Hi Lucy
Lucy had always been my lifelong friend. But my parents hadn’t let me play with her since I turned six years old. I looked around from where I was. This place. I like this place. It’s so . . . clean! But I do not like how there are no people except for me, Lucy, Julia, and my parents. Every Sunday, I went there to meet Julia, who is the only one who knows about Lucy’s and my existence other than my parents and me.
“Hi Olivia! How is it going?” Julia asked me.
“I’m doing good,” I said, with a bit of a shy attitude.
“How long will it take, Julia?” my mom asked.
“Give me a second,” Julia said and left the room with my mom.
“Hi Lucy,” I said and waved at the girl who was sitting right next to me. Lucy waved back at me. A door opened again and Julia came in.
“I’m sorry, it took a bit of time to explain,” Julia apologized.
“It’s okay—I was talking with Lucy,” I said.
Julia’s smile went down.
“Oh, I didn’t notice you brought your friend again!” she said. Lucy and I looked at each other and smiled. * * *
“How was your meeting?” Mom asked.
“It was good. I feel comfortable there. There is nothing disturbing,” I replied.
It seemed like Mom also did not notice that Lucy was walking with us this whole time. Once we got to our house, Lucy and I sat on a couch.
“Can I have cereal, please?” I asked my mom.
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YUNA CHOI . . .
“Give me a sec, Olivia,” Mom said in a tired tone.
“Can Lucy have some also?” I asked again.
Mom looked at me with a surprised-worried look.
“One day I was playing with Lucy at the playground, and someone pointed at me and screamed, ‘she is crazy! She talks with ghosts!’
I didn’t know what they were talking about.
‘Lucy, are you a ghost, or am I crazy?’ I asked Lucy.
Lucy shook her head. ‘I don’t understand why they can’t understand me.’ I said. Lucy tilted her head, interested in what I was saying.
‘Look!’ I said, pointing at the yellow butterfly.
‘Kids, it’s time to go inside again!’ the teacher said.
‘Bye, Lucy,” I said and waved goodbye to her. Outside the window, from my perspective, Lucy was playing with a soccer ball.
‘Ahhhhh!’ someone shouted.
I looked up and saw a yellow butterfly inside the classroom. It landed on my desk then flew out. The class was quiet again. Maybe it wasn’t loud after all.”
I stopped.
“So, that is what you experienced when you were young. Schizophrenia?” Professor said.
“Yeah. Oh, you know what it’s called?” I asked in a surprised tone. “I mean . . . obviously, you are the professor here who studies mental illnesses. Haha,” I corrected myself as I realized. We both laughed then continued.
“You went through some hard times,” Professor said again, shaking his head lightly. “I’m glad you are better now,” he added.
“I . . . don’t know . . . I don’t know if I’m better or not . . .” I said, tapping my foot nervously.
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* * *
“What? Is there something else bothering you?” the professor said.
“Actually, I started ignoring Lucy after I saw the yellow butterfly . . . so people wouldn’t look at me weirdly like how they usually did. But . . . Lucy was always by my side. She didn’t do anything . . . still . . . she was there, waiting for me to look at her again.”
I looked at my right side. Lucy was sitting in front of the door and playing with a yellow butterfly.
“Oh.”
Professor turned to the side where Lucy was then waved at her.
Time went by quickly while I was in college. After I graduated from college, I became a medical professional for people who had mood or emotion disorders, and I even have my own office now.
On the first day of my new job, someone knocks on my door.
“Come in.”
A girl with thick, short, black hair comes in. She just stands there and does nothing. I look up from my paperwork. As I make eye contact with her, I drop my pen.
“Lucy?”
A yellow butterfly comes in the window and lands on Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy gives me a light smile, waves at me, and then exits my office.
“Wait!”
I try to follow her, but as I step out of my office, Lucy is gone. The only thing left is the scent of chocolate cereal. The scent that will always be real.
This story contains references to mental illness. To learn more, and for related resources, we recommend visiting nami.org.
3 Volume 3
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You or Tea?
I’m Zay. I’m thirteen. I live in a tea shop. I have a white- and gray-striped cat named Fienx. I’m pangender and panromantic but asexual. I’m also ambiamorous, but I’ve never had a relationship apart from friends and family. If you don’t know what those are, look it up, and then get a life.
Fawn, my caretaker, is brushing her wavy, orange hair. Fawn adopted me at ten, so she feels more like my best friend. So many people tell me I’m different. My mom says I’m special, but I feel more like the kind of “special” people use for bad cooking. My friends are superstars. I want to be a superstar, too. I’m usually in love with life, but getting sucked into my feelings sounds more appealing right now. But I’m sad lately. I’m usually a sunny person.
