The staircase twisted up for a while before opening into a large tower, by far the most exciting room they’d encountered so far.  It was full of cabinets, drawers, and chests, all packed with boxes of dried plants, bags of glittering rocks, jars of shifting powders, and bottles full of unidentifiable liquids.

Amanda stayed in the door as the other girls investigated.  She had already been forming an idea of where they were.  The same idea, she’d wager, that many of the others had been forming.  Without proper rationalization, though, she’d sound naive or even insane.  She needed proof.  She searched the room until she found a shelf of label vials, and scanned it until she found the section of green bottles.  From there, it wasn’t hard to find the specific one she wanted.

Confident with her theory, she approached Fiona, who was leaning against a table, eyes closed.

“Fiona, take this.”  She handed her the tiny glass bottle.

The pain must have been muddling her thoughts, because the girl didn’t even hesitate before knocking the whole thing back.  She blinked a few times, eyes watering.

“What did you just drink?”  Both girls turned to find Morgan staring at them.

Fiona blinked.  “I um.”  She looked at Amanda, alarm rising in her eyes.  “What did I just drink?”

“It’s ok, it’s fine,” Amanda started, but now the whole tower was up in arms.

“Amanda what the hell?”  Violet’s eyes were dark and angry.  “You didn’t find that here, did you?”

Meredith was by Fiona’s side in a heartbeat.  “Are you ok?  What are you feeling?  Nauseous?  Dizzy?  Does anyone know how to take a pulse?”

Amanda crossed her arms in silence, watching Fiona, waiting.

Fiona shook her head.  “I feel overwhelmed and annoyed,” she said, face flushed.  “And… and fine otherwise.  No stomachache, dizziness-”

“Headache?”

“No, I’m fine.  Actually, my ears don’t even…”  She traced a finger up the long, pointed tips of her ears, not even wincing.  “I feel-”

“-better?”  Amanda finished.  She grinned, pleased, reaching up to brush a stray bit of hair behind her ear.  “That was a tend potion.  Said so on the bottle.”

Silence met this remark.

“Right.  So we’re there.”  Amanda almost winced at the stormy look on Violet’s face, so out of place on her usual sunny features.

“Someone had to go there eventually.”

“Did they?  And your definition of ‘going there’ is to put someone’s life in danger?”

Amanda stared down her burning glare as the other girls watched in silence.  After a moment, she turned on her heel and walked down the stairwell, with Violet on her tail.  The others followed.

“Well?” Violent pressed.  “Anything to say?”

When Amanda spoke, her words were carefully measured.  “Fiona has elf ears.  Because, at camp, Fiona plays an elf.  We are all thinking the same thing.  And it’s more than just the ears.  Actually, it’s for all of us.  I’ve been watching.  A little taller, a little thinner, just a little more fine tuned than on Earth.  But there’s no such thing as just photoshopping people’s faces without plastic surgery or-”

“Or what?”  Violet asked.  “Magic?!  Oh, that makes a ton more sense.  Why did you skip over surgery anyway?”

“Oh, I don’t know, because surgery leaves scars and takes months to heal from?  You’re smarter than this Violet.”

By now they’d all come out of the stairwell, past the hall the others had woken up in, and were standing in a large room.  Amanda only had eyes for Violet right now.

“Don’t patronize me because I’m a little more hesitant to jump to the ‘we’re in fucking fairyland’ explanation.  Especially since you risked Fiona’s life on it.”

“Guys!”  Meredith shrieked.  “Stop it!  Fiona’s already taken the potion.”

Violet and Amanda rounded on her but Morgan stepped in.  “She’s right.  We need to keep our heads.  Yes, this actually being Echoterra is on the list of possibilities.  There’s still others but it’s looking like a damn good theory.  Whatever is going on, maybe we want to not be at each others’ throats, yeah?”

“And no more poisoning Fiona, kay?” Meredith said.

Amanda opened her mouth, not about to take shit from Meredith of all people, but Violet closed her mouth and, after a moment, Amanda thought better.  “Works for me,” she said, tone clipped.

 

Despite being the one who’d been potentially poisoned, Fiona wanted to agree with Amanda. This being Echoterra was easily the cooler of the options, and besides, she felt amazing.  Even the stiffness from last night and headaches from crying were gone.  And if this really was Echoterra, then it meant she could actually appreciate this castle for being their fantasy home and not the work of a psycho.

