Marvelous: Creation

Chapter Ten

A gentle breeze swept through my hair, slowly working at what had lain asleep for too long. I tried to move my hand, but found I was only able to move a few fingers. What was holding me down?

With a jolt, I realized these are the first thoughts I’ve had in years. Years. I took a deep breath in, the first breath of fresh air I’d had making my lungs wheeze, straining against the ache of not moving for so long. The more I moved, the more I strained against it, the more I was able to push against whatever was holding me down.

I’m waging a war.

One step forward, two steps back slowly became three steps forward, one step back. I pushed, using muscles I hadn’t used in years. It had only just occurred to me that I didn’t know where I was. I blinked, glancing around me. It was dark, blacker than black, as if every and any ounce of light that found its way here had been sucked out. And I was terrified of the night.

Be prepared to accept your role in the war.

My hands slowly became free, finally able to bend my wrists. I strained, pushing farther and farther until my arms could move a few inches. The feeling of being trapped was making my chest grow tighter, making me more anxious to fight off this feeling of being buried alive. Memories were rushing back to me, some that were mine, others I didn’t recognize. Then I started on my feet, struggling against the pressure weighing down on me. 

You’re a mind reader?

My arms and legs were pushing upwards, pressing against what felt like a coffin holding me down. I was screaming with the effort, pushing with everything I had in me. Fear drove me forward, kept me struggling to get out of the darkness.

You’re powerful, kid. We could use you.

One more push, one more push, one more push, I told myself. Slowly, I noticed my surroundings growing brighter as I pushed. With a sense of renewed hope, I began swinging my arms and legs, kicking out and hitting the wall in front of me. I could feel it ready to give just as the light began hurting my eyes. One more hit, one more hit…

No, he wasn’t too happy.

Suddenly the barrier shattered, pelting me with tiny pieces of whatever it was. I was falling, blindly, through the air, screams and cries and laughter all ringing out around me in the white light. I could feel the repercussions shattering around me, resonating deeper and deeper until it was a full on roar echoing deep inside my bones. 

And then I was floating. I held myself upright, hands out on either side of me. I felt warm, surrounded by hundreds of sparks, almost like tiny fireworks. I stretched, muscles groaning now that I could finally move. I lowered myself down, setting myself on the ground. Where was I?

Before I could think on it, I was slammed in my side, purple lights flashing before my eyes. What the hell? I groaned as I was hit again, feeling as if I was being pummeled from every direction. Hit after hit, I tried to flinch away from it, but it kept coming after me, surrounding me with purple.

And there it was, the final blow: a slice, straight into my stomach, as if from multiple stab wounds. My eyes flew open, laser focused on the apparition of someone yards and yards away from me, ripping out his claws with a dangerous grimace.

This was too much. With the force of thousands behind me, I gathered all of the purple I was surrounded with and pushed it through myself, lifting me up. With a final cry, I sent it outwards, the sparks hitting everything and everyone I could reach. 

“Enough!”

The sparks poured out of me, flowing as if it were an endless river. But it wasn’t, and I could feel the end coming. The stream from my fingers began to taper off, slowly dwindling to a few pathetic sparks, and then I was falling once again.

Down, down, down, into the darkness once more. Exhaustion was seeping into my bones, making the purple fade away into nothing. I closed my eyes, welcoming the warm embrace that the fog surrounded me in.

And so you have been saved.

- - - - -

When I woke back up, I was outside. At least, it looked like outside, but it didn’t feel right. Almost as if it was a fake outside. I groaned, head still sore from sleeping. Was that all a dream? I sat up, holding my head in my hands as I glanced around. I was in a field, the too soft grass almost feeling like laying on a blanket. The sky was too bright, the clouds too perfectly symmetrical. Someone had definitely made up this setting.

“Are you sure you aren’t mad?”

I froze, hearing the words behind me. How could that…was that her? After all this time, had she finally found me?

I turned slowly, throat tight as I looked over my shoulder. There was Hope, sitting just twenty yards away. She was facing me—but that wasn’t me she was talking to. 

I stood slowly, muscles aching. From this angle, he did look like me, but he was off. The shadows were too dark across his face, skin just a little too red. “You stopped the fighting.” He was saying to Hope, voice just this side of rough, as if it was playing through a voice recorder. “And according to Idril, you saved the world. Of course I’m not mad.”

Idril? Who was Idril? Hope had saved the world? I took a few steps forward, straining to hear Hope over the wind that had begun blowing in the clearing. 

“I didn’t know your powers could do that. It scared me.”

The fake me responded smoothly, “It scared me, too. But look at it this way: you can feel spirits now. You can feel me again, I’m here, almost fully.”

“Hope?” I whispered, voice hoarse. “Hope!”

She snorted, and my heart clenched at the noise. It’d been so long since I’d heard her, or seen her smile. “Wonderful, now you’re in my mind constantly, something every girl wants her brother to be.”

“Hope!” I shouted again. Why couldn’t she hear me? “Hope, that’s not me!”

Fake-me laughed, sounding completely plastic and fake. “Shut up, Hope. You know you missed me. You know, with your abilities, you can do amazing things now. I mean, controlling spirits…having mine in you…it opens up new possibilities.”

My eyes widened just as Hope’s did. No way. “Hope!” I shrieked, running forward. The wind continued howling, as if to push me backwards. “Hope, no!” Suddenly I slammed into a wall, completely invisible. I pounded my hand on it, looking for a crack as it shimmered in front of me. It went on forever, not budging an inch. I turned to look back at my sister, desperation seeping out of me. I tried to use my mind to get to her, but found I couldn’t get beyond this wall. “Hope!”

“Are you suggesting….?” She said quietly, looking at the man in front of her. There was no way she could think that I would actually say that, that I would ever suggest something like this.

“Hope!” I pounded on the wall, screaming desperately. “Hope! That’s not me! He’s not your brother! Hope!”

He nodded, grabbing Hope’s hand in a way that made me want to throw up. “You could bring me back, Hope. You could bring me back to life.”