(feel free to add suggestions!)

table of contents

chapter one.
chapter two.
chapter three.
chapter four.
chapter five.
chapter six.
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chapter one: the bike

The night sky was cold and the snowcapped trees were covered in indigo. It looked both sinister and beautiful, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to shiver or go ‘ooh.’ Maybe both.

I crept through the forest, my breathing in my ears. In front of me, my breath billowed out like steam and I felt like my fingers were freezing off, even through my gloves. My boots made a soft crunch under me as I snuck past tree and tree and tree.

How long had I been here?
I couldn’t remember.

It had been a while, though. Maybe an hour. Clem was going to come soon, or maybe she had come already, I just hadn’t noticed.

Maybe.

Probably not.

“Hah,” I let out a nervous laugh before I could stop it. “She’s probably not coming. This is all her plan, let me freeze to death.”

I looked up at the moon. It was beautiful; a round orb of light hanging in the sky by invisible thread. It dangled right above me, and I waited for it to fall.
It didn’t.

The forest was quiet, I could tell all the creatures had gone to bed. Except for the owls, whose occasional hoots were the only sound I could hear coming from the forest. That and the crickets, who chirped away constantly.

I shivered in my coat. Where was Clem? She was supposed to meet up with me in The Hollow Woods. Supposed to, and so far it looked like that didn’t work so well.

“Wow, only you would freeze to death for me.” I could hear the smirk in the voice coming from behind me. I turned around and there was Clem. Her red hair was under her hood and she was smirking under the moonlight.

“I'm not freezing to death for you. I'm investigating, like you said.” I added.

“Keep telling yourself that. Keep telling yourself…” Her voice drifted off as her gaze drifted to the moon. “Think it will fall?”

“What?”

“The moon, silly. It looks like it’s going to fall.”

“Oh yeah, I noticed that earlier. Weird, isn’t it?” I turned to the moon too. Clem shrugged. “That’s nature for you.” She stepped forward, making a footprint in the snow, then turned back to me. “Hey Olicle, you coming?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” I took a step forward along with Clem. “Oh, and did you just call me Olicle?”

“Yeah, why?” Clem said. Her face looked awfully smug. “Don’t like your new nickname? Or is Mr. Freeze better?”

“Just Oli is fine,” I said as we walked through the forest. An owl hooted behind me. “But I know that’ll never happen.”

“Yeah, it never will.” Clem agreed. “I have way too much fun making up nicknames for you.”

“I always forget how strange you are.”

“You and me both, dude. You and me both.”


How long we were walking was a mystery. Clem took the lead, since this was her treehouse. I had been to it plenty of times, but it was still Clem’s. She built it with Coralie, her older sister, to be a hideout when things got tough. And things got tough a lot for her and I.
It became our hideout, our sanctuary. I treasured it almost enough as Clem did herself.

I was beginning to fall asleep now.

But I trusted Clem, and if she told me she saw something really weird happen at her treehouse at 2 at night yesterday and the day before, I would believe her. And want to see it for myself, of course. But right now I was wondering if that was really a good idea.

“Ah, here it is!” Clem’s voice brought me out of my Walking Dead state. “The treehouse.”

I opened my eyelids and there it was, nestled against a tree, a single rope hanging down. At first, it was hard to climb for both Clem and I, but now we had gotten the hang of it.

I ran for the rope and pulled myself up with ease.

Clem went next and she must have been out of her game, because it took her a bit to get up. I would have helped her, but I was too busy sitting on the couch, sighing contently. Somehow in the treehouse it was always warm, no matter how cold it was outside.

“Hey, I could have used your help, you know!” Clem snapped after she made it up.

“Yeah, but this couch was just calling me to it.”

Clem ignored me and checked her watch. “Three minutes until 2.”

“We just made it,” I grinned.

Clem smiled. “We just did.”


Three minutes can feel like forever when you’re inpatient. I must have been sitting there for five years, just waiting and waiting until I felt a boom and sat up.

I looked out the window behind me with Clem right next to me and suddenly a person appeared out of thin air below the treehouse. I couldn’t tell if they were a boy, a girl or neither- I couldn’t tell any of their features, for some reason. It was blurry and distorted and…
weird.

They sat on a blue bike and gripped the handlebars so tightly their knuckles had to be white. They moved their head around anxiously, their eyes darted back and forth. Their eyes stood out for some reason- they were a dark brown.

Then, they gripped the bike again and hit some sort of button on it. And in a big flash of white light, they were gone. Just like that.

I looked at Clem and she looked at me.

“What… just happened?” I asked.

She shrugged. “That's what I hoped you could help me figure out.”

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chapter two: voices and an umbrella

To say Clem and I immediately drafted a plan for investigating into this person-whose-face-was-blurry-and-had-a-bike-and-could-disappear would be a lie. We spent about 20 minutes making horrible plans (one was confronting the person, which was no doubt a really a bad idea as they could be dangerous, and another was asking around if they’d seen this person anywhere, which 1- we had no idea what they looked like, and 2- people would think we were insane)

Eventually we settled on going to the library and looking for books that could tell us more about this person, which actually….
Made no sense at all.

But it was 2 at night and we- well, at least I- were exhausted.

I climbed down the rope quickly and looked up at Clem. She lowered herself on the rope and climbed down.

We walked across the forest silently. The moon, if anything, looked like it hung lower, but that had to be just my imagination. A moon couldn’t fall. That was crazy talk!

Was it?

I dismissed the thought from my mind and turned back to Clem. She trudged along silently, her eyes darting all around the forest.

I yawned. Clem turned to me. “You tired?”

