Well here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy. I can't update until after my trip to Germany. But I do hope within a month or so I can update if life permits. Remember I do not own the rights to the characters of the show Victorious.

Chapter 8

Trina sighed as looks at the scene before her. It was beautiful in a grim hopeless way. If they were on vacation, she might have been taking pictures, but Trina and Jade were not on vacation. The scene only presented itself as the final crumbling of hope.

The two were standing on the lip of some sort of huge crater on the top of the largest hill on the island. It was so large it actually bordered a look of a huge mountain, and gave an unfortunately good view of the rest of the island. The crater was filled with clear water, which spilled over one edge and formed the beginnings of the river that they had been following. But the crater itself was a mystery.

It was large, but not exceedingly large. It didn't look like any sort of volcanic leftover; the "mountain" was just too small for that. And too rounded. It just wasn't the geology of a volcano. The facts just didn't add up.

Jade on the other hand, started walking around the edge of the crater, looking out to the jungle below them. The look on her face was probably very similar to the one on Trina's own. Now they knew. Not even a faint hope remained. In every direction was jungle, and more jungle, and beyond that, beach and ocean and limitless sky.

Trina almost wanted to cry, but if Jade could remain calm, than she would too. Trina turns and looks out at the jungle below her. There was nothing in that greenery to be happy about, nothing to even be positive about.

"Hey, Trina, take a look at this."

She looked up to see Jade waving her over. Jade was looking down the opposite edge of the crater, and she had a slight smile, which for some reason was rare for her. "What is it?" Trina asks, approaching Jade.

"Look down there." Jade was pointing at something among the trees.

Peering down, Trina was confused. "It looks like..."

"A building of some kind." Jade looks at her with her smile still slightly showing.

"Maybe we were wrong. Maybe there's someone there." Shaking her head, Trina slowly answers, "No never mind, look, see, it is all grown over."

"Well, maybe we can stay there then. Either way, we have to go down there and check it out."

Trina couldn't argue against that. "I guess we have no choice."

Trina didn't like leaving the river and told Jade as much.

"Look, we have no choice Trina. I don't know what to say other than if we never leave the sight of the river, we'll never explore the entire island. We may not find anyone else here, but it's still important that we know the layout of the island. We can't be content to just sit in one spot for the rest of our time."

Jade refused to say that they would be there the rest of their lives. She refuses to accept that they would be. Even if it looked that way, she was determined they would find a way to get to some other island, something inhabited, or they would get themselves rescued. They simply couldn't let themselves not believe that.

Trina followed Jade as they descend the almost mountain hill toward the strange ruins they had seen emerging from the jungle. True, part of it was leaving the river, which Trina didn't want to do, but it was a strange ruin as well.

Yes, they needed to explore it, but Trina once again really didn't want to go deeper in the ruin. Seeing it at first had been a small spark of hope. Maybe, however, not likely to happen, there was someone in that ruin. Maybe there was someone that could get them off the island. But something bothered Trina about that mysterious ruin. Just something, she didn't like it at all.

"I know I said it before, but I still don't think this is really such a good idea," she said, frowning.

Jade rolls her eyes and turns back to look at her, "What? Trina, it's just some sort of ruin or temple. What could go wrong? At worst, maybe it's where those dogs are hiding out, but I think we can fight them off. I really don't see what the big deal is. Is Trina scared of exploring the place?"

Trina annoyed at how Jade was mocking her, she shakes her head in disagreement, "I don't talk like that! And No, I just…Look, It may be nothing, but I just don't like it."

Jade smirks but makes the decision for her, "Whatever. I don't care if you don't like it. We are going and that is my final say. Let's go." Jade grabs Trina's hand and pulls her toward the temple. She also starts to pick up her pace dragging Trina along with her.

As Trina was being dragged, she was going to give Jade her piece of mind, but Trina bit her tongue as she felt Jade squeeze her hand some. Trina was actually afraid of what this mountain will bring as well as trying to get to know this Jade she met on the island. It should have been a straight walk down to the ruin, and not too far by the looks of it, but distances seem to be deceiving.

