Ultimate Fan Fiction: Book 1, United

Part 3

Elizabeth

    My head was pounding. I had apparently passed out in the middle of school. Somebody must've called my mom, or an ambulance because when I woke up, I was in a bed. Okay, reasonably explainable. But that didn't explain what...who I saw in the middle of the hallway.
    I opened my eyes and a sea of fluorescent light flooded into my face and I had to turn away. Where am I? I thought. I expected to feel a splitting pain in my head again, but for some reason, it was perfectly calm. Who was the miracle worker that healed that? I thought.
    "Oh good, you're awake." A raspy voice said. I looked to my right, where a young man was sitting down into a chair. I recognized everything about him, from the black hair, to the amber eyes, to the red robes, and the burn on the left side of his face. But what didn't make sense was what was he doing here, talking to me. I screamed and jumped out of the bed, promptly falling down onto the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?!" I shrieked.
    "Woah, woah, take it easy!" He yelled back. I grabbed a cane that was leaning against the wall and held it against my side like a baseball bat.
"Answers, now!"
The young man threw up his hands to show that he wasn't about to attack. "Okay, okay, just take it easy. What do you want to know?"
    "Where am I? How did I get here?" I asked firmly. He chuckled a little bit.
    "I always knew you were a burst of energy, but this is just ridiculous."
    "That doesn't answer my question. Hey, how do you know me?" I asked. "By law of reality, you're not even supposed to be-"
    "You're not in reality." He explained solemnly.
    "What do you mean?" I said, lowering the cane.
He sighed. "It's really hard to explain. You were originally supposed to be brought here by two of our agents, unharmed and not injured."
    "Injured?" I said, getting more confused by the second. "All I had was a headache. That's not an injury. I was just...dehydrated." I paused. I didn't even know if I believed it. I'd had headaches before but nothing was compared to that.
    "You don't really believe that do you?" He asked. I shook my head.
    "Alright. But how is it an injury?" I asked.
    "From the outside, it doesn't look like any kind of injury. But that headache was something more inside your head. And I don't mean the physical part of your brain. Something dangerous happened to your mental subconscious. And it wasn't an accident."
    "Hows that even possible?" I asked. "And who did it?"
    "I don't know." He answered. "The important thing is that you got here safely."
    "That still doesn't explain what you're doing here! You're not real!" I said, getting annoyed again.
    "Does it matter if I'm real or not?" He asked. I paused. Even though I knew he wasn't real, I didn't care. I had come to him and his friends enough to know that the relationship I had with them was far more real than what I could say with people in the real world. "You and I both know that you've come to me enough times to at least believe I'm real. That's more than enough."
    "Fair enough." I said. Keeping my hand flat and upright, I placed my knuckles, with my thumb upright, against my palm and bowed at the waist towards him, a symbol of respect in his homeland. "It's good to see you again, Firelord Zuko."

