The Pool was beautiful.
Seth inhaled, smiling. He hadn't believed in the beauty of the Pools of Life, until he saw it himself.
The water, wonderfully clear and serene, glowed with a brilliance that could only suggest what it's name said-Life. As if one could resurrect the dead within it's depths.
And it was deep. As deep as any sea.
He exhaled, taking in the wonderful floral smell of the little clearing. It had taken him days to get here, but it was worth it.
Seth had just begun to inch his way towards the Pool when the Behemoth struck.
It was a powerful one, too. A large, spider-shaped affair, with eight grotesque legs and a powerful two-segmented body. It was reminiscent of the Black Widow, complete with a red hourglass-shaped figure on it's abdomen.
Seth froze. In the years since the Severance, he'd never once encountered one of the legendary Behemoths. He'd seen them from afar, of course, but he'd never had the bad luck to experience them.
His string of good luck had to end sometime....
Somewhere, in his fear-riddled mind, a voice screamed at him to run, run and dive into the Pool, where he'd come to be healed, and perhaps he'd be safe. But the fear kept him glued to his spot, a mere seven feet away from his possible safeguard, and staring the Behemoth strait in the eyes.
Even the hope that he would be overlooked on the Behemoth's part was dashed as it swung it's gigantic head in his direction. Eight jelly-filled eyes swung in his direction, hard protective coverings blinking open and shut a few times before they focused directly on him.
He could see the Crystal Dancers, five of them...two purples, a blue, a red...and a black....
But Gods knew that it was too late for him.
The Behemoth sensed his fear, and stepped closer to him, crushing a few of the smaller alders and willows that framed the once-serene clearing. This dorisk, for that was the type of Behemoth he was staring at, had a particular taste for scared human beings. It sniffed the air around Seth, hungrily, and Seth felt a stab of pain in his belly.
He looked down and was astonished to find a protrudance from one of the tree-sized legs had found it's way through his stomach. He was bleeding.
Oh, God.....

The Crystal Dancers made quick work of the dorisk, because dinner was being served at the Sanctuary, and they were all hungry.
The boy that the Behemoth had attacked was dead. He'd been punctured all the way through the stomach, and spine, by one of the dorisk's strong pincers.
A Crystal Dancer landed near him, her wings folding back behind her, and she knelt by him, feeling a pain so intense that tears sprung from her eyes. She turned away, and her comrades beckoned to her, gesturing wildly for her to follow them. She shook her head, her black hair cascading around her. "I'll come back later....I am going to try to help him."
Jessi buzzed over and landed near her. "Jez, you know he's dead...there isn't any hope for him." She said, softly. The Blue Crystal Dancer showed sympathy for her friend, but the Black could not be consoled.
"I am going to try to help him." The Black repeated. Jessi gave a small sigh, and patted her on the back.
"Jezebel, if anyone can do it, it's you. I'll tell the Mother that you'll be late." And with that, the Blue spread her delicate wings and sprang upwards.
"What's eating her?" A Purple said.
"Ah, that's just Jez for you." Jessi said, shrugging. "She was one of the originals, and she hates to lose a person."
"Wow, you'd think she really liked them." The Red commented.
"She does." Jessi said, seriously. "She was one, once..."

She used all the power she could to bring him to life, without alerting another Behemoth. Black power was the most potent, had the most staying power. The dark energy crackled as it wove it's serene way around his body, enveloping him.
He was alive, but still wounded. She needed to get him into the Pool before he died all over again. The blast from the dorisk's death had knocked him nearly a half a mile away from the Lifesource.
She didn't have a choice. She picked him up and began to fly...a bit low to the ground, of course, but it was the least she could do.
"Seth......just make it." She whispered to the clear moon.

Strong arms...lifting him from his painful resting place on the ground. It should hurt, but it didn't...
The sensation of being lifted off of the ground entirely came over him, along with a strange sensation of the person carrying him being lifted as well. He wondered....
Then it was cold. Nothing but cold. He was covered with it.
And he woke up.

