Angel Amulet

By Deona Lindholm

Prelude: Moment of Disaster

Jayce looked between the spot where his father and friends were and where several of the Monster Minds surrounded them. They had gone to a planet where a young woman that was closer to Jayce's age, Dea, and Audric both had been abducted to, the terms being: Give the two halves of the Root over or she would be killed, followed by the young man's father. They had gone in with the intent of not cooperating, but with getting the two out before heading to the secret sector of the Aunitia Center, which had the chambers needed to join the two halves of the Root together. This was a situation that had degenerated rapidly. The planet was one that absolutely nobody was able to land and, as such, interfere, once the group had arrived. There was also a field in effect that prevented Gillian from using his magic, as well as Flora from being able to intervene. To make things worse, most of the vehicles were unable to move, as they had been sabotaged.

The young man looked about him. A portal was opening, ready for the Monster Minds to send Dea into. Gillian had said, at the beginning, that a portal of that magnitude sent someone to either another world or a space between dimensions, known as the Vortex. In the latter, almost nobody ever survived…and once it was opened, the only way to close it was for someone to pass through.

"Well, boy?" He heard Saw Boss demand in that roaring, imperious voice of his, "Make your choice! Both parts of the Root or Audric and the girl!"

No matter what he could think up, there seemed to be only one solution to this disaster. Jayce sighed and then looked at first his father, then at the prim, blonde-haired woman wearing a garnet tiara that was very close in style to his own.

Dea...I'm sorry.

The young woman peered at him, looking right into his blue eyes, and seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Her only physical indication was to give a simple nod.

Do as you wish, he heard in his mind.

Jayce touched his ring, whispering the words that normally activated the magical power within it. It glittered for a second as suddenly, Audric, Dea and the others became transparent.

At the same time, the Monster Minds tried to advance upon not only Herc, Gillian, Oon and Flora but also Audric and Dea. The mutant plants bounced off within inches of them, seemingly surrounded by an invisible field.

The ring vanished from Jayce's finger and suddenly appeared on Audric's.

"Wha…Jayce?! What are you doing?!" the older man called in alarm.

"It's the only way now…father, it's my turn."

His eyes widened in shock. "Jayce! No!"

"Look for me. Come find me," he replied quietly, then moved towards the anomaly.

"No, Jayce! You can't!" Flora shouted.

"M-M-master! You'll be k-k-killed in there!"

He smiled softly, mouthed something and then spoke one last thing, "You'll find me. Promise." His back now was to the rift. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms in front of his chest…and then leaned backwards, falling into the Vortex.

As he fell in, a beam of light shot from the ring into the portal.

An anguished cry tore from Flora just as the others in the Lightning League blinked out of existence.

The next thing they new, all of them, including Dea, were on the Pride. The ship, surrounded by an aura of white light, was departing rather quickly from Kitta III.

"Oh no...Jayce..." Flora whispered in a quiet, shocked voice.

Herc simply stared at the vanishing planet with hard eyes while the others had different reactions. Flora was weeping, Oon was not doing much better. Dea was trying to comfort the half-plant girl while fighting back her own pain. Gillian was talking quietly to first Oon, and then moved towards his old friend. Audric, though…tears spilled down his face exactly in the same way that Jayce had wept in the Dreamworld, having thought that his father was murdered.

"Audric...I'm so sorry," Gillian said, using the back of one hand to scrub at his face while placing the other on his friend's right shoulder. "If I had been more observant..."

"U-uncle Audric," Dea murmured, putting a hand on the man's arm and looking at him sympathetically. Although not his biological niece, she was a friend of the family, according to the elder scientist. "First Jayce went looking for you, now you'll have to do the hunting. I hope to—I hope he's still alive and not between the…"

"Jayce…" he murmured. "I'll find you…if you survive, I'll find you."

He closed his eyes, the image of his own son mouthing something to him before saying his final words and falling backwards.

What the young man had silently whispered was, "I love you, father."

000000000000

He opened his eyes after he passed through the portal. All around the young man was black as dark as oblivion, interrupted only by waves of blue.

This is...the Vortex?

He only had enough time to think that before he found himself unable to breathe.

The brown-haired young man doubled over, trying to make himself bring in air, only to find none in the black and blue surroundings.

So..am I going to die here after all?

As he thought this, he tried harder to bring in oxygen, only to find himself becoming somewhat distant, and the blue waves before his eyes started to disappear.

..I'm so sorry, Father...

It was then that a beam of light, coming seemingly from nowhere, hit him fully in the back.

A glow surrounded Jayce, whose suffocation had seemed to stop as the brightness grew.

This light, it's saved me...

That had been his thought until he looked at himself.

His entire body was vanishing, changing into little balls of light at a moderate pace.

He tried to fight down a feeling of panic at his body disintegrating and felt at his chest...

...only to find that the necklace, the Root, was gone.

The Root! Has it turned into light, too...?

His hands converted into several balls of light as he looked around, trying to see if, by chance, it was floating. At the same time, he was beginning to feel sleepy.

The conversion was soon to his neck, and the young man lifted his head. His eyes widened when he saw something glimmering a short distance from him.

What...will happen...to me now...? was his last thought as he felt a slight tugging and he drifted off to sleep.