beside him and Evelyn could hear Brooke's scream as she fell to whatever place was underneath.

Asher looked around in a panic and dived into the hole.

Brooke's high-pitched screams were echoed by his rough scream.

Evelyn, Camila and Amelia glanced at each other, and she could see pure panic in their eyes. "W-w-what should we do?" Leia stuttered. 

Evelyn glanced at them again, then at the rectangular hole. "Nuts to this," she muttered under her breath and ran towards the hole. Then she jumped in and screamed as she fell deep, deep down.

She grabbed ahold of the air and was so desperate she even tried flapping her arms, but she continued falling deep down.

Then she saw Camila and Leia's body figures falling in front of her. Then she landed on something soft and squishy-like a sponge.

But she couldn't see Brooke or Asher, and-

A scream slipped out of her mouth right before Leia and Camila fell on top of her. They knocked the wind out of Evelyn, and Evelyn's vision became dark and black right before she got knocked out.

"Evelyn?" Leia's voice rang through her mind, slicing a tiny blade of the suffocating darkness Evelyn was in.

Evelyn slowly got to her feet, expecting aches all around her body. Instead, she was greeted with an icy, cold feeling and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

She wandered around the thick darkness, but only found more darkness. It was just a cold, empty and pitch-black room. Was it even a room? Evelyn didn't know. She didn't feel like knowing.

Actually, did she feel like knowing?

Or did she not?

Evelyn clutched her head, sucking in a breathe. The darkness was like water, seeping through her mind and making her feel confused, weird and wonky. Actually, was she in her mind? Or was her mind in her?

Evelyn clutched her head even harder and let out a frustrated groan. "What's wrong with me?!" she mumbled to herself as her vision tilted and her world blurred and she got knocked off balance.

She got up and was relieved her vision was back to normal. But when she walked further into the darkness, more of her memory faded away and she asked even more non-relatable and unimportant and silly questions.

"What's my name again?" she asked herself. "How old am I?"

"Where am I?" 

"Who am I?"

"Do I have a life?"

She questioned herself all these silly questions as she walked even further. Suddenly, a giant, glowing, green and see-through hand materialized in front of Evelyn and she gave a yelp.

"What are you? Who are you? Who am I? What am I?" she was frightened at first, but was pulled back into the questions. "What time is it? Why am I me? Do you know me? Who is my mom?"

She was about to start firing more questions at the hand, but it made a stop sign and wrapped its glowing fingers around her, clutching her in a tight grasp. 

"Hey! Let me go!" Evelyn yelled, squirming in the hand's grasp, trying to break free. She punched and slapped and pinched and even bit the glowing fingers, but the handed didn't budge, instead locking Evelyn in a tighter grasp. 

After a few failed attempts to break free, Evelyn gave up and decided to slouch in the hands' grip. Then the hand rocketed up, up, up and blast through a layer of darkness after another. The last layer of darkness was the hardest to break through, but the hand eventually managed to get it-and Evelyn-out of the darkness.

The new place Evelyn was in had a warm, comfortable feeling that made Evelyn want to snuggle up in a cozy blanket and fall asleep.

Suddenly, there was a quick bright flash of light and a bed with the thickest and softest-looking covers Evelyn had ever seen with fluffy pillows appeared in front of Evelyn.

Evelyn tried even harder to break free from the hands' tight grip to snuggled under the covers on the bed but the hand refused to let Evelyn free.

She struggled to escape the hand but couldn't. Eventually, she gave up and her stomach rumbled- she must've made herself exhausted and hungry by struggling against the hand for so long.

A picture flashed in her mind- a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of double chocolate chip cookies. Her family used to eat that on Christmas eve, and leave a plate of cookies for Santa, too. It wasn't Christmas, but she was craving it.

There was the bright flash of the light and a mug of steaming hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and double chocolate chip cookies appeared on the bed.

Evelyn's mouth watered and she tried to slip out of the hand's grasp again, but naturally, the hand didn't budge.

Evelyn was in the middle of squirming in the hand when she froze and a wave of memories-the faded memories she had lost in the darkness- hit her. The silly questions were washed out and she felt like she was her again.

And with her common sense and knowledge back, she realized...

