Chapter 1

          Loud snoring roused Delphinium from her peaceful slumber. The tired girl groaned with annoyance as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Emerald why do you do this to me." She softly complained as she stretched, before daintily stepping onto her moss carpet. A smile graced her features as she recalled how fun it had been to make it. She had even made Em one as a gift.

After a moment she stepped off the mat, shivering slightly at the cold wooden floor. It didn't take her terribly long to adjust, and she quickly changed from her soft purple nightgown into her mage like robe. The next thing on her agenda was her hair. She easily located her brush, and patiently worked out any knots that had accumulated while she slept.

Upon taming her hair she crossed to the door and exited as quietly as possible. The door blocked the sound of Emerald's obnoxious snores, much to Delphinium's relief. "I might as well get breakfast together, although it's Em's turn." She thought aloud. Her feet carried her quickly down the short hallway, and there the sun was to greet her. Her eyes shimmered as she took in the still rising sun through a window. Directly behind her was the front door, and to the left of that the kitchen, and finally a small door next to the window led to Emerald's training and forging setup.

Delphinium pulled herself away from the pretty sight, after all she had a job to do. She equipped herself with a reasonable sized satchel before heading out the door. The fresh air that greeted her upon exiting their cabin brought a smile to her face.

Another day in this mysterious paradise. Over the years the bottom of her feet had hardened, adapting to the fact that she didn't wear shoes, so it no longer pained her to tread down the dirt paths leading from their cabin. Since sharp pebbles were sometimes unearthed.

As soon as she stepped off the wooden bridge that led to the forest she felt calmer. The songbirds were singing their lovely tunes. She couldn't help but hum! A particularly juicy looking mango caught her eye as she began gathering fruit from the various fruit trees. 'That would make a nice beverage!' She happily thought whilst reaching for the fruit, balancing on one of the trees many roots. What happened next was rather unexpected.

One moment everything was fine, and her prize was almost in her grasps. Then the next she was falling, having somehow lost her balance. The ground rushed up to meet her and there she face planted in the grass.

A yelp of pain escaped her as she quickly pushed herself into a sitting position. Her hands flew up to her face, as if cradling a new wound. "This is what I get for trying to be helpful!" She dramatically complained, slowly getting to her feet.

A cool breeze drifted through the forest, making her freeze. Something was different.

"Delphinium..." The wind seemed to whisper, an unknown emotion hidden deep with the words.

Her train of thought immediately went to Emerald. She was probably awake and trying to play a trick on her! "Em? Are you awake?" She called, her eyes diligently scanning the surrounding forest.

"Delphinium..." Was the only response she received, and the wind grew stronger. Whirling around her head in it's unseen vortex.

Fear was beginning to take hold as her logic began to fail. "Emerald this isn't funny!" She shouted, the smallest hint of fear taking root. Yet she remained calm, as she took on a more serious attitude.

The wind calmed, allowing her hair to settle. "Follow me..." The wind's whisper ominously instructed.

"Wha-What!? How am I even supposed to follow you? There's no one here!" Delphinium sputtered, flabbergasted by the fact that she was being told to follow something that she couldn't see. Emerald seemed to have picked up a strange sense of humor. After all it could only be Emerald. Right?

Yet the voice returned, a slight hint of impatience making itself known. "Follow the wind..." It replied.

She nervously bit her lip as she considered her response. Now she was certain that this wasn't Emerald. Running seemed to be her best option-but no, she couldn't just run from her problems. After all it was pointless to run from a voice. "Just leave me alone!" She demanded, drawing upon her courage.

Her demand was met with silence, causing relief to sweep through her like a crashing wave. Then just as she was letting down her guard, the softest of touches brushed her right ear, sending a chill racing down her spine. "I'm afraid I can't do that." The voice stated.

Delphinium whirled around in an instant, her heart pounding fiercely. There was no one there. "W-Why not!?" Her now trembling voice demanded, her soft sapphire blue eyes having gained a fierce gleam. Whether it was anger or fear was uncertain.

"I need you just as much as you need me..." The voice answered. It's vague answer plagued Delphinium's mind all the more. Yet in the chaos of her mind it managed to make something plausible.

Now she had a theory. Either this was real, or she had gone insane. The latter wasn't very appealing... Her resolve wavered, before completely dissolving. "A-Alright fine!" She hesitantly agreed. When the wind picked up again she felt an odd tugging sensation. It was as if it was trying to lead her somewhere. Was this what the voice could have meant?

