Above the Heavens
by Indigo Hedgehog

Chapter 2- History Lesson

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey- Nina, c'mere a second! I think I found something..." Ryu's voice drifted from a tunnel to Nina's left.

"What is it, Ryu?" She asked, already on her way. her question was answered as soon as she stepped into the large room Ryu was in. It was surprisingly well-lit, Nina saw- she and Ryu had been relying on light spells to see their way through the cave. In the center, where Ryu was, a strange green crystal sat, suspended in mid-air. It was apparently the light source. On the walls were inscriptions, carved and nearly worn away. But they appeared to be runic inscriptions. It was almost like a temple...

"Wonder what it's for..." Ryu scratched his head and stared at the crystal. "Any ideas?"

"None, I'm afraid... it's very beautiful, though..." Nina seemed more interested in the carvings, for she walked up to the nearest wall and started to examine it. "I wonder what these say..."

"Can you read them?"

"I'm trying," Nina said, tracing her fingers over the carvings. "I studied reading runes in the Magic School... these seem to be a bit more ancient than the ones we studied, but the system is very similar."

"Hunh... wonder if they say anything about this crystal?"

"We'll find out as soon as I decipher these." Nina smiled over her shoulder at Ryu. "It shouldn't take long."

~*~*~*~*~

When Katt awoke, she found herself sprawled on her back in the grass, under an orange sky. She sat up abruptly, scanning her surroundings.

And although she was sitll on the island, it looked very different.

"Whoa... either I was unconscious too long," She muttered, "or else Toto ain't in Kansas anymore." She wondered briefly where that line had come from, but shrugged it off- it was of no importance, really. Figuring out where she was was the matter at hand. The lake was still right in front of her, but now the ruins seemed older and more decrepit than they had been before. Adding to that, the lake was almost entirely drained... except for puddles here and there. To her right, the pine forest looked almost dead, the needles glowing orange or red in the dying sunlight. It reminded her of the whole ordeal that had occurred at Gate so long ago.

The ground beneath her was still a bit grassy, but now large patches of dirt and sand sprawled out over it as well. The sky was thick with charcoal clouds. It looked almost... sinister.

"Whoa... what happened here? I get transported into the future or somethin' like that?" The catgirl got to her feet and brushed dirt off her legs. "Or maybe... some other world?"

"Bingo! Hate to say it, but you're right!"

"Huh?!" Startled, Katt whirled around to see a boy around her age standing a few feet ahead. He had long black hair-tied back- that seemed a bit rumpled, and was a few inches taller than she was. His attire consisted of a black tunic, dark blue pants, and boots. She also noticed a pouch tied to his waist, but pushed it out of her mind for now. "Hey- who do you think you are, scaring me like that?!"

"Heh... sorry, musta forgot to introduce myself. Sirius Trell. And you would be..."

"Katt Chuan. Now, before we go any further into these little introductions, I got a question for you. Where the heck am I?!"

"The Island of the Clouds," Sirius answered, his amused expression fading. "And you just came from the other Island of the Clouds too, I saw."

"So... what, is this another time or something?" Katt scowled. "And what's the deal with this island, anyway?"

"First off... this is another world. A sort of parellel dimension, I guess you'd say. We're close to the edge of the island. Look over the edge and tell me what you see."

"Are you crazy?! I don't trust you yet... how do I know you won't try and shove me off this thing?"

"Just do it, please," Sirius sighed, exasparated. Katt grudgingly obeyed, peering over the edge. Beneath her, a very familiar forest spread out- except the forest was dead, as far as she could tell. Even from up here, she saw how the branches of dead trees rose upwards, like tall skeletons. A chilly wind ruffled her hair as her expression turned to one of shock.

"That's... is that the Great Sea of Trees?" She whispered, looking at Sirius. He nodded gravely. His expression turned somber. "But... what the heck? It's dead... all of it..."

