Jemma
I went back to my apartment first, in a slight hope Noah would be back, but he wasn't. Naturally.
I remember a memory of when I was little, in my first dimension. Charlotte and I were running in a field.
I teleport there. To that memory.
I watch us play, abandoning a blanket with a plastic tea set spread across it. Charlotte wore a dress and a diaper, and I wore a flower printed skirt with a pink and white striped shirt. We approach a crick, with cattails growing over our heads. Charlotte lifts her dress up, revealing a bare white stomach to avoid getting the dress wet. Frogs and tadpoles swim away. Little me dips my feet in, while Charlotte starts splashing.
I watch silently from under a willow tree, letting the slight breeze move my hair whichever way it pleases.
"This is what I used to have." I say.
"I know." Noah says from behind me.
"My mom and dad lost both their kids. That's messed up."
"I know."
"They're both dead now. In both worlds." I say. "The first cause was grief, the second was illness."
"I-"
"You know. I get it. You're too insensitive to know how to feel real human emotions. It's fine."
"I know that you think it's not fine. I'll try to be nicer, if that's what you want." He says.
"Oh, that's golden. Just hilarious. The guy that threatened someone I care about to get what he wants thinks he can be nice? Sure thing."
"Your Noah has the power to teleport now. I gave it to him." He says.
"Why does it matter? People at our home dimension probably think he's dead now anyways." I say.
"Fair enough. But I can summon him, if you'd like." He says.
"I'd like you to set him free. He'll stay with me, where you can't lay a hand on him." I say, turning around to look at him.
"Fine." He snaps his fingers, and Noah suddenly appears.
"Oh my god, Jemma. What's going on? Where am I?" He asks.
"It's okay. You're safe now. Step away from him." I say. He walks over to stand next to me.
"Well I have to go. Here's a photograph of each place your friends went to. If they leave that place, the picture will also change to show where they went to. Look at the photo, close your eyes, and think of the place." He holds out some cards, and I take them, slipping them in the pocket of my grey hoodie.
And then the prince disappeared.
I let out a sigh, and turn around to see Noah staring at little Charlotte and I. They were out of the crick and now sitting in the tall grass.
"Who are they?" He asks.
"It's me and my little sister Charlotte. When we were little." I say. He doesn't question that I never told him about a sister. I dismiss the thought.
"You don't really look related." He says.
"It's because she has the dark skin of my dad, and I have a little bit of my mom and my dad when it comes to that. She also got my mom's blonde hair, and I got my dad's dark hair. We both got mom's green eyes, though." I explain.
"I wish I had a sibling." He says, looking at me. I raise an eyebrow.
"Did you magically forget about Max?" I say.
"Oh yeah, my brother." He says.
"Your little sister." I correct.
"Oh, right. I must've hit my head or something." He says, scratching the back of his neck.
"Yeah. Must've." I say, looking back to where Charlotte and I sat. A woman stands on the gravel road across the field, shouting. Charlotte and I stand up, and start running to her. It was our mom, holding the blanket and tea set. They start to walk away together.
"We should get going." I say.
"Where to?"
I pull the photos out of my hoodie, flipping through them. The card labeled Layeanne kept rapidly changing, where the one labeled Ellianna stayed still in what looked like an alley. Charlotte and Malachi's picture was foggy and hard to see, but it looked like a forest of tall trees.
The last card was labeled Prince Noah, and it was plain white. On the back of it wrote in cursive lettering:
This is for when you are done gathering everyone. I look forward to meeting with you all in a world of my very own.
-Noah
"This must be where he lives. But it's all white. What did his world look like?" I ask.
"I don't really remember. I do remember white, though. So maybe it's the real deal?" He says.
"I think it's a trap." I say, stuffing all except Elle's card back in my hoodie.