“Very,” I muttered. “I can’t wait to lie in bed and sleep.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not looking forward to returning.”

“Returning to what?” I asked.

“To our daily life. To school, to homework, to overprotective parents who won’t let you do anything.”

“But life isn’t normal anymore. We just saw something totally crazy! Everything’s going to be different now.”

“And is that good different? Or bad different?” Clem said sharply.

“I…. don’t know.”

“Exactly.” And with that, Clem moved ahead of me.

Finally, my boots hit cement and a car buzzed by me. Someone in the car laughed and threw a soda can out of the car. It hit the ground and rolled by my feet. I picked it up and sighed. Litter.

“Well, I’m off,” Clem said, turning down the street. A car rolled by again, but this time nobody tossed litter. It disappeared into the distance, until it was nothing more than a dot.

“Bye.” I said. Clem didn’t answer.

I shoved the can into my pocket and went the other way, back to my house.


There are certain advantages to living in a basement.

Believe me, if I could live in a normal room, I would. But my two other siblings take the two other rooms and so I’m stuck in the basement.

One advantage is I can crawl out of the basement simply by using the window, and then I can crawl back in. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I lived above ground level.

I slid open the window and crawled into the basement. When my feet touched the ground, I walked over to the light and flicked it on. There’s my room, with the messy bed, low ceiling, shelves against the wall and music player.

I quickly changed out of my clothes, put the soda can in the recycling pin and slipped on black pajamas. I walked over to my window and shut it, then turned off my light. Here it was so warm and toasty, I wanted to crawl into my bed forever.

So I do.

My sheets are toasty and cozy and I felt like I was lying on a cloud. I rolled over and quickly grabbed my clock, setting an alarm for the morning.
And then I was out, sleeping like I’ve never slept before.


The next morning I woke up sick. My head was burning and it felt like fire- hot, flaming fire.

I made my way upstairs. My mom, dad and older sister were all around the table, eating bowls of cereal. My older brother, Kayden, must have already left.

“Oli!” My mom smiled up at me, but her smile disappeared when she took in my weak posture. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t feel well,” I muttered. My stomach was churning. “I think I have a fever.”

“Lucky, you get to miss school,” My sister. Ivory, muttered, stirring her cereal with her spoon.

Ha. I sure didn't feel lucky.

“I’m going to bed,” I mumbled, making my way downstairs again and falling back asleep.



The little girl was flying.

She laughed and squealed with excitement and she soared with ease, pulling her big purple umbrella with her.

She loved the way she felt the wind in her hair and how she felt so light. So free. She was a bird, a bird who didn’t have to do anything it didn’t want too.

Her long black hair, wrestled into many braids, flew behind her. She walked on air as if it were the ground, twirling and jumping and feeling the rush of falling, before opening up her umbrella and gently floating upwards.

“No, you’re not doing it right!” The girl heard a sharp voice behind her. She recongized the voice- it was her mentor, Irving Cattletale.

Irving was a raven- a raven with a natural skill of flying. He had taken it his job to teach the girl how to fly, but that didn’t mean he went easy on her. Just the opposite, actually.

“Ugh, I’m doing just what you said!” The girl shot back, twirling around.

“No, you’re not. Child, you must listen to me.” Irving sighed. “I’ve had enough of you not.”

“Fine, what is it this time?” The girl crossed her arms pointedly.

“Use the umbrella as an extension of yourself, not as a tool. You are the umbrella, and the umbrella is your energy inside. Let it Bind- only then can you use it to it’s true potential.”

The girl looked at the umbrella, then back to Irving, and scowled. “But I don’t want to Bind! I like how I use it right now. I don’t need my bond to be special or whatever.”

Irving sighed, and the girl thought he would order her to listen, but instead his tone softened. “I can’t force you to do so. But I hope you realize, when the time is right, that you must Bind, wherever you like it or not.”

And he spread his wings and flew away, leaving the girl with the purple umbrella all alone in the empty park.



I woke up to voices.

“Ugh, leave me alone, I’m trying to rest,” I said, putting the pillow on top of my head. But still the voices kept coming, speaking incoherent whispers and flooding my head with thoughts.

Then I opened my eyes and there, right in front of me, were two glowing bright dots, like fireflies, except they were much more bright.

“Great, I have fever hallucinations.” I mumbled, turning around and squeezing my eyes shut. I didn’t want to open them and see the lights again. I didn’t want to be hallucinating. I didn’t.

Please, lights, please go away.

“Can you believe him, Barrik? He thinks we’re fever hallucinations.” A voice said.

“Well, to be fair, Airik, he is really sick.” Another voice responded.

“Yeah, well, come on! We have to get him out of here!”

And now I was hearing things. Great.

“We have to let him pack a bag first.”

“WHAT? NO, BARRIK, NO. We can’t let him see us in this form again. It’s forbidden in the Solitary Dimension.”

Solitary Dimension? I was pretty sure I lived on Earth, and I trusted science better than fever hallucinations.

“Then we go into human form, Airik. It’s easy.”

“Fine. Let him pack a bag.”

“And heal him?”

It was then I realized I wasn’t hallucinating. My brain couldn’t make something up this weird. And even though I wanted to run far away, I didn’t want to open my eyes. Something deep inside me told me it was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.

“Fine. Then we leave.”

“Deal.” The voice was close to me, way too close.

And then all of a sudden I felt like I had just taken a big gulp of refreshing ice water. The tangles in my stomach released and the nausea and headache cleared, like clouds before the sun. The fire on my head eased and so did the chills. Energy ran through my body like a pulse.

A snap rang through my head and my eyelids automatically opened. I took a deep breath, feeling no longer weak and drained, but strong and energetic.

