Once I stopped running, which felt like an entire lifetime to do so, I was at my house once more. Ready to run inside and throw the pot at the Longfeeler's face. I carefully walked forward, grabbed the door handle with an enormous palpitation in my chest, and yanked the door wide open.

Only to find the Longfeeler still there and now directly looking at me with its purple gaze and its cracked right eye.

I was mesmerized by the Longfeelers' eyes, staring at how picture-perfect the shape and the color of the eyes were...

I had to look away, but for whatever reason I was still locking eyes with the Longfeeler.

"ꀤ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꀘ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꃅꍟ꒒ꉣ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄," Black said, forming beside me.

Just then, my mind went blank and instead of seeing the Longfeeler, all I saw was a black dot surrounding me with no end.

"꓄ꃅꀤꌗ ꀤꌗ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ, ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ. ꀎꌗꀎꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ'꓄ ꍏꉓꉓꍟꌗꌗ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ ꌃꍟꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꂦꀎ꒒ꀸꈤ'꓄ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꀎꌃꉓꂦꈤꌗꉓꀤꂦꀎꌗ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꀸꂦ ꌗꂦ ꍏꌗ ꅏꍟ꒒꒒ ꍏꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍟꈤꍟꋪꁅꌩ. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꈤꂦꅏ ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ ꌃꍟꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꂦꎇ ꂵꍟ." Black stated.

"Wow, thank you so much, Black!" I exclaimed sarcastically, "But I sort of need a way to get out of the eyes of the monster and throw the pot on it."

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒, ꀤꈤ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ. ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꍏꌃ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꋪꀎ꒒ꍟ ꂦꃴꍟꋪ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꍏꉓ꓄ꀤꂦꈤꌗ ꈤꂦ ꂵꍏ꓄꓄ꍟꋪ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄. ꌗꂦ, ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꂵꍟꍏꈤꌗ ꀤꈤ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ. ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꂦꀎ꒒ꀸ ꀸꍟ꓄ꍏꉓꃅ ꌩꂦꀎꋪꌗꍟ꒒ꎇ ꎇꋪꂦꂵ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꂵꂦꈤꌗ꓄ꍟꋪ'ꌗ ꁅꍏꁴꍟ." Black said.

"Well, how do you do that?" I asked him.

"ꌩꂦꀎ ꌗꍟꍟ, ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꀎꌗ꓄ ꀎꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꀤꈤꈤꍟꋪ ꉓꂦꈤꉓꍟꈤ꓄ꋪꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍏ꒒ꍏꈤꉓꍟ ꌩꂦꀎꋪꌗꍟ꒒ꎇ," Black responded.

"Well, how do you do that?!" I asked again.

"ꉓꂦꈤꉓꍟꈤ꓄ꋪꍏ꓄ꍟ ꂦꈤ ꍏ ꌗꀎꌃꀭꍟꉓ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꉣꍏꌗꌗꀤꂦꈤꍏ꓄ꍟ ꍏꌃꂦꀎ꓄, ꂵꍏꌩꌃꍟ ꍏꋪ꓄ꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꉓꋪꍏꎇ꓄ꌗ, ꂵꍏꌩꌃꍟ ꉓꋪꍟꍏ꓄ꀤꈤꁅ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌗꂦ꒒ꃴꀤꈤꁅ ꍟꆰꀎꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤꌗ, ꂵꍏꌩꌃꍟ ꒒ꂦꃴꍟ. ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ ꀎꌗꍟ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꉓꂦꈤꉓꍟꈤ꓄ꋪꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꍏꈤꀸ ꎇꂦꉓꀎꌗ ꂦꈤ ꍏ ꓄ꂦꉣꀤꉓ, ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꍏ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꎇꀤꉓ ꍟꆰꀎꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꂦꋪ ꍏ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꎇꀤꉓ ꉣꍟꋪꌗꂦꈤ ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꋪꍟ ꍏꌃꂦꀎ꓄. ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ ꎇꀤꈤꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ, ꍏꈤ ꂦꋪꌃ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꍏꉣꉣꍟꍏꋪ ꀤꈤ ꎇꋪꂦꈤ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꌩꂦꀎ. ꌃ꒒ꍏꌗ꓄ ꀤ꓄ ꎇꂦꋪꅏꍏꋪꀸ." Black replied.

"A-Alright.." I said hesitantly.

I followed Blacks' steps and concentrated on something I cared about, or rather someone. Then, I focused on the person in particular—which happened to be Steve—and followed the deep connection I had with him. I know that sounded weird, but I did care deeply for his safety at that moment. He's my best friend after all.

Afterward, I finally opened my eyes and found an orb in front of me. I instinctively blasted the orb forward.

I saw my perspective of what I was seeing in the real world, without actually being in the real world.

"Uh, what is this Black?" I asked him in bewilderment.

"꓄ꃅꀤꌗ ꀤꌗ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꉓꂦꈤꌗꉓꀤꂦꀎꌗ ꒒ꂦꂦꀘꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꃅꋪꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꍟꌩꍟꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꒒ꂦꂦꀘꀤꈤꁅ ꀸꀤꋪꍟꉓ꓄꒒ꌩ ꍏ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ, ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅꂦꀎ꓄ ꌃꍟꀤꈤꁅ ꉓꂦꈤ꓄ꋪꂦ꒒꒒ꍟꀸ ꌃꌩ ꀤ꓄. ꈤꂦꅏ ꆰꀎꀤꉓꀘ꒒ꌩ, ꂵꂦꃴꍟ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꍏꋪꂵ." Black responded.

"Oh! O-Okay." I said as I raised my arm.

I realized that my real-world body was also raising their arm like mine. I raised my other arm, and with the pot close to the creature's face, I manipulated a throwing gesture which threw the pot of boiling water on the creature.

The Longfeeler fell back in instant fright, seemingly blind and screaming in agony. My mission was a success! But I noticed that my subconscious body wasn't being transported to my real-world body. I asked Black,

"Uhm, w-why am I not being transported to my real-world body now??"

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒ ꌃꍟꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꀸꂦ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄, ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ ꃅꍏꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꀤꈤꎇꀎꌗꍟꀸ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ ꈤꂦ꓄ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌗꀎꌃꉓꂦꈤꌗꉓꀤꂦꀎꌗ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ, ꌃꀎ꓄ ꍏ꒒ꌗꂦ ꂵꀤꈤꍟ ꍏꌗ ꅏꍟ꒒꒒. ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ ꉓꍏ꒒꒒ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ ꍏ ꓄ꋪꍏꉣ ꌗꂦ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꎇꀤꈤꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟ ꍏ ꎇꂦꋪꂵ ꀤꈤ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꅏꂦꋪꋪꌩ, ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꓄ꂦꂦ!" Black replied.

"Black, a-are you kidding me!? There is legitimately no time to do this! Get me back in my body!" I yelled at him.

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒ ꌃꍟꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꀸꂦ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄, ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ ꃅꍏꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꀤꈤꎇꀎꌗꍟꀸ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ ꈤꂦ꓄ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌗꀎꌃꉓꂦꈤꌗꉓꀤꂦꀎꌗ ꂵꀤꈤꀸ, ꌃꀎ꓄ ꍏ꒒ꌗꂦ ꂵꀤꈤꍟ ꍏꌗ ꅏꍟ꒒꒒. ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ ꉓꍏ꒒꒒ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ ꍏ ꓄ꋪꍏꉣ ꌗꂦ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꎇꀤꈤꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟ ꍏ ꎇꂦꋪꂵ ꀤꈤ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꅏꂦꋪꋪꌩ, ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꓄ꂦꂦ!" Black remarked.

"Wow, thatʼs a very tempting offer! But I have to decline since I want to be normal and get the hell out of this town at the same time! So just do whatever you have to do to get me to my real-world body without this whole infusing schtick." I said sarcastically.

"ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ, ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꌃꍟꀤꈤꁅ ꀎꈤꋪꍟꍏꌗꂦꈤꍏꌃ꒒ꍟ. ꀭꀎꌗ꓄ ꒒ꍟ꓄ ꂵꍟ ꀸꂦ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ. ꀤ꓄ ꅏꂦꈤ'꓄ ꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏꈤꌩ ꃅꍏꋪꂵ ꀤ ꉣꋪꂦꂵꀤꌗꍟ." Black responded.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"ꍏ꒒ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄, ꎇꀤꈤꍟ..."

"I'll just have to force you then," Black said, his words shuddering my body to the core.

Just then, Black composed a spell on me that thrusted me to the hole I created with the orb. After he created the spell, he sprinted towards me and launched himself into the hole.

I opened my eyes with a startle and glanced around, catching sight of Black right next to me. He finally had a full form as a human and was dressed in a raven toga, a sharp void tunic, and leather sandals.

"Okay great, now I have powers and a delusional figure to follow me around to the end of time!" I exclaimed.

"ꌩꍟꍏꃅ, ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꂵꀤꁅꃅ꓄'ꃴꍟ ꌃꍟꍟꈤ ꂵꌩ ꎇꍏꀎ꒒꓄. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꃅꍟꌩ! ꈤꂦꅏ ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ ꀎꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꉣꂦꅏꍟꋪꌗ. ꍟꃴꍟꈤ ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ ꃅꂦꅏ." Black stated.

"Uh-huh... GASP! Oh shit! The bus!" I yelled. I sprinted towards the entrance, dodging fallen structures and trees along the way. The Longfeeler had vanished though, I wondered where it went.

"ꂦꃅ ꌩꍟꍏꃅ, ꀤ ꎇꂦꋪꁅꂦ꓄ ꍏꌃꂦꀎ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄," Black stated. He was flying through the sky, following me with swiftness and a style of smoothness about him.

"ꌃꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꅏꍏꌩ, ꀤ'ꃴꍟ ꅏꂦꈤꀸꍟꋪꍟꀸ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ ꌗꀤꈤꉓꍟ ꀤ ꂵꍟ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ, ꃅꂦꅏ ꂦ꒒ꀸ ꍏꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ?" Black asked me.

"NOT THE TIME NOR THE PLACE BLACK!!" I screamed at him.

"But I'm thirteen."

"ꍏ ꓄ꍏꀸ ꌩꂦꀎꈤꁅ ꎇꂦꋪ ꃅꀤꁅꃅ ꌗꉓꃅꂦꂦ꒒ ꃅꀎꃅ?" Black asked me.

"I guess so, I just got lucky. I'll explain it all later though! Right now I have to get to the entrance, is there any way we can get there quicker!?" I exclaimed to Black.

"ꃅꂵꂵ.. ꀤ ꅏꂦꀎ꒒ꀸ ꓄ꍟꍏꉓꃅ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꂦꅏ ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟ ꎇ꒒ꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꌃꀎ꓄ ꀤ꓄ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟꌗ ꍏꈤ ꍏꌃꀎꈤꀸꍏꈤꉓꍟ ꂦꎇ ꍟꈤꍟꋪꁅꌩ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌃꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꓄ꀤꂵꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꍏ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍟꈤ꓄ꋪꍏꈤꉓꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꉣꋪꂦꌃꍏꌃ꒒ꌩ ꁅꂦꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꂦ ꂵꀤꌗꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌃꀎ—"

"I don't care! DO IT!!" I yelled. All the while behind me, I swore I could still hear the Longfeeler squealing in misery.

"ꍏ꒒ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄, ꍏ꒒ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄. ꓄ꂦ ꎇ꒒ꌩ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꎇꂦꉓꀎꌗ ꂦꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꀘꌩ."

"Obviously," Black and I said in unison.

