The Two Dimensional Girl

[Relym]

These are the first seven chapters. If you have any reviews, editions, criticisms, et cetera, clarify which chapter(s) you are referring to. I say this because I know none of you are going to read all of this, at least not in one sitting.

Chapter 1

Cold air drifted in through the open window. Books and dishes littered every surface. A teenage girl was sprawled in a chair, her chin resting on the windowsill, her eyes closed. She had been there for nearly 4 hours; it was no surprise that she had fallen asleep. Her slow, steady breathing fogged in the chill breeze. The camera, which was strapped around her neck, was dangling at her chest, swinging lazily.

She had been attempting to stay awake all night, but not to see her favorite TV show or celebrate New Year's Eve. It was a much more peculiar scenario. Celica had seen a boy, who looked about her age, get absorbed into the tree in her front yard.

He didn't climb up and disappear among the thick leaves. No, that wouldn't have bothered her. The tree opened up, a hole forming exactly like an open mouth. Thinking that the boy was trapped and must be suffocating, she had tried all day to get inside the tree.

At one point, she had gone to such lengths as to take an axe from the garage and start hacking away at the tree, but it was a fruitless attempt; the bark didn't even chip when the sharp blade connected with it. She thought maybe the boy had been a hallucination; they weren't uncommon in the dead heat of southern New Mexico. Heat exhaustion had struck her more than once this time of year. And the tree was very old, it must have been at least 300 years since it had been planted, according to the locals.

But still, she could not convince herself. The fact was unavoidable. There was something odd about that tree. She had promised herself that she wouldn't rest until she proved that something supernatural was occurring. She took her camera, made an outpost in her bedroom, and made a mindset to stay up all night.

Unfortunately, as most humans, she could not resist the beautiful repose that was sleep. She had tried reading books, but that only made her even more fatigued. The food she had brought up had provided a few hours' energy, but after he carbohydrates were burned, she had simply collapsed.

A large crunching sound awoke her, and she immediately turned her gaze in the direction of the tree, hoping to see something irregular. Sure enough, the tree seemed to be rippling, light erupting from the cracks in the bark. Before she could fully register what was happening, the same boy walked out, quite comfortably, it seemed.

In haste, she remembered to raise her camera. By the time she had finished fumbling with the buttons, remembered to turn it on, changed it to photo mode, and positioned the lens correctly, the phenomenon had ended. Swearing, she turned and ran into the hallway. He would just have to catch him and question him. That was the only way left.

She tore down the stairs, slipping several times, and just barely catching herself on the railing. The last time, however, a mere six steps from the landing, she fell forward and landed on her left shoulder. She ignored the intense pain and the sickening snap and continued on.

The front door was locked. She jammed her hands into her pockets, searching for the key. Finally finding it, she missed the lock several times before turning it and rushing through the doorway. She had wasted so much precious time already, he could be anywhere by now. She ran into the middle of the street and looked to the left.

There was nothing, just the abandoned pavement, and the endless expanse of stucco homes. She heard a humming sound behind her, and got excited. Something else must be happening!

When she turned around, she was blinded by headlights. A horn blared, but she was frozen with fear. She lifted up her arms at the last second, half to block the intense light and half to shield her body, and then everything went black.

Chapter 2

Celica thought she was dead. She had to be. It was dark, silent, and she felt nothing. Except for a dull ache in her shoulder, but that had been there, from when she fell. She tried to move, but couldn't. She thought about movies where similar scenarios had played out. If she were in a hospital, she would feel the bed, and hear the busy noises of the doctors and nurses. All she felt was herself.

But where had that boy gone? Had curiosity killed the Celica? She had run out into the street to find him, and now she was dead. Way to go, Celly. But if she was dead, how was she thinking? Or breathing? She was definitely breathing. Dead people didn't breathe. They didn't move their fingers, either.

If she was in heaven, then there had been some seriously misled preachers back on Earth. She thought for sure it would be happy, and she would be surrounded by angels, and everyone would be innocent and happy.

She didn't really care about the lack of dudes with harps, not as much as she desired to find that boy. He had simply disappeared. Again. If Celica could only have one more chance to find him, to ask him what had happened with the tree, she would-

And then Celica was looking down into a small, wooden room, furnished with pale green leather furniture. For one surreal moment, she was just floating, half feeling the warm, drafty air inside. Then, she fell flat on her stomach, and her breath was knocked out of her. Gasping, she rolled over, clutching at her lungs, her mouth open.

Then, she realized she was staring straight at the boy. He was staring at her, wide eyed. Celica tried to say something, to explain where she had come from, or to ask where she was, but she had still not inhaled. Still looking thoroughly frightened, the boy ran off through a door in the small room. She followed his progress, gasping her first sweet breath as he threw himself through the doorway.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, she just lay there, confused, and finally realizing the full extent of what had just happened. She had wished to see the boy one more time, and there she was, mere feet from him. Perhaps when she had died, she had gotten one last request.

The boy walked back in, talking animatedly to someone else who had not yet entered. He was talking very fast, and she couldn't catch anything he was saying. The second person who walked in was an old man, his expression calm and collected. He looked down at Celica without the slightest change of emotion.

"I've seen this girl! She was on Earth! She saw me and chased me into the street, and she got hit by a truck! But she's here!"

"Calm down, Peter, calm down." The old man said quietly, grabbing Peter's shoulders and staring him in the eye. "Now why don't you get a glass of water for our guest, and offer her a seat?"

Looking aghast, he alternated his gaze between the old man and Celica, opening and closing his mouth, obviously trying to think of why that request was ridiculous. With a stern glare from the older man, Peter submitted.

"Please, have a seat." He said, pointing lazily toward an armchair. Then he left through the same door, and Celica could hear the sink running. She got up and walked over to the chair, and plopped into it, still feeling drained.

"Thank you," She said weakly to the older man, who sat across the small room, sitting straight up on a sofa. He nodded, smiling, and seemed satisfied when Peter came back in with a glass of water.

"Ah, here you are." He said as Peter crossed the room, looking incredibly awkward.

"Thank you," Celica said again, accepting the glass and drinking noisily, now feeling incredibly thirsty. As she drank, she heard Peter sit down on the other side of the sofa on which the older man sat. Nobody moved for a long time after that. Celice twirled her empty glass quietly, and the two men across the room stared at her shamelessly. Peter looked scared, but the old man beamed and seemed to be humming an unfamiliar tune.

Realizing she had to be the one to break the silence, she asked, "Where are we?" It seemed to take a few moments for either of them to notice what she had said.

"Well, to be broad, you are on Terra." The old man said, finally. Her mind raced. There was no place called Terra. Was that a city she had never heard of? Seeing the confused look on Celica's face, he continued. "It is a planet, child. You came her from Earth somehow."

This was nonsense. How could she be on another planet? Everything was so absurd here; it was almost like everyone was playing a big trick on her. She began to get angry. "Another planet? What do you mean?"

"He means a planet. You know, big round orbs of dirt? They orbit around the sun? It's not very difficult to decipher." Peter finally released his frustration.

"Now, now, Peter, let's not be rude." The man said scoldingly. "I can understand your confusion, uh..." He trailed off, realizing they had not shared names.

"Celica." She finished.

"Ah, nice to meet you Celica. My name is Amos, and this is Peter." He indicated the frowning boy next to him, who seemed to slouch even lower at his introduction. "I can understand your confusion, Celica" Amos repeated, "But you must realize that we are just as confused. Peter says he saw you on your own planet, before he came here. Come, now, let me finish. Your planet and ours are very intimately connected. There are several doors between them. The inhabitants of your planet are left in the dark about this, because, of course, they've never thought to walk straight into a tree, thinking determinedly about our planet."

Amos chuckled a bit before continuing.

"That's how you do it. There are several trees, probably the oldest on the planet, which we can use as wormholes between our worlds. The one in your front yard is, apparently, one of them. Speaking of which, how did you get here?"

This was going to be a hard question to answer. "I'm not sure." She answered honestly.

"Were you thinking about anything before you arrived here? Something you felt strongly about?"

She gulped. She had been thinking about the boy sitting in front of them right now. Not wanting to let him know that, she said "I was thinking about not getting hit by the truck." Peter laughed.

"I see." Said Amos. "Have you ever found yourself in situations like this before, when you were thinking just as focused on something?"

"No." Celica answered as soon as he had finished. "This is sort of a new experience for me."

"Well, Peter, I believe we have a Jumper on our hands." Said Amos, beaming again. Peter looked incredulous, and Celica didn't feel enlightened one bit.

"What's a Jumper?" She asked, not wanting to waste any more time with this conversation than she had to.

"Someone who can jump between our two worlds as they please." Peter said, still appraising her disbelievingly. "You just did it."

So when she had pleaded for a chance to find him and get the answers, she had done just that. It seemed more like a wish than transportation. Next time she would wish for a pony.

"So if I wanted to go back, I could?" Celica asked, anxious to leave. It must be approaching morning back on Earth. "Not that this isn't a pleasant home," She added quickly, "It's just that, you know, I have a home and everything."