I moved my head away from the corner, scared to look over there. Scared to see what had healed me, scared to see what had been the voices’s source.

“It’s okay.” The voice, the voice that had been labeled Barrik, said. “We don’t want to harm you.”
“
But we can.” The other voice- Airik- added. “We have the power too. But we won’t.”

Footsteps. Then a brown hiking boot came into my glance. I didn’t look up.

Please be dreaming. Please please please.

“Hello?” A voice asked. Barrik’s voice.

I took a shaky breath. “Leave. Now.” I made my voice calm and cold, even though my heart was beating and beating and I wanted to grab a heavy book, throw it on these people’s heads, lock my door and move to a house far away.
“
We’re not going to harm you.” Barrik said again. “I promise.”

“I don’t trust you.” I kept my gaze on the floor.

“UGH.” Footsteps. Then a sneaker appeared next to the hiking boot. Airik’s voice continued. “Oli, you have to trust us for this to work. What can we do to make you trust us?” This time Airik’s voice was kinder, softer.

“Leave and never come back,” I responded, and slowly, shakily moved my head up from the floor.

(name pronuciation-
airik- erik
barrik- bear-ik)

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Chapter Three- Decisions


They’re normal.

That was the sentence I kept repeating in my head as I stared at who stood in front of me. It wasn’t a fact or a thought or anything like that. It was more of a question. A ‘what the heck?’ It deserved to be followed by an exclamation point and a question mark.
Because the two people in front of me looked so normal it was shocking. Almost repelling. They gave away auras of such… normality… that it made me nauseous.

The person with the brown hiking boots- Barrik - had brown skin and ruffled chocolate-colored hair. They had a round face that wasn’t pudgy or chubby, but just… round. They wore a black sweatshirt and jeans.

The other person with blue sneakers- Airik- had spiky black hair and pale skin. They wore an identical sweatshirt and jeans.

“You’re…. Normal.” That was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I never knew you could be so shocked by normality. I thought it was always the weird and obscure that made your head spin.
But I was wrong.

“So?” Airik said roughly. His voice sounded so harsh, every time he spoke, it made me shiver. “This is only one of our forms, and the most normal one of it. We just can’t go drawing attention to ourselves, can we?”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I just stood there, looking like a towel that had been hung out to dry and forgotten.

“Go easy on him.” Barrik bit back. “He doesn’t understand.”

Didn’t understand what?

Airik rolled his eyes and grimaced in anger. “Whatever.” I could see it in his eyes- he didn’t like me and he didn’t want to be here right now. Barrik was his anchor from anger and he was Barrik’s anchor from- well, I wasn’t sure, but I knew the two needed each other.

And then it came to me.

“You’re twins?’ I burst out.

“Duh,” Airik muttered under his breath and Barrik shot him a dirty look before turning to me and smiling like Airik hadn’t said anything. “I’m older by four minutes-” “-and he never lets me forget it.” Airik let out an extragerrated sigh of disgust and Barrik grinded his teeth together to stop himself from losing it.

“Um, no offense,” I hastily added, seeing how the twins were both one second from exploding completely. “But can someone tell me what’s going on.”

“Oh, yeah!” Barrik perked up. “You need to pack a bag.”

I blinked, waiting for Barrik to elaborate.

“And then…?” I said.

“And then something happens that I can’t say while we’re on the Solitary Dimension.”

“You mean Earth?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot humans called it that.”

I felt like facepalming but I managed to stay calm. “Barrik, can you tell me what’s going on please?”

“No can do.” He responded. “Now, get to packing a bag.”

I glared at Barrik with all the force I could muster. “No. If you refuse to tell me what’s going on, I’m not packing a bag. And I’ll never go anywhere with a stranger, magical or not.”

Airik snickered. “He thinks you’re magical, Barrik.”

Barrik sent him a death glare and he shut up. Then the brown-skinned twin turned to me. “Oli, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?” He spoke to me like I was a toddler, and I didn’t like that. I shook my head. “I don’t trust you.”

“Oh, let me take care of this.” Airik snapped and shuffled over. He looked at me right into my eyes. And suddenly I knew. Barrik was the one who would sugarcoat everything. But Airik would tell me the truth, no matter if I wanted to hear it or not.
I didn’t know if that made me like or hate him more.

“Listen, Oli.” Airik said. “Me and Barrik- Barrik and I, whatever- are going to take you somewhere. Clem will be there too. It’s a dangerous place, but guess what? If you don’t come, the multiverse is in danger. Innocent people?” He ran a finger in front of his neck. “Dead. But as long as there’s breath in me, I’ll make sure you’re safe. Not because I like you or anything, but because I understand what happens if you’re gone.”

My heart swirled. That was a lot to take in. My emotions were all over the place and I felt like throwing up, but I managed a weak nod. Airik had to be joking, right? About the multiverse in danger.

He had to be.
I couldn’t accept it if he wasn’t.

“So, what do you say?” Barrik jumped in, having enough of Airik’s turn talking. “Will you go?”

“Clem’s gonna be there?” I asked.

Barrik nodded.

I paused to think, but my mind already whispered the answer.
Yes.
And before long, my mouth spoke the answer too.
Yes.
I’ll go.



My parents and siblings weren’t home (typical of them to leave me home alone, even when I had a fever), so it was easy to pack a bag. I grabbed my old Thomas The Train suitcase from when I was five (“Why does it have a face?” Barrik kept saying. “Trains don’t have faces. That’s unnatural.”) and enough clothes for a week, along with some snacks. I grabbed my phone and some of my favorite books too, but that was all I needed. Unlike my brother, I didn’t need a lot of stuff to keep me happy.

