by J Deleon
Jennifer looked at Ian, the young boy who seemed desperate for food. The leader behind him, who wasn’t shooting at anybody, didn’t even have his gun out. All he was doing was begging for Ian to stop. She saw the love in the man’s eyes. He cared for Ian deeply. But Jennifer knew there was no stopping Destiny from manipulating the poor boy into doing as he was told. There was no hope for Ian. He would give into Destiny, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
Time returned to normal. The pain went away and Ian continued to fight for the sword. The leader started towards them. Jennifer heard Cecily screaming her name at the top of her lungs. The time was now.
Jennifer threw the sword to the side, throwing Ian with it. Jennifer stood up and watched as Ian fumbled to grab the sword that was still in reach. Jennifer then pulled out her gun and shot Ian’s hand as he grabbed the handle of the sword. He screamed in pain as he retracted his hand.
“Ian!” The man screamed as Jennifer reached down for the sword.
Ian grabbed Jennifer’s shoulder as she tried to stand up, and in an instant, Jennifer swung the sword around and slashed Ian across his torso. Ian’s body split in two as the blood that followed the movement of the sword formed an opening in the air. A bright light followed the sword as it cut across him—like a comet’s tail that never faded. The tear that floated held a wide variety of bright colors, moving around wildly inside. It was an opening in time and space itself—a tunnel to the unknown. The tear had a strong current of wind seemingly sucking her in. It grew stronger in the single second it was there, but the moment felt like a lifetime to her. It sucked Ian’s two pieces inside first before taking her as well.
Chapter 4:
The Fallout
Adam
“AHHH!” Adam gripped his dirty hair, trying to subdue the pain coming from his forehead.
It was night time, but the sky was a clear dark red. Adam had been imprisoned for almost a year now, though he had lost track of the days long ago. No bathing, no shaving, no real exercise, not even the smallest bit of remorse for the sick human. The Usepa kept the human locked away in his small cell for so long, Adam’s body had grown use to the poor circumstances. He reeked of dirt and sweat, his unkempt hair and beard were filled with the same, and he bit his ugly fingernails so they wouldn’t break whenever they forced the man to fight for his life.
Adam had only fought three times during the past year, but he survived them all. The last one was the closest one, having a serious shoulder injury. He only won by clawing out the eyes of the Telemy native as they went to strangle him. Adam was fortunate that that fight was with their bare hands only. His injury never fully healed correctly, however. They provided no medical care for him.
The pain in his head was something he hadn’t felt since he was on earth. It was a distinct pain that he remembered greatly. Within a few seconds, a vision appeared before him. He saw a young man being split in half by a lady with a strange sword. A rip in space had followed the sword, sucking the two inside of it. The vision ended there.
The sword. Adam knew it was the sword the Udori were looking for. The Usepa wanted the sword back, and the humans had it. Then, Adam had a revelation.
“People.” Adam muttered as the pain went away. There were other people—still on earth. Living, breathing people. “People.” Adam began to cry at the thought that he wasn’t the only one of his kind left.
Cecily
The shooting stopped. As the portal vanished in thin air, everybody there remained still. Each group had just lost a family member.
“J—Jennifer?” Cecily mumbled. “…Jennifer?”
Cecily was only a few feet away from them. It all happened so fast. She was running after her, trying to stop the fighting. Across from her, was the other group’s leader; frozen on his feet. Cecily looked the man in the eyes; his heart was broken.
“Jennifer? It’s okay.” Cecily tore her eyes away from the man. “It’s all okay…I’m okay. You can come out now.”
The man fell to his knees. His eyes still lost and depressed. As Cecily fought the hard truth, the man couldn’t even fathom it.
“Cecily.” Lela softly spoke behind her.
“Dun…dun…” Cecily cried. “Dun…” She couldn’t finish.
“She…killed Ian.” A man from Ian’s group stated.
“She killed Ian! The Prophet!” A lady yelled on the verge of tears.
In a matter of seconds, both groups were arguing about what had just happened, but Cecily and the man in front of her were still speechless. Cecily continued to repeat Jennifer’s name as the man just stared at the space he was last at. His blood was still strewn on the pavement. Cecily watched as the man finally dropped his head and loosened his shoulders. He couldn’t stare at the blood anymore. Cecily was now watching him, caring more about his feelings than her own.
The man kept his head down as the two groups argued. Cecily couldn’t stop the tears from flowing now. She felt as if she had cried more times in the past year than in the rest of her life. The last year had been filled with so much sorrow, she didn’t know if she could take anymore, but more had definitely come. Jennifer was gone, there was no denying it now. She knew what she saw—everybody saw it.
The man lifted his head and looked at Cecily. His eyes were dry, but he was gone. Not one shine of light came out of his eyes. Cecily knew that he loved that boy. The man didn’t look mad when he looked at Cecily, only sad. He had empathy in his eyes.
“Jennifer.” Cecily uttered one last time.
Cecily watched as members of Ian’s group went over to the man, picked him up, and took him away.
“Hey, wh—what’s happening?” Cecily was confused. “What are they doing?” The men who had Ian’s friend dragged him across the street as both of the groups mobbed. Cecily hadn’t been listening to the arguing; somewhere it had stopped.
