Across Time and Worlds

Chapter One

The sun was pretty. I looked at it for seconds at a time with the sunglasses I wore, gathering blind spots in my eyes before looking away and stumbling along the garden. The flowers were beautiful too. They dipped and swayed in the wind like dancers whenever my vision was clear enough to see them. Even the stone cobble that I walked on held a charm, although I could not describe it.

Funny, though, how this world works. While the world around me was brimming with majesty and peace, my mind was echoing a battle.

I sighed, trying to lose myself in the sun again. I could not understand it anymore. The dreams. The thoughts. At first it had started as a daydream. Now it was a monster that felt every bit as real as my life right now. I knew I had never gone on any quest to retrieve something from chests, or hunt for a brother I do not have. But my mind thought otherwise.

The sun started to burn my eyes and I quickly looked away. Black dots danced across my vision and I tripped over an unseen rock.

And why did I keep thinking about him? I hated him. He ruined my life. It had taken months for me to relax and get the hang of having friends.

I frowned and held my head, shutting my eyes. Now those black spots turned to white.

"Purple!"

I looked up and stopped walking. SC was heading towards me. He gave a friendly wave, but it was hesitant. "Is something wrong?"

Straightening, I replied, "No. I'm fine."

"Why do you keep staring at the sun?" he asked, scrunching his face as he looked upwards. He gave up trying to find the answer in the sky a second later.

I shrugged like I did stuff like this often.

His orange eyes narrowed as he looked at me and I did my best to appear normal. "What?"

"Lately you've seemed off . . ." he started. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

I tried not to roll my eyes. Like talking about what I think is my past will make my dreams go away. "No. I'm fine."

The orange stick figure sighed, rubbing his arm. "Okay, listen. I have been watching you for the past week. You seem hesitant to sleep. Are you having nightmares?"

His eyes looked into mine, pleading me to not lie. I looked away. "No."

Second stood there while I walked away. "Well, okay. Call if you need anything." I heard the crunch of his footsteps through the gravel and I hesitated. I turned around, about to open my mouth and call him back when one of his friends shouted his name.

"Coming!" he called, sprinting. I watched him before turning around and continuing my stroll. What was I going to say to him anyway?

When I reached the end of the garden, I stopped, surveying everything. I chuckled, watching all the green vegetation around me.

"Blue really likes his plants," I murmured.

I felt the presence. It was cold and beckoning. I tried to ignore it, but pretty soon I was staring into its depth, watching the still forest like I thought it held some secret. It still intrigued me, even after five months. Nobody was allowed into it, but maybe that was what called me.

Something shuffled and I instantly jerked my head. A line of brilliant red shot past my gaze and into the forest.

I nettled my brow together. Red? But what was he doing in there? He was afraid of the forest.

"Red?" I called out. "Are you there?"

Nobody replied. Frowning even deeper, I looked behind me. Nobody lurked behind any of the trees or anything in the garden, so it was not a prank.