All That Glitters

 A pair of young blue eyes stared anxiously at the cracked metal floor, watching as oversized bugs and rats crawled around without a care in the world. She noticed people conversing in front of her but it was impossible to make out what they were saying. Charlie felt as if she couldn’t even hear her own thoughts as more and more people were shoved into the overcrowded elevator. Angels weren’t supposed to be here. She felt her hands begin to shake as her wings clasped tightly to her body. If it wasn’t for her stupid handicap she would have passed the exam and be far away from here. Her legs felt weak. What kind of angel can’t fly? 

A green haired boy with pointed ears pushed his way through the crowd. Behind him was a taller girl who had long silver blonde hair that was slightly translucent at the ends. It seemed to always be blowing in a nonexistent wind. Charlie looked at them. “You guys failed too?” They both showed sad smiles. “I mean I expected Axel to fail, but you Willow? How?” Axel gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. “Charlotte Athena Mcdola! After 11 years of friendship this is what you think of me?” He wiped a fake tear, falling to his knees. “For shame.” Willow rolled her eyes as Axel, who was now clinging to Charlie’s leg while ugly sobbing, continued the charade. The nymph returned her gaze to Charlie and spoke. “I tried my best,’ she shrugged. “But I guess I needed to practice my magic more. I was way out of the other’s league.” Axel stood up, and wiped his face, grinning. “And I almost killed one of my partners in the last round!” He added. Willow glared at him. “You act like you’re proud of that.” He stuck his tongue out in response and then looked down. “I also couldn’t do most of the spells.” he mumbled. Charlie opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an intercom.

 “Greetings young enchanters,” The voice was monotone, almost robotic. “Because you have all disappointed you will be sent to Apotychía Island, where you will be given the chance to redeem yourselves.” The whole elevator went silent. Willow’s eyes glowed faintly and she paused before turning to her two friends with a fearful expression. “There will be three moonstones hidden throughout the island. Your goal is to retrieve one of them, meaning that only three of you will be able to pass. Everyone else who fails to locate a stone will be disposed of.” A timer appeared above the elevator doors. “The doors will open once the time runs out. Best of luck to the three who manage to survive.” Panic filled the room. Charlie felt as if she was going to vomit. There was no way she was going to survive. Axel held out his arm and she clinged to it. Willow frowned as she watched the bright red numbers slowly begin counting down. 

The rusted metal doors shuffled open and the group stepped out feeling a gust of frigid wind. It was night outside causing there to be barely any light. The two girls stayed close to each other as they watched Axel disappear into the darkness. As their eyes adjusted they noticed a shadowy figure standing just inches from them. The creature was obscured by a mask and cloak. “It’s a gatherer,” Willow whispered. “Keep quiet.” A second passed. The gatherer took one last look at them and then took off, but as it did another figure appeared in its place. It seemed to be limping. Charlie stared at it. “Is that.. Axel..?” the two said in unison, running up to him. Axel winced as Willow grabbed his face, inspecting the bruise that covered it. “What did you do?!” she demanded. He let out a small laugh. “I’m fine! There was a pile of supplies up the hill and I kinda got trampled,” He set down a handful of miscellaneous objects onto the ground. “But I managed to get some things.” Charlie sat down, checking the items. Willow sighed, gently placing her hand on the mark. “We could have gone with you.” She began to hum, watching as the injury started to glow. “We wouldn’t have made it in time.” The pixie repiled, watching as Willow slowly removed her hand from his face. The lesion was gone. “Thanks.” Axel smiled and then the two of them looked down at Charlie, who had organized the pile of supplies. “We have rope, two bottles of water a few batteries and a spoon.” Willow crouched down. “I’ll take the rope, Charlie can take the water and-” “I call ze spoon!” Axel interrupted, grabbing the cutlery. “And Axel can take the spoon. So that leaves us with batteries. Willow picked up the batteries. “These are useless. They only work in the human world.” She handed them to Axel. 