The room they’d entered was a large entry hall, with huge wooden doors at both ends.  There were a few smaller doors on either side and another staircase opposite of them.  The entry hall was richly decorated.  A large, glittering chandelier hung in the center, filled with hundreds of tiny candles and dripping with crystals that reflected the flickering light.  The mounted torches were fancier than upstairs, in holders made of silver and emblazoned with symbols.  Heavy tapestries hung on the wall, lavishly embroidered, depicting various scenes, each almost familiar to Fiona.  While the others glanced briefly at the hall before heading towards the other stairwell, she stopped to examine one.

The tapestry showed a young boy, sword drawn, surrounded by hideous monsters made of green and black snarled vines with grimacing pumpkin faces.  Thick, thorny roots ensnared the boy’s legs and in hand he held a glittering token.  Facing him was a beautiful, twisted woman.  Her eyes gleamed bright against her dark skin, which blended seamlessly into her distorted mask, and her dark hair fell in a tangled cascade down her back.  She leaned on a tall, heavy, decorated wooden staff, leering at the young boy, holding her hand out, demanding what he’d stolen.

Fiona recognized it.  More than just the woman, she recognized the scene because that had been her.  The outfit, the mask, the symbols on her face, even some of the structure of her face.  Fiona had portrayed this character, Magic, back at camp.  She had demanded that artifact from that hero back when she was a counselor in training and he a camper and it was all pretend and costumes.  “Guys,” she said.  “Guys, this tapestries, it’s Magic!”  There was no response from the other, and she turned to see the last of them disappearing up the stairs.  She chased after them, trying to put it out of her mind, but the implications of this actually being Echoterra were starting to sink in.  Magic, both the element and character, could both be real here. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud clang of metal on metal.

“God, Carter,” Amanda said.  “Are you trying to kill us?”

“Jesus Christ, Amanda, how was I supposed to know it was you guys?  We just heard voices, it could have been anyone!”

“Carter?”

“Violet?”

At the top of the staircase, Fiona could see Amanda get shoved to the side as the stocky, muscular form of one of their friends, Carter, appeared at the top.  He continued to push his way down until he reached Violet and the two embraced.

“I knew you’d be able to handle yourself.”

Violet laughed lightly.  “You should have.”

“Ahem,” Fiona said, grinning  “The rest of us are just fine, too, thanks for asking.”

The two pulled away, faces red.  “Well, come on guys,” Carter said, coughing.  “Obviously I’m glad to see you…” he trailed off, counting silently, “six.”

“Are all the guys up here?”  Violet asked, glancing around the sharp turn of the twisted staircase.

“Not all of them.  Only-”

“Hey, maybe we could finish this conversation somewhere less cramped than a staircase?” Fiona said.  “And then we could see them for ourselves.”

As the group spilled into the corner, there were shouts and hollers from the boys upstairs.  The hall looked the same as theirs, but longer, with a door at the end instead of another staircase.

“Oh god, it’s only you guys.”  Weston, a great bear of a man, gave a big, disappointed sigh.

This was reciprocated with several quick, harmless smacks as Meredith threw herself at him.  “Shut up Weston, what are you doing here anyway?  You weren’t even at camp this session!  You didn’t come back as a counselor.”  She crossed her arms, glaring

“I was gonna visit!  Me and William, had a big plan and everything.”  He gave another big sigh.  “Plan ruined, I guess.”

She punched him again and he winced dramatically.

“Aaron wasn’t at camp this year and you’re not punching him.”

She glanced over at Aaron, a slimmer, shorter man with hard dark eyes.  “Fuck no, he’d kill me,” she said.  Then her face grew serious again.  “Don’t get lost or do anything stupid, Weston,” she ordered, before drifting off.  Weston took another half step forward before being tackled hugged by Morgan.

Fiona continued scanning the hall.  She saw Bastian, one of the new CITs from this year, move to greet Violet.  Shawn, wide eyed and overwhelmed as always, stood a bit back, trying to catch someone’s eye in the commotion.

Her heart had started to sink when she heard someone move behind her.  “Fiona?”  Darren’s quiet voice, half hesitant, half anticipating, sent shivers down her spine.

As he pulled her in a tight embrace, she closed her eyes and buried them into his shoulder.  Even though their clothes were only high quality replicas of what they wore for camp, she could still smell him in the fabric.  For a fleeting second, things were how they should be.  No mysterious castle.  No unknown force dragging them to an unknown place.  No one was missing.  Her ears weren’t warped and her face looked exactly as it should and she hadn’t taken any strange potion.

For one brief pause of time, things were perfect.  And then they broke away.

Darren studied her face once over before placing his hands gently on the sides of her head.  “What happened?” he asked, concern knitting his brow.

Fiona’s placed her hands on top of his.  “I don’t know.  They woke me up in the middle of the night.”  She considered telling him the full story, but decided against giving him one more thing to worry about just yet.  “I’m fine now.  I hardly even notice them.  Is everyone else here alright?”