I walked into the living room, pulling the suitcase along with me. I felt like a little kid with it, but it was all I had.

“Um,” I said to Airik and Barrik, who stood in front of me. “This isn’t permanent, right?” As much my family didn’t get me, I couldn’t imagine never seeing them again.

Airik shrugged. “Uh, it depends.” He flashed me a wicked smile. “If you’re getting cold feet now, I guess I should start preparing for the apocalypse.”

“Wait, you were serious?”

Barrik frowned slightly. “Serious about what?”

“That the multiverse would be in danger if I didn’t come with you. I thought you were kidding.”

“Of course we were serious! You’re important, Oli, far more important than you realize.”

I gulped. Me, important? The weirdo who always wore headphones and never talked to anyone? The odd one out of my family? The boy who never fit in?

I was about as important as a dust ball.

“I guess,” I muttered. I felt self-conscious, small, unimportant, standing here in Kayden’s hand-me-downs and a Thomas The Train suitcase.
Barrik and Airik exchanged a look.

“Oli, do you believe in yourself?” Barrik turned to me, once again talking like I was a toddler.

I wanted to say ‘of course I believe in myself!’ but my tongue held me back. It knew the answer.

The answer was no.
I didn’t.

But I had too much pride to admit that, so I just shrugged and looked out the window, wanting to escape this conversation.

“My gut says you don’t.” Airik said. “Which is stupid, because you got this.”

That was the nicest thing he’d said to me so far. I nodded and said in a small voice, “Thank you.”, then turned back to the window and fiddled with my thumbs.

Silence followed until Barrik sighed and turned to me. “Oli, come on, let’s go.” He paused. “You’re still coming, right?.”

Going meant I might never see my family again.

But staying meant I would stay unimportant.

Oh, and also the multiverse was in danger if I didn’t go. That too.

And Clem was going. She would be there with me, helping me and being my moral support.

So I nodded and said. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

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Chapter Four- The Elevator


I sat on the couch, biting my lip nervously. A knot of nerves and anxiety rolled up inside me, telling me that this would go wrong. I wouldn’t save the world. I would ruin it.

Was it too late to change my decision?

Yeah, it probably was. After I confirmed that I was coming, Barrik clapped his hands together in excitement and promised I wouldn’t regret my decision. But I did regret it. It was hard for me to admit, but I was scared.

Airik bustled by me, holding a big stack of books. He grumbled to himself under his breath and occasionally sent Barrik angry glares. We still had an hour before we were supposed to leave, and Barrik said that we should clean my house to both busy ourselves and do a good deed.

Airik didn’t like that idea, but I didn’t really care either way. Especially because I got the Get Out of Cleaning for Free card. Barrik said I should prepare myself for what was coming, and I apparently couldn’t do that if I was loading up the dishwasher.

So here I sat, a ball of nerves, trying to do the breathing exercises my mom taught me when I was little, and failing miserably.

“Airik!” I heard Barrik shriek. Footsteps ran across the living room. “No-Airik-stop,” His voice was strained, like he was wrestling something away from Airik. “Let me do it!”

“Whatever,” Airik mumbled and I assumed Barrik had won their little fight. I didn’t look up though, I wanted to savor this moment as hard as I could. My last time my life would be normal, before I would be plunged into who-knows-what.

“Oli?” Barrik yelled, his voice coming from ahead of me. Footsteps quickened their pace, and I could see out of the corner of my eye Barrik standing in front of me.

“Yeah?” I said, my voice barely audible. The butterflies inside me quickened their pace again and I winced. I felt nauseous from worry.

“Are you okay?” Barrik’s voice was soft. “Yeah,” I said. “Totally.” I infused as much sarcasm into those words as I could.

“Heh, yeah right,” Airik’s voice passed by me, and I lifted my head ever so slightly to see him walking by, carrying my suitcase. “And I’m Clarence Ellergi.”

I didn’t ask who Clarence Ellergi was; instead my mind focused on the suitcase in Airik’s pale hands. “What are you doing with my stuff?” I said sharply.
“Moving it.” Airik said as if it should be obvious. “It’s none of your business.”

“It’s plenty of my business! That’s my stuff you’re holding.”

“Yeah, and I’m moving it to where it’ll be easy to go to The Gateway Dimension.”

I didn’t answer Airik. Instead I turned back to Barrik. “Are we almost ready to leave?” I asked.
Barrik looked at the clock on the wall, which read 3:30. “Just a half hour left until we can go.” The brown-skinned twin explained.

“Why do we need to leave at 4:00?”

“I’ll explain later. Why don’t you focus on breathing exercises?”

“Whatever,” I scowled, but after Barrik went away to ‘assist Airik’, I immediately started counting my breaths. I had been doing this for so long that I didn’t even realize when the clock read 4:00.

“Oli, you ready?” A voice broke through my mind and I looked up. There was Airik, his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” I nodded and sat up. I had changed out of Kayden’s hand-me-downs into a casual green shirt and blue jeans.

“Barrik’s waiting for you on the balcony in the back. I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Where are you going?”

“To get a snack from your fridge. I saw a huge chocolate bar in there…” Airik smiled devishily and wandered off, desperate to enjoy the taste of the dark bitter bar nobody ever opened (it was too bitter for any of us). But if anyone could enjoy it, it was Airik. He looked like the type of person who regularly snacked on dark chocolate.

I walked out of the living room and climbed up the stairs in the front room. Once I was upstairs, I made my way to the balcony, and sure enough, there was Barrik, my suitcase near his feet.

I opened the sliding glass door and Barrik’s head snapped up. When he saw me, he smiled. “O!”

