Setback after setback I tell you. It's like the freakin' universe has decided to redeem the karma's-a-bitch deluxe package that it's been building against me. Either that or...

"Again?" Yeah, I may look like an idiot yelling into the sky, but I'm a little peeved so screw how I look. "You fucked me over again? So soon?"

I get it with this guy, he likes playing his twisted little games to mess around with my head, but Jesus, could I at least take a breather between being fucked over?

It's actually a little surprising when I do hear his annoying crafty chuckle coming from within my mind in response.

"I'm afraid it's not I behind this cause. But if I were you I would hurry to find them before the end of this day."

I growl in aggregation. If it wasn't him- and I'm not ruling out that it couldn't possibly be him- then what the hell just happened? How am I supposed to find them? Am I just high and imagining things? Maybe all of this is just an elaborate psychedelic dream that I got trapped in from sniffing something at my grandparents' house.

Yeah, maybe right now I'm actually like Alice from Alice in Wonderland and just knocked out, high off my ass in the forest. Brent's safe at home still asleep, I never feel through some rabbit hole, my parents were never here, and after I finish this lucid delusion then I'll wake up and know never to hit the bad stuff again.

"Fuck this. None of this is real," I announce to really no one but myself.

If none of this is real then there's no need to worry about dying or having any real consequences. Funny, though, how I felt so much pain when I was hurt...but that's all part of this trippy mess.

I'm actually feeling better now that I'm aware I'm on a mind trip- it's kind of cool. With this in mind, I know I can now accomplish anything. I mean, it's basically just like beating a video game now, and seeing how I get competitive over how much pain I can put myself in, this is right up my alley.

First things first, I have to figure out how to find the other three. That was quite the disappearing act, one that caught me off guard. That ominous black fog must have had something to do with their disappearance; it makes me shudder to think what might have happened if I didn't get out of there fast enough.

But another question comes up: what was shooting at me?

Those stings hurt and I'm only now beginning to regain feeling in my cheek again. This mystery just keeps thickening I tell you.

So after some thought, I brainstorm some possible theories behind this.

One, it could have been a wormhole or portal and we happened to cross at the wrong time. Two, aliens (because they have to exist everywhere, of course). Three, the fog changed them into fog. And four, they're stuck in some sort of limbo, unable to get free unless an outside force frees them.

I'm no scientist, but I think I've just come up with some pretty solid starter theories. Now, to try and test them.

I haven't crossed back through the opening I jumped through yet, mostly because my leg was still numb, but as feeling returns to my body, I can limp over to the opening and take the risk of crossing through it again.

Not sure what might happen if I try to cross again, but I do what I always do in these situations and throw caution to the wind. I don't even hesitate stepping back on the path, but as I open my eyes it's apparent that I've just stepped through to the other side with nothing magical occurring.

Welp, I'm fresh out of ideas.

Now that I'm thinking about it- really thinking with a clear head- why the freak do I need them anyway? Yeah, yeah, I need to get a truth from them every day- blah, blah, blah. But what if- and I might come across as a heartless, uncaring human being, but I'm used to that- what if I just don't care?

I mean, really, what do they add? Aren't sidekicks or companions or whatever supposed to add something to the adventure? Comic relief even? They don't even add that, I do, but then they get pissed when I do! Nimu's the "realistic" (a.k.a boring stick-in-the-mud), older sister type, Lan is the kind of dopey, hopeful one, and Chasan is the stick up my ass- the hell kind of team is that?

I'm cool with looking all heartless and crap because I am. If it comes down to it, three strangers just aren't worth the time and energy that's required to keep them alive.

"Alright, I tried."

Shrugging, I step back through the opening and turn to continue on my way to Tymos. I only get as far as, maybe, five feet before something tackles me to the ground.

"What the-"

Blindly, I start to fight back against my attacker- my fight-or-flight instincts not failing me. I'm a madwoman, throwing wild kicks and fists through the air as I try to knock the person off of me. Finally, I get a solid punch in, sending them staggering back. Seizing the opportunity, I hop up and get into my fighting stance (yeah, I have one of those- all the cool people do).

"Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?" I tower over my assailant who's now curled up on the ground.

When I receive no answer, I go to stomp on them when a soft, mewing wail comes from them. It's such a helpless cry that I instinctively back down, a little taken back. They lay on the ground, appearing rather small now that I study them for a while. It's only until they speak up in a fragile, frightened voice do I understand why.

"I-I sorry."

Ah, crap, I'm burning in a lake of fire for sure now- I mean, it's written in stone at this point.

Twice! Twice! This is the second child that I've injured! Why do I even have a track record for that!?

All my aggression floods out of me as I quickly kneel beside the small child who still lays curled up in a protective ball.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know. I'm not usually this evil, alright." I try to get them to open up, but just touching them causes them to recoil into an even tighter ball. "No, no, I'm a good guy- I know I don't seem like it but I am. I'm sorry I hurt you, okay? I won't do it again, promise."