Suddenly Meredith was by her side.  “Darren!  You’re here.  Ok, but that makes only six.  Where’s Jasper?  And Jake?  Zack?  Patrick and Navin are missing too.  None of them are here?”

Darren sighed.  “Carter was up first, he made sure we were all up.”

“They’re hall is bigger than ours,” Fiona said, smile a bit wry.  “They have three on both sides.  Looks like Echoterra always expects to have more boys than girls.”

“To be fair,” Darren said, “we have no idea how big this place is.  We don’t even know what’s upstairs.”

“Probably the other boys,” Meredith said.  “I’ll go check.”

“Hold up one second.”  Fiona turned back to the hall, trying for a way to get everyone’s attention without just shouting.

“Fiona.”  Aaron’s curt, disapproving tone never failed to bring a smile to her face, and she pecked him on the cheek.

“Hello to you too.  What are you doing here?  Meredith’s right, you didn’t come back this year.”

“Meredith being right might be a first.  Why the hell did she just go upstairs alone?”

Fiona whipped on her heel, but Meredith was long gone.  “Shit.  I told her to wait.”

Aaron gave a sigh of irritation.  “It’s really going to be impossible keeping everyone alive if you keep sending the weakest people to discover new ground.”  He then raised his voice, taking on an authoritative tone.  “Alright!  We’re going to see who’s up these stairs.  We can discuss more of what’s going on after.”  He scanned the group, waiting for someone to raise objection to him taking charge.

There were a few eyes rolled, but no one had any alternative plans, so they headed up the stairs after Meredith.

 

There had been voices in the hall outside, hadn’t there?  They sounded familiar, but the boy in the room on the end of the floor had not wanted to find out.  If they were friendly, they would come in and find him.  But as they faded away, the entire floor sunk into a deep silence.  And he soon wondered if the voices had existed at all.  He pushed his fingers together, sighing.  If the rest of his friends were here, they’d eventually come and find him.  Someone would remember, so he didn’t need to worry.  And if his friends weren’t here, then he was content with never finding out who those people were.  He sat up in bed, and turned to glance out the large window at the end of his room.  His heart quickened uneasily.

Outside stretched a field, sprinkled and dotted with several trees.  At the edge, the grass became sparse and descended into more dirt and rock.  Beyond that, it dissolved into endless waves of sand.

Outside the western window, the field was darker, not yet illuminated by the rising sun.  Out here, the field became more wavy.  More hills, trees, and rocks.  Although it was not nearly sparsely vegetated as the desert, the rolling hills were rougher, less lush than the deep green fields around the castle.

Out the eastern window, beyond the field, loomed an enormous forest.  The dense vegetation glowed in the light of the sun and the trees were huge and daunting, larger than any he had ever seen on Earth.  They enticed him, more so than the other landscapes.

A small smile lit his face, despite his apprehension.  This place, while wild and unfamiliar, was beautiful and he wished he could see it closer.  But not now.  Now he sank back down on his back, staring up at the ceiling.  He would wait for the inhabitants of the castle to decide if they were friends or not.

 

Carter led the group up the twisted stairway, single file.  The upstairs hallway was empty, save for Meredith, who was bent down next to the first door on the left, ear pressed against the wood.

She glanced up at the group as they entered.  “Shh,” she held a finger up to her lips.  “There’s someone in there,” she whispered.  Her brow was knitted with concern  “They’re-well, I think they’re hurt.  I can’t tell who it is, except that it’s a boy.”

Fiona pressed an ear against the door.  In the complete silence, she could make out the faint sound of labored breathing and occasional whimper.  She nodded, affirming Meredith’s observations.

“We have to help,” Meredith said.  She reached for the doorknob but Carter stopped her.

“I’ll go in first,” Carter said.  “We’re pretty sure it’s just one of us, but if it’s not, or it’s some kind of trick or trap, you don’t want to be in there alone.”

She nodded and Carter opened the door.  The others held back in the hall.  On the bed, under the covers, hunched a small figure, trembling violently.

Meredith took several steps forward.

“Careful…”  Carter said cautiously, sword extended as he followed her.

“Hello?”  Meredith called out.  “Are you alright.”

“Hello?”  The voice from under the covers shook.  “Meredith?  I need- Oh god.”  The voice trailed off into a weak sob.  Carter recognized the voice but his stomach clenched nonetheless.  This didn’t sound good.

Meredith turned to Carter, eyes huge.  “You saw Fiona’s ears?”

Carter blinked.  “I saw her what?”