She had made her decision, and now she had to follow it. Following her instincts she allowed the new feeling to guide her through the trees. Her mind was in turmoil. She was confused and angry but most of all curious. There were too many questions without answers floating around her head. A sigh escaped her, and she decided to ask the voice something simple. Perhaps she would receive an honest answer. "So who are you?" She inquired, glancing around at the surrounding trees.

She waited, and waited, and waited for a response. Only the peaceful chirps of the birds and sounds of the woodland creatures fill her ears. The audacity that this thing, or person, whatever it was possessed infuriated her. Did she not deserve an answer!? "Are you serious? When I don't want to talk to you you talk. But, when I'm actually trying to understand this situation you ignore me! Wow." Delphinium sarcastically remarked, her eyes glinting with anger.

Her outburst was payed no heed, and ignored. So she fell silent as she continued, angrily trying to sort out her jumbled thoughts. The scenery began to change as the trees thinned out to reveal a stunning lake. The large body of water was crystal clear, and tasted like fresh mountain water. Her eyes were drawn to her reflection as she walked along the bank.

An order brought her back to reality, "Stop." The voice ordered, breaking the silence.

Delphinium stopped in her tracks, the anger from being ignored rising to the surface. "First you talk, then you ignore me. You tell me to go then tell me to stop. I am trying to understand whatever this is. But you are making it very difficult!" She snapped, throwing her arms out in exasperation.

It took no notice of her anger, and continued instructing her, "Look around..."

The way she stomped around the sparsely wooded bank clearly portrayed her anger and frustration. There was only so much she could deal with and it seemed as if she had reached her limit. "Look for what!? You haven't exactly told me what I'm looking for!" Delphinium snapped, sending her furious gaze around the clearing.

"If you weren't so intent on arguing with a force you shouldn't reckon with, you would notice the amulet right in front of your face." The voice responded irritably, a hint of sass added to the mix.

The curiosity that welled up within her from those words was enough to defuse her anger this time round. She took a knee and ran her hand through the grass before her, searching for this supposed amulet. A iridescent blue glint caught her eye. Her hands trembled as she brushed aside numerous blades of grass. Until she could finally see the object they had concealed. Before her laid a sapphire blue stone. It's edges were smooth and well rounded, the unmistakable mark of human interference.

The urge to pick it up overcame her, and so she gave in, lifting the blue amulet from its resting place. It rested perfectly in the palm of her hand, cold to the touch. Delphinium couldn't draw her gaze away from it, there was just something about it that felt so right. As if this stone belonged with her.

"Voice wha-" She began to ask, before being cut off by a rather familiar voice.

Emerald's voice rang loud and clear for the forest as she called, "Delphinium!" Her shouting frightening animals of all kinds, sending them scattering to the four winds.

She had never lied, or hidden anything from Emerald since she had woken up here. Neither of them did. Yet for some reason she found herself hastily rising to her feet and slipping the blue stone into a deep pocket of her robes. How could she explain how she had heard a voice that led her to find it? Emerald would most likely think that she'd lost it, and that was something that she just couldn't bear.

The faint pounding of feet and the louder call of her friend told her that she was nearing. And so after quickly composing herself she shouted a response, "I'm over here!" Delphinium acknowledged.

Emerald burst into the clearing, skidding to a halt. Sporting her sturdy brown boots, ripped jeans, white shirt, and signature maroon cardigan. "Delphi, are you alright!?" She demanded, stalking over to Delphinium, who's resolve held strong.

A quizzical look passed over the latter's features, "I'm perfectly fine Em, why?" She assured her, raising a brow. Why she wouldn't be fine she didn't know.

An annoyed sigh escaped from Emerald, who stomped her foot as she explained,"When I woke up I EXPECTED you to still be asleep, and instead I found that you'd just disappeared without a trace. No note, nothing! Can you blame me for getting worried?"

"Emerald there's literally nothing to worry about. We live in a paradise for goodness sake." Delphinium sighed, crossing her arms. Sometimes she just couldn't understand Emerald.

Emerald sighed once again, although this time it was softer, and the annoyance that had laced her previous one was nowhere to be found. "You're right, theres nothing to worry about. I guess I just paniced and didn't use my head. Heh. Anyway what are you doing out here?" She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, before changing the subject.

It took Delphinium a moment to collect her thoughts enough to answer. The previous events had left her sort of dazed, and she was still trying to process it all. "I was hungry so I decided to go get some breakfast." She replied honestly, her questioning expression gone.

And just like that annoyance swelled up in Emerald once again, it had been her turn to get breakfast! Being cheated out of an opportunity to cook to any degree was unforgivable. Okay, she was being a bit dramatic but still. She did like to cook. "Delphi it was my turn to get breakfast!" She exclaimed, her tone rather indignant.

