The Maze of Existence

Episode 3: Wonderland

"You know what I want, Rowin," Cassius said in a low voice. "He knows what I want, too."

    "I gave you what you wanted!" Eden screamed furiously, the words tearing at his throat. "You took everything from me!"

    Eden's words seared into my mind and I frantically began to wonder what provoked them. 

    "Get away from me!" I yelled, yanking on his grip. "You're a liar!"

    "Oh, but foolish girl, I speak the truth," he countered. He let go of my wrist and I was sprawled out on my back. He loomed over me, whipping out his gun.

    "Don't hurt her!" Eden shouted. I heard someone slap him. "Don't hurt me like you hurt--"

    Cassius struck me across the forehead with the butt of the weapon, sending me into a haze.

    In an instant, the world felt a million miles away. Eden's shouts reached me in echoes, and the feeling of the barrel to my forehead was hardly registering. I closed my eyes, only hearing my beating heart.

    What would Seth do?

    The thought came in pieces. Cassius' words rumbled in the back of my confused mind. Panic took over my ability to think. Words came to me as if they were being spoken aloud.  

    He'd pray.

    I had never prayed before.

    You're protected, Rowin. Know that. I'm protecting you.

    My hands moved as if they had a mind of their own. I tugged the compass out from beneath my shirt as I opened my eyes to a blurred picture of Cassius' shocked expression.

    Before he could react, I turned North to South.

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    My chest compressed as the air snapped into a thin, bland state. Silence rung in my ears for a moment while my mind slowly sharpened.

    I heard footsteps running toward me, catching me off guard. I had turned the compass, and I had to deal with its consequences. Alone.

    I slowly opened my eyes, squinting. Eden's face came into focus as he gave me a truly terrified expression. I pushed myself up, ignoring how the world spun.

    "Eden... I'm sorry..," I mumbled.

    "You have the compass?!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

    "You know about it?!"

    We stared at each other in disbelief. He stood and helped me up. I noticed his lip was bleeding and his cheek was marked red from where he had been hit.

    "What do you know?" I asked, coming to a fully attentive state.

    "The compass stops time," he answered. "People's memories are recalled as they're progressively sent to another reality. The key is protection from that. The compass' effects don't work on whoever has the key."

    "So you're here..," I started, beginning to see the whole picture.

    He pulled a copper key out from under his shirt that hung around his neck from a thin, leather string. I stared at it, mesmerized and overwhelmed.

    "Do you know about the ring?" he asked. I shook my head. "The ring is the connection between the realms. Whoever has the ring can travel between them."

    "Do you have it?"

    If we had the ring, I could find my family, not to mention Seth. The very thought of seeing them again filled me with hope.