Ethereal Underground

by Briana Gaitan

  Annalise shook her head and pulled herself out of his grasp, “You are wrong. We are meant to thrive, Finlay, survive and do our duty.” She paused, feeling the adrenaline rush leave her and suddenly feeling faint. Seraphs rarely slept, only when their powers were at their lowest or after a great battle did they need rest. Annalise felt the room began to fade out and she reached out to grip Finlay’s shirt before she fell over.

  “You must have really worked yourself up over this one,” he laughed as he picked her up into his arms.

  She threw her arm around him to balance herself. She wanted to insist that she could walk herself home, but she knew that she couldn’t when she felt her vision blur a second time. “Please do not leave me alone. I am terrified. I do not know what is wrong with me.”

  “I will make sure Leon is still home before I leave. Just don’t cry in front of him, I need to figure out why that’s happening to you,” Finlay reassured her, “Just remember, if you need directions for teleportation, your globe answers all questions.” Before she could ask him exactly what he meant, she felt them teleport away to her home nearby, and as soon as they arrived, she felt herself pass out.

  Chapter Three

  Ash

  The faint sound of horrible singing is what prompted Ash to open his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy, as did every other part of his body. His head pounded as if he had drank too much ale last night, but he couldn’t remember much from the night before. As soon as he realized what the sound was, he groaned and rolled over to hide his head under the feather pillow. Arie was at it again. She knew how much he hated it when she sang. It flowed piercingly from the kitchen, off key and making his splitting headache feel even worse. On top of that, his entire body felt sluggish and drained. Unable to sleep through what could easily be mistaken as the sounds of a dying mutant, Ash stood up slowly and started to stretch. He had to cut back on his drinking. He noticed he was dressed in a shirt and brown pants. It had to be Sasha’s clothes. He had no idea how he came to be in Arie’s bedroom, but he was just glad he didn’t wake up naked. Since Arie lived with her father; that was a situation he didn’t care to explain his way out of. Before he got a place in the eighth layer, he frequently stayed the night, but each night Sasha had expressed the many ways he could kill Ash if he touched his only daughter. Ash made his way into the kitchen area, not caring if his hair was sticking up or how awful he looked. It was just Arie, no need to impress her. She had seen him hung over before. The Raines’ home was modest, no fancy decorations or top of the line furnishings. It was simple and clean. Arie kept a small vase of flowers in the hallway. Flowers were hard to find, a rarity that only the top layers could afford. Somehow, Arie always seemed to find a few to spruce up the home. They lived in a small flat in a building near the Ethereal Underground. It wasn’t the nicest part of the eighth layer, but then again, there was no nice part of the eighth layer. He took a seat upon one of the old metal kitchen chairs before throwing the closest thing on the table, a paperback book, at Arie. She squealed as the book hit her thigh.

  “You woke me with your awful singing,” Ash complained. He felt his stomach grumble when he inhaled the scent of something delicious.

  “Careful boy- I’ve got a pan of hot grease here. I’m making razda. Your favorite.” She held out the small pan that had held the razda meat. Ash took a small sniff and let the aroma fill his nose. Razda meat was impossible to get on the planet. In fact, anytime Arie and her father left the planet for hunter business, he made her bring him back a case of it. Animals didn’t live on their planet, and meat was practically nonexistent. Most things had to be imported from other planets, and it was up to the keepers to allow the traders to pass through the layers. These days, the keepers didn’t allow many traders past the fifth layer. Something about the rebels who lived in the deepest layers. Whatever the reason was, the keepers kept a tight supply on any essentials the people needed. They claimed that they were protecting the planet from outside threats, but in recent years Ash felt that their methods had become extreme. There was the underground market though; one could get almost anything from them. If you needed a weapon, food or medicine, it could be easily found if you knew where to look. The underground market was where he had gotten his trusty dagger. He was just starting to get used to being without his keeper blade. It was hard at first, to not have that familiar weight hanging from his belt. Still, the dagger gave him a sense of security.

