Parallel Illusions

Chapter 5

"Okay, you guys have to explain everything that happened!" Ace demanded after cleaning up the bowl of cereal he dropped after seeing the news, dropping onto the couch as Sunny, Umbreon, Astrid, and Beau settled around the room. His eyes darted to each of them, especially Sunny, who looked more rattled than the rest.

Sunny shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket. "Yeah, about that..." he started, but Umbreon cut in, his tone calmer.

"It's a long story," Umbreon said, running a hand through his hair. "And honestly, I don't even know where to begin."

"You should probably start with the giant portal that sucked half the house away," Astrid pointed out, crossing her arms. "And how you guys ended up in some post-apocalyptic nightmare dimension."

Sunny let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, so, it wasn't exactly intentional..."

"It never is," Ace muttered under his breath.

Umbreon shot him a quick glare before continuing. "We were messing around in the back shed, and things... got a bit out of hand."

"A bit?" Astrid raised an eyebrow. "You sent half our house to another dimension."

Umbreon held up his hands in surrender. "Look, I said it wasn't intentional. One second, we're in the back shed, working on the portal, and the next thing we know, we're waking up in this wasteland—like something straight out of a zombie apocalypse movie. But there was this old building nearby. It had lights, and we figured it was worth checking out. Big mistake."

"Yeah, the people inside were psychos," Sunny said, his voice low. "Abaddon, the leader, was just... unsettling. And the others? One of them kept making very uncomfortable remarks towards me" Sunny shuddered at the memory.

"Wait, like flirting?" Ace asked, ready to pull out every joke about Sunny being alone out of the book.

"Yeah, Niko is very invasive like that" Beau adds, confirming Ace's question.

"Oh my god! Sunny–"

"Shut the hell up!" Sunny insisted, interrupting Ace's remark.

The group laugh, joking at the detour from the original conversation. This is what Beau needed. He never had people he could joke around with, not for a long time at least. Abaddon, Niko and Arlo weren't always like the way they are. And the only thing that changed about Damien was his relationship issues with Abaddon. Well not really issues, more like trauma. But those versions of them were in the past, and they weren't coming back.

"So why didn't you guys just up and leave?" Ace asks, returning back to the conversion topic.

"We didn't have much of a choice," Sunny said, eyes downcast. "They were watching us, blocking the way out. Plus, Abaddon seemed interested in where we came from."

Beau, who had been unusually quiet the whole time, chimed in softly. "He doesn't like letting people leave. Not alive, anyway."

That comment made everyone go silent for a moment. Ace's mouth hung open slightly, like he didn't know how to respond.

"Okay, that's just messed up," Ace finally managed to say. "And how did you get out?"

Umbreon glanced at Beau, who was staring at the floor, fidgeting with a patch on his hoodie. "Damien," Umbreon said softly. "One of Abaddon's guys. He... helped us. Told us to run when no one was looking. He even got Beau out with us."

Beau nodded, his voice quiet. "He's still there, though. With Abaddon."

Ace whistled, leaning back against the cushions. "That's... wow. Why would he risk his life to help you?"