Alex missed Turquoise.

He knew that was a serious understatement.

He longed for his twin with every bone in his body. The world was so empty without her. How could the world have existed before Turquoise? He knew that sounded selfish and unrealistic, but to him it felt true. His entire life revolved around her, even if she didn’t notice. She was his heart, his reason for living.

And now she was gone.

Alex kept kicking himself mentally. How could he have just let Turquoise run off? When she had gone outside, he had thought nothing of it. He hadn’t even gone to investigate the mystery thumps.

Alex knew she hadn’t run away. She wouldn’t ever do that to him.

Wouldn’t she?

No, no. She had to be kidnapped, or in danger. He had to go find her!

But nobody would believe him. Everyone either shook their heads or shot him sympathetic looks like what a poor young boy, so desperate. You must accept the truth. It was SO FRUSTRATING!

She isn’t dead! He wanted to scream. She didn’t run away! She’s in danger! But he had to shut his mouth and bite his tongue like the obedient child he was supposed to be.

Not only that, but Sapphire, Jade, and Pyrite were gone, too. Nobody knew where they had gone. They accepted the easy lie, that they had run away and gotten themselves killed. They continued living their normal lives.

It was these thoughts that ran through Alex’s mind now, two weeks after “the incident”, lying on his bed in the dark, staring at the ceiling. He imagined Turquoise’s voice in his head, on the empty bed to his right: “Good night, Alexandrite.”

“No noise, Turquoise,” he whispered to thin air. He imagined Turquoise giggling, cuddling Erinite, and pulling the covers over her head. Like they normally did.

Except Turquoise was gone.

Alex tried to keep the warm memory in his head, tried to go to sleep. He had gotten barely any rest since Turquoise’s disappearance. If he did sleep, he would have nightmares.

Tonight was no different. The memory slipped through his grasp, leaving him cold and empty.

It was depressing how much Alex had taken for granted. He never really spent any time with his sister because he figured he’d always have her around. He’d spent all his time avoiding everyone, mapping out cave entrances to the Surface, wanting to be alone. And now he was.

Careful what you wish for, Alex thought bitterly.

He sighed. Then, his sorrow turned to anger as hard as steel. Why didn’t his parents do something? They could send a search party. For stalactite’s sake, they could at least say Turquoise wasn’t dead!

But no. It had to be this way, they said. They couldn’t break the rules, they said.

He knew why, of course.

Ever since Turquoise’s disappearance, Aunt Diamond and Uncle Orlov had been visiting more frequently, whispering in Zircon and Violet’s ears, gaining influence.

Alex hated his aunt and uncle.

He still remembered the day he first met them. It made him shudder, gave him nightmares. They had tried to coax Turquoise off a cliff, to try to get a supposedly “valuable” crystal. She had lost her footing and fallen into the abyss. Alex still recalled the look on her face as she plummeted down. The look said take care of Mother and Father, Alexandrite. Tell them goodbye for me. Please. She had not screamed once. She had accepted her fate with grim determination.

Luckily, that fate had not accepted her. Instead, Erinite had shot out of a crevice and picked her up, bringing her back to the rim of the cliff. That was how they had met Erinite.

As Turquoise had returned to the cliff edge, Aunt Diamond had given her a disappointed, disgusted look. Oh, you didn’t die? What a bummer. I guess we’ll just have to get rid of you some other way.

Of course, Diamond and Orlov had wriggled out of trouble. Instead of being punished for trying to murder Turquoise, they had been congratulated for finding her a dragon companion.

Alex gritted his teeth. If he accused his relatives of anything, he would get shunned, or punished.

He was tired of being a good boy.

Alex bounded out of bed without a sound. He slipped on his boots, grabbed his jacket off its peg, and put on his belt. He went to the window and opened it, letting in a gust of cold air. Alex looked around the room, at the empty beds, the neglected toys on the shelves, the dusty books. He grabbed a slip of blank paper and wrote:

Mom and Dad,

No, I didn’t run away. I’m going to find Turquoise. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.