"ꌗꂦ, ꒒ꂦꂦꀘ ꀎꉣ ꍏ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꀘꌩ. ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ, ꋪꍟꍏꉓꃅ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꀤꂵꍏꁅꀤꈤꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌃꍟ꒒ꀤꍟꃴꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꂦꈤ ꍏ ꉓ꒒ꂦꀎꀸ, ꂦꋪ ꂵꍏꌩꌃꍟ ꂦꈤ ꓄ꂦꉣ ꂦꎇ ꍏ ꌃꀤꋪꀸ, ꂦꋪ ꍏ ꀘꅏꍏꃅ. ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ ꎇꍟꍟ꒒ ꌩꂦꀎꋪꌗꍟ꒒ꎇ ꁅ꒒ꀤꀸꍟ ꂦꃴꍟꋪ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꋪꂦꂦꎇꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꓄ꋪꍟꍟꌗ, ꍟꃴꍟꋪ ꌗꂦ ꃅꀤꁅꃅꍟꋪ ꀎꈤ꓄ꀤ꒒ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꎇ꒒ꌩꀤꈤꁅ! ꎇꀤꈤꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ, ꎇꍟꍟ꒒ ꌩꂦꀎꋪꌗꍟ꒒ꎇ ꂵꂦꃴꍟ ꀤꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꀸꀤꋪꍟꉓ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꅏꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꅏꍏꈤ꓄ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꂦ." Black explained.

"Well alright, it's worth a shot!" I exclaimed while I thought of the sky.

I thought of myself floating through space, swinging my arms and legs around in a soft motion, closing my eyes in the process. I then thought of myself on top of the highest peaks and clouds, flowing ever so magnificently over the trees. And finally, I went higher and higher until I opened my eyes and saw the tops of trees and the roofs of houses in real life.

I WAS FLYING!

"WOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!!!" I exclaimed, sweeping through the air as I did a barrel roll and a backflip in mid-air.

"ꅏꂦꅏ, ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꍏ ꁅꋪꍟꍏ꓄ꍟꋪ ꀤꂵꍏꁅꀤꈤꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ ꓄ꃅꍏꈤ ꀤ ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ꓄." I nodded at his statement, flying near the ground now.

"ꍏ꒒ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄, ꒒ꍟ꓄'ꌗ ꌗꉓꂦꉣꍟ ꂦꀎ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍏꋪꍟꍏ ꂦꎇ ꂦꀎꋪ ꍟꌗꉓꍏꉣꍟ, ꉓꂦꂵꍟ ꂦꈤ!" Black said, swiftly flying to the entrance. I followed what he said as I thought of the exact direction to fly towards. It was like walking on air!

I spotted Ethan and Veronica heading to my home, presumably because they heard the screams of the monster. All was according to plan.

Of course, until Ethan's multitude of agents had arrived at the entrance of the town. By what I could count, around ten to fifteen trucks were lining up at the entrance making sure no one got in or out.

"ꅏꂦꅏ, ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꌃꋪꂦꀎꁅꃅ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌃꍏꉓꀘ ꀎꉣ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꃅꀎꃅ," Black stated as he hid near a tree. I followed him to the tree and said,

"Yeah.. this is going to be harder than I thought."

"ꉣꎇꎇ꓄, ꌩꍏ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꀘ?" Black stated.

After ignoring his snarky remark, I said,

"Okay, so.. we might be screwed here. There's no way a school bus is going to go through that quantity of trucks!"

"ꀎꈤ꒒ꍟꌗꌗ ꅏꍟ ꂵꍏꀘꍟ ꍏꈤ ꍟꈤ꓄ꋪꍏꈤꉓꍟ ꂦꎇ ꂦꀎꋪ ꂦꅏꈤ," Black said. After a moment of deep-sighted reflection. I exclaimed,

"Wait a minute. I think I'm catching down what you're putting up!"

"꓄ꃅꍏ꓄'ꌗ ꈤꂦ꓄ ꃅꂦꅏ ꌩꂦꀎ ꌗꍏꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꉣꃅꋪꍏꌗꍟ, ꀸꀎꂵꌃꍏꌗꌗ," Black said.

"Yeah, yeah that's beside the point. I think if we rush the bus over... there! We can get out." I said while I pointed at a clearing that had barely any trees and looked like a spot where we could escape from.

"ꂦꋪ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꀭꀎꌗ꓄ ꓄ꍟꍏꉓꃅ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꎇꋪꀤꍟꈤꀸꌗ ꃅꂦꅏ ꓄ꂦ ꎇ꒒ꌩ ꍏꈤꀸ ꅏꍟ ꉓꍏꈤ ꁅꂦ ꍏꅏꍏꌩ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꅏꍏꌩ," Black suggested.

"No! They can't find out that I have a literal spirit with me! If they do then.. then uh." I faltered.

"꓄ꃅꍟꈤ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄? ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꉓꍏꈤ'꓄ ꍟꃴꍟꋪ ꌗꍟꍟ ꂵꍟ? ꎇꂦꋪ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄?" Black asked repeatedly.

"I don't know! I just feel like they'll be weirded out if they see you." I replied.

"ꅏꃅꍏ꓄, ꅏꃅꌩ?! ꀤ ꂵꍏꌩ ꌃꍟ ꍏ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄ ꌃꀎ꓄ ꀤ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꍏꈤꌩ ꀤꈤ꓄ꍟꈤ꓄ꀤꂦꈤꌗ ꂦꎇ ꃅꍏꋪꂵꀤꈤꁅ ꌩꂦꀎ ꂦꋪ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꎇꋪꀤꍟꈤꀸꌗ." Black said.

"Yeah, but they don't know that do they?" I replied.

"ꀤ... ꌗꀎꉣꉣꂦꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄," Black said.

We decided to travel to the school to make sure that my friends were secure. But, once we got there, we saw Jack and Emily frantically run around the building while a fire was starting at the roof of the school. This reminded me too much of the first day that I thought I was reliving a memory.

I asked Black,

"Hey! How do you fly down and land safely?"

"ꃅꂵ? ꂦꃅ, ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꀘ ꂦꎇ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꁅꋪꂦꀎꈤꀸ, ꍏꈤꀸ ꂵꍏꀘꍟ ꌗꀎꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꀸꀤꋪꍟꉓ꓄꒒ꌩ ꒒ꍏꀎꈤꉓꃅ ꌩꂦꀎꋪꌗꍟ꒒ꎇ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꀤ꓄. ꉓꍏ꒒ꂵ꒒ꌩ ꁅꂦ ꀸꂦꅏꈤ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ ꍟꍏꌗꍟ ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ."

Black slowed down his breathing and looked at the ground, then moved slowly and smoothly to the ground. I tried to follow his example, but with the fire ever so spreading through the building, I got uneasy and went down as quickly as possible, landing flat on my face on the ground with a—

THUD!

Black rushed to me and asked,

"ꅏꃅꂦꍏ! ꌩꂦꀎ ꂦꀘꍏꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, there's just a little scratch on my head!" I exclaimed.

Once I got up, Black infused into me quickly as I ran into the A building. Seeing as how the fire was spreading quickly and Redwood agents would most likely notice. We needed to get out of there. I shouted for my friends,

"HEY! Are you guys in here!?" In retrospect, that was a dumb question. Of course, they were here.

"Yeah! Over here!" Robert said, coughing up a storm and trying to simultaneously escape the flames from the roof and now on the third floor.

"What the hell happened?!" I asked him.

"Well—COUGH, COUGH... AHEM!—Jack thought it would be a great idea to use propane tanks to open the door to get the key for the bus. We told him not to do it but he did it anyways." Robert responded.

"Well is Jack and everyone else okay?" I asked him.

"Some of us got slight burns but for the most part they were pretty minimal and everyone is okay now. Though, apart Jack since he's probably gonna get scolded by Emily for being stupid," He said back.

"Alright, did you get the keys at least?" I asked him.

Robert reached into his pocket and jingled the keys, saying in part,

"Yup! The rest of them should be by the bus by now. I just volunteered to get the keys."

"Sweet! Let's go to the bus and get the hell out of here." I said.

We got to the garage relatively quickly where the bus and my other friends were located. The bus was here after all.

"Hey, we're here! I found George!" Robert exclaimed.

"YAY!" Everyone else shouted.

"Alright so.. does anyone know how to drive?" Aquafene said.

"Yeah, I do!" Peo said with esteemed confidence.

"She's lying, there's no way you learned how to drive with our uncle," Steve said.

"Well you're right, I learned with auntie!" Peo said, knabbing the keys from Robert and proceeding inside the bus.

The rest of us then got onto the bus, bringing our light luggage into the back of the bus along the way. Peo started the engine with the keys in the ignition and began driving out of the garage.

The garage door slowly opened as the bus moved forward.

"Oh by the way guys. Slight change of plans. We'll have to go through a very specific spot and not the entrance to get outta here." I said.

"Uhh. . . Why?" Maurice asked.

"Look at the entrance," I said as we were pulling up near it.

"Holy crap. What the hell is this!?" Alice exclaimed. The Redwood militia trucks that I had mentioned earlier were still there.

"These are Redwood agents if I had to guess. We have to avoid them if we don't want to be caught and.. whatever else they want to do with us," I said.

"Crap alright, do you have a plan to get us out of this?" Angel asked me.

"Yeah, I do for once! See that little clearing with like only one tree? Just go over there and slam into the fence as fast as you can, no agents should be over there!" I replied.

"Alright, I'll try not to crash the bus in the meantime," Peo said, driving gingerly through the road. The luggage with Peo's belongings and the food and water were in the back and had been protected by Robert.

While we were driving slowly, we saw Ethan, Veronica, and a handful of agents trying to calm the Longfeeler down and inject it with some sort of needle, likely to put it to sleep. The Longfeeler squealed out in pain and roared as loud as it could possibly muster.

"Hm, I feel kinda bad for the Longfeeler. Even if it tried to kill us, we were the ones that invaded its home first by the explosion in the factory," Aquafene said.

"Yeah, no Aquafene, you're crazy for thinking that. That Longfeeler deserves everything it gets." Maurice said bluntly.

"Alright, alright guys we're here! Hold onto your seats, we're about to crash into the fence!" Peo said as she put her seatbelt on.

"Wait, you haven't put your seatbelt on yet Peo?!" Steve said.

"Eh, saw no point," Peo said. She pressed her foot fully on the gas pedal. She drove it straight forward to the fence that was in front of a clearing.

Now what happened next I can only explain as extraordinarily idiotic. Peo, after pressing on the pedal, had lost control of the bus immediately and crashed into the fence, then crashed into the...

Sigh.

ONE tree that should've been impossible to hit. Fortunately, we were driving slowly so it caused minimal damage to ourselves and the bus.

"PEO!" Alice yelled.

"Oh shoot, looks like I uh... crashed the bus. Heh." Peo said.

"Oh my god Peo. Reverse and DRIVE THE BUS!!" I screamed at her.

"Alright.. uhm, how do you reverse the bus? It's with this stick right?" Peo said.

By this point, I was uneasy and incredibly pissed off as well as everyone else for that matter. We frantically looked around to see if Ethan, Veronica, or their likely hundreds of agents had seen us yet.

"Peo, move the stick back and push the pedal. WE'VE GOT TO GO RIGHT NOW!" I yelled at her.

"Alright, alright.. there, I'm doing it!" Peo said, backing the bus up.

However, the bus made a beeping noise when it backed up.

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

Numerous agents looked in our direction and saw the bus and the broken gate. Which made them start to give chase toward us.

"Oh god, guys! The agents are coming at us! We gotta go right now!" Steve frantically stated.

"Alright, got the stick back to driving forward. We should be good now!" Peo exclaimed.

"THEN DRIVE!!!" All of us screamed.

Peo put the pedal to the metal and sped through the field. Of course, knowing our luck, the field wasn't as clear as it seemed. Because of this, the bus shook and rattled with each bump it ran over.