The sniffling slows then stops as I continue to kneel beside the child. Eventually, they unfurl themselves, sitting up and rubbing their face, but keeping their back towards me.

"There we go," I cautiously crawl closer. "You good?"

The long-haired child sniffles one more time before turning to look at me with innocent, teary eyes. It's a little girl with stringy, dark hair. She looks about five, give or take- I'm bad at age guesstimations- but she's a little pipsqueak.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" I ask her gently.

She blinks, her eyes still moist. Since she's not responding, I speak again.

"Someone's bound to be missing you. Why are you out here all alone?"

"Looking," She softly mutters back.

"For who?"

Her head lowers in a new saddened state and her voice drops considerably. "Phili."

"Phili?" The girl is clearly young and very reserved around strangers, especially ones that violent assault her, so I'm not getting much out of her. "Who's that?"

I can barely understand her through the whimpering. "Sister."

"You have a sister named Phili?"

She nods woefully, starting to sniffle again.

One thing I really, really can't handle- and call me Satan on this- but I cannot bear to hear people cry; it either aggravates me or makes me want to bury my head into the ground to escape it, I just cannot deal with it, especially from children. So, in an effort to prevent my Mr. Hyde from coming out, I try pacifying her before the worse starts.

"Hey, hey, why so miserable? Have you lost her or something? Do I look like her?"

Rubbing her eyes, she blinks slowly at me.

"Phili, gone."

"Gone?"

Another pitiful nod.

"Gone how?"

Oh God, I've started her again.

"Okay, okay, don't cry. I might be able to help."

Though it would be helpful if you spoke more than two words.

"She can be found, right?"

The little girl sniffles once more as she shakes her head. "Gone."

Part of the problem is I don't really know what gone entails. Is gone runaway? Is it disappeared? Dead? I don't know. Whatever it is, I don't really have time for this as I need to find a way to Tymos.

Getting to my feet, I help the girl up, getting her to stand on her own feet.

"Well, I'm sorry about earlier and I'm sorry about your sis," I begin. "But I have really important things to do, so unless you can fill me in more about where your sister might have gone I can't help. Why are you out here by-"

"Rhene! Rhene, where are you?"

Immediately, the little girl, Rhene, hides behind me, peering around my legs like I'm her mommy on the first day of school.

The person calling out for her finally comes within sight, spotting me first before noticing Rhene peeking from behind me.

"Who are you?" The redheaded female demands.

"Who's asking?" I shoot back.

Her eyes narrow and she quickly turns her attention to little Rhene, who seems to have made herself even smaller behind me than before.

"Rhene," Her voice is sharp. "Get over here- you are being unruly today."

Rhene stays behind me, frozen still even as I twist slightly around in question. She's griping my leg as she stares wide-eyed in fear at the woman calling her over. I'm not getting good vibes from this.

"Doesn't look like she wants to go with you," I say, addressing the woman with a hard look. "She's looking for her sister and I'm helping her."

The woman growls in frustration, causing Rhene's little fingers to dig deeper into my legs.

"She talks of her sister all the time. Her sister is gone, she's never to return."

So she's dead gone? I'm so fucking confused right now.

"Now, we must be returning," She waits expectantly with a peeved face. "Rhene, come."

The little girl makes no move, only burying her head between my legs. At this point, I know I can't let this girl go back with this woman- the dynamic isn't sitting right with me.

"She clearly isn't interested in going back with you."

The woman gets a little huffy. "Well, I am her caregiver and she belongs at home in her village. She is a very confused little girl."

"I don't care who you are, she doesn't want to go, now leave her alone."

Now I've gotten her panties in a bunch.

"And who are you? Nothing more than a stranger."

"I'm a fairy godmother, now fuck off, ginger."

Scowling at me, she takes a bold step forward but my sword's already out and ready, stopping her in her tracks.

"See this sword?" I flash her a mischievous smirk. "It hasn't seen any real action yet, but it's just beggin' to sink into some flesh. Now I would suggest- and it's only my humble recommendation- that you back away and beat it. But it's only a suggestion, you do you."

Don't know what she has to consider, but she does spend several seconds in thought before finally wising up and backing away, that same scowl fixed on her face. With my sword, I motion for her to scram. At last, she turns to head off, but not before sending one last glare my way and calling out to Rhene.

"Don't expect to come home without an apology for all of this."

Rhene keeps hidden behind me. With that said, the woman marches back to whatever miserable hole she came from. Rhene doesn't come out from behind me until she's completely disappeared from the scene.

"Thank you..." She says softly in her baby voice.

She's the cutest thing, I won't lie. Another innocent bean to add to the list.

"No problem."

