Alexandria's Genesis

Safety

Carrying someone through time and space is hard. And that means really, fucking hard. Aleissia and Avrel grip either of Sevantei's arms tightly. The vortex is  pulling them around and lashes them about. Avrel notices flashes of blue and red pass them by as they traveled. A brief glint. That must have been them. Avrel vaguely remembers seeing flashes before, but he was already overwhelmed by all the other colors, so it made no impression on him.

Several times, the vortex tried to rip them away and drop them elsewhere other than their destination. But somehow, they make it back. Arriving at their stop, they drop to the floor, through the vortex bubble-soap. Avrel rolls to a stop after letting go of Sevantei, but he and Aleissia fall flat on the floor. They had landed in the same spot, but clearly later than when they left. Avrel groans and Aleissia says, "Oww."

"What now?" Aleissia asks.

"Probably just wait until Alex and Nikal get back," Avrel replies.

"If Nikal comes back," Aleissia mumbles. Avrel didn't seem to notice.

Avrel starts to pace around, while Aleissia sits down on some slats by the wall and slumps down until her head hides between her knees. She sat there in silence - almost silence; Avrel made a light tap with his pacing. All she can think about is Nikal. She has no idea where Nikal is, or in what state she is in. As time went on, which is a weird thing for time travelers, even new ones, she became more and more nervous. Shouldn't they be back by now? They can travel through time, could they not go to almost exactly where they were? Maybe Alexandria left them. Maybe she never meant to save Nikal. Could Nikal really be dead? All these thoughts went through Aleissia's head.

Avrel continues to pace around for several minutes before sitting down next to Aleissia. The silence continues, the soft industrial hum of the facility and the quiet pats of shoes in the distance.

After a while, Avrel asks Aleissia, "You ok?"

"What?" she responds, her head still in her knees.

"Well..." Avrel starts, "the past two days have been pretty hectic for us...." Avrel pauses. "I mean, we've run into monsters and beings far beyond normality for us, and then we got turned into whatever this is as well. It's all new and very scary and hard to comprehend and-"

Aleissia pulls her head up sharply and interrupts Avrel. "What's your point?" The snarl on her face makes Avrel hesitate. Obviously, she was thinking about a lot. Worrisome things.

"...I just want to know that you're ok," Avrel says in a soft, calming voice. He looks at her with worry and concern. Aleissia was taking this very seriously. And she should - this is quite a serious, stressful thing - but not at this pace. She sees the concerns in his eyes and loses her grim expression, and then leans over to Avrel. Avrel wraps his arms around her tight and starts to rock back and forth.

"I'm trying to grasp what's happening, but it's so hard," Aleissia says, her voice slightly muffled in Avrel's chest.

It's silent again aside the hum of the facility. Avrel breaks the silence. "Look, I... just know that, whatever happens, and wherever we go - or whenever - I will always-"

Suddenly, Sevantei gasps and opens his eyes, which makes both Aleissia and Avrel jump. Aleissia immediately rushes to Sevantei and kneels on the ground. Avrel hurries soon after. Sevantei steadies his breathing and looks at Aleissia and Avrel in confusion.

Aleissia moves her hands to her mouth and accidentally whispers, "Oh my god." Sevantei is still confused, but Avrel knew exactly why she reacted like that. In front of them lay Sevantei Nexis, a boy whom they had grown up with together, now with hair the color of the blackest night and eyes even darker. It was so dark it felt like light was being pulled into his eyes. Avrel sees that even his pupils were lighter than his irises when he looks close enough.

As Sevantei sits up Aleissia slides herself backwards and Avrel shifts nervously. Sevantei's presence now makes them feel colder. But regardless of how they felt about him, he's still their friend. They quickly inform him on his new life as best they could; he seemed to understand.

At the end of their conversation, a light flashes off to their side. Before they can react, out jumps Alexandria and Nikal, rather violently. Nikal drops to the floor, clutching her side, while Alex talks in between heavy breaths.

"Hi there" "Found her" "Good. You got the other one" "One thing" "little problem" "She got shot"