"Peo get on the road! The bus is going to break apart if we continue through this goddamn field!" Robert said.

"Alright, on it," Peo said while she turned left on the road.

I decided to look behind us to see if there were any agents after us. As I looked, I saw in pure terror as truck upon truck were chasing us, trying to get close to the bus. I caught sight of an agent pulling out their rifle and moving halfway through the window of one of the trucks with the rest of the agents following suit. With bullets about to fly through this bus, I yelled,

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Just as I said this, bullets sliced through the bus' windows, shattering them in considerable ways as all of us ducked for cover. Some of us screamed our lungs out, while others began crying or looked around to see if everyone else was okay. Fron and Alice had gotten injured, not by bullets though, but instead by falling on the bus. I looked around and saw no one having a bullet lodged in their skin which was a massive relief.

"Keep ducking down y'all! We will get through this.. hopefully." Jack said through the carnage.

"Okay, sure! But how in the hell are we gonna get out of this mess?!?" Maurice asked while screaming.

We all went silent as Peo kept driving the bus forward, ducking while doing so. I found it impressive how she still kept the bus on the road. But that's beside the point, we needed to find a way to get out of this chase. I thought of a couple of ideas while bullets still rained down at us from the agents' cars.

These ideas included jumping from the bus altogether and hoping for the best, which was a horrible idea. Or maybe trying to use my flight power to make the bus fly away. But as I had no idea how much strength I had, let alone to lift a bus, it was another terrible idea.

Then, I thought of something that just might work. It would've been crazy if it did, yet as we had no other choice as of now since we were going to be either shot by the agents or blown up by the bus. I exclaimed,

"Hey Peo! Drive to the jungle!"

"Okay—wait what?! I can't! There are way too many trees to avoid!" Peo responded.

"I don't care! Just do it! We're going to get shot out of this bus if we continue on the road!" I yelled.

Everyone else was conflicted on whether or not we should do this, including Peo. However as we had no time I decided to get to the front of the bus by crawling through broken glass and bullet casings. I got to the front of the bus where I grabbed Peo's hand on the steering wheel and shouted,

"We're going to have to turn right on the count of three! Everyone ready!?"

Everyone went under their seats apart from Peo and I. From then I yelled,

"One.. two.. THREE!"

The bus then jerked to the right fiercely as I got flung to the dashboard of the bus. Peo got sent to the back of the bus where, from what I saw, was instantly knocked out on impact. Meanwhile, I had been tossed and turned around as the bus spun in all sorts of directions in the jungle until finally, it crashed into a tree and everything...

Stopped.

"Is everyone okay!?" I heard Fron ask as he got up from the bottom of one of the seats, grabbing onto the seat itself and steadying himself.

"Ugh... I'm fine." Alice said.

"Yeah, me too," Angel said.

"Same," Aquafene said, carrying Peo's huge suitcase onto her lap.

Most of my friends sat down on one of the seats while I heard Steve shout,

"Peo! Oh fuck.. what happened to her!? What happened to my sister?!"

"Uh.. s-she got flung around, and I think she hit her head so hard on the back of the bus that she went unconscious. Though that could be wrong, my brain is scrambled right now." I said, holding the back of my head. It was bleeding.

"You know what, this is all your fault. If we didn't even go to that fucking factory George, none of this would've happened in the first place!" Steve shouted at me. I was taken aback, yet what I said afterward didn't exactly help the situation.

"Mhm, mhm yeah. Who decided to go anyway?" I responded.

"Yeah, because I wanted to make sure my sister was safe. And look at her now!" Steve exclaimed.

"How is that my fault exactly?!" I asked him. My fists were clenched.

"Hey, hey! Both of you take it easy. Right now we have to focus on getting the hell out of here. Since the bus is totaled, we're going to have to go on foot to get ahead of those agents. So cmon!" Jack exclaimed as he picked himself up.

Fron and Alice held hands with each other and they picked themselves off of the floor, having bruises and glass shards stuck to them in the meanwhile. Maurice got up and walked over to Steve, comforting him while they both examined Peo. Robert, Aquafene, and Jack were already going outside to look for where we should go next along with the suitcases, though I saw no point in keeping them anymore. They were riddled with bullet holes.

"Hey, you alright?" Angel asked me.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just dizzy is all. How about you? Are you okay?" I asked her. Blood was still soaking my hair as I spoke.

"Pfft, I'm always fine! I'm worried that those agents will come looking for us." Angel said.

And just as if she jinxed this happening, I heard footsteps coming from the trees. However, they weren't from my friends but instead from another entity. Everyone else heard these incoming footsteps too and we looked out of the windows.

We saw Redwood agents running at our bus with quick haste. So, I yelled out,

"Guys we gotta run now! Agents are rushing at us!"

"Oh shit!" Maurice exclaimed while she picked up Peo.

We ran out of the bus where Aquafene explained briefly while pointing through the trees and onto a clearing,

"Okay, if we go over there, there should be a river that will lead us to a small city on the coast called Flankiski! We can just hide there, let's go!" I was going to ask her how she knew this but assessing that Redwood agents were right on our tail. I better keep my mouth shut and run.

We all sprinted where Aquafene had pointed while I glanced behind us. Bullets flew past us as the agents were shooting directly at our heads. Robert dropped one of the suitcases though I didn't know which one it was. I just hoped it was Peo's belongings.

"Everyone duck down! We're going to get to that damn river!" Jack said.

However, once we got to the field clearing, I heard a scream coming from Maurice. She got shot in the leg, and was barely able to hold Peo as well as herself. Alice and Steve ran back and picked both of them up. This made Robert help Fron find his way through the clearing.

But just then out of the corner of my eye, I saw an object fly into the air and drop right next to where Maurice was standing. I knew this object could've been a grenade. I ran back and pushed Maurice out of the way, grabbed the grenade, and threw it out into the sky. It exploded only a few feet from us in the sky.

"OH SHIT!" Maurice said.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here!" I shouted as Steve grabbed Maurice and Alice picked up Peo. We bolted to the trees to gain cover. However, we lost track of Aquafene and the rest of our friends. It seemed impossible to find them in the large jungle and with bullets still going over our heads. It appeared like our lives were lost...

Until I spotted Jack at one of the far ends of the jungle waving his arms at us. We ran to where he waved as bullets were still flying at us.

When things seemed to not get any worse, a helicopter flew over the trees and spread machine gun fire over us. Steve got shot immediately in the shoulder and his back. He began losing his balance from which I picked him up by one arm and we both ran at a steady pace to the area Jack waved again with Maurice at Steve's right. Alice had also gotten shot as she was screaming and looking at her foot, which had made her pace even more terrible. I picked her up with my other arm and we began to speed walk steadily to the area. Maurice had lost her balance and was limping right behind us.

It was surreal that we weren't being gunned down and dead as the helicopter was still firing shots at us, barely missing us left, right, and center. But then, as we were coming so close to the area—being a big pit covered with leaves—I felt a sharp pain in my back and left arm. I didn't pay attention to the consistent pangs though and continued to speed-walk, with the pain now spreading throughout my body. It was becoming excruciating as I couldn't keep myself up anymore, but with Steve's and Alice's help, we were able to reach the area just in time as a grenade exploded behind us.

"Oh my god, that was sick! Are y'all okay?!" Jack asked us as he picked up Peo. Of course, he thought of us nearly dying being "sick".

"Oh yeah, Jack we're just fine! It's not like I have bullet holes going through my body or anything!" Steve exclaimed, grimacing and writhing in pain through his body. Jack came to his aid and began applying pressure on his wounds.

"Crap.." Alice said as she looked at her foot, a bullet hole through it as she stared in terror. Robert brought some clothes over and helped with her wounds too. Apparently, he had dropped the food and water suitcase.

I looked at my own bullet holes only to find out that I had five of them on my back, two of them had escaped through my stomach, and one on my left arm.

"How am I not dead..?" I said, beginning to lose consciousness, everyone else was indefinitely worried for me.

"ꀤ ꌃꍟ꒒ꀤꍟꃴꍟ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꃅꍟ꒒ꉣ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏꈤꌗꅏꍟꋪ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄," Black suddenly stated, forming in front of me and my friends.

"W-WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??!" Emily screamed out.

"ꌗꃅꃅ, ꍟꂵꀤ꒒ꌩ. ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꀸꀤꌗ꓄ꀎꋪꌃ ꓄ꃅꂦꌗꍟ ꍏꁅꍟꈤ꓄ꌗ ꀎꉣ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ." Black said.

"How do you know my name!?!" Emily asked in understandable confusion.

"That's beside the point! Who or w-what are you, and what are you doing in George's body!?" Angel asked, trying to grab Black by the collar. But failing to do so since, well, he's a spirit.

"𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀. 𝐼 𝒾𝓃𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹'𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒜𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈." Black stated.

"Wait. What do you mean by 'other friends'? Do they inhabit our bodies too!?" Emily asked in perplexity

"꓄ꂦ ꉣꀎ꓄ ꀤ꓄ ꌗꀤꂵꉣ꒒ꌩ: ꌩꍟꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꀸꂦ, ꃅꂦꅏꍟꃴꍟꋪ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅꀤꈤ ꍏ ꒒ꀤꂵꀤ꓄ꍟꀸ ꆰꀎꍏꈤ꓄ꀤ꓄ꌩ ꀸꀎꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꃅꂦꅏ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅ ꌩꂦꀎ ꓄ꃅꋪꍟꍟ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꌃꍟꍟꈤ ꀎꈤꉓꂦꈤꌗꉓꀤꂦꀎꌗ. ꍏꈤꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꍏꈤꌗꅏꍟꋪ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꉣꋪꍟꃴꀤꂦꀎꌗ ꆰꀎꍟꌗ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ, ꍟꂵꀤ꒒ꌩ. ꀤ'ꃴꍟ ꀘꈤꂦꅏꈤ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꎇꂦꋪ ꍏ ꌗꃅꂦꋪ꓄ ꓄ꀤꂵꍟ, ꌃꀎ꓄ ꌗꀤꈤꉓꍟ ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꌗ ꌗꂦ ꀘꀤꈤꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꍏ꒒꒒ꂦꅏ ꂵꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꀤꈤꃅꍏꌃꀤ꓄ ꃅꀤꌗ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ. ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꂵꍟꍏꈤꌗ ꀤ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄ ꃅꍟ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꀘꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌃꍟꉓꍏꀎꌗꍟ ꂦꎇ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꀤ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꈤꍏꂵꍟꌗ ꎇꋪꂦꂵ ꃅꀤꌗ ꌃꋪꍏꀤꈤ." Black answered.

"You can read my brain?" I asked him as I began coughing up blood. Angel rushed to me and applied pressure on my back, yet her hands were continuously shaking.

"ꌩꍟꌗ, ꍏꈤꀸ ꀤ ꉓꍏꈤ ꓄ꍟ꒒꒒ ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꈤꂦꅏ ꀤꎇ ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꉣꋪꂦꎇꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꈤꍏ꒒ ꍏꀤꀸ ꀤꈤ ꍏꌃꂦꀎ꓄.. ꎇꂦꀎꋪ-ꀤꌗꃅ ꂵꀤꈤꀎ꓄ꍟꌗ. ꌩꂦꀎ'꒒꒒ ꀸꀤꍟ ꎇꋪꂦꂵ ꌃ꒒ꂦꂦꀸ ꒒ꂦꌗꌗ. ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꍏ꒒ꌗꂦ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꀘꀤꈤꁅ ꍏꌃꂦꀎ꓄ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ ꍟ꒒ꌗꍟ. ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꀤ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄ ꌗꀤꈤꉓꍟ ꅏꍟ꒒꒒, ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꀤꈤ ꍟꊼ꓄ꋪꍟꂵꍟ ꉣꍏꀤꈤ." Black replied.