  Ash leaned back and placed his hands behind his head.

  “What happened last night?” He couldn’t remember much, just a few flashes, and his head was in too much pain to process the memories.

  Arie brought a hot plate of steaming red meat and a glass of water over to him and sat down. “You don’t remember anything?”

  Ash licked his lips hungrily and started to dig in to his food. “No, not really.” Eating was much more important right now.

  She wiped her hand across her forehead and sighed. Her red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she was rockin’ a pair of tight pants and a tank. Ash tried hard not to instinctively stare at her, his stomach screamed out in hunger instead.

  “Well, you have to be the luckiest man in the world because your wound is gone.” Ash almost spit out his food; he took a drink from the glass to help him wash it down. That was right; he had gotten stabbed by Loki. He had seen a fallen last night.

  “So that wasn’t a dream!” he cried. Of course it wasn’t. It was all coming back to him now. The fight, Arie looking for help, and then there was someone else. He struggled to grasp the small memory before it disappeared. A girl? He remembered a face with the bluest eyes he had ever seen, a girl with golden hair, and she was speaking. She was on top of him speaking words he couldn’t understand. He placed his hand over his chest where the sword had gone through his body. There was nothing there. He lifted up the shirt he was wearing, which he presumed was Sasha’s. His skin was smooth and unharmed. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow at Arie.

  “Take a good look Raines, because you aren’t gonna see abs this good ever again.” He watched her roll her eyes before he slowly lowered his shirt.

  “Your clothes were covered in blood, do you want to explain what happened, because people just don’t magically heal from a sword wound.”

  Ash took the last few bites of his food and shrugged. Maybe people did magically heal, he knew that yesterday was not his time to die and it wasn’t. Maybe a higher power knew that too. Still, he was hesitant to tell Arie about the girl. He almost missed Arie starting to lecture him. He recognized the familiar words and groaned.

  “Maybe the blood was Loki’s.”

  “You are lucky Loki didn’t tear you apart right then. I’ve been studying the legends Ash- he is dangerous. That’s why I didn’t go running unarmed and with no backup. You have to be the most selfish, careless, immature little keeper on the planet.” She stared at him with disbelief.

  Ash stood up abruptly at the mention of the keepers. “I’m not with the keepers right now,” he yelled, letting his temper get the best of him. “And if they come around here don’t tell them a thing.”

  After the incident, the keepers had made it very clear that if he was caught breaking the rules again, he would never be allowed in the conservatory again. He knew what happened to keepers who were kicked out. Most were never seen or heard from again. He started to feel bad for yelling at his friend.

  “I’m sorry, doll.” He tried to smile, and took a deep breath to calm down. The keepers were already too curious about him and Arie’s relationship. Romantic encounters were strictly forbidden; a keeper had to get special permission and an official pairing to get married. Keepers were supposed to focus on being warriors; not on emotional ties. He had done such a great job of hiding his secret life in the underground, but someone had betrayed him. The Officials knew everything now. The fighting, gambling, and the women.

  “Finlay came by looking for you,” she said. Ash perked up at the mention of his friend. Why would
Finlay think to look for him here?

  “Really? What did he want?”

  “To check on you. He helped me carry you back home last night.”

  “How convenient,” he grumbled. When he had introduced them a few months ago, he had given Finlay strict orders to stay away from Arie. The last thing he needed was for Arie’s heart to get smashed like the dozens of other girls Finlay left in his path.

  Arie put her hands on her hips and scowled. “I’m not a child anymore Ash, I have been of age for a few years now. You can't keep protecting me from every guy out there. Besides, Finlay didn’t even stay; he was in a hurry to get somewhere.”

  “I need to get out of here without being seen.” He wanted to look outside, but the units in the eighth layer didn’t have windows as it was too dangerous. Too many criminals, too many thieves. Ash wasn’t sure who would be watching. Fallen or keeper.

