The girl grasped Charlie's hands tightly, and Charlie couldn't help but feel her face heat up as she realized how warm her own hands were against the girl's hands she was holding tenderly, despite the girl's own iron grip.
"I am the Heart of the Forest," the girl replied, though her mouth didn't move as she spoke, but somehow Charlie knew that it was the girl who was talking and that it was her voice. While she at first thought she was talking with magic, she didn't get the same feeling as when the crystal or Petals had spoken to her with their magic. "I am a reflection of the greater unicorn who created me in addition to a small part of a reflection of you."
"What's happening?" she asked, a part of her wondering if her mind had finally snapped and she was merely hallucinating this.
Not that she would completely mind, a mental break with this girl wouldn't be too bad of a way to lose it, she mused to herself.
The girl laughed, her laughter a beautiful melody that Charlie felt she could get addicted to. "First, I am not a hallucination. You can see me here in your mind because you are holding me and you have a decision to make. There is a gate in front of you and you are being asked to open it. However, you are a Friend of a Unicorn, so you get to make the choice," the girl said.
Charlie's mind raced, there was a lot of information that she was just given. "What do you mean that I'm a 'Friend of a Unicorn?' What does that mean?"
The girl smiled and Charlie felt her legs start to turn to rubber. "It means that a Unicorn considers you a friend. Just as they may want to hide their horn from others, they cannot hide their true self from a Friend of a Unicorn. You also can act either in the interests of Unicorns or in place of them when you have a Heart of the Forest with you," the girl answered. "This is a privilege extended to those who a Unicorn considers a friend and trusts implicitly."
Charlie wanted to look away from the girl but felt compelled to keep looking at the girl's lovely face. Mostly Charlie wanted to look away so she could better concentrate on the conversation rather than the girl's beauty.
After the girl finished speaking, it took Charlie a minute to realize that fact. "What choice do I have?" she asked.
"Your choice is to open the gate or not. Then if you choose to open the gate, do you want to open just this one or all of them? Regardless of what others have told you, only you get to make the choice," the girl answered.
Charlie thought about it for a moment. "If I opened all of the gates, would they be aware of it?" Charlie inquired. She wasn't sure what these people were up to, but she had a feeling that if she didn't open the gate, then that might create a problem to getting the Heart of the Forest back to Petals.
"Not right away. Only you would know of it and until they search for others or something comes through another gate would they become aware that the other gates would be open. Unless you tell them yourself."
Suddenly Charlie realized that both of them were sitting down. Charlie was still holding the girl's hands, but she didn't have any memory of sitting down.
"Don't worry about the change in your position," the girl assures Charlie, clearly sensing Charlie's alarm. "We are both in your mind and any change in your position will come as your mind needs. You won't be able to move as you think of it in this space. You will only move as you either think about it or as you feel the need to."
Charlie shook her head. "Whatever," she said, really not interested in getting too deep into the details of this world She didn't have the patience at the moment to try and learn as much as she could about this. She felt time was pressing, so getting this done would get them moving on for whatever it was that made Charlie feel like time was running out. Although, a part of her was struggling to take control and just remain here forever with this girl.
"What do I need to do to open the gate?" Charlie asked.
The girl's smile deepened. "You have but to tell me and it will be open. Do you want to open the gate and if so, do you want to open just this one or all of them?"
"All. I don't know why they want this gate open or what their goal is, but I don't trust them. So, open all of the gates. Let them deal with that problem themselves," Charlie answered, feeling calm about her decision.
"Done. The gates are opening now. Not all of them will be open right away, many will open over time and without warning, but the one in front of you is open now."
"Thanks," Charlie said, thinking about holding the girl in her arms, and suddenly the girl was sitting on Charlie's lap, both of them still holding hands. Though, while Charlie could feel the girl's hands in hers, she couldn't feel anything of the girl as she was sitting in her lap. Not even any weight.
"Now that you have done that, I ask you, please return me to my forest. I don't know how much longer I have before I will fade out, but each day I feel myself getting weaker and weaker."
"I will," Charlie assured the girl. "I promise."
As Charlie said those words, she was suddenly standing back where she was, Ronald having just handed her the Heart of the Forest. Charlie blinked and started looking at each of those around her.
"Hurry up," Carl ordered. "Open the gate already. There's no time to look dazed."
Charlie laughed. She couldn't help it. The whole situation was just to surreal to her. "I guess I already have," she said, in between laughs.
