Somewhere Only We Know - A Maskman626 Story

Gone

He was gone. He just... disappeared. My life had shattered. I didn't know what I would to without Dark. But because of a letter, I knew exactly where he was. A transporter bird flew up to my yesterday carrying a notebook. He went to earth. Everyone knew you couldn't return. And now, I would die before I saw him again. The guard figured out how was behind the death of our world. It was one of the most powerful flighters. (That's what we call ourselves) So, I made up my mind that I was going to beat him and save our world to prove to Dark that hope wasn't lost. But I was so wrong. He was the most powerful flighter for a reason. It was definitely a vicious fight. He seemed like he couldn't be hurt. The only blood that was draw from him was a small scratch on his forearm. It was pathetic. It looked like his arm grazed a thorn of a rose. I was the opposite. My arm was slashed, my throat was slit, and my right eye was taken out. My whole body was searing in immense pain and I clutched my arm. He didn't even have a single scratch and I fought and fought. He stood at the end of the hall and towered over me. "I'll make a deal, young Anti." His voice was husky and dry. He sounded old but he moved to fast to even see. I only groaned in response. There was too much pain to even form words. My arm hurt, my throat hurt, my face hurt, and my heart ached. I'm never going to see Dark again. "I'll just say it because I don't relish killing but this world does have to die. So, I'll let you go home for two days, then you'll have to make up your mind about dying... or becoming one of The Fallen." My eye went wide. I could... fall? I could either never have a chance of seeing Dark again... or at least have a chance? And I could say goodbye to everyone. I had to try to choke out words. "F-f-fall..." I couldn't speak. He sighed and I felt my breath return to me for a quick second. "I want to fall." Then my breath left me and I couldn't speak again. "Alright. I'm not heartless. Go home young Anti." I turned and ran as best as I could. I jumped out of a window and flew. My wings were tattered so it was hard to fly and I felt like I was going to fall at any moment but I had to get home. I reached the square flying all the way from the outskirts and I saw only one person in the middle. And it was the most perfect timing. "S-sorce-...sorceress!" I cried out her title because I couldn't say more. She turned to me and gasped. I stood as strong as I could but I felt like my legs were going to give out. I still clutched my arm and kept my right eye closed so she wouldn't see that it was gone. Her husband flew faster than her running and picked me up then swooped over to pick her up and carry us to her shop. I was set down on a table and I passed out due to blood loss. When I woke up I was on a bed and all the blood was gone. I kept my right eye closed and felt my arm. It was bandaged up and my throat was stitched up. "Hello?" I could speak fine. Sorceress Jacklyn rushed into the room I was in after I called out. She gasped and rushed over to hug me. "You're awake! You are very lucky young man! You at least had enough essence to wake up at 26 with near death. Now! I need you to open your eye for me so I can see why you are keeping it closed. Or is it swollen shut?" I turned away and looked at the wall next to me. "Well..." she paused and looked annoyed. "Anti... a wound is nothing to be ashamed of." I looked back at her and I let my pure sadness show through my eye. "I-is a missing one okay?" I murmured. "Wait what? Are you telling me-" I opened my eye before she finished her sentence and I guessed it wasn't finished bleeding because blood poured for a second from it. "Ack!" I yelped at the irony taste of blood that dripped into my mouth. She gasped. "Oh my lord! Does it hurt?!" She was about to get up to dash off. I grabbed her wrist before she left. "It doesn't hurt. The sudden blood just caught me off guard." She sighed with relief and walked slower. "And I'm sorry for getting blood all over your wrist!" I called after her. She came back with a wet towel and bandages a few moments later. She wiped the blood off my hands and her wrist and cleaned my cheek then bandaged my eye. She looked mildly upset. "Where did you go? Your parents are looking everywhere for you and Dark." My heart cracked a little more at his name. "I... I thought I could help the world on my own..." Worry filled her eyes, then suspicion. "The hesitation in your voice tells me something that I can't