"Well, Jumping is a strenuous activity," Amos said, as though explaining it to a small child. "You seem exhausted as it is. If you do it too much, it will kill you."

"Great." She said sarcastically.

"That, and you'll need to practice. Many times, Jumpers get caught in the void between the worlds, and never turn up, on either side." Peter said, looking apologetic now.

"So I'm stuck here until I'm well rested and good at Jumping?"

"I'm afraid so." Said Amos. "But there's someone you can practice with tomorrow. He used to be a Jumper himself, but he retired. He can teach you what he knows. For now, you should get some sleep. There is a spare bedroom through that door." He indicated the door behind her.

"Thank you." She said. She didn't even get a good look at the room. She fell onto the bed and was asleep instantly.

Chapter 3

Bam! A loud crash thundered through the house, causing the whole building to shudder. The sound of something ceramic breaking followed soon afterwards.

Celica was forced awake by the racket. She sat straight up, hit her head on something hard, and fell back down. She heard shouting from outside her door, and then a second earth-trembling collision.

Still clutching her throbbing skull, dots dancing in front of her eyes, Celica swung her legs off of the side of the bed, but she felt nothing. It suddenly occurred to her that she must be on a bunk bed, and she had hit her head on the ceiling fan.

She felt around for the ladder, her vision still swimming, and climbed down. More shouting carried into the bedroom, sounding forceful. It wasn't Peter's or Amos', and this worried Celica.

She very cautiously walked over to the door, making sure her footsteps were as inaudible as possible. She gripped the brass handle, and opened the door slowly. After she had pulled it open just a crack, she could see Peter hiding behind one of the sofas. 

He looked up and saw her. He looked just as scared as he had been when Celica had first entered the house. He frantically, but silently, signaled her to go back inside, by jabbing his finger at the door rapidly and mouthing the words "Go back. Go back."

She closed the door very silently, and then heard another door get kicked down. "Find the boy. The old man doesn't matter." Heavy footsteps resounded in the small room, and Celica could hear furniture being overturned.

To her horror, footsteps were steadily approaching the door to her room. "He's probably in here." A gruff voice commanded the others. The brass handle jiggled slightly, and then Peter screamed "Hah!"

A humming noise emanated from somewhere on the other side of the door, and red light shone through the cracks in the doorway.

The brass handle became still again.

More flashes, of all different colors, began to leak through the doorway. Yellow, blue, green, purple, and then silence. The handle began to turn again, and Celica instinctively lifted up her fists and got into a balanced fighting stance.

The door slid open with a slight creak, and Peter poked his head in. "Come with me." As though he had read her mind, he said quickly, "I can explain everything, but not now, not here. Let's go." As he led Celica out into the only other room she had seen on Terra, she gasped.

There were unconscious bodies lying everywhere, some of them sizzling. "Did you do this?" Celica asked incredulously, her mouth still slightly open.

"Yeah, sort of." He said sheepishly, grinning a little despite himself. Celica didn't bother him to elaborate, because she knew there was a rush. "There will be more of them coming, we need to hurry."

She didn't get a good look at the seemingly dead people scattered across the room, because as soon as her shock had worn off, she was already being pulled on the arm by Peter through another door, the same one that he and Amos had come through the previous day.

This room was a small kitchen, just a refrigerator, a couple counters, an oven and a stove, and the sink. "Hold on, for just a second." Peter said as he released Celica's arm. He walked over to the sink, and ran water over his hands. Steam rose from them, clouding at the ceiling. Celica gaped, but Peter walked back over and grabbed her arm again, and they were walking again before she could ask.

Suddenly, Celica realized something. "Where's Amos?" She asked breathlessly as they walked briskly through what appeared to be the front door. They walked out into a forest, where they were totally surrounded by huge, flourishing trees.

"He left two or three hours ago, to find your mentor. He said he went West..." He trailed off, pulling a map out of his pocket, unfolding it, and turning it around a few times. "Ah. Here we are. We've got to go this way." He didn't grab her arm this time, but instead began walking alone. She jogged after him to keep up. He was much taller than she was, and had a much longer stride than she did.

"So now can you explain what happened back there?" Celica asked, now very curious. "Or at least why those people-"

"They're the police. You can tell by their vehicles over there." Without looking, he pointed over his shoulder at a cluster of very narrow, very short automobiles. They looked like smart cars, ony smaller and covered in solar panels.

"Okay, and why did they show up? Did you do something illegal?" At this, Peter laughed, and looked up from the map to stare at her.

"My existence is illegal."

"That doesn't help at all." Celica said, exasperated.

"I'm an Unknown." At Celica's still confused face, he carried on. "It means I have powers that no one understands. All we know is that it has something to do with controlling energy, and it's very unstable. Amos and I have been trying to unlock the secrets for a few years now."

"But that doesn't explain why the police showed up." Leaves and brambles crunched underneath their feet as the woods grew denser around them.

Peter sighed. "The police are required to hunt down Unknown. Years and years ago, there were a bunch of accidents. A lot of us simply exploded, unable to control ourselves. People died, buildings collapsed, forests burned down, you get the idea. Ever since then, the government declared us a threat to society began the executions. A few of them escaped, including my mother and father."

Celica could hardly imagine Peter going on a rampage and destroying cities, killing people, or even controlling and kind of energy.

"So what you did back there, that was... you controlling energy?"

"You catch on quick for an Earth girl." He said, grinning.

A small hut came into view between the trees. As they grew closer, a light turned on in the window. "You're about to meet your new Mentor. Michael Reed is his name, but he prefers being called Kunalo."

Celica simply gave him the eyebrow. Peter laughed. "He may be crazy, but he can help you master Jumping. He was one of the best."

"If you say so." Celica said warily as they approached the front door.

Chapter 4

Peter was the first to reach the front door of what appeared to be a small log cabin. He rapped on the front door with his little knuckles quite casually, and then stepped back, hands in his pockets, waiting for someone to answer. He seemed very calm for someone who had just narrowly escaped an armed arrest.

"You know, we can't go back to that house. I'm sure they have people searching it up and down." He checked his watch, which had 7 symbols instead of 12 numbers. Celica didn't bother asking. "The first cops are probably awake by now, too."

"You mean you didn't kill them?" Asked Celica, who had assumed that the sizzling, unmoving bodies were surely deceased?

"I'm in enough trouble as it is. If I kill the cops, then there's no hope for the Unknown to become a socially accepted race again. The only reason I attacked them at all was in self-defense."

Celica opened her mouth to say something at the exact same moment the front door swung open, and a broad-shouldered, large-nosed man stepped out. "Ah, Peter." He said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to see you again, Michael." Peter said politely.

"Kunalo, Peter. You know that." He scolded, as though he had been talking with his mouth full.

Celica noted his odd attire; Black rubber pants, that one might use while wade-fishing; a white undershirt, with a nauseating lack of sleeves which exposed his hairy underarms; the image of insanity was completed by the long green cape he wore.

"And who is this lovely lady?" He asked as she scanned Celica from head to foot. She suddenly became very self conscious. She hadn't showered for almost 36 hours. She hadn't even had a chance to brush her hair since the night she had set up the stake-out. She hastily brushed her hair with her fingers, and to her dismay, it was shooting off in all different directions.

"This is Celica." Peter answered, smiling at Celica's fruitless attempt to tame her black mane. "She's the Jumper you're supposed to train."

"Oh, I see." He said, still appraising her. "Well then, why waste time standing here? Amos is waiting inside; we hadn't expected you so early."

Celica cast a look over at Peter, but he didn't seem to flinch before giving the long explanation of their escape from the house.

Peter's recounting of the event was much different that Celica's. Peter had been eating eggs at the kitchen table, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Suspicious that someone would be arriving that early in the morning, he had first used something he called "Ocular Enhancement" to see through the door and find out that they were, indeed, the police.

After he had neglected to answer the door for several minutes, the police tried to knock down the door, but Peter reinforced it with a wall of water he had summoned from the sink. Finally, they used a cannon to burst through the door, and he was forced to run into the living room.

This is where Celica could start interjecting her side of the story, occasionally saying, "So that's what made that noise," or, "Yeah, that was scary."

Michael, or Kunalo, laughed several times throughout this retelling, and when they finished, he said, between wheezes of laughter, "You made quite a ruckus, then? Will there be cops coming to my house?" He said the second sentence a bit more seriously.

"I don't think so. The only people who could have seen us head in this direction are either already here," He pointed to Celica and himself, "Or were stunned into unconsciousness. You won't have to worry."

"Oh, thank goodness. I may be legal myself, but being seen having a friendly conversation with you would be quite a dirty little smudge on my file." He chuckled lightly.

"So where is Amos?" Peter asked, looking around, craning his neck to get a good look through a door on the right.

"He's upstairs, I think. But no matter. Young lady," he said, looking at Celica, who noticed a lazy eye drifting around in it's socket. "Let's go make you a Jumper!"