Everyone became silent. As if to say they didn't know what to do to save me.

"Well, is there any way to save myself or for someone else to do so!?" I asked him, feeling the warm blood seep from the holes on my back down to the ground.

Black thought long and hard for two whole minutes. From that point onwards, I felt as if I was between life and death until he finally said,

"ꃅꂵꂵ.. ꌩꍟꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꌗ. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꀤ꓄ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꋪꍟꆰꀎꀤꋪꍟ ꂦꈤꍟ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꎇꀤꉓ ꀤꈤꀸꀤꃴꀤꀸꀎꍏ꒒ ꓄ꂦ ꉓꂦꈤꀭꀎꋪꍟ ꍏ ꃅꍟꍏ꒒ꀤꈤꁅ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄. ꍏ ꃅꍟꍏ꒒ꀤꈤꁅ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꋪꍟꉓꂦꃴꍟꋪ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꅏꂦꀎꈤꀸꌗ ꀤꈤ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꍏ ꎇꍟꅏ ꂦꎇ ꓄ꃅꍟꂵ."

"꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꍏ꒒ ꀤꈤꀸꀤꃴꀤꀸꀎꍏ꒒, ꌃꍏꌗꍟꀸ ꂦꈤ ꂵꌩ ꃅꌩꉣꂦ꓄ꃅꍟꌗꀤꌗ, ꅏꂦꀎ꒒ꀸ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꍏꈤꁅꍟ꒒."

All of us immediately stared at her and I saw her eyes flicker with determination to save not only me, but the rest of her friends as well.

"O-Okay, how do you even awaken a spirit inside of you?" Angel anxiously asked him as we didn't haven't much time left.

"ꁅꂦꂦꀸ ꆰꀎꍟꌗ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ. ꀤꎇ ꌩꂦꀎ ꎇꍟꍟ꒒ ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꍏ ꌗꀎꋪꁅꍟ ꂦꎇ ꍟꈤꍟꋪꁅꌩ ꉓꂦꀎꋪꌗꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꃅꋪꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꀸꂦ ꀤꌗ ꋪꍟ꒒ꍟꍏꌗꍟ ꀤ꓄, ꌃꀎ꓄ ꎇꂦꋪ ꂦ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꌗ ꅏꃅꂦ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꍟꈤꍟꋪꁅꌩ, ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꂦꌃꃴꀤꂦꀎꌗ꒒ꌩ ꃅꍏꋪꀸꍟꋪ. ꃅꂦꅏꍟꃴꍟꋪ, ꌗꀤꈤꉓꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꍟꌗꉓꍏꉣꍟꀸ ꀸꍟꍏ꓄ꃅ. ꀤ ꌃꍟ꒒ꀤꍟꃴꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍟꈤꍟꋪꁅꌩ ꋪꍟꆰꀎꀤꋪꍟꀸ ꎇꂦꋪ ꋪꍟ꒒ꍟꍏꌗꀤꈤꁅ ꍏ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄." Black responded.

Angel was straining herself as stiffly as possible as Black said,

"ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꀎꌗ꓄ ꌃꍟ ꍏꌃ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꒒ꍟ꓄ ꁅꂦ ꂦꎇ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꂦ ꒒ꍟ꓄ ꀤꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄, ꍏꈤꁅꍟ꒒."

"How the hell did I conjure you then?!" I asked through the pain. Blood poured from my wounds and mouth.

"Because I've already infused with your body and if you die, I die. I'm not going to let you die on me." Black answered. What a reassuring answer.

"W-What do I let go of?!" Angel asked him, mortified of my condition.

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒, ꀤ ꌗꀎꉣꉣꂦꌗꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ, ꂦꋪ ꋪꍏ꓄ꃅꍟꋪ ꉣꍟꋪꌗꂦꈤ, ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꓄ꋪꌩꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꂦ ꃅꂦ꒒ꀸ ꂦꈤ꓄ꂦ ꌗꂦ ꀸꍟꍏꋪ꒒ꌩ ꍏꌗ ꂦꎇ ꈤꂦꅏ," Black said.

"Wait, what!? I-I can't let go of him or else he's going to.." Angel started to tear up.

"Don't worry Angel, I'll be fine. You'll have to let go to conjure a spirit and heal me right?" I stated, trying to resist the pain and groaning as much as I could.

"Yeah, I-I guess you're right," Angel said, finally letting go and going to the ground. She began the process of conjuring a spirit as she was on the ground.

"Hey Black, how much time do you think I have left now?" I asked him open skin fresh in the air. I gurgled and spat out blood that built up in my throat.

"Your condition isn't the worst I've seen, but it may be fatal I'm afraid. Even if we get a healing spirit, I'm not positive you'll make it." Black responded while closing his eyes.

"That's reassuring," I said, coughing up blood more profusely.

"But, I'd say you still have a solid two minutes or so, conjuring a spirit usually takes a minute. So hopefully you can survive until then." Black stated.

"Mhm.. me too," I said, barely keeping my eyes open.

A minute, which felt like an hour, passed by and Angel's spirit was finally coming up now. The rest of my friends frantically tried to keep us awake while making as little noise as possible for possible agents still luring about.

"Hey, Steve and Alice, how are you two holding up?" I asked them. From what I could see, I saw Alice was holding her foot in pain and apart from a gash on her leg, she seemed like the healthiest out of the five of us injured or out.

"Barely. You Maurice?" Steve responded.

"I'm uh.. losing my conscious.." Maurice said, closing her eyes.

"Hey!" Steve exclaimed as he leaped to her, trying to wake her up and keep her eyes open as much as he could. Even though he was writhing in pain and barely kept his own focus.

"꒒ꂦꂦꀘꌗ ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꈤꂦ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꂦꈤꍟ ꈤꍟꍏꋪ꒒ꌩ ꀸꍟꍏꀸ ꀤ꓄ ꌗꍟꍟꂵꌗ. ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꅏꂦꋪꋪꌩ ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ, ꍏꌗ ꌗꂦꂦꈤ ꍏꌗ ꃅꍟꋪ ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟꌗ ꍏ ꎇꀤꈤꍏ꒒ ꎇꂦꋪꂵ, ꅏꃅꀤꉓꃅ ꌗꃅꂦꀎ꒒ꀸ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꍏ ꎇꍟꅏ ꂵꂦꋪꍟ ꌗꍟꉓꂦꈤꀸꌗ. ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꌃꍟ ꍏꌗ ꁅꂦꂦꀸ ꍏꌗ ꈤꍟꅏ. ꂵꌩ ꎇꋪꀤꍟꈤꀸ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꎇꀤꊼ ꌩꂦꀎ." Black stated.

"I sure hope they fucking do." Steve said, lying on the floor.

Just then, Angel's spirit rose from her body and immediately jumped back into bed chest. Her eyes began glowing a fierce white glow that casted over each one of our eyes. Black looked in astonishment while I heard a ghastly voice emanate from White's mouth,

"Who needs healing now?"

"꓄ꃅꍟꌗꍟ ꎇꀤꃴꍟ, ꀤꎇ ꍏ꓄ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꉣꂦꌗꌗꀤꌃ꒒ꍟ. ꍏꈤꀸ ꉣ꒒ꍟꍏꌗꍟ ꅏꃅꀤ꓄ꍟ, ꂵꍏꀘꍟ ꀤ꓄ ꌗꈤꍏꉣꉣꌩ." Black stated. White glanced at us and I felt a hint of ease oozing out of her body and into my soul.

"Give me a quick second and you'll be as good as new!" She then instantly flew over to me and pressed her hands into my chest. She hummed and closed her eyes in serenity as a faint glimmer of light illuminated from her hands onto my chest.

In only a few seconds, I felt as if I was in the clouds. But this time, not in the satisfaction of my own death.

White had finished with me and quickly moved to the rest of my friends, only taking a few seconds for each healing. This caused her to say after only a minute or so after all of us were writing in pain,

"Hey! I'm done with all of the healings, even the unconscious ones! Holy, did you guys get yourselves into a situation huh?! I've never seen wounds that bad ever since that encounter with that Longfeeler all those years ago. Am I right Black?"

"ꌩꍟꍏꃅ, ꀤ ꁅꀎꍟꌗꌗ ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄," Black said, also surprisingly bewildered at how White was able to heal us so darn fast.

"ꃅꂦ꒒ꀸ ꂦꈤ ꍏ ꂵꀤꈤꀎ꓄ꍟ. ꅏꃅꌩ ꍏꋪꍟꈤ'꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍏꁅꍟꈤ꓄ꌗ ꉓꃅꍏꌗꀤꈤꁅ ꌩꂦꀎ ꁅꀎꌩꌗ ꍏꈤꌩꂵꂦꋪꍟ ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄?" Black asked me.

"They likely assumed you all died from that grenade and those bullets raining down on you all," White said while she continuously floated around the area in which we hid. The rest of my friends for a moment of time before I stated nervously,

"Uhm, t-thank you again, White. That was uh, horrifying to deal with. I almost died and wouldn't have seen life ever again in my eyes..." Everyone else looked at me in dismay. I knew I had to change the subject before our already hopeless situation became more unproductive.

"A-Anyways though! One question White, can you give Angels' body back?" I asked her, stretching my body out. It felt amazing and the dried up blood on the ground only reminded me of my narrow escape from the light.

"Huh? Oh, of course!" White said, defusing her body with Angels' and flew in her spirit form into the air.

"ꀤ ꀭꀎꌗ꓄ ꋪꍟꍏ꒒ꀤꁴꍟꀸ, ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꂦꈤ꒒ꌩ ꂵꍟꋪꍟ꒒ꌩ ꓄ꃅꀤꋪ꓄ꍟꍟꈤ ꌩꍟꍏꋪꌗ ꂦ꒒ꀸ. ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄'ꌗ ꅏꍏꌩ ꓄ꂦꂦ ꌩꂦꀎꈤꁅ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꂦ ꓄ꃅꋪꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꓄ꃅꀤꌗ." Black stated. I looked at the ground in dismay while Angel gained back her consciousness.

"Ugh.. what happened?" Angel asked me as she rubbed her head.

"Well uhm, as soon as you let go of me your spirit took a hold of you and healed—"

Before I could respond however, she held me tight in a huge, which I didn't mind whatsoever.

**————————————————————————————**

After only a few more minutes, Peo suddenly awoke from her deep unconscious slumber as Steve hugged her deeply after her eyes fluttered wide open

Meanwhile Robert, for whatever reason, went to and in only a few minutes got back from a river excursion that Aquafene mentioned earlier about.

"Hey guys, there's some bad news and some worse news. Which one do you guys prefer?" Robert asked us.

"The... worse news I guess?" I stated questionably.

"Alright, the worser news is that those agents are at the river right now and they're probably going to be there for the whole day searching for us," Robert announced.

Everyone groaned at that announcement.

"But, the less bad news is that we have no water or food! S uh, yay for that?" Robert said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Knew it," Jack said.

"Great, how are we going to get out of here now?!" Fron exclaimed.

As all of us started to ponder and plan how the hell we were going to get out of here. I heard a few ideas to get out of here such as digging ourselves out from Alice. But as we didn't have anything to dig with, that idea died down quickly. Then I heard an idea from Maurice that we try to climb the trees to get out of here, but as Fron can't see and we couldn't possibly carry him through every tree, that idea also died down.

But Maurice's notion gave me an idea, so I went to Black and said,

"Hey, do you think you can teach my friends to fly like I can?"

