Yuki stood in shock as her brain processed what she was told. She looked around the large room before her and noticed it was no longer dimly lit but relatively bright. She could see details better than she had before.

 

Yuki lowered her gaze to the kneeling witch in front of her. "What do you mean by Queen. What happened to me?" She sternly asked the witch.

 

"We used a faery with the blood of the Summer Court royalty to bring you back. Don't you remember your plan, my Queen?" The witch said with a bit of uncertainty in her voice.

 

"My plan? That wasn't my plan! I was fighting your army off in the palace gardens. Then you just captured me and did something to me!" Yuki angrily yelled.

 

The witch's eyes looked far off as she was lost in thought. As if realizing something, she decided to speak. "You have all of your host's body's memories?" she asked hesitantly.

 

"Host body? I didn't gain any new memories. I am still the same person you tied to this stupid altar and force-fed a strange potion to!" Yuki shouted angrily at the witch. Sometimes this game was a bit too realistic for her tastes, and she wasn't sure what was in the game usually or what was changing.

 

The witch, while still kneeling, started to digest what was said. An awkward moment of silence ensued before she replied. "So that's how it is. The previous Queen knew she couldn't come back, not fully. So, she designed this ritual to impart her power and knowledge onto the new Queen." The witch said as she slowly stood up. The remaining creatures remained kneeling, not daring to look up.

 

"Why me? I thought you were after the Faery Queen's daughter?" Yuki asked finally what was bothering her out there.

 

"Yes, we were after that small faery, but then you showed up displaying that you had the blood of royalty flowing within you. So, we changed our plans. We also suspect that woman also gave you her blessing as a way to save her daughter. She most likely made you a target on purpose." The witch said, revealing her thoughts.

 

Yuki was shocked at this revelation. She sat on the altar, her mind going through her memories of the Faery Queen. While they were happy memories, she could have sworn that she had seen sadness on the Queen's face whenever they interacted.

 

"That's not true! She wouldn't have done that! I need to go back and find her." Yuki had shouted. She rushed to the exit of the room. The creatures kneeling were about to stop her, but the witch raised a hand to signal them to let her go.

 

She then turned to the three men. "Dub, Dother, and Dain, my sons. Go follow our new Queen. Make sure she is safe. The three brothers stood up and followed Yuki.

 

Yuki ran from the swamp where she was located. She noticed her speed had gone up and the muddy, murky waters did not hinder her. Trees blurred past her as she ran toward the Summer Glade.

 

Arriving at the palace entrance, Yuki saw the guards take a hostile, defensive stance to her approach. "Be gone, Unseelie! We will not tolerate your kind here!" One of the guards bellowed.

 

"It's me, Lenora." Yuki tried to plead with the guards. They were not having it as they jeered and threw rocks at her.

 

"Stop!" A commanding voice rang out, making all the other faeries of various sizes stop what they were doing. A tall, beautiful woman appeared. Yuki recognized her as the Faery Queen.

 

Delighted to see her, Yuki shouted out to her. "I escaped them and came back!"

 

The woman had a sad expression as she neared Yuki, yet kept her distance. "No, you didn't, child. You became one of them," she said solemnly.

 

"No, I didn't. I escaped after they forced me to drink something. I don't want to join them." Yuki yelled back with confusion on her face. She was still holding on, hoping they would take her back.

 

"I am sorry. That ritual turned you into their new Queen. We cannot accept you back." The Queen was about to dismiss Yuki, but she spoke up before she could.

 

"So, you knew about the ritual? Is it true that you set me up to take your daughter's place?" Yuki screamed to the woman.

 

"Yes. I had to protect my family. You were just a nobody. Someone who was expendable. You were nice enough, and I am sorry I had to drag you into this mess. But family comes first."

 

Yuki was livid. She couldn't believe the person she thought she could trust had used her to protect her daughter. She could understand why she did it, but it still hurt. She could have been let in on the plan or even helped prepare other solutions.

 

Yuki laughed loudly as she covered her face with her hands. Once her laughter died down, she looked at the Faery Queen with a cold gaze. "I see how it is. You don't have allies, just pawns. As long as you remain in power everyone is disposable. You will regret this in the future. I hope I am there when I see your broken dynasty crumble."

