The Rise of Onyx Read online

  I force myself to try to smile at my very sweet sister, who is obviously sympathizing with my predicament and feels every bit as helpless as I do. “Thanks, Fae. It’s going to be okay, it does still repulse me uncontrollably but I have managed to come to grips with it, mostly.” I straighten some loose papers on my desk and gaze longingly out to the empty classroom.

  “Oh really? So, what have you been thinking about?”

  I smile to myself, and try not to blush. I take one more glance around the classroom to make sure there aren’t any stragglers left here after hours within earshot. “Well, Finn, actually.”

  Fae’s eyes widen. “Finn Abbott? Our neighbor?”

  I nod gleefully.

  “Well, what about him?”

  I sigh. Fae was still young, but she is also more clueless than her peers oftentimes. “Well, I’m thinking about how good it was kissing him the other day… over and over again.”

  “What? But you’re betrothed to Silas, what if someone saw you?” Fae’s eyes stayed much wider than they needed to be for optimal vision, but clearly her shock was more pressing than her personal sense of appearance at the moment.

  “I am painfully aware of that fact, Fae. But I realized, that if our parents have the gall to sign away the rest of my life, then I have the right to take what I want with the time I have left. And right now, I want Finn.”

  Fae nods slowly. “I guess… that makes sense. But you don’t think you’ll get caught though?”

  I shrug. “Hopefully not. But at this point, I’m desperate enough to risk anything. I have an entire life of Silas to look forward to.”

  Fae shrugs. “You know, it might not be that bad. Maybe you’ll even come to love him after a while?”

  I throw my head back in a full-bodied laugh. “Yeah and maybe you’ll fall in love with that fly buzzing in the corner. I think the odds are about the same.”

  “Well I’m just trying to help.” She turns away and finishes packing up her school books.

  “Wait, Fae, I’m sorry. I just… I’m dealing with a lot right now. I appreciate you, really. I’m just… trying to process everything. Surely you understand me.”

  She nods, but I start to truly hate my short temper once I see tears threatening to fall down her perfectly pink cheek.

  “I do understand, Constance. It must be really hard on you, being stuck with someone you don’t like. But I guess if it were me, I’d be trying to find the good in Silas instead of just counting down the days until my life is over.”

  She storms out of the room and starts walking home. Mother always expects me to walk with her, so I hurriedly grab my things and jog after her through the schoolhouse door.

  “Fae! Fae, please, wait for me!” My lungs burn as I push my legs faster than is typical for me to catch up with my poor little sister who I accidentally hurt. “I - I didn’t mean to upset you. I really am sorry, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

  She stops speed walking just long enough to glare at me, and then resumes her walk at normal speed, but in complete silence.

  “Okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I don’t really want to talk about it either, so that’s fine.”

  We arrive home after a very awkward walk, and somehow the crunching of the pebbles and sand under my feet comforts me.

  “Well hello there, beautiful.”

  I turn to meet the putrid gaze of my arranged husband-to-be, and have to remind myself not to visibly or audibly grimace. “What do you want, Silas?”

  He just smirks at me, wiggling his fingers. “You know what I’m thinking about?”

  “No, I’m not at all wondering and I couldn’t care less.”

  “Well, you might care about this.”

  “Look, I’ve had a very long day. Would you please move aside so I can get into my house?”

  He waggles his eyebrows and fingers in unison and then touches my shoulder more seductively than I’d really like. “Not until I tell you what I’ve been thinking about.”

  I try to ignore the feeling of his greasy palm soaking through the fabric covering my shoulder and place my other hand on my hip defiantly. “Okay, fine. What is so important that you had to trap me like this?”

  He grins wider than a child gazing at a candy cart. “You know what’s better than a wedding?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know, maybe impaling my eyeballs with Mother’s darning needles?”

  “No, silly, that’d be painful! I mean, the wedding night.”

  I can feel his eyes try to undress me right then and there, and I’m so disgusted that I push him away and open the door to my house, slamming it behind me. Fae re-opens it to enter.

  “Sorry I slammed it in your face, Fae. I didn’t mean to.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. And I think I’ll recant what I suggested earlier.”

  “What?”

  “About you maybe loving him eventually - I think that might actually be impossible, I’m sorry to say.”

  I try not to laugh at the delicious irony of it all, but it’s easy because the central reason the joke was funny is the very same one I’m convinced I’m going to die inside in a little over a week. “Oh, well, thank you, Fae, I suppose.”

  She nods solemnly, and I place my sack on its designated hook on the kitchen wall.

  “What was all that slamming about?”

  Fae and I turn to see Mother entering the kitchen through the backdoor. “Well, we just saw someone we knew and wanted to avoid.” Fae smiled sheepishly and I knew Mother was about to pry for more information.

  “Well that wasn’t very nice, who was it anyway?”

  “No one!” I chime in unexpectedly, and Fae shoots me an exasperated glance.

  “Interesting. Well, try not to ignore people, in the future please. That’s not very neighborly, you know.”

  We both nod, just grateful to be let off the proverbial hook. “We will, Mother.” Our chorus of affirmation tickles her ear in just the right spot, so she grabs he basket of clothes that need mending and goes out the back door into the yard.

