More Complicated Than That (Slugterra Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

Riley came down the stairs with her sketchbook and pencil in hand. The movie had already started, casting a glow across the entire hideout.
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Riley's POV

I took my seat comfortably on a chair. The movie was one that was unfamiliar to me, but I watched anyways. I think it was another Max Jackson movie. I inwardly groaned and watched my slugs like a predator waiting to pounce on its prey.

Arachnet: male
Tazerling: female
Frostcrawler: female
Hop Rock: female
Armashelt: male
Jellyfish: male
Polero: female
Aquabeek: female

I seemed to have more females than male slugs, but I could easily fix that. Of course, I just needed to learn how to properly find a slug.....

Kord passed around the popcorn and I gladly took a small bowl and began to munch on the buttery goodness. My slugs dove into the large bowl meant for all the slugs and I couldn't help but smile.

I spent half an hour thinking generously about the names.

Arachnet: male, Weaver
Tazerling: female, Shock Wave
Frostcrawler: female, Icicle
Hop Rock: female, Firework (?)
Armashelt: male, Beats
Jellyfish: male, Sticky
Polero: female, Tangle
Aquabeek: female, Aqua

I wanted to show Trixie my list, but she wouldn't give me any time to talk. She would make me quiet before becoming extremely immersed in her movie.

Eli jumped over the couch and landed with a thud beside me. He smiled and I waved.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hi," I replied. I pulled my ponytail in front of my shoulder and handed my list of names to him.

"What's this?"

"A list of names for my slugs." Eli's smirk looked scary, the dark recesses contrasting the blue-green glow on his face.

"Looks like my slug-naming is a trend." I smiled and made a face at Eli. A trend?

"You're a trend-setter?" I laughed quietly and Eli mocked fake hurt.

"Um, yeah! If you haven't noticed, people here in Slugterra don't exactly high five each other. So... I brought down the high fives."

"Okay, whatever you say." Eli chuckled before continuing to read the list. He stopped for a split second before he looked up at me.

"Firework? Why's there a question mark beside it?" I fidgeted a little with my fingers and gave a small shrug.

"I actually don't know. Well I mean I put the question mark there because I wasn't quite sure if firework was an actual word. I've only heard of it."

"Heard from where?" I pondered that and tried to think back into my farthest memories.

"Maybe it was my parents. I remembered something about a burst of fire and how it would light up the sky. My dad would draw a picture of it. Like..." I grabbed my sketchbook from Eli and flipped to the first few pages. I handed it to Eli who just stared in disbelief.

"Are your parents from the surface?" I sat up straighter and stared at the page.

"No, why would they be? They've lived down here forever. They were just some great scientists and explorers. No they were just slightly above average. Somewhat average people do not travel to the surface," I dead panned looking into Eli's eyes. Eli stared at the page then flipped back to the list of slug names, obviously not wanting to confuse himself even more. And not wanting to continue this conversation.

"Uhm, anyways, I think that these names are great. Put 'em to use." I smiled and thanked Eli before sitting back and enjoying the movie.
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Later that night I thought about my reply to Eli. It seemed so straightforward, like I knew exactly who my parents were. But isn't it more complicated than that? It should be because I haven't seen my parents for a while. Almost nine years. Wow.

Speaking of which, tomorrow was special. The gang I would tell later, but I needed to go home and visit Bart. I missed him and my house.

I snuggled deep into the blankets and unbeknownst to me my eyelids closed slowly as I drifted into sleep.
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"Riley!" I heard my name and turned around and saw my parents. They were running towards me arms outstretched towards me.

"Mom! Dad! You're back!" I felt myself begin running towards them.

"Yes hun. We're home!"

"We missed you so much!" Tears streamed down my face as I drew nearer to them.

"I did too!" Suddenly, there was a loud rumble. I looked up and the cavern ceiling was collapsing. The whole ceiling.

"Mom! Dad! No! Stop running! The ceiling's collapsing!" My feet felt like cement as I stopped. But my parents kept running towards me.

"We're coming hun!" There was suddenly a sickening crack. The ceiling was crashing down on us. I grabbed my blaster and shot a Geoshard. As the dome began forming, I saw my parents disappear.

I was crying as the ceiling was crashing down on my green barricade. I heard another crack and backed myself against the farthest end from where I heard the crack. My Geoshard dome broke and I curled myself into a ball.

I was still crying as I heard the crashing of heavy stone against the solid dirt ground calm down. I looked up and saw the disaster. I got up on my feet and began running. As I was climbing over some rubble, my dress caught. My dress? The dress I was wearing to the Cotillion. What?

I yanked it and there was a tear. I whimpered and tugged again, looking up to the sky and then I saw a blue sky instead of a rock ceiling. There was a white light that hurt my eyes. I looked back down at the Slugterran ground and continued to rip my dress. It finally ripped and when I was finally free, I ran to the same spot where I saw my parents. The rocks were minimal so I was grateful for that. I pulled some rocks away and saw some purple smoke rise and meet my face. I cautiously sniffed it and felt like crying all over again. It smelled of my mom's favourite perfume and my dad's workshop with the smell of burning chemicals.

"Riley." It was mom. I spun around slowly in circles.

"Riles."

"Mom? Dad? Are you still here?" Tears were beginning to run down my face. I attempted to wipe them and my hands were covered with mascara. I blinked a few times in shock before hearing my mother's voice again.

"Up here." I looked to the sky and saw something white and blinding.

"Eli was right. It's so... bright. The sun. Can't miss it." I began laughing to myself. Suddenly I was blinded by the white light. "MOM! DAD!" I screamed. My own scream sounded bloodcurdling... so scary......
.•* *•.
I sat up gasping in my bed, clutching my blanket. I was breathing heavily. I looked around my room and it was still dark. I sighed and flopped back down.

"It was just a dream," I chanted. "Just. A. Dream." I closed my eyes and tried to forget about the dream as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
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Hey! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm so sorry that the updates are slow. But thank you to all who have voted for my story in these past months! It's so amazing watching my story grow.

Hopefully my next update is soon! Love you guys!

{Citrus}