The Return

Chapter 6

As the golden mist began to settle, a figure emerged. She was absolutely stunning and looked nothing like the girl that had been there moments before. Gone were the dark eyes, black curls, and thick glasses. A whole new person stood in her place. The true Mary was beyond what any of the students thought possible. The girl was tall and thin with fine curves and a bit of muscle. She had brown hair, but as it got closer to the ends, it turned into soft, blonde curls. She had ice-blue eyes that went perfectly with her pale skin. Mary had a narrow face and nose, with thin lips and high cheekbones. The girl wore a maroon  tunic with back pants and knee-high black boots. Mary seemed to look around the room with new eyes, turning in every direction. When her eyes landed on the two men, she raced towards them squealing. "Jordan, Zuke! I missed you both so much," she said as she leapt into their arms. Mary first hugged Jordan until he had to push her away so he wouldn't choke. She then stood in front of Zuke as they held hands and looked into each other's eyes. "Uuugggg," Jordan groaned. "You both might as well kiss already. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you both want to, but don't you dare think about hitting me again. Just go ahead cause I'm not judging." Before he could even turn away from them, Zuke swept Mary up into his arms and tenderly kissed her. As he did this, all of the air seemed to be sucked out of the room. All was quiet. When they finally pulled away from each other, broad smiles spread across their faces. But just as usual, Jordan just seemed to ruin the moment. "Jeez, how can you guys breathe!" After this comment, he received a punch in the arm...again. "Ok, now do you remember anything about Simone," said an eager Jordan. As Zuke set her on the ground, Mary strode over to a girl sitting in the back of the room. She was short and plump with mousy brown hair and a mouth full of braces. "Carol, come with me," said Mary as she extended a hand to the girl. Carol cautiously stood up and took her hand. They strode over to the middle of the room and Mary grabbed the second jar that sat in the case. She opened it and poured the golden mist onto her friend. Carol emerged with new eyes. She was now taller than before, but still short compared to the others, and thinner as well. She had straight, dark hair and golden eyes. The girl had a full face and lips, which seemed to suit her. "I can't believe it. I'm me again," she sighed dreamily. Jordan walked up to her and took her hands in his. Because the man was taller than her, he lifted up her chin so that they could see each other. "Simone, I feel like garbage. You probably hate me because it feels like I've been using you, but the truth is, I didn't exactly want to admit that I had feelings for you. I can underst-." Before Jordan could finish, Simone had gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "It's ok Jordan, I will love you no matter what." Despite having crimson faces, they both smiled at each other.
Jordan then cleared his throat. "We need to get going like right now."
"What about them," said Mary as she gestured to all of the people still in the classroom.
"We're gonna have to wipe their memories."
"Is it possible that if we do, we can bring them back. I mean like if we ever come to visit and I want my friends to understand."
"Yes," he sighed. "but we don't have time to worry about that right now." Jordan then fumbled through his gun belt and pulled out something that looked like a clicker. As he pressed the button, the whole room seemed to crackle with energy and everyone either fell to the ground or slumped in their seats. Zuke quickly grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her outside. Once everyone was outside, Zuke went over to the bushes and pulled out what looked like a huge, aluminum square. He pressed a button and it expanded as two simple seats popped out. "Your gonna have to sit on my lap," said Zuke with a smug smile.
"Same for us," said Jordan as he gestured to Simone and himself.
"Well isn't this going to be a fun trip," mumbled Simone.
"You both better keep your hands to yourself," hissed Mary. Both of the men defensively put their hands up in the air. As the group took their seats, Jordan pulled out a screen from his pocket and typed in a command. As he did this, a glass dome formed around the square. The floor began to shift beneath them.
"What's happening," asked Simone.
"It's adding an extra layer to the floor so we don't die," replied Jordan.
"Alright," said Zuke, "we're taking off now. As Zuke said this, the small contraption shot into the air and broke out of Earth's atmosphere.
"Don't worry Ann, we're coming for you," whispered Mary.

                                          ***

The rowboat rocked from side to side as Lies prepared herself to die. She stared at the guard named Scot that sat across from her. The smug look on his face made her want to punch him, but she couldn't move against all of the rope that was tied tightly around her. Plus, it was quite heavy due to all of the rocks that were attached. The boat lurched to a stop and the guard yanked her forward and placed her in the water. Everyone on the bank gasped and she could hear her mother's cries as the girl blinked back her own tears. The soldier had a tight grip on her as her body floated in the freezing water. Beth guessed that her lips were blue as her teeth chattered. "Goodbye you little demon," the guard hissed and let her go. Liesbeth began to sink as she fought against her restraints. She hit the bottom just as water rushed into her mouth and filled her lungs. Just as Beth began to slip into the darkness of death, a blinding white light glowed before her. She felt a gental kiss against her lips and all of her senses returned. Lies let out a gasp and expected her body to once again fill with water, but it just felt as if she were breathing air. A beautiful woman floated in front of her. She was dressed all in white and had sliver hair the floated about her face like a veil. Her eyes were a deep grey that matched her white face. "A spirit," Liesbeth gasped in an awestruck whisper.

Long ago, when the universe was created, a being known as Shez created creatures that were so loving and kind, he decided to reward them. He promised the people that if they were born with truly pure hearts, the would be given special powers. Most of the people followed the rules that were given to them and were gifted with powers, but other groups of people turned away. If enough of the people in the group turned away, their whole species would loose the chance of powers. Some of the groups that lost their magic didn't even know that such things existed, but if they grew closeer to Shez once again, he would gift them with powers. Shez also made another promise to his people. When he took them up after death, he gave them 1 of 2 choices. They could come and live with him in eternal peace or they could stay down and roam the universe and watch out for all of the beings. The ones that chose to help were known as spirits. Many different types of spirits existed, but no matter what the type, they were the kindest things to ever be.

This tale came to Beth's mind as another crawled into her thoughts. It was the story of King Wilhelm. He was the oldest son of the King and Queen of Otakar born in recent years, and he was just like his sister Kirsten. They had magic and lived a happy life living as royals. Even as a young child, the prince was strange. He was power hungry and evil. He would hurt his sister and use his magic against his people. One night, the King and Queen woke up to terrible screaming that was coming from their son's room. As they burst in, they saw golden light emit from his body, but it was being sucked into a dark cloud that loomed over him. When the cloud and light vanished, all of his power was gone. It had been taken from him by Shez himself. His parents then banished him, but he told them they would be killed and he would rule. His parents later died due to Ulm and Kristen was crowned queen. She married a simple village man named Jerum and had not 1, but 2 daughters. The original name had been Maryann, but since 2 princesses came into the world, the name was divided. When the girls turned 16, they were sent away and Wilhelm invaded a week later and took over all of Otakar and the surrounding area. Since then, he has claimed millions of galaxies and 2 of the 5 dimensions. He stripped everyone of magic and advanced electronics. Who would ever stop him?