They both walked through the heat and the plants and the insects for an amount of time. They weren't even sure how long, except they were sweating and tiring themselves out. They didn't have the luxury of the river to draw water from when they got too warm or too thirsty this time, and they were starting to feel it. Hell, both of them look ready to melt, and several times they stopped had to rest under the canopy of the jungle. Even though it was all downhill, their legs were burning with the effort of moving.

"J... Jade, I…I have to rest," Trina said, panting. "It's too hot. I can barely breathe."

Jade was doubled over, sucking in air what air she could. "Just... just relax Trina. Take deep breaths, don't talk. It's not as bad as you think it is."

Trina leaned back against a tree and slid down so she was sitting on the ground, her forehead resting on her knees. "I didn't think it would be so hot if we got away from the river."

Jade nodded, sweat dripping from her neck down. Her black dark hair somewhat in a bun. "Neither did I. Maybe..." Maybe this and maybe that. Maybe a golden horse would gallop out of the trees and give them ride. Or maybe a talking lion would give them a wish. 'Great. Now she was hallucinating to make herself feel better' Jade thought to herself.

Trina waves her right hand absently at her, and she Jade blinked back to reality. She didn't know what to say. There wasn't much to say.

"Trina we can't wait until dark."

Trina nods. "I know." She stands slowly, her face looks exhausted and drained of strength. Her entire body felt like a rusty gate, stiff and creaking, she felt like it might fall apart at any moment. Trina took a deep breathe and responded, "Let's go then."

That small amount of movement, standing, had Trina sweating even worse. It didn't help she was already short of breath. And when Jade stood, she could see she wasn't any better.

"Jade. I think the quicker we get this over with, the quicker we can rest, right?" she asks.

Jade nods, her eyes looking almost glassy. She wasn't sure she could keep it up. "It can't be much further, right?" she says more to herself, but some to Trina. "Yeah. Not much further. It can't be."

She wasn't sure she could make it, but it was something more than that. She was mentally unable to focus well, unable to concentrate on her breathing or her pace, which had tired her out immensely.

The entire time down, she had been huffing and puffing, her footing shaky, legs feeling like they were about to give out. It was almost like she was in a complete fog, mentally and physically.

"Trina, this is bad..."

"Well it could be worse, Jade. It's only a little bit more and then we'll be there. We can take this heat, just until we get there, and then we'll rest. Even if we have to sleep in trees, we'll be fine."

She extended her hand to Jade, and Jade couldn't even remember when she had decided to sit down. "It's not that," she said, taking Trina hand and allowing her to pull her to her feet."

"What is it then?"

Jade shook her head. "I just don't think... I've changed my mind. This is a bad idea. We should go back, or around, or something. I just don't think it's a good idea to investigate this place."

Trina laughs tiredly. "Come on you made us come this far. We are way too far to quit now."

Jade gave as slight smile to Trina and said, "Look who became the brave one now."

Trina blushes some as they both decided to continue. They stumble away from the spot they had stopped, looking like the living dead.

Thankfully, they had only a little longer to travel before they reached their destination. Even though they couldn't see it through the trees, they knew they had made it.

The multitudes of living inhabitants that had been around them at all times before, so noisy, so ever-present, were suddenly quiet. It was like they had entered some dead zone, no sound, no movement, nothing.

Even the plant life was much subdued, and nearly non-existent when they got within four meters of the immense structure, and all but the most basic plant life refused to grow. The grass was short and scraggly, thick blades grew in erratic clumps all over.

A few trees had braved the closer proximity to the walls, and they paid a price for their hardiness. Trina and Jade looks at the stunt and twisted trunks, almost black in color. The leaves, what few there were, were green and yellow, mottled with black and something that might have been purple, or maybe silver, but didn't have any name they could describe it with.

"Trina," Jade whispers, "Do you feel a breeze?"