“Oli,” I corrected.
“Oh, I mean O as a nickname. Like how you can call me Rik and Airik Air.”

I wasn’t sure Airik wanted to be called that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be called O either, so I gave Barrik a half-smile and said. “Maybe another time. Oli’s just fine.”

“Ooo-kay. Whatever you say.” Barrik’s tone sounded bitter and I frowned. I was just asking the guy to not call me O.

The sliding glass door opened again and there was Airik. He held a half-opened bar of chocolate in his left hand and was chewing something- chocolate, I assumed- in his mouth.

“Ok, your parents are officially crazy.” Airik said matter-of-factly. “Like, who doesn’t open a chocolate bar like this immediately? It’s so good!”

I shrugged. “Maybe people who don’t like super bitter chocolate that’s seriously, like, way too bitter?” I said, smirking.

“Shut up.” Airik said. “This chocolate is heaven.”

“Guys, stop.” Barrik snapped. I guess he thought we were fighting- which we weren’t, of course. We were just playfully arguing, which I got the feeling that Airik and I would be doing that a lot.

Barrik handed me my suitcase and I took it almost recuantly. I wanted this to all be a dream. I was terrified, but I couldn’t admit that. No, I couldn’t make Barrik and Airik think less of me then they already did.
So I smiled and said, “How are we going to go to the-” I faltered, realizing Barrik and Airik had never really told me where we were going.

Airik sighed in exasperation, biting into his chocolate. “We told you already, we’re going to the Gateway Dimension.”

“Oh, excussse me!” I said sarcastically, throwing my hands in the air dramatically. “I didn’t know I was supposed to remember every little thing you said!”

Airik stalked forward. “Well maybe you should if you want to survive where we’re going.”

I rolled my eyes as soon as he passed. Maybe Airik’s form he was taking wasn’t his actual one and he was probably some all-powerful being who had scary powers- and while I was 12, he and Barrik looked 15 years old, which meant they were most likely stronger than me- but I still wouldn’t stop annoying him back, since I knew he would never stop annoying me in the first place.

“Will you please stop arguing!” Barrik said, his eyes flashing with exasperation. “Airik, stop it. Leave Oli alone. This isn’t his fault, and you know it. You can be a real bully sometimes.” Then he whirled to me. “Oli, you didn’t need to say that. This is also your fault. And stop egging my brother on."

Airik and I looked at each other, then back at Barrik. “Whatever,” We said in unison and walked to the edge of the balcony.

Barrik turned to us and plastered a creepy fake smile on his face. He seemed ready to burst, and I wondered if he was actually the one who got angry all the time. So far I hadn’t seen Airik raise his voice once, which wasn’t exactly true of Barrik.

“Ok, Airik, got the whistle?” Barrik asked, the phony smile still spread across his face. I shuddered.

Airik nodded and dug his hand into the pocket of his hoodie. When he took his hand out, there was a sleek black whistle.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“The whistle we use to go to the Gateway Dimension.” Airik said. “We have an appointment there at 4:00, so that’s why we had to leave exactly at that time.”

I didn’t understand any of that, but I nodded.

Airik rose the whistle to his lips and blew. It was a sharp short sound that ran through the air like an echo that wouldn’t leave, until the sound left my eardrums and I could hear silence again.

I looked around nervously, waiting for something to happen. My excitement and/or nervousness didn’t last long until I realized nothing was happening.
“Um, is something supposed to happen?” My eyes darted from Airik to Barrik.

“Just wait.” Barrik said. “One….two….three…-” He stopped and turned his attention to the ground. There something white and made of glass was rising up from the ground, completely passing through it, until it was completely visible and rested on the ground in the middle of the balcony like it had been there all along.

It was a white elevator made completely out of glass. I could see a panel inside it, but instead of numbers there were symbols I didn’t reconginze.

“Is this our transportation?” I eyed the elevator. It looked so small and… unstable, like it would break in two seconds.

“Yep.” Barrik nodded, then he laughed. Confusion rippled through my veins. “Oh, don’t worry.” Barrik smiled. “The elevator is both bigger and stronger than it seems,” He said, like he was reading my mind.

“Oh-kay,” I said. I still wasn’t convinced, but I moved to the front of the elevator and in front of Barrik.

“Just walk through.” Barrik said. “It’ll open automatically when it senses you.” I walked forward and sure enough, the door opened to show a surprisingly big living room. One wall was made entirely out of glass, like a window, and couches were arranged around the room. There were two bookshelves and a cozy rug that looked like a cloud.

“You were right.” My lips curved up into a smile. “I guess not everything is as it seems.”

I walked through into the living room and left my old life behind. I hadn’t packed it in my suitcase, but I knew I would come back to it one day.

One day somewhere in the future, far away from now.

()

Mango_smoothieee wrote:

when green flag clicked
say [This is just amazing! it's so epic and wonderful it deserves more attention. Looking forward to reading chapter 5]

thank you so much, I appreciate this a lot <33

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Chapter Five- The Gateway Dimension


There was a small panel on the wall in the elevator. It was full of strange symbols that I didn’t recognize. Barrick hit one of the symbols and the elevator trembled, sending us flying up.

Airik lounged on the couch, eating chocolate. I was glued to the window, watching as my house became a speck under us. I was never scared of heights, but I couldn’t help wondering what would happen if we fell.

“Why don’t you read a book?” Barrik put a hand on my shoulder. “They could help you learn where you’re going.”

