The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Jackson crawls out of his tent, looking carefully around, trying to figure out...well, if there is actually someone here even if he can't smell or hear them. But as far as he can see and sense it's just rippling grass and the wind moving softly around him. He sighs, looking down at the little stone in his hand with a frown, wondering...what the hell it is.

Jackson inspects the rock thoroughly, looking for any sign or writing on it that makes sense to him. Then, hesitating only for a moment, he pushes on it with his magic, as he does when he passes his power to Ariel, trying to see if it engages at all.

But no, it's just a...rock.

Jackson scowls, glaring at the little chip of stone, hating it a little bit. Whatever that woman said about not being able to give him much...well, is this honestly that much of an improvement? "Thanks for the...rock," Jackson mutters, bitter. Then he folds his hand around it and turns towards the hill, hiking up the steep side until he reaches the top.

When Jackson reaches the crest of the hill he sits with a sigh, staring off towards the castle which is barely visible in the darkness. That stupid, impenetrable castle where Ariel is held. His girl, so close but...completely unreachable.

Jackson's scowl deepens as he thinks about her, wondering what she's up to tonight. Hoping that idiot who is claiming to be her mate is keeping his damn hands off her. Jackson's wolf growls at this thought, his head dipping low, his lips pulling back over his teeth. Ours, he growls, tension rippling through his fur. We will bite his hands off if he touches her.

Just to start, Jackson murmurs in agreement. His wolf's growl deepens.

Jackson sighs, though, knowing his threat is empty if he can't even get inside to help her, protect her. God, if he could just get in - if he could get close. Jackson wishes with a sudden desperation for any way to get to her -

And the world around him...shifts.

Jackson gasps as he tilts forward, like the universe has given him a mighty shove, and then he falls.

His knees hit hard into the dirt of a new world and Jackson stills with fear, his hands flat against the ground, the little rock still pressed against his palm. Jackson's head spins from side to side, trying to find anything familiar, anything to orient him.

It's dark here - as dark as it was in Atalaxia - but there is no vegetation. No... nothing.

Jackson whips his head up and stares around, confused at first by a maze of metal built into the ground before and slightly below him, and then...

Then he looks up, his eyes widening, his heart pounding as he realizes that the sky is completely black except for...

Except for the three moons hanging heavy within it. One moon looms larger than the rest, orange and heavy in the sky. Jackson's eyes move immediately to it, ignoring its two dark brothers to the left and right, one mostly full, the other crescent. No, it is the big central moon which demands Jackson's attention.

He stares at it in wonder and knows, suddenly, that he's in another world.

But a world which Ariel has described before - where she has been - a land of Darkness, overhung by three moons.

Jackson gasps and scrambles to his feet, careful to take the little rock with him, glancing down at it and wondering if -

But there's no time.

"Ariel!" He shouts, desperate, cupping his hands to his mouth. The word echoes out into the nothingness that surrounds him. Jackson listens desperately for any response, willing his heart to slow its pounding rhythm so he can hear over it.

Nothing returns.

Jackson shouts her name again, louder this time, and waits, holding his breath. Again, nothing returns.

Jackson drops his hands and works hard to steady himself, taking long, calming breaths as he forces himself to adjust to this new world He glances again at the rock, knowing now that it's some sort of gift that brought him here. And hope floods him because...she said it was help, right? Or implied it? Whoever that woman was who spoke in his mind?

So...it must be getting him closer to the one thing that matters. To Ariel.

Jackson shifts his attention again to the maze of metal before him - the only thing around to really concentrate on. He frowns as he studies it, slipping the rock into his pocket, wondering ...well, wondering what the hell it is. He takes a long few minutes to study the twists and turns of the metal, noting first that it is indeed in the general location of the castle that he's been staring at for hours and hours. And then that the great outer perimeter of the circle takes the form of the general shape of the castle, from what he can discern. noveldrama