Halfway down Mt. Karza's slopes rests and extensive system of caves, most branch into cave systems on earth. The central chamber of the caves, know as The Vault, is where Jaras meets with his council. The Vault is lit by an unknown source, the young Exiles (children of the first generation of Exiles) believe it's an Angel's soul trapped in a crystal. But it's actually remnants of the first sunlight from the Creation kept in enormous glass spheres. The caves leading from the Vault to Mt. Karza are lit by "fiery lanterns" (lamps with ancient fireflies in them). All caves leading to the human realm are dark...
Zevella moved slowly through the caves her eyes staying a tuned to the shadows as her wings seemed to scrunch closely to her back. Her long blond hair tickled at her back with the small spout of breeze. "I must be getting closer to the surface. Man I hate getting lost in here." she thought as she turned back.
Aspasia walked aimlessly through the caves of Mt Karza. She didn't care were she was going. Exploring the caves was always a worthwhile adventure because you never knew what you would find. The caves were mostly dark even during the day, and Aspasia had to use her staff to light her way. This time she had picked a trail that she had not explored before. She knew most of the trails led to the human world, but occasionally they lead to underground lakes, which she loved to hang out in.
Zevella started back down the dark caves wondering how long it would be till she found her way back to those she had always known. "Friends." the word curled along her lips as she wondered the meaning of the term.
She pitched forward hitting the ground hard. Her wings had barely started to move before she hit. She growled a little bit. "Been stuck in here so long I can't even catch myself."
The light of Aspasia's staff illuminated the walls of the cave and cast eerie shadows all around her. "Damn why couldn't this thing have high beams," she thought, as she walked down a tunnel. Suddenly, she heard a crash and a slight moaning sound up ahead. "What the hell?" she thought, as a blonde haired, black winged woman laying on the floor came into view.
Zevella pushed herself up to her feet again cursing the underground life she had become far to accustom to. She was brushing herself off when the light caught her eyes.
She glanced up, and noticed the other woman standing there. A look of curiosity came over her as she wondered what was going through her mind.
Aspasia looked back at the woman on the ground. She was exceedingly beautiful as all of the exiles were. The light caught the different shades of gold in her hair and the brightness of her eyes. Aspasia offered her hand to lift her up.
Zevella looked at the girl's hand oddly as she had already gotten up. "What are you doing down here?" she asked as she started to walk again noticing how much easier it was for her to walk with the light from the her staff.
Aspasia pulled her hand away and stared at the girl. "I could ask you the same thing," she replied. "It is quite odd to be walking around in the dark without a lantern" she said in a nonchalant manner.
"I felt like a walk." Zevella answered casually. "Besides the darkness helps me think more clearly." she added as she started to walk again.
"Funny," she answered "I was doing the same."
"I see." Zevella answered as she walked casually along the way. Finally she could bear it no more. "We have got to find a way to get out of here... No, not just this path... these caves all of it. You feel the same don't you? Don't you want to go back to the home we once loved so long ago instead of living here in exile. Tossed away like nothing?"
Aspasia looked carefully at the woman in front of her. Even in the dim light from her staff she sensed her inner turmoil.
"Listen..." she said, "lets get out of here. If we go back the way I came and take a left it will lead to a tunnel that goes into the forest behind Jaras house.
The caves are a wondrous place. Sometimes it fills me with excitement and adventure, and at times I feel lonely and forlorn. But I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like a doll that was once much loved and cared for, but now sits alone in the corner gathering dust.
This is not a good place to talk. Let's get out."
"Yeah... let's get out of these caves." she said as she looked back kindly at Aspasia. A smile crossed her face, and she swallowed back everything she was feeling.
She couldn't help, but to ask. "If you could go back would you have made a decision?"
Aspasia smiled back at her and started to walk down the tunnel in the direction she had indicated. She had to think a moment before she could answer the question. So many memories crossed her mind.
"I was different back then," she answered "naive and gullible. I think I might have made the wrong decision if I had had the nerve to make it. Knowing what I know now... well that changes things. Still, it doesn't matter anyways because it is impossible to go backwards in time."
"I see." Zevella replies as she continues to walk. Her mind thrown into the deepest thoughts with answers that still after all this time eluded her. Would she have chosen the right answer? She did not know.
"How much farther do you think it is?"
Arriving at a crossroads in the tunnels, Aspasia pointed and turned left. Not too far down the tunnel the dim light of the world outside poked its fingers into the entrance of the cave, creating a circle of greenish light that filtered through the leaves of the trees beyond.
"We're almost there... By the way I'm As paisa, What's your name?"
Zevella looked at her curiously. "Aspasia... It's me Zevella. Do you not recognize me?" she asked wondering if it may have been darker in the cave then she thought.
"What? Zev? That chu? Wow, tells you how long its been since I've been out of the house." Aspasia shook her head. They were just at the entrance exit of the tunnel now and Aspasia took her first step out into the open.
