Behind The Curtains

It was Monday, three days since Katie Moon had entered the Agents of ANZEN after meeting Ace Wilder, while also being a return to school, she was awoken to the sound of a blaring alarm slamming its irritating audio screeching into her eardrums. Sleepily moaning, her hand smashed right down on her phone, fingers sliding under it, she snatched it off its back and tapped the button... then just casually regressing to sleep, eyelids shutting over her darkened azure orbs. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.

It seemed she couldn't sleep at all, rearing her head off from the placed-down position of the softer pillow, she could barely squeeze out a look to that wall in front of her. Those words he'd said, in the middle of that fight:

"In the end, we'll always die alone, no matter what happens, so you must be responsible for your happiness. In the end, Katie... it's all up to you,"

What was it about that man that made her question everything she'd been taught in the past? Those words, she'd felt she heard them before; so familiar and nostalgic yet she'd only known these people for three days. Weakly raising her arm to the air, feeling it shudder from the chill the AC threw into the chamber from the outside, her blurred vision locked unto the goosebumps, she sighed,

"I'm just not ready..."

Downstairs, June tapped her palms against the table, humming patiently to the song playing in her left earbud, eyes closed, Alex stood against the island while Kima cooked some pancakes. Ace opening the fridge to get out some eggs, he cracked the shell on the side of the bowl taken out the cabinet, watching as the yoke spilled out into the inside of the container,

"Alex, yesterday, you said we have to go to the Museum, didn't you? To find out the truth about the Outside World and its state, all that, right?" Wilder inquired of his mentor,

"Indeed I did, though I decided that we're not really in any type a' rush so I'll just wait til you four are done with school," Alex answered, jumping up so he could sit on the counter, he cracked his neck,

"Do you actually think the answers will be a public location?" Kima added curiously, flipping the cake with her spatula sliding under the baking food,

"It seems stupid, right? Then again, I feel like that's exactly what they're suspecting. After all, the best twists are the ones you should be able to see right in plain sight before the answers're revealed," Explained Alexander to the requesting duo,

"What's that loud sound..?" Sleepily asked a familiar feminine voice, June widening her eyes, she happily yelped, entangling her arms over Katie's neck embracing her tightly,

"Katieeee! You're awake!" Excitedly squealed June maintaining the hold over her back,

"Unfortunately..." She retorted back sleepily, rubbing her eye with her closed fist's side,

"Ready for your first day with these idiots?" The instructor questioned his new pupil,

"Tomorrow, I will be," She answered back sarcastically, hugging June back reluctantly, soothing her arms into the embrace, she couldn't withhold the grin forming over her lips; gentle, soft,

"After we do all the bullshit, we'll be able to go with Alex, and find out the truth behind the curtains... but first, BREAKFAST!" Ace placed the abundance of finished munchies onto the table, seated on platters, June scratched her head now seated as Katie pulled out a chair, Alex mimicking her movements to do the same,

"Where're the eggs? If there're no eggs, then this shit AIN'T BREAKFAST!" Yelled June jokingly in a fit of 'rage',

"Ace is making them, he says they're the best eggs in the world, so you should wait a bit longer," Kima interjected, Alex chuckling gently, he watched as the syrup slid over the table to stay at the center... as time went on, and the clock ticked, it all seemed like a blur.

7:55 A.M., three days after meeting Ace, Katie walked in a line of four, Ace giving June a high five, palm sticking out from her back, he hopped on over to give Kima a peck on the cheek. Ruffling Katie's hair as he passed her by, he went on to enter, leaving Kate to tilt her head, question mark appearing over her head,

"What was that?" Questioned the new girl of the other two,

"He's a slacker, on the Principal's last straw, if he's late again or misses another assignment, he'll be suspended," Explained Kima to her younger friend,

"Honestly, I have no idea how that dumb brother of mine is the slacker and I'm the successful one! Really goes to show you how marvelous I am as the little sister!" June praised herself, hand on her chest, sparkles appearing in the air beside her head's side, proud grin painting her glossy lips...

What laid ahead at the end of the school day was anybody's guess, for not even the daughter of the Detective Prince could guess the truth behind the curtains shielding their eyes. As she turned back to see June and Kima bickering amongst each other playfully, she couldn't