"I know. Katt... this world is not only parallel to yours, but it represents a grave future. And it's..." He looked to the ground. "It's all because of this island..."

"What?!"

~*~*~*~*~

"...and so we shall remain unseen, hopefully," Nina read, "and hope that this grave error will not be repeated. We have sealed this island into an alternate world, though the process had a possible error in it. It is now we realized we took such a paradise for granted, and the consequences are disastrous..."

"So basically, whoever lived here before screwed something up big-time," Ryu grunted. "Still doesn't explain the crystal, though..."

"I wonder if it has anything to do with the island being in the other world?" Nina suggested. "We should find Katt and tell her about this..."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

~*~*~*~*~

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt!" The echo of Ryu's voice rang about the island. No reply came. He cupped his hands around his mouth once more and called. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt!"

"Katt!" Nina joined in, chewing her lower lip anxiously. "Ryu, where could she have gone?"

"I dunno. I mean, I'm not surprised she walked off on her own, but... she should've at least answered us by now." Then he saw a horrified bit of realization dawn on Nina's face. "What is it?"

"Ryu... you- you don't think she could have... found the link to the other world?" A grave silence followed.

"You could be right..."

~*~*~*~*~

As Ryu and Nina continued searching in their world, Katt was following Sirius around as he paced the island in the other world.

"So... you've been so quiet since then. What exactly did the island do to make it..." She indicated their surroundings with a sweep of one arm. "And it that my knapsack you're wearing there?"

"Ah... sorry." Sirius handed the knapsack to her, and stopped. "About the island... it's not the island itself that caused all of this. It was something ON the island. And the person who placed it there... and that same person who wants to keep the cursed object there, at all costs."

"Sounds interesting," Katt remarked simply. "So... spill."

"Yes... do you know when this island first took flight?" He asked, looking to the sky. Katt shook her head. "Almost nine-hundred years ago."

Katt whistled. "Whoa.... so this thing must be pretty old then."

"It is. According to legend, a part of the world's population back then wanted to get away from human life. Some of the people who wanted such were humans theirselves, but the ways of the humans they associated with disgusted them. So they all moved to this island, but felt they were still too close to the humans. They didn't want to be at their level- they wanted to be ABOVE the rest of the world."

"Like some kinda snob society," Katt muttered.

Sirius nodded. "Exactly. So, someone made a machine powered by human emotions- determination, bravery..."

"Hey! There's a machine kinda like that in my world!" Katt exclaimed. "I wonder if it exists in this world... maybe this world's Highfort has one... well, assuming this world HAS a Highfort."

"It's possible. I haven't been there myself, though. Now... back to the story. After the island had floated high enough over the world, civilizations started to spring up. This island was thriving with life. Laughter rang through the air constantly, and everyone here was happy. Years passed, and eventually the human supplying the power to make this island float was nearing death. Back in those days, if a living human was preserved inside a crystal, they would live forever."

"So they sealed him inside one, I bet."

"Yep. But it was also considered a terrible crime- the spirit would live forever, in sentience, unable to communicate with anyone. The crystal could be broken- thus releasing the human from within it- but with a terrible price to pay. They would be insane. No one, nothing would matter to them anymore. And with the crystal supplying massive amounts of energy to keep them living..." He trailed off.

"Their power's amplified, I take it," Katt finished. "And I'm guessing someone shattered the crystal?"

"You're on a roll today," Sirius said, smiling sadly at her. "Yeah. Over the centuries, conflict, disease, and time took their toll on the island. The civilization died out, and soon, the ruins were one of the few things left. And I was the other..."

"What?! How old ARE you?"

"Seventeen. But I was put into suspended animation at a young age," Sirius explained. "You see, my father and mother were the last guardians of this island. But the population here was dwindling at an alarming rate... and soon, there would be no one to protect what our ancestors had worked so hard to create. So, at the age of fifteen, I was put under a sort of sleeping spell- different from the crystal. It's like being in Limbo, really. If anything ever happened to threaten the island, I would awaken."