As I walk out of the house, Fawn smiles and waves goodbye, and Fienx copies her, flicking her tail back and forth in the window. I wave back and start my trek to the playground, where my club meets every week.
So I’m at my club I started for societal oddities. As I walk through the playground, I see that my best friend, Matthew, and my crush, Lonnie, are talking next to the tire swing. Matthew has pale skin, eyes like almonds, and light brown hair. Lonnie, in contrast, has wheat-colored hair and purplish-brown skin. Matthew has big, round glasses. Lonnie has zir hair in a high, tight ponytail. When it’s “do whatever” time, Lonnie comes up and kisses me. The world feels like a mac and cheese-filled croissant—warm, comforting, and full of love.
When reality returns, I’m spinning zir around. Matthew comes and shakes my hand. The club cheers. Club ends and I go home.
I wake up the next morning, and I smile genuinely for the first time in months. I’m a superstar because Lonnie loves me, and my friends called and said they’re sorry for not paying enough attention.
The End
To learn more about the identities mentioned in this story, and for related resources, we recommend pflag.org and the Washtenaw County-based Ozone House (ozonehouse.org).
4 Fall into the Land of Dreams
ZUZU WHITNEY . . . age 12
Shining Burst
(Inspired by the game, Ghostrunner)
PROLOGUE:
Static appears on a scroll on a cabinet. “Hello Ez, remember to not be late to your ceremony. From Mom.”
A beep can be heard from downstairs while the scroll shuts off.
Oh, I almost forgot about the scroll ceremony! I thought to myself. I rushed to the front door and ran toward the class, in the process creating livid sparks that seemed to be giving off a valiant shine. I blasted through the door while in the process of being just on time to the ceremony.
“Mr. Ez . . . What have I told you about breaking the door? It’s the sixth time this month. Also good job not being late to class this time, otherwise it would have been another call to your parents. So now let’s join in the assembly. After all, this is the last class.”
The ceremony began, lights started to flicker, and a podium from below the floor came up with a large amount of smoke. The smoke deteriorated in the polluted air while the scrolls gleamed with glowing passion. The professors warped on stage, leaving an afterglow over the stage. Soon after, the teachers started to talk.
“Hello, Tier 8 students. It’s finally the time when you graduate and see if anything special belongs to you. One by one, you will come down while we, the teachers, pass your elected scrolls.”
One by one, students started to warp down and take their scrolls. Unfortunately, most of the students did not get any special scrolls, as their scroll illuminated as green or red. Red was yes while green was no. There was an occasional blue that meant treason, but it didn’t seem to happen much. Eventually my name got called, but when I picked up my scroll, my life had taken a flip, and I was still upside down.
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ANONYMOUS . . . age 13 Continued on next page ↩
CHAPTER ONE: Scroll of Deception
I had gone down to the assembly floor. Everything seemed normal, but I felt something was wrong. I felt goosebumps crawl up my spine, and my mind trembled while going down. Eyes were staring at me, some happy and some not. My head professor passed me a scroll, gleaming with potential. It had been my dream to be special, so I could join my older brother. I unraveled the scroll, but the camera quickly pointed toward me while everyone was watching me in shock. It was blue and red, an occurrence that was unheard of. People even thought that it was impossible for that to happen. However, I could not be in a state of disarray, as people started to attack me. While they started to surround me, I ran, but something happened. Void surrounded me, but I was alive. I heard the voice of the attackers around me, who were clearly confused. I tried to escape, but nothing worked. Then I decided to open the scroll, which told me to focus all on my legs. I focused, and suddenly I broke through the void, with black-and-purple crystal shards all around me. The people looked at me like I was an alien, but I looked at my hand where I had seemed to crystallize with the void. My hands were a crystallic black with shards of purple growing out of them. I felt confined in my body, but my body didn’t seem to hurt. I soon blacked out due to being bombarded by people around me.
CHAPTER TWO: The Whisperer
I woke up in a dimly lit building with a man waking me up.
“Hey kid, wake up. Hurry, they are going to find us any minute,” said the mysterious man.
My mind was hazy while I tried to understand my situation. I was barely able to speak a few words while my heart was hastily beating.
“Huh, wait, who are you, and where am I?” I said.
The man told me, “My name isn’t that important now. Just call me the Whisperer. Welcome to my hideout, kid. Now tell me, what is your name?”
I tried to move, but I was trapped. I was able to turn my head around and look. I saw my scroll lying on a holographic table. I was shocked to see that the Whisperer had an item of the past just lying around. That type of item is outdated compared to the newest. The Whisperer told me to stop moving around, as he was going to fix me, and he demanded that I tell him my name. Since he told me a fake name, I told him a fake name back, and I told him that my name was Ghostrunner.
