The Truth and What Remains: An Adrienette story

Chapter 22: The Dream Chronicles: Left Behind

I'm so scared of being left behind, it's horrifying to think about. No matter if I run or fly or teleport, I'll find myself here, wondering if I can find the strength to look at the sky again. What if, with my own steps, my own path, I blur the image of the sky I knew so well, now it looks distorted. I can press on, I'm sure of it.

"Where.... am I?" Emma asked as she lifted her head off the ground to scan her surroundings before yelling and falling on her but as she looked at where she was. It was like two skies were mirroring each other, each cloud in the same place, traveling to someplace she's never known before, "It's like... two skies, wow this looks so weird, and it's making me dizzy too.. WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO MAKE MY CHALLENGE AN OPTICAL ILLUSION?!"

Emma yelled out to the sky but no one seemed to respond. She sighed as she started to walk, noticing how each of her steps step a ripple through the sky's reflection, as if she was walking on water. Emma looked around but it looked like there was no end to the sky, it looked like it went on forever.

"Strange... it's like... this entire place is empty..." Emma murmured to herself as she continued to walk, hearing that familiar sound of water splashing. As she kept walking, she noticed a group of figures in the distance. Curious, she ran a little further so she could see them clearly and she saw her family standing there, backs facing her. Her eyes darted from her father to the mother to her two brothers. It was like they didn't even notice her, "Hey you guys! I'm here!"

They didn't respond, but Emma kept trying to call out, "Do you guys even hear me? I'm right behind you!" They still didn't move a single muscle and Emma tried to approach them, but as soon as she got within touching distance, her foot suddenly fell through the surface and she fell underneath the sky. Emma looked around while holding her breath to find that even though the entire space under the surface was just the sky all around, it was like it was completely water. Emma tried to hold her breath for as long as she could, but ultimately, she ran out of breath and she felt the consciousness being taken out of her.

"Ughhh... Where am I?" Emma groaned as she woke up again in the same place where she started. She propped herself up and looked around frantically to see the world didn't even change when she fell through the surface, "What.... is going on here?" She looked in the direction she walked in last time and she saw her family just standing there, still as ever. She slowly got up and swayed on her feet, struggling to stay standing.

"I might as well... keep trying," Emma murmured as she ran towards them again, however, each time she got close enough, she would just fall through the surface again and drown. After a couple of tries, she just sat there on the surface, just observing her family, "what happens if I just sit here? Does anything happen?" Emma asked aloud as she looked around to see if anything would happened, but all she heard was the wind blowing and the soft splashes of the water. Suddenly, taking one last look at her family, she started crying, bowing her head down and dropping her face between her knees.

"I'm so scared... that I'll be left behind.... but I just can't seem to reach them, Maman, Papa, Lou, Hugo. I'm sorry... I don't understand what you want me to do... you're just standing there, not doing anything. How am I supposed to know how to overcome my challenge?" Emma cried as she continued to sob into her knees, until she heard some sort of sparkling noise and she looked up to find some sort of entity materialised next to her, glowing and sparkling in golden lights. Emma could almost make out something that seemed human and the person sat down next to her.

"I see you've been left behind too. I'm sorry.... a girl like you doesn't belong here..." the person spoke as Emma wiped her tears and looked suspiciously at the person.

"W-w-who are you?" Emma asked as the sparkles making up the person seem to move as if the person were contemplating the question.

"Hmmm, it's not exactly important, but just know that I'm like you: stuck in a deep, endless sleep with no idea how to escape from here." The person answered as Emma felt her stomach fill with a sense of dread.