The Crystal by Jones M (ready to read books .TXT) 📖

me landed onto the dark flat surface of the floor as it formed the image of a woman.

She wore nothing but a white strapless dress. She had blonde hair, and her eyes were pale blue. Her feet were bare, and her body emitted a soft blue glow. She stood at about 5"7 in height.

"Who—who are you?" I managed to make out in a stutter. The woman floated a bit off the ground and approached me until a little space was left between us. I noticed that there was a bit of resemblance between her and someone I couldn't place a finger on.

"I'm Penelope, Emery," she replied. My back tensed in fear.

"How do you know my name?" the woman's expression suddenly turned scared.

"I do not have much time, but there is something you should know. The erwiches are doing something bad. I don't know what it is, but you need to do something about it. It may affect the future of all witches."

Stardust started to swirl around me.

"Wait!" I screamed out as the stardust started the process of teleporting me to Crystalia.

"We will talk again, Emery," Penelope said before she exploded into blue stardust. My vision was blocked by the continuous swirling stardust before everything turned black again.

CHAPTER 05

Emery's P.O.V

Once the stardust disappeared from my view, I was met by the sight of Crystalia. It was an enchanted city that existed in another dimension. It had similar features that related to Earth, but the fact that it was a magical land made it different.

The sky had ever-present stars, not caring whether it was day or night. We also had a sun. At the time, it was evening, and the sun was setting. It sometimes appeared huge in Crystalia in the mornings and evenings, illuminating the scenery's beauty.

"Wow," Ethan commented beside me. I shot up, having momentarily forgotten that I teleported with him and the rest.

Oh, right.

I looked around and saw the backs of Harry, Logan, Liam, and Zane. I believed they were mesmerized by the sight that met them. I mean, who wouldn't be?

Crystalia covered a small area that was circular in shape. Mountains were many miles on one side of the city, and on the opposite side was bare land that led to who knows where. The area near the mountains consisted of green pastures and different hardwood trees that formed small forests at different spots. The tops of the mountains were covered with snow. Also, a couple of rivers flowed from the mountains and past Crystalia.

Recently, Crystalia had begun to form modern buildings. The ancient yellow-brick buildings were gradually being replaced with red ones and such, also creating life opportunities for witches who wouldn't want to go back to earth. Moreover, it kind of helped that there weren't many witches.

When a person would teleport to Crystalia, the first thing they wouldn't notice was the town. There was a large area with a few hardwood trees and green grass. One would walk forwards until they come across a cobblestone road that led to the actual town.

 A castle existed beside the road— a freaking castle which functioned to be Crystalia's point of control. It had six towers, four conjoined at the building's edges and two being in the middle of the structure. Generally, the castle was four stories high with the middle two towers having another two stories. It consisted mostly of gray brick walls and concrete roofs painted light orange. The towers themselves had cone-shaped roofs that were also light orange.

"Would you get a look at this? It's so beautiful," Logan commented, close to tears. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I feel like I'm in a realistic Disney movie," said Liam.

"Come on, guys!" Selena said, interrupting the boys' scanning of the area. "We need to move quickly." She walked on the cobblestone road with the rest of us began following her.

We all turned to head towards the castle. Before we managed to move a couple of feet further, two ironclad guards jumped in front of us with swords in their hands.

"Freeze!" they said, startling all of us. Even though it was the 21st Century, the guards never seemed to change how they dressed. They had worn ironclad clothes, and one of them was sporting a large sword.

"Oh, it's you guys," one of the guards said as he retracted his sword. I immediately recognized the guards. They were Martin and Chris, some of the best guards in Crystalia. Martin had blonde hair and blue eyes whereas Chris had black hair and warm brown eyes. They were both in their mid-twenties.

"Yes, it's us," Selena replied. "We need to talk to the prince." Their eyebrows furrowed in confusion as their gazes landed on the boys behind us.

"Who are they?" Martin asked.

"Hi," Logan said as he waved his left hand with a smile. I watched as the guards' eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh my g-"

"You're the Ordinary Brothers!"

My eyes narrowed in annoyance as I witnessed what was happening in front of me. Could guards be actual fans of boybands? I didn't know that. And more importantly, was there anywhere those boys weren't famous? 

The day just kept getting worse and worse. I couldn't wait to get away from the boys. 

That quickly had me forming an idea.

"Hey, guys. We just had erwiches attack us some minutes ago. Do you mind if you could help the boys catch up with what they are so that we can go get the Prince?" I asked, noticing the jaws that dropped from the boys and Selena.

"THEY'RE WITCHES?" Chris screamed before clearing his throat once I sent him a look of disbelief.

"That is the best news ever!" Martin said.

"Emery!" Selena said in a reprimanding tone. Martin and Chris resumed talking to the boys. I turned to face my cousin with an impatient look.

"As much as I would like to help the boys catch up with the whole magic and witches stuff," I started sarcastically, "some things need more attention than them," I replied. 