Carl scowled. "You didn't do anything with it," he growled
"I don't know what you expected," Charlie said. "But with the conversation I just had with the Heart of the Forest, I believe the gate is open."
"Then hand the Heart of the Forest back to us and step through it," Carl replied, dismissively.
"You only told me to open it," Charlie argued. "What would I be walking into anyway?" She was wondering if now that they had the gate open, would this be a way that they might want to 'dispose' of her? She doubted it but couldn't rule that possibility out.
"It should be a grassy field. Or at least that's what the record indicates this gate should lead to," Ronald replied.
"She didn't need to know that," Carl said heatedly, looking like he was going to walk over to her and throw her through the gate if she didn't step through willingly.
"Well, regardless, you don't need the Heart of the Forest anymore, so I'll take it back to where it belongs," Charlie said, putting it in the right pocket of her jacket and imagining a seal that only she could pass through over the pocket as she pulled on her magic.
"That wasn't the deal," Carl said.
Charlie smiled. "Just like stepping through the gate myself wasn't part of the deal, you mean?"
"That was always part of the plan," Carl retorted.
"Maybe one of us could just look through it first?" Shirley offered, looking uneasy at where this was going.
"No, Charlie will step through the gate herself," Carl said, his tone letting Charlie know that he wasn't going to budge from this demand. "Right after you give us back the Heart of the Forest."
"You're welcome to try and take it," she said, putting her weight on her right leg and putting her hand on her left hip, hoping to give the appearance that she was more confident than she actually was. "Besides, it may have been part of your plan, but that doesn't mean I agreed to it."
"Nick, get the Heart of the Forest," Carl directed.
Charlie didn't even try to react as Nick reached for her jacket pocket where everyone saw her put the Heart of the Forest. Though, she did try to keep from laughing as Nick pulled his hand back, the tips of his fingers blistering from what clearly was a burn.
"What the hell happened," Nick snarled, trying to take care of his burn without much success given they didn't have anything with them to try to treat it.
"I sealed my pocket, so only I can move through it," Charlie replied.
"When?" Carl demanded. "You didn't say anything and there's no way you could have predicted the need for that before we got here."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't say anything when I place the seal, but since words aren't my focus, I don't really need them."
"Focus?" Carl asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, that's what I was told when my magic was unsealed and I started to learn how to use it," Charlie explained as if they were having a friendly discussion.
Carl's expression went from a range of emotions, from outraged to bewildered. Finally, it was clear he had enough. "Fine. Keep it. Just get through that gate and then return," he snapped.
Charlie couldn't tell how, but she knew exactly where the gate was now that it was open. She faced it and walked to it and stepped through.
Charlie didn't know how she was able to react so fast as she went through the gate and found no solid ground. She felt pain in her left arm as it took the full weight of her body as it jerked from stopping herself from falling a very long distance.
Charlie struggled to get her other hand to the gate so she could hold on with both hands and eventually was able to do so. She could feel that her hands had found a rock to hold on to on the other side of the gate, but she wasn't sure how long she could just hang there. She looked around for any possible alternative, but what she saw only made her heart sink even farther.
She was in mid-air above a canyon. Not only that, but there were nests around. Not bird nests either. There were griffins in those nests. Some had unhatched eggs and others had young griffins with parents bringing them food. The adult griffins that Charlie could see were around the size of an SUV if her estimates were correct, though given the distance of some of the griffins from Charlie, it was hard to be sure. The upside for her was that they hadn't noticed her. Yet. She was quite sure that this was likely as close as she'd really want to get to them as well.
While it was entirely possible that they might not pay any mind to her, she doubted they would ignore her for too long. She'd seen how some birds were very protective against even perceived threats against their young and with the size of these griffins, she was sure she'd be dead if they took issue with her. Aside from the possibility of the griffins feeding her to their young.
She tried to lift herself up with her arms, but couldn't do it very well, given she couldn't move her hands to get better support for her attempts without risking having her hands lose their purchase and slide through the gate as well, leaving her with nothing to do but fall who knows how far. She was definitely not going to look to see. At least right now. Maybe if she survived this, but not while she was hanging on for her very life. She also felt her legs kicking as she made each attempt, which didn't help her with any balancing act as she tried to lift herself. Part of her worried that if she lost her balance, then she'd find out just how high up she was the hard way.
She wasn't sure what she could do. She didn't expect she had much time in order to do something. Eventually her arms would get too tired to hold her, but nothing was coming to mind that she thought might have a chance of success. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, the sensation only heightening her sense of impending doom.