I forced myself away from the window and walked to the brown bookshelf. It was full of books that were old or new, small or large, informative or not. None of them looked remotely interesting, but I knew Barrik and Airik wouldn’t tell me what was going on and what the ‘Gateway Dimension’ was, so I closed my eyes and tapped my fingers on the spines of the book until I selected one randomly and opened my eyes.

It was a thin red book that looked both new and old. On the cover were curly gold letters that read, A Guide to the Solitary Dimension, by Raine Lafree.

I didn’t need to know anything more about Earth, but I did want to know what other people thought of it, so I grabbed the book and settled on the couch opposite from Airik, who had finished the chocolate bar (the wrapper lay on the floor) and was skimming through a colorful magazine.

Suddenly the elevator lurched and I fell sideways out of the chair.
“Uhh,” I moaned, getting up. Something collided with the elevator and I fell again.

“Ow!” I exclaimed. “What is that?” The window had gone completely black and it felt like we were going forwards, not up.
“We’re transporting to the Gateway Dimension,” Barrik explained. “I suspect we’re knocking into other elevators.”

I got back on the chair again and grabbed my book, my back still feeling a little sore from falling out of the chair. Before I could start the book, a loud siren burst through my eardrums and suddenly the elevator stopped moving. I looked out the window, trying to see what was going on, but it was black outside.

“What-what’s going on?” I panicked. Barrik ran to the panel and hit a certain symbol, then began talking to it.

Airik sat up straight. He looked panicked. “Something went wrong. We were transporting to the Gateway Dimension but now we’re stuck in between dimensions. If you remain stuck between two dimensions for too long, you stop existing. You don’t die- you just disappear.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”
“We’re gonna teleport to another elevator once The Moderators give us clearance. That’s who Barrik’s calling right now.”

I nodded weakly. Now Barrik was saying “ok, thank you very much,” and he hung up and faced us. His face looked surprisingly calm for someone who was about to stop existing.

“They’re teleporting us to another elevator now.” Barrik said. “Apparently they’ve been having this elevator problem all day.” He turned to me. “I asked if they could teleport us to Clem’s elevator and they said they would.”

I smiled and opened my mouth to say thank you, but then the world went black and I was spinning in darkness. Flailing. It was closing in.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t feel anything. I was surrounded by impenetrable darkness.

And then the darkness disappeared and my vision blurred back to reality and I was standing in an elevator just like mine, except it wasn’t mine. There were slight changes too it- the rug was blue, the couches were green and yellow flowers in vases were everywhere.

I collapsed into a chair to steady my breathing. I was still dizzy and disoriented from whatever just happened.
“Did-did I just almost stop existing?” I managed to get out. “The black, I-”
“You teleported.” Airik smirked. “And you’re too weak to handle it.”

Usually I would have added some snarky comment, but right now I just wanted the world to stop spinning.
“I-I really don’t feel good.” I mumbled, closing my eyes.

“No kidding! You’re turning green.”
I opened my eyes. That voice was familiar, and I knew who it was. Despite my dizzy state, my lips curled into a smile. “Clem, you’re here!” I said.

“Yep.” Clem nodded. Her red hair had been put into a bun at the back of her head and she was wearing a black sweater and matching black leggings, so she looked like a spy.

Beside Clem was a tall, serious-looking man with a short beard and a sword on his back. He eyed me cautiously and I wondered what hilarious, couldn’t be serious once to save her life Clem was doing with this guy. The man had startling brown eyes, and I felt a strange pull to them, like I had seen them before.

“Did they tell you that you have to save the world too?” I asked my friend.

“No, Grumples here just said I had to help you save the world from evil and a bunch of stuff like that.” She smirked and I turned to the man. He didn’t look like he liked being called ‘Grumples’ but I still couldn’t help feeling like laughing. Before I could, I covered my mouth, but one snicker still escaped. Grumples gave me a disapproving look.

“Hi, I’m Oli Stellener,” I said to the man.

The man nodded. “Pleased to meet you, Oli. I’m Clarence Ellergi.”

I stopped. Where had I heard that name before?
Airik gasped, bringing me out of my thoughts. “The Clarence Ellergi? Famous monster hunter?”
That was where I had heard it before! Airik had said ‘yeah right, and I’m Clarence Ellergi’, but I hadn’t asked who this Ellergi figure was.

Clarence nodded. “And you are?”

“Airik Ivyruth, sir.”

Clarence took a double take, his eyes doubling over. “The Airik Ivyruth? One of the last remaining Twinkles to live?”

I looked at Airik. He was a Twinkle? A Twinkle sounded like some sort of star with a smiley face and pink cheeks that was constantly saying ‘will you be my friend?’ in some sort of baby voice. Clem must have been thinking the same thing, because she snickered. “A Twinkle?”

Barrik gave Clem a sharp look. “If you must know, Twinkles are ancient and powerful beings and it’s a great honor to be one. This shows how little you know of our world.”

I thought back to my first encounter with Barrik and Airik which seemed like a million years ago. They first appeared as shining bright lights and they repeatedly said that the forms they were taking weren’t their real forms. Now it all made sense. They were Twinkles, and the last of them alive.

“Yep.” Airik nodded. He didn’t say it in a boasting or happy way- just sad. It dawned on me they were the last of their kind alive. Of course they were sad. I would be if I was the last human alive.

Barrik gave a smile that failed to reach his eyes. “Is anyone hungry? I think the food cart should be coming around soon.”

Clem jumped up, her eyes wild. “FOOD?” I laughed. “Yeah, food. You hungry?”
My friend turned to look at me slowly, breathing heavily. “I. Am. Starving.”


Apparently she was. When the food cart teleported into the elevator, Clem ran for the cart with wild eyes. The man behind the food cart offered her a bag of some dried fruit and Clem snatched it up along with a bright pink drink, a small pastry and a snack plate with assorted food.

