Young Writers Society

Author's Note: I'm incredibly excited to have finished this chapter. In future drafts, I might try to draw out a scene where Aspen and Cass go to this world's version of a church, but I think the scene I have here works perfectly (for now) when it comes to teaching the reader and the characters about the main religion of Partex - that's the area of the fantasy world The Three Lockets takes place in.

Most importantly of all, with this chapter out of the way, I can officially get to the part that I've been waiting to write! Aldonius should be returning in the next chapter, and Cass should be finally making a Big Decision and begin thinking for herself.

All in all, some fun stuff is coming up! <3

Words: 1,726

Last Lines: "And I meant what I said earlier," Aspen added. She hopped back onto the bed and looked her in the eyes. "Your magic really is beautiful. I know Lira says that it's dangerous, but it doesn't feel that way. It felts warm and safe, like a nice big blanket being wrapped around me on a cold winter night. It felt like you."

Cass didn't know how to answer that.

So she didn't. She just gave a small nod, held Aspen's gaze for another moment, and then turned her attention to the rest of Lira's room. Aspen's comment made her cheeks feel warm and her heart skip a little beat; she was certain that her best friend could tell just how flustered she was by the compliment. Lira may have been more knowledgeable about magic, and was therefore more knowledgeable about Cass's magic, but hearing Aspen think so highly of her made her feel good.

"So now I guess we just have to wait for Lira," Aspen said. Cass was grateful that they were no longer discussing her magic. Out of the corner of her eye, Cass noticed Aspen doing a little stretch before hopping off of the bed. Aspen began to wander in and out of her view, humming quietly under her breath as she casually observed the few things on display. "What's your favorite thing about this so far, Cassie?"

Aspen plopped herself down on the rim of the fountain.

"My favorite thing's been all the magic," she continued, "and all the cool architecture. And the clothing styles, because they looked like they came right out of a fantasy show. And the girls, because they're really, really cute." She let out a dreamy sigh - the type where her shoulders dropped down as the breath left her, and her eyes twinkled in the way that Cass had always loved. "It's just so hard to choose when there's so many things I like."

Cass stared blankly at her.

Aspen pulled her legs up and gave her an eager grin. "Come on, Cassie! What do you like? There's got to be something."

There was, but she knew she couldn't say it. It didn't matter that Aspen had said that she accepted her; there were just some things she would have to keep to herself. She couldn't say that she loved how this place felt, and how, for the briefest of moments, she had felt a burst of joy when she saw Mr. Ream's face. She couldn't say that she liked the way she felt when she saw Aldonius - the strange surge of pride, the surge of happiness, the surge of it just feeling right.

Aspen wouldn't get it.

So she looked around for a moment, noticed a particularly interesting mural painted on Lira's wall, and said, "...I like the art."

"It is beautiful," Aspen agreed. When Cass peeked in her direction, she saw that Aspen was now looking in the direction of the mural. Cass quickly faced the mural once more, trying to notice anything that stood out so she could mention it when Aspen inevitably asked her about it. It didn't take long for her to realize how different this painting looked from the rest of the room.

Those paintings featured scenes from what she knew had to be places throughout the town; this one featured two distinct groups of people. The first were bathed in a soft white light that radiated off of their skin, and the other could barely be called people. Any inch of their bodies not covered by clothes and hair were completely covered in dark scales. And those weren't the only differences. There were angelic wings to the first group and draconic to the second. While the first group stood proudly in front of a magnificent castle, the other cowered away in dark woods composed of gnarled, twisted trees. While the first group had proud, happy expression on their faces, the draconic ones had their faces contorted in looks of hatred and disgust.

Something about the painting made Cass frown, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She absentmindedly raised a hand up and fiddled with her locket. As she tried her best to ignore the faces of the people so clearly being shunned, she noticed a peculiar symbol hanging on a banner above the angelic beings. It was a square nestled within a circle. Nothing else adorned it, but the sight of the symbol made her stomach twist and turn in discomfort.

She had seen it before. That was what the feeling told her. It told her more than that, too. It told her that the design could never possibly mean anything good, and she had the strangest urge to change the picture - add a little triangle to overlap the square, and then suddenly it would be okay. Not only that, but the thought of the image would fill her with a joy that bizarrely reminded her of the feeling she got whenever she looked at her pride flag.

"Hey, Lira!" Aspen cheerfully said.