At this Delphinium couldn't help but be blunt, "Emerald you seriously wanted me to wait the hour or however long it would take for you to wake up, when I was hungry and am completely capable of getting food myself?" She asked.

Emerald searched for words to retaliate with, but admitted defeat after a few moments. Delphi did have a point. "Okay gosh, I'll get up earlier next time." She said, crossing her arms.

She smirked, "Yeah! You better!" Delphinium chuckled, uncrossing her arms and letting one rest on her hip while meaningfully pointing at Emerald with the other.

"Hey I just realized, where is the food you supposedly gathered? Unless you have some mangos stashed away somewhere that I don't know about." Emerald inquired.

Delphinium jumped at the opportunity to fully shift the focus away from her earlier activities. "I have some fruit in our satchel. How about you throw together a fruit salad or something when we get back?" She suggested, internally wincing at her suggestion. Emerald was an absolutely terrible cook. She could mess up any dish, even if it didn't require cooking it. Even a simple fruit salad. She'd either try to drizzle it with some strange concoction she'd made or try something crazy with it. To this day she hadn't tasted one thing that hadn't made her want to puke.

As Delphinium had predicted Emerald's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes! Let's go eat!" She exclaimed, snatching the satchel from Delphinium's shoulder and grabbing her by the wrist. "The kitchen awaits!" She dramatically exclaimed, using her fairly superior strength to drag her to the house.

The kitchen was filled with silence as Emerald worked over at a set of wooden counters to fix up breakfast. Delphinium sat at their sturdy yet somewhat crudely made wooden table in a similarly fashioned chair. The events from earlier were still plaguing her, no matter how hard she tried to force the thoughts to the back of her mind. She let out a sigh before straightening in her chair. "Have you ever gone out early in the morning and heard a voice?" She tentatively inquired.

Emerald didn't skip a beat as she responded, steadily mixing something into the assortment of gathered fruit. "I mean if your talking about the bird's singing then yes! All the time. It's really pretty." She replied, laughing at the pleasant memories of the birds lovely music.

She nervously chuckled, "Yeah they really do have lovely voices...." Delphinium agreed nervously. So Emerald had no clue...

It didn't take Emerald very long to finish assembling her ghastly fruit salad after that, proudly presenting a wooden bowl full of the undesirable contents to Delphinium. "Ready for this amazing breakfast, made by yours truly?" Emerald asked, her voice filled with pride.

Delphinium forced herself to smile, "Yeah sure." She lied doing her best to sound sincere. Emerald promptly set the bowl down in front of her, a wooden fork already in the bowl for her, before going to get her own food and their drinks. She didn't even have time to hide any before Emerald got back to the table. Oh golly. "Thanks for killing me." She muttered, her eyes fixed on the surly distasteful meal.

"What?" Emerald pressed, having heard something coming from her friend. Although it had been to quiet for her to make out the words.

'Oh no did she hear? I need to say something but what oh ah um-' She quickly blurted out what she hoped was a believable answer, "Nothing, thank you for cooking fo me!" Delphinium said, pouring as much gratefulness as she good into her words.

Emerald smiled, "You're welcome! It's really no problem." She happily responded, munching away on her salad. Delphinium had concluded that Emerald had no sense of taste. None at all.

It took a lot of mental coaching to force herself to lift that fork loaded with disgusting fruit, which Emerald had for some reason cooked, to her mouth. And actually take a bite. It seemed like Emerald had improved slightly. "Oh wow you burnt it less this time." Delphinium commented after swallowing with some difficulty. It still tasted horrible however and make her feel rather queasy.

Her and her big mouth. Emerald quickly shot her a glare and huffed, "Excuse me?" Obviously offended.

"Oh um-I meant you made less this time!" Delphinium quickly corrected herself, looking a bit panicked. Why was she so nice?

A mischievous glint danced in her eyes as Emerald spoke, "Ohhhh, so you want more!" She stated, her eyes fixed on Delphinium. She wasn't going to let her off the hook so easily.

Delphinium furiously shook her head, "Oh no I'm getting very full thank you, it was just a simple observation." She rushed, actually terrified that she'd have to go through more torture just to spare her friends feelings.

She pointed at Delphinium bowl, which was basically as full as it had been when Emerald had prepared it. "But you just started eating." Emerald pointed out, taking a sip of her watermelon fruit juice.