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The Whisperer told me some words before I almost blacked out forever: “Ghostrunner, I am going to put you in a repairing capsule. It will repair you, and I will release you soon. I will see you soon.” The bed was getting pulled toward the capsule, and I couldn’t move. I thought I was dead, but that was far from the truth.
CHAPTER THREE: Glorified Suit of Armor
I woke up after a few months and saw no one around me, not even the Whisperer. I looked at my hands. They were covered with a suit of armor. I looked at a metal tire, and my face was also covered with a suit. I continued to look around and found my scroll. My scroll had changed to now say, “Essential criminal on the loose with a bounty of six thousand gigawatts.” I summed the amount, which was sixty-seven million screws, but that wasn’t the worst of my problems. The Whisperer had been captured by the government, and I knew that because I found his scroll right next to mine. Apparently, he was like me, a powerful contraption. But he was wanted too, so I knew my goal was to save him. However, before I did that, I decided that I should see how the outside world was, so I jumped out the air vent.
If it didn’t seem like they wanted me before, now it looked like they wanted to get me for sure because I had escaped the hands of the cyborgs. There was a group of cyborgs in each district of the city, or maybe even the whole nation for all I knew. Nevertheless, the second I landed on the ground, the group of cyborgs closest to me aimed their weapons at me. I was about to run away before the armor said, “Wall streaming activated,” which gave me the ability to run up walls. This allowed me to hide back at the hideout, also known as an air vent. While I was running, I was miraculously able to catch a bullet and found out that it was a stun bullet. That meant that I wouldn’t die, but I would get captured. I was sitting down, wondering if I should turn myself in or if I should stay a fugitive on the run, but my choice was made for me.
A night when I was cowering inside of the air duct, a voice called for me. I looked around the base, seeing it as empty as ever. Right before I gave up searching for the voice, I heard the voice again, and I realized that it came from my suit.
Bzzt!
I answered the voicegram and heard the following: “Hey, Ghostrunner, if you can hear this, you are alive. I am currently locked up in a maximum security prison. If you are
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. . .
Bzzt! . . .
able to, try to break me out. Even though you are just a kid and your life’s on the line, we are both fugitives, and I would appreciate it if you could help your fellow human.”
The message shattered in my grasp. Even though I didn’t know who sent it to me, I had a good estimation that it was the Whisperer, and I was going to break him out.
CHAPTER FOUR: The Ghastly Death Run
I quickly snuck into my bedroom. I clipped through the walls and saw my room in a mess even worse than the air duct. My posters were ripped down, my pictures had no me in them. In the picture of me and my family, I was cut out. Although I didn’t feel sad, I felt some remorse for my friends and family. My dad, who was the leader of the cyborgs, had always thought I would be the next leader and never thought I would be an enemy of our nation. However, I had to put feelings aside. I quickly grabbed my sword, which was my heirloom of the ages. My father once had it and so had my grandfather and others before. It was the best of its kind. Undoubtedly, the best item that I could use to break Whisperer out of the cell without dying. I was about to leave the house, but then my bedroom door opened behind me. My father and I stared into each others’ eyes. I was about to make a run for it, but unexpectedly he ran right toward me and gave me a hug.
My father told me, “Son, I know you didn’t do anything wrong, and I am sorry for having to use force against you. But before you say something negative to me, the Warden forcefully came into our house and broke down our bedroom door. I was going to move all your belongings into the basement tomorrow night in case you ever came back, but I see that is useless now. I can be of assistance to you in any possible way; however, I can’t make you free. I am not even supposed to be talking to you, as it is a crime now. So just give me a possible request, and I will help you with that.” Suddenly struck to the core by this, I quickly asked for the map of the whole entire region. My father understood the request and left the room, shortly after returning to the room and putting a bright scroll in my hand.
My dad said, “Run, Ez. Look forward and make daybreak. Don’t look behind, or it might cause nightfall.”
I nodded my head and leaped out, being so stealthy that the wolf couldn’t sense me from lightyears away. I snuck back into the air vent, sneaking past the cyborgs to be undetectable. I checked the scroll that my father had given me, and I knew that he hadn’t tricked me. It was a verifiable map. Before I made the trek to the prison, my darkness had consumed me. However, it was different compared to last time . . . I felt pain, sharp pain from the large crystals that were coming out of my skin. I tried
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to scream, but I couldn’t hear anything. I could only hear myself and my thoughts. I thought I was trapped, or worst of all, dead. I was about to lose hope, but I heard the Whisperer’s voice in my head. I knew I had to overpower it. I tried to break through and surely enough . . . It didn’t work . . . I was really trapped.
