Chapter 21:

They were on top of a mountain, standing right on a cliff that gave a perfect view of the UnderWorld.

There were no words. She couldn't explain, she couldn't feel, she could just see. It was beautiful.

The dove-white mountains in the distance soared into the sky. 

There were fields filled with bountiful flowers and yellows as bright as the sun at midday. A murder of black birds lay on the horizon of the small field, sitting on a rickety fence as if it was their only home. The middle of the field was a lush green that seemed to radiate and sunlight and brightness throughout.

The sunset sky complimented the field in more ways than one. The reds and oranges made the flowers dazzle with the colors of a fire, and the sky was an aroma of flames and warmth. The wispy clouds, white with hints of pinks and oranges, made the whole field look magical. It was colorful and simple and it was quite a view to see. The sun was an immense orange flame in the sky, so large it made Willow lose her balance slightly when looking at it. It lay tucked behind the mountains, almost looking as if it were boasting its glory.

There were dark, creepy forests that seemed to have jumped off of a fairy tale book’s page, with the dark clouds looming over it. Willow felt the intense urge to go and explore them, to see what kind of creatures would lurk in such a place. There were a few cities and towns spread across the view as well, though most were too far away from Willow to really see them.

She could see RiverPlain from here; she knew it was RiverPlain by just looking at it. It was like an immense castle, it looked just as big on the outside as it felt on the inside. It stood tall and had a graceful feel to it, with the vines climbing up the wall edges. She couldn’t believe she had been staying in such a castle, that she hadn’t realized how absolutely gorgeous it was on the outside. 

She couldn't breathe, her breath literally stuck in her throat with amazement. The wind was strong up here, a gust of wind blew past her, throwing her hair back. It tasted sweet, like summer, better than any smell she had ever encountered.

Michael laughed, which startled Willow a little. She didn’t want to admit the fact that she had completely forgotten he had been with her. She looked over at him and laughed, “This is amazing!”

He smiled at her, “More impressive than Mapiasath Dormato?”

She rolled her eyes at him, “A lot more impressive.”

He walked over to the very edge of the cliff, and sat down, letting his feet dangle over the edge. Willow hesitantly followed, it wasn’t that she was scared of heights, but she always felt mildly uncomfortable around them. She walked to the edge and very slowly sat down, letting her feet dangle next to Michael’s. 

“This is amazing,” Willow repeated, feeling lame that she couldn’t find any other adjective to sum it up.

“Not as amazing as your world.” Michael responded, not looking over at her, but staring at the sunset. Willow looked over at him, the sunset made his hair become brighter and darker all at the same time. He looked really young, watching the sunset, completely at ease. And very…good looking. Willow couldn’t help but admire him, his sharp jaw and soft cheek bones. His long eyelashes that circled around his emerald eyes. She had seen green eyes before, but it was always light green eyes, never pure emerald. Watching him seem to have distracted completely of his comment, and when it dawned upon her what he said, her face changed from admiring to horrified. 

“What do you mean ‘Not as amazing as your world?’” She demanded. 

“Have you seen your world?” He replied, still completely at ease. 

“I have,” she responded. “And it definitely doesn’t live up to this!”

“The grass is always greener somewhere else.” He responded, looking over at her for the first time. Their faces were very close, well, closer than they had ever been. “If you’d been raised in the UnderWorld you would realize how amazing your world is. You Kopors and Faeries have advanced so much, while we in the UnderWorld are still stuck in what you would call the Middle Ages.”

Willow rolled her eyes, but let the conversation drop, she didn’t want to argue with him, not now at least. 

“How does your world work?” He asked, no longer at her. “I mean, I know the basics about the Faeries being hidden from the humans, but how are you Faeries organizing yourself? How is it there never seems to be wars—well, there are wars, but not half as many wars as there are here. How is that? How is it you have weapons such as guns and bombs, yet, your world hasn’t died away?”

Willow looked away from him, too. “We weren’t always like this.” She answered. “There was a time where we were in the Middle Ages, like you. And there was a time where there were always wars, I guess we’ve civilized ourselves through the years, and the UnderWorld might too.” She gulped, although she wasn’t a fan of war, she would hate to see this place be crowded up with skyscrapers and apartment buildings. “We have laws that keep us together, it is why we have guns and the sort, it is what organizes us. Faeries are the same. Faery creatures, which is any mythical creature on Earth that include vampires, werewolves, fairies, Amnesians, and witesians, all follow our set of rules that keeps us together.”

Michael smiled, “You make it sound easy, to set down rules and enforce them. We Ganashes have tried, nobody follows the rules, no matter how reinforced they are.”

Willow sighed, “Well, your world is a lot different from ours for one. We don’t have dragons or Mountain Lyres or Bolesgire.”

He smiled again, flashing his teeth, “Which is what makes this world so cool.”

“Yeah,” she replied. 

“And it is the reason I don’t want to see it go.”

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked over at him, “Does Machire want to destroy this world?” She asked. 

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Nobody knows. He claims he wants to help us, but nobody believes him.”

She sighed, “Oh.”

“You lied,” Michael said, still not looking over at her. She looked over at him and furrowed her eyebrows, he didn’t sound mean or insulting, he just said it like it was a fact. 

“When?”