  “Are you afraid to be seen with me?” Arie whispered. The look on her face made Ash’s eyes fall to the floor. He had always been afraid of leading her on, but she knew the rules; she also knew that he broke them quite often. He walked over to where she sat and pulled her into a tight embrace. He let his hand run through her hair and inhaled deeply. She always smelled like flowers, a smell that calmed him. Her body fit perfectly against his. She was his best friend and he would never hurt her.

  “I’m not afraid of anything Arie; I’m just trying to protect you. The keepers are pretty mad at me right now. I don’t want to give them reason to believe we are…together.” She nodded and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. He knew she would understand. She had met the keepers before and knew how strongly they took the keeper oath.

  “You know that’s never stopped you with the girls before,” she teased. Ash chuckled before letting her go.

  “Well that was before…” He let his sentence trail off; he didn’t want her to know about how much trouble he was in with the keepers, she didn’t need anything else to worry about. All she knew right now was that he was taking a sabbatical while the higher up keepers, the Officials, decided what to do about Ash’s recent bouts of dishonesty and unruliness.

  “Let me wake dad, he can sneak you out through the tunnels.” Arie started to walk towards her father’s room; he quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

  “Uh, no thanks, last thing I need is your hung over father questioning why I was here last night and why I am wearing his clothes. I can make it through the tunnels myself.” The tunnels ran below the city. They weren’t too dangerous, but if you didn’t know your way, you could get lost in them forever. Ash wasn’t worried, he had used them a few times before and he was confident he knew his way home through them. He just wanted to stay away from the guards who were at the entrance to the ninth layer. The ninth layer was forbidden. All he wanted to do was to go home and take a hot bath. He needed a smoke and he needed some time to think about what had happened earlier. He also needed to travel up to the surface later that day to appear at the conservatory.

  He was curious as to why Arie wasn’t pushing the situation. She was always so eager and excited about everything; that was why he liked her so much. They were alike in so many ways, but she didn’t seem to push the fact that he had mysteriously healed. Trying to be helpful, he grabbed his empty plate and glass to clean up the table.

  “Let me help clean up before I go.” Unfortunately, his movements were a little too hurried and he knocked the glass of water over, spilling its contents all over the table.

  He cursed and swiftly picked the cup up. “Sorry…” he mumbled. He put his hands out, not sure of what he was trying to do. He couldn’t mop up the spill with his hands. He felt stupid for just standing there, but for some reason he couldn’t move. He was frozen in that spot. All he could think about was how stupid he felt for knocking over the water and how badly he wanted to clean it up. He heard Arie scrambling through the kitchen, looking for a towel.

  He felt his hands start to get warm and a tingling feeling shot through his fingers. The pain was dull, like his entire hand had fallen asleep. Within a matter of seconds, he saw the water lift up from the table. He was still in too much shock to move, so he just stood there staring at the water. It was floating in midair. It shimmered in a bulbous form a few inches off the table. Unable to believe what he was seeing, Ash blinked a few times and lifted his hands to rub his eyes. Maybe he was still dreaming. He looked at the spilled water again; it was back on the table. He was really out of it; maybe he needed to sleep this off. Deep inside, he felt that something was off. He didn’t feel quite right or normal that is. Whoever or whatever that girl was, she had done something to him.

  “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you around.” Ash spun around and bolted from the apartment. He needed to get out of there before anything more strange happened. He also had a meeting on the surface with the Officials, and he couldn’t be late.

  He had found his way through the underground tunnels easy enough. Once home, he tried to get cleaned up for his meeting. In the shower, he tried to recreate the control over the water, but he couldn’t make it work. He was so curious as to what had really happened last night that it was driving him crazy. He needed to have a clear mind for when he met with the Officials. The blonde girl and Loki would have to wait for another day.

