NOTE: Amara is going to be called Crystal for a while.
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I was thoroughly miserable. When Oliver had said that he had some tricks up his sleeve, I didn't think that we would change course and land on a planet. That planet, might I add, was a jungle, a humid, wet, gross, and buggy jungle, and I was NOT pleased. According to Oliver, we were going to have to ditch my ship (not really though, it's not actually mine) and get a different one. Apparently, he had a friend that would take care of the ship while we were gone.
So, here we are, in a jungle, on a planet, in the middle of nowhere, trying to find this supposed friend. I slapped another insect away from me, hugging myself tighter. I had grabbed everything from the ship and packed it back up into my bag. Oliver had produced a machete from somewhere and was hacking through the foliage. Finally, in the distance, I saw a light from a lantern. Oliver and I made our way to it and found a path leading to a wooden shack. We approached it and knocked on the weathered door.
Creaking steps could be heard as a man opened the door. He had a cigar in his mouth, and a surprised look crossed his rough face when he saw us.
"What brings you to these parts, Oliver?"
"I have my reasons," Oliver answered simply. The man grunted and beckoned us inside. As I stepped in, it was dark and damp. Moss grew from the walls, and the floor creaked as we walked. He led us to a corridor and placed his hand on the door. A light scanned it, and a click could be heard. It opened to an elevator, where we stepped in and descended.
When the doors opened, I was shocked to see a whole laboratory stretched out in front of me. Strange liquids bubbled in beakers, and ingredients were stocked high in drawers and on counters. There were mysterious stains on the floor and many papers and notes were sprawled all over the room. The lights flickered as we walked by. I stared in awe, glancing at notes or peering into the beakers.
"I won't go near any of those beakers if I were you," the man warned in a gruff voice. I looked one last time at the beakers longingly, but eventually backed away.
"So, are you going to explain 'your reasons' or not? You did just show up unannounced in the middle of the night. With a girl, no less! This is a new one for you."
Oliver paused, giving a quick glare to this strange man. "I need a favor," he stated simply.
"Oh come on! You're not giving me much to work off of here," he said, crossing his big arms and leaning against the counter. Oliver sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm helping my friend out here. She and I are in desperate need of a ship, one that is easy to blend in with and one with the proper equipment needed to get out of a scuffle."
The man raised an eyebrow at this high demand. "And what am I getting in return for this?"
Oliver looked at me cautiously, before turning back to the man. "Let's talk privately for a few minutes."
The man glanced at me. Oliver noticed his worried expression. "Crystal, try not to get into trouble, alright?"
I nodded, not in the least worried about what they might be talking about, WITHOUT me. It's fine, totally fine. The man and Oliver left the room, leaving me to explore. And knowing me, I exercised that liberty to its fullest. I immediately examined all different kinds of liquids, trying my best to read the messy notes in the notebooks next to them. I was able to decipher it and quickly became submerged in the notes, learning about toxins, possible hypotheses that this man had created, and substances with unique properties that belonged to different planets. I kept digging until I stumbled across something fascinating.
I had started to expand my exploration from just this room and found a door, which I promptly opened, my curiosity quickly becoming insatiable. The room I walked into was a museum of sorts, and it housed fossils and bones of strange creatures. I glanced at a couple, deciding that they weren't worth my time. So, instead, I headed straight to the bigger fossils. I was examining them closely before I stumbled upon a gem that was in a glass case. As far as I could tell, it was the only kind of jewel in the room. So, naturely, I found this particular jewel intriguing. I noticed that it didn't have a plaque or any kind of description below. I stared at its depths for a few moments. It didn't look like anything special. It was clear, and you could see right through it. But, that's when I noticed a strange glow emitted from the jewel.
I reached my hand up to the glass, even though a clear label that read: "DO NOT TOUCH" was placed right in front of my face.
"CRYSTAL!" I heard Oliver call, my hand just above the glass. "YEAH?" I shouted back. A couple seconds later, Oliver and the man burst into the room.
"How did you get in here?" the man snapped, slightly irritated.
"Just walked in," I mumbled, not paying attention and staring at the gem more closely, trying to figure out the strange glow. I heard Oliver sigh. "Crystal, what are you doing?"
I was about to respond when suddenly I felt my mouth move on its own, "Nothing. Just looking around a bit."
I immediately realized that the real Crystal had taken over. The man walked over to see what I was looking at. Crystal was still in control and asked, "Sorry if I worried you guys, but could you tell me about this gem? I happened to notice it's the only thing in here that isn't a fossil or bone of some kind."
"Well," the man said, scratching his head, "I don't know much about it as I just received it, but it was taken from some ruins in Draco."
Now, Oliver seemed interested too. "How did you get something from Draco?"
The man shrugged, "I have my ways."
I felt a strong wave of anger wash over me. Desperately, I tried to regain control. Crystal obviously got annoyed and hissed, "Stop it! I'm doing something that will benefit both of us."
I highly doubted her, but I stayed quiet, slightly curious as to how she was going to handle this situation and what her goal really was.
"Draco is the dragon's capital, right?" I heard myself comment. The man nodded his head. "I have yet to figure out what this thing exactly does, but I hope it's something interesting. I paid a pretty penny for it."
Again another wave of anger, stronger than the last, surged. I felt my hand tighten into a fist. A wave of panic rose. I had to calm Crystal down before she did something unreasonable.
'Crystal, you need to chill.'
'I know, it's just that we need to get that gem.'
'Why?'
'Would you just stop asking questions and let me do this?' I backed off, still apprehensive at the potential doom Crystal could cause.
"Would you mind if I examined it closer?" Crystal asked through me. The man hesitated and then shrugged. "Sure, just don't drop it."
"I won't. Don't worry!" Crystal said in a sing-song voice. The man took off the glass case and placed the gem into my hands. It was cold, and I could tell from just touching it that it held some kind of unknown power. Crystal held it up to her face, staring at it. Casually, she asked for his name since they hadn't been introduced yet.
"It's Samuel."
"Mine's Crystal. Nice to meet you!"
Samuel grunted in response. Crystal asked him about some of the chemicals I had looked at previously, and he nodded as she talked. I felt power strangely go out of my hand and back in before the feeling was gone, like it had never existed.
"Ah, thanks for letting me look at it!" I chirped. Samuel smiled slightly. "No problem."
I felt control return to me as Samuel placed the gem back and slid the glass lid over it again. I nearly tripped over myself, since I was thrown back into my body so fast. I quickly caught up to Samuel and Oliver. I heard just snippets of their conversation, which I found no information useful to me, and decided to talk to Crystal instead.
'So, why exactly did you want to see that gem so badly?"
"I'll tell you later. Don't worry about it!" She snipped, before shutting herself off from me, and I was alone again. I was about to find something else to do when Oliver interrupted. "So, Crystal, Samuel and I have come to an agreement, and he will help us to get your friend."
I made an effort to smile, still disturbed by Crystal. "That's great!"
Samuel cut in before Oliver could continue. "Let's get some food first for you two. Then, we can talk about this plan that you have."
I felt my mood lift a bit at the prospect of food. I had been kind of irritated by Oliver's SIGNIFICANT lack of communication, and, although I was grateful for everything he was doing for me, it still irked me that I had no idea what was going on. Oliver was telling me next to nothing, and earlier we had ended up in the middle of a jungle, with BUGS. So, you can probably understand how I'm feeling right now: exhausted, upset, and eternally annoyed.
Samuel actually gave us semi-decent food, which I was more than happy with. At this point, I might have just eaten the table. After our meal, Oliver, Samuel, and I got to work on this so-called "plan". The plan that will hopefully get us to the prison and save Lily.