Chapter 5

Michael led them out through the door they came, but instead of leading them to the right and back towards the front door, they turned left towards a spiral staircase. It extended both up and down from their current story. Celica had expected them to go up to see Amos, but instead, Peter and Michael started descending.

She began wondering what Jumper training would be like. If she had enough strength to practice, wouldn't she just Jump back home? "Micha- Kunalo?"

As though he had read her mind, Peter elaborated. "You don't need to teleport between worlds. That's the most strenuous of all kinds. You’re also able to move within your present world."

"Right you are, Peter!" He said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Celica noticed that it was getting considerably darker as they went down, and soon, she couldn't even see the cement stairs as she stepped on them.

"Watch your step," Peter said, and his voice was much too far ahead of her. She picked up her pace to catch up, but in her blindness, she tripped. Hitting Peter hard, they both began to tumbled down the stairs.

They finally came to a stop at what must have been the bottom of the staircase, because she could no longer feel the stairs, only a smooth, cool stone floor underneath her fingertips. Beneath her, though, there was something else. Considerably softer, and warmer.

Hundreds of fluorescent fixtures came on, filling the room with blinding white light. Celica found herself nose to nose with Peter, and both of their eyes widened. She scrambled off of him at the same time as Peter tried to scramble out, so all that resulted was Celica falling another inch or so closer to Peter's face.

She rolled off hastily, very thoroughly embarrassed, and blushed profusely. Peter was facing the other way, his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Kevin!" Michael's voice rang out in the large room. "Kevin! Wake up, you lazy-" He cut off his sentence, shooting a quick glance at the kids. "You lazy person. Get up! We've got work to do."

Celica turned her gaze to where Michael was facing and saw and enormously fat man, balding and wrinkled, occupying the entirety of an enormous, cushioned chair. It looked like a mattress folded in order to be sat in upright, and judging by the mess of cans that surrounded his workspace, it looked like that purpose was not neglected.

"Wha-?" The man mumbled dully, and then snapped awake. "Oh, hi Mike."

"Kunalo." Michael glared.

"Right. Kunalo. Good evening." He seemed utterly confused.

"It's the morning, Kevin." Michael said with an amused smile.

Kevin's eyes widened, apparently realizing just how long he had slept. Changing the subject, Michael continued to explain what he had arrived for.

"So she's the Jumper girl?" Kevin asked, pointing at Celica with a stubby sausage finger. "She's certainly better looking than most of the chumps you bring down here." He winked at her, and she grimaced.

"Kevin, set up the course. She needs some practice." He walked purposefully across the threshold, and Celica noticed for the first time just how enormous the room was. The ceiling must have been at least fifty feet high, and the room itself was probably about a thousand square feet. Occupying most of the room was an enormous obstacle course that ran around the gym's perimeter, but not the kind that she was used to seeing.

As Kevin audibly pressed buttons on the control panel that was in front of him, the entire room came to life. On the first stretch of the course, there were several thin cement walls. Then, there was a turn, and there was a large gap in the walkway. A dozen or so floating platforms drifted around the gap lazily, not following a specific pattern.

On the last stretch, leading back to where they were standing, was a tunnel, the ceiling of which was crashing down to the floor every few seconds. In the center of the course, there was simple another huge gap, depthless and black.

"Here is your training room." Michael's voice came from a spot a bit too close for Celica's comfort. He was standing directly behind her, a foot or so away. He leaned in an whispered into her ear, "Just focus on where you want to go."

She turned around and faced him, and the light of the numerous fluorescent fixtures, Michael's face seemed contorted into an evil smile. His eyes popped out of his sockets and his mismatched teeth were bared in a gruesome smile.

She hastily took a step forward before answering him. "Right, thanks." She said quickly.

"Before you go, you'll need this." He handed her a leather belt with several small loops in it, just big enough for her to fit her pinky finger inside. "There are flags around the obstacle course, you'll need to bring them all back in order to prove that you're ready to go home."

"Right." She said, scanning the obstacle course and seeing small rectangles of green fluttering at certain points. "Where do I start?" She asked, turning back around to find Michael much too close to her again. She started and took another step back, ending up a bit too close to the chasm in the center of the course.

"Right there." Peter pointed towards a large green rectangle painted on the floor that read, "START". It was the first time he had spoken since they arrived in the training room.

"Oh, right. ’START'. That should have been obvious." She mumbled to herself as she walked to her right and stood on the indicated space.

"Just let us know when you're ready." Kevin said from his perch behind the large wall of controls.

"Ready." She said, getting a bit nervous. Nevertheless, she took her first step forward on the smooth, gray cement towards the cement wall. As she approached it, she concentrated hard on getting to the other side, and closed her eyes tight.

A rush of wind filled her ears, and when she opened her eyes again, Celica had arrived on the other side. With a rush of pride and triumph, she picked up the flag from it's holder on the floor and ran over to the next wall, Jumping past it with more ease this time, but still closing her eyes for a second or two.

She made a turn and saw the chasm, the small platforms turning out to be roughly the size of sidewalk slabs. "Here it goes," She said to herself as she approached the edge of the floor.

She couldn't close her eyes, because she had to follow the platforms' progresses as they drifted around. To her disappointment, all of the platforms, seven of them she counted, had a little green flag on it.

She concentrated extra hard on the nearest platform and with a sudden, disorienting change of perspective, she was standing on it. It was so sudden, in fact, that she began to fall backwards. She waved her arms to regain her balance, and after a few fleeting moments, she was standing firmly again.

With a slight sigh of relief, she picked up the flag and put it on her belt. She focused on the next one, made it with less difficulty, and picked up that flag, too. She did this until every last one of the flags was on her belt. She was having such ease that she was getting giddy.

She turned to Peter and Michael and put her arms up in the air in triumph, beaming widely. Peter waved and gavea thumbs up, but Michael was busy talking to Kevin. The platform made a sudden change in direction however, and she was thrown off the side.

Bittersweet butterflies tried to burst out of her gut. She flipped backwards in midair, and she caught a few glimpses of the small slabs of concrete above her as she fell. Panicking, she Jumped again. She was standing on the other side of the chasm, well balanced and definitely not hurtling through the air.

She sighed with relief, leaning against the wall, panting. Jumping was tiring business. She heard Peter and Kevin yelling in their approval, but when she looked over, Michael looked calm, even disappointed. Not taking this to heart, she continued on with the course.

Making the final turn, Celica arrived at the crushing chamber. There was a green flag in the very center of the tunnel. Waiting for a few rounds of smashing, she counted exactly six seconds in between each. As soon as the large block lifted again, she sprinted in. Her eyes locked onto the flag, she hurtled through the darkening room. She would just grab the flag and Jump out of there, and that was that.

Running with all her might, her breath becoming ragged and fast, she approached the flag with satisfying speed. As she got withing ten feet of the flag, though, she heard the grinding of cement on cement as the ceiling began to drop again, despite the groans of protest from the walls.

Celica panicked, totally forgetting how to Jump or even think. She screamed, throwing herself to the floor, and shut her eyes tight.

The grinding noise stopped, though, and when she opened her eyes, the block was hovering an inch or so above her head, twitching a bit.

She heard Peter groaning with strain, and she immediately understood what was going on. She crawled back the way she came, frantically flailing her limbs in an effort to escape the wrath of the ten-ton block of cement, lest Peter lose control of it.

She emerged back outside of the tunnel, and as soon as she did, the whole thing fell again. She sat, panting, stunned, and scared out of her mind. She got to her feet slowly and Jumped to the other side of the tunnel, no longer caring about the flag. She collapsed, and ended up next to the collapsed Peter.

He was much worse for wear, however. He was gasping for air, and his veins were popping out of his skin, pulsing extremely fast. Peter's hair and face were soaked in sweat.

"God, Kevin, you couldn't have stopped it? Are you tring to kill us?" He said between his desperate gulps for air.

"Sorry, Pete," Kevin replied, his mouth full of something. "I thought the whole idea was that she got out herself.

"He's right, Peter." Michael said as he stomped over towards the pair of them. "This was a test, and you cheated." He stared into each of their eyes in turn, burning them with his vision. "I suppose you can't help what's already done. I'm off to harvest my bamboo. It just grows so fast, you know." Still furious, he stormed back up the stairs.

"What a nut," Peter said, finally regaining his breath, as the last glint of Michael's green cape disappeared around the corner as he went up the stairs.

"Yeah," Celica agreed. She didn't want to admit how terrified she was of him.

"I suppose we'd better tell Amos that you're not ready yet. You're staying with us for a while." Peter said, smiling apologetically.

"Yeah, I guess we should." She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't go home and assure her worried father that she was safe, but staying her wouldn't be too terrible.

She got up and followed Peter back towards the staircase and said good-bye to Kevin.

Chapter 6

Peter and Celica ascended the staircase, and to Celica's relief, the lights were on that time. Instead of getting off at the ground floor, they continued up the staircase to where Michael has said Amos was. As they climbed, Celica realized that he still didn't know that his house was a wreck and that he would be forced to find a new one.

