Eliott couldn’t see.
He blundered around in the pouring rain, trying to tell which way his fellow… seers were headed. Panic was quickly overwhelming him. He had no idea where to go or if they were, in fact, going anywhere but away. There was wind all around him, and then there was other stuff around him that was definitely not wind. It was the other stuff that had him worried.
As he ran, desperate to reach whatever destination Roselise deemed safe, strange things kept happening to him. His legs suddenly felt like they were made of lead, only to be free a moment later. His head began pounding ceaselessly, and he wasn’t sure why. Bright colors and flashing lights bounced around the forest, and he found himself dazed by them. Eliott wanted more than anything in the world to simply lie down, and go to sleep. No, he told himself firmly. He couldn’t give up. He had to keep moving. He had to escape the bad things, whatever they were.
Slowly but surely, Eliott’s mind, in shock and bewilderment due to all the things that had been recently revealed to him, reached a state of terror. There was but one thing to do.
Run.
“Come on!” Eliott willed himself to go faster, his breath coming in fleeting gasps. He could hear the evil stuff now, and the sounds tore his brain to pieces. He could make out a fingernail-scraping-chalkboard-type noise, along with a horrible, agonized shriek that went on and on and on. There was booming, cruel laughter, and the sound of children crying. He could hear every person he had ever known, hurling insults and hatred at him through the rain. He could almost hear his mother’s silence, and her broken, incomprehensible grunts whenever she did attempt to speak to him. As he headed deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping he was following Jason and his sister, Eliott began to moan to himself, partly as a way to block out the sounds, and partly because he just couldn’t take this type of thing anymore.
The woods were winding and confusing, and the endless trees seemed to get increasingly menacing. Eliott could barely get more than a few feet without tripping on a tree root, stumbling over a fallen log, or battling through a thorny brush. He squinted in the dark, arms flailing, feet thundering the earth, and suddenly realized that he was right next to the two siblings. Roselise seemed to be going slower than she could, and Eliott saw that Jason was lagging behind. She held out a hand, and the little boy took it unquestioningly. The pace suddenly quickened, as the girl practically dragged her brother along.
Panic seized Eliott as the terrible sounds got closer and closer. He felt like a rabbit being chased by hounds to its inevitable doom. He needed to go faster! The world was spinning around him. Faster! Faster! And then Eliott realized what the problem was.
He was exhausted.
He could do this. He’d come this far. He could keep going. He had to. The monsters, or whatever they were, were gaining. Desperately, Eliott lengthened his stride. His legs were cramping, and his breath was coming in violent heaves. He wasn’t getting enough oxygen. He was going to pass out.
Suddenly, Roselise slowed down, urging Jason ahead. She was directly beside him when she made a strange motion. She put a hand over her nose and mouth, then made a thumbs up with the other hand. Eliott shot her a perplexed, angry expression. She smiled knowingly and easily passed him.
Did she seriously want him to stop breathing? Why… what would that do? Yet Eliott supposed he was going to have to trust her, little though he liked her… after all, she did know the Near-Future.
Eliott ceased breathing for a few seconds. He found, to his complete and utter amazement, that a new surge of energy went through his body like a shock. He propelled himself forward with his newly-strengthened legs, and gained ground at a pace he wouldn’t have thought possible.
Now he could see something. There seemed to be a patch of forest on which a strange, shimmery light was shining. Rain couldn’t fall there, as if repelled by some invisible barrier. Roselise and Jason, just ahead, were sprinting right towards it.
Eliott put on a laborious burst of speed. The sounds and the wind were closer than ever, but not fast enough. Grinding his teeth and forcing himself to stay awake, Eliott burst into the clearing. All noise, rain, and evil spirits died away. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
He collapsed on the ground, hyperventilating not because he needed air, but because he was so shocked by what had just taken place. Next to him, Jason was quivering in his sister’s comforting arms. Roselise seemed quite unfazed by their deadly chase, and her expression as she watched Eliott, gasping in the grass, was one of sarcastic incredulity.
