After Fate Fell

55 • JOHN

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you guys know that I have a goal of finishing this book sometime around April...so beware! The end is near! Haha but seriously don't worry there's so much of this story still to tell, but I know within 3 months it should be coming to an end. I also just want to announce that following the completion of this book, I will be working on an original book rather than a fanfiction-based book. I have very few ideas so I'm not really sure what it's gonna be about yet, but once I do, I'll let you guys know!
Happy reading!
-Braden

1 year, 3 months, and 19 days after it all
•JOHN•

I was underwater, my lungs screaming for air and my mind screaming obscenities at myself, wondering what the truth is, confirming with my eyes what I just saw. Because I know what I just saw, or at least what it looked like: my dead body, floating in the water, along with countless other bodies whose faces I didn't get a chance to look at before I teleported to....wherever I am now.

I stand up on firm ground, my lungs once again breathing, but my mind still racing, trying to understand. I look around me and I see that I'm at the edge of a forest teeming with life. I can't see any of its inhabitants other than the insects which I swat at, but I hear all kinds of animals...my mind is too fuzzy to pick out any individually.

I look down at the Lorialite below me, the one I just teleported to, and I see that it has the same gray appearance that the one in Walvis Bay did. There's a little bit more of the Lorialite blue that I know so well, but this stone has still gone under the same effect as the other one. Does this have to do with Legacy? Does this have to do with-

I forget what I was thinking about. It wasn't really important anyway, I'm sure. What's really important is figuring out where I am, and how to get to Paradise from here. I can't stand another second of being apart from my love, Sarah. I just wish I could've been with her this whole time rather than going on this stupid wild goose chase with the others. I'm just glad I realized what is really important, and that's me getting back to Paradise.

Now that I really take a look around me, to one side is the forest, which stretches on as far as I can see, and to my other side is a sprawling city, not too far off in the distance. I can see the buildings and hear the bustling of life within it. That's where I need to go.

//

As I near the city, I start to feel a warm breeze and smell the salty aroma that I know must be carried by the ocean. But which ocean? Which city? I just hope that wherever I am, I can get on a flight to somewhere near Paradise. I want to be there by tonight, no exceptions.

I step out into a busy street, lined in rows of buildings where people walk in and out of in a flow. The life of a city surrounds me...a real city, one that isn't dead and silent. I never really liked cities that much before, but to see one that isn't silent and dead brings me a feeling of joy, that this world is still alive, even though I haven't seen anything but sand and the ocean and empty buildings for days.

The sky is so startlingly bright blue, and I realize I've been looking at a sky tainted by a constant barrage of sand, and even though it's been maybe a week, I almost forgot how beautifully bright blue the sky can really be. I can't help but stare for a while. I get lost in it, until someone bumps into me.

"Sorry," I say as I snap back into reality. I'm standing in the middle of a crowded sidewalk, and people are walking on either side of me. I look like an idiot. I join into the flow, choosing a direction randomly because I really have no idea where I am, but wandering and looking around may help me. I need to find an airport.

As I move along, I start to listen, hearing people speak with one another as they walk on their way to their jobs, to go shopping at the market, or to head home.

"I am going to the fish market, I'll be home at 5," a woman says into her cell phone, and I realize that of all the places to teleport to, I'm lucky because I know this language. I may not know where I am, but I can talk to someone and get it figured out right away, and hop on a plane to Cincy or Pittsburgh or Cleveland faster than I thought.

I see a woman sitting on a bench, with a dog leash in hand, a small dog on the end, sitting between her legs. She doesn't look busy with anything as she enjoys the sunny day, watching the people walk by, some smiling at her, most of them looking at her dog as it watches along with her. I go up to her.

"Hello," I say, kneeling down to pat the dog on the head. It opens its mouth and starts panting because of the heat. "I was wondering if you could tell me where the airport is?" I ask. I'm not sure whether to ask what city I'm in, because I don't know how a person would react to that. I should know where I am, and I can't really explain how I teleported here from the Namibian desert, not without telling her about how I'm Loric...which surprisingly, many people don't take too kindly to. Hell, the United States government kidnapped us, trying to get us to join an army for their political gain. I can't let anybody know who I am, it's not safe, as hellishly crazy as it sounds.

"You'll have to take the bus down along the river route," she says, pointing the direction.

"Where's the nearest bus stop?" I ask, hoping that this won't take long.

"Right here," she says. "I'm taking the downtown route but the river will stop here too honey," she tells me, and I can't help but smile at the way she calls me "honey". Reminds me of being home, in Paradise, with Sarah and her family, eating dinner as we laugh, the smell of freshly-cooked food wafting around the dining room table. I just can't wait to be home.