CHAPTER FIVE: Suit of Corruption
I woke up with sweat dripping down my head, sliding down toward the metal floor. I was unsure what had just happened. I couldn’t tell the difference between reality and the realm of reverie. My heart clashed against my chest like my heart claimed a war against it. I woke up, almost slipping on sweat and got ready for the actual ghastly death run. I picked up the map, verified that the scroll worked, and took my trusty sword. I snuck out of the air vent, in the process making vague sparks, dull as the walls but quieter than my heartbeat. I was halfway across the city, being as quiet as a robot suit could, but I got a shock. Shocked by this, I fell and fell for as long as the word hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. My suit confronted the metal wall, caused a massive dent in the solid floor, and landed on a run-down balcony surrounded by drones, which didn’t seem to hear me. I was too weak to get up, and I was fighting against the pain I had just felt. Eventually the pain got to me, and I blacked out.
Shimmers of black covered my sight, and I saw darkness for the longest time and didn’t wake up. I had thought that I had heard the Whisperer say, “You’re . . . alive. Can you hear me? They are already looking for you.”
I didn’t know what was happening, but I couldn’t find out until I regained consciousness . . .
To be continued . . .
17 Volume 3
Fate
Since the very beginning, the world has worshiped gods that control fate, time, luck, dreams, love, and everything else that makes us human. They have been prayed to and had temples built in their names. They are immortal, untouchable— or so they thought.
CHAPTER ONE: Thea
I hissed out a breath while I threw my strength behind my sword, clashing with my opponent. My muscles were on fire, my legs threatening to give out from beneath me. I forced against the opening tides of fatigue, throwing my strength behind my weapon again and again until my opponent lay unconscious on the ground. I walked past him, my steps dragging. The world had long lost the glimmer it had once held. Slowly dreams ceased to exist, as no one ever ended where they were supposed to, and everything became meaningless.
War and terror reigned now, covering the world in ash. Ash from the burning of a world promised to be, a world that once was. A world that failed to remain.
I walked into the office of the merchant who resided over this land, looking for the map that I was promised was here. However, in his chair sat a person, around six feet tall, sharpening a knife on their lap.
“Who are you?” I snapped. I did not have the stamina for another fight, and the thought of running wasn’t something I enjoyed. If there was any chance that this map was here, our salvation existed. I would find it.
“Theadora Rikath.”
The person said my name like it was a blessing as much as it was a curse. Salvation at the hands of poison.
“That’s me, yes. Now who are you?”
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ROWAN YORDY . . .
15
The person smiled, a small twitch of their lips, before they pocketed their knife and stood right before me. Now that I could see them closer, I realized they were indeed not very tall but much closer to my height. They had a scar running from their right temple to their left jaw bone and two on opposite sides of it from a claw of a bear or some other beast that lurked in the woods.
“My name is Storm, and I’m going to need you to come with me.”
I scoffed, wondering who they thought they were. “No thank you. I have people to look after,” I replied, forcing myself to square my shoulders.
“You have the whole world to look after, Daughter of Fate.”
I blinked then laughed. It was probably . . . definitely the exhaustion that made the sound come out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop it.
“You’re insane,” I spit out. “And wasting my time.” I started for the door. Clearly this was just a trap.
“You never knew?” Storm’s rough yet smooth voice asked.
Against my better judgment I turned. “Know what?”
Their lips twitched into a smile again. “You’re the daughter of the goddess of Fate.” They sounded so sure of this delusion.
“Fate is a goddess that we worship. She has never had a child—”
“And now she’s dead.”
I blinked, my mouth falling open. “What? Goddesses cannot die; stop wasting my time.”
Then suddenly everything went very still. The birds chirping in the distance halted. The whistling of the wind slowed. Everything stopped, except me and Storm.
“What . . .” I whispered in awe. Storm smirked, clearly proud of themselves.
“Just like you are the child of Fate, I am the child of Time.” They walked over to me then threw something in the air. It hovered there unmoving, and I blinked.
“What did you do to me?” I asked incredulously.
“Nothing,” Storm replied with ease.
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I stared at them.
“How then?”
They sighed in exasperation and something else I couldn’t place. “Like I said, child of Time.” The way they spoke that phrase made it clear that they thought of it as if it were obvious—except it wasn’t, not to me.
“Well, please start the time again, thank you.”
With a flick of their wrist that I hadn’t noticed them do before, the birds resumed their chirping, and the coin they had thrown landed on the ground with a cling. I immediately started on my way out, but a moment later Storm was before me.
“Leave me alone.” I pushed past them just to be met with them again. “Stop that.”
They moved away and started walking with me.
“Thea, come on. We need you. We need fate.”