“They’re taking him.” Lela ran towards Cecily to nurture her.
“What do you mean?” Cecily asked.
“Come on, we have to go.” Lela tried to take Cecily. “Michael and them aren’t listening to me. They all think that the gods were right now. They want him dead.”
“Wait, what? He didn’t do anything.” Cecily stood up and tried to run after them. “He didn’t do anything!”
Lela held Cecily back as both groups circled around Ian’s friend.
“They’re gone, Cecily. They want justice.”
“This isn’t justice, this is murder!”
“Jennifer killed their Prophet. They think he let her kill their only hope of survival.”
“No, he had nothing to do with this!”
“Cecily, they want to kill you too.” Lela told her.
“Don’t kill him! Please!” Cecily begged.
“It’s too late, Cecily.”
“No, please! Stop them!”
“They’re all scared! They don’t know what they saw, they refuse to look at reason right now. God, why, Jennifer?” Lela sounded on the verge of tears now.
Cecily watched as all of the scared people took the still motionless man to the side of the road and tied his hands together with an exposed wire. They were making him their prisoner.
“Get her!” A man pointed towards Cecily now. The man seemed to be in charge of the uprising.
“Please, no!” Cecily begged as they tied her down as well.
Gwen
The pain stopped and the vision ended, taking Gwen back to reality. She was alone, on her knees, and in the cold mud. Her heart had skipped a beat, her knuckles were white, and her body was weak; however, at the moment, she didn’t care about any of it. There was only one thought on her mind, it singlehandedly crumbled her life in a second.
Ian, her younger brother, was dead.
Not a single tear fell from her eyes. Gwen stared out into the nothingness all around her. She was thousands of miles away from wherever he may be in her home city. Gwen recounted what she had just seen, and remembered the sword. She remembered as it ripped through
him like paper and through space itself. She watched as the rip in space swallowed both him and his murderer, then vanishing.
“wh—” Gwen couldn’t find the words.
“Gwen.” Destiny spoke behind her.
Gwen didn’t move. She continued to stare out at nothing.
“Matters have changed.” Destiny continued.
Gwen sat in silence.
“Her name is Jennifer. I know you want to know.”
“Why?” Gwen whispered.
“Because she was selfish. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she did it anyways.”
“I thought he was a part of this. I thought this was his destiny.” Gwen began to raise her voice.
“It was.”
“Then how the hell did this happen?” Gwen asked.
“There are things that have come to light. I understand now, but you can still avenge your brother. Don’t let his death be in vein.”
“Don’t you talk about him like that!” Gwen’s eyes started to water now.
“Kill the girl. Find Jennifer and make her pay for what she’s done.”
“Just shut up!”
“Gwen, you still have your destiny to follow. Jennifer is now a part of it. She must die.”
“Just leave!”
The Judiceen in Gwen’s body began to spread rapidly. It had covered her entire arm like black roots and was now moving across her torso. It burned her skin now more than ever.
“Stop it!” Gwen screamed for mercy.
“You will obey me.” Destiny’s voice spoke in a lower register.
“Please, stop!”
The pain stopped. Gwen fell in the mud and held her body.
“I know where she is. You won’t be able to reach her here. If you wish to seek revenge, you must wait for them.”
Gwen slowly sat up. “Them?”
“The sword, she used it. The powers of that sword sent her far away—to its next true owner.”
Gwen turned to Destiny. “Who?”
Jennifer
Flashes of vibrant colors zoomed all around as Jennifer held onto Ian and the sword. She kept her eyes closed for the entire time, afraid of what she might see. It was cold inside, but she felt nothing on her skin. No wind, no sound, nothing. She felt like she was moving at a thousand miles an hour, but not one vibration emanated a sound. It was the absence of sound, and the further she got in, the absence of light.
The colors faded away as the eternal trip within continued. The entire instance was only a fraction of a second, but inside, time felt slower. Jennifer didn’t want to know any of this, however. She didn’t want to know what was happening, if she was safe, or where she was. All she wanted was to hold on to Ian for dear life.
The wind began to pick up as time fell, as if it were returning to normal. Jennifer kept her eyes closed as her body was finally propelled onto a hard ground. She tumbled over and over, dropping both the sword and Ian’s two halves.
“God!” Jennifer cried hysterically. She crawled to Ian’s top half and cradled it. Blood drenched her clothes, but she paid no mind. “Why!”
Jennifer was holding Ian when she noticed an alien heading towards her with a sword. It resembled the ones that were on earth, but looking at the background behind it, she knew she was not on earth anymore.
Up above were stands filled with hundreds of aliens. The sky was the same red as it was on Earth, but everything was different. To Jennifer, it felt as if she had been transported through time and into a medieval colosseum. The stands circled up around her as she sat on the red dirt; the Red Orb looming over her.
The alien swung the sword at her, barely missing her as she let go of Ian to duck and grab her sword. Yelling was now heard all around her, most of it gasping and angry shouting. Jennifer didn’t know what was happening, but she knew it was time to defend herself. She picked up her sword, rolled away from danger, and stood up, still soaked with blood and tears. She looked around and realized that she was definitely in some sort of arena that resembled the Colosseum in Rome. The large audience was spectating the whole thing, and two aliens with swords in hands were inside with her.