* * * * * *

    Zuko insisted that I get a few more hours of rest but the curiosity of finding out where I was was beginning to kill me. So I practically zoomed out the door an into a long narrow hallway...and then almost passed out again. Zuko started laughing as he strolled out into the hallway.
"Slow down." He said, handing me the cane that I almost used as a weapon. "Our healer did a very efficient job but you still aren't completely healed. You should be a little more careful and take it easy. At least until your mind can take it." I reluctantly took the cane, not realizing how weak I really felt. Zuko led me out to a gathering hall, several feet over our heads was a ceiling made out of clear and emerald glass, melding into a number of different symbols, one looked like the Deathly Hallows, another like a tongue of flame, another like a trident, a TARDIS, a mockingjay, so many symbols. The walls were made of solid marble, being supported by columns, also of marble. The whole foyer was very large and round, reminding me of the Pantheon in Rome. The floor was made of tiles of all different colors. Under my feet was what looked like an official seal. It was a circle with different languages, Latin, Ancient Greek, even Gallifreyan. The languages were circling around the perimeter of the words in English, "What is created in the mind is a treasure in the soul" Leading out of the gathering hall were several different hallways, each with a symbol over it, the Deathly Hallows, a TARDIS, a trident, the number 221 B, a lion, a snowflake, a flower as golden as the sun, a bow and arrow, a dragon, a yin-yang symbol, a water droplet, a tongue of fire, a stone, a cloud, even a book, and countless others. Over the hallway Zuko and I just walked out of was a large red cross. What caught my attention the most were the people walking around. I recognized them! Not just a recalling kind of recognition, but it actually felt like I knew them, like they were old friends. As well as that, I recognized their mannerisms as well as their appearances, like I'd known them personally before. But that couldn't have been right. Much like Zuko, they weren't supposed to exist. Somebody else had thought them up, either J.K Rowling, Steven Moffat, Rick Riordan... you get the picture. My point is that they weren't supposed to be here. Yet there they were. That either meant one of three things; I had died, I had gone insane, or somehow, like Zuko had said, I had managed to find a way outside reality. Zuko, obviously reading my mind, said, "This is where everything thought up by the great minds of the world live. Every fictional being that people like you would be glad to fight for. We call this place Vivunt Imaginariae."
    "'The imaginaries live'?" I translated. Zuko nodded.
    "Looks like you paid attention in Latin class." Something struck me all of a sudden. If he knew me so well, he'd also know that I didn't have a Latin class at my school. How did I do that? I thought
    Everyone in the room suddenly realized that I was here and instantly started applauding. I was very confused. "What did I do?" I asked, turning to Zuko.
    "You showed up." Zuko answered.
     After they finished applauding, all the people in the room began to hurriedly return to their work, except for a few people, who came up to me. The first was a boy of about eighteen, around his shoulders was a black cloak, around his neck was a loose tie with red and gold stripes. His hair was messy and jet black and his eyes were as green as an emerald. What gave it away most were his round glasses and the scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. My jaw practically hit the floor.
    "Elizabeth Duke." he said pridefully. "Truly a thrill to finally meet you. I'm-"
    "Harry Potter." I finished, shaking his extended hand. "And you're certainly one to talk. Back in my world, you're the famous one." Harry beamed.
    "Glad to see you've found your wand." He said, pointing to the wand in my belt. "You're going to need it later."
    "Th-thank you." I stammered. As he walked away, another boy walked up to me, his hair even messier than Harry's. His skin was rather pale, his eyes a seaweed green and his shirt was orange with the words Camp Half Blood.
    "Percy Jackson." I said. He smiled and nodded his head towards me.
    "I look forward to seeing you in sword fighting lessons." He said as he shook my hand.
    "Wait, I'm going to use a sword?!" I said excitedly. Percy nodded. "Awesome!" For some reason, Percy looked sad for a split second as I said this, like using a sword wouldn't be a good thing. I glanced at him again and saw he was grinning widely. Perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me.
Zuko led me around the hall, each time more and more people shook my hand. By the time we made it to the first hallway leading out, I had met Katniss Everdeen, Avatar Aang, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (both of whom told me that I seemed to show a certain aptitude of deduction...even though the only thing I'd said was, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you"), Tris Prior, and Toph Beifong. I was a little overwhelmed with all the people I was meeting, who didn't treat me like some weirdo who read too much. In fact, they hailed me like I was some kind of hero. I told Zuko that all these thoughts were a little hard to take. Zuko said I could sit down in a moment, but there was someone else he wanted me to meet.
    He led me to the hallway with the TARDIS over the doorway and I began to get a bit excited. The hallway was dimly lit and decorated with the history of Gallifrey with all kinds of Gallifreyan writing on the wall. There were several other doors leading off in different directions, one said "classroom" another said "study" and one even said "Panic". At the end of the hallway was one final door. There was no sign on the door, instead hanging there was the painting Gallifrey Falls No More. The sight nearly brought tears to my eyes.
    "The Doctor has been expecting you for several days now." Zuko explained as we walked.
    "Expecting me? But why?" I asked. Everyone else I'd met seemed to think that my arrival was a bit abrupt. Why would someone who had no idea I'd be coming also be expecting me?
    "He hasn't told anybody why and he's asked to speak with you privately." Zuko said.
I nodded and nocked on the door.
    "Come in." I heard the voice say.