understand. And I won't use magic to get it out of you, I just want the truth." I looked down at my feet. "He thought that there was no hope left. He's fallen." I whispered. She gasped. "That's why I fought. I wanted to prove him wrong." She suddenly looked very solemn. "You made a deal with Him didn't you? Is that how you're here now?" She knew. "I..." her eye glittered. "Two days?!" She half yelled. "Two days until I have to fall." I said. She looked incredibly sad. "Two days from now come back here. I can transport you there easily. Now, run off and say your goodbyes." I nodded and remembered something. "My wings..." I pointed to them. "Ah! One moment! They're in one piece and not broken right?" I nodded. "Just a few lost feathers." She walked out of the room and came back with a book. She looked through it then looked confused. "Aw no. My spell to heal... it was blown away in the wind storm..." she looked sad. "I am so sorry Anti." I thought. "It's alright. So you have a staircase attached to the shop?" She nodded. "Can you show me it?" She lead me to a opening. I peered down it and saw the stairs. I jumped down to them and thanked her for all her hospitality before dashing off. I tripped on the stairs and almost fell so I walked slower. "Thank you Mrs. Goldeen for the tip!" I murmured. I continued down the steps until I reached the bottom and I blazed across the square, using my wings to make me faster. I know I can't fly, but I can run. People tried talking to me and asking me where I went and where Dark was as I ran past them but I had to get to mom and dad to show them that I'm alright. I reached the staircase of my tree and dashed up it. I slowed down a bit so I wouldn't trip and I reached my house's door. I knocked on the door and it opened to reveal my mother. She looked awful. Her hair was messy and her clothes were wrinkled. He eyes were puffy and she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. She gasped and her eyes flew wide. She covered her mouth in shock before almost tackling me. She started to cry. "Oh my god, the whole village thought you were dead! We looked all over for you!" She kept on rambling. All I could do was stand there, waiting for her to calm down. I looked around and saw my dad come around the corner along with my brother. They both saw me and joined in on the hugging fest. "Alright you guys, you're crushing me." They let go and my mom shrieked at me. "Where were you?! And what happened to you?!" I paused. I didn't want to tell them about Dark, so I'll leave him out. "I wanted to help our world... and I was unprepared. I made a stupid mistake and I have to leave in two days." They all gasped. Then dad looked a bit suspicious. "What happened to your eye?" He asked. "Well..." i scratched the back of my head. "Anti..." I sighed. I took of the bandage but kept my eye closed. "Can I have a towel?" I asked. Mom walked to the kitchen and got a wet towel. She came back and I put it on my eye, leaned forward a bit, opened it, let the blood come out so I wouldn't get it all over me, sat back up and took the towel off. I would have been less unnerved if they had said or did something but... they said nothing. Mom just started silently crying. When mom cried it bothered me. She was always so happy and cheery that when she cried, usually someone else started crying too. I was so upset at seeing her cry that I didn't notice the small streak of blood running down my cheek. My brother walked up to me, took the rag from my hand and wiped my cheek. I smiled softly at him and he smiled back. "I am so sorry." Was all I could say. "Do you know where Dark is?" My dad asked. I froze for a split second. "No." I didn't want shame upon him for abandoning instead of helping. I know people would mourn instead of shame though. "The look in your eyes tells me otherwise." I felt like a little kid again. I was 25 and yet, I felt their eyes on me like I was 7 again. I couldn't tell the story. My heart would fall to shreds. I dashed forward and jumped off the platform. I knew what I was doing. My mom cried out my name as I fell. I flapped my wings hard before I hit the ground and I had a soft landing. I took off running to the one place that I wanted to be. Our secret place. I reached the wall of trees after I was out of breath and my lungs were burning. I couldn't get up there with my messed up wings. I sat in front of the wall and thought. I could climb but... the branches are really thin. I'd fall. I continued to think when I went to stand up and slipped. My foot felt limp. I