I glance up at the sky which peeks through the overgrown leaves. I really need to get a move on, but now there's this little kid I have to think about, plus I kind of promised her I would help her find her sister.

"Phili." She mumbles.

I'm not here to go on some subplot adventures, I need to keep in mind what- and who- I'm here for. I need to stop picking up strays; I need a no stray policy in place, for real.

Releasing a long stream of air, I squat in front of her. "Look, Rhene, I'mma be honest with you. I'm on a really, really, really important mission, okay? I need to get to my brother and I'm on a deadline. I don't really have much time to help you search for your sister, but if I do manage to get my brother, I'll come back and help you find her. Sound good?"

The little girl blinks, her signature response I guess. She's not really responding so I'm assuming she's cool with this. Maybe?

Anyhow, I don't have time to be wasting so I stand up and start going on my way, but as I'm beginning to walk away, Rhene follows behind. Pausing, I smirk at her.

"No, no, no, you can't come, you have to stay."

Turning around again, I start back up, but again I hear her little feet shuffling behind me. Stopping for a second time, I force a smile down at her.

"No, Rhene, stay."

She blinks, of course, what else. So, letting out a huff, I begin to walk away for the third time, but wouldn't you know it, she's right behind me still.

"Rhene," I sigh in annoyance. "No, you're staying here. Don't follow me."

If it wasn't for her little lip puckering out with a slight tremble or the teary mist forming in her eyes, I would have just run off, but she's on my innocent bean list so I have to be gentle with her.

Kneeling before her again, I place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. I know this is probably really scary to you."

Bunching up the front of her dress, she nods tearfully.

I sigh, debating whether or not to be a decent human being for once (you know, just to make up for my shitty human behavior thus far).

"I'm going to help you find Phili, okay?"

Her eyes now shimmer with hopefulness.

Now that I'm deciding to be decent, I'm going to need to put on my detective hat and get to the bottom of this "gone" thing.

"Okay, you're going to need to fill me in. When's the last time you saw Phili? Was it really long ago? Some time ago? Or what?"

She appears mull the question over in her head before answering.

"Long."

Oh, God, this decent human being stuff is going to kill me one day.

"Okay...like a few days long or a week long?"

Another pause to think.

"Three."

"Three what?"

"Months."

"She's been gone for three months?" Uh, this ain't looking good. "Where was the last place you saw her?"

"Home."

"So she was at home then where did she go? Did she tell you where she was going that day?"

She looks around as she answers. "Here."

"She told you she was coming out here? Did she tell you why?"

"Nao."

"Nao?" I swear I'm an echo for this girl. "Who's that?"

"Dog."

"So Phili went out to find Nao?"

She nodded.

"So both her and Nao are gone?"

She shook her head. "Nao home."

"So Nao came home but not Phili?"

Another nod.

That's probably when they realized something was up.

"Okay, so let me sort this out," I have to take a moment and collect myself. Mysteries can get a little mind-boggling for me.

In fact- useless sidenote- I remember Nora's mom handing off this Nancy Drew collection to Nora when we were about nine or ten or something. It had been handed down from her mother and she wanted Nora to have it. We read about two of the books in the series and the only deduction we came to was that we don't like reading mystery books and we don't like reading period. So, one bored afternoon, we spent the day roasting marshmallows and weenies over a stack of burning books. We kept three of the books in case Nora's mom ever asked about them- she still doesn't know we burnt the majority of them though. Long story short: mysteries aren't my forte, but reading those two Nancy Drew books has gotten my gears turning a bit.

So Phili goes to find their dog who ran away. She comes out here alone and isn't seen again. Nao, though, returns back home without Phili. Meanwhile, connecting this back to my own circumstance, I come through some dark part of the jungle with Nimu, Lan, and Chasan behind me. Some dark, eerie fog chases us, I make it through to the other side, but lo and behold the other three are gone and the dark jungle part acts like it never existed in the first place. Coincidence? I think not.

Whirling around, I squint my eyes at the opening that I came barreling through then slowly approach it before facing Rhene again.

"My friends disappeared not too long ago and we were running from black fog or something. I know it's hard to imagine, but there was a dark jungle on the opposite side of this opening and I was the only one who made it through before the fog closed in. So I'm thinking..."

I look back at the unusual opening for another minute before taking a step back to further assess the situation.

"I think this is some kind of portal that traps people who don't make it out fast enough," I look at Rhene, who stares at me with intrigue. "I think your sister might be trapped where my friends are. Wherever that may be."

Or dead, but I don't say that.

She joins me, leaning against my side as we both stare at the opening.

"Have you ever heard any stories or legends about this area?" I ask her.

She shakes her head, gripping onto my hand, which, though it's a tad bit annoying, I don't shake her off.

"Okay..." God, where do I even begin?

Rubbing my face with my free hand, I decide to try the simplest thing, which is going back where I came from and recreating the effect.

