Mindmap

Chapter 2 ~ Tia

     The light at the end of the tunnel was actually four people. Like me, Ferrin, and Jasper, they were all glowing, although the surrounding daylight washed out their colours once we left the darkness of the wayport. We emerged into what looked like the parking lot of park. As we got closer to the others, the glowing rainbow crackles separated into distinct colours. Red around Jasper, orange around Ferrin, yellow around a plump girl with honey coloured hair, green around a young man with long white hair, blue around a dark skinned young woman with cornrows coiled into a low bun, indigo around a pale girl with a black hoodie covering most of her face, and violet around me.

     "Everything go alright with your trip, Jasper?" asked the Blue Woman. 

     "Not really," Jasper frowned. "I mean, we got to Tia alright, but something about her world, it- it drained me. I couldn't feel any of my power. Only when Ferrin's talk about the sparks summoned them did I get the strength to open a wayport. But it wasn't in my control."

     He looked stricken, like this was something that had never happened to him. As I was currently also experiencing stuff that had never happened to me, I could empathize.

     "We'll figure it out, Jasper," said the Blue Woman with concern, before turning to me. "And you must be Tia."

     "Yes," I said. "How does everyone know my name?"

     "You're from a book!!" said the Yellow Girl.

     "I- What?! I am??" I asked. This was insane. I couldn't be from a book!

     "Yep!"

     "Which book?" I asked. Sure, Ferrin and Jasper were from books, but I couldn't be. "My life is way too boring to be in a book."

     "Don't worry," said the Indigo Girl. "Your book is really boring too."

     "Don't be rude, Ari dear" said the Blue Woman. 

     "It is a pretty boring book, Myx. Not that you're boring, of course!" said the Yellow Girl, looking at me again.

     "Um, which book," I asked again. 

     "Show her, Ellie," Ari said to the Yellow Girl, who was apparently Ellie.  

     "Alright, alright," she said, shrugging a cute canvas backpack off her shoulders. Ellie opened the bag and pulled out "Physics 11."

     I burst out laughing. "You're kidding me," I said.

     "Nope," said Ari. She took the book from Ellie, opened it to a bookmarked page, and held it out to me.

Tia is boiling water for coffee. She is using 368ml of 27 degree C water. a) calculate the amount of energy used to heat the water to a boil. b) Explain how the components of the electric kettle heat the water, using your knowledge of energy and electricity.

     There was also a picture of a smiling girl with brown skin, glasses, and short black hair, holding a coffee mug. A picture of me, holding my coffee mug. The mug that was still sitting on my desk.

     "You're kidding me," I said again, but this time it was a whisper. I was from a physics textbook. My entire life existed in a physics textbook. A textbook. Sure, maybe I didn't need to be from thrilling adventure, but I would have been fine with anything other than a random practice question where the main character was a kettle. 

     "I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Myx said gently. She laid a hand on my shoulder.  "You could have gone your whole life not knowing. But know that your life is real, no matter where it is from. You're real."

     "I- Thank you," I said with a somewhat forced smile. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Are you also from a book?"

     "Perhaps, but I don't know it's name," she said. "Ellie, Ari, and I are from this world, Earth49, Jasper tells me. He and Ferrin are from offshoots of Earth2401. Your world is Earth0. And Losse's world is an offshoot of Earth16807."

     I looked at the Green Man, Losse. Until now, he'd been standing like the rest of us, although with a bit more disinterest. He met my eyes and smiled awkwardly. That's when I noticed his pointed ears and catlike pupils. Of course he was an elf. I was a side character in a physics practice question. An elf was far more plausible and significantly cooler. 

     "Nice to meet you," Losse said quietly.

     "Likewise," I said. "So what now?"

     "Can we please sit down?" asked Ari. She looked even paler than she had when I first saw her.

     "Yes," said Myx. "There are picnic tables further in the park. I'd also prefer to move out of public view while we're still... glowing."

     No one had any argument to this, so we walked up a wide sidewalk into the park. It didn't take long to find a picnic table. I sat between Myx and Ellie. Ari was on Ellie's other side, and the guys sat across from us, with Jasper in the middle. He took a deep breath and said

    "Alright, it's time I explain things."