At the top, there was only one door, directly past the top stair. Peter pushed it open, and beyond it was a large bedroom. The wall to their left was made entirely of windows. It was abnormally chilly in the room, and some loose objects were blowing around lazily, as though being pushed by wind.

Celica had thought the panes of glass in the window were simply very clean and clear, but as she stepped inside, broken glass crunched under her feet. There was a drafty breeze carrying around the room.

Now that she had begun noticing things gone wrong, she became more aware of several broken objects lying around the floor, including a smashed pair of glasses which Celica had seen Amos wearing. Whoever did this must have done it while everyone was downstairs, when they wouldn't be able to hear.

"Someone's broken in," Peter said cautiously, moving very slowly through the room. "I don't see Amos anywhere." He leaned down and picked up the glasses and examined them briefly. "Definitely Amos's. But where could he have possibly gone?"

A horrifying thought struck Celica. "He couldn't have jumped out the window, could he?" Peter froze for a few seconds, contemplating the idea.

"No, look, the glass fell in, if he had jumped, the glass would be outside." He looked a bit relieved by the logic, though, as if he had been jostled by the notion.

"Should we tell Michael?" Celica asked tentatively.

"No, not yet. I don't totally trust him." His voice was still very soft, as though he were afraid of being overheard. "I'm not sure if I can ever trust him."

She felt a mix of relief and tension at these words. She was glad that she wasn't the only one with suspicions about Michael, but it also meant that he was definitely someone to avoid. "Where do we go now, then?" Celica asked. She had only seen two places in this whole universe, and now both of them were pretty much off limits to them.

"I was wondering that myself, actually. I figure we should visit some friends of mine. They live a bit far from here, but I know we can trust them. They were friends of Amos's. I know they'll help us find him." He scratched his short, messy brown hair and then pocketed the glasses.

"Do you know of anyone who would do this? Amos is an old man, what use could someone have for kidnapping him?"

Peter looked very serious, his head hung a little bit, and his hair fell over his eyes. "I have a pretty big hunch. I think it might be a group called 'P.O.C.C." but I'd rather not make any assumptions just yet."

"But why not? If we look for them first, it might help us find Amos faster!" Celica was growing impatient.

"Because if I'm right, Amos is in deep trouble."

Chapter 7

Peter went for the door, but then apparently thought better of it. "We probably shouldn't pass Michael, or he'll ask questions. I just don't want him to know about this just yet, I'm not sure why."

"So how do we get out of here?" Celica asked as Peter began to walk over to the window.

"Well I know how you will get out of here." He said, smiling a little bit. "My way is a bit trickier." He raised his arms, fingers stretched outwards, hands parallel to the floor of the room. The shards of glass that carpeted the wood floor began to slide and roll towards a spot on the floor in front of Peter's feet.

They began to melt together and soon there was a silvery, liquid blob, rippling and pulsating. He maneuvered his fingers skillfully, and the blob shaped itself into a flat, thick platform. He stood on it, and it rose up off of the ground and carried him out the window, waving cheerfully at Celica as he glided.

"Wait, Peter!" Celica said, having been given no warning of his imminent actions. "Where are you going?" She leaned over the frame of the broken window, and saw Peter lowering himself carefully down onto the dead leaves below him. He hopped off of the platform, landed gracefully on the ground, and melted down the glass again.

Celica was always amazed when Peter did things like this. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to it. She had just begun to focus her mind on jumping when the door to the room burst open, and a man clothed entirely in black strode in, holding a large weapon that somewhat resembled a bazooka. "Don't even think about it, young lady." He spoke through a full face-mask as several similar figures followed in after her.

She tried to Jump, but she was too surprised and panicked to focus on anything. "Put your hands up, and we'll take you and your friend down there." He pointed the tip of his gun at the shattered window.

"Young lady, I said put your hands-" Suddenly, a silvery, shapeless blur rushed through the window, and struck the man on the side of the head. He fell silent and keeled over, his weapon clattering to the floor with a loud bang. Celica guessed that the thing must have weighed nearly 50 pounds, judging by how the floor shook when it landed.

The other three armed intruders raised their weapons and began firing aimlessly, releasing dozens of projectiles each second, causing sparks to bounce off of every surface they touched. Ricochet bullets whistled around Celica's head and she fell to the floor, covering her head with a book that was laying nearby.

Shouts and more gunshots caused even further chaos in the room, and she realized that Peter must be using the glass to fight the men. She concentrated hard on getting away from that room, and she found herself suddenly standing next to Peter, still holding the book over her head. She was screaming, and she hadn't even noticed. Her voice died away as Peter started and turned to face her, lost his concentration and dropped all the glass onto the ground, which shattered.

"Let's go!" He said as the intruders jumped out of the window and landed on the soil, unfazed by the 30 foot drop.

"What are they?" Celica asked, panting, as they sprinted from the scene, dodging trees and jumping over roots.

"No time to explain." Peter replied as he jumped a particularly high rock. "But they're faster than us. You need to Jump with both of us." Peter knew she was going to ask, so he added, "Grab onto my arm and do whatever you do normally."

"But where do I go?" Still in full forward motion, Celica heard the heavy footsteps catching up behind them.

"It doesn't matter, just not here!" Peter yelled, exasperated, as bullets struck the branches around their heads as they plunged deeper into the forest.

Celica had next to no knowledge of what this world was like. She only had two specific places in memory, and both of those were off-limits. "Okay," She yelled back uneasily. She grabbed Peter's arm and thought hard about a quiet place where they wouldn't get hurt.

She felt the same silent, unfeeling sensation that she had experienced when she had first Jumped. She was subconsciously aware that she was in the void between worlds, and that she and Peter were probably drifting into her world again. What seemed like a long time passed, and nothing happened. It had taken much less time than this the first time.

She suddenly felt drops of water flecking her hair and shoulders, and a chill wind was whistling around them. They were in an alleyway of a cobblestone street, tall black buildings on either side of them.

"Good job," Peter said blankly, a bit winded. "Are we on Earth?"

"I honestly don't know. None of this looks familiar." Celica replied, a bit scared.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Peter said confidently, and began striding towards the street where the rainfall was much heavier, unbroken by rooftops or clotheslines which hung above Celica.

"Why is there always only one way?" Celica asked impatiently as she scurried after him, pulling her jacket a little closer to her body.

[Tobias116]

I have to say that this is one of the most intriguing stories i've ever read. Simply marvelous. Especially with the powers they have. But at some points there is a lack of description, where did Celica's jacket come from and such? Sometimes it could do with a little more description. You should read War of the Ancients by Richard A. Knaak, he's extremely good at writing vividly and creating life in his books. Again, marvelous.

[Relym]

Thank you very much. I'll definitely go back and fill in a few things here and there. This is actually a rough draft, I'm writing it as I go. To be totally honest, I don't even know how it will end yet. Once it has, though, I'll go back and embellish it with all my perfectionist might.

[Woo]

Very good, I do like this sort of story. ^^ It reminds me a tad of a book called the Wall and the Wing that me and a friend picked up at bargain price from poundland, worth far far more than I paid for it. I agree that details need a little bit of polishing, ie how is she sprawled in a chair as well as resting her chin on the windowsill? might just be my occasionally over-literal interpretation of language, but the descriptives didn't sit right with me. Other than that, superb! I can't wait to see where its going!

[Relym]

She was sprawled in the chair and resting her chin on the windowsill because she was sitting in the chair backwards, so that the back of the chair was up to the wall, and she was still facing the window. It would be a bit bland to explain all of that, so I didn't bother.

Anyway, here's the next bunch:

Chapter 8

The rain was absolutely pounding on the cobblestone streets, the gutters overflowing with runoff and people fleeing into shops in an attempt to escape the torrent. Celica's hair was soaked with it in seconds, and her jacket was soon more of a burden than a convenience as it began to absorb the cold water. "In here," Peter said in a hushed voice as he headed into a small cafe.

It was pleasantly warm inside as they stepped through the glass door, which announced their arrival welcomingly with a cluster of bells which was attached. Several soddenly wet customers sat at small, round metal tables sipping steaming drinks, and a few of them glanced up at their arrival. They sat down at a table towards the back of the shop, and Peter took off his jacket.

Celica hated herself for only wearing a tank top underneath, since she had only grabbed her jacket hastily as she pursued Peter down her street. She left her jacket on, and sat shivering slightly.

"You look cold." Peter said, concerned. "I'll get us drinks." He pushed his chair back from the table and walked over to the counter where a kind-looking lady stood. "Yes, I'd like..." Celica barely heard him from across the room, and they continued conversing.

She looked around at the patrons, who all looked like average people. She hadn't really gotten a taste of what people on Terra dressed like, so she was still clueless to whether or not she was back on Earth or not. The only people other than Peter who she had even seen from Terra were either in police uniforms, scary black full-body suits, and Amos, who had been wearing pajamas when they had met. Of course, there was also Michael, but his attire could not be considered normal anywhere.