Marching through the opening with Rhene still holding my hand, I try to find my original starting point. I walk and walk, but nothing looks familiar. Still, I know that the bridge we crossed wasn't imaginary and had to exist.

"I don't remember it being this far..." I say, looking around for anything familiar.

With a sinking suspicion, I'm beginning to realize that this might be even more of a Twilight Zone situation than previously thought.

Finally, in an effort to keep from getting lost, I stop in the middle of the jungle to collect myself.

"Okay, so clearly this isn't going to be as simple as I thought. Awesome."

I would need a new plan on how to summon that portal again, or at least figure out what it is and where it leads. If I can begin to understand this madness then it should be no problem finding everyone.

"Okay, we're heading back," I say, beginning to lead Rhene back to our starting point.

Back to the start, I try to conjure up a new idea but none come to mind. It's like that weird portal thing never existed in the first place. Maybe if I remember what we were doing when we entered it then that might trigger something.

I remember we were walking and talking...and Nimu said something about me not being unimpressive- that made me snort- then that's when we hit it. They could sense it but I couldn't- the eerie feeling, that's when we entered the time warp or whatever it is. I couldn't sense it but I could see it. My conclusion from that is it must be specific people who can sense it but as long as you're in the tunnel then you can get caught up in it, at least that's what it's sounding like.

"Maybe...maybe this is all part of the experience," I talk myself through this. "This is all part of the trip. If I want to see what I want to see I need to open up my mind."

I need to listen to myself more because that's exactly what needs to happen. The reason I didn't sense the shift in the atmosphere before was because I blocked it out. But now, if I opened my mind then I might be able to summon the energy again- it'd be like chi or whatever.

Well, if I'm going on this mind-fuck then Rhene's coming with.

Squatting to her level, I lay out my plan.

"Can you close your eyes for me?" She obeys without hesitation (better kid than I was). "Awesome, now you're going to keep them close until I let you know when to open them again. I'm going to close my eyes too and we're going to take a little mind trip. You ever been on one of those?"

Keeping her eyes closed, she shakes her head.

"I figured as much. Well, this will be relaxing. You have to empty your mind and be blank." I take this time to close my eyes as well. "We're going on a mind trip together and we're going to believe in the power of each other's minds. Remember to be open and listen to everything around you, but keep your mind blank. You're hearing my voice and everything around you but you're not thinking or cluttering your mind."

I feel like a yoga/mediator instructor, or better yet one of those late night radio talk host whose voice is as rich as caramel and soothes you through a breakup. Yeah, I feel like that.

"Now," I take a breath and slowly release it. "You're thinking about nothing. Listen. Listen to my voice and everything around you. We're on this mind trip together and we're opening our minds. Okay, now, Rhene, I'm going to count down backward from three and when I tell you to we're going to open our eyes."

I wait a heartbeat before starting the countdown. Honestly, I'm praying this works because if not then we're screwed.

"Three...two...one...open."

I open my eyes as well, looking around to see if anything has changed. Rhene seems to be the same and I feel the same, but I shouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly. Staring at the opening, I notice that the other side the jungle is darker.

"Rhene," I stare at the opening. "Do you see that?"

I don't even have to point it out, she's already staring at the exact the spot I'm indicating to. Oh yeah, I should open my own hypnosis clinic or whatever when I get older- or else become a late night radio talk host listening to people's first-world breakups.

"Awesome." I'm ready to charge in there, as is Rhene, but I actually decide to use my brain for once and stall. "Hold up. If this thing really is a portal thingy or whatever, it's probably not smart if we both head in there."

She looks up at me with her chocolatey eyes and nods mutely.

"Okay, but how to do this?"

Gah, I have to actually think through this- like problem solve. I need to move in order to get the brain juices flowing, so I pace about, trying to formulate an idea. My movement pays off as my solution is staring right at me from the corner of my eye.

"Nice," I grin as I make my way over to the thick vines that hang nearby. "Kind looks like it does in the movies."

While Rhene silently studies me, I yank on the vine, getting a nice long length of it. I pull down another vine after getting a long enough piece then tie the two together to get an even longer rope. I continue to yank down vines and tie them together until I'm satisfied with the length.

Next, I drag the pile over to the opening and dump it there. Finally, I tie it around my waist securely and hand the other end to Rhene, who I also position near the opening.

"Okay, your job is to make sure I have enough rope, alright?"

She nods.

"When I yank on it then you pull me back, got it?"

Another nod.

God, I hope she's actually getting all this.

"I'm going to find everyone and be out in a flash. But remember to stay here, and if there's any sort of problem then yank on your side of the rope."

One last nod for the road.

I exhale as I face the opening.

I was born ready but sometimes even the readiest people have doubts- like, I doubt this'll work but hey what else is there?

Without any further hesitation, I plunge into the dark forest and begin my journey.