She wasn't even aware at first when she felt hands grip her arms and trying to pull her up, but when she realized that was happening, she did what she could to help as well. Even though she hadn't been able to think of anything she could do, she still hadn't given up on trying to live.
As she felt herself start to inch upwards, she felt another pair of hands appearing to help as well. Each pair of hands took one of her arms where Charlie felt herself being lifted by her arms and she felt herself begin to return through the gate.
When Charlie was completely through the gate and back on solid ground, she felt all the strength leave her body and she collapsed on the ground. Relief coursing through her to the point she felt herself starting to cry. She was grateful to be alive.
As she cried, she felt hands on her back, rubbing her comfortingly. Unconsciously, as she started feeling some strength return to her, she moved towards the direction she sensed the hands extended from, eventually ending up in a comforting embrace from Shirley.
"What happened?" Charlie was vaguely aware of Shirley asking.
"I thought I was gonna die," Charlie sobbed. She clung to Shirley tightly, reveling in the comfort the physical contact with another person was giving her, yet at the same time desperate for more. The fact that it was Shirley she was embracing wasn't even entering her mind at the moment. She was only peripherally aware that it was Shirley whose embrace she was in. The contact with another creature was all that her mind could process fully at that time.
Charlie felt Shirley begin to stroke her hair. "Shhh, it's okay," she soothed. "You're safe now."
Charlie wasn't sure how long she was crying or what those around her may have been doing, but eventually she calmed down enough to where she first stopped crying, then slowly began extricating herself from Shirley's comforting embrace. She still sat on the ground, her legs didn't feel like their old selves yet.
"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized as she tried to wipe her eyes against tears that wouldn't stop flowing.
"Don't worry about it," Shirley replied softly. "What happened on the other side of the gate?"
"There wasn't a field of grass," Charlie said, glaring at Carl, vaguely aware of tears still trickling from her eyes. "It was above a canyon full of griffins and their nests."
Charlie didn't care about the shocked expressions she received. She was still too upset about her near-death experience.
Carl seemed to be the first to recover from the shock. "And we're supposed to believe that's what happened and you weren't trying something else?" Carl asked, his tone making Charlie want to not only punch him in his face but give him a kick to the groin as well. If not do more. Once she had the strength to do so, at least.
"Take a look for yourself," Charlie said instead. "I have nothing to gain from telling you something you could disprove so easily."
Carl looked at Charlie like most teachers did when they didn't like the point that she made. After a minute, he went and stuck his head through the gate. When he pulled his head back, his face had gone pale. "How?" she barely heard him ask, his voice was so soft.
Charlie worked at calming herself by taking deep breaths. She was vaguely aware of Ronald, Nick, and Shirley taking turns to look through the gate.
When they were done, Nick was the first to speak. "So, what now? What do we with this gate?"
Carl gave a bitter laugh. "Nothing. We seal the gate so no one accidentally walks through, but we can't do anything with this gate. We also need to find why it's not leading to where we expected. Was the information we found inaccurate or did we miss something when we determined which gate we were looking at. Then we also need to find another gate and then use the Heart of the Forest to open it."
"Should we talk to Heathcliff about this?" Ronald asked.
"Of course we talk to him," Shirley said, sounding rather offended at the suggestion that they wouldn't. "You know he'd be asking when we got back anyway. Then if you find another, he'd want to know why you gave up on this one."
"She's right," Carl said. "Besides, he might have an idea of what might have happened, but I doubt it."
Charlie put her hands in her pocket , to see if the crystal might have any thoughts on the matter when she became alarmed due to another issue. The crystal wasn't in her pocket anymore. Alarmed, Charlie started looking around frantically.
Where could it have fallen out? Charlie wondered.
She couldn't see it anywhere, then as she realized it wasn't there, a horrifying realization occurred to her. The only time she couldn't account for it being secure in her jacket pocket was when she was hanging on for dear life just inside the gate. Not only that, but she couldn't sense it the way she'd been able to since she started using it as her focus. The more she used it, the stronger the ability to sense it had become.
Charlie slowly walked over to the gate, kneeled down and poked her head through, bracing her hands on the ground on her side of the gate and looked down. She couldn't see it, the ground was too far to make anything out clearly on it, but she could clearly sense it down there as clearly as if she could see it. Looking down at the distance to the ground on the other side of the gate, she felt a wave of vertigo wrap itself around her, making her glad she was on her hands and knees, or she thought she might fall through the gate. Part of her couldn't help but estimate how long it would have taken for her to fall that distance, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. Far out of her mind.