Celica's train of thought was broken as she heard Peter's voice growing louder. "What do you mean, you can't accept my money?" He was holding out a handful of coins, but not quarters and dimes. They were bronze and had the letter D printed largely on both sides.

"We don't accept French money, here, sir. I'm sorry, you'll have to get some American money first." Peter, frustrated, looked despairingly at Celica, and she walked over, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, ma'am, he's not from this country." She said, digging through her pockets and pulling out a wad of bills. "How much is it?" She asked, looking at the two steaming cups in front of her and glancing at the menu.

"Seven ninety-eight." She said, looking relieved that someone was going to pay after all. "Thanks," She said as she accepted the money and sorted it into the cash register. "Enjoy your coffee." She smiled sweetly and gave them their change and receipt.

"Bartering is so weird here." Peter said under his breath as they walked back to the table.

"Well," Celica said brightly, "At least we know we're on Earth now." She took a sip of her coffee. It was delicious, and warmed her body almost immediately as it seemed to spread through her veins. "We also know we're in America. Judging by everyone's accent, I'd have to say New England. The cobblestone streets seem about right, as well." She glanced out the window at the flooded streets, and added "What do we do now?"

Peter took a large drought of the coffee and then exhaled. "I suppose we have to go back to Terra, when you feel rested enough. You're obviously able to travel between worlds again." He seemed deep in thought about something, frowning at the wall as he leaned back in his chair and sipped his drink.

"Wait, wait, wait." Celica said, now frowning as well. "I just got home, and you're telling me to go back? I thought the whole reason I went through all that training was to get back here in the first place."

"We need to find Amos." Peter said simply, not breaking his stare at the wallpaper.

"Peter," She said, getting frustrated, "I have a life here. My dad is probably worried sick, I'm missing school, I..." She trailed off. "I really missed everything here, and now that I'm finally here, how can you ask me to leave?" She sounded very sad, more sad that she cared to reveal.

"Listen," Peter said, finally making eye contact with her. "I know you have a life here, but at the very least, you need to take me back. I can't get back to Terra without you."

Celica remembered how she had first seen Peter, walking in and out of trees. "What about your portals? In all the old trees? Can't you just go through one of those?"

"For us that can't Jump," He said, looking back at the wall, "We need crystals to use portals. I had crystals all those times that you saw me. I can't just poof around like you can." He sounded contemptuous as his frown deepened, the wrinkles on his forehead becoming more pronounced.

He sighed, leaning forward again and placing his cup on the steel tabletop. "Listen, I'll make a deal with you. You take me back, and then you can leave as soon as possible. I'll find Amos by myself, and you can get home safely. We all win." He said in mock cheeriness.

"Fine." Celica said bitterly. "But what about those guys in black?"

"You mean the POCC?" Peter asked as though it were fairly obvious what they were.

"The ones that tried to kill us earlier." She added.

"They're the People of Common Circumstance. It started as a government plan to lure all of the Unknown into one place for mass extermination. It was advertised as a place where people of "extraordinary ability" could congregate and live."

"So they killed everyone who went? That doesn't explain why those people came after us." She said. If they killed everyone who was in the POCC, then who was chasing them?

"Just wait, I'm not done. I hate explaining everything to you, you're so impatient." He said, a hint of a smile tickling the corners of his mouth.

"More than just Unknown showed up. A whole new race that the government hadn't discovered yet. Strong, fast, nearly invincible, and stupid, just what the government needed. So they took all of these extra members, Eryie, as they're called, and had them help in the extermination. Instead of disposing of the Eryie afterwards, like they had originally planned, they changed their minds and kept them as agents, hit men if you will. They became "People of Common Circumstance", and so the name stuck."

The thought of unstoppable monsters chasing after them made Celica shiver a little bit, even though she had dried off. "So what do you plan to do when you encounter them?"

Peter seemed pretty nonchalant about the situation. "Oh, I don't know, use some of the old Unknown powers to knock 'em around a bit." He said as he lifted his remaining coffee out of the mug and spun the floating liquid in a mid-air ring.

"Peter, stop! Someone will see you!" Celica whispered harshly through her teeth.

He slowly lowered the coffee back into the cup, a look of calm boredom lingering on his face. "Well? You ready to go back?"

"I suppose," She said, annoyed. "Come on." She led them both into the hallway where the bathroom was, out of sight of the people drinking in the cafe.

Focusing hard, she thought of Terra in general, trying hard not to specify either Amos's nor Michael's house.

The voyage through the void was much shorter this time, lasting only a few seconds before standing firmly again. Celica felt very tired, suddenly, and before she could get a good look at where she was, it began to fade. Her vision swam and vague colors and shapes bent and warped in front of her. The ground came up to meet her as she toppled over. The last thing she head was Peter's voice, although it said nothing in particular. Then it was dark.

Chapter 9

Celica awoke slowly, with her eyes still closed. She heard footsteps, and she was bouncing up and down gently. She would have thought she was walking herself, except that she felt nothing on her feet and she had just been unconscious. Then, very suddenly, she remembered what had happened.

Now totally alert, she snapper her eyes open, and nothing made sense. Her chin was resting on something soft, but firm, and she was leaning on something. Although she was exerting no effort, she was moving slowly. Panicking slightly out of confusion, she flailed around against two forces underneath her thighs, and then both she and whatever she was leaning on toppled over and fell hard onto the dry gravel beneath them, with a quick scream from Celica and another, more manly yell.

"What were you thinking, Celica?" She recognized Peter's voice and suddenly everything made sense. He was walking with her on her back.

"Oh, sorry Peter. Are you okay?" She asked, looking him over as he lay beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "But are you okay? You've been unconscious ever since we got back, and that was a good six hours ago."

Celica's mind froze. "Six?" She asked incredulously. "Six? Oh my god! You were carrying me all that way?"

"Well, I had to find Amos, and I couldn't leave you there, so," He rolled his hands over each other to explain that he had come to a conclusion, "Yeah, I carried you all the way here." He looked a bit sheepish and shrugged a bit as Celica stared at him.

"You just can't stay mad at a charming girl like me," She said, laughing and flipping her hair in mock flirtation. Peter gulped uncomfortably and blushed, though, so she stopped and changed the subject.

"Where are we headed?" She asked curiously. A map lay next to him, which apparently had fallen from his hands when Celica had knocked them over.

He picked it up and examined it briefly, trying to find where he had left off by a similar process to finding a lost page in a book. "Well, we're trying to find my friends who live in Parwet." He said Parwet like it was a great treat to go there. With a confused look from Celica, which Peter had gotten quite used to, he continued. "Parwet is the capital of this country, and it's supposedly the coolest place ever." He smiled as he talked and finished a bit breathlessly, although even talking about such a place were making him giddy.

"So why do you need your friends?" She asked, taking a look at the map. Upon closer inspection, they were alongside a mountain range, which was to the East of them, and Parwet was far South, at the tip of the range. "What can they do that we can't?"

At her use of the word "we" his face brightened a little. "They're in possession of a weapon that we can use to infiltrate the POCC and get Amos back."

"A weapon? What does this weapon do?" Celica asked, not liking this plan very much.

"Well, I'm not totally sure. They were only starting to build it when I last saw them."

"They must have told you what if was for." Celica said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't know, it was very obscure." Peter said, now getting a bit defensive.

"You don't even have a clue?"

"No, I don't! Now stop asking!" He was getting angry, and a few strands of hair fell down in front of his face, making him look kind of insane. Celica was reminded of Michael when everyone was in his basement.

"Peter, I believe you." Celica said, her voice shaking a little bit.

"Then lets go." Peter said quietly, pulling the map up into a visible position and turning his back to her. His shoulders hunched slightly and he walked, the gravel crunching beneath his feet.

"Peter," Celica pleaded, "I don't know why it means so much to you, but I won't bug you about the weapon anymore."

He only seemed more sullen as he walked silently away from her. Celica jogged slightly to catch up with him and then kept pace.

"Just go home." He said very quietly. "You've taken me back, you can go home." He sounded more and more harsh with each word.

Celica was crushed. "I don't want to." She answered even more quietly, her voice shaking. "I want to help you find Amos."

"Well, don't. I don't need you. Go home." He still hadn't turned to face her.

"But I need you, Peter." She had said if before she even realized she was thinking it.

Peter was silent. He didn't answer for several minutes, and Celica didn't feel the need to talk. He seemed to be barely tolerating her presence, and she didn't want to to break this fragile verbal cease-fire between them.

Thus began their long journey, silently and awkwardly.

Chapter 10

Although the weather was beautiful and the view of the mountain range was fantastic, the tension and silence that had built itself between Celica and Peter remained until the end of the first day. Despite Celica's numerous attempts to start a coversation, Peter would simply grunt or shrug and walk a little faster.

The narrow road on which they traveled was actually carved out of the side of the mountain itself, so there was steep slope on the right side of them, and steep wall on the left. There were several large, round clots in the road, obviously intended for travelers such as themselves. Just as the brilliant sun passed over the mountains, they approached one.