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒, ꅏꃅꌩ ꀸꂦ ꀤ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꍟꍏꉓꃅ ꓄ꃅꍟꂵ? ꌩꂦꀎ'ꋪꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍟꊼꉣꍟꋪ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꎇ꒒ꌩꀤꈤꁅ ꍏꎇ꓄ꍟꋪ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꌗꀤꈤꉓꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꀤꀸ ꀤ꓄ ꎇꀤꋪꌗ꓄ ꓄ꋪꌩ. ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꓄ꀤꂵꍟ ꎇꂦꋪ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍏꉣꉣꋪꍟꈤ꓄ꀤꉓꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟꉓꂦꂵꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟ... ꀤ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ, ꍏꌗꌗꀤꌗ꓄ꍏꈤ꓄ ꓄ꍟꍏꉓꃅꍟꋪ?" Black said.

"You can say that." I said, walking towards my friends who were discussing something bizarre about one of the caterpillars that spawned from a tree.

"Hey guys, I think I have a plan on getting out of here, but you'll have to trust me on this one, okay?" I asked them.

"Alright, sure," Peo said, rubbing her head as everyone else agreed.

"Okay this might sound crazy for most of you since most of your spirits are gone. But I think if we can fly over the agents and fly undetected, we can follow the river to Flankiski where we'll be safe!" I stated. I wanted to ask what "Flankiski" even was to Aquafene since I swore I heard her mention that city before.

Everyone retained a confused look until Peo said,

"Look, I might've been literally out of my mind when I went unconscious yet that sentence you just said might've been more out of your mind."

"Did you hit your head too hard when you went in the ditch?" Steve then said.

"Heh, I think George got a bit too hypnotized by the bullets," Robert said.

"Hey, too far!" Everyone shouted said in unison.

"What?! It's true... oh come on!" Robert exclaimed.

"Oh my god can we get to the point!? We need to get out of here and since I know we can fly, you can trust me on this." I said.

"꒒ꀤꌗ꓄ꍟꈤ, ꅏꃅꍏ꓄ ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ ꀤꌗ ꌗꍏꌩꀤꈤꁅ ꀤꌗ ꉓꂦꋪꋪꍟꉓ꓄. ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꌗ ꍏ ꅏꍏꌩ ꍟꍏꉓꃅ ꂦꈤꍟ ꂦꎇ ꌩꂦꀎ ꉓꍏꈤ ꓄ꍏꀘꍟ ꎇ꒒ꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꀘꌩ. ꍟꃴꍟꈤ ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꋪꍏ꓄ꃅꍟꋪ ꍟꊼꃅꍏꀎꌗ꓄ꀤꈤꁅ ꍏ꓄ ꎇꀤꋪꌗ꓄." Black stated.

"Yeah, I agree. These wings are energy-consuming," White said as she flew down to the ground.

"Wait, we can actually fly?! That's so cool!" Emily ecstatically exclaimed.

"Yeah but, how can we even fly?" Robert asked.

"Yeah, I'll let you explain George. Good luck!" White said as she moved swiftly into Angel's body. Angel shuddered harshly as Black said,

"ꀤ'꒒꒒ ꌗ꓄ꍏꌩ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀭꀎꌗ꓄ ꀤꈤ ꉓꍏꌗꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꍟꌗꌗ ꀎꉣ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꍟꊼꉣ꒒ꍏꈤꍏ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ,"

"Okay, so if I remember correctly here is how you fly," I said, breathing in and out gradually while looking down.

"You first close your eyes and relax your muscles.." I said. I peeked over at my friends to see if they closed their eyes and they did. I closed my eyes myself and said,

"Then, you think of the highest peaks in the world. Like you're on top of a mountain looking over a snowy horizon, a tower where you can see all of the cars and buildings around you, or on top of a tree where you can see all the animals below your feet and the river as it intertwines with one other. Once you think this, feel yourself float around like a cloud.. until you open your eyes." I said while I opened my eyes and saw me and my friends gliding on top of the trees.

"ꅏꂦꅏ ꀘꀤꀸ, ꌩꂦꀎ ꀸꀤꀸ ꀤ꓄!" Black shouted from the ground.

"HOLY CRAP, WE'RE FLYING!!" Maurice shouted as she twirled around.

"Ahahhah!!" Fron laughed, touching the wind in his hair.

"Alright, now to fly in a certain direction, just think of the direction you want to fly! It's kind of like walking," I said as I floated to the left.

Everyone else flew in different directions. Up, down, left, right, even sideways we flew through the air. We then began having fun with our newfound flying abilities as we raced.

By the way, I'm not joking. We ACTUALLY raced:

"Alright boys, I want a fair and clean flying race, alright!?"Maurice asked, snickering after her remark.

"Yes ma'am!" Jack exclaimed.

"Alright!" Steve said.

"Three, two, one.. go!!" Maurice shouted.

Jack and Steve flew fluently through the minimalistic open field. By this point, we absolutely forgot how tired, hungry, and thirsty we were. I guess White's healing did more for us than we thought.

However, since the field wasn't entirely clear, there were numerous trees in the way. So, as Jack and Steve were going through the field, Steve looked behind him and saw Jack slacking behind. He taunted him by stating,

"HA! SLOWPOKE! You're a slow turtle, Jack! Just a slow snai—" Steve hit a tree directly in the face while he slid down the tree in a remarkably ridiculous fashion.

"PFT, AHAHAHAHA—" Jack laughed as he hit a tree himself, also ridiculously falling down every branch.

Everyone else died laughing while Steve and Jack picked themselves up with only minor scratches here and there. We stopped laughing after a prolonged amount of time and I realized it was about to turn nighttime.

"Hey guys, what if we fly through the river during the middle of the night?" I asked them.

"That could give us some cover from the agents, that sounds like a plan!" Angel exclaimed excitedly as she clung to a tree.

"Alright, nighttime we go!" Alice exclaimed, flying around.

We waited until the sunset where everyone else but Fron looked at the sun coming down. When I tried to ask Fron why he didn't look at the sunset—though I thought I knew the reason was because of his blindness—he instead said,

"I don't know... guess my spirit didn't like the sunset."

So, I left him and flew to where Black was and said,

"Hey, Black."

"ꃅꂵ? ꂦꃅ ꃅꍟꌩ, ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ! ꃅꍏꃴꀤꈤꁅ ꎇꀎꈤ ꀎꉣ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ?" Black responded.

"Mhm! We're going to go in a couple of minutes so I just want to let you know." I stated.

"ꃅꀎꃅ, ꍏ꒒ꋪꀤꁅꃅ꓄. ꀤ'꒒꒒ ꁅꂦ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꌃꂦꀸꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟꈤ. ꌃꀎ꓄ ꎇꂦꋪ ꈤꂦꅏ, ꀤ'ꂵ ꀭꀎꌗ꓄ ꁅ꒒ꍏꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꂦꀎ꓄ꌗꀤꀸꍟ ꂦꎇ ꍏ ꉓꂦꈤꎇꀤꈤꍟꀸ ꉓꍏꉣꌗꀎ꒒ꍟ. ꀤ꓄ ꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꌗ ꈤꀤꉓꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꎇꋪꍟꍟ ꌩ'ꀘꈤꂦꅏ?" Black asked me.

"I wish I knew that feeling right now," I replied.

"ꃅꂵ? ꅏꃅꍏ꓄ ꀸꂦ ꌩꂦꀎ ꂵꍟꍏꈤ?" He asked me.

"Hold on, you mean you don't know that those agents are from the Redwood family?" I asked back.

"ꅏꍏꀤ꓄, ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꍏꋪꍟ!??" He asked sarcastically.

"Oh my god.. don't mess with me like that!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry, I wanted to! Of course, I know how you feel. I'm in your brain after all! I've been in your situation before." Black laughed. I forgot about the video that Veronica had shown me all those weeks ago. I still distinctly remember all of them being in the crosshairs of those bullets as the firing squad shot at them. We floated to my friends and developed a plan where I said,

"Alright guys, listen up! Here's the plan, we'll go in the middle of the night and go through the trees but not directly over the river yet. As soon as we're at a safer distance, we will follow the river directly. Alice, I trust you'll lead your brother along with us. We also can't make any noise no matter what! Okay?!"

"Alright." Everyone else said but Robert.

"Okay.. but what happens if we're shot? Do we have an escape plan then?" Robert asked.

"We can't do anything if you're shot. So make sure you aren't. And if you are being shot at, fly as fast as you can to the river, that's the only clearing where you can see where you're going clearly." I replied.

Robert agreed, though a tad bit reluctantly, as we began to float over the trees. We tried to avoid them as much as humanly possible.

"ꃅꍟꌩ, ꁅꂦꂦꀸ ꒒ꀎꉓꀘ ꀘꀤꀸꌗ. ꂵꍏꀘꍟ ꌗꀎꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏ꒒꒒ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꌗꃅꂦ꓄. ꍟꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꍏ꒒꒒ꌩ ꌩꂦꀎ ꁅꍟꂦꋪꁅꍟ." Black said as he infused into me.

"Thanks, Black!" I whispered. We continued through the jungle and left Peo's luggage since it was too heavy to carry with us.

We flew past the trees and saw a light to the left of us. I knew this must've been the spot where agents were out-posting to find us. I looked at my friends and made a shushing gesture as we continued through the trees, avoiding the crunching leaves as much as we possibly could. We steadily went through each tree with the pace of a slug and gingerly going through each tree.

After only a few heart-stopping minutes which involved the silence of the night and the footsteps from down below, we went past the outpost. We were going to out in the clear!

At least, that's what me and my friends thought. Yet as we began celebrating celebrate, Peo accidentally pumped up her hand too hard in the air and hit one of the leaves above us, causing an audible rustling noise. This prompted not only agents at the bridge but also those above us with helicopters to point their flashlights at us.

We all gulped loudly.

"Oh no." Peo could only utter those words as I instantly heard her groaning in pain.

"PEO!" Steve screamed, picking her up and flew quickly through the jungle as well as the rest of us.

I couldn't keep track by this point of who potentially got shot. All I knew was to reach the river, but once I saw Angel start to falter and fall, I rushed to her aid and picked her up. We went past the trees and outflying the bullets rushing towards us, though a bullet grazed past my shoulder, ripping my shirt near the shoulder in the process.

"To the river, cmon!" I heard Alice say, still holding Fron's hand as she flew through the trees with ease.

"Keep flying!" Fron also shouted.

We kept flying through the trees and I looked behind me to see about five boats heading straight towards us. I caught sight of them having machine guns on those boats and I bolted towards the river from which I followed it by the reflection of the moon on the water.

"LETS GO, KEEP GOING!" I said. We kept scurrying above the river, barely being able to outspeed the boats.

"THERE'S A SPLIT UP AHEAD! GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!" Aqua said as she began flying to the right.

The rest of us followed suit and soon all of us, no matter if we were shot or not, flew and got carried equally through the river and got to the right of the split. The boats had fortunately gone the other way as they lost us on the split just in the nick of time. I was surprised that they didn't split up, maybe they were going too quick to do so. However, we didn't care, we flew as hard as we could anyways through the river at tremendous speed.

"Ah... guys slow down please!" Jack was pleading while he faltered behind us from exhaustion.

"Slow down!!Slow down!" Peo and Steve shouted. They were both now faltering behind us.

So, we all slowed down and stopped at a halt in the middle of the river.

"Is anyone shot!?" I heard Maurice shout. We all checked our bodies simultaneously as each of my friends denied of a bullet entering their bodies. I myself also said,

"No, I'm not. Those agents only grazed my shoulder, but I should be fine!"

"Peo...? Why is an arrow sticking out of your, uhm.."

"Shut up and jail it out already! I don't think it hit anything important." She stated. Steve stuttered for a moment, nodded, and swiftly pulled the arrow out of her rear.

