"It's beautiful," I managed to whisper before my breath caught in my throat once again. It felt like Nemesis and I had been staring into the starry depths of the wormhole forever, unable to wrap our heads around the sheer vastness of the space it cut through. "It's like a bite-sized piece of the universe just sitting in front of us." I wondered why in the name of Lumys my family would want to hide something like this. This was the crossroads of art and science. This was something that should be celebrated. 

"That is a good way to put it." The wormhole seemed to melt Nemesis' cold, logical facade right off her oval face, exposing an inner childlike delight that I hadn't known she possessed. 

"We need to CT Lillae," I said with resolve. A discovery like this, and my cousin would never call me a scared stickbag again. A discovery like this, and I would be a real Arystenn. 

"No!" Nemesis hissed, tightening her grip on my wrist. "You are so servile before her, it sickens me. We found this- it's our secret." 

Something in me took great offense at the prospect of losing out on the social opportunity of a lifetime. "We told her that we'd CT if we found something important. We can't go back on that now!" I mentally reached for my Aura and began to compose a message, making sure to keep it vague just in case the palace decided to do a routine check of the CT logs. 

Me: We found something big. Come and see.

Her reply was almost instantaneous, as if she had been waiting for my message. 

Lillae Thalayna Arystenn IV: Will be up in a few minutes- have a few things to deal with. Long story short, I accidentally woke Lerrel up. He had the brilliant idea of following me and bringing your pet human along. You better have left the door unlocked stickbag. 

My pet human...she could only mean Sparrow. A knot formed in my stomach. Sparrow was alone with Lillae, Lerrel, and Zaliana in the middle of the night. I could only imagine what was happening to her out in the garden. My concern for her momentarily blotted some of the wormhole's allure as I stepped away from Nemesis, listening hopefully for any sign of movement at the bottom of the tunnel. 

My heart fluttered with relief when I heard footsteps beginning their ascent up the steep incline of the tunnel, but my celebration was short-lived. It had only been a few seconds since Lillae's CT. She couldn't possibly have made it here already. With this in mind, I noticed that there were fewer pairs of footsteps than I was expecting, and all of them were much too slow and heavy to be Lillae's quick, graceful gait. 

"Nemesis..." I whispered with a soft gulp. "I think we've been caught." 

I scanned the area around me, taking note of the octagonal platform we were standing on. The walls to my left and right were both plated with solid steel, reinforced with Aural shields and the floor, though thin, showed no signs of giving out. Behind me was the long tunnel and in front of me stood a pulsating portal through space. 

"There's no way out," I closed my eyes, backing up against the wall in defeat. "We're done for." In that moment, pitifully late, I realized why Lillae had invited me on her 'secret mission'. She was no fool. She knew that we were bound to fail. This was no gesture of friendship- it was a setup! Doubtless, she and Zaliana already had a plan to blame the whole ordeal on me and Nemesis. My parents would declare Nemesis a bad influence and forbid me from ever seeing her again. Perhaps they would even have her expelled from the IAYN! Thanks to my carelessness- my stupid, blinding desire for acceptance- her future would be ruined. 

As I opened my eyes, gazing at her hard-set face through a glassy screen of tears, my mind repeated the words Lillae had said to me so many times. 

You're a curse, filthy half-breed. 

Everything good you touch withers and dies. 

I wanted Nemesis to scream at me- to call me out for the monster I was- but if she had picked up on my sudden wave of remorse, she didn't say it. 

"Actually, there's one way out." She flashed a devilish smirk that looked rather uncanny in the near-darkness, cutting her eyes over at the undulating blob of tiny stars and planets in front of us. My eyes widened in horror as soon as I realized what she was suggesting. 

"No." I shook my head rapidly. "Definitely not." 

"Come on, Swan. It must be reasonably functional if they've taken the pains to hide it this well." 

And then, slowly and confidently, as if she'd been waiting for this moment her whole life, Nemesis began to back up towards the wormhole. "Look at the alignment of the constellations- it's obviously a portal to Earth. Jump in...it'll be an adventure. Besides, we don't have many other options," she gestured to the tunnel behind us, which was now beginning to rattle under the weight of those walking through it. Just when I was sure my new Kilaenaian roommate was going to free-fall backwards into another solar system, a very familiar voice cut through the ominous silence. 

"Hey! We're down here!" It was Lillae. Evidently, she, Lerrel, and Sparrow had made it to the base of the tunnel. She knew we were up here... that meant she was trying to distract our pursuers. She was buying us time! 

Everything I had believed about her motives just moments ago was erased, but was soon replaced by a new source of panic. 

"Lillae? Is that you?" One of our pursuers asked in a small, slightly unsure voice. I had never heard her speak so timidly, but the voice was unmistakable. Mom. The one person in all of Icicle Hall who loved and respected me for who I am was about to find me illegally snooping about outside my own home. I was about to lose the trust of my one and only true family member. 

My mind barely registered the chaotic shuffle in the tunnel before me as I contemplated my impending doom, watching, mesmerized, as Nemesis put one foot and then another into the wormhole behind her. She sunk through it like she was wading through pudding, slowly and deliberately until only her hand was left behind. She kept it there, lingering, almost like an invitation. 

I glanced over my shoulder as the heads of first Lillae, then Lerrel, then both my parents, Uncle Justin, and Sparrow emerged from the darkness. My mother's eyes went straight to mine, but she didn't speak. The look she gave me communicated more than she ever could've said. She gasped softly at the sight of Nemesis, completely through the wormhole except for her right hand. "It's not stable- get her out of there, now!" she ordered, her voice instantly snapping into its full royal force. I rushed impulsively to do her bidding, grabbing onto Nemesis' hand with both of mine as I tugged backward with the full weight of my body. 

But I was not expecting the force with which she pulled back. 

I yelped softly, tripping over my own feet as I hurtled forward. 

"Swan!" my mother yelled just as a hand- probably hers- grabbed hold of my ankle, holding me suspended halfway between Lessaenes and Earth. The fabric of the wormhole around my waist felt like an onslaught of static electricity- annoying but not immediately painful. Looking around me, I realized that the image the wormhole projected had been misleading: it didn't lead into deep space, but into some kind of room. Nemesis sat in front of me on the hardwood floor, looking around with scientific interest at the jumble of wires and screens around us. I looked behind me, hearing a jumble of voices from the other side of the wormhole, where someone still held firmly to my ankle. Reminded of the trouble I was in, I instinctively yanked it away in an effort to get free. It came much easier than I expected and I rolled across the floor from the force of my own pull.

Rising to my feet, I surveyed my surroundings: an old-timey bunker filled with miscellaneous pieces of technology. Most importantly, there was no sign of anyone other than me and Nemesis. A small smile made its way to my face. "We made it." 

"Yes," Nemesis nodded gravely, her gaze fixated on something over my shoulder. "So did they." 

I whipped around in an instant, watching with horror as my mother fell quite unceremoniously through the flickering wormhole, followed by Lillae. Her plan to hold onto Lerrel and Sparrow for support royally backfired as the three of them tumbled through the portal together. 

"Vivi!" my father's muffled scream echoed through the room as my mother shakily stood up, her face paling as the wormhole dissipated into the air around it. 

"I told you it was unstable," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she walked over to the colossal desk in the middle of the room, running her hands over the old, bulky computer screen and keyboard that sat on top of it. "I never thought I'd ever see this place again." 

"W...where are we?" I whispered, confused by her apparent familiarity with the room and its layout. Perhaps the wormhole didn't lead to Earth at all!

"The Module."