The trio stood up, looking around for any spots the moonstones would be located. “There’s some cliffs that aren’t that far from here,” Axel said, pointing up another hill. “We might have some luck there.” The three of them began walking towards the rocky cliff. There were countless rocks and decaying trees scattered below them, if anyone slipped it would be very unlikely that they’d survive the fall. Willow carefully approached the edge, looking down, Charlie and Axel doing the same. Charlie squinted through the darkness and blinked when something shiny caught her eye. There was a small hole in the cliff directly below them. “I think there’s one in the hole over there!” They stared at it for a second before Willow spoke. “How are we supposed to get to it?” Axel lifted the rope from Willow’s neck. “We could tie this to someone and then lower them down,” He looked at the two girls’ expressions and sighed. “I know it’s dangerous, but it’s the only option we have!”

 Willow exhaled. “He’s right,” she turned her attention to Charlie. “Charlie you’re gonna have to be the one we lower down.” Charlie froze. “W-what? Why me? I can’t-” Axel placed a hand on her shoulder. “Charlie, you can do this. We need you to do this. You’re the lightest one out of us and you have wings.” Charlie opened her mouth to protest but Axel continued speaking. “Yes, I know you can’t fly, but you’re going to be able to someday, I promise. But you’re going to have to be alive in order to do that,” He pointed to the hole in the cliff. “And that stone is the one thing that is going to keep you alive. Your future depends on this, Charlotte.” Charlie stayed quiet for a moment, then slowly nodded. “I’ll do it.” 

Axel gave her a small smile as Willow tied the rope around her waist. Axel then tied the other end securely around an old tree stump. They each grabbed a segment of rope tightly, and slowly began to lower the angel down. Axel watched as Charlie let go of the edge. “Be careful,” The rope became taut as Charlie dropped about a foot. The nymph and pixie struggled, trying to keep the rope from slipping through their grasps. Charlie let out a small squeak as she dangled above the deadly rocks and trees below her. Willow and Axel began gradually feeding the rope to the cliff’s edge. Charlie felt her nerves rise as the hole she had spotted got closer. No one noticed the rope rubbing against a pointed rock.

 “You doing ok?” Axel called, his voice strained. Charlie was about to reply but there was a sudden snapping sound. Everyone froze. Charlie turned her gaze to the rope, her stomach dropped. One of the sections had broken. “What was that?’ Willow asked, her voice filled with panic. Neither of them dared to lower their friend any further. Charlie was parazlied with fear. She couldn’t speak. She watched as more fibers began to break under the stress of her weight. “The rope is breaking! Pull her up! Pull her up!” She heard Axel shout from above. Both of them tugged on the rope as quickly as they could. The rope was now down to its last few fibers. Charlie grabbed onto the cliff wall, trying to climb up but it was no use, there was nothing to get a grip on. There was another cracking sound. Charlie flapped her wings violently as a scared bird would when captured, praying that this time she’d finally be able to take flight. Axel cursed, pulling on the rope desperately. 

A high pitched scream filled the air as the rope shot back towards Axel and Willow. It was now shortened at the end. They both hurried to the edge just in time to see their best friend plummet to rocks below, completely disappearing from sight. “CHARLOTTE!” Both of them yelled, tears filling Willow’s eyes. For a split second, Axel contemplated jumping from the cliff to go after Charlie, but was held back by Willow. “We need to go,” she choked quickly, dragging Axel away from the cliff. “We need to tell someone..” He wanted to protest but decided it was best to stay quiet. Both of them were trembling from head to toe. 

Charlie groaned, not wanting to open her eyes. Her whole body ached and stung. She took a deep breath, but immediately went into a fit of coughs. She had inhaled.. water? Charlie’s eyes flickered open as she tried to make out her surroundings. She definitely wasn’t on the rocky earth, but in a shallow pond. The pool had definitely softened the fall. She looked up and noticed a fissure in the stone ceiling. She guessed it was where she had fallen from. Charlie weakly sat up, wincing as multiple parts of her body stung because of the movement. Her feathered wings were soaking wet, but fortunately not damaged. Eventually, she got to her feet, trembling with the effort of standing. Her arms, legs, face and torso were completely covered with cuts, scrapes and bruises she’d acquired from the fall. She stumbled as she walked, and concluded that nothing was broken, even though the pain felt as if every bone in her body had shattered. She shivered, but could still feel the warmth of fresh blood spreading throughout her body. Charlie started to limp around the cave, remembering the moonstone. If she could just retrieve it, this would all be over. She looked around, seeing the same glimmer that she saw before the fall. She frowned, noticing that it was a lot farther away than she thought. As she walked, she admired the massive stalactites and stalagmites that protruded from the ceiling and floor. She then jumped, hearing a small whining noise. She looked behind her, the sound got louder and almost sounded as if someone was crying. Charlie turned back around, but froze, as she was face to face with the sobbing creature. 