"Alright other than Peo's literal ass shot, is anyone else hurt!?" Maurice shouted once again. All of us shook our heads and breathed a massive sigh of relief while Aquafene said,

"Thank god for us not being shot again. Let's continue down the river before those agents find us." We all agreed with her after taking a few minutes to relax and regain our energy.

After that brief moment of pure bliss, we flew out of the jungle area and continued down the river with little to no talking whatsoever. Then though, Steve said out of the blue,

"Hey sis, next time maybe don't celebrate too early?"

"Yeah, yeah. I won't ever again, I promise!" She exclaimed.

However, as she exclaimed we heard a faint whimper coming from the trees. We all snapped our heads at the noise and were prepared to run away since we thought it was yet another agent.

"Peo, didn't your brother say not to make as much noise as before?" Fron said.

"Hey! This isn't my fault!" Peo responded to Fron.

Just then, a rustle from one of the bushes occurred and all of us stared at the bush. We decided whether to run, hide, or toward the bush. But instead of a monster or agent rushing out of the bush to attack us. Out emerged a girl that looked to be about our age with deep purple eyes and ragged clothing as well as a type of device around her neck.

"Oh crap, it's just a girl!" Robert said alongside a huge sigh of ease by everyone else.

"Hmm, she might be in danger. Do you guys want me to go up to her and ask if she needs help?" I asked them.

"She doesn't seem all that dangerous, hell the complete opposite. Go ask her, I'll stand by." Jack said. We both glided downwards to the girl.

"Hello!" I exclaimed to the girl in question, Jack also said hello to her. Regardless, she took a couple of steps back from us apprehensively as her purple eyes glistened in the moonlight. She was frightened.

"Hey, hey it's alright! Look!" I said while I put my hands in the air.

"Jack put your hands in the air too," I whispered to him.

"Oh right! Sorry." Jack said while he also put his hands in the air.

"Who are... you guys?" The girl asked us in an extraordinarily light voice. As if she had been infused with helium.

"Well, I'm George, and this is my friend Jack. Are you lost?" I asked her.

"I think so... I just woke up out of nowhere over at the bridge and next thing I knew, I was being chased by those.. people. Then I realized I had this metal collar on me. I tried to get rid of it, but I got shocked every time I tried to take it off." She responded.

"Huh, is it okay if I take a look at it?" I asked her.

"Sure, go ahead. You're the first people I've met who didn't instantly attack me." She replied, looking down. Jack frowned.

I floated down to her neck and examined the collar. It seemed like there was a device on the side of it that had a plethora of screws and a speaker. I went to the other side and saw what looked to be a battery implant. Likely for the shocking factor on the collar. After I examined these items I said,

"Well, since we don't have any type of screwdrivers to unscrew these screws. We can't do anything. But, we can fly you to the city we are going to! I promise you, you'll be safe from those agents."

How did I know she was captured by them? Well, considering the fact that her wrists looked like they'd been cuffed and an electric collar was on her neck. I took a well-educated guess.

"Those were agents!? Oh god, what were they going to do to me?" She asked me.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, you luckily escaped from them. Here, hold my hand so I can fly you away from this... place." I replied. The girl hesitantly grabbed my hand and we floated higher into the sky where she said hello to the rest of my friends. As we flew away, I asked her,

"Oh by the way, what's your name?"

She thought long and hard, trying to remind herself of her name. Then, she said with a bright smile on her face, like remembering a tremendously faint memory,

"My name is Violet. Violet Bloom."

"That's a beautiful name," I stated. We flew off into the distance, to the eventual city of Flankiski.

However, a lingering question was still in my mind as the air flipped my hair like pages on a book. Where did Violet even come from in the first place? I never saw her at school and she seemed around the same age range as me so I would've seen her there at one point. And if she was from out of town, then how long was she staying in the woods? What was she even doing here in the first place? She couldn't have been a part of those Redwood agents since they captured her. So maybe she was here to look at the strange phenomena in our town.

But even if she was, that still doesn't explain why her eyes reminded me so much of that damn Longfeeler with a deep purple and twinkle all around them. As well as her ragged clothing seemed to be a clear indicator. I asked her another question that would hopefully answer all of my questions at once.

"Do you remember why you were here by any chance?" I asked Violet.

"Hm, I don't remember clearly but I'll try to piece it together as best I can. So, I believe I was going on a trip with one of my friends when we all of a sudden got teleported here in this jungle. Ever since then, I can't remember anything, even where my friend is. I've been roaming this jungle, trying to find a way out of here and for my friend while also staying alive."

My eyes went blank, I realized then and there that she wasn't from our world. I mean... TELEPORTED!?! And combined with her purple eyes and ragged clothes...

Oh dear.

I knew I was holding on my back the Longfeeler.

Steve flew to me and tried to say, "Uhm George, you know that's a..."

"Yeah I know, just don't talk about it." I whispered to him.

"But, she's the FREAKIN' LONGFEELER! The creature that's been trying to kill us ever since that factory exploded!" Steve loudly whispered. I'm surprised Violet wasn't able to hear us.

"Hey, what are you guys talking so loudly about?" Jack asked us, slowing down his pace of flight.

"That Violet, or the girl that we just saved, is the-"

"-most sweetest girl I've ever seen!" I exclaimed, interrupting Steve. Angel weirdly looked at me after I said that. Violet looked at me with a wide smile.

"Uh, alright," Jack said, flying away from us.

"Bro! We have to tell everyone about this what are you doing!?" Steve loudly whispered again at me.

"Oh my god! Does it look like she's attacking us as we speak!? Shut the hell up! We'll find a way to get her to become normal." I loudly whispered to him back.

"Hey, can you two shut up!?" Peo yelled, mainly at her brother since he was making the most noise.

"Yeah, I can hear the both of you from over here," Alice said, being the farthest away from us all. Again, I was surprised Violet didn't hear me considering she was on my back. But maybe she was too exhausted to listen to us arguing.

"Sorry." Me and Steve said, ending our argument then and there. But even after we had ended it, he still gave me a severe look and pointed toward Violet.

Violet, during the entirety of this argument, was half asleep as she laid on my back, likely exhausted from being shocked and running away nearly all night. While I stared up at the night sky with the moon illuminating the water below us in a beautiful color. I had another question in my mind,

If Violet was the Longfeeler, then why hadn't she transformed into the Longfeeler by now? Why was she a human being instead of a creature? I knew I was only going to be able to ask one question before she fell asleep. I asked her with a gulp,

"Hey Violet, before you sleep can I ask one more question?"

"Huh? Oh sure, go ahead." She responded drowsy.

"When you said you couldn't remember anything, when specifically didn't you remember anything?" I asked her.

"Uhm, I believe I lost my memory in the daytime. Because I'm able to remember last night clearly." She responded.

"Alright, thank you for responding to me. You can sleep now," I said.

"yay.." She whispered as she dozed off to sleep.

I thought that if she didn't remember anything at all during the daytime, then maybe she transformed into the Longfeeler during the daytime too. That would explain her ragged clothing and her lack of memory during the day. However, that also meant by the time the sun rose, so would the Longfeeler within Violet. I quickly whispered to Aquafene who was now right next to me,

"Hey Aquafene, how much longer until we get to the city?"

"Hmm, lemme check my map." She whispered as she reached into her imaginary backpack and pulled out an imaginary map. I grunted and she chuckled.

"Hehehe! Alright, let me actually think. Uhmmm... I believe in seven hours with the pace we're going, so probably by sunrise. Why do you ask?"

"Just a bit impatient that's all heh," I whispered, beginning to sweat at the seams because if we didn't get there before sunrise, then Violet wouldn't be herself anymore.

We continued through the river as Peo handed Alice the arrow that had stabbed her in the buttocks previously for no reason whatsoever. That was when we finally saw one final split that would get us to the city.

"Okay Aquafene, which way?" Robert asked gleefully.

"If I remember this correctly, right!" She exclaimed as we all flew to the right of the split.

While we flew through the river, we didn't see much change and we were worried that Aquafene had accidentally sent us the wrong way. And that worry only intensified as we saw another bridge, this time a simple wooden one.

"Uh, there isn't supposed to be a bridge here," Aquafene said, thinking to herself and scanning over her brain.

Just then though, a horse with a carriage went onto the middle of the bridge and stopped. The carriage opened and out came a man with a crossbow! He aimed carefully into the air, and before we could say a single word, he fired an arrow directly towards us.

"OH SHIT, SCATTER!" I shouted as we all flew everywhere in the sky in various directions. We were flies being chased by a fly swatter and bug spray.

As we scattered, we retreated back to the split but the man wasn't going to give up so easily on us as he rode his horse and carriage through the riverbank, firing at us!

"What did we do to this guy!? AH!" Aquafene squealed as she nearly got shot in the leg.

"I don't know! But the only thing we can do is fly like lightning, so come on!" Jack said. He flew backwards through the river with the rest of us following him as we quickly got rid of the man.

"What was that guy's deal!?" Jack asked no one in particular.

"I think that guy thought we were a couple of birds. Maybe he wanted some game to eat?" I stated questionably, slowing my breath and mind down. Violet continued to rest on my back.

"Y'know, that guy must be really hungry if he'schasing us in the middle of the night," Steve said.

"Yeah, either that or he was targeting us for some reason. Although I don't know why that might be," Emily said.

After Emily said that, I had a reflecting thought. I turned around and secretly put Violet in front of me while flying. Which might sound impossible, but she was extremely lightweight. I examined her collar once more until I found the battery. As soon as I found the battery, I looked around the collar to find something else.

That's when I found a little red dot in the middle of her battery cage. This was a tracking device and that man over there was trying to kill us with it! I took the device and threw it into the trees. I then put Violet back on my back and went to my friends.

"Yeah I don't know why that man is chasing us either, he must be delusional," I lied.

"Yeah, oh hey sis, did you get hurt again hmm??" Steve said in a baby voice.

"Ugh. Yes, I did." She said in a tired tone as she pulled an arrow from her leg.

"No way! AHAHAHAHHAA!" Steve laughed as he floated around aimlessly. Peo's leg injury again wasn't serious at all.

"Shut up," Peo said as we got to the split.

"Alright, this time Aquafene make sure you check your brain before we head off to the split," Fron said.

"Alright, alright my fault. We're going to the left since that's the literal last and only option we have. So, let's go!" Aqua exclaimed as we all flew towards the river which led us to Flankiski, hopefully.

Once we went on the right track it began getting warmer while we got closer to another jungle and with this sudden warmer climate camean unfortunate storm cloud approaching us at a quickened pace to the west. We saw it from the moon reflecting off of the clouds.

"Crap, it looks like a storm is about to come pouring towards us," I said.

"Yeah, let's hide near that tree. This is looking like a thunderstorm," Emily said.

Everyone agreed to that and we landed on the riverbank. We hurried our way toward the trees where we took cover under the enormous leaves.

The storm wasn't as bad as I thought as there was minimal wind and only an abundance of rain. But as the rain poured down most of us sat down and simply enjoyed the view.

I was so incredibly lucky to have friends like these, to stick together even in the toughest of times, and to be able to bond like this. To go through the toughest of blood and bullets and come out better together than alone. That thought made me emotional so I went out in the rain to cool off. The rest of my friends l followed me and all of us began playing in the rain. Apart from Violet who was still sleeping. Nevertheless, we played in the rain by dancing, throwing, or making mud with the water.

However, I saw out of the corner of my eye a figure in the distance. Yet, I didn't pay attention to this figure as I was having too much fun in the rain.

"This is fun!" Emily exclaimed, laughing away near the river bank.

"Yeah, it's refreshing to have this rain after such a warm climate change. It feels nice." Alice said.

"You know Alice, you're a real good sister. I mean, you take care of him wherever you go. Unlike someone!" Steve said.

"WHAT!? I'm the one that needs to be taken care of not you! You know how many times I got shot with a bullet or arrow in my body or how many times I got injured for no reason!? Too many times Steve! TOO! MANY!" Peo exclaimed.

