This Isn't Your World

Chapter 18

Air never knew how to express herself, not even to her own twin brother. She harbored all her own anxiety, worries, and thoughts to herself, then told her friends with a smile: Everything's going to be okay. We'll make it out alive, even though she knew they had a next to zero probability of living to tell the tale.

She had to keep it together. Not just for her friends, but also for herself. She knew what would become of her if she lost control. She knew what would happen if she lost to her inner demons. A place she would never be able to return from, a state that would destroy her from the inside and outside.

In Api's room, she could hear him scream. Not from fear, not from surprise, but from frustration. He's desperate, she realized. Api needed help, but she couldn't give it.

It was what killed her the most.

She had to be there for him, for everyone. Ever since Tanah left... everyone was looking up to her for guidance.

What could she do? She was an element of water and ice. She wasn't meant to be put in the frontlines, let alone lead a team.

But she had to.

It was the only thing she could do for them.

Air shut off the television, the noise of the news not doing her any favors. All she could hear were the high-pitched, uneven ringing in her ears; so loud that it was giving her a migraine.

She rested her head onto her palm, hoping to ease the ache. Her head lied down to the backrest of the couch, the soft texture engulfing her head, her eyes staring up to the ceiling fan, spinning and spinning with no end.

Her eyelids began to close, taking the rotating blades into her dreams, though she had no awareness to the darkness closing in, swallowing her into eternity.

* * *

A chain lashed from below, the cuffs strapping around Air's neck. She gasped awake and pulled at the chains, but they were cold to the touch. Her eyes fell down to the chains and cuffs, but they were made of ice.

Through her panic, she could feel that she was underwater, though she wasn't wet. It's natural, she told herself, though she could barely hear her own thoughts through the adrenaline. Control it.

The cuff around her neck tightened, as did the chain pulling her deeper to the abyss. She closed her eyes and craned her head as high as possible, tears escaping her eyelids as she tried to fight back, her legs kicking in defiance.

Two more chains emerged, and they wrapped themselves around her arms, forcing them away from the chains and stopping her resistance. Her eyes shot open and she screamed, though there were no sound and only bubbles came out.

Shocked, she closed her mouth and tried to breathe, but water clogged her nose and entered her respiratory system. She choked and coughed, each one stealing more of her breath. Her lungs contracted in her chest, her heart pounding for oxygen, but she couldn't get any.

I'm drowning, she realized. I can't breathe.

She tried to stop herself from inhaling, but in a state of panic, she failed over and over again.

The chains tugged harder, and she was pulled into the darkness, once and for all.

As dark spots danced in her vision, the last breath escaping her lips, so did her final thoughts before she was engulfed by the blackness.

I'm dead.

From the other side of the water, a new figure burst from the water, but only the top half of her body. Water dripped from her white hair and chin, and she was slow to rise.

Eventually, she rose to her feet, the water magically bringing her to its surface. There were chains around her wrist that led down to the water, but they weren't there to trap her; they were there for her to trap someone else.

Underneath the water was her doppelganger, trapped inside the eternal darkness with chains around her neck.

"It's my turn," Reverse Ice whispered.

* * *

"You know where Api and Air live, right?" Cahaya fretted, walking by Tanah's side suspiciously.

The earth elemental revealed nothing but the inconvenience of the sand in his collar. They were bloodied all over and had sand caked in their clothing, which was particularly uncomfortable when the sun dried all the moisture from them. They're gaining plenty of stares, but none of that mattered.

"I do," Tanah vamped, looking around. His brows were creased in worry, as if he was looking for someone.

Cahaya knew what he was looking for. They hadn't seen Petir after they'd trapped themselves in there, but they were hoping—by luck or by skill—that she'd escaped herself. They believed that she would survive, and they hoped that they were right to do so.

"I just hope we could've chosen a better place to sleep," Cahaya mumbled, trying to start conversation. "Sleeping for three days in a gutter wasn't one of your brilliant ideas."

Tanah didn't look at him. "You're presumed to be dead. My records state that I'm in America. Staying in a hotel would've raised suspicion," he snapped, walking faster. "Right now, we need to find Air. She's the element of water, so she can help us find Petir faster."

Tanah turned a sharp right, nearing the apartment where Api and Air lives. He has a good locational memory, which made his life easier by not getting lost in the parking lot every time he goes out for pizza.

Instead of advancing, there was an aura that made him stop in his footing. An aura just like his.

"Tanah?" Cahaya called. "Don't tell me you got lost."

Tanah's gaze fell onto the direction of Api's specific apartment placement, where he could see fractals of frost forming on his window, despite being a hot afternoon.

No, he thought. Not now.

He bolted straight towards the apartment, his arms starting to fill with elemental energy.

Don't repeat my mistake.