Willow ran, looking around frantically. “Willow.. There’s no one here..” Axel said softly. “There has to be someone!!” she shouted, making Axel flinch. “We can’t just leave her there! We need to find help!” She tugged at her hair. Axel grabbed her arm, stopping her from running again. “This place is meant to kill failures like us!” Axel responded. “Do you really think they have someone to help?” Willow’s left eye twitched, and her fist made contact with Axel’s nose. “Shut up! Just shut up!” she screamed. There was a crunching noise, the force of the punch almost caused the boy to fall onto his back. A painful burning sensation flooded Axel’s body. He sniffled, but could only feel the hot liquid clog up his broken nose. It was all done in one punch. Willow gasped, looking at him with a horrified expression. “I’m sorry- I’m-” Her eyes shined again. She slowly backed away. “I need to g-go..” She ran, leaving the injured pixie alone in the darkness. 

Axel simply watched as Willow ran, not bothering to go after her. Usually in this situation he would run after her, but the combined pain of his nose and heart were unable to give him a reason to follow. He wiped his nose, smearing the blood onto his shirt. He slowly turned around and looked at the elevator, the machine that caused all of this. The rusted blood stained elevator stared back, but there was a faint glow appearing from the back of it. He followed it, noticing a small door. It brightened as he reached for the handle, hesitantly opening it. He stepped inside and immediately the door slammed shut and the bright light faded. Axel shivered, the room was cold, dark and damp and seemed to be covered entirely in rust. He tried to calm himself down as he walked back to the metal door. He reached for the doorknob to open it again, but froze when he saw that there was no handle. 

Axel inhaled sharply, trying not to allow himself to freak out. As his eyes adapted to the blackness he realized that this wasn’t a room he was in. It was a stairwell. He looked down, not being able to see the bottom. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of the batteries and dropped it. He waited, but there was no indication that it had hit the bottom of the well. A sharp laughter filled the stairwell, causing Axel to crouch down, covering his ears. The sound was unbearable and Axel’s head felt as if it was going to explode. Axel started to hyperventilate as the horrifying laughter grew closer and closer. He froze, hearing faint footsteps from behind him. He wasn’t alone.  

Willow panted, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against a rotted dead tree. Her whole body was twitching and shaking. She let out a shaky breath, feeling hot tears flood down her face. The back of her head slammed against the lifeless bark, as she silently cursed at herself. She wanted all of this to be over. A high pitched ringing lingered in Willow’s ears, breaking the silence. Multiple faces appeared a few feet ahead of her but they immediately disappeared as Willow made eye contact. The faces looked like they had belonged to children. As Willow tried to figure out what had happened, she was broken out of her thoughts by another frightening sound that broke the quiet.

 There was an ear piercing scream that seemed to echo all around her. Blurry white figures spun around her in slow motion, taking the shape of children playing. They seemed to be playing a game but their voices continued to scream and plead to some unknown force. Willow covered her face with her hands and cried, she didn’t know what to do. The figures screamed certain phrases that triggered flashbacks in Willow’s head that she tried so hard to hide away. They mimicked the voices of her parents who had treated her terribly for so many years. The figures continued to dance around her saying phrases such as “Evil child! You need to be kept away from everyone. We don’t know what went wrong!” Willow fell to her knees, shaking uncontrollably. “S-stop it!” She begged, but the figures ignored her. “You’re a parasite! No one is like you, no one acts like you, no one speaks like you. We want you to die! We wanted to dispose of you. Mistake. Abomination. Failure.” Suddenly, the voices stopped, causing Willow to look up. Her tear filled eyes made it almost impossible to see, but she continued to stare at the amorphous mass that lingered above her. She recognized the voice. 