During their trek, Celica had noticed that Peter was carrying a large bag, out of which he pulled a sleeping bag, a fire kit, some food, and a large bottle of water. He set up the fire, filled a pot with dehydrated meat and some of the water. While that boiled, he looked crossly over at Celica. "So did you pass out because you Jumped too much?"

Celica was surprised by his sudden willingness to talk. She was pleased by this, even if it meant returning the frown and bitter tone. "Well, I don't know," Celica said, shrugging, "I didn't feel that tired before hand, so I don't think it would make me pass out that easily."

"That's what I thought too, because look what I found stuck in your leg." He dug through his bag and extracted a small, narrow object. "This is a police weapon." He said, holding it out to her. "Don't touch the end, it might still have some sedatives on it."

It was a syringe, but very sleek and aerodynamic-looking. It even had fins on the bottom edges. "Someone must have shot it at you right before you Jumped." Peter said solemnly, and held out his hand for the syringe again. "But the kind of police that use this don't live on Earth."

Celica felt a bubbling, terrible fear tear through her nerves. "You mean," She said, her eyes wide, "They somehow got a Terran policeman onto Earth?"

"Yes." Peter said. "They have a Jumper on their side."

They were both silent for a long time after that. The only sounds were the fire crackling and the water bubbling. He removed the pot from the spit it had been hanging from and set it down next to him. "That was the reason I carried you all of that way, because I was afraid if I left you there, whoever was after us would find you."

Celica's mental image of who was following her was now larger. Dozens and dozens of POCC officers, the Terran police force, with their SWAT-style armor, and now a faceless Jumper, who seemed to be sneering from the front of the congregation. With a twinge of guilt, she saw Michael towards the far edge of the group, rubbing his hands together and cackling madly.

She immediately shook her head free of these thoughts, and accepted the small parcel of meat that Peter offered her. "I don't have enough food for all of us, here, I only got enough for me. I thought you would be leaving, and everything." Celica winced and immediately felt guilty. Would she forever be a burden on his shoulders? At some points, literally. Celica thought.

"Oh." Celica said simply, because she had no idea what to say.

"We'll stop in the next town, there are several on this path before we get to Parwet."

"Couldn't I just Jump us there? That would be a lot easier." Offered Celica.

"Oh, no you couldn't." He said, and laughed humorlessly. "You're exhausted as it is. Besides, I don't know what was in that syringe. Perhaps what got into your system only takes effect when you Jump. It might send out a signal of where we are, or it might weaken you even further. It might even kill you."

He said the last sentence with great emphasis. "Maybe it's nothing at all, and we're wasting time and effort here. Amos could be anywhere, being tortured or imprisoned. He was with you, remember? You even said that it's illegal."

"But what if it actually is something, and I let you do it." Peter was very serious now, but wasn't making eye contact. He did seem very concerned about this, but it didn't appear to be his only worry.

"So basically, I'm never allowed to Jump again." Celica said, trying to shoot down his idea before she started to believe it.

"Well, just for now. We can get you to a doctor in Parwet, and they can extract whatever's in your bloodstream. For now, though, we've got to play it safe. You can't risk leaving your family to wonder forever, can you?"

Celica hoped he wouldn't use that card. She sighed deeply, and said, "No, I suppose not."

"Good. Well, let's get some sleep. The weather's not that cold at night, this was just a precaution." He said, putting a hand on the rolled up sleeping bag.

He just rolled over, put his back to the fire, and didn't speak again. Celica, not being a boy, couldn't just go to sleep with all of these thoughts in her head. She looked up at the sky, scattered with stars. She wondered blankly whether or not Earth and Terra had the same constellations. She couldn't find any major constellations, not even the big dipper. What she did find, though, was what looked like a fox kit and a puppy wrestling together, tumbling and nibbling playfully.

With her mind on this smile-inducing image, she went to sleep.

Chapter 11

Pain awoke Celica to a dark and windy night. She held in a moan and clutched at her left thigh, the back of which throbbed heavily with her heartbeat. She rolled over, now letting out a gasp, letting the needles in her thigh p***k her voice, making it high pitched and shaky. She was having trouble breathing, and the pain in her leg wasn't lessening.

Another gasp of pain awoke Peter, who rolled over and blinked. "Celica? What's wrong?"

"I don't know, my leg just hurts," She made out through clenched teeth.

"What?" Peter asked, who hadn't heard her over the howling wind. "What did you say?"

"My leg hurts!" She raised her voice a little, and it cracked.

"Oh, crap," He said, sounding panicked. "It must be the syringe! They poisoned you!" His voice was barely audible over the gusts that scattered the remaining embers from the fire and the loud buzzing noise in Celica's ears. "We need to get you to town!"

Leaving the bag and all of their supplies where they were, he scooped her up in his arms with effortless ease, to Celica's surprise. She made another sharp intake of breath, which sounded like a scream. Her hair whipped around her face and she began to feel very cold.

"I can see lights up ahead!" Peter said into her ear, an effort which barely succeeded through the weather conditions. The buzzing in her ears was getting louder and louder, and she screwed up her eyes and covered her ears, her leg still throbbing terribly.

"We're almost there," Peter said comfortingly, picking up speed. Sure enough, his footsteps no longer sounded crunchy, as though on dirt and gravel, but rather sharp and quick, like cement. "I know where the doctor is, but I need to get a ride, it's on the other side of the city!"

He was talking mostly to himself now, as Celica was becoming more and more hysteric with each passing moment. Celica had her eyes squinted shut the whole time, and everything she heard and felt just seemed like a blur. There seemed to be a train ride at some point, people murmuring, doors opening, and more people talking.

Her back was arching with the pain that was now spreading up her leg and was now reached her hip. Then Peter's arms gave way to something much softer, and then there was sudden, glorious relief.

"It's incredible. You may have saved her life." A voice that Celica didn't recognize said from her left. "That was very strong poison. She's a lucky girl. A moment later and we would have had to operate. How did she get so much poison in her, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. We knew there was a small amount, and we were on our way here in the first place, but it just got worse suddenly." Peter's voice sounded incredibly tired. Why doesn't he rest? Celica thought. He can just rest, like I am.

It seemed like he did just that, because whoever was on her left walked away slowly, and Peter made no more noise. Why did every single thing that happened end with Celica's consciousness fading? She admitted that this was probably the most welcome of all the occurrences, but still inconvenient.

Her thoughts became a bit clearer as she pondered. She wondered why she had become a Jumper and not someone else. What made her more deserving than someone else? More importantly, why was she the victim of so many attacks and misfortunes? With a sharp pang of homesickness, she wished she was in her own bed, in her own house, sleeping soundly. She would wake up, her father would make bacon and eggs, and they would go to the park and play soccer, like they both loved to do.

But she knew that could not be a reality, at least not just yet. She promised herself that she would see her dad one more time, after all of this was over, after Amos was safe, and he and Peter were reunited. She would say her goodbyes, and go back to her normal life, forget about all this. She also realized sadly that this couldn't happen either. She could never forget what had happened since she had landed herself in Terra.

Not only had this been an incredible weight on her shoulders, but she had been a terrible nuisance to Peter and Amos as well. If she hadn't showed up, Amos wouldn't have needed to go to Michael's house in the first place, and he wouldn't have been abducted by the POCC. Peter wouldn't have to go on this long journey, having to worry about her, as well as himself.

She promised herself there and then that she would somehow make it up to them. She would, to the best of her power, help them until they thought she had repaid them. But not then. She was much too tired then. She would get to it eventually.

Once again, thinking about all of the events that had led up to where she was right now, Celica fell asleep. Voluntarily or not, she didn't know.

Chapter 12

Celica was dreaming vaguely about characters from a TV show she used to watch when Peter's voice punctured the dream, causing the contents to leak into her deep subconscious, never to be purposely remembered again.

"Hey." Celica said groggily, a dull ache in her leg. The sunlight pouring in through the windows of her small hospital room implied that she had slept through the night. "What time is it?" She asked, Peter's figure still not in total focus.

"It's almost noon." Peter said, sounding almost apologetic. "Are you still aching?" His voice grew clearer as he spoke, as did her surroundings. "You were screaming so loud last night, I was really scared."

"Just a little bit. I can still go with you." Celica said confidently, sitting up, ready for action. A dull throbbing struck her temple, and she winced slightly, but hid it quickly. The last thing she needed was more bed rest, and Peter seemed like the kind of person who would make her lay there forever. "I promise, no more emergency stops." She added with a wink.

"You're already thinking of leaving? The doctor said you'd be immobile for days, considering the strength of the poison." He seemed a bit skeptical.

"Of course! You know me, I just hop right back up!" She sounded a bit too cheerful, and it made her uneasy.

"To be honest, you're still a total mystery to me." Peter said with a chuckle. "But if you're ready, I suppose we can have you signed out."

Peter called a nurse over and they arranged to have her released. A few minutes and a few pages of paperwork later, Celica and Peter exited the hospital, and Peter lead them South, using the map as a reference.