Trina shakes her head. "No why?"

"Then why are those branches moving?" she asked.

She pointed to a tree at the corner of the structure that was waving slightly, almost as if it were greeting them.

Trina swallows hard, "Uh..." was all Trina said in response. "Why... why don't we take a look around the outside first?" she suggested, looking away from the tree.

"Good idea," Jade replies, and turns away from the waving tree. She began walking briskly in the opposite direction, quite eager to be away from it. That was just another one of those things that Jade was beginning to really dislike about the island.

She knew Trina was just as disturbed by it as she was. The look of revulsion on her face had been quite clear. Or maybe it hadn't been revulsion at all, but horror. And fear. Those were two things she could readily agree with.

They followed along one outer wall, idly looking at it, sometimes looking at the surrounding greenery. There just wasn't a whole lot to say about the wall because it was smooth and featureless. Just a smooth, solid expanse of white, pushing back the jungle, staking its claim.

At one point, after they had turned one corner, Trina thought she had spotted another wild pig and had gone after it into the jungle. That left Jade alone, and she wasn't exactly happy with it. Hell, she didn't think she'd be afraid of much of anything the island could throw at her, but it was just... creepy.

The lack of any noise, birds, animals, and insects even, was so disturbing that she found herself involuntarily shivering. Suddenly getting a look of distaste on her face, she forced her body to stop the worthless shaking and stand still. She wasn't a child. It was unnecessary for her to act as one.

No, she could explore on her own. Trina would find her as long as she didn't wander into the jungle. Which confuses her since Trina was afraid earlier herself. She would not let it get to her. She could handle it. She would handle it, childish fears be damned.

Walking, it was actually a small shape huddled against the wall that caught her attention. It looked to be a log or something leaning against the wall, and on it, she saw something that looked familiar to her.

"Trina!" she called out as she walked on. "I think I found a little something!"

Trina came bursting from the jungle, panting and sweating. She had not found any trace of the pig she had thought she had seen.

"You found something?" she asks.

"Yeah. Up here." Jade points to the shape as they approach it.

"Do those look like mushrooms to you?"

Trina looks at the mushrooms growing on the log that Jade had pointed out. She was still too far away to tell clearly, and she wasn't quite sure what it was she was looking at anyway. Her eyes seem a bit blurry up close, but it couldn't hurt to investigate more closely.

They both approached the mushrooms, and Jade squatted down to look at them closer. "I think they look like some sort of mushroom, but if neither of us can be sure, then we shouldn't..." She reached out to pluck one of the enlarged caps.

"Jade, don't!" Trina says sharply. She was standing on the other side of the log and prodding it with her stick. "Don't touch those," she warns, her voice deadly serious.

Jade looked up at Trina, surprised. "Why? What's wrong?"

She gestures with her stick and what she had found.

Rising and walking to stand next to her, Jade looks down at what she was staring darkly at. Her face twisted into a look of disgust.

"Thanks for warning me."

"Don't' mention It." she replies. They look at it for a few moments longer, as if taking in the sight as a warning to themselves, then walked on.

What they had left behind, was not a log, but the corpse of a large monkey, huddled against the wall. The strange pitch black mushrooms sprouted from its body, a healthy cluster protruding forth from one empty eye socket. A slimy white fungus seemed to pour from its open mouth, like it was a rabid beast. The overall effect was disturbing, the animal seeming to clutch itself with its arms, its face locked in a silent scream of anguish.

Jade and Trina continued to walk on, wondering when this funhouse of illusions would end. First the tree, then the monkey... What could be next? And could it be any worse? Then they reached the entrance, and a feeling of loathing washed over them. They both knew that it could get worse, and deep inside, they knew it would.

They paused at the "gates" to the immense structure, temple, and palace, whatever it was and looked at each other. It was raising doubts in each of them, and the silence was beyond deafening. The two huge pillars of stone, what appeared to be a sort of marble, flanked them.