"Wait wait wait. Why didn't the villagers just use that spell on the guy who made this thing float?" Katt interrupted. "I mean, wouldn't that make more sense?"

"The subject of that spell had to be awake and aware of the happenings for the energy to be supplied. I don't know why the spell's that way, but..." Sirius shook his head. "Anyway, about two years ago, two people managed to sneak onto the island and shatter the crystal. The man inside it was freed, and far below us, you see the result of that. One of the people escaped, but I managed to catch the other and seal her inside a crystal to keep the island floating. Eventually, the original crystal-dweller was caught and finally killed, but the other person who helped in breaking the crystal hasn't been found since..." A long silence followed as Sirius sat down on the edge of the island and looked at the world below, passing by slowly.

Katt thought about this for a while, then finally spoke up. "So... you think maybe something similar could've happened in my world?"

"I can't really say." Sirius shrugged. "But I think it might. If the whole incident with a floating island didn't occur in your world, how else could it exist?"

"Maybe it's been there since my world formed?" Katt offered. "But if not... well, I'm not sure on that, but it is a bit weird. Yanno..." She lay on her back on the grass. "I think one of my friends said she saw it only once before, not counting today... And I think I woulda heard something about this thing if it was in sight in my world. Can it hide?"

"No. This island can be difficult to locate at times, but it's usually viewable from some part of the world at some time."

"And to think..." Katt snapped her clawed fingers. "I never saw this thing before in my life... maybe it jumped dimensions?"

"It could happen," Sirius admitted. "Though it's only done that once before- dimension-jumping is a very rare occurence."

~*~*~*~*~

"She's nowhere! Ryu... do you think she might have..." Nina looked over at the lake as she met up with Ryu. The two had called for her until their throats were hoarse- and she hadn't answered, though their voices rang over the whole island.

"Katt? Nah... she hates water. But something IS a bit funny anout this... maybe she fell off the island."

"RYU!"

"Joking, joking!" He assured her, chuckling nervously. "Nah, she'd never be dumb enough to do that..."

Nina crossed her arms and frowned at him, an exasparated sigh escaping her mouth. "Ryu, this is no time for jokes- and I have no idea how you can joke about such a thing, anyway. Katt's vanished, almost as if into thin air. We need to find her. Is that clear?"

"Yeah... of course. Maybe she's just taking a catnap somewhere and can't hear us..."

They didn't notice a small ripple forming near the forest behind them.

~*~*~*~*~

"So... you have any idea how I can get back to my own world? No offense, but this place is kinda depressing. And you're starting to frighten me with your sudden change of attitude," Katt added.

Sirius grinned. "Sorry about that. But you have to understand, this is a very serious matter at hand here. I don't know about escaping this dimension, though. This is the first time someone's ever crossed over, you see."

"So I'm TRAPPED here?!"

"No, no! I didn't say that! There might be a way... check around and see if you can find the area you came here from."

Katt did just that. "Nope... crap! You don't think that portal or whatever closed up, do you?"

"It's possible. But don't worry... I'm sure it'll come back. Maybe. Or maybe you're doomed to wander this world forever. Which would really suck for you."

"That cheers me up a hell of a lot," Katt grumbled taking a few steps toward the forest. "I think I'm gonna go get something to drink... is there a stream in there?" She didn't wait for an answer. But no sooner had she taken a few more steps than did she disappear. A few small ripples marked the portal she had disappeared into. A few minutes later, he heard her voice calling his name. But she was already in the other dimension...

~*~*~*~*~

To be continued...

Author's notes: ...Yeah, the chapter ending sucks once more. Oh well... I tried, dammit, I tried. I hope I did okay with this, and hopefulyl the whole two worlds/ dimension thing was done right so far. I hope you liked it, and hopefully you'll stick aorund for chapter 3. Bye for now.... and wear sunscreen.