“When you said you had never had contact with Machire since you were a kid,” when he looked over at her, his eyes were gentle. “I can tell because whenever you talk about him, you seem surprised, as if you couldn’t believe he’d do something like that. Like you couldn’t believe he was the man from your childhood.”

She sighed again, and looked away. “You guys all seemed to hate him so much, I didn’t want to say ‘Yes, I grew up with him.’”

Michael smiled, “I know. I wouldn’t have told us either.”

“Michael,” she said, unable to help but ask the question that had been spinning in her mind since she first arrived. “Have I met you before? Like before any of this?”

Something seemed to jump in his eyes, like a flash. But, maybe that was just her imagination because he shrugged, “I don’t know. You don’t seem familiar and I’m pretty sure I would remember you.”

Maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was just Willow’s imagination, but she took it as a compliment, as if he wouldn’t forget her. If she had met him before, she for sure would have remembered his face. 

“Are you excited for the ball?” He asked, out of nowhere. Making Willow jump in surprise and disbelief. 

“What ball?” Just the word ‘ball’ sent shivers all the way down to her toes. When she thought of balls, she thought of the big puffy ball gowns and large ballrooms. 

“The ball at CarvesWay River.” He replied, as if it was no big deal at all.

“Wait, CarvesWay River? The biggest Headquarter in the UnderWorld?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I thought Alicia would have mentioned it to you.”

Willow shook her head, she remembered vaguely Alicia talking about a ball, but she hadn’t thought she would go. “You mean I’m going!?”

Michael nodded, “Of course you’re going, we can’t leave you in RiverPlain unguarded.”

Willow shuddered, “Is it a big ball?”

“Well, every Ganash that isn’t on a mission is going, but I don’t know what you consider as big, but that is pretty big for me.”

She took a moment to reply, “Am I supposed to get a date?”

Michael smiled, “Only if you want to.”

“Who are you taking?”

“Nobody.”

She looked over at him, confused for half a second. Someone must have asked him, in the UpperWorld all the women would be trampling him. But maybe dating and asking out was different here than in the UpperWorld. Or maybe it wasn’t and Michael had just denied all the girls that had asked him…she wondered whether he would deny her. 

“Oh,” she said. Then decided to suck it up and ask him, “Has anyone asked you?”

“Yeah.” He replied. “But it’s no one I want to go with.”

“Who is it you want to go with?” She asked, her voice becoming very small. 

He didn’t answer, just continued to look over at the sun, which was almost gone, Willow realized. Pretty soon it would be dark, she wondered whether they would have to return when nighttime fell, she never wanted to leave. He finally looked over at her, and they simply looked at each other for a moment before he got up. 

“It’s getting dark, we should go.”

Willow sighed and didn’t want to admit that she didn’t want to return. “Michael?” She asked, “Would it be possible to return to the UpperWorld to check up on my family?” The idea had come up to her randomly, just a thought, but once it was there, she couldn’t help but think it was possible. 

He smiled, “Eager to leave?”

She shook her head, “No, not really. It was just an idea, but I know it isn’t—“

“Maybe tomorrow.” He replied. Willow’s eyes widened in surprise, she hadn’t thought he would say yes. 

At that moment she couldn’t help it, she hugged him. It was a quick hug, and once she realized what she had done, she blushed. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

Michael had stiffened in surprise, but then relaxed and smiled, “If we get caught I am telling them you did it.”

She smiled, “And if we don’t?”

“Then it was all me.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“Machire.” The man said, bowing low and staying there, waiting for his master’s command to stand. 

“Stand, Uriah.” Machire said, looking up from his paperwork. 

“I have done as you wish,” he replied. “I have found at what you wanted to know. Spies from RiverPlain have told me.”

“Proceed.”

“Michael Midnight is part of Willow Glasspiers’s group.” He said it with confidence, with pride, pride that he had this information to bring to the master. 

Machire smiled, “That is wonderful news, I bet they’re getting along quite well. Do you know whether she remembers yet?”

“My resources say she doesn't seem to know him and if she does, then she is acting like she doesn't." Uriah said, he was almost positive the girl didn't remember him, though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure because she could be hiding everything for some reason. 

Machire shook his head, "If she did remember him she would give him a sign of recognition." He paused, then looked up at Uriah, "Is that all?"

"No, sir." Uriah shook his head, his eyes bright with eagerness. This news would make Machire happy for sure. "I have one more thing."

"Well, go on."

"I have some news," he said slowly. "Michael is bound."

Machire literally sat up rigidly, as if a dog catching the scent of his prey. His dark eyes were alert, soaking in all the information he could. Machire was a pure genius, it was why Uriah admired him so. He could make predictions of the future just by the clothing you were wearing or the way you greeted him. He soaked in everything around him, from the leaves on the trees to the speck of dirt on the ground, never missing anything. Of course, people like Uriah were there to also give him the information he couldn't retain. "Bound?" The master asked, although he knew perfectly what Uriah meant by that. 

"Yes, with Katrina Korull," Uriah replied, hoping he had pronounced the name right. 

To his intense surprise, Machire laughed in response. He threw his head back and started laughing harder than Uriah had ever seen him laugh, his face turning slightly red. He looked at Uriah with amusement, "A disrupt? Well, who would have expected that?"

Though from the look on Machire's face, the spark in his eyes of arrogance, Uriah knew that Machire had expected it. That he had predicted this would happen, that somehow he had poor Mr. Midnight's life figured out from that brief meeting they had had.