The Write Cafe: A Discord Community Novella

Vignette IV: Tea

Ana

     After the single touch of pens, Dragon and I had entered a clean and empty world. A cloudless sky encased an endless grass field. Featureless, except for myself and Dragon, closed umbrella in hand.

     "So what are we testing this time?" I ask Dragon, looking around. Instead of a response, he raises his umbrella to the sky, the view of it turning blurry and smeared, a sudden storm closing in, its core right above what used to be an umbrella.

     A bolt of lightning erupts in his stance, but he remains unharmed as his umbrella turns into a sword made of a gold mineral. I couldn't help but be amazed at Dragon's bravery for trying something so daring just to get an odd looking sword.

     "As you observed, I was able to completely control the matter of the situation. My imagination, sharp and precise, acted exactly as predicted." I take a seat in the grass as the clouds soon run away. He walks closer, pointing the blade to my forehead, making me jump.

     I'm forced to take a step back, and he elegantly puts his hand in his other pocket in response. "Ana, focus on being impossible to harm. Do it with everything you have." Despite my fear, I get up and take a stance.

     "Hah!" He points the blade at me as it fires off a bolt of lightning! Be invincible! Be invincible! "Erk!" It strikes me in the chest, and I am knocked back to the ground. I have trouble keeping my breath but luckily, the strike wasn't fatal.

     He walks over, offering a hand to help me get up. I take it begrudgingly. "It seems that both of our imaginative wills were accounted for, but something made you still get hurt." He hovers his hand over my chest, his hand glowing a green color. Suddenly, I felt all the pain disappear.

     "Do you feel better?" I nod, confused. "When the lightning bolt struck against you it blurred on contact. It seems our wills clashed in that moment, but yours caved before mine did." He lets out a breath and his sword returned to his normal umbrella.

     "So what your saying is if someone's will is stronger, they win in a clash of wills?" He looks down at the ground, and a glass cup appears. "I'm not sure, but it seems to be the case. Let's test it again."

     He points down to the cup with his umbrella, then looking back to me. "Ana, try to imagine coffee in that cup. I'll try to do the same, but tea." He takes a step back and so do I, and I begin to think about coffee in that cup. A nice, warm, and steaming cup of coffee...

     The cup begins to smear in shades of brown, bouncing back and forth. It was odd, but it seems he's right. Wait... what's... my head. My head is starting to hurt a lot!

     The glass turns to tea in a splash, and a sharp pain enters my skull. "Ana, are you okay?" Dragon asks, seemingly concerned. "Yeah, just... the longer I held my will the more pain I felt." He slowly sits on his knees in front of the cup, taking a sip.

     "Mint tea, good." He puts it down, looking up at me. "I think the longer the clash of wills, the harder it becomes to hold. Like a mental arm wrestle." It was so weird to think about it, but what he said made sense. But damn, my head hurts...

    "Ana, try to think about healing your head pain. Like I did with your chest." I nod, but I couldn't seem to do it. It just made my head hurt more! "Stop! Stop! It's clear that your mind in this world is some sort of lifeline..."

    I am forced to the ground, my body shaking a little now. "Dragon, this is intense..." His expression grows concerned, folding his arms. "Then you should take a break." Suddenly, the empty plain becomes a mirror image of the cafe, and the tea cup turns into two, one sliding over to my side of the table.

    I look around to find myself in a chair, and we're the only ones here. Dragon must be as smart as I thought to be able to do this much without his head hurting too...

     I take a sip, and realize that I have to focus on it for it to taste or even feel like a liquid. "Draken, why is there no one else here?" He shrugs softly. "Well, I tried but it seems we can't make fake versions of real people in this world. Maybe we could try fake people, though." So no Lucas then...

     Suddenly, a stick figure appears beside our table, waving. "Hm, it seems that we can make creatures, but they only animate if we choose to let them. How odd..." How is his head not hurting yet?

     "We've found out a lot already, Dragon. Should we head back?" He nods, taking a sip of his mint tea. "Do you remember how to get back, Ana?" I nod, my hand on my head.

     "Of course, we think of the pen we were using when we entered, and grab it. We will immediately come back." He smiles to the answer, making his pen appear on the table. He grabs it, and immediately fades away.

     I then make mine appear, and I grab on tight, my vision changing back to reality. Or at least our reality. I look down to my hand, loosely over the pen that's definitely more used than it was when we started. Dragon is already away from these cursed pages, looking at the bookshelf in his office.

     "I see you're back. You feel better, Ana?" He asks, looking back over his shoulder to me. "Yes, all of the head pain is gone." He nods, walking over to this old tome. "We've unlocked more secrets today, Ana. That's a good thing." I smile, completely agreeing.

    "That said though, Dragon, this thing could possibly be dangerous in the wrong hands." I look down at the pages we just filled, and every event we've done is recorded inside.

     "Agreed. I'll put it back in the vault right away." He closes the old tome, picking it up by its blank leather cover. "You should go home and get some rest. Consider this time a full shift." I frown but accept it anyway. This was kind of tiring.

     He walks over to his shelf, pressing against the books like a keypad, and it slides open to a wall safe. I turn around and leave before I have any temptation to know the lock. While briskly walking to the cafe exit, I wave to Steven on duty and the various customers. As I get out, I let out a breath of relief that I'm away from that nightmare of a book. At least for the time being.