“Elf ears, Carter.  Because she’s an elf.   And they hurt.”

Carter stood still, trying to process this, but Meredith spared him further confusion by pulling back the covers, revealing one of his oldest friends from camp, Jake.

His eyes, wide and glazed over, stared ahead, unable to focus on anything.  Tears trickled down his chalk white face, mixing with thin streams of blood and dripping down onto his bed sheets.  The blood stemmed from where two short horns had punctured his skin.  The horns gleamed a shocking red.  Jake blinked a few times, holding up a hand as if to block out a light.  His lips lifted in a dizzy half smile.

He clearly thought they could help him somehow.  God knows how long he’d been like this, obviously in pain, and now he thought he was safe.  Carter looked down at Meredith, who at least seemed to be expecting this.  But she looked horrified, if not surprised.

“His legs,” she whispered.

During the meetup downstairs, Carter had overheard Violet and Amanda bickering about whether or not they were in Echnoterra or a madman’s copy of it.  But Jake, Jake had goat legs.  And from the way his body kept seizing and shuddering, they were very real and causing him horrible pain.

“P-please,” he whispered.

Meredith stood up, tears in her eyes.  “Jake, I swear, I’ll be right back.  I will be back, and I will be able to help you.  I promise.  Carter,” she turned to him, “keep an eye on him.  Don’t leave him alone.”

“Where’d she go?”

Carter looked down at Jake, at the sheen of sweat on his face, at the fuzzy, distant look in his eyes.  “You can’t help,” Jake landed on.  “Oh god, I’m gonna die.”

Outside, Carter could hear Meredith and Amanda talking in rushed, quiet tones.  Carter crouched down next to Jake’s bed.  “No no, she’s got a plan.  It’s Meredith.”

Jake’s teeth chattered together.  “Th-that’s what I’m afraid of.”

Carter let out a laugh that felt more like a sharp explosion of breath from his lungs.  “But she has a plan.  She can keep her head once she’s got one, and she does.  A plan.”  This was all he could cling to because if he was being honest, this situation looked pretty damn dire.  How Meredith could even see goat horns and satyr legs and somehow know what to do was beyond him.

“I know.  I trust her.”  Then Jake’s body tensed and his face went white before crumpling in pain.  “Fuck, no, I’m gonna die.”  The high, shaky tone was back and he started crying again.

Then Meredith was by his side.  “Ok.  Ok, we got this.  How is he?  Does he have a temperature?  Have you checked his pulse?”

“Look at him!  He doesn’t have a fever, he has horns!”

She scowled, but thankfully didn’t say anything.  Carter regretted his outburst as he said it, but her questions had done little to instill faith.

Meredith wiped a hand across Jake’s forehead, before stopping and looking at the blood on it, her own face draining of color.  Still, she repeated the action, wiping the sweat out of his eyes.

Jake’s breathing had become shallow and panty and Carter took his hand, unsure of what to say.  “Hey buddy, everything’s gonna be ok.  We got a plan.  Amanda’s gonna get something to fix this.”  He glanced to Meredith to confirm this, but she was still cleaning Jake’s face.

“A...manda?” Jake mumbled.

“Yeah, Amanda.”  Meredith’s voice had dropped to a soothing pitch, one that sounded so much like Fiona’s that Carter would laugh if it wouldn’t make him vomit.  “She’s fixed up Fiona and she’s gonna fix you up too.  Promise.  Just a few more minutes.”

“Minutes?”  Jake’s voice, scratchy and hoarse, spiked at this.  “No no no, I can’t do minutes, I can’t-”

Meredith yanked her hand away at his outburst, just as he grabbed for it.  She pulled her hand just enough for him to fall off the bed, landing on top of her.  Carter hurried to help move him off a very distraught Meredith.  Thankfully, the boy wasn’t much bigger than Meredith’s slight frame, and it was easy enough to separate them.

Jake’s whole frame had gone rigid from the sudden movement.

“He looks really bad, what the fuck!” came a voice behind him.  Carter glanced from Meredith, half knocked over and covered in blood, to Jake, frozen and twitching in his arms, before turning to see a horrified Fiona in the door.

“I don’t-” he started when Jake convulsed again and he threw up all over Carter.  Then his body went limp.

Carter held his body on his lap, numb now.  He didn’t even feel all the viscous liquids seeping into his pants.  He just wanted to be back in bed, back at camp, waking up to sword fight some children, play dress up, and beat the summer heat with an insufficient amount of popsicles.  He wasn’t supposed to be worrying about anyone's life right now, but looking at Jake’s prone form, a snag of terror twisted in his chest.  A person couldn’t die from pain, right?