"She does have a point," Jack said to Steve.

"Yeah but.. eh, never mind," Steve responded.

Meanwhile, the figure I stated beforehand seemed to have gotten only slightly closer as it stared at us with colorless eyes. Now worried, I said to my friends while nodding in the direction of it,

"Hey guys, can you come over here? Take a look at that animal over there!"

"Huh. That's weird, why is it staring at us like that?" Maurice asked me.

"No clue. It does look menacing though I have to give it that." I said.

Once I said that, the creature went sideways to reveal it was carrying something. The object that it was carrying opened up.

I realized what exactly this creature was.

"Oh fuck no, it's the man with the crossbow! RUN!!" Steve suddenly shouted as the rest of us went to the riverbank and tried to fly once again. However, with arrows flying toward us, only some of us got up to fly while others weren't able to do so. The people who were able to get up into the sky were Alice, Fron, Steve, me, and Emily. While the rest of our friends were still stuck on the ground.

"Hey! Steve, Emily, and Alice! Think you guys can carry our friends to safety?!"

"Of course!" Steve exclaimed swooping down and getting both Maurice and Peo's hands. How he was able to have the strength to do that, I had no idea.

"On it!" Emily exclaimed. She also swooped down and nabbed Aquafene and Jack's hands. Again, no clue how she had the energy and strength to do that.

I swooped down and snatched Angels and Roberts's hands just in time as an arrow whizzed past them. I soon figured out how they were able to grab two people's hands at once by using the same technique of diving down, catching their hands, and straining my back to pull them upwards. I also went down a second time to get Violet still lying down on the grass. How the man didn't hit me, horrible aim I suppose.

Alice with Fron in tow was trying to distract the man by saying things like, "You'll never catch us!" and "Hard aiming huh?" which worked like a charm since the man was targeting both of them now. This gave the rest of us enough time to make each one of us have the focus to fly. As soon as all of us regrouped, we flew away at rapid speeds.

But not before Peo got shot in the butt by an arrow.

Again.

Wow.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Steve laughed out loud.

"Shut the hell up! It isn't funny.. ouch!" Peo said, pulling the arrow away.

"I have to admit, it's pretty funny," Emily said through snorts of laughter.

"Just.. just.. let's just go okay!?" Peo shouted as she flew past us.

Everyone smirked while we flew away from the storm and through the twilight of the night. From this point onwards, we continued to go down the river as fast as possible. No one knew that Violet was secretly the Longfeeler other than me and Steve. I had to make sure it stayed that way.

"Hey Jack, ever wondered how we're going to get an education once we get to the city?" I asked him to distract me from that thought.

"We'll just enroll in a school, should be simple enough," Jack replied.

"Yeah but here's the thing though. Since the Redwood family controls nearly the entire world, that means that they could just block us from having an education. Or even worse, they could set up a trap at the school to capture us."

"No I don't think so. I honestly think because they're so busy with the factory explosion and with all of the environments and creatures that escaped from it. Then they won't focus on us at all!"

"Yeah, but still. They'll be on watch for the people responsible for the explosion with the factory don't you think?" I asked him.

"Yeah maybe. But I still think they're busy trying to capture those creatures." Jack said.

"Hm, maybe then. Just maybe they won't target us for once." I said, staring down at the fishes swimming below us.

"Hey, guys! Only a couple more minutes until we reach the city!" Aquafene exclaimed. Everyone else cheered at this news as most of us wanted to sleep.

But then, Emily said something that made us deeply worry,

"Uh, where will we live?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked stupidly.

"What do you mean, "what do you mean" Jack? Where will we live?" Emily asked again.

"Doesn't one of us have family in that city? I swear I heard one of us say they have an uncle or aunt over there." Robert said. Aquafene shook her head and stated,

"My family went on vacation there only once. That's the only reason I know how to get there by the river. We're lucky the river didn't get influenced by the jungle."

Then, I caught sight of Fron and Alice look away as if they didn't want to be a part of the conversation anymore. So without any hesitation, I asked them,

"Hey, Fron and Alice. Didn't you guys mention something about family living over there once before?" I asked in a sinister voice. The both of them flew much further away from us and blocked their eyes with their hands in embarrassment. I didn't know why Fron did it though. (Too far?)

"Now that you mention it, George. I think I remember them saying at one point during class time that they had family living on the coast. But I don't remember what city." Steve said.

"Well, that was because you were paying attention to a special someone else dummy," Peo said.

"Hey! Shut up!" Steve exclaimed as he blushed a light green color.

"Whoa.. when did our blush colors change?" Maurice asked as she got closer to Steve.

Steve's blush then turned from a light green to a full-on dark one. A dark oak leaf kind of color that you'd only find on a cool summer evening in a forest.

"I-I don't know alright! Let me just fly on my own." He went toward the left of us, going as far away as possible while still being on top of the river.

"Alright.. anyways though, I'm pretty sure that you guys have family in the city. So why not just go to their address and ask if we can stay?" I asked Fron and Alice.

"Oh my god! Because they're such insufferable assholes!" Fron finally exclaimed in a frustrated tone.

"What he means by that is that yes, we do have two uncles living in Flankiski. But both of them are extremely horrible people and I honestly don't want to go through the hassle of trying to get them on our side." Alice added on.

"Well, I don't think they can be that bad! What's the worst that could happen!?" Angel asked me.

"They're the only ones in that city to support the Redwood family as if they were gods. One of my uncles was a part of the police task force which is the worst type of security the Redwood family has to offer. My other uncle is stinking rich and uses his money to fund the campaign of the Redwoods. But that's only a sliver of a reason why they suck in the first place." Fron said calmly.

"Oh well, that's.. great," Angel said in a flat tone.

"Yeah, no way we're going to go to either one of their houses. So, where do we even live?" I asked them once again.

"I don't know. I just hope we can find someone kind enough to let all of us live there." Alice said.

I looked up at the sky to see if the sun was rising yet. It hadn't but the moon was just over the horizon. This meant we had to find a place to not only put ourselves into but to also put Violet in a secure place until we found a cure for her. And I only had a handful amount of time to do so since no one else—well apart from Steve—knew she was the Longfeeler.

As I was now looking towards Violet with a concerned look, I saw Steve looking at her with a different concerned look. Seemingly for an entirely different reason.

We flew for a few more minutes until all of a sudden, an arrow whizzed right next to my stomach. It hit Peo in the back once again as she was right in front of me.

"OWW!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? AGAIN?!" She screamed out as she pulled the arrow out of her back. Again, I didn't know why these arrows didn't kill her or even create much of a pierce. But as I saw the arrows, I realized the arrowheads were dull.

While Steve was laughing his ass off once again, I glanced behind me to see a glimpse of the man with the crossbow and arrow shooting at us from atop his carriage.

"How is he still chasing us?" Alice asked no one in particular.

"It doesn't matter! Scatter, again!" I said once more as we flew around in a zig-zag pattern.

As we flew in this zig-zagging routine, some of my friends got motion sickness from going too fast. So I said,

"Hey, make sure you guys go slower! This guy has horrible aim and I can see most of you are starting to get dizzy."

"Alright," Emily said. She slowed down as well as the rest of my friends who needed to conserve their energy for the final push toward Flankiski.

The man with the bow and arrow wouldn't let up and continued to chase us with his horse and carriage, aiming and firing at us at a more rapid pace than ever before. I was getting nervous as I saw a massive storm cloud vastly approaching us from the left and towards us. I knew our only option was to go on foot. Fortunately, a road had appeared seemingly out of thin air to the right of us.

"Hey, we have no other option other than to turn right! That crazy man is still chasing us and those storm clouds will sweep us out of the sky like a spider web! Let's get to the road over there!" I exclaimed as we flew as fast as we could to the road.

We landed with swiftness and ran through the empty road. The man with the carriage however didn't let up and continued to chase us with his bow and arrow.

"Seriously, why is this guy still chasing us!?" I asked in disarray as I swore I threw that tracker away in the river.

"I guess he wants to eat us?! I don't know!" Aquafene exclaimed.

Flying away from him would get us away from danger much faster. But because we couldn't fly anymore due to the storm quickly approaching us, we were going on foot which was much slower than a carriage. The man was now able to catch us much more easily than before since he was starting to gain ground between us and himself. I knew that our options seemed next to none as we were likely going to be shot and slain by this maniac who had been chasing us ever since we saw him on that stupid bridge!

In a last-ditch effort, I exclaimed,

"Guys, stop! We have to make a line in front of him to stop him!"

"WHAT!? That's the most insane plan you've had today George!" Robert exclaimed.

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy but trust me on this! We have no other way to go and everyone is nearly out of breath! Make a line so we can stop this guy from chasing us, please!" I pleaded for my friends to stop.

Surprisingly, my friends decided not to argue with me about this being an incredibly stupid idea. But instead, they stopped and started to go in a line. Everyone apart from Robert and Steve who were shouting,

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING!? RUN YOU IDIOTS!"

We didn't listen to them and stood in a line right in front of the storm and the man.

The man continued to ride his carriage though, through the storm right towards us. I thought this was it, I was going to die because of some man chasing us for hours on end.

This was stupid, going on the run was stupid. If we just turned ourselves in on day one we wouldn't even be here in the first place. As I thought about all of these things, the man suddenly stopped with a screeching halt just a few feet away from us as the storm raged on over us. The man leaped out of his horse and walked towards us with an ominous sense.

A lightning bolt cracked over the horizon, coloring the sky in a bright shade for a split second which gave me the chance to examine the man's face. He had a small ragged beard with a scar on his left eye and a poncho that wrapped around his body like a pig in a blanket. As this man came ever so close to my face, I asked him,

"You mind if you stop attacking us repeatedly again and again and AGAIN with your bow?!"

"Hmph." The man grunted.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on grunting while I told you time and time again to not attack these people." A boy from the carriage said. He waltzed out of the carriage carrying an umbrella. Alongside a monocle firmly set onto his eye, I could tell he was from a higher stature.

"Who are you?" Jack asked him, quivering while saying it as it was rainy and frigid because of the storm.

"Ah yes, we haven't properly met, have we? Well sorry for my compadre shooting you down. My name is Light Red, fourteen years old and this here is my brother, Maroon, fifteen years old." Light Red said in a British accent.

"Wait a minute. Light Red and Maroon? Aren't you two from the Redwood family!?" Emily exclaimed.

"Why yes we are, but we don't mean any harm... well, not now we mean any harm. Again sorry for Maroon's behavior, he seems to have been taking his anger out on you!" Light Red responded. Maroon grunted again.

"OH! Most of you must be confused onto who I am! Well, I am the little brother of a man named Ethan which I'm sure you're very aware of because he owns your sector. While I own this one, and Maroon owns another region way far away from here in the south. My parents heard of the chatter going about this place so I thought we would go on a trip! Yet, it wasn't at all beautiful as it appeared since there are monsters here and there, basically everywhere you look! Poor Maroon couldn't catch a break with his bow and measly sword. It was horrendous! Though, what are you people doing here? I wasn't informed there would be anyone left here, rather flying people for that matter." Light Red said in a nagging accent. He examined our faces as Emily said,

"Well if you must know sir. We live here and we're trying to leave this place quickly, so if you'll excuse us—"

"Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. We're going to have to capture you since you know, you people are fugitives on the run." Light Red said as he looked particularly at someone on my back.

"Fugitives?! That's B.S, we didn't even run from jail!" Jack said.

"Yes, but you have a fugitive, sort of literally on you right now." Light Red said, pointing towards Violet.

"What do you even want to do with her!? She's harmless!" Peo exclaimed.

"Wow, do you people seriously not know? By this point I'd think you must've known since it's nearly sunrise!" Light Red replied.

