Chapter 18: Bridge

Simon walked to work, trying to calm down from that morning. The thought of them trying to kill him while he was defenseless was disgraceful. The thought lingered with him throughout the day, somewhat distracting him. Lucas had to shake him a few times to make him snap back to reality. When they were done, he walked to the hospital to get Yuelia.

“Hey!” she said, smiling.

“Hi! How are you?” he said, giving her a hug.

“I’m doing better. The scar faded a bit,” she said, rubbing her neck.

“That’s good. Ready to go home?” he asked, offering an arm.

“Yes, I am,” she said, grabbing his arm.

He teleported the both of them to their house. Smiling, Yuelia walked in. Simon followed, the thought still haunting his mind.

“Something wrong Simon?” she asked, noticing him deep in thought.

“Huh? Oh. Nothing’s wrong,” he lied, giving her a forced smile.

“...Aren’t you happy I’m back?” she said.

“I’m glad you’re back, don’t get me wrong. It’s just something that happened while you were gone,” he replied.

“Did somebody hurt you?” she said.

“No. But they had planned to. Teebs and Shards came while you were gone and they thought I would be grieving. Little did they know, you weren’t dead. So, they planned to kill me or something like that while I grieving you,” he explained.

“... I think this has gone on long enough,” she said, a glare on her face, “Those two have caused nothing but trouble for you and I think it’s about time to confront them about it.”

“How do I do that?” he asked.

“You either talk to them or you make them stop,” she said, looking him in the eye, “They need to stop.”

Simon gave her a nod and smiled.

“You know I don’t usually resort to violence, but this has gone too far,” she said.

“Okay! I’ll talk to them! If that doesn’t work, then I’ll try the other option,” he said, “So I do it the next time I see them?”

“Yes. If they don’t stop, use your new magics or something. Speaking of which, how’s that coming along?” she said, sitting on the couch.

“It’s going great. I’ve reached the most I can get though,” he replied, sitting next to her.

“What’s your most recent one?”

“Well, it allows me to manipulate objects around me.”

“Can I see?”

Simon looked over at a spoon on the kitchen counter and it started to float a little. It floated towards him, but fell after a couple of feet.

“I just got it today…,” he said, picking up the spoon.

“I’m impressed! People usually learn how to use their magics after a few years, but you learned how to use them within a few hours!” she said, a smile painted on her face.

“Oh, uh… thanks?” he said, putting the spoon in the sink.

After showing Yuelia all the magics Endro gave him, he cooked dinner. It was nice having her back, the flipping of pages the only other sound in the house. They talked for what seemed like hours, not noticing the time. Checking the time, they saw that it was very late and went to bed.

Simon had a normal dream that night… well, as normal as a dream can get. He felt so relaxed. He hadn’t had a good night’s rest in a long time. But that would soon come to an end.

He walked through an open door, assuming that somebody had invited him in. Then he was on a ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. He checked everywhere, only finding old cargo, fallen masts, and an old captain’s log. It was written in an old language, something he’s never seen before other than in museums. He looked below deck to see if there was something to translate it, but everything was in the weird language.

Where on Overworld am I? He thought, placing a hand on the old wood of a fallen mast.

There was a creaking sound in the cabin, catching Simon’s curiosity. Walking over to the door, he thought he could hear something whispering to him. The voice sounded male. Then there was another voice, this one sounding female. Peering around the door, he saw who was talking. It was a man and a woman, both dressed formally. The man was wearing a black suit and the woman was wearing a black dress, both of them giving off a faint yellow glow.

“Come here, Simon,” the man said.

Simon did as he was told with extreme caution.

“Don’t be afraid, young one. You’re safe with us,” the woman said, smiling.

“Who are you?” Simon asked.

“I am Allan,” The man said.

“And I’m Alice,” the woman said.

“Okay… Where am I?” Simon asked.

“You’re in the Sea of the Forgotten. This was the last place we were when we died,” Allan replied.

“Wait…. So you’re ghosts?” Simon asked.

“No… We’re reborn,” Alice said, “We are different from before.”

“Okay… When did you die?” Simon asked.

“.... The year was 2050, 20 years after we left the bunkers. We had made ships. This was the first to go, full of people. We sailed into a deep fog within a few hours,” Allan said.

“Little did they know, the ship wasn’t stable. Little did we know, this would be our graves. The masts fell, killing multiple people. Holes appeared in the hull, causing us to sink. People threw themselves overboard, thinking that they could swim back to shore,” Alice continued.

“Little did they understand that the ocean was still poisonous. They died within seconds. Alice and I stayed together as the ship sank into the jaws of death. When we died, we saw a light. Warm and inviting… Then we heard an odd voice,” Allan said.