"They know us, Emery. Or at least, they know you. I believe that with you around, they can feel a bit comfortable with accepting who they are," Selena tried to reason with me.

I went to open my mouth, but I realized the words I wanted to say would rather be said in private. I motioned for Selena to follow me. Once we were at a distance I hoped we couldn't be heard by the boys and the guards, I began to question her sanity.

"Are you kidding me? What was that out there?" I asked her with a furious expression. She looked at me as if I was in the wrong.

"I was trying to help them get acquainted with the lifestyle of being a witch," she replied. I squinted my eyebrows at her in confusion and anger.

"Do you remember what I told you about an hour ago? Those boys were my bullies in high school," I yelled at her.

"Look, Emery. It's all in the past. I get it—" she started to say, but no sooner had she said the last three words than I started seeing red.

"No! You don't get it. I just came from pouring out a secret I never wanted to even remember, and you are acting all friendly with them as if there is no tension between us! I will not tell them about what they are. In fact, I would rather be locked up in a tower than be in the same room as them!" 

With that, I marched towards the castle entrance.

"Emery!" Selena called after me, but I was too pissed off to care.

Selena's P.O.V

I rubbed my forehead as I felt a headache coming along while watching Emery walk away. When I first met her and started hanging out with her, we sometimes got into a few disagreements; but when her five ex-bullies came back into her life unexpectedly, I didn't expect it to be a big deal. 

After mentally going through the argument we just had, I realized it was apparently a big deal.

Okay, I'm not saying that I won't be mad if I was bullied for two years. Trust me, I would. I also know it wouldn't last that long with me. 

I mean, what witch would allow herself to go through emotional and physical torture for two years? When Emery told me about that part of her past, I was shocked and sad for her. I knew she expected me to be with her and against her ex-bullies, but I didn't want to take sides.

I was a neutral person.

One could also say that I'm one of those people who like to put the past behind them. During the one hour that Emery had fainted, I talked to the boys and got to know them a little. They told me what Emery had said was true and they explained more about the past they shared with her. I had been angry at first, but I found the anger fizzling when they told me they had come to the café to ask for Emery's forgiveness. They said they were plagued by the memories of what they did to her and they felt that nothing was right in the world for them. 

That was enough to make me believe they had changed.

They even risked being found out by their fans just to ask for Emery's forgiveness!

"What was that about?" Ethan asked me, startling me as he and the rest came towards me, including Martin and Chris.

I shrugged my shoulders, "She's still mad at you guys." Ethan frowned at what I said before turning his gaze to the castle.

"Why is she mad at them?" Martin asked. My eyes widened as I recalled that they didn't know what we were talking about. I was sure Emery didn't want the whole of Crystalia to know her history with the Ordinary Brothers, and so I had to come up with a lie.

"Oh, nothing huge," I lied. "They didn't sign her shirt." The guys' eyes widened in shock, and they all gave me looks, telling me they knew it wasn't the truth. "So guys, what about that magic thing?" I said in hopes of changing the subject. Luck was on my side because it worked.

"Oh, yes!" Logan, who was chatting with Chris, said in excitement.

"We can't show them around," Chris said.

"Why?" Logan asked with a frown. Martin looked at Logan with a weird look.

"We are guards," Martin said with obviousness before he and Chris walked past us. I suddenly felt awkward being left with the five of them.

"Okay, guys. Let's get this tour started," I said as I walked towards the castle. We reached two large brown wooden doors that were opened. Once we stepped inside, a large room greeted us. The floors were composed of ceramic tiles that were checkered white and aquamarine. The walls were painted minty cream. Two gray-bricked staircases each existed at the left and right sides of the room with a chandelier dangling at the center of the ceiling. In front of me was a large expanse that led to other rooms on the floor.

"Whoa!" Harry stared in amazement.

"Come on," I said with a smile, not needing to check if the guys were following me.

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An hour later

We spent our time walking around the castle as I explained to the Ordinary Brothers that they were witches. They were still finding it hard to believe it as we continued our tour around the castle.

When did walking around the castle feel like a hike on Mount Everest? I really need to get back in shape. Or maybe, they should just install elevators in the castle!

I showed the boys the rooms that existed underneath the castle where the servants would wash clothes and dishes. I also showed them the view that the two towers of Crystalia offered. I could not show them the other rooms because they were limited to the royal family's use. 

My feet were killing me once we reached a hallway filled with portraits of Crystalia's ancestral rulers. The walls were firebrick red in color. The portraits themselves were large and similar in size with golden frames surrounding them.

"I didn't think this castle would be huge," Harry commented as we walked.

"This brings us to the historical portion of the tour," I said as we walked along the hallway.

"How was Crystalia found?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know," I replied, receiving disbelieving looks from him and the boys. "For now, nobody is certain. I guess you could say someone in the 1400s searched for witches on earth and had them enter Crystalia. That's what everyone would like to believe."

"Who is that?" Ethan asked as he