looked back at it and it seemed to be... fading. "What the-" the fading continued up my leg and I scooched back until my hand turned into a black smoke alone with my leg. And next thing I knew, I was just black smoke with eyes. I looked up and thought of something. I went to fly upwards and it worked! I went all the way up to the secret place and closed my eyes and I was solid again. I sat on the root and gazed out at the vine covered statue and the mountains that were falling apart. I thought of all the moments of us together. I missed him so much and I might not see him again. I sat there until nightfall and into the next morning. I loved this place and if I left I'd never see anyone here again. I heard someone calling out my name. It was probably far away based on how quiet it was. I stood up and jumped off the root, turning to my shadow figure as I was falling. I saw Shade was the one looking for me. I zoomed up to her in my shadow form. She cried out not knowing what was hurtling toward her. I curled around her for a moment and when I was in front of her I changed back slowly shifting back to my normal and bedraggled state. She blinked for a few seconds before almost tackling me. "Agh!" She elbowed me in the face. "Oh my god, I thought you would have died." She got off me. "When I heard you returned I-." She stopped mid sentence and examined my face. "What happened to your eye?!" She shrieked. I didn't have my bandage on. I scratched the back of my head with a grimacing expression. "Close your eyes." I closed one eye because it feels REALLY weird to close my eye... without an eye there. "How many fingers am I holding up?" I remembered something. "Six." I opened my eye. "So... is your eye invisible or something. "No. It's gone. I just know you favorite number." She gasped. "What the frick happened to you?! And wait... was that you?" I blinked and thought for a moment. "Oh. That. I just learned to to that yesterday." I shifted my hand into its shadowy alternative. "See?" She paused. "So you can't fly?" I shook my head. She hugged me again. "Okay. You're crushing me." She got off me. "I heard the news. You have to go?" I nodded. "Tomorrow." I said. The paused and thought for a moment then her eyes lit up like they usually do when she has an idea. Her mood then plummeted. "You know we'll miss you." I smiled softly. "I'm not gonna go home though. I'll only say goodbye at home when I have to." She looked confused. "Why won't you go home?" I looked up at her to look at her in the eyes. "Too much crying." I turned back to look at the wall of trees. "Uh, Anti?" I turned back to her. "Hmm?" She pointed to her cheek so I touched mine to see blood on my fingers. "Aww no." I grumbled. She giggled a little then handed me a rag. "Your hunting rag." She nodded. "For when the hunts gets too bloody." I wiped my face and walked a few steps to the lone stream in the field. I washed it off and looked at it. It had a pattern of a fox, cat, rabbit, and a butterfly. I smiled a bit then handed it back to her. "Thanks." "It's no problem." I looked back to see the great trees that we call our home. "But I am going to go back to say goodbye to the others." She nodded and jumped up to fly. "Want me to carry you?" She asked. I phased into the shadow form. "Oh." She giggled a little. "Hey, how fast can you go like that?" She asked. "Wanna have a race?" I asked. "Sure!" I remember having these races with Dark. I had one with Shade before and she beat me, obviously I lost. She counted down. "Three... two... one!" She took of blazing through the sky. I launched after her and felt the wind whirl around me. I was in the lead! "WOAH!" I blazed right by her and kept going at the same speed the whole way. When we reached the edge of the square, I stayed in my shadow for until she caught up. She landed on the ground and fell over on the grass. "I... am... so... tired." She laughed. I laughed with her. I touched the ground and I shifted but I was shorter. She rolled over to look at me. "Wait where. Did you go?" She asked. She spotted me. "Woah, you're a cat!" I blinked and lifted up my hand to look at it. I was a black cat with red paws. I closed my eyes and opened them and I was a person again. "That's cooool!" She laughed. I offered her my hand to help her up. I saw Mrs. Goldeen in the middle of the square talking to another flighter. Shade flew over to them. "Mrs. Goldeen!" She called out her name. I shifted to Shadow to go after her. Shade landed in front on her before I got there. She looked bewildered. "What is that?" She