I just kept walking, and after a while Storm left me alone. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should’ve listened to them. I knew I had people to take care of. Not as Fate but as me, Theadora Rikath, daughter of a soldier killed in battle and a mother who never cared. I was not anything more than that.
By nightfall I was back at the camp. My people were starving; being hunted was always like that. More casualties than saved lives, and every time we saved one we lost another. I was used to it by now after years of this, so I kept my head held high as I walked into the camp that was too temporary to be a home and went straight to my own bed. My body ached to lay down.
The camp was quieting as mostly everyone fell asleep until it was perfectly silent. Still, almost. I shot up in bed and within a minute had a blade pressed against Storm’s neck, a candle in my other hand.
CHAPTER TWO: Storm
I smiled at Thea; she had no idea how desperate we really were. She had no idea that the whole world falling apart wasn’t just the hunters, that the very fabric of reality was ripping apart every second, and no amount of slowed time could change a thing.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped. Her voice was sharp, curving around each word like a blade of its own.
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“I am seeing if you changed your mind,” I replied, pushing the blade away from my neck. She let me even though I knew she could push back if she wished.
“Well, I didn’t. So, off you go.”
I gave her a blank stare. Something about this whole situation was starting to get to me. Something about how much we needed her and how little regard for us she had. How could she look around and not want to help her people?
“Really?” I couldn’t help the contempt that slipped out before I could halt it, my tongue working of its own accord.
“Really what?” Thea replied, her tone void of any telltale emotion stirring within her.
“You really care so little.”
She blinked at me once, twice before she composed herself, and her gaze became a glare once more. “I care more than you could ever imagine.”
“It doesn’t look like it.” I truly had never come here with the intent of being cruel, but I couldn’t help myself. The whole world was at stake.
Thea sighed, clearly done with this conversation, but she didn’t leave.
“Explain to me exactly what I would be required to do. Then maybe I will consider it.” My heart leaped a few beats at the prospect that she would actually come.
I knew that was the whole point of me and Ariella being sent to look for Thea, but I never expected her to actually consider it.
“Pretty much, I will take you to the sanctuary; that’s where we live. It’s about a twoweek journey. Following that, you will be crowned as the goddess of Fate.”
Thea nodded slowly, and I could see in her eyes that she was actually thinking it over.
“And once I’m crowned. Do I have a choice in my own future, my own fate?”
I wanted to tell her of course she did, why wouldn’t she? But I realized, I didn’t know. I couldn’t voice that aloud, so I took the only reasonable course of action. I lied.
“Of course you do.”
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I could see the tension fall from her shoulders in that one short sentence, and I couldn’t help the guilt bubbling in my stomach and the bile rising up my throat.
“I’ll go,” she whispered, sealing her fate as the whole world. As long as I didn’t screw this up.
CHAPTER THREE: Thea
We left by dawn. I had packed us over two weeks of rations even though Storm claimed it wouldn’t take more than two weeks. I couldn’t trust their easy grins and the way they seemed to be hiding everything under them.
“We can stop in a clearing a few miles from here.”
I nodded. My body may have been moving, but my mind was still stuck at the camp. I couldn’t seem to relax, wondering if my people were OK.
Traveling with Storm was easier than I had expected. They often stopped time and scouted ahead, and the only reason I even noticed was their slightly different position when they came back. Either way, we encountered no issues the first few days and fell into an easy routine of eating, walking, eating, and sleeping. Very few words were exchanged.
“What’s it like, the sanctuary?” I asked on the fourth night, the first day of the journey on which I actually spoke. Storm stared into the small fire we had made for a long moment before meeting my eyes.
“Often there’s a lot of meetings, and we’re always doing something. I suppose someone else may speak more highly of it, but as heir of an immortal being, I will be expected to be perfect for all of eternity. Even if I never become Time, my fate is woven like that.” Their voice held a solemn tone, but I didn’t have a chance to comment on it before they started talking again. “But there’s places—cliffsides, beaches—where it’s quiet, and the buzz of politics goes away. Those places are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.”
I held their gaze until they looked away, hoping to convey whatever emotion I felt through that and not the words I couldn’t think of.
“We should sleep; tomorrow will be long. We’re crossing the river. Goodnight, Thea.”
With that they laid on their bedroll and were out within moments. I wondered how that was possible. To fall into the land of dreams so quickly.
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“Goodnight, Storm,” I whispered, laying awake for long minutes stretching into hours before I finally faded into dreams as well.
CHAPTER FOUR: Storm
White walls, white floor, white ceiling. For a moment I couldn’t comprehend where I was before I heard a voice. “Storm.”