In response Delphinium grabbed her fork and began shoveling the fruit salad into her mouth, swallowing it as quickly as she possibly could. After she'd downed most of it she quickly stood, tears in the corners of her eyes from doing so. "No see I'm done now thanks for cooking really." She managed, hanging on to her resolve to not throw up.

"I'm flattered, thanks." Emerald replied, not seeming to take notice of Delphinium's internal struggle.

While Emerald said that Delphinium pushed in her chair, and rushed for the door. "I'm going to go take a walk, see ya!" She quickly said, before she was gone. Delphinium stumbled a bit away from the cabin, fell to her knees, and promptly regurgitated the contents of her stomach. After talking a breather she stumbled to her feet, feeling bleary. "I need some real food.." She quietly mumbled to herself as her feet began to guide her down another coblestone path. This path lead to a bridge like the forest path did, but on the other side to the right was a set of wooden stairs. 'I remember when we built these....Heh, that was a painful three weeks.' She silently recalled as she tread down them.

A large lake that they used for fishing was down this way, only about a feet or two away from where Delphinium was currently standing. She looked out at the clear water, smiling faintly as she took in the pretty sight for the millionth time. Then the amulet reemerged in her mind. She pulled the sparkling blue stone out from her pocket with hesitation, and walked out to an apple tree. It was the closest fruit tree to the lake, and stood alone. Pressed up against the rather steep hill that their cabin rested on. It currently bore no apple, but did well as shade all the same. "What is this thing...What does it do?" She quietly wondered aloud. A soft breeze was the only side she heard.

Rage suddenly bubbled up inside of her, and she grit her teeth. She couldn't explain why she felt so angry, or why she was so enraged. She had to chalk it up to the voices attitude, or just the whole situation of finding it in general. Delphinium lifted it and hurled it at the tree. Her soft sapphire blue eyes growing sharp and piercing in her rage. It bounced off the tree and fell to the ground without sustaining damage. 'My strength is pathetic...' She  angrily noted, staring at the fallen amulet. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't wrap her head around all this. She was hearing a voice that seemingly come from a rock. What the heck!?
"Try picking it up." Came that familiar whisper on the wind. The voice was back.

Delphinium felt her hands instinctively curl into fists, her nails digging into her soft palms. "It's you again." She spat with disgust. Yet she felt compelled to heed her suggestion, like she had felt compelled to pick up the mesmerizing blue stone. Despite her determination to remain angry she felt it slowly melting away, replaced by a strange contentment. So with reluctance she complied. Cautiously she stepped forward and kneeled down, grasping the stone.

The feeling that raced through her was indescribable. She felt as if something, like a powerful energy, had been transferred to the stone. And the stone-it wasn't cool like the first time she had held it. No it was warm as if r was radiating it's own heat. Delphinium grew slightly dizzy, and stumbled backwards and fell, her gaze rising up to the tree's branches.

Large ripe red apples hung from it's branches. She yelped and scrambled to her feet, throwing down the stone and bolting. Her eyes were filled with shock, fear. And her emotions. Delphinium couldn't tell what she was feeling. She was so confused, so conflicted. Nothing made sense anymore! Her feet swiftly carried her back to the cabin, and when she burst inside she immediately slammed the door behind her.
"Delphi? Are you okay?" Emerald called from the kitchen, concern laced in her tone.

Delphinium took deep breaths, trying to calm herself enough to reply. "Y-You've asked this to many times today. I just need some sleep...Good night." She managed, rather pleased that she'd pulled of sounding rather casual. She entered their bedroom and rubbed her temple.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall, "At nearly noon?" Emerald pressed, making her way towards the bedroom.

'I don't need this right now, I can't!' Delphinium thought to herself, before slamming the bedroom door shut. She sighed and clambered into bed. Her tired and exhausted mind allowing her to easily fall into the grasps of sleep.

Emerald stood outside their bedroom door, rather speechless to say the least. 'What is going on with Delphinium? She mentioned hearing voices....Is she actually hearing someone? N-No, that's not possible. We searched every inch of this place when we woke up here...So it's not voices but then what? Hmph...' She wondered, sighing as she decided to let her be for now.

It was almost night when Delphinium awoke, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide and filled with panic. Evidence of a nightmare. She was silently glad that Emerald hadn't been in the room. When she managed to calm herself she looked around the bedroom, her eyes coming to rest on her wooden nightstand at the foot of her bed. On it was a glass ball filled with some sort of liquid, Emerald wouldn't spill, and a small blue rose carving out of another unknown material. Beside it however was the mysterious blue amulet.

She covered her mouth with her hands and screamed.