asked pointing to me. "Ah. Right." I said. She flinched when I spoke. I shifted back and her eyes flew wide. She put her hands over her mouth. "A-Anti?" I nodded. "Y-your eye!" I shrugged and smiled nervously. "Battle scars." Was all I said. Another old friend saw me. Everybody called him Die but he did have a different name. "Oh my god!" I heard him call from across the clearing. He dashed over tackled me. "You're not dead!" He said. "Wait what!" He saw my eye. "Getoff!" I yelled. He got up and helped me up. "Sorry." He said. I laughed. "It's alright." He nodded. "So where did you go? How did you lose your eye? What happened to your wings?" I held up my hand to stop him. He would ask a million more questions. "One, you wouldn't believe me. Two, you wouldn't believe me. Three, they got messed up but I can still fly." Mrs. Goldeen examined me again. "And what happened to your neck?" She asked. "You wouldn't believe me." She only nodded. "How can you still fly though?" Die asked. He was fussing with his golden hair that was dyed a pale pink to get it out of his face. "Not in the way you think," is what Shade said. "Huh?" They both asked in unison. I sighed and turned into Shadow (that's what I'm calling it). They both were alarmed. "What is..." I flew upwards in spirals and laughed. "I can still fly." I became myself again and plummeted. I was higher up than I thought. They freaked out and I slowed my fall at the last second with my wings. They all sighed with relief. Die looked amazed. "That's cool!" Shade chuckled. "He's also a cat." She said flat up. "Wait, huh?" Mrs. Goldeen asked in unison with the other male flighter. "I don't know how to control that." I murmured. Something glinted in Die's eye. "You seem unsettled." He said. I nodded slowly. "What's up?" I fidgeted with my hands. "I made a deal, I have to leave." All their eyes widened again. "When?!" I paused. "Tomorrow." Die didn't say anything. "Anti, can I talk to you alone for a moment?" He asked. "Uh! Yeah sure!" We walked a few feet away from the others as they. "You know where Dark is." He said bluntly. It caught me off guard. I flinched. "I won't tell anyone... I just wanna know that he's okay." He sounded reassuring. I looked at my feet. "Yeah. He's fine." He nodded. "And..." I paused. Should I tell him? Maybe I should. "He lost hope in saving. He's Fallen." Die's face was coated with sadness. "Well... you're here now to tell us he's okay, so I'll worry less." I smiled a tiny bit. I really do hope he's okay though. Die had his name called from off in the distance and so he rushed over. I noticed that he didn't have wings either. It's taken me this long to realize that this many people don't have wings? His hands hand and aura around them though. I guess he had some ability to make up for his non apparent wings. I sighed and looked around. I had an idea. I know where to go next. I went to the tree next to the grand tree and I walked up the stairs. I've only been to his home once so I know where it is. I walked up the stairs to the second highest home and made sure no blood was on my face quickly. Luckily there was none so I knocked on the door. The door opened and I saw Dark's mom. She looked extremely tired and her hair was all over the place. "Anti?" I nodded. "Y-you're back! But, why come to us?" I paused. "You're husband might want to hear this as well." She stepped out of the way to let me in. I sat down in the living room and her and Dark's father sat on the couch across from me. "Anti, might I ask what happened to you eye?" His father asked. "I made a stupid mistake." Was all I said. "Because your son... he Fell. I wanted to prove him wrong, that the world could be saved, but now I have to go for my own life." The were both frozen. "He's alright. He wrote me a letter before he left." She started tearing up and tears rolled down her cheeks. She smiled softly as she cried silently. "All I needed to know was that he was alright." Her husband nodded. "I don't think we'll fuss anymore. We will miss him greatly, but we know he'll be fine and he won't be able to come back, so no point in wishing for it." She wiped her tears from her cheeks. And her smile fell from her face. "And it'll be sad to see you go. I hope you eye will be alright. And I hope it stops bleeding." They both chuckled a bit. I sighed. "I have blood on my cheek don't I?" The father got up and got me a towel. I wiped my face and went on my way, thanking them and apologizing about Dark. I said goodbye to everyone and went home in the night. My brothers