I turned, the hazy form of someone all too familiar bringing my mind into full focus. I was dreaming. Obviously I was dreaming. “Esa.”
The girl I was facing now was so far from the best friend I had said goodbye to not even two months ago. She seemed stronger, sharper around the edges. Less alive.
“What’s wrong?” I worried for a moment she wouldn’t answer as her form wavered.
“I’ve heard whispers—”
“Of what?” Panic welled in my chest like the beginnings of a hurricane. Her using her powers to this extent couldn’t be without cause.
“If Fate isn’t back within the week’s end, the sanctuary will fall. Already many are losing their powers, and my father—” Her voice cracked, but she squared her shoulders, pushing on. “He’s called ‘gravely ill’; without Fate, dreams are hard to manage.” This couldn’t be happening. I tried to tamp down my panic, tried to find the eye of the hurricane and feel the calm resurface. I couldn’t.
“We will be there by the end of the week, I swear it.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears, but blessedly Esabel did not comment on it.
“Quick travels, my friend. I will not be able to visit you again.” With that and a small smile, she was gone, dreamless sleep my only companion.
I awoke to total darkness except a faint line of gold peaking above the horizon. I looked to Thea’s bunk, and she was gone. My heart rate skyrocketed, and the world seemed to sit atop a single point, wobbling and uneven in all ways.
I was on my feet, one of my blades in hand within moments. Either something went wrong and Thea was taken, or she left of her own accord. What if she had found out?
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What if she knew I had lied? I was going to be sick. A twig snapped and I whirled, throwing a blade from my sleeve to the sound. The figure rolled out of the way before standing up.
“You almost hit me, you idiot.”
I turned to see Thea. She was glaring at me, all the warmth she had gained in her demeanor over the course of the last few days fully gone.
“Sorry. I thought . . .” I trailed off. What exactly had I thought? That she figured out a lie that there was no one around her to explain. Slowly the world righted itself, and the feeling that I was going to topple the moment I breathed wrong dissipated.
Thea was still staring at me when I finally caught my breath. After a minute of us just standing there, she shrugged and laid down on her bedroll once more.
“Do you often panic that much?” she asked, her tone of voice void of any form of contempt.
“I . . .” She looked at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look back.
“Panicking doesn’t make you weak, Storm. It just means you care so fiercely that you lose yourself in it.”
She gently put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at her. She offered me a smile before pulling away. I went to say thank you, to say anything at all, when everything went silent.
CHAPTER FIVE: Thea
I couldn’t even hear my heartbeat nor the way Storm’s breathing was finally starting to even again. “Storm,” I whispered, but my own voice didn’t carry.
Storm’s eyes widened before they started bouncing from place to place around the dense forest.
A moment later, they grabbed me by the arm and dove, taking me with them. My eyes went wide as arrows rushed right where we just were. Faster than I thought they would’ve. They were silent, beyond silence. There was nothing. After a moment, another slew of arrows flew straight toward us. They stopped midair, and Storm stood, holding an arm out to me.
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Once I was standing, I unsheathed my blade. Why was everything so silent? Storm yelled something, but no sound rushed out. Moments later, a hooded figure moved into the clearing. Storm yelled something else, and a minute later all the sound came back and my ears began ringing.
“You okay?” Storm muttered to me as I winced at the pain.
I nodded and looked back to the figure.
“Cal, this is Thea. Thea, this is Cal, Son of Sound.”
How was it that only a week ago I only had to worry about hidden archers and merchants with fantasy maps, and now I was meeting the son of Sound, who had just removed all the noise from an entire clearing? What exactly had I just gotten myself into?
“I know who she is.” Cal flipped off his hood, golden blond hair falling over his forehead, a scar running through his brow. His voice was oddly dark, not much bite to the sentence, but it sent chills along my spine.
“The introduction was more for her benefit than yours.”
I studied the way that Storm’s half grin didn’t nearly meet their eyes and how their shoulders weren’t quite as loose as they had been before. In all honesty, they had gone completely rigid.
“Well . . . Storm, your time here is done. I’ll be taking her from here.”
Storm’s brows shot up, their fake smile vanishing. Cal began walking toward us, but Storm held up a hand and Cal froze. Actually frozen, halted in time.
“We have to go.” Their face was blank, but their voice gave enough away: in a fight between them and Cal, Cal would win. I began packing up our stuff, but Storm pulled me away. “Now, Thea. I can’t hold him long.”
I had the urge to argue—we needed our stuff—but I didn’t. There was no point in wasting time. I grabbed my bow and quiver, throwing them over my shoulder, and we took off down the hill. I felt the moment Storm’s power gave out as everything went silent.