 

Yuki then turned and walked away, nearby plants wilting and dying as she went.

 

~|~

 

Dan sat at his desk, examining his instruments and pouring over the data they fed him. He was part of a two-cell research team stationed in the polar ice caps. An anomalous electrical storm occurred on the continent, duplicating the effect of the northern lights across the northern hemisphere.

 

Dan had been studying this event for the past two weeks. Their sister team traveled toward the center of the ice caps due to electrical and magnetic interference that seemed to be coming from there. Dan focused his attention back on the reading and found something shocking. The ozone layer was repairing itself and oxygen levels were rising all across the globe.

 

Some of his colleagues had also noticed that certain insects were getting larger. Dan had to wonder what kind of impact this would have on the world and society. Dan was interrupted by his thoughts when his team leader strode into the lab. The other members of the team all looked up at him.

 

"I have bad news. We lost contact with team one about twenty-four hours ago. I have notified our HQ in Greenland. Our directive right now is to travel to Research Station One. We need to find out what happened to them and find them."

 

A sense of urgency washed over Dan and everyone else. They quickly stood up and started to pack essential tools to track the missing team. Dan promptly went to the living quarters and started to pack his travel bag with things he would need for survival out in the frozen tundra.

 

~|~

 

It had been three days since Dan and his team left. They finally arrived at RS1 and saw no movement. The only thing that could be heard was the idling engines of their vehicles.

 

"Everyone! Listen up. We split into three-man teams and investigate the station. Keep your radios on. I will be in the rover boosting your signals against interference." The man in charge said. Dan teamed up with two other researchers, Heidi and Antoine.

 

"We will check the living quarters," Dan had said to Jacob, the man in charge. Jacob nodded his head and sorted everyone else's tasks out.

 

Dan and his team walked across the snowfield to the large structure that held living and dining areas for Team One. Dan was thankful for his snow goggles as they reduced the light his eyes got from the snow. The crunching of snow beneath their footsteps was heard as they made their way to the building.

 

Even though they were all scientists, they were all armed with rifles and had undergone training similar to the military. It was better to be prepared as you never knew what you may encounter.

 

The lights were currently off, and it was difficult to see inside the room. Dan keyed the mic on his radio and spoke. "Living area power is down. Can we get the generators back up?" There was a moment of silence, then his radio crackled to life. "Working on it now. Generators should be up in a few minutes."

 

Dan and his team used their head-mounted flashlights and continued to look around. "Hey! Look at this!" Heidi had shouted to them. Dan rushed over to her with haste.

 

When he arrived with Antoine, Heidi pointed at a wall. On the wall, drawn in a black substance, was a humanoid figure with what looked like tentacles coming from its back. The words "He's watching" were written off to the side.

 

What the hell does this mean? What happened here?" Dan said, voicing his concern at the situation. Dan reached for his radio and keyed it. "What's the status of the generator?"

 

A minute passed by, and no response came. "Antoine, see if you can't get a hold of someone. Heidi, you search the dining area. I'll get the rest of the living quarters." Dan walked slowly to the recreational area of the living quarters.

 

Looking around the dark room with the only light being the small amounts of sun and his flashlight, dan looked around. Everything was eerily quiet as there seemed to be no indication of where the twenty people had disappeared.

 

The tables in the room were cluttered with many papers, some of which had that same drawing on them. Dan found a laptop sitting near the documents. He checked it and saw it was unlocked with what looked to be an entry of logs opened.

 

Log 37: Our equipment found that the EM field is generated a few kilometers from our position.

 

Log 43: We found a cave system at the storm's epicenter. This is strange as there are no suspected land masses this far north. We sent drones inside and found that the temperature was getting warmer. More research will be conducted. The temperature could be due to geothermal activity.

 

Log 44: This is a fantastic discovery! Our drones have found a fully isolated biome within the cave. The images that came back have shown lush vegetation and trees with their own daylight source. Some of the other team members are already saying we have found Agartha. We will contact RS2 to inform them of our research.

 

Dan was floored by what he read. Had Team One really found Agartha, The Hollow Earth? He quickly got his radio and tried to contact any of his teammates. Several minutes went by, and there was just silence. He tried to reach out to everyone, and all he got was silence.

 

Dan quickly ran to the exit of the building and just before he got to the door, his vision went black.