“We were offered a deal. If we spread power, we’ll gain immortality. We obviously agreed, but at a cost. Our skin became pale and started to glow. We started to hear the passengers that perished, we nearly went insane…,” Alice said, choking with emotion.

Allan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“We found a way to cope with it. We planned how we would get our word out. Then we started it,” Allan finished.

“Your word?” Simon asked.

He had taken a seat while they told him what happened to them.

“What we just told you. Our purpose is to spread power. You are our bridge to the main land,” Alice said.

“Right as we speak, we are using your conscience to make our way there,” Allan said, smiling.

“What?!” Simon said.

“Yes. We are manifesting inside of your house right now. We will leave everything as it is,” Alice said, smiling as well.

“Why are you using me?” Simon asked, calming down.

“You are the only one stable enough to help us cross. When you wake up, we’ll be gone,” Allan said.

“Thank you,” they both said simultaneously.

Simon woke up feeling as if he didn’t sleep at all. He got up and walked a few steps before stumbling towards the windowsill. He felt as if he was drained of every ounce of strength he had. Leaning on the windowsill, he tried to sort his thoughts.

Where did they go? He thought, attempting to stand.

He fell to the floor instead. Lifting his hand, the air under him started to push him up. When he was standing, he put his hand down.

Alright, third time’s the charm, right? He thought, putting a foot in front of him.

He took a few steps towards the door, being careful to not fall. He made it to the door and opened it. Leaning on the wall now, he walked to the stairs.

How am I going to do this? He thought, placing a foot on a step.

Sitting down, he scooted his way down the steps. At the bottom, he crawled to the couch, hoping to find something to help him stand. Sitting up, he looked around. Thankfully, there was a cane next to him. Grabbing hit, he tried standing again. He was successful! Laughing a little, he made his way to the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” Endro asked.

“Yeah… I just feel drained,” Simon replied, leaning on the counter.

“Oh? Did you do something?” Endro asked.

“Describe something,” Simon replied, sliding against the counter to a cabinet.

“I don’t know. Something magic?” Endro said.

“Okay. Uhhh… I don’t think I did any in my sleep. I had this dream that I was on this abandoned boat in the middle of the ocean. There were these two glowing people that said something about using me as a bridge to the mainland,” Simon said.

“Did you get their names?” Endor asked, seeming to be worried.

“Yeah, their names were Allan and Alice. Why do you ask?” Simon replied, grabbing a stool.

“They… uhhh… Heh,” Endro said.

“Andy… What’s the matter?” Simon said, getting worried.

“Well…. They’re something dangerous… let’s just hope they don’t show up any time soon,” Endro replied.

“What’s so bad about them? They seemed really nice,” Simon said, smiling.

“They are beings of magic itself. Kind of like you, but way more dangerous,” Endro explained, “If they’ve gotten to the mainland, things are going to go sideways quickly.”

“Okay. I still don’t see what’s so bad about them,” Simon said, scratching his head.

“I can’t say anything about them that won’t disrupt time itself. I think it’s best to just drop it for the time being,” Endro said, a little uneasy.

Simon shifted in his seat, feeling that he had regained some of his strength. He stood with the cane in his hand and walked over to the pantry. Then he started to laugh a little.

“What’s so funny?” Endro asked.

“Just imagine it… Before any of this happened, before Teebs and Shards ever came to this town, I’ve had a completely normal life. Now look at me, looking over my shoulder every chance I get,” Simon said, sounding as if he was going to cry, “Funny how things can go sideways in just a matter of weeks.”

Simon started to tear up. He just wished he could be normal again. Endro walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Things will go back to normal. I promise,” Endro said, giving him a reassuring smile.

“How?” Simon said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“... In about a year, you will get your old life back. Normal job, normal lifestyle, normal days, everything. You’ll miss this, believe it or not,” Endro said, “You’ll get married, have kids, be normal again.”

“You know this how?” Simon said.

“It’s one of six possibilities. Each of them end in the same way, but different ways they could happen,” Endro said, “The future is an odd thing.”

Simon wiped his eyes with his sleeve and gave Endro a faint smile.

“See? Everything is going to be fine,” Endro said, giving him a smile in return.

“Yeah… I sure hope so…,” Simon said, standing straight up.

Having regained all of his strength, Simon grabbed some cereal and made Yuelia and himself some breakfast. Yuelia walked down the steps in her pajamas rubbing her eye. As she came down, Endro vanished.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing really. Breakfast?” Simon said, pushing a bowl her way.

She gave him an odd look and took the bowl. She seemed too tired to read his mind, much less even try.

Why is she so tired? She wasn’t the one who was used as a bridge, he thought, pouring milk into his bowl.

After having breakfast, Simon went to work, leaving Yuelia to rest.