and sisters tackled me and basically stuck to me all night. I couldn't sleep, so they didn't either. I love them so much. The morning off I realized that I dozed off and all my siblings were asleep. I changed into black jeans and a black t-shirt with a sweater over it. We normally don't wear human's clothes, but I'm falling into their world. And it's comfy! I jumped off the ledge after sneaking out. I turned into Shadow and landed... let's just say.... less gracefully than I wanted to and tumbled over onto the grass. I groaned and rubbed my bad arm before getting up and sprinting to the grand tree. I rushed up the stairs and made it to Jacklyn's shop, extremely tired. I could've flown. Dang it! I knocked on the door and Jacklyn opened it. "Ah! Good! You're here. You have what you need?" I nodded. All I had in my pockets was his letter. "Yep. I'm ready." She lead me to the door and I shook my head. "I have a faster way to get down." She tilted her head in confusion. "But you're wings... you can't possibly fly, can you?" I shrugged. "Watch." She walked over and I jumped off the ledge. I because shadow and kept falling until I got close to the ground so I turned back. I just realized how high up she was. When I looked up I couldn't see her through all the balconies until I heard her shout out. "What the heck!" I laughed. She appeared in front of me with a flurry of steam and a tiny purple glow. "What was that?" She asked. "What was THAT?!" I asked her. She laughed. "A little teleportation spell when I'm lazy. But it wears me out more than using stairs." I nodded and opened my mouth to speak when a high pitched whistle rang through the air. I turned around and I saw Shade a little distance away. She smiled and waved but then looked around in a bit of confusion. She rolled her eyes, placed her index finger and her thumb in her mouth and let out another ear-splitting whistle. Sorceress Jacklyn look just as confused as I did. "Oh, fuck it. GUYS! What did I tell you!" Shade turned and yelled. But... no one was there until a bunch of people ran past her and practically tackled me. "Oof!" I landed on my back with a hard thud and they landed on top of me. They were my siblings and Die. I laughed as best as I could with more than two hundred pounds on me. "Get off!" I squirmed to get them off. They eventually got up after Die pulled them off one by one. I stood and saw Mrs. Goldeen, my parent, Dark's parents, and others from the town. Shade walked up to me as I tired to recognize some more faces. "You brought all these people here?" I asked. "Yup. They wanted to say goodbye, I just organized them." Two guys came up to me and Die greeted them. "Mad! Mare! Hi!" One guy had brown hair and was wearing mostly blue. He had a cracked white mask on and he was one of the few with void eyes. (Their eyes are pitch black except their pupil is white) The other had ebony hair and he looked relatively normal. They only thing about him was that he had purple tear mark going for the edge of his eyes to his jaw line. The mask guy had white wings and the ebony hair guy had purple wings. As they approached Die pointed to the Masky guy. "That's Mad and that's-" "Mare. You're full name's Natemare?" He nodded and smiled. "Yup. That's me." Die looked at us. "You know him?" He asked me. "Yup. He helped me with a song." Mare said. "I have barely talked to him since then though." I responded. "Never met you before." Gestured to the mask guy. "Mad. Mad! Cry." I nodded. "So all these people are here to say goodbye?" Die nodded. "Anti! We have to go now." I nodded and walked to my family to say one last goodbye. We walked into a clearing and I waved to all the people there. Every single one of them waved back. Jacklyn grabbed my arm and spoke quickly. "Close your eye. You'll feel very sick after this." I closed my eyes and felt heat of pure light then I felt the ground beneath my feet again and the cool air off the outside. I opened my eyes and felt alright until my knees buckled and my stomach dropped. "Woah." I slurred. Jacklyn still held onto my arm. "You good?" I sat there for a moment until the dizziness went away. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." We got to Him and I said goodbye to Jacklyn. He had me stand in the middle of a circle and had Jacklyn leave. He snapped and the ground below me disappeared. I looked down for the instant before gravity took over. It looked like we were above clouds. I cried out as I fell. I knew that falling would usually be less terrifying, but adrenaline was all I could feel.