As promised, they left the city and continued a few miles on the gravel path with no injuries or emergencies from Celica. They came a little farther away from the mountains this time, but the hulking mounds of earth were still clearly visible above the treetops as they trekked. It was mostly silent as they walked, but not out of awkwardness. It was becoming more bumpy and hilly as they went, and they were both out of breath, a condition which declared only the most important topics of conversation worth mentioning.

After a few hours of hiking, Celica decided that she had thought of something worthy of the little breath she could control. "Why did you and Amos live together?"

"Huh?" Peter said, hiking steeply upwards a few feet ahead of her. "Oh." He grunted, as he registered what she had said. "He's supports the Unknown, and he agreed to house me and another kid like me. He was arrested, though. We don't know if he's still alive."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Celica said between pants, "Have you heard of him since?"

"Here, let's sit." Peter replied after a deep sigh, which was difficult because of his small lung capacity. He pointed to a flat rock, which he sat on, and signaled for Celica to follow.

Peter looked thoughtful, not looking at Celica as he spoke. "His name was Adrian, and he was about my age. I don't remember much of him, we only knew each other for a few weeks. A mere 35 days after we had been hidden away with Amos, the police came and took Adrian away. As we had agreed, Amos was to claim that he had not known that Adrian was in his house, and that he must have snuck in."

At Celica's inquiring look, he elaborated. "No, not the POCC, just the regular police force. The Unknown weren't hunted as strictly back then. It was before the Harrison incident. That was one of the worst Unknown outbursts ever recorded. Two twin boys, Nathan and Cole Harrison, lost control while at school. The whole school burned down, no one escaped, except for the Harrison boys themselves. It looked like they had done it on purpose, so they were both sentenced to death. They were both age 7."

Celica felt sick. An entire school filled with children, burned to the ground. "What did you and Amos do after that?" Celica asked quietly, nausea still tickling her esophagus and stomach.

"Well, we stayed just as we were for a year or two. About that time, the POCC was declared a branch of the police department and was told to exterminate the Unknown. That was when you showed up."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the birds singing and the rustle of wind in the trees. Celica took a deep inhale, which she noted was much sweeter than the air on Earth, and then decided it was a good time to speak. "We're losing sunlight, we should start moving."

In silent agreement, Peter stood up slowly and picked up his bag. He led the way back onto the trail, which was still fairly steep. They walked for another few hours until the sun was setting.

They set up camp just as the last rays of sunlight were sealed below the horizon, allowing the stars to emerge from their hiding places, illuminating the black sky with serene brilliance. Everything seemed to be better in Terra. Excluding encounters with the police and the POCC, she was very much enjoying herself.

"What did I say about being careful about that poison." Peter said, in a tone that clearly resounded "I told you so."

"You're still going to go on about that?" Celica asked, exasperated, although the ache in her leg had been worsened by the day's strenuous hike. "I'm fine, whoever tried to kill me didn't succeed."

"They got damn near," Peter grumbled, not yet accepting defeat.

"But they didn't. I'm walking, talking, just like I always have. Forget it. It's in the past." Peter spread out his sleeping bag, and they both laid down.

It was now quite dark, and all light was nonexistent, the only exceptions being the reach of the fire, and the bright sky above.

"There's no moon." Celica said, shocked, as she scanned the sky, searching for some sign of a heavenly body.

"You're right. That's one thing I enjoyed about visiting Earth. Terra doesn't have one." Peter said, a bit contemptuously, also looking up at the sky.

"Yeah," Celica said dreamily, and rolled onto her side to look at him. "What were you doing on Earth, anyway?"

"Well, Amos sends me to do all sorts of odd jobs." Peter said quickly. Celica was a bit skeptical.

"Odd jobs? Okay, give me an example. What were you doing the night I chased after you?"

"Nothing major, just talking to a friend of Amos's, transferring information, that kind of thing."

"Oh. Well I think I'm going to go to sleep." Celica said, feeling the weights of exhaustion tugging on her limbs and eyelids. "It's been a long day."

"I agree. You probably need the rest now more than ever. Being poisoned and then hiking for six hours is pretty demanding on one's body." He laughed, and Celica joined in for a few seconds before rolling over, her back to Peter, and closed her eyes.

[Relym]

Chapter 13

To her immense relief, Celica opened her eyes to a scene of peaceful silence. The sun was rising slowly over the immense mountains, spilling a sheet of light over the forest around them. She savored the beautiful moment for several minutes, inhaling the sweet air contentedly and resting in the increasing warmth of morning.

Some soft rustling noises behind her made her aware of Peter's presence. She rolled over and found him crouched on his hands and knees, packing some things from around the camp into his bag, of which she saw a bottle filled with what she guessed was water, his trusty map, a small cooking pot, and a sinister-looking knife that she hadn't seen before.

"Where did that knife come from?" Celica asked, and Peter started spectacularly.

"Oh my goodness," He said, putting a hand to his heart, "I had no idea you were awake." He was breathing hard, and he had his eyes shut tight. "Oh my goodness," He repeated.

"Oh, sorry," Celica said half-heartedly, not wanting to drift away from her inquiry. "It's just that I've never seen that knife before. Have you had it this whole time?"

"Yes." He answered immediately, and sounded a bit defensive.

"Alright, alright, I believe you, I was just curious." She propped herself up on one elbow and stared at the knife, which was still in his hand, being pressed against the ground with the hand the he was using to support his weight, the other one still clutching his chest. As Celica watched it, she noticed small carvings around the handle, and some symbols inscribed into the blade itself.

Peter saw her looking, and stuffed it into the bag hastily. He cinched the drawstring and left the bag alone. He stood up and kicked dirt into the last dying embers from last night's fire, and picked up his bag.

"Ready to head out?" Peter said, catching Celica's eye. He looked back at him, and she noticed that he had the same round, dark blue eyes that Michael had. Maybe that was just what everyone's eyes looked like in Terra, Celica hadn't really payed attention to anyone's facial features, probably because half of them were trying to kill her. Still, it gave her a chill that she couldn't explain.

"Yeah, sure." Celica said absently, contemplating the resemblance. She stood up, tried to brush some dirt off of her jeans, but realized they were stains. "Ew. Can we stop in the next town and change clothes? I bet I smell terrible." She groaned as she sniffed her armpit.

"Sorry, but we can't make any more stops." Peter said, "I have enough food for the rest of the trip, and your little episode already has us back half a day."

"Couldn't I just clean the ones I have?" Celica asked.

"Listen," Peter said, sounding a bit strained. "I don't know what the POCC is doing to Amos right this minute. It might be torture, for all we know. It might be nothing at all. Either way, I want to get him out as soon as possible. You didn't know Amos for very long, but I did. He's a strong-willed person. If they're interrogating him, he'll never say a word. They'll torture him until he dies. That's what the POCC does, Celica. They're not like the police in your world." His voice faltered a little at the last two sentences.

Celica suddenly wished she hadn't said anything. Silently, she turned, and walked back onto the road. "Well, shouldn't we get going?" Celica said with a poisonous contempt she hadn't meant to let escape. His anger and frustration were becoming contagious.

"Yeah, let's go." Peter said seriously, walking past where she stood, not looking at her. She had to walk very fast to keep up with him, his legs were so long.

They walked silently like this, Celica at a near-jog just to keep up, until the sun was directly above them, warming their heads and shoulders to an uncomfortably hot temperature. Sometimes Peter would silently signal for them to linger in the shade and rest before continuing.

It was by far the worst day Celica had spent on Terra, especially with the knowledge that this was all her fault. Neither of them would be in this position if Celica hadn't been so stupid. If that night, however long ago it was, she had just minded her own business and let Peter walk away to continue his "odd jobs", Amos would still be safe and Peter would have never had to put up with her in the first place.

She began to contemplate Jumping away and never bothering them again, but then she would be abandoning Peter and Amos. To put them both in this situation and then just to leave would make all this weight on her conscience only densify further.

She throttled her inner self for being so naive. Her curiosity endangered the life of another human being, maybe more than one. She had thrown out the balance between the two worlds, and now the reality of it all was crashing down on her head.

She continued these negative, but realistic thoughts all throughout the day as they walked, and the fatigue that overcame her as night fell barely reached her consciousness through the thick wall of depression and self-hatred that she felt.

That night, when she had been looking out through her bedroom window, looking for the mysterious boy who had walked into the tree, had she ever imagined she would end up here?

The sky faded to an ashen gray as the sun fell past the tree-tipped horizon to their right. Just as the first few stars began to wriggle their way into view, a loud rumbling sound echoed from the direction of the mountains.

Peter and Celica both turned their heads in alarm, and both of their jaws dropped in shock. It looked like the mountains was falling. In the dim light of the dying sunset, a massive rock-slide was tumbling down the mountain's sheer face, picking up more loose dirt and rocks as it cascaded toward them.

Thinking fast, Peter extended his arms, and flexed them slightly, and a large piece of earth below Celica and himself separated itself from the ground, raising both of them up from the path.