  A short time later, Ash began his trip to the surface. The trip was surprisingly quick. The direct tunnels that Ash flew the ship up through were nearly deserted. The citizens of Cabalin weren’t afforded the luxury of fuel, and the fuel that the keepers made on the surface cost as much as one normal person made in a day. This kept the citizens from moving around from city to city. It kept them stranded in one layer. Not too many people were willing to walk through the underground tunnels either. Ash’s ship belonged to the keepers, and the only reason he was allowed to keep it was to appear before the Officials in situations like this. It had only been a few weeks since they had forced him on a sabbatical. At first, living underground had seemed exciting and adventurous, but after a few days Ash longed for the warmth of the suns on his skin. The lights that hung from the ceiling of the underground didn’t feel the same to him. They were built to mimic sunlight, but it just wasn’t the same. Each of the nine layers contained one city. Each city was completely different from the other. They had different layouts and temperatures. The eighth layer was the most populated layer. It was where Ash lived, in a small home near the Underground. It was easier for him to run home after a fight to get cleaned up. Most of his friends lived there also. It was an urban terrain with the highest crime rate, biggest stores, and where most of the trading happened. The seventh layer consisted of family units; the sixth and fifth layer contained the middle class environments with factories and hydroponic gardens. All the layers above the fifth were considered superior. These layers were where the most important citizens live, and housed the swankiest stores, spas, and other luxuries that helped the rich pass the time. The important citizens never had to work for their gems, but somehow they always seemed to have enough. Gems were the official form of currency, and most of the citizens accepted payments with them or bartered with items.

  As the surface neared, Ash could hear the rumbling of the generators as he left the underground sphere. The dome surrounded all the cities; it enclosed them in the ecosphere. The generators above the dome cleaned and recycled the air and another set of generators below the sphere recycled the waste. Ash had never traveled past the eighth layer to see the generators, and he never wanted too. The ninth layer was the home of all the banished creatures on the planet. Some of them were original inhabitants; others were citizens who had broken the law. The few openings out of the ninth layer were heavily guarded to keep the banished inside.

  Once Ash had broken the barrier of the sphere, he noticed how bad the surface looked. It had only been a few weeks since he last saw it, but it had defiantly changed. The suns was brighter and the air looked dirtier. In the past few decades, the land had slowly started to die off. The soil became dry and
the enrichment that once flourished across it had withered away into nothing. The oceans had dried up and the animals had disappeared. The aging process of the inhabitants had also begun to speed up. When the mortal species first came to the planet, they had all started to age slowly. Before, it wasn’t unheard of to live for hundreds of years. When the planet changed, so did the lifespan of everything on it. Now most species were lucky to see age forty. Everything that had once been beautiful about the land was gone. Ash hadn’t been born yet when the land flourished, but the stories he heard were enough to understand why so many people had once coveted the planet.

  Ash parked his ship in his usual spot outside of the cube shaped conservatory and jumped out. He had felt so groggy that morning, but now his body felt full of life. He stepped outside and stretched his hands over his head. He straightened out his keeper uniform. When he appeared before the Officials, he was required to wear his dress robe. It was long and black with the keeper emblem stitched in over the breast. The keeper’s symbol consisted of a large triangle with a star at the top, and within it was a key with a “k” in the circular portion at the top. A pair of matching pants and button up shirt completed the ensemble. Ash remembered to put on a serious face as he neared a few keepers that stood guard outside of the conservatory.

  Ash gave a nod to one the guards as he walked closer. “I’m here to appear before the Officials.” The two other guards stared at Ash with blank faces. “Always so serious,” Ash thought. One of the guards, whom Ash recognized as a keeper a few years below himself moved to open one of the large doors. The sound of explosions in the air caused Ash to jump backwards. The sound of an attack was something all the keepers had grown accustomed to. No one else even flinched.

  “Underground life has made you soft.” A teasing voice caused Ash to straighten up and look over at the open door. In the doorway stood his former partner. Jedzia was dressed identical to Ash and her long black hair was pulled tightly into a bun on top of her head. She was almost ten years older than Ash, but she still looked young and vibrant.