She shut her eyes and crossed her fingers, hoping her hunch was correct.

She imagined a beach ball in her mind, and sure enough, a beach ball materialized on the bed.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. When she first entered this....pocket of space and light, she had this comfortable feeling that made her want to sleep. When she had felt that, a bed appeared. Then she imagined the mug of hot chocolate and cookies, and it appeared on the bed. Then when she shut her eyes and imagined a beach ball, a beach ball materialized on the bed.

This place would give her whatever she wanted, as long as she felt or pictured it in her mind. She squeezed her eyes close again and imagined the hand letting her free.

Instantly, the hand flew back and Evelyn tumbled out of it and onto the ground.

She picked herself up and dusted her herself. "Yes!"

Before she could do anything else, the hand came crawling back and made a motion that looked lik it was writing.

"You...um...want to write?" Evelyn asked. 

The hand gave a thumbs-up.

The hand had locked her in a grip and refused to let her free, but it did pull her out of the darkness, so she pictured a large pencil and paper in her mind.

It materialized in front of Evelyn, and Evelyn stepped back to let the hand write. The hand started scribbling words onto the paper and when it was done, it set the pencil down and nudged Evelyn forward to read it.

Evelyn studied the uncannily familiar neat writing.

It's Amelia. I'm here to help you. Just follow me and I'll help you get out of this place- and we need to pick up speed and get out from here fast, or....you don't want to know what will happen. Also, here's a tip: Everything in here is fake, so don't treat it like it's real. It may feel warm and you may get whatever you want in here, but if you stay here too long.... 

The hand-Amelia-didn't finish the sentence. Evelyn turned to the hand. "Are you sure you're Amelia?"

The hand gave a thumbs-up and scribbled down more words on the sheet of paper.

Do you trust me? 

Evelyn nodded. "I do."

So this time, when the hand took charge and led the way, Evelyn longingly looking at the chocolate chip cookies her mom used to make and followed the hand.

They walked for quite some while before they stopped at a...door.

A lone, single door standing in the middle of the pocket of light and space. And there wasn't even a room to access from the door. It was just a door, and you could see both sides of it if you walked around it.

The hand nudged Evelyn forward, causing her to almost crash into the door. 

"Um....you want me to go through this door?" 

She was replied by a thumbs-up, and Evelyn opened the door and was surprised when there was a portal lying within the door. 

"Woah," she breathed, stretching her hand out and sinking a few fingers into the portal to make sure it was safe.

It didn't hurt at all- there was just a tingly, tickly feeling.

"I have to go in here?" Evelyn asked the hand-or Amelia. 

The hand gave the thumbs-up she was kind of getting used to.

"Okay," Evelyn took a breath before stepping into the portal.

She was halfway in when a thought struck her.

"Wait," she jumped out of the portal so fast she tripped over her feet and fell onto the ground.

Amelia offered her a hand-er, Amelia offered herself as a hand to help her get up, but Evelyn was stuck frozen in her place on the ground.

She was too stuck and fixated on her thought- if she could picture things in her mind and have them appear, did the concept work on people too?

"I....need to try something," she mumbled, slowly getting up by herself.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pictured the faces she'd so carefully remembered in her mind.

The faces that she missed terribly and badly wanted to see again, even if it wasn't possible.

The face's she'd grown up seeing and the very faces which would never be seen again because the faces belonged to the people that died in a fire.

Special people who'd died in a fire. People that Evelyn cared a lot about.

A tear slid down Evelyn's cheek as she examined the picture she'd imagined in her mind. Every single face feature she'd remembered was so detailed, from the chin to the hairline. 

When she opened her eyes, she held her breath and crossed her fingers.

Would they really appear? Could she really see them again?

After a few seconds without anything, Evelyn's hope plummeted and after a minute, she was about to stop hoping they would appear and go back into the portal.

But right before she could step into the portal, there was a quick, bright flash of light in the distance.

Evelyn's eyes widened and her heart pounded in her chest so loudly she could hear it.

Slowly, carefully, she took a step forward to where the flash of light had came from, but with every step she seemed to pick up pace and soon she was running.

She stopped when she reached the figures and gasped.