A/N: Wh00t! Second chapter! Took me forever to write, but hey, I wanted to spend time on this one.

Big hugs and thanks and Sirrus plushies for uberlutra, who has been waiting for this story since forever and has sat through hours of my spaztic brainstorming on dA’s #MystChat.

                                  Devokan Tsahno

                                       Chapter 2

                              Things I've Never Known

“Shorah, Cecilia. Thoe kenem?”

“Wha?”

Thus began the first morning that I was allowed out of bed. Or, rather, the first morning I was fed up with staring at the ceiling all day and decided to get out of bed. Either way, the confusion and uncertainty in Atrus’ voice nearly matched my own.

“I apologize. I forget that you do not speak D’ni. How are you?”

I gingerly touched the now-healing cut on my forehead.

“Erm. . . better?”

Atrus nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t really convinced. He made a gesture for me to follow him. He led me along a short hallway past many rooms (bedrooms, I guessed. The only room I really recognized was the bathroom, which was across the hall from “my room”) before arriving in a kitchen-type area. Up until now, I hadn’t seen the rest of Atrus’ house. I fell in love with the quaint little area immediately. There were portraits of family members and beautiful scenes on the walls, the table and chairs were made of a soft-looking red wood, and the smell of delicious cooking wafted through the air.

I could hear someone humming a little tune. Looking around more, I saw an open doorway leading into a small kitchen. Catherine was standing at a stone-and-metal table (stove?) making something, humming all the while. She turned to greet Atrus, eyes widening when she saw me.

“Oh, Cecilia, I wasn’t expecting you this morning! Here, let me set out an extra plate. Where are Sirrus and Achenar? Atrus, do you think you could find them? It is almost time for breakfast!”

“Catherine, Catherine, slow down!”

Anna had walked into the room, a sleepy Sirrus and Achenar in tow. Achenar opened one bleary eye and yawned, and Sirrus gave me a little halfhearted wave. I waved back. Anna looked at me, smiling.

“I’m glad you’re awake, dear,” she said to me.

“Mhmm. . .” I said, halfway through a yawn myself.

I wandered around to the other side of the table to where Catherine had put down the extra plate. The dish was piled high with bread and what looked like fruit, though I didn’t know for the life of me what it was. But apparently Achenar did, as he almost squealed with joy as he took a red, oval-shaped fruit of his plate. I smiled at his antics and helped myself to a piece of bread. I took a bite and almost died happy. It wasn’t so much bread at it was a pastry, and it seemingly melted in my mouth as I chewed it. Atrus chuckled at the look on my face.

“That is precisely how I looked when I first tried Catherine’s bread,” he said.

“It’s amazing!’ I said to Catherine, “What’s in it?”

“Thank you, Cecilia, but I’m afraid I cannot tell you. It is my secret.”

“D-did you h-have food l-like this on Earth, C-Cecilia?” asked Sirrus, holding up a fist-sized yellow fruit. I shook my head.

“Nope. This is all new to me. But in a good way,” I quickly added, not wanting to offend my hosts.

The rest of breakfast was spent in conversation. Mostly, Sirrus and Achenar asked me questions about Earth while Atrus, Catherine, and Anna told me the D’ni names of whatever I was eating or using. It was. . . well, surreal bliss. I’d never had a sit-down meal with my family at home, which I was forcefully reminded of when Catherine asked about them.

“Well, my mom and dad are businesspeople,” I said, “So they travel around a lot. I don’t see them very often. When they aren’t home, my brother goes to stay with my grandmother while I watch the house.”

I was struck in that instant by the similar structure of the two families. There was a mom, a dad, two kids, and a grandmother figure. Maybe that’s why I settled in so quickly. It was all so familiar.

“Anyway,” I said, “My brother’s name is Lucas. He’s nine years old. . . I wonder how he’s doing. . .”

After that little cheery conversation, I helped Catherine clear the table (despite her protests). Atrus retreated to his study, and Sirrus and Anna went off somewhere. That left Achenar with me as Catherine washed the dishes.

“C’mon, Cecilia!” he said, tugging me down the hallway, “Let’s go outside! You haven’t seen the whole island yet!”

I laughed, saying, “Is this island very big, Achenar?”

He shook his head, “Nope. You can walk across it really fast. Father timed it once: It took me five minutes to run from one side to the other an‘ back!”

Five minutes at a run. That’s tiny. You couldn’t get anywhere around where I lived in five minutes unless you had wheels.

“Come on, Cecilia! You have to get in!”

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Achenar’s hasty pushing. He was trying to get me into some sort of elevator. Once we were in, he pushed a glowing blue button. And then we started moving up.

“Achenar,” I began uncertainly, “Are we underground?”

“Yup! The rooms are under the whole island! Nanna wrote it that way. She says it keeps the island safe an’ stable.”

“Safe and stable? In case of what?”

“I dunno. I heard Mother and Father talkin’ about someone, though. And about this one Age. . . I think it was called ‘Riven’ or somethin’.”

Riven? Someone? Were Atrus and Catherine hiding from someone? But I didn’t have time to think on this, as the elevator had stopped and Achenar was pushing me out again. We were in. . . yet another hallway. It looked exactly the same as the ones that I had been staring at for the past two weeks. Yes, that’s right, I was bedridden for two weeks. And, honestly, I really needed some sun.

Achenar led me down the twisting hallway. There were no doors or windows of any kind, so I had no idea what time of day it was. Finally, we reached. . . a wall. A blank wall. Well, almost blank. There was a painting of a small library hanging directly in the middle of the wall. It showed a fireplace, shelves, and more paintings. I looked closer. It was incredibly detailed. I could see the details in the brick and the individual books on the shelves. Were it not for the small size of the painting, I probably would have been able to read the titles of the books.

A small hand abruptly snaked it’s way into my field of vision, startling me into taking a step back. I watched, curious, as Achenar placed his hand on the painting. At first, nothing happened. Then, the picture began to warp and curve out of place. The sound of clanking metal and groaning wood filled the hallway, and I watched as part of the wall folded down, creating steps. The other part of the wall slid into the ceiling. I stared, amazed, as I now faced the very library that I had seen in the paining.

Achenar jogged down the steps while I followed slowly behind. I looked around in awe at the shelves of books that lined the walls of the library. I picked one off a shelf and opened it. It was another one of those “Linking Books” that had brought me here. It showed a beautiful forest that had seemingly been flooded, making the trees seem like they’d grown out of the water itself. I closed the book and put it back on the shelf, careful not to touch the image.

The sound of clanking again filled the space I was standing in. I looked over at Achenar and saw that he had put his hand on yet another painting. This one showed a doorway leading outside. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the stairway fold back up and I realized that the stairs were really a bookcase. Looking across the room, I could see another door opening. Achenar waved at me to join him, and I did so without hesitation.

The morning sun hit me full in the face as I stepped out of the library. A cool breeze blew, ruffling the grass and lazily pushing a few small clouds across the grey-blue sky. I was surprised to see that it was just after dawn; the sun sat upon the horizon, creating a twin in the blue ocean water. The light illuminated a small forest of tall red pine trees, one of which was almost twice as tall as the rest. I looked out to my left and saw another building, and beyond that was an old ship that looked like the kinds that pirates used to sail. All around me, I felt the tranquility of this place. The care that went into designing it, the balance of all the elements. . .

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” asked Achenar.

I looked down at the small boy, then back at the sun.

“Yes. . . it’s beautiful.”

A/N: Myst Island in all it’s glory. Lucky for you people, I’ve already got the next chapter mostly written :D So, expect it soon!