Jezebel flew painfully towards the Pool, and dropped Seth into the water. He woke up about halfway down, and she could do nothing.
That's how the Pools work, of course. He'd be able to breathe...
Seth, don't worry. You're fine now. She thought at him, warily. With that, she lifted from the earth and flew.
From his lonely spot in the Pool, Seth thought she rather looked like an Angel.

I wonder why I can breathe...?
I mean, isn't that kind of...strange? Water isn't breathable.
Then again, everything has kind of been upside down since the Severance. Nothing's made sense.
That Crystal Dancer saved my life. If I ever see her again... Why did she do that, anyway? Crystal Dancers don't much think of humans...animals, I guess they think of us as. And compared to them, we are.
What's happening to me? I'm going up....

Jezebel shot up from her horizontal position on the floor. Her lithe form stood up silently, without alerting any of the other sleeping forms around her that she had done so.
Her friends and her often slept in the common area of the Sanctuary, as it was warmer and more amusing, but she needed to get to her room and dress in something more appropriate for the Outside than what she was wearing now.
Which was nothing. Crystal Dancers rarely dressed inside the Sanctuary. There was no point.
Her feet whispered across the stone floor as she walked back to her cubicle. Glancing around the small hallway, she made sure that no one was watching her as she walked through her door.
She chose a black dress suitable for her long trip through the Heavens of Terra. It would be cold. The fur-lined garment would keep her protected.
And with that, she launched herself out of her window, the towers of the Sanctuary glaring at the small speck in the sky, forebodingly.
Perhaps they knew something was going to happen.

Seth floated back to the surface of the Pool, slowly. As he rose, he got warmer, and he became aware of the fact that he was in one piece again...the Pool had truly healed him.
He broke the surface tension with an explosive gasp. The breathable quality of the water disappeared as you got closer to the surface.
And there stood the most beautiful creature that ever walked the surface of Terra.
It was the Crystal Dancer. He could feel the power that had brought him to life, breathed the earthpower into his veins. He could tell it was his Crystal Dancer.
And she was eerily familiar.
She looked beautiful. Reminiscent of faery lore from the sane world, her crystalline figure stood proud against the white trees. Black hair cascaded down her shoulders, where they met dragonfly wings at the junction of shoulder blade. Her eyes were darker than the girl she reminded him of, and her stature just a bit more confident, but it looked like Her...
He shook his head for clarity, and opened his mouth to say "Thank you."
All that came out was a cough. A cough that spewed Pool water all over her dress.
"I'm sorry." He gasped. Another cough followed the first.
The same strong arms that had brought him here drew him up and let him cough up the water that still remained in his lungs. He thought he heard her chuckle but one could never be sure.
One thing was certain. This was the Black Dancer he'd spied in his terror. They were so rare...only five left from the original Severance.
And she'd saved him.
"Th-thank you." he shivered out. She smiled, and held him up so he wouldn't be quite so cold.
It didn't work so well. He just shivered harder. The girl frowned, and set him back down. The ease with which she slung his body around foretold of the incredible strength harnessed in that tiny body. Seth was no small man.
She flew off and he felt utterly deserted. He couldn't blame her, though. She'd come back to see what had happened to her little project and it threw water up on her pretty black dress.
Pretty soon, though, she came back with a blanket, which she covered him up in. He clung to it, grateful for the meager warmth it offered.
Then she slowly picked him up off of the ground, and lifted into the atmosphere. He felt the strange sense of vertigo and then all became dark.

Jezebel grimaced. This was going to be harder than she thought.
About halfway to the Sanctuary, she set down on a high peak, to rest. It was chilly but she needed to rest or else she would pass out.
Seth was one heavy guy.
The bag twitched, and she let out a small groan. She'd wanted him to stay asleep the whole way.
Using a bit of Power, she knocked him out again, and slung the small blanket that enclosed him over her shoulder. She had to get back to the Sanctuary, and there was still a long way yet to travel.