Cass frantically spun around and stared, wide-eyed, at Lira; she had been too focused on the painting to even notice that Lira had entered the room. Even more startling was what was behind her: a thick glob of water was supporting a very large basket filled with an array of colorful clothing. The water gently placed the basket down on Lira's bed beside Cass, then faded into the floor as its owner crossed the room.

"Hi," Lira said. She had a pleasant expression on her face, despite her earlier eagerness to leave the room. Lira slowly looked between Cass and Aspen, then over at the painting that they had been staring at. Her face quickly grew red, but Cass only had a handful of seconds to notice the change - Lira almost immediately ducked her head down when she realized they had been looking at it.

"Did you paint that?" Aspen asked, raising a finger and gesturing at the painting. "It's gorgeous."

Lira shifted uncomfortably. "I did. Thank you," she meekly said. She hesitantly raised her head up. "I usually paint scenic things, but I wanted to try something different, and I've never done something for the gods before. It really does look okay?"

Aspen eagerly nodded. "Definitely! It reminds me a lot of some of the religious art back home. Right, Cassie?"

Cass stared at Lira for a moment, then managed a nod of her own. "It looks like something that would be in a cathedral," she quietly added, giving Lira a smile of her own. Those strange feelings might have made her dislike what was being shown, but she could easily imagine it being on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Lira leaned up against the end of the bed. "I-I'm glad that you like it. The only other people who have seen it so far are my dad and Rodet, and neither one of them are much for art."

Aspen frowned at this comment, but didn't say anything. She just turned her attention back to the mural and pointed at the banner. "What's the symbol on there?"

Even before Lira spoke, Cass knew the answer.

"It's the symbol of the gods," Lira said. Her face was graced by a smile, and she walked over to the painting. She rested a slender hand up against it. "Does Kansas not have gods like we do here?"

"We've got a lot of gods in Kansas," Aspen confidently replied. Cass didn't even try to point out that they weren't really from Kansas this time; Aspen seemed to have her heart set on continuing the joke. "Our world has more religions than you could possibly imagine - Christainity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Islam, Judaism, and countless more - but none of them use a symbol like that."

"We only have one set of gods here," Lira said, her gaze returning to the painting. "They're the reason for everything you could possibly imagine - the magic, our souls and even our civilization come from them." She hesitated. "At least, that's what some of the more...dedicated believe. I'm not sure if I believe that much about them."

She looked down at the draconic people.

"And those are the fallen down below," she said. "They're the gods who have strayed from the path of what is right and good, and have been cast out of Caelum for it. While gods help humans, the fallen take pleasure in causing us harm. It's said that's why you should run if you ever encounter one."

Aspen opened her mouth - probably to question how they could possibly run into one of the fallen gods - but Cass cut her off before she could even begin to speak.

She raised a finger and pointed at the symbol that Lira's hand was currently covering.

"What if you added a triangle?" she quietly asked.

Lira stared at her. "...Excuse me?"

"What if you added a triangle?" Cass repeated, a little louder than before. "What if you added a triangle on top of the square, but still had it so it was within the circle?"

Lira's gaze dropped down to underneath her bed, then up to Cass - only to come to a stop when she saw the locket dangling around her neck. "That's the symbol of Telorum." She furrowed her brow. "It represents the fallen. Telorum worships them-Wait, why are you asking about that? How did you even know about that design-"

"I was just curious," Cass answered, her gaze dropping down to the ground as she mumbled the words. She knew Aspen would be looking at her with worry, and Lira would likely be looking at her with a growing suspicion. The more that she learned about this world - and the more she learned about Telorum - the more Cass was understanding that she was somehow tied to it. She had a golden locket. She had darkness magic. She knew about Telorum's official symbol. How long could she lie to herself and say that she had nothing to do with it?

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Where's your bathroom?" she said, her voice tense and shaking. "I-I really need to go." She wasn't going to cry again. Not when Aspen had just spent the past five minutes comforting her, and not when Lira had just returned. She had to be strong like Aspen. If she was going to cry, she was going to have to do it away from these two.

Aspen hurried to her feet. "Cassie-"

"It's right down the hallway," Lira interrupted. Cass managed a small nod and got to her feet. Without raising her head, she began to head over towards the door. "It should be the last door to the left."

"Thanks," she quietly said. She tried her best to hold back her tears until she had reached the safety of the bathroom, but they began to fall the moment she slipped out into the hallway.