She pulled her head back through the gate. This was problematic. Not only did it fall out of her pocket, but now she would have to find another way to that canyon. There was absolutely no way that she was going to try to find a way to climb down from this gate. Not only would she be hanging in a very uncomfortable distance from the ground, but the griffins were another issue she had with the idea.
Which meant she was going to have to talk with Heathcliff herself. He certainly knew more about these gates than she did, so she'd need to see if she might be able to get a better idea of what to do about it.
"Well, regardless," Carl said as Charlie pulled her head back through the gate, startling her back into the conversation going on around her, "we need to head back now and figure out what to do next. As well as which gate to open next. This might be the only one like this, but it might not. The only way is to take a look ourselves."
The others nodded and they started to walk back towards the car they'd arrived in. Charlie didn't say anything, but started walking with them, though it didn't seem like any of them noticed. It was almost like they'd forgotten about her. Charlie wasn't complaining but wondered if she didn't stay with them that they'd leave her behind.
When they reached the car, it did appear that they'd forgotten about Charlie, as when Shirley got in the car ahead of Charlie, she closed the door before Charlie could get in. Charlie didn't say anything, she merely opened the door and waited a moment for Shirley to either move over or make it clear that she would need to climb over her to get to the middle seat. In the end, Shirley moved to the middle and Charlie was able to get in the car.
Then she'd barely closed the door before Carl started driving off. Charlie wondered if he'd even paid attention to if the doors were closed or not. Though, since Charlie was in the car, she didn't worry too much about it. It looked like everyone was almost in a state of shock. She couldn't think about what might have happened in their discussion while she was realizing she'd lost her primary focus but was sure that something had been decided and she'd missed it.
Whatever it was, Charlie put it out of her mind, it probably wasn't going to be an issue that would affect her. Besides, she still felt a little out of it from dangling so far up in the air, certain that she was going to eventually fall.
So, she let her thoughts wander onto other matters. Like her conversation with the Heart of the Forest. She hadn't realized it at the time, but as she thought about the conversation, she couldn't help but feel her face heat up in embarrassment with how she was acting around that girl. It was almost as if she was a completely different person, one who was willing to go for what she wanted regardless of who it affected. Or how it would make her look, or even how she might get hurt if things turned out badly.
She ruminated over that through the entire drive back to Heathcliff's camp. Though, she wasn't able to get anywhere on why she had been that way or what it had all been about. she sighed, she saw Heathcliff's mansion as they entered the valley that it was located, with the entire 'camp' that was about ready to accept the campers for Heathcliff's math camp. She decided that it was time for her to talk directly with Heathcliff about what had been going on. Especially with what she knew she likely would need his help with. She didn't trust him, but from the shape of things right now, she had no choice, given how much more knowledge he had about what was going on in addition to gates and magic in general.
Charlie got out of the car after Carl parked it. She stretched her legs, not minding that Carl and Ronald started to head to speak with Heathcliff first. Or at least that's what she assumed, given how much they looked to Heathcliff as the person in charge. What she had to talk with Heathcliff about was important to her, but it probably would be better if his own people gave him the report on what happened. It would at least save her a lot of time and headache.
"Are you feeling better?" Shirley asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks," she replied. She used her magic to peek at Shirley's thoughts and saw that Shirley was in fact truly concerned with Charlie and not because of any assignment she'd received.
"Let me know if you want to talk about what happened, okay?"
"I'll keep it in mind," she replied. Talking about it might not be a bad idea, but she wasn't sure if Shirley should be the one she talked about the incident with. Beth would likely be in a better position to know what she needed, even if she wasn't sure herself at the moment. "But I need to talk with Heathcliff first."
"Good luck with that," Shirley said.
Charlie started following where she'd seen Carl and Ronald head, so she started out, realizing when she was opening the door to enter the mansion that she didn't even see where Nick had gone when they got back.
Mentally shrugging, Charlie let it go. She had other issues she needed to focus on rather than where Nick was. Especially since she'd be just fine if she didn't see him again this whole next week.
Part of her was vaguely aware that people were heading over to get dinner as she made her way over to Heathcliff's mansion. At the moment she wasn't sure her stomach could hold down any food. Her insides were just so twisted at the moment that part of her wondered if she wouldn't collapse part way to Heathcliff's office.