Charlie stared at the figure in front of her listening to the soft whimpers it made. She slowly took a step back but as she did the creature shrieked and grabbed her arm pulling her back. “Please don’t leave..” it whined, sadly, lifting it’s face up. Charlie let out a horrified gasp as she looked at its face. “W-willow..?” She asked, but coughed, as it had come out as a croak. The figure did in fact resemble the familiar nymph, but there were vast differences. This Willow had greasy, messy, and dirt filled hair that had chunks ripped out everywhere. Scratches covered it’s face and there seemed to be a medium sized hole in the stomach that was leaking a dark liquid. It made eye contact with Charlie. “You’re so pretty,” it cooed. “I wish I was pretty.” It started to sob again. Charlie stared once more, feeling awkward pity. “Hey,” She said softly, her hands shaking. “Your eyes a-are really pretty!” It was true, the creature did have very pretty bright blue eyes. “Your hair is pretty.” It replied, it's voice going quiet. “Thank you..?” Charlie replied but cringed as it came out as a question. The creature stared at her. “I want it.” Within a second the creature forcefully grabbed Charlie’s hair, pulling roughly at the scalp. Charlie winced, trying to pry the thing’s hands out of her hair. She flapped her wings, causing a small gust of wind to come up. This caused the creature to let go, even though it had successfully ripped out a handful of Charlie’s hair. Charlie ran, trying to ignore the unbearable pain in her bruised legs. She could hear the creature following, seeming not that far behind. 

“Hiya!” echoed a soft familiar voice. Axel uncovered his ears, staring in disbelief. “Charlie?!” He exclaimed, running up and wrapping his arms around “her.” It hugged back, giggling, wrapping it’s arms around Axel tightly. In fact, it was almost too tight, with any more pressure he felt as if his ribs were going to break. He gasped for air, and as he did he noticed that the creature’s arms were literally wrapped around him, it’s wrists were tied together as if it’s arms and hands were made out of rope. Axel pushed the creature away from him. “WEEEE!!” it laughed, it’s arms extending more, giving the pixie an opportunity to escape. Axel took in a breath through his nose, wincing as he remembered the pain that came with it. He looked at the creature again. “Who are you??” He asked, voice shaking slightly. “Where am I? Where’s Charlie?” The creature shrugged, swaying back and forth innocently. Axel sighed and started to walk down a set of stairs, knowing he was not going to get any answers from this thing that pretended to be Charlie. The creature strolled behind him dancing as an 80’s cartoon character would. A few hours passed and Axel had walked down forty-three flights of stairs, still being followed by the cheerful creature. “You should kill Willow.” The creature said, completely out of the blue. Axel stopped dead in his tracks and turned, facing the mimic of his best friend. “What did you say..?” He asked, and the creature smiled. “I said you should kill Willow,” She repeated, her smile not fading. The blood curdling laughter started once more. 

“Axel..?” Willow asked tentatively, wiping the tears from her eyes. The creature didn’t respond as it stepped closer, its face becoming visible from the moonlight. It’s face looked exactly like Axel’s, it’s nose leaked a waterfall of blood, causing it’s shirt and pants to be covered with the red liquid. Willow could feel the guilt eat at her as she looked at it. “I’m sorry for punching you, Axel,” she said softly, looking down. “I can heal y-” Her sentence was cut off as Axel’s hand slammed into the side of her face. More tears fell as she felt her face, wincing as it had already begun to bruise. The creature chuckled, sending shivers down Willow’s spine. She was too afraid to look up. The creature who she had thought was Axel walked up to her, this time it’s foot smashed into her side, causing her to yell. Pain radiated through Willow’s side and face and she looked up at her tormentor. “Axel,” she pleaded, crying slightly. “I’m so-sorry..” This just inradged the creature the more. “SORRY IS A WORD YOU DON’T KNOW THE MEANING OF!” It yelled, the screaming returned, flooding Willow’s ears. “I’m sorry!” She repeated, pulling at her hair. “I can help! I can- I can-” It crouched down, putting its face close to the coiling mass. It spoke, its voice doing a complete one eighty. It was now low and soft. “You can what?” It asked, it’s eyes full of hate. “Kill me just like you killed Charlotte?” Willow pulled out a heap of her hair just as the creature said those words. She rolled up in a ball, her eyes rolling upwards. “I didn’t mean to!” she shrieked. “I didn’t mean to..” she repeated. “I didn’t mean to..” 