Arrows flew down the hill, and we ran as fast as possible. I saw the river coming up ahead and tried not to think about its frigid depths. Soon enough we were at the
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edge, and I looked to Storm with a slight jerk of the head, an imitation of a nod. They dove and I followed suit.
The water froze my veins, into my very soul. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t feel, and I certainly couldn’t think. I reminded myself that I had to. That I had to be calm, otherwise the river would sweep me away. I let my body go loose and be carried away by the waves.
CHAPTER SIX: Storm
I rolled to my side, coughing out water, my chest rising and falling with heaving breaths.
“You’re up, finally,” Thea grumbled, sitting before a small fire roasting a fish.
“How long have I been out?” My voice sounded croaky and hoarse to my own ears, but Thea didn’t comment on it.
She flipped the fish slowly, taking careful consideration to her movements.
“Half a day, give or take. I was going to let you sleep until morning, but perhaps we could get some travel done tonight if you’re up for it.”
I could hardly think, let alone make plans to travel.
“Are you unharmed?” I asked instead, deflecting from the much more pressing matters. My mind flicked back to what Esa said, and chills snaked up my spine. If Fate isn’t back by the end of the week, the sanctuary will fall.
“Fine, only some scrapes from the river.”
I hummed a noncommittal response, looking over myself. I only had scrapes as well. Nothing deep enough to be trouble.
We ate in companionable silence, and once we were done, Thea stood.
“No belongings to pack, so let’s go.” That’s when it hit me that we had lost all our stuff. Gods. All I could do was stand and begin into the woods.
The journey was harder than I had anticipated in the dark; I lost sight of exactly where we were multiple times, and the looming shadows did nothing to stop the worry I felt.
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We walked until the following afternoon, never slowing our pace. I had promised Esa that we would be at the sanctuary by the end of the week. I would not break that even if we had to walk nonstop until we reached the gates.
We stopped by a river to drink after a while, sitting beside the river bank.
“Here.” Thea handed me a handful of berries, making me arch a brow. More often than not in my experience these were poisonous.
As if reading my mind, she explained, “They aren’t poisonous, just eat them so we can go.”
I pocketed the berries, unsure if I should trust that or not, and after a while we headed out again.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Thea
The days passed in a blur. Storm told me that by the following morning we would be at the gates. The shadows seemed to stare at me more viciously as I began actually thinking about this. By tomorrow I would be the goddess of fate.
The doubt slipped in again, the undeniable feeling that I didn’t want this. I had never wanted this, but my people . . . I had to protect them and everyone else. No one else could.
Even with those thoughts, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was giving up my own life, and through that I couldn’t help but feel slightly selfish about it. I would do this because I had to, and no one else could ever know I didn’t want to.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a branch falling right before me and Storm. I lunged back. A moment later I saw eyes. Many, many eyes.
“Stay still, very very still.” Storm muttered half to themselves.
I often thought of myself as a courageous person, someone who doesn’t fright easily, but currently all that had gone out the window.
I was frozen in fear. Hardly able to breathe. I was standing face-to-face with a giant spider. A literal spider, and I could do nothing. It could probably eat me in one bite; I was going to die.
The spider lunged, and Storm and I both dove out of the way in opposite directions.
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“So much for staying still!” I screamed at them, trying to catch my breath. I pulled my sword out, not sure if it would even do more than leave a scratch.
The spider lunged towards me again, pincers getting close to me and ripping the fabric of my cloak. I jumped back right as Storm took the opportunity to slash the spider with their sword. A black line appeared in the stead of what I had assumed would be blood. Having now gotten the spider’s attention, Storm backed away a few feet, looking to me.
As our eyes met, they mouthed the word “run” right as the spider slashed at them again. I could run; it would probably be the safest option for me, but I couldn’t leave Storm. I pulled out my bow, nocking an arrow and firing it at the tree, immediately setting another one in. The spider slowly turned to me, but I didn’t hesitate before shooting another right into one of its pure black eyes.
It reeled back, and as it did I dropped my bow, picking up my sword, and lunged. Before I could strike it, however, Storm did. A moment later the spider retched and fell to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Storm gave me a grim nod, their face splattered in the black substance. I was sure mine was too. They began walking in the direction we had been going in silence, leaving me to pick up my bow and arrows and follow them.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Storm
The closer we got to the sanctuary, the more I worried. What if Thea didn’t want this? I know we needed it, but if she wanted to walk away, then she could. She knew what she was in for, she knew she probably couldn’t control—oh. The realization hit me like a punch in the gut, making me double over. She didn’t know what she was walking into because I lied to her.
“You okay?” She placed her hand gently on my shoulder but I stood, shrugging it off.
“Yeah, fine.”