—Alex

He knew it was vague. How could his parents not worry about him? But he left it on his bed anyway. He took a deep breath and hopped out the window into the darkness.

*************

Alex didn’t know how far he had gotten in the tunnel.

He knew this one should lead to the Surface, although he couldn’t remember how long it took. He had many tunnels to choose from, so he did the natural thing—he picked one randomly.

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He couldn’t keep track of time. All he knew was that he had struck light. Alex rounded a bend and felt the tunnel narrow, until he was on his hands and knees. The light grew stronger, and he got on his belly, feeling the walls close around him. He couldn’t turn back now.

The upside of being scrawny, Alex thought as the walls continued to narrow.

It wasn’t long before the walls retreated. Alex staggered onto his feet, dazed. The light was almost unbearable, but he walked closer until he reached a cave entrance—one of the many Alex had mapped out.

He emerged onto the ugliest landscape he had ever seen. Stone hills were everywhere, mixed with dirt and gravel. Holes dotted the ground. The only sign of life was a structure nearby, probably a dragon village. Is this the Surface? Alex thought. He thought he remembered green things everywhere and waterfalls, mountains and trees. This was pretty desolate for a continent filled with dragons. How would they survive here?

Alex picked a random direction (that wasn’t towards the dragon village) and started walking. He ignored the pain in his legs and feet. Turquoise needed him, and that was what mattered.

He walked. He staggered. When the sun was at the edge of the horizon, Alex was slumped over, sweat caking his brow and running down his back. Still, he went on.

Then, he crawled over the crest of a hill and saw fire. Usually, this would be dangerous to approach, but it was human sized. For a moment, Alex couldn’t process this. Humans? Out here?

He tried to walk quietly, but his legs were having none of it. He almost fell into the fire, but strong hands grabbed his arms and pulled him back. Someone asked him a question, but it was muffled. His knees buckled, and all went black.

************

“Alex?”

“Is he okay?”

“I do not know.”

“How…by Emerald’s name, how did he find us?”

“I do not know.”

“Alex? Hey Aaaalex, wakey wakey!” A hand slapped his cheek repeatedly.

Alex rolled onto his back and said, “Uuuuhhh.”

He opened his eyes and blinked. A familiar face loomed over him. Golden blond hair touched his cheek, piercing blue eyes stared at him.

“T-Turquoise?” he murmured.

“You’re alive!” Turquoise exclaimed. She looked completely different than when he had last seen her. She had a deep tan, and her hair was curlier and more bleached. Dirt was on her tattered clothes and on her cheeks.

Alex found the strength to push himself upright and look around. Sapphire appeared from behind Turquoise, surveying Alex critically.

Sapphire had changed too, but it was less noticeable than Turquoise. She was still scrawny, like Alex, but something about her posture had changed—a slight arch in the back, maybe, or the stormy look on her face—that made Alex think this was not a girl to be crossed. She stayed a few feet away from him, frowning, her hand on that satchel she always carried around with her. Alex wondered what was in it.

Alex decided to look at Turquoise instead.

“You’re okay!” he cried, and he hugged her fiercely. “I was so worried!”

“Aww, how sweet,” Turquoise said, looking slightly flustered and confused. Alex’s heart sank at her expression. Had she really not missed him? “But Alex, what are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, obviously,” he said, grinning. “Where are we? What happened?”

“You stumbled on our camp. At first, we didn’t recognize you,” Turquoise admitted, looking slightly abashed, “but Sapphire put a wet cloth on your forehead, and we saw your face.”

“It was worrying,” put in Sapphire. “Your eyes were all glassy, and your clothes were all tattered. Also, we are in the SpineDragon Kingdom.”

“How—how are you here?” Alex asked, tilting his head.

Turquoise pursed her lips. “We were abducted by CaveDragons.”

“I KNEW IT!” Alex shouted, and both girls shushed him with uneasy glances over their shoulders. “Everyone back home believes you ran away and got yourselves killed, but I knew you were alive.”

