Fabled

Chapter 6- The Subway

Amerisa's POV

"Aren't you so excited? I'll take us out to get ice cream after this since I brought money-but don't tell Mom and Dad. They don't want me to have anymore sugar today, but HAHA! That won't stop me! And anyway- whaddya think this is really gonna be about? I think Mom and Dad were lying some super fun thing! Don't you?" She didn't give me a chance to respond.

"Anyway, I am soooo tired right now I could just lay down on the seats and fall asleep but I don't want to because-"

"Because you're Miss Hyper-Pants?" I interjected, finding my way into the one-sided conversation.

"Yah, basically," she told me.

"Well chill out, Hyper-Pants. I'm ready to watch some history." Just as I said that, the subway started moving slow, then fast.

Jamie got all excited and started bouncing around the subway, telling random people how excited she was and asking if they were excited. It was hard to believe it, but she was fifteen and this was just the way she was. I smiled softly to myself. Just the way I remember her.

We had a while to go until we reached the place we were supposed to, so I settled down on a seat and checked my texts. I clicked The Bailey Of The Baileys, my Florida best friend's contact. I typed, We're on some subway called The White Mare. We as in me and my cousin Jamie- you remember me telling you about her, right?

She texted back, almost immediately, Of course! As in of course I remember her. I have no idea what the White Mare is. Explanation?

It's some special subway thing, I typed, that's supposed to show you all of these historical events or something. I don't know which ones. The sign was vague. A voice overhead came on.

"Approaching first historical event shortly, get your cameras ready." Several people stood up. Apparently they knew more about this than I did. I scrambled to stand.

I hadn't sent the text yet, so I finished quickly, An announcement just came on saying that we're getting close. Gotta go. I sent it and closed my phone, putting it in my back pocket and hiding it with a jacket around my waist. I didn't know why, but I never really trusted there wouldn't be someone around willing to pickpocket me in public.

I felt a buzz as she responded, but ignored it, and I decided I didn't want to take it out to take pictures either. They would probably be blurry, and my memory was good enough. 

The subway started to slow, then got slower and slower. It was really cool, actually. Much better than I expected. 

Basically, there were big dugout sections of the ground as we passed by in. Inside, there were figures. In one of them, people were actually moving around and acting them out. There was The Shot Heard Around The World (that was the acted out one), The Columbian Exchange, and lots of little bits and pieces to represent The Protestant Reformation, Like Luther putting up his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, facts about things Henry VIII did, (don't worry. For that it was just a list), and statues that showed the values of new Protestant religions rising up. It also showed a bit about the Counter-Reformation, where the Catholic is trying to bring its religion back up in the hearts of the people.

So, turns out I was wrong. It wouldn't have been blurry, and my memory definitively wouldn't be remembering all of that information intake, but at least I could easily recall the highlights of it. But apparently that wasn't the end, because the speaker came over the subway's intercom again saying that we were halfway through. At this point, even for me, this was an overload. But turns out they had an unexpected surprise for us. (Well, I guess that sentence doesn't really work, because surprises aren't supposed to be anticipated. Well, actually, some you can though...) 

I went over to the seat, sat down once again, but this time on my knees. I took my phone out to respond to Bailey, did quickly, then decided, hey, why not, at least try to pay attention to what they're going to show you. They spent time on this.

I looked out the window, still on my knees, and squished my face against the window, even if it felt a little silly.

Ahead, I saw a sign. I could read it from where I was, but as the train sped up a little and it got closer, I started to panic. The sign, though brown with bright green lettering, was made out of wood and the subway was not low enough to avoid it. I knew people wouldn't get hurt, but they might stop the subway and Mom would get worry. We had been getting farther and farther underground, so here I had no service and no way of reaching her if something delayed us.

I was able to read it now. It read, in the bright green, sturdy lettering, LEGENDS AND MYTHS.

At least my intrigue distracted my useless hyperventilating for a bit.

Why was it useless?

Because right when it hit, right when I expected a big BAM!!! And SCRRIIIITTTCCHHHHH!! Instead, it passed right through it. Apparently it was created by a hidden projector- but it seriously didn't look projected; it had me freaked out. 

But I have to say, what was beyond that "sign" was a whole world more interesting than battles and religious arguments. Sorry, teachers, this was the fun stuff.

This was the world of myths.

Greek Gods, Odysseus, Nordic Tales and Eygyption legends I'd never heard about before. There was even Tír na nÓg-though I had already learned all the stuff they taught there.

Right at the beginning of the Tír na nÓg one, Jamie left to use the restroom-there was a bathroom on this subway-and I felt my gaze shift over to that boy again. He was still on his tablet, but I had watched him earlier; he had glanced up at the legends more than the history too. Still, he had mostly been on that tablet.

When he glanced away from his tablet again, I watched as he fished something out of his pocket, then I felt something hit my shoe. I looked down. It was a clear sphere, just like the article about the ball in the forest described, only smaller. I picked it up, and looked into it. Out of the corner of my gaze, I happened to see cool-hair-boy look into something pinched between his pointer and his thumb. That was before I looked back and saw a pure white horse in the reflection of what I held in my hand, and then I disappeared. 

My mind seemed to stay in that subway for just a few seconds longer, four, if I'm to be exact, before it reached where my body had ended up.