The rumbling sound gradually, but quickly, grew into a deafening roar, as it shaved the mountainside clean, destroying everything in its path. As the head of the dusty beast passed under, them, Peter's veins began to expose themselves beneath his skin, blue webs spanning across his slender arms. The effort of suspending both of them, and the piece of rock, was obviously too strenuous.

But what choice did he have? If he stopped, both of them would be swept away by the flow of dirt and stone, and would probably suffocate. Trees were being uprooted and carried away by the torrent, and the way the sheets of soil crashed over their obstacles reminded Celica of a river flowing over stones.

Peter's yells distracted her from her mesmerized awe and she glanced up to see what the problem was. As soon as she had looked up, a large black blur collided with Peter and both of the tanged figures toppled off of the edge of the small floating island.

Celica, horrified, looked in the direction where the phantom had come from, and saw a large helicopter, the sound of the blades drowned out by the rockslide below. Multiple POCC officers were standing in the open loading door, and one of them jumped out to tackle her as well.

Without Peter to hold it up, however, the stone that was supporting her fell, and she was dropped through the air a second before the black monster made contact. He flew straight over her, and landed in the rushing waves of soil with a loud, bear-like roar. She, too, landed in the slide, and was sucked beneath the surface. She held her breath, flailing, panicking, somersaulting through the suffocating avalanche.

It was suddenly silent. Her lungs screamed, and she didn't know which way was out. She tried to swim, to propel herself, but it was no use. She had no control. Her chest was imploding with th urge to take a breath, to taste the sweet Terran air one more time. The movement slowed, but instead of making it easier to escape, the ground only solidified around her, freezing her in her upside down, flailing position.

Just as her thoughts began to fade, and she thought her life was over, glorious air filled her lungs. She was being held up by her shirt, and her eyes were too filled with soil to be of much use. She coughed, expelling several clouds of dirt, and she gulped the air greedily. "This is the girl, not the Unknown!" A booming, deep voice tore through her ears and echoed throughout the forest. Who knew how far they had traveled?

"I found him!" Another similar voice called from what sounded like a long distance away. She was dropped, and she rubbed her eyes, still taking deep breaths of the air she never thought she'd breathe again.

She opened her eyes, now free of any contaminants, to see what was going on. It had gotten quite dark by that point, and she could only see outlines and a small circle of light where a flashlight beam was being thrown. Peter's unconscious face was illuminated by the small circle of vision, and then there was a satisfied grunt.

"Yeah, this is definitely him. Let's get out of here." The flashlight was turned off, and with several bounding footsteps, she was left in total silence and darkness.

[Relym]

Oh my god, this is already 34 pages long in 12 pt. Times New Roman font in Word. Holy crap.

Chapter 14

Celica, feeling as though nothing had really happened. For all she knew, everything that had happened in the past few minutes, though it seemed like hours, had been just a dream. She lay on the dirt where she had been dropped by the POCC officer, in a crumpled heap.

There, she did something that she hadn't done for years. She cried, her tears falling down her face, shaken off by sharp intakes of breath. The hopelessness of the situation had finally slapped her in the face, and the place on her conscience where it had struck stung bitterly. Her eyes stung bitterly, and she used to back of her filthy, dirt-crusted hand to wipe it dry.

Then she stood up, defying her own depthless emotion. Lying there wasn't going to get her anywhere. Peter and Amos were both in the clutches of the POCC and it was her fault. As much as she cared to drop everything right there, just to lay down, sleep, and wake up in her own bed again, she knew that wasn't an option. Even more than before, she was rooted where she was with brutal gravity.

The landslide had carried everything out of sight of the path. It probably took the path away too, now that Celica thought about it. The only thing she could do was to wander around. She would Jump, but where would she Jump to?

She supposed she could go to the last town they visited, she had a good enough image of that small city to focus on. But what then? She had no way of knowing where exactly the weapon was being stored, now that Peter's map was buried somewhere in the massive mound of Earth.

The only way was to return to the small town whose hospital she had visited, and to find a map. Then she could locate Parwet, Jump there, and figure the rest out as she went. She couldn't think of any other way.

She focused hard on the tall, white building she had been antidoted in only a day and a half before. With a whistle of rushing wind in her ear, she appeared on the side of the building, out of the sight of the street, some leaves and trash rustling around her. The alleyway was full of trash, with dumpsters lining all of the walls.

A holed, worn mattress was sticking out of one of them, the lamp from the street illuminating its ghostly-white sides. With less disgust than she would have given a week before, she pulled the mattress out and laid it flat on the alley floor. Her search for the weapon with which she would infiltrate POCC headquarters with would just have to wait till morning. She plopped down on the mattress and was immediately asleep.

Celica opened her eyes to a blindingly bright morning sun, staring her down through the walls that formed the alley. She squinted her eyes shut and hid her face with her arms, lying face down on the mattress. "Come on, now, let's go." A smooth, male voice was echoing in her ears and she snapped awake instantly as she felt a squeeze on her left shoulder.

Her vision was still blurry, and she only saw a silhouette, a crouching figure with messy hair. She rubbed her eyes and the boy came a bit more into focus. "Are you okay?" He asked, an amused expression on his face. He was fairly good looking, with reddish-brown hair and  black and white athletic wear. His blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he stood up.

"I saw you Jump here last night, I was strolling down the street, and then bam!" He raised his open hands up to imply an explosion. "There was this dirty, exhausted girl in the alley next to me." Celica noticed vaguely how tall he was when he was standing. His head blocked out the sun from where she was laying, and she pushed herself up onto her knees, just to be in a more dignified position.

"How about you come to my place and shower up. You look like someone who hasn't done that in a while." Celica nodded silently. He helped her up, and they left the alleyway together, Celica still feeling dazed.

"My name's Andrew, and you're in Erhand. Of course, you must know that, since you Jumped here. I don't know much about Jumping, but I've heard you've got to know where you're going." Andrew stopped talking, but still walked, and looked at Celica sideways. "What's your name?" He asked, a broad smile still spread across his face.

Celica couldn't find her voice. Perhaps from the lack of use, the large amount of time since she had drunk water, and the dusty crisis that had occurred the previous day had contributed to the intense dryness in her throat that made her vocal cords useless.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Andrew stopped, putting his hands on her shoulders, a strongly apologetic look on his face. "You're a mute. I hadn't realized. I'm sorry." He repeated, blushing and looking abashed.

"Not," Celica croaked, even though it sounded more like "Nod." She sounded ridiculous. She cleared her throat, and it sounded barky and rough, and made her airways inflame. She felt no more able to speak than she had before, but she made another attempt anyway, seeing the confused look on Andrew's face. "Not a mute." Celica was satisfied to hear that her voice was slightly clearer.

"Oh, phew." He said, relieved. "I really don't want to offend anyone. You sound sick. Do you have a cold?" He asked, starting to walk again and cocking his head curiously. His hair fell to the side a little as he did so, giving the impression of a child examining a new species of bug.

"No." Celica said, still trying to use as few words as possible.

He raised his head back to a totally vertical position again. "Oh. Well I still didn't catch your name. What is it?"

"Celica." She answered simply.

"That's a cool name." He said, apparently satisfied that this new bug was interesting enough for his attention. "I've never met a Celica before. I have a very generic name. Andrew. There are so many Andrews. I tried shortening my name to Andy, but there are even more of those. At this point, I usually go by Anders, since no one I've met has that name. I hate being the same as everyone else." He talked a lot for someone of his age, it seemed. He must have been at least 17, judging by his elongated body and well-constructed features.

"This is the place." Anders said as he turned into a doorway so abruptly that Celica walked another few steps before whirling around. Anders held the door open for her, and he shut it quietly.

"Sh." He shushed her, putting a finger to his lips. He turned to the right and climbed a staircase, creeping exaggeratedly. "I don't want to wake up the folks."

Celica opened her eyes wide. She hadn't realized there would be other people here. Wouldn't it seem a bit odd that Anders had brought home a teenage girl without them knowing? He did seem like the type to do that, but not in the way that parents usually feared. He just seemed like someone who didn't totally understand reality the same way most people did.

"Don't worry." He said quietly, barely moving his lips and staring as he walked at the head of the staircase, not blinking. He froze and turned to face Celica, smiling a little at her hesitation. "Come on, it'll be fine. Mom and Henry don't wake up for another few hours. I said come on!"

Grinning even further, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her up the stairs, running loudly, stomping on the faded-green wooden steps as he went. "Anders! Anders, shush! Won't your parents think it's odd if they find you carrying me in? In this condition, no less?" Her voice jarred as her jaw bounced as she ran.

"Nah, Mom and Henry don't mind when I bring people home. Besides, they'd understand me helping someone in need. You obviously need some cleaning up."

As they reached the top of the staircase, he turned her to the left, pushed her inside of the bathroom, tossed in some clothes, and with the parting words, "Turn the shower handle right for hot water," He shut the door on her.