The City of Alium (Friendfic)

Malum, Latin for...

Ollie's Pov

'What happened to Brittly?' my tired eyes searched the dark room for my younger sister who I had seen just moments ago. 

I hated being in the dark in general, and now I was alone. 

My attention is promptly turned to a dimly lit spot in the room, which as I move closer to inspect, I find is a computer screen. 

"Answer these questions honestly and consistently to find your complex" I read aloud before clicking on the screen. 

The questions are a little hard to answer, since I try to think about every possible out from the questions, and the timer makes that difficult. 

After completing the test, the computer buffers a moment, before the 'Complex' is determined. 

I read it aloud and slowly, not sure what it means. 

"M.. Malum?.."

I hardly finish my word before there's a loud clunk behind me and the room floods with light. 

I don't bother taking time to look around the room, I just want to get out of here. 

There's a big garage door-type opening, the source of the light, that I run out of as quick as I can. 

The city that surrounds me is a dark, dystopian-like city, which is mostly clear of people except for an odd sort of figure sitting on top of an over-turned semi truck. 

I squint my eyes and take a few steps towards it, "Hello?" I shout, hoping whoever it is, is friendly. 

The figure, which I realize now is shorter than I previously thought, jumps down from the semi, landing on the road with ease. 

My eyebrows furrow as whatever it is begins to walk towards me, and seems to... contort as it does... 

This unsettles me, reminding me of the Halloween Trickster from a show I used to watch. 

"Is that you, Ollie?" echoes down from the street, in the voice of a young girl. 

I step closer, feeling confident that the almost familiar voice is safe. 

"Yeah..." I don't have to shout, since they're getting very close now. 

She steps out of the darkness and stands in front of me. 

She's taller than she used to be. A lot taller. 

I can't help but wonder why she's this way now, I just saw her last week and she was still smol then... 

"Alia?" I ask, curious if this can really be her. 

She smiles and nods, "You guessed it. What, didn't recognize me?" She does a little spin, her holsters dangling on her hips. 

My eyes widen, "Yeah, I didn't. You look different..." I give her a full body check, observing her tattooed arms, her long legs, and her lack of glasses. 

She  shrugs, "Things are different in Alium. You haven't figured that out by now?" she crosses her arms and leans against a brick wall, giving me a body check in return. 

"What do you mean?" I ask, unsure of what she's talking about. 

'What's Alium?'

Alia lets out a chuckle, "Instead of explaining.. How about I just show you?" she nods her head to the side, motioning for me to follow her. 

Having no idea where I was, and trusting the young, innocent girl that I remembered from home, I followed her regardless of her strange appearance and holstered guns. 

We walked quite a ways in silence to a dark alley, which was empty except for 2 trash dumpsters at the end. 

"This is a dead end... Where are we going?" I finally ask. 

Alia turns to face me and rolls her eyes, "Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" she jumps up on top of the trash can and opens the lid, hopping inside with a clank. 

I cautiously make my way towards her, peeking inside, and seeing Alia crouched down, pushing the back of the bin. 

"What are you-" I start before realizing that the back is moving. 

She pushes it until it flips upwards, creating a small door that I can't see inside. 

"Come on!" Alia shouts, her voice trailing as she disappears from my sight. 

I jump into the big dumpster and slowly make my way into the opening, which to my surprise, is actually a slide. 

Out of habit, I press my hands against the sides to slow myself down, in case of danger at the bottom. 

But surely, I came out in a metal room, where Alia stands against the wall. 

Except... She was short again?

"Wait. You look different.." I squint, confused. 

Alia quickly notices me and... stretches back into the lengthy figure that I had seen before.

"What the.. I don't understand..." my heart begins to pound loudly. 

Alia sighs, "Sorry about that. Sometimes I just need to stretch. Just ignore it for now, you need to come to the dome" she exits through a hallway, and I follow her dumbly, clueless as to what the dome is, where we are, and how she just changed size. 

After turning a few corners, we end up in a small room with one flickering light bulb, and a big metal door. 

Alia punches in a password and the door slides open, revealing a room with the lights off. 

"Go on in, I'll be right behind you" says Alia, pulling out her phone and typing. 

I hesitantly take a few steps in, hollering  "Where are the lights?" as I do. 

I hear Alia giggle behind me, "There are none. Good luck" she says menacingly, before the metal door slams shut. 

I race back to the door and pound on it, "Let me out! Alia! What is this place?!" I scream, terrified of the dark. 

No response is heard. 

I shut my eyes tight, hoping I have nothing to be afraid of. 

"It's fine, it's fine, it's fine" I whisper to myself. 

"That's right. Everything will be fine but you have to use your powers" says Alia's voice loudly, and with a slight crackle, as if on a radio. 

"Alia?!" I shout, "Where are you?! What are you doing!". 

The voice takes a moment, "I"m on the intercom. You're in what we call the dome. I'm the leader of the Malum Complex, so it's my job to help you discover your power. The rest of the complex is watching you from the monitor room." she says calmly. 

"Powers?! If this is a joke, it's not funny!" I yell, with a hint of confusion. 

"This is not a joke. A series of obstacles will be thrown your way, and you must use your powers to overcome them. All of Malum discovers our powers this way." 

I groan, accepting it. "What.. kind of obstacles?"

No response. 

The lights ring as they switch on, and reveal a friendly and familiar face, sitting calmly on a tall brick wall, his fists wrapped tight in white gauze, and a bow and arrow held tight in his hands. 

A saddened expression overcomes his face as he recognizes me. 

"Ollie.." his mouth moves, but no noise comes out. 

I stand motionless, my body trembling, and my head pounding. 

"Ethan? What are you doing here?"