“I-I miss Mom.” Turquoise’s lower lip was trembling slightly. “And Jade, and Pyrite, and—” she broke off with a small sob, and Sapphire put her arm around her, glaring at Alex as if it was his fault, which didn’t make sense at all.

“Wait, Jade and Pyrite aren’t with you?” Alex asked, confused.

“Jade is gone?” Sapphire glared at Alex with even more intensity.

“Clearly, a lot needs to be explained,” Turquoise put in. “I’ll go first.

“You know those odd thumps that we heard? Pyrite, Sapphire, and I woke up late, so we went to find everybody at the Surface entrance. Then these CaveDragons abducted us and brought us to the Surface another way. We traveled for a week with them, but on Pyrite’s birthday, there was this huge storm. The CaveDragon keeping us captive was shocked out of the sky by lightning, and we dropped out of the sky to here. We’ve been spending the last week trying to find a cave entrance, avoiding dragon villages.”

“But what about Jade?”

“He wasn’t with us when we were captured.”

“Odd. Well…when everyone got back, you guys, Pyrite, and Jade were all gone. I can’t believe…” Alex trailed off, thinking of Zircon. “Father didn’t do anything,” he explained to them. “He just said, ‘we must accept the horrible truth. Your friends and your sister have run away.’ Mom, Onyx, Jade’s father…they all said the same things. I couldn’t take it anymore. Finally, I set out to find you guys.”

Turquoise clamped her hand to her mouth, astonished.

“Alexandrite!” she cried, “you—you ran away?”

Alex nodded, grinning and tilting his head at them. Sapphire looked less angry and more grimly impressed, but she still stayed about five feet away.

What was her deal, anyway?

Turquoise looked shocked, then angry. Alex shushed her before she could say anything. “Aunt Diamond and Uncle Agate were influencing Mom and Dad,” he explained.

Turquoise’s reaction was instant. She set her jaw, sat up straight, and scowled.

“Wait a minute,” said Sapphire, looking back and forth from Alex to Turquoise, “What? Who is Diamond?”

Turquoise took a deep breath. “Aunt Diamond and Uncle Orlov are.... horrible people. Tried to kill me, and almost succeeded.”

“WHAT?” Sapphire shouted. Turquoise made a shush gesture, and she quieted down. “Explain.”

“Aunt Diamond pushed me off a cliff,” Turquoise explained. “But Erinite saved me!” she added quickly at the sight of Sapphire’s expression. Alex thought she might break her own glasses. That would be funny.

Alex glanced around the camp. Where were Erinite and Tanzanite? All he saw were some battered deerskins laid out on the gravel, along with a sword and a bow. A quiver full of arrows was lying in between the deerskins. No sign of any dragonets, though.

“Erinite and Tanzanite are hunting,” Sapphire informed Alex stiffly as if sensing his thoughts, not making eye contact. “They will be back soon.”

As soon as she said it, Alex heard growling. There was a sound like talons on stone, growing louder. Tanzanite’s head perked up from behind a gravel hill, and Alex yelped.

Tanzanite, like Sapphire, had changed. She was now the size of a horse and had four wings. She was currently talking in animated growls to Erinite, who also had four wings and was bigger. Erinite was carrying a weird vegetable, and Tanzanite held a deer carcass. When Erinite saw Alex, she dropped the vegetable and ran to him. Alex found himself wrapped in a tight, scaly hug. Tanzanite joined in, and both started reprimanding him with loud growls.

“I missed you too, guys,” Alex croaked he hadn’t known that they cared so much.

When they had all settled down, Sapphire picked up the deer carcass and skinned it, placing the meat on sticks. She put those over the fire, slowly rotating each one.

“Well…what are we going to do now?” Alex asked.

“Find Pyrite and Jade,” Turquoise answered. “We will scour Terrarestria if we have to.”

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” said a new voice casually. “You’re going to turn around slowly and tell me why you’re here.”