  “Are we good now, Fae? I really am sorry about all that.”

  She nods. “We are, and I’m sorry I got so upset at you.”

  “It’s okay, I think I deserved it.” I wrap my arms around her, and we stand like that for who knows how long. I’m really going to miss moments like this the most.

  Volume Three:

  The Undoing

  CHAPTER 1

  “The kill switch? Are you insane? That’s not… that would bring about an entire apocalypse. The whole reason you are even on that throne in the first place is to keep that from happening!”

  Onyx rolls his eyes, letting the blue light emanating from them momentarily illuminate the cavernous darkness surrounding them in his sunken face. “Yes Evander, I am painfully aware of the implications surrounding the killswitch. The reason I suggested it was because I am at my wit’s end, and frankly, I don’t really see what the point of any of this is anymore.” He waves dismissively at the air around him, likely referencing the entire Upperworld and its theoretical obsoleteness.

  “That’s a very radical suggestion to make, Onyx. Care to elaborate on that?”

  He sighs, and the flames on his head dim slightly as he settles down into his chair. “Well, humans very rarely do as we intend them to anyway. Plus, they should be able to do whatever the heck they want, who are we to decide? The whole thing is quite unnecessary.”

  “Onyx, this is really unlike you, any particular reason why this sudden change of perspective?”

  “Well, I think that even after all my Earth studies, I still didn’t quite understand what it is like to live on Earth - that is, until I actually did live on Earth for a short while.”

  “When you went to rescue Luna.”

  “Precisely. And since then, I can’t stop thinking about how freeing it was, and how I think I was… better off there than I was here.”

  “You’re stuck in a chair here, slowly dying. I don’t blame y
ou for feeling that way at the moment.”

  “But it wasn’t just the being stuck in a chair versus not - there is so much more that exists on Earth than it does here. There are emotions, and unions, and desires, and talents, and people of all kinds and backgrounds. I cannot even begin to explain the amount of diversity that is there. Can’t you see it? I want to go back.”

  “Well, you do realize you’d be rendered mortal there - you’d die eventually.”

  “I’d also die in this chair, what’s the difference there?”

  “Fair point, but you must realize that I can’t just shut down the entire Upperworld on a whim. This would take some careful thought and speaking with the other inhabitants in order to figure out what might be best. Besides, we have Griffin working tirelessly to set you free, so patience is key for that.”

  Onyx sighs, and looks down at his feet. “I can be patient. But unfortunately, the current waits for no one, and I can feel it beckoning me to the Underworld. I’ll hold on as long as I can, but it’s getting harder, Evander. It’s getting really, really difficult.”

  “I understand, my friend. But the best thing you can do is to hold on. I’ll see about getting you some supplements from the infirmary to sustain you until then.”

  “That would be marvelous, thank you, Evander.”

  “Evander!”

  Both Onyx and Evander shift their gaze toward the main entrance of the Grand Hall, as Luna storms down the hallway, her face streaked with tears. “You were supposed to tell me. I needed to know. Why did you keep this from me?”

  Onyx and Evander exchange concerned glances, as they realize that their joint attempt to keep Luna from worrying too much about everything going on has epically failed. They appear to be engaged in a staring contest until a raise of Onyx’s eyebrow appears to make him victorious. Evander breaks eye contact and gingerly turns to face Luna.

  “Well, Onyx told me to keep it from you because unlike me, he has emotions and can feel things that I can’t. He reassured me that you wouldn’t be able to handle it. And judging by your current state, I’d wager that he was right.”

  Luna opens her mouth to speak, but seems unable to form words. Rather, she takes a few more steps before crumbling at the foot of Onyx’s throne. “I need you, Onyx. I need to know how you are, how you’re feeling, and what’s going on. I’m terrified of losing you and the fact that I may have lost you without even knowing it is making me sick with worry.”

  “So, you’re worried about this, I take it?”

  Luna glares at Evander’s seemingly insensitive question. “Yes, Evander. With every fiber of my being, I am terrified. And I should have known what was going on.”

  Evander sighs, and Onyx remains stoically seated on his throne. “I’m sorry, Luna. But I must ask, how did you find out?”

  “Brielle was kind enough to tell me - you may not have wanted her to, but I am eternally glad that she did.”

  “I suppose that makes sense, Luna. I’m sorry I doubted your ability to cope.”

  Luna shrugs. “I’ve been through worse, you know.”

  Evander nods. “I know. And Onyx, though he is silent at the moment for whatever reason, I know he knows that too.”

  “I do know, that, Luna.”

  She nods in response, but then has trouble making eye contact with Onyx. It’s not because his eyes have grown too bright and blinding, but rather that her fear is taking over her ability to view him as anything besides a goner.

  “How long?”

  Evander and Onyx exchange glances. “How long what?”

  Luna clears her throat and takes a few more hesitant steps closer to Onyx’s throne. “How long until his body gives out from the current?”

  Onyx looks down at his lap and rests his head in his hands, while Evander suddenly finds the tall ceilings more intriguing than anything else at the moment. “We don’t know, but based on how he seems to be doing, it’s probably not long at this point.”