I wasn’t that hungry, so I took the pink drink. Barrik and Clarence didn’t get anything while Airik got another chocolate bar and some water with special orange ice cubes.

We all sat on the couch, either quietly eating our food or flipping through a book. None of us talked. I sipped the sweet pink drink, flipping through a book full of picture of landscapes. My favorite was one of a train slinking on a bridge above water, surrounded by snowy mountains. The night sky twinkled with stars and it looked so peaceful I couldn’t help wishing I was there.

Suddenly the elevator stopped moving. I looked up from my book. “Are we there?”

“Yep,” Clarence said. “We’ve arrived.” As if on cue, the black swirled away from the window to reveal a stunning blue sky with mountains reaching into the distance. A small cabin stood in front of us, a sign nailed on the door saying ‘Entrance to Dimension Fifthy-Eight.’Under the sign was a smaller one, saying ‘The Moose Head Bar and Inn.’

Clem furrowed her brow. “How many dimensions are there?”

“Infinite.” Barrik answered casually, as if he said that was completely normal. “Why?”
Clem shook her head, laughing in shock to herself. “Oh, nothing.”

I got up from my seat. “So, is anyone gonna explain this now?”

“We’re in The Gateway Dimension. Here there are buildings everywhere dedicated to one dimension with a portal to that dimension inside. We’re going to take the portal to Dimension Fifty-Eight, where we’ll head to my house. I’ll explain everything there.” Barrik answered. And then he muttered to himself, “Hopefully the situation won’t get too bad or we’ll have to see Ali Effing.”

I glanced at Clem. She gave me a ‘here, I’ll figure it out’ look and turned to Barrik. “Who’s Ali Effing?”

Barrik’s face paled. “Oh, um, nothing! She’s, uh- nobody-”
“Ali Effing is someone I hope you never have to meet.” Clarence’s voice through the elevator. Barrik eased his shoulders and Clem narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t explain anything.”

“It explains enough.” Clarence said sharply. He sat up. “Now, let’s head to the Dimension Fifty-Eight.”

“How are we supposed to go there?’ I swept my hand around the elevator. “There’s no door here.”
“The window converts into a door.” Airik said it should be obvious. To prove his point, he made his way to the window and pulled it open. A blast of cold air was blasted into the room, and I shivered. “I was not prepared that it would be this cold.”

“It’s not that bad.” Clem said. “It’s just a little cold.” She twirled over to the window and crawled under it until she stood at the opposite end, waving at me.

I waved back. The cold had begun to feel less like a heavy suffocating blanket and more like a mild irritation, like a pebble at the bottom of your shoe.

Airik went first and Clarence followed. I crawled under next and Barrik, who went last, closed the window/door behind him as we made our way outside.

It was an ineffable moment. The snow made the view in front of me seem truly like a winter wonderland. The snow sprinkled my brown hair with dots of white and below us was a glittering blue lake. Mountains touched the sky, decorated with white.
I wanted to stand there forever. I would have stood there forever, if Airik hadn’t said, “Oli, come on, we can’t stand out here forever.”

I snuck one last look at the mountains before I turned to Airik. Everyone else was gone- I assumed they were inside the cabin.

“You waited for me?” Was the first thought that entered my mind.

Airik snickered, though it didn’t seem as genuine as before. “Of course not. Now come on, Snow Boy.”

I made my way to the cabin door, but before I made my inside, I turned to Airik behind me and smiled. “It’s Olicicle,” before pushing open the door and entering the warm cabin in front of me.

ooo nice :>

-SnoQueen- wrote:

ooo nice :>

thank you! (i'm @lunar-ghost , just on a different acc )

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Chapter Six- Lit Arson and Cascade


I… didn’t know what I was expecting.

Maybe something more soiled and rugged, like the bars I had seen in the movies. Not a restaurant with grinning people everywhere.

The only thing that seemed out of place to me was a bored figure sipping from a mug. They had short choppy black hair that hung in their eyes, which were a startling, blinding, electric blue. But aside from them, The Moose Head Inn and Bar was a puzzle, and every piece was there. Everything clicked- the tables, the smiling barista, the everything.

A small sign above the bar counter read; ('We’re not actually a bar, but The Moose Head Inn and Bar sounds good, don’t you think?')

I scanned the room. “Hey, this place is nice.”

“Can I have some food?” Clem grinned devilishly.

“You just ate.” I added.

“So?” Clem shrugged.

Clarence strode over to the barista (since the place wasn’t really a bar, was I still allowed to call him that? Sure, why not.) so confidently I would have thought he belonged here. Maybe he did. Nobody looked up, except for the person with blue eyes.

“Five drinks of cinnapuff,” Clarence ordered. “And one bag of chizzlers.”

The barista gave a quick grin before grabbing a bag of yellow chips and pouring some cinnapuff into mugs. Clarence waved us over and we joined him as he passed us our mugs of cinnapuff and Clem the bag of chizzlers.

I sipped my mug. Cinnapuff tasted like hot chocolate, except richer and more flavourful. It tasted like space, like catching fireflies at night, like the sun setting, like dusk and the stars.

Clem ripped open her bag of chizzlers, setting her mug of cinnapuff next to her. She popped one of the red chips in her mouth and smiled. “Ooh, this is good.”

“Where’s the entrance to the portal?” I asked.

“In a room over there.” Barrik pointed to a hallway near the end of the room. “First, though, let’s relax. Our journey ahead will not be easy.” He turned to me and gasped. “You and Clem should see Cliff The Moose Head!”

“What.” I blinked.

