Darklight

Chapter 5: A Secret Path?

I woke up lying face-down in the bed, my clothing soaked with sweat and my mattress and pillow moistened from it.  I could not recall having any dreams of any sort.  I pushed my weight off of the mattress (which was soft and fluffy, probably why I slept so well) and looked up into the window.  I shielded my eyes as the brilliance outside was overbearing.  Suddenly, I remembered that I was in Shining Star, and that it was possible that it was bright outside 24/7.   Honestly, how anyone was able to get any sleep around here was a mystery to me.  It was entirely possible that the need for sleep is what prompted people to finally doze off, but I suppose that the soft mattresses played some part in that as well.

Yawning and stretching my arms out, I sat upright as I looked around the hotel room.  Everyone else was still asleep, with the exception of Solone.  I couldn't tell if other people had trouble sleeping last night, or if the mattresses lulled them to sleep.

I rolled off of the mattress, landing back onto my feet.  I sniffed the air, then cringed as the fumes of sweat and body odor crawled up my nose.  I guess I was overdue for a shower.

In the right corner, Zeta had been sleeping on a white, fabric-based love seat.  He sat upright, then rubbed his eyes.  He took a look around the room like I did, then scowled as he gave a disgruntled sigh.

"Hey Zeta?" I asked. He turned his head away from me and crossed his arms.  "Zeta?"

Zeta sighed, then finally answered. "We're not supposed to be here.  Dad's going to be really pissed at us when we get back home," he grumbled.  "If we're grounded by the time we get back home, it's your fault."

I sighed, then spoke up again. "Yeah, but just think about exactly why we're here. There's a horrible, universe-wide crisis going on. We can be the ones to end it! We can be the ones to save the universe!" I explained to him, trying to motivate him to not lose track of what was important. "We'll just deal with the punishment later. Would you rather be punished for saving the world, or be punished for not saving the world?" I asked him.

For a few seconds, Zeta stayed completely silent.  Then he grumbled something rather indistinct, then muttered, "Shut up."

"Ah, you two are awake!" exclaimed Solone.  His loud voice generated a variety of groans from the other boys.  Each of them all sat up, rubbing their eyes, yawning, or stretching.  "And good morning to everyone!" Solone greeted us all. "Now, I must train for my dueler's tournament; I am so sorry to have to leave you all.  Besides, I have sweet ladies to sweep off their feet!" He was still dressed in a white tank top and white boxers from the night before.  He stepped out onto the ground, then reached up on a coat hanger on the wall for his white button-up shirt.  He quickly buttoned up each of the buttons as he went into the bathroom to change, then came back out fully dressed like yesterday.  He opened up the door to our room, ready to take off, but Hanna, Sabrina, and Jeanette were standing in front of the door.  Each of them were still in their pajamas.

"Ah, fine young beauties, did you come in seeking me? How kind of you." Solone flirted with a wink.   Jeanette winked back at him and smiled, while Sabrina laughed out loud.  Ignoring Solone, Hanna walked out to us with a phone in her hand.

"Guys, whatever it is we need to do here... we need to do it quickly." Hanna informed us, with a determined look on her face.  "People back home are worried about us.  Missing person reports have gone all around the place."

Sabrina's eyes were still locked onto her phone. She looked up at us as if she were about to say something, but then she didn't. Jeanette, however, spoke for her.

"And some more portals opened up on Earth," Jeanette informed.  "People are being told to stay as far away from them as possible, for their own safety."