"Uh George, what is he talking about?" Angel asked.

"Uh.. uhm. I.." I couldn't find the words to explain that Violet was the Longfeeler.

"Look, your friend over here is stuttering! Kind of sad he can't admit it I have to say. Well, if you must know fine citizens. What your friend here is trying to say is that she is a—"

"Longfeeler," I said as I cut him off.

Everyone apart from Steve—who was looking down—then gave an odd look at Violet, then at me.

"Uh, you're joking right!? I mean she can't be the Longfeeler! R-Right?" Peo asked me.

"Sadly sis it's true, he just wasn't telling you guys since if you knew then he would've had to let her go," Steve replied.

"Didn't know it was called a 'Longfeeler' but oh well. Sadly, Mr. Cameron over here must let her go either way since she is a fugitive after all. So let's not waste any more time! This rain is starting to bug me to be utterly honest and I don't have the time to deal with flying people today. So let her down and we will just pick her up. And when I mean we, I mean my best brother, Maroon. Isn't that right, Maroon?"

Maroon only grunted, he was looking down at the ground as well. I knew then and there that I had to let go of Violet, that she would just be a waste of space, and that no matter what I did, she would always cause trouble for us indirectly.

I knew this, but... I couldn't bring myself to let her down on the cold and wet concrete below our feet in the raging storm, in the middle of an empty road.

"no," I whisperrd .

"Sorry, can you repeat that for me, please? Sort of hard to hear in the rain after all, hehe." Light Red chuckled as he held his umbrella up high.

"I said, no. I won't give you her." I said clearly. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm so, so, SO sorry! Can you guys just give me one second with my pal!" Steve exclaimed in a panicked tone as he hurried to me.

"Dude, what the FUCK are you doing!? Just give him the girl!" Steve whispered to me.

"I can't, she's too helpless," I responded.

"And!? WE'RE helpless! All of us are helpless George! Think about the consequences if we keep her, think of all the unnecessary suffering we have to endure if we run away and save her!" Steve whispered loudly.

"I know that! You don't think I know the consequences of keeping Violet!? I've accepted the consequences already." I whispered back.

"Well I haven't, and neither do the rest of us," Steve whispered as he pointed towards the rest of our friends.

"Are you sure about that?! Because I'm pretty sure you can't read minds, Steve. Plus, your sister seemed pretty keen on defending her." I whispered.

"Do you really want to do this right now?! George how ignorant can you possibly fucking be!? Just give him Violet and everything will be fine. Because if you don't, someone will." Steve whispered in a sinister tone.

I stared directly at his eyes, wondering if this was the same man I knew one month ago and if this was even the Steve I was talking to, not his spirit whom I hadn't properly met yet. As I looked at him though, Peo ran up to us and whispered,

"So while you guys were arguing loudly between yourselves, we decided to take it up on a vote to see if we keep the girl or not. And uh, safe to say that everyone agreed to keep her." She whispered, covering her mouth so as not to be heard.

"Oh thank god you guys agree with me—WAIT WHAT!?" Steve shouted.

"Is everything fine over there? I have about one minute so how about we get this exchange of the girl on a move-along." Light Red said.

"Yeah everything's fine, don't worry!" Emily exclaimed as she now ran towards us at a quick pace.

"Hey, everything alright? I thought we all agreed to keep the girl." She whispered toward us.

"Why.... Why do you even want to keep Violet!? She's useless apart from turning into a monster that'll tear us to fucking shreds!" Steve whispered loudly.

"Even if she turns into a monster, I've personally grown a liking to her. We discussed possible cures for her which can be possible in our group. And we'll be helping a person in need!" Peo whispered, blood starting to flow slowly from the dents in her body caused by those dull arrows.

"Yeah, and imagine if you were in Violet's shoes. How would you feel if all of a sudden people who you thought were your friends just abandoned you and you were stuck in jail all over again? Imagine how painful it must be for her." Emily whispered.

"I... I guess, you might be sort of right on that." Steve stated in near silence.

"Yeah, and imagine how much pain she'll be once she's captured. The physical and mental torture that goes along with Redwood prisons I've heard, are nearing death." Jack whispered as he walked to us.

"Think of the fact she doesn't know where she is, if she'll even get out, or if her friend is okay, too. She won't know anything other than pain. Which I'd feel horrible about putting her in a position like that." Fron whispered as he came along with Alice.

"Mhm, I agree. I would probably feel horrible and horrified if I didn't know where I was and trapped in a cage until I died." Alice whispered.

"Trust me. These guys won't take care of her like we will. They'll probably feed her the barest of things and then leave her for dead once they've done their terrible experiments on her." Aquafene whispered. She also walked towards us while she stared at Light Red.

"And who knows. Maybe we can find a cure for her and heal her to become normal. Then she'll lead a normal life as she gets accustomed to this world. It'll be challenging. But then again, it's saving a life." Robert whispered behind me which may have spooked me.

"Absolutely. Even if I don't exactly trust what she'll do in the future. I think that doing this for her is at least the right thing to do, I believe so. Even if it'll give us more suffering." Angel whispered elegantly as we all huddled over Violet.

"She's gone through so much already. Shouldn't we give her the care she desperately needs? Because I know for a fact no one else will give it to her, since she's the Longfeeler and all. But even if she's a Longfeeler, we should give the same respect to her as another human being would to another human!" Maurice whispered.

"Hmm.. well. I give up arguing about this. If you all agree to take care of her and if you accept the consequences of us keeping her. Then who am I to disagree with this? Screw it, I'm all in for keeping her too. A-And yeah now that I think about it. I guess this is the right thing to do after all." Steve whispered, caressing his arms.

"Not I guess, it is the right thing to do Steve," I said out loud.

"Yeah, yeah my bad about arguing with you time and time again. I've just been not feeling so well ever since the factory explosion." Steve whispered.

"It's okay, Steve. I know that even if we argue about something, we'll always figure out a way to resolve it. All of us are already way different than before the factory exploded. I mean look at Fron!" I stated.

"Bro! You could've talked about anything else other than me. Like how we can fly now!?" Fron whisper-yelled.

Everyone chuckled while we huddled together to formulate a plan to get out of here while keeping Violet at the same time. We quickly came to a basic understanding that we needed to grab Violet after the trade-off and go. So Aquafene whispered,

"Alright, I have a plan but it's risky so trust me on this one. Once we trade off Violet, I can sneakily float around while Peo uses the arrows she acquired to throw at Maroon right in the legs, making him fall which will make Light Red pick her up. Peo, make sure not to make the arrows visible though. After that, I can snatch Violet from Light Red. Someone else can fly with me too just in case I lose my grip. The rest of you will distract Maroon as much as possible, you can even use the rest of those arrows you got Peo and use them to stab hi—"

"Hey! Are you two done with your little huddle yet? This shouldn't be taking this long!" Light Red exclaimed. Maroon started to knock an arrow into his bow.

"Everything's fine! We're just talking about the consequence of us not surrendering her to you. Which we'll definitely do!" I exclaimed. Light Red simply scoffed while Aquafene turned back to us,

"Just do anything and everything to distract him. Everyone agreed?"

Everyone simultaneously agreed as Aquafene and Robert would sneakily go into the trees and float towards Light Red while we distracted Maroon. It was now time for our plan to come into action.

"Finally, you chaps are done with your little goodbye speeches to that girl. Now, hand over the girl and in return, we won't kill you!" Light Red exclaimed as he gestured his hands to drop the girl.

"Alright, here's the girl. Just pick her up quickly, please." I said, placing her down on the cold cement and quickly taking a glimpse toward the trees as I saw Robert and Aquafene quietly float their way toward Light Red.

"Okay! Pleasure doing business with you. Maroon snatch her up and let's go!" Light Red said. He walked back to the carriage.

That's when Peo floated into the sky and like a lightning bolt, threw an arrow she got from Alice which she handed to her before right into the back of the leg of Maroon. He fell grunting while dropping Violet in the process. Light Red didn't seem to notice the arrow stuck in his leg so he said,

"Golly Maroon! Can't you be more careful? You're going to scratch her before we even have the time to experiment!" Light Red said as he picked up Violet and walked carefully towards the carriage.

That's when Aquafene and Robert swooped down at a quickened speed. Robert punched Light Red right in the face and he was knocked out cold while Aquafene snatched Violet just in time. We all then floated through the air and flew away as rapidly as possible away from the empty road and into the storm as Maroon was screaming something I couldn't hear any longer.

"LET'S GOOOO! WOOOO!!" Aquafene celebrated as the rest of us pumped our fists in the air, fortunately not being shot this time.

"I can't believe that worked! And I was able to punch that scumbag in the face!" Robert also exclaimed, relaxing his knuckles. The storm began quieting down a little.

"And there's the river over there! We're going to take a right I think?" Angel asked Aquafene.

"Yeah! And I'm confident this time we'll be going straight. We've got to get to the city before sunrise for Violet! And we've got to find a place to stay too!" Aquafene said. My smile widened.

Everyone else didn't exactly celebrate too hard at that statement, but we still had gleaming smiles of joy as we escaped through the river and the rain.

**————————————————————————————**

A couple of minutes had passed and it looked like the moon was starting to set, which meant not-so-good news as Violet would transform right on my back any second now. Meanwhile, Aquafene shouted through the terrible rain,

"Everyone! We have about five minutes until we reach the city of Flankiski!" We all cheered as Alice asked her,

"Question, how do you know that?"

"Well, the river is expanding a lot more which means it's emptying into a larger body of water, probably an ocean, and Flankiski is known to have an ocean in the southern part of the city. The water tastes a bit saltier if you go near the river!" Aqua shouted as she flew around.

Alice dropped a little lower, making sure she didn't accidentally drop Fron, and tasted the water.

"Ew! It does taste a whole lot saltier!" Alice exclaimed, using her free hand to try to take the salt away from her mouth.

"HAHAHAAHA! Sorry for laughing but that's hilarious!" Robert exclaimed.

"Shush!" Alice said, blushing a cyan shade as we bounded ever so closer to the city.

After about three minutes, just as the rain began to stop, Angel shouted in wild excitement,

"GUYS! I SEE FLANKISKI! I SEE IT!! LOOK!"

Everyone then went to where she was flying and glanced towards the horizon. The city was bright and colorful, with large skyscrapers surrounded by smaller buildings around them. It looked more like a metropolis than a small city, and Steve thought the same thing because he said,

"Uh Aquafene, that doesn't seem like a small city to me?"

"Yeah, because it's not supposed to look like that." She responded in bewilderment as we landed near the trees right beside a road.

"Guys look, there's a hill over there! Let's climb it, I think it'll give us a better view of Flankiski!" Peo stated. She ecstatically went up the hill.

Only to immediately trip over a tree root and fall flat on her face once again.

"AHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! How do you keep getting hurt like this sis!?" Steve exclaimed, wiping another joyful tear from his eyes.

"It's not my fault! It's stupid nature's fault!" She said, picking herself up.

We walked gradually and calmly to the hill. With each step, I knew this was going to be a new chapter of my life with no family, no money, and no comforts to hold onto apart from my friends. But I also felt optimistic about this new chapter. Because I knew that no matter what happened, my friends would be with me no matter what..

Or would they?

We climbed over the hill, each one of us apart from Fron for obvious reasons and Violet sleeping on my back, and looked upon the skyline and towards the skyscrapers. We knew we had survived the craziest day and night of our lives, as well as saved a person in the process! Steve asked us with a hint of fear, joy, and sadness all at the same time,

"Well guys, are you ready to embark on a terrifying adventure without any help from anyone but ourselves?!"

"Oh yeah, we're ready Steve," Maurice said, patting him on the shoulder while she slid down the hill.

As I skimmed for one final time at the city of Flankiski I was going into and took in the view. I slid down the hill and entered onto another empty road.