“He’s alive, and he talks. You’ll see.”

‘You’ll see’ totally cleared everything up for me. Thanks so much, Barrik.

I moved over to the barista, who was staring at a small gadget. “Hey, where’s Cliff The Moose Head?”

“Over there,” The barista pointed to the same hallway as the entrance to the portal was without looking up from his gadget. I moved over to the hallway and was about to go into it when a voice said, “Wait.”

I froze and looked back. There, was the figure, with blue eyes. They were scowling at me. “You. I know you.”

“Uh.” I said.

The figure’s eyes widened. “You- my sister said it’s your fault. Why they took her. She told me what you looked like. How to tell it was you.”

I blinked. “I think you have the wrong person. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The figure put down their mug and walked closer to me. Up close, their eyes were even more startling. “I’m Lit Arson.”

“Lit Arson?-”

“Yeah, I know, they’re both words related to fire.” Lit huffed impatiently. “And you’re Oli Stellener. Now, come. I need to talk to you.” They glanced around, then zeroed back in on me. “Alone.”



Once I was in the hallway, Lit looked around anxiously before narrowing their eyes on me. “Tell me the truth. Do you know where my sister, Cascade, is?”

“No…” I said.

“She was taken.” Lit explained. “By villains. She managed to escape and send me a message. She said someone could stop this. Someone named Oli Stellener- you.”

I nodded. “That’s my name.”

“She said you would come here. She can sometimes see in the future- it’s her gift. She told me what you looked like. And then now she’s on the run, being chased by villains. I need her back.” Lit’s voice turned cold and dangerous. “So, where. Is. Cascade?”

“I-I don’t know.” I stated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know a Cascade, I don’t know what’s going on.”

Lit narrowed their eyes. “My sister said Ali Effing knows. Ali has the gift too- she can see into the future. Cascade told me you need to find her.” They inhaled sharply. “With Cascade gone, I’m homeless. My other sister, my adopted sister, left us to train. She- she was kidnapped too, when Cascade disappeared. Sooner or later, they’ll be coming for me.” They smiled humorlessly. “I’ll be ready. But my sisters, they’re not fighters. They won’t survive long. Not if- not if what the villains want is true.”

“Listen. I have no idea what’s going on right now. But do you know who I am? Where I’m from?”

“The Solitary Dimension. Cascade mentioned that.”

“Well, I need to do something, to save anyone, according to Barrik. And now your sisters are missing. I’m not sure what to do now or what this means.”

Lit laughed bitterly. “Don’t you see? This is all connected. This chain of events- you coming here, my sisters gone, the moon.”

I stopped. “The moon. It was- hanging, like an orb. You saw that too?”

“Everyone did.” Lit shrugged. “It was on the news. It means something bad. Really, really bad. That’s all I know.” They paused. “Oh, and Barrik and Airik? They know. They’re looking for my sister. That’s what Cascade said. Make sure to let them know we need Ali Effing. Cascade said we need to go to her tomorrow.”

“So…” I said. “I can let Barrik and Airik know that, but do you want to help us? It seems like you know your sister best.

Lit paused. Their face was blank, emotionless. Finally, they gave a lopsided smile and said, “Sure.”


Barrik didn’t take it well.

He didn’t seem to mind that Lit had joined our crew (‘our house has enough rooms for you, it’s fine') and he already seemed to know about Cascade and the moon, but the whole Ali Effing thing really shook him up.

“No.” Barrik muttered. “No. We’re not seeing that psychopath- she’ll demand something for information. She always did.” He put his head in his hands and plopped down on a chair.

Clarence sat with him and told him slowly and calmly, “We need to do this. It’ll be tough, but Cascade…” He shook his head. “We need her back. With the moon, and what they might do… one visit is worth it. It’ll be quick.”

Clem stood with Lit in one corner. She was asking them questions non-stop, and Lit didn’t seem to be answering, judging on Clem’s exhausted look.

I walked over to my friend and Lit- who possibly was my friend; I wasn’t sure yet- and sipped my cinnapuff.

“Hi Oli!” Clem brightened up as I came over. “So, have you gotten the scoop on Ali yet?”

"Don’t look into her eyes.” Lit added.

We turned to stare at them.

Lit smirked. “It’s just basic info. Her eyes are… not normal. You’ll see. She’ll try to get under your skin, make you feel inferior. Don’t give in. And no matter what, don’t make a deal with her. Promise me you won’t.”

“I won’t.” I retorted.

Silence.

“So… Clementine Amor,-” I introduced.

“Clem, she/her, -” Clem interrupted.

“Right, Clem, she/her,” I grinned, remembering Clem’s stubbornness to always be called Clem in kindergarten. “Meet Lit Arson.”

Clem’s eyes widened. “Lit. Arson. That’s one crazy name.”

“Believe me, I’ve heard that a million times.” Lit said. “My pronouns change, but it’s usually just they/them. Sometimes she/her and rarely he/him.”

“Kk,” Clem smiled with her usual eusthism. “So, your sibling is Cascade Arson?”

Lit’s face grew dark and they took a step back. I didn’t like their expression, it reminded me too much of a wolf that felt like it was in danger.

“Sorry,” Clem cleared up. “I didn’t mean-”

“-It’s fine.” Lit’s tone suggested it was clearly not fine. “Sensitive topic. My other sister is Sylvaine. She’s training with enchanted birds about how to Bond with an Umbrella. Well, she was. Before she was kidnapped.”

“An umbrella?” I asked, but before Lit could elaborate, Barrik called, “Come on, we’re going to head to Dimension Fifty-Eight now!”

nice btw do u watch amphibia?