  “We shouldn’t have let him on there, I could have done it.”

  “No, you couldn’t have, Luna.” Onyx’s monotone voice cuts the tension in the room, as both sets of eyes land on him. “You would have survived a fraction of the amount of time that I am, you’re a lot weaker than I am, and you have a smaller body mass.”

  Luna sighs. “Well, if we knew you’d be trapped there, I wouldn’t have wanted to let you go.”

  “Well, it’s probably for the best that we didn’t know, because it had to be done. There had to be a replacement for Zephyr, you know that.”

  “I do know that, but I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

  CHAPTER 2

  She’s walking to school now, and it seems to be a typical morning, from what I’ve seen. Griffin thinks quietly to himself as he follows Constance and Fae to school on Tuesday morning. He’s being extra cautious about calling attention to himself, as last time, he nearly blew everything, right to Constance’s face. But he’s had a good night’s rest in a nearby haystack, and a decent breakfast on some stolen garden fruit, so he should be able to focus better than ever. If anything, this time spent following Constance has given him a priceless education on how to operate and survive on Earth. The circumstances around which he is gaining it are certainly unfortunate, but the outcome will only be a benefit to him in the future.

  “Come on Fae, we’re running late again and I have to catch up on some work before the other students arrive!”

  He watches as the girl coaxes her younger sister out of their house, and into the bustling early morning streets as the compound begins to wake up for the day.

  “I’m coming as fast as I can!” She catches up with Constance and they both resume a more relaxed gait toward the school building on the other side of town.

  Darting among bushes and behind buildings, Griffin follows them. He’s quickly getting tired of this, though, as the constant following and risk it brings with it is undoubtedly wearing on him mentally. A quick glance to his wearable device displays the current Earth time, and the rapidly flashing digits that reflect the all-important time coordinates. When the key turning point occurs, he knows that he can press the pause button on his wrist to see the coordinates and send them to Evander. Then, and only then, would they agree that he could come back to the Upperworld. And as controlling and stringent that it is, Griffin has to admit that he is starting to miss the controlled and scheduled atmosphere of the Upperworld. The openness and uncertainty of his mission is simultaneously the most daunting and the most exciting part of it.

  He settles down near the school building in some bushes, trying not to be visible to anyone in or around it. Fairly satisfied with his spot, he settles in for the time being.

  “Hey there, Nobody. Whatcha doing here at school?”

  He winces and hesitates to turn to the source of the voice assaulting his ears. “I’m not doing anything. Go away and stay away.”

  The nauseating Earth child settles down in the bushes next to him instead. “Nah, school is starting in a few minutes. So I’ll stay right here. You’re way more interesting than school anyway.” He grins widely, his missing teeth highlighted by the gaping holes in his malicious smile.

  “Well, fine. But be quiet.”

  “Don’t be quiet, you say? All right, if you insist.”

  And then the child begins to scream in the most blood-thirsty manner he could manage, until Constance herself appears from the schoolhouse and runs toward the source of the screaming.

  “Calm? Is everything all right?”

  “There’s a man here, and he was bothering me.”

  Her face turns red with anger, and she marches right over to where the small, grubby, chubby finger is pointing. “You again? I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t do anything to upset the child. He came over to me.”

  She perches a hand on her hip. “Well, that may be possible, but why were you sulking in the bushes near a school?”

  Griffin has t
o think of something to say, and fast. “Well, I’ve been observing you.”

  “Oh really? Why, exactly?” She crosses her arms, probably equal parts intimidation and protection.

  “Because… I wanted to see how you teach without any knowledge of being observed by an outsider.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because… I would like to teach someday.” That isn’t a complete lie - Griffin has been considering guide training for a while, which is basically like the Upperworld version of a schoolteacher.

  “Oh, I see. Well, that’s interesting, considering that most men work in the field. Don’t you have a plantation to upkeep or something of that nature?”

  “No, I do not.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, I do know you’re watching me now, so how about I let you watch me from inside the schoolhouse? I’ll even introduce you to the children.”

  Griffin hesitates, but then nods slowly. It’s not quite the method he was working toward, but upon further thought about it, it might just be crazy enough to work.

  “Good! Let’s go then.” She then turns to the despicable child who had gotten him into this mess in the first place. “Come along, Calm. I expect your completed lesson on your desk before the bell rings.”

  “Yes, Mistress Miller.” She pats him on the back and then walks with Griffin toward the open door of the schoolhouse.

  “Class, I would like to introduce a new friend to you who is going to spend the day with us. HIs name is…” She cups her hand around her lips to whisper to Griffin. “What’s your name? I don’t believe you said it before.”

  “Griffin.” She nods.

  “This is Goodman Griffin, and he will be joining our studies today. Anyway, it is time that we return to our times tables.”

  An echo of moans and groans fills the room.

  “Now now, don’t be upset. This is important for any profession you might take up in the future. Now, who can tell me what seven multiplied by three is?”

  A petite girl with dark-haired braided pigtails raises her hand. “That is twenty-one, Mistress Miller.”