Prism Core

Resentful Ryan (Part Two)

KATE

"Who are you?" I stared at the woman in front of me with distrust. She looked like she was in her mid twenties and yet, some silver had already begun to form in her dark hair. "I'm Giselle. I run the base here in Aika Forest. But let us not waste time. I'll let you come in for some grub," she said with a smile. The mention of food made me realize that I was starving. I looked at Gabe in anticipation. He nodded. We followed Giselle through the camp. There were dozens of people roaming around the makeshift shacks. It was a community built of branches and scrap metal, rags and dirt. Kids ran about, throwing around a fish skull for another to catch, like a Frisbee. There were elderly people sitting in the shade of the trees, watching the children with interest. Young men and women, in their teens to mid forties, were busy around the base. Shacks were being fixed, logs were dragged, and food was sought out. "As you guys can see, we've been living quite well considering the conditions we're forced to live in. None of us are hungry, and there are no sicknesses going around either," Giselle said. She was swinging around her whip in a rather carefree manner. I looked at everyone with curiosity. "Why is it that everyone's clothes look so much like Earth’s? We woke up with these robes, so we assumed this place to be kind of, well, medieval," I said. Giselle looked confused, "Medieval? Now that’s a funny word. We got these clothes after infiltrating some Black Lights. Pretty sweet, huh?" Giselle stylishly adjusted her leather jacket. Gabe and I looked at each other. "Think there's more people like us here?" I whispered. "It's a possibility. Maybe if we stick around, we can find them," he replied. We soon arrived at a tree, nice and tall one, too. The trunk was bulky, and its leaves were bushy and brilliant. A ladder was built onto the bark. "Up here," Giselle said. She climbed fast, with no hesitation at all. We followed closely, and I made sure not to look down. "Whoa! We're so high up!" Gabe yelled below me. Shut the #$=\*% up. After what felt like an hour, a tree house came to view. It was small and quaint but looked so much nicer than the base below. It appeared that this world actually had some similarities to ours. There were clear signs that hammers and saws had been used for its construction. It looked too perfect. The windows even had screens. "Right this way," Giselle said, pushing aside the silky curtains that made up the door. I gasped when I looked inside. The carpet was made of moss. A decently sized table with fine china and a vase of crystal flowers stood at the center. A large map of what I assumed to be this planet covered the entire back wall. "Wow, this place is actually pretty nice!" Gabe commented. "You're too kind. Now, please sit and I'll explain everything to you." I hesitantly sat on the mossy carpet and was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it felt. It was much better than the dampness of the woods. Giselle sat across from us and served tea. "My grandfather used to make this for me. It's brutal, but it'll really wake you up," she said with a wink. That sounded suspicious. Gabe stared at the strange, green liquid, moving the spoon around. Giselle chugged hers immediately. She looked at us and laughed, "You two really don't know anything! The dimension you come from must be pretty shitty." If only Brad were here to know he was right. "We come from a pretty boring place actually. Could you please explain how this world works?" Gabe asked politely. "Gotcha," Giselle snapped her fingers. There was suddenly a small blast of icy wind. It swirled around, particles tracing behind it before vanishing. "We, the people of Aika, are special. We are born with the Light inside us." I blinked and looked at her. "Excuse me? Light?" I asked, confused. "All the world's creatures get their life force from the Light. It's a force of energy that gives us abilities. You guys have seen a rainbow, correct?" She stood up and waved her hand across the massive map. "All of us are separated by the type of energy we emit. Depending on what region you were born in, you will have the power of a certain color light." Then, it clicked. "Red is fire!" I shouted. Gabe perked up. "Yellow is lightning! And blue is water!" Giselle laughed, "That's right. However, you two are a special case. You were forced here against your will and were therefore able to choose what color represented you. There was a disruption in space-time. The Black Lights brought over people from your dimension to expand their army." Her gaze darkened. "Their ultimate goal is to cover our world in darkness. The Dark King's plan is to completely extinguish our force of Light to create a perfect world." I stood up. "I understand this is a difficult situation, but we need to know. How do we get back home? How do we go back to our own dimension?" I asked sternly. Gabe quickly stood up as well, "Are there others like us out there? People that aren't from here?" Giselle gave us a look. Her eyes became icy, and her friendly demeanor quickly dissolved. "I'm afraid you two can't leave this place. The only way is in, not out," she said darkly. Then, it hit me. Images of my home, friends, and family quickly flashed through my mind. The world around me began to lose meaning. The ground beneath me felt like it had begun to vanish. "N-no, it's not true..." I couldn't catch my breath, and my lungs began to burn intensely. I couldn't breathe. "There's no hope..." I dropped to my knees. "Kate- Kate!" Gabe immediately sat down to comfort me. My tears wouldn't stop. "Girl. Get a hold of yourself." Giselle stepped forward and kneeled down to meet my face. "There's still hope. And that hope is people like you two." I looked at her in the eyes. There was pain in there. She had been through a lot. Then, there it was, a small shine. It was a spark of hope. "W-why us?" I asked, wiping my tears. I quickly glanced at Gabe, but he had turned away. He was hiding his face. Giselle sighed, a hint of sadness apparent in it. "Before my grandfather passed, he spoke of a prophecy. It was the story that is shared by those who roam this very planet. The prophecy states that one day, a hero of every light will emerge from the heavens and seal the darkness away from our fair land. As time went on, many lost faith in this story. But not us, so I formed the resistance to fight off the Black Lights side by side with the chosen ones. I am fully convinced that you two are a part of that, but there are more of you out there. That is why we must work together to find them. Then, we can fulfill the prophecy and find the way home," Giselle said warmly. We both stared at her eyes intently, in a moment of pure desperation. This was it, the answer. Gabe grabbed my hand, and we stood up. Without hesitation, we both said, "We'll join."

Suddenly, a sound echoed throughout the camp. It sounded like... a siren? "Shit! We'll talk about this later, come on!" Giselle ran straight to the door and jumped down. "Dammit, we still had questions! Let's go!" Gabe jumped down next. Without thinking, my legs went right for the door as well. Then, I was falling. Crap! CRAP! What do I do?! Like an idiot, I flailed my arms. To my surprise, a wave of water formed below me, so I slid down as if on a water slide. I landed swiftly next to Gabe and Giselle. Al and Tay had returned. I noticed that there was a horse-like creature attached to a wagon. "What happened?! Is Brad okay?!" I yelled. Tay nodded. Al spoke up. "Your friend is fine. He's in the hospital den right now. But we found another person. He isn't very stable for an Orange. His body keeps falling apart." Giselle had a horrified look on her face, "Let me see him!" She immediately ran to the wagon. "Gabe... you don't think..." I paused. His eyes widened. We quickly rushed to the wagon. Giselle was already trying to comfort the person inside. "It's okay. I need you to calm down. We can't have you lose any more of yourself, you need to eat!" We stood behind her and gazed inside. Gabe gasped. My body began to tremble in fear. It was Ryan. His arm and part of his head were crumbling, like sand. "Ryan! RYAN!" I ran to the wagon and tried to reach for him. Giselle grabbed me, "Don't touch him!" Ryan looked at me. Then, he looked at Gabe. "You guys left me there..." his gaze turned dark. I felt my heart begin to drop. "You guys abandoned me! You just left me there to die!" he yelled. "Ryan! We didn't know-" I was saying, but the ground began to rumble. "I NEVER MATTERED TO ANY OF YOU. IT WAS ALWAYS HIM. EVEN WHEN HE'S GONE, I STILL DON'T MATTER TO YOU GUYS!" Ryan screamed, his voice echoing loudly. It was at that moment when the ground vanished under our feet.