“What- how- why…didn’t…you…tell…me…we…didn’t…need…AIR?!” Eliott demanded in quick, furious gasps. This whole thing was crazy. He could not believe…well, anything that had occurred in the last 24 hours, but especially that he had just driven himself to the brink of exhaustion for nothing.
“I didn’t have time to,” Roselise said coolly, as if this explained everything.
“But you knew this was going to happen for weeks, you admitted it!”
“The important thing is that we’re all here, isn’t it?” Jason smiled, hugging his sister. Eliott sighed. He couldn’t really argue with that, and Jason surely had picked up a lot of wisdom from learning all about the past throughout his life.
“Okay,” Roselise nodded. “So, Eliott, I suppose you’re wondering about something that has absolutely nothing to do with our quest.”
“Um… what?” Eliott couldn’t think of anything.
“Why Jason and I look nothing alike,” Roselise rolled her eyes.
The truth was, Eliott had been wondering that. Jason looked thoroughly Northern European, yet his sister was tanned and dark.
“You see, we’re not really siblings,” Jason explained. “We’re cousins.
“Huh?”
“My parents… died, when I was little,” Roselise continued, “and my aunt and uncle, Jason’s parents, took me in. You see, I’m half Filipino, half what Jason is. His parents have raised me, I guess, since I was six.” She spat the word raised out like it was a dirty curse.
“And you raised me!” Jason grinned. Roselise returned his smile warily.
“Yeah, I guess so, kiddo… I’m sorry your parents… you know it’s not your fault that…”
“I know,” Jason nodded eagerly. “I know!”
“Cool,” Eliott reentered the conversation. “My, err, dad left when I was… not born yet, so it’s just me and my mom.” Actually, it was more like just him. His mother didn’t exactly interact with him too much.
Roselise seemed to understand, even what he hadn’t said. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“Me too,” Eliott replied quickly. “About your parents, I mean.”
Apparently, this was a topic that was not to be elaborated on. “Well, now we know about each other,” Roselise continued briskly. “It’s time we get to know it.”
“Who?” Eliott glanced around desperately. “Who are you talking about?”
“Try looking up, Mr. Smooth.”
Eliott did, and nearly tripped over himself.
Floating elegantly above him was a hazily-defined figure, alight with a golden fire that didn’t burn, but simply shimmered in the sun. It was the most beautiful thing Eliott had ever seen. He gazed at it hungrily, never able to get enough.
“Careful,” the thing said in a female-like, serene voice. “I can burn your eyes out if one is not careful.
Eliott quickly broke eye contact with it. “Who… are you?”
“I am Ashialypsoanti, my dear young boy. I am the fire that lights within men’s souls. A manifestation of all intelligent life desires, I am the truth.”
“The truth?” Eliott was dumbstruck. “The truth?”
“Well, if there are evil manifestations around, Eliott, there have to be good ones, too,” Roselise reasoned. “The ones that try and help us, you know. Not everything is against us.”
“Oh,” Eliott said vaguely, attempting to understand. “What’s a… manifestation?”
“It’s like an appearance of something,” Jason chirped. “A certain energy or feeling that mortals experience. It’s like all the… something… in the universes, united in a physical form. Does that make sense?”
“Very good, Jason,” Ashialypsoanti beamed (literally). “Your communication skills will serve you well. I am glad you are taking advantage of what was given to you.”
Jason bowed his head in reverence.
“And you, my strong-willed one,” Ashialypsoanti said. “You, I suppose, know all about what must be said. You already explained it once; now, I shall in detail, as so not to create a paradox.” Roselise nodded as if she understood. What was a paradox? Eliott was about to ask, but then the thing spoke again.
“Eliott,” the manifestation boomed, “the journey is only beginning. There will be danger, heartbreak, and adventure involved in this tale. Will you accept your rightful destiny?”
For a moment, there was hesitation. Then Eliott sighed, and did what he knew was in everybody’s best interest.
“I do.”
“Good,” Ashialypsoanti glowed. “Then we begin our journey together, our journey of parallels to find the parallel that shall save us all.”