Charlie looked around desperately for the stone, hearing the footsteps behind her grow closer and closer. She had made it to the end of the cave where she had seen the glowing light, but now it was nowhere to be seen. She then noticed a faint glow from behind a small batch of rocks. The aching in her legs was almost unbearable, but she didn’t let it stop her. She ran closer to the pile of rocks, and prepared to grab the stone. She was finally going to end this nightmare! Once she made it to her destination she was hit hard with a wave of disappointment, rage, and hopelessness. The glowing hadn’t been a moonstone, but instead pieces of gold growing from the cave wall. Charlie felt her whole body go numb, but not a second later she had begun to scream. Her yells of fury echoed around the cave as she picked up a large rock and threw it against the stone wall as hard as she could. She picked up more rocks, watching as they all shattered into fragments. She had started to cry, and she didn’t know if it was out of frustration or fear. She cursed, throwing rocks in every direction, each one breaking into pieces. More tears fell as she could hear the footsteps get louder. Charlie picked up one last rock and through it directly onto the ground, and to her surprise it only cracked in half. She was then temporarily blinded by an intense shimmer that came from the stone. The angel shielded her eyes and carefully backed away. Once her eyes adjusted, she took a step closer to the rock and gasped. Inside the rock was a small round stone that glittered throughout the cave. “No way..” Charlie breathed, picking up the smooth translucent moonstone. Her moment of victory didn’t last long as the creature stood just a mere few feet away. Charlie gripped the stone tightly not daring to let go. The creature ran to her and Charlie began to panic, flapping her wings desperately, gritting her teeth. “COME ON STUPID WINGS!” she shouted at them, flapping fursiouly. “FLY!!” Just as the creature reached for her hair, Charlie was lifted into the air, finally, for the first time in her life, taking flight. She laughed in disbelief, this time crying tears of happiness as she soared around the stalagmites of the cave. Charlie looked down at the creature, but her pupils contracted as the creature morphed into a gatherer. She still attempted her escape, but the gatherer was a much faster flyer. Charlie cried out as something sharp sank into her side. She fell, feeling herself go unconscious. She watched the deadly rocks got closer and hoped that her friends wouldn’t be too disappointed in her. There was a nasty crunch as the angel hit the ground. She had fallen head first. 

Axel rocked back and forth, covering his ears as the laughter played over and over. “Aren’t you mad at her?” the creature asked sweetly, flicking Axel’s head with its finger. “She hurt you, don’t you think it’s fair for you to hurt her back?” Axel shook his head frantically, not uncovering his ears. “No! She’s my friend! She didn’t mean to!” The creature frowned. “Just like you didn’t mean to kill me?” Axel stayed quiet, shutting his eyes. “You’re not Charlotte.” He answered, groaning as the high pitched laughter grew worse. The mimic climbed up the railing and stood on it, trying to stay balanced. “Are you going to let me die again?” It asked, pretending to fall. Axel looked up, and spoke. “You’re not Charlotte.” He repeated, slowly getting up. The creature extended it’s arms, pulling Axel closer and making him stand on the railing. Axel looked down, still not being able to see the bottom of the stairwell. The creature stepped closer to him, smiling. “You let your best friend die, Axel.” It said, grinning as Axel’s breath quickened. “Charlie would have saved you.” It leaned closer. “Who’s idea was it to use the rope?” Axel was trembling, tears falling down his face. The creature gripped the pixie’s shoulders. “You’re going to die, Axel.” Axel turned to the creature, who was now wearing a mask and cloak. The fear radiating off Axel filled the gatherer with satisfaction. “In the same way you killed Charlotte.” Axel didn’t even scream as he was pushed off the railing, his body drowning in darkness. “I’m sorry Charlotte..” He thought sadly, watching his tears fly upwards. “I’m sorry Willow.. I’m sorry I failed both of you..” 

Willow could see as Axel’s body hit the bottom of the stairwell. His body was crumpled on the ground, his neck and limbs bent at impossible angles and his head cracked cleanly open. He definitely wasn’t breathing. Willow’s eyes stopped glowing as she could now see where she was. She had seen visions of both her friend’s dead bodies right from the start. She had tried to stop it, but everything she did failed. You can’t stop fate. Screams floated around Willow as she laid helplessly on the cold ground. She didn’t move, she had given up. She could feel herself crying, but continued to watch as the gatherer slowly approached her. Willow closed her eyes, knowing that the terrorizing pain in her body would be gone any second now. She smiled, knowing that soon the three of them would finally be together again. 

-Alli