Jennifer had been transported somehow into the middle of an arena fight, but where?
The first alien came back at her, but Jennifer dodged the attack and hit the alien with the other end of the sword. She dropped her sword and picked up its, afraid of what using the sword again may do. The second alien came and tried to lunge at her as well. Jennifer dodged its attack as well and stabbed the sword right through it. She then did the same to the first alien who was starting to get up. Within seconds, both of the aliens were dead with a still confused Jennifer standing over them.
Jennifer threw the sword to the side and ran to Ian once more. Her tears soaked his hair as she heard a loud, definitive yell that silenced the arena. The voice even caught the attention of Jennifer who looked up towards the direction the voice came from. The voice came from a large alien, dressed in higher quality clothes compared to the spectators. The aliens that filled the seats up around her appeared to be wearing rags for clothing, while the large alien wore a thick red robe with crystals sequenced down the laces. The large alien wore a contorted crystal crown that poked out from every angle. It looked uncomfortable to wear, but the alien wore it with pride. It spoke in a language that she had heard before, but never understood.
“Hey!” A male’s voice shouted from behind her.
Jennifer’s eyes widened as she turned around to see a hairy man, locked away in a cell behind her.
Adam
A fight in the arena was in process. Adam had been in his cell, staring at the ground as the fight raged on. The two prisoners were just as weak as he was; they were given swords to better entertain the fight. Adam never watched any of them, however. He couldn’t bear to see the others fight.
His feet were badly bruised, he peeled off his toe nails when they got too long, and blisters covered the soles. He reached out and noticed his hands were in just as bad conditions. He studied his hands and feet until the wind started to pick up.
The wind began to pick up around the arena as a strange occurrence happened. A small rip in the space near the center of the arena forged itself, startling everyone witnessing it. The rip opened up instantly and revealed bright colors swirling around inside. The wind picked up even more just before a lady was shot out, holding what looked like a young man. The lady dropped to the ground and rolled until she stopped. That was when Adam realized that the young man was split in two. The two parts spread out a few feet away from each other. Lastly, the lady dropped something that landed not too far away from her. It was a sword that pulsated with red streaks all around it.
Adam was lost for a second. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. He watched as one of the prisoners lashed out at her. She attacked him, grab his sword, and killed them both. She then went back to the young man and held him, crying. The audiences yelled at her, both in fear and in anger.
“Stop!” The Usepa yelled out, silencing the arena. “This creature has the sword!”
“H—hey!” Adam yelled out at her.
The lady looked at him quickly. She looked scared.
“Run!” Adam tried to warn her.
The lady turned to see that the guards were coming for her. She got up, grabbed the sword, and started to run, but she was trapped. The Telemy guards surrounded her. She screamed for help as the guards grabbed her and took her away.
“No, let her go!” Adam screamed out, grabbing the bars and trying to break free.
“Silence him!” The Usepa ordered.
The guards went over to Adam’s cell and hit him, knocking him out.
Scott
Scott’s hands were tied behind his back, being watched over by Melody, now a former friend of his.
“Why are you doing this?” The young lady named Cecily asked as Michael, one of her own, set her beside him.
“I’m sorry,” He said angrily. “Just…let me think!”
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“We didn’t do anything! You know me! You know Jennifer!” Cecily pleaded.
Michael walked off.
“God—” Cecily held her tongue.
Scott continued to stare at the ground. He hadn’t said a word.
“Ian was our only chance of going back to how things were. The gods needed him and your leader killed him!” Kevin yelled. “We could all have been saved if he just had the sword!” Kevin told them.
Scott saw the resentment in Michael’s face. They all watched their leader kill a young man; they all had mixed feelings at the moment. Whether Ian was their last hope or not, there was no way out of this now. He was the only one who had any connection with Destiny.
“We’re all dead!” A lady from Cecily’s group cried. It appeared that they all wanted Ian to have the sword as well. Jennifer was the only one who didn’t.
“Please.” Scott spoke. Everybody around turned to him, eager of what he had to say. “Don’t get mad at them…Don’t punish her. It was my responsibility to protect him, and I failed.”
Kevin, Michael, and Ryan looked at each other.
“You didn’t stop her.” Ryan told him. “You and your fucking duty. You got Ian killed! He was our only chance. Now we’re all dead. I’m sorry that everybody is sad and scared right now, but one of us has to think of what’s next.” Ryan walked over to Scott. “We’re all fucked. And I think it’s about time we get some real justice in here.” He knelt down to eye level with him. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to do this the moment you decided you were in charge of all of us. You were the one who held a gun to us the moment you met us. What kind of goddamn leader are you? Your one job was to protect, and you couldn’t even do that. We were doing fine when we were in charge. We had a home, food, and each other. Now, all you’ve done was made us try to survive out in the wild. We lost good people following your orders. People we loved. Emry, Danielle, Christian.” Ryan took a moment. “But not anymore. This was the last straw.” Ryan stood up again. “We’re in charge now.”
