Through the Earth
Chapter 6

Liam and I walked to this spot called a bus stop. Liam said that a bus is a vehicle that humans can ride in that can take you from place to place. He spoke about how they are just like the smaller vehicles he called cars, but buses can hold a lot more people. The catch was that we had to pay money to ride it, but luckily the green paper is what humans use as currency.

There was a bench next to the road and Liam and I sat together while we waited for the bus.

“What’s a wife?” I asked.

“Huh.” Liam looked up.

“Austin said that Gold was the wife of this Ethan guy. What’s a wife?”

“Oh.” Liam remembered why I would ask that question. “Okay, so when a guy and girl love each other so much, they want to be together forever, so they would have a ceremony called a wedding. When at the wedding, the man and woman both promise that they will love each other forever. Then the man would become the woman’s husband and the woman would become the man’s wife, so the word “wife” is a title that is given to a woman to symbolize that she is with a man that she loves.” Now that Liam told me what a wife is, my mind filled with shock.

“That means while on Earth, Gold fell in love. When did this happen? Did it happen within the past three years?”

“I don’t know.” Liam suddenly sat up straight. “Wait a minute, how are goddesses born if there are no males?”

“Well, the core is made up of two parts, the inner and the outer core?”

“Yes,” Liam confirmed. “The inner core is solid while the outer core is liquid.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Yes. How did you know that?”

“There are scientists that study the inside of the Earth, and they’ve found out a lot without going under the crust.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you the part that these scientists couldn’t have discovered. The outer core is made out of liquid magic that seeps into the solid but hollow inner core. The liquid magic vaporizes into a gas when it enters the inner core and it gives powers to the goddesses that can use magic. But that isn’t everything the outer core does. It has the ability to create souls, but it takes thousands of years for one to develop inside the outer core. When a soul is finally ready, it will be sent to Earth and will be trapped inside a chuck of the gem or mineral that they represent. Meanwhile, a surge of energy ripples to the crust and creates the new type of gem or mineral that the new goddess will represent.”

I looked at Liam to make sure he was following along with what I was saying. He didn’t look confused, so I kept going. “It may take a few days or even weeks, but eventually another goddess will come along and free the new goddess, who would be a baby. The goddess that frees the child can either choose to keep and raise her or take her to a place that would take care of her. So that’s basically how goddesses are born.”

“Wow,” Liam said. “It sounds very complicated.”

“It’s less complicated when you see it in action. At least it is not disgusting, unlike the way animals and humans are born.”

Liam looked surprised. “How do you know how humans are born?”

“I’ve read books,” I huffed. “Can we please change the subject?”

“Yes.” Liam stood up and pointed. “Look! The bus is here. Hand me the money.” I gave the money to Liam as a big gray box on wheels pulled up in front of us. Two doors on it opened and I filled Liam inside. He inserted the money into a strange-looking box and we took our seats at the back of the bus. It was empty except for me, Liam, and the lady Liam said was called a bus driver.

The bus’s doors closed and it started moving down the street. I stared out the window, looking at the ugly buildings and wishing I could go home. At least the plants on Earth and the core are the same. The same green trees, bushes with flowers, shrubs. They made me feel at peace the way I felt back in the forest.

Liam tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to face him. “Back home, is there any light?” he asked.

“In the sky?” I questioned as Liam nodded. “Yes, we have a sun.”

“How is that possible?”

“Well, it’s not a real sun. The magic from the outer core goes all around the inner core. When they touch, the magical outer core transforms the rocky ceiling so it appears to look like the sky. This sky has a sun that moves around during the day and a moon and stars at night. It does this so we can have light to see and can keep track of the days with calendars. The outer core also creates magical clouds so we have rain and storms to keep our trees from drying up. Your sun, however, looks more real since mine is just a magical projection. The same can probably be said about the moon and stars.”

“So the inside of the core looks like Earth?”

“Yes. I was actually just thinking about how the plants on Earth and the ones on the core look the same. Both places look very similar except the buildings in the core aren’t as ugly.”

Liam and I sat in silence the rest of the way. I kept looking out the window at the strange world I was in, and I all of a sudden realized that I was in a different world. I mean, I’ve known that I am in a different place, but this is the first time I really felt it.

But I didn’t freak out. Somehow, being with Liam comforted me. Maybe it’s just because he knows so much about this world and wants to help guide me through it, but I also felt like it was something more. He understands what it’s like to have a life that feels meaningless, while no other goddess could comprehend these thoughts I had.

I decided to lean my head on his shoulder while I rested my eyes. I felt comfortable doing this and I don’t think Liam minded. In fact, the way that he relaxed his arm implied that he enjoyed it.

#

We got off at the bus stop closest to Greenrain Street and I walked next to Liam as he led me through the neighborhood filled with small houses, just like Austin said. I kept quiet so Liam could concentrate on where we were going.

I noticed that Liam kept looking at green signs on top of gray polls with different words written neatly on them with white paint. I decided to look at them too because I didn’t like that I wasn’t being helpful. After a little bit, I noticed a sign that had the words Greenrain written on them.

“Liam, look!” I pointed at the sign. “This way!” I darted into the street.

“Emerald!” I’ve never heard Liam yell so loud before that I stopped in my tracks, surprised, right in the middle of the road. Time seemed to slow as I turned to see a car coming around the corner. Right when it was about to hit me, I got shoved to the ground, feeling the pain of the hard stone against my skin. I turned and saw the car try to slow, but it was too late. It ran right into Liam.

I ran towards him as he lay unconscious with a cut bleeding on his forehead and bruises all over his skin. He was alive and didn’t have any other cuts, but I knew he was hurt badly. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I forced them not to show. I didn’t want to come across as weak.

Why did Liam sacrifice himself for me? I’m the one that can’t die.

I heard the opening of doors and two pairs of footsteps run up to us, but I didn’t look up. I hoped ignoring the humans would make them leave us alone.

“Oh my goodness,” a woman’s voice cried.

“Help him,” a male voice spoke to his companion.

“But the girl…”

“You can fix that later. Do you want the boy to die?” Knowing that the humans would not go away, looked up in defeat at the woman as she knelt over Liam and hovered her hands above him. Her blond hair had golden sparkles radiating off of it as warm light beamed out from her hands.

As it started to heal Liam’s cut and bruises, I realized what was going on. I looked at the woman’s face and instantly recognized her. It was Queen Gold.

She quickly finished the healing spell and Liam took a deep breath as he regained consciousness.

“Oh Liam,” I gasped. “You’re okay.” I turned my attention to Gold. She looked a little pale but not too tired. I was amazed since healing spells are difficult, but her magic is so strong that she finished it in under ten seconds. She didn’t even pass out from being so far away from Earth’s only source of magic.

“Thank you, my Queen.” Shock filled Gold’s face.

The man that stood behind me asked surprised, “What did you just say?” I ignored him, only keeping my attention on Gold.

“Queen Gold, my name is Emerald.” I shook my head as the green sparkles returned to my hair. “I am a gem goddess of the Earth’s core.”

“Another goddess.” Gold breathed out with excitement. “Come on, let’s take your friend to my place. He needs to rest and we need to talk.”