She raised a brow in suspicion. I looked away and started walking again, faster than before. She caught up with me, keeping to my pace. I kept trudging along, hoping I didn’t look too much like a toddler having a tantrum. I probably did.
“Wanna tell me what’s making you stomp, or do you just want to keep splashing mud on me?”
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I sighed, running a hand over my face, refusing to look at her. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”
Thea didn’t answer me, going silent. After a few long moments, I looked over to see her just staring ahead, clear determination set in stone upon her features. She was going to kill me when she found out.
When we finally got to the entrance to the sanctuary, there was a stone engraved with a symbol of each of the gods that morphed with how they were most seen in the world. A clock tower for Time, cliff for Fate, a pillow for Dreams, and a clover for Luck, among many more. I placed my hand on the clock, and the rock melted from the inside, leaving a pathway to walk through.
I motioned to Thea to go ahead, which she did, and I followed, watching to make sure the pathway sealed back up again before turning back to her. She was already fifty or so paces ahead of me, running her hand along the darkest black brick upon the walls. I caught up to her, falling into step right behind her. The hallway wasn’t wide enough to be beside one another.
After a while, it opened into a small circle big enough for five people, give or take. We both stepped inside, and it began rising. Thea jumped, clearly startled by the sudden jerk upwards.
“How does it do that?” she asked, looking to me.
“There’s magic all around you, Daughter of Fate.”
Right after I replied, the wall slid open, revealing the city of stars.
CHAPTER NINE: Thea
My breath was taken from me in a moment, lights from all directions. A city in the sky. The building floated upon clouds looking like stars in the most beautiful universe. I couldn’t tear my eyes from it even if I wanted to. How was something in this universe so beautiful in a world of bloodshed and hatred, where people were hunted by the day? To my people, did this exist?
The awe turned to rage after a moment. They hid this from the world as it fell apart. They lived in luxury while everyone else struggled to find food good enough to stomach. I turned to Storm, my eyes burning with tears that would not be shed and certainly not for me.
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Storm was already looking at me with that cool indifference they always held, but I saw the worry in their eyes. The fear. Something hadn’t been quite right since this morning, but they hadn’t told me what yet.
“Let’s go.” Their voice was soft, clearly trying to talk me out of ripping this city to shreds with my bare hands. My traitorous legs still followed them until we were in the heart of the city. A castle lay not far in the distance, and children played on the street.
“Who are they?” I motioned to the children, wondering aloud.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. Many are probably children of the gods, but some definitely aren’t. Well, at least not the major ones.”
“The major ones?” It occurred to me then that in two weeks of travel I had never actually asked how this place worked. I should have.
“Yeah, Time, Fate, Love, and Luck.”
I nodded slowly, digesting their words for a long moment. “Not Sound?”
Storm shook their head. “No, Sound and Cal both think they should be recognized on the council of gods, though. I don’t.”
I snorted; of course Sound would be as arrogant as his spawn.
When we finally reached the castle gates, Storm waved a hand and they were opened, letting us go inside. We stepped into the throne room all too soon. A guy striking a close resemblance to Storm sat in the middle, a man with long black hair to his right and a woman with a green braid beside him. To the left, the throne was empty. My throne.
Storm’s father cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to him. Suddenly I remembered that I was covered in the black blood of a giant spider, my clothes ruined and my hair matted in its braid. I looked at Storm, who hardly looked better, if not worse. They met my gaze and smiled, taking a step back and mouthing “good luck.”
“Are you Theadora Rikath?” the man asked, his voice calm but rough, much reminding me of Storm’s. I nodded once.
“And you are here to take your late mother’s place as Fate?” I nodded again.
“Yes.” We just stared at each other in a moment that felt like it stretched into all of eternity.
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“Then by all means, take your throne, Daughter of Fate.”
I took a shuddering breath. This was it. This was why I was here. I stared at the throne. I had been hoping this moment would never come. Finally I took a slow step toward it.
“Stop!” Storm’s voice carried through the room, and all of us looked at them. “I lied to you, Thea,” they said calmly, making me furrow my brow. When? “I don’t know what will happen to your fate when you take that throne. I can’t promise you will keep your freedom.”
I blinked slowly. I was thinking that they meant something small. Not the only way they convinced me to come here. But was it worth being miserable to save my people? Was it worth being chained for all of eternity so that they would stop being hunted?
Was anything truly worth it if you know all its secrets? If you stared something in the face, was there ever going to be proof that in every reality you should do it no matter the cost?
My resolve hardened, and in one immense moment, I made my choice. I may not be able to choose my fate once I sat upon that throne, but I could now. I took another step toward it and into the rest of my eternity.
Kayla Chenault Volunteer & Program Coordinator
by Gerald Richards, CEO