There were no obvious spots where any sort of doors might have been connected, but it seemed absurd that such a... pristine place would have been left open to the wilderness.

Jade looks at the "floor", composed of blocks of the same marble the pillars were. The entire thing seems to be made of the stone. But... where had it all come from? It was obvious that it hadn't come from the island itself.

Trina touched her hand to the smooth stone and ran her fingers across it. "It's one whole piece."

Jade looks at her strangely. "What?"

"This pillar, its one huge unbroken piece of stone. Like something this large... it should be in sections, but it's not."

She looks at the outside of the pillar, where it was connected with the exterior walls. Again,
there was no seam, no crack, and no joint. The pillar and the wall were one huge, solid piece of rock.

"Did you see this?" Jade asks. She was down on one knee, looking with fascination at the marble "tiling" that begin just on the other side of the pillars.

Jade looks up at Trina, then back down at the floor. "It's amazing..." She touched it with her fingertips and wiped it lightly. It was smooth, almost greasy to the touch, and she couldn't help but bring her fingers together, rubbing them against one another. "This is weird," she said reverently.

Trina watches her, then took a big breath and stepped on to that strange, slippery surface. She expected her foot to slide on the smooth stone, but her footing was as solid as it had been on the dirt. Trina braces herself against the upright and stepping completely onto the floor of the ruin...

But she couldn't really call it a ruin of any sort. It was in pristine condition when it should have been nothing more than a crumbling pile of rubble. The slightly off-white marble with veins of gray running through it looked like it had been cleaned and polished just the other day, and was cool on her feet, even through her flip flops.

"What is this? It sure doesn't feel like any sort of rock I know," Jade said, stepping gingerly from the dirt to the floor. It was hard to concentrate on one aspect of the... temple because it was just so weird in all ways.

There was the weird stone, and the way it was cut, and the perfect condition, and it was just so... eerily perfect. Words just didn't do it justice. Nothing she could say could accurately describe what she was feeling. Awe and fear and amazement and disbelief, but not any of them. It was all those things and more.

"Jade, are you..."

Trina's hand on her shoulder made her jump and realize she had been staring at the smallish structure in the middle of the... place. She didn't even know what she was standing in the middle of. "I'm fine, Trina," she replied, her voice strangely devoid of all emotion, a fact that bothered even her.

"Well, if you say so." She looks at her more, getting the distinct feeling that there was something very wrong, but not knowing what or why, then went back to her exploration. Trina decided she would try what they had done with the outside and follow the interior wall. It all seemed obvious enough, a big, wide open space surrounded by walls, but it was hard to say.

"I don't think this is any sort of temple or anything," she says as she walked. "The walls are all completely blank. Wouldn't there be reliefs or something? Engravings? Sta..."

Jade had been walking ever so slowly to the building in the middle of the space, darkly fascinated by its appearance, like that of a tomb. Could it be? But then Trina had suddenly stopped speaking.

"What is it, Trina?"

Jade waited for her reply. There wasn't one. "Trina?" she said loudly, and began walking to where she had been along the wall. She got around the intimidating presence of the little building and saw Trina standing, frozen in place, staring at something. Frowning slightly, she approaches her carefully.

"Trina?" she asks again. "What's the..."

She saw what Trina was looking at, and something in her told her to stand perfectly still and not move. She wasn't sure if her survival instinct was powerful enough, and what she saw was something she couldn't punch and break, or something Trina could fend off with her stupid stick. What she saw was... an abomination of nature.

A statue made of dark gray stone, in complete contrast to the white beauty around them, sat in the midst of a stagnant fountain. It was completely, wholly, disgustingly unnatural, with limbs all twisted, and a body perverted against everything natural.

A faceless stub of a head, masked by tentacles and claws and great wings casting a dark shadow across the still water in the fountain basin.

"Trina, what..."

..she screamed in fear and rage as the razors pincers slashed down towards her...

"Jade?!"

..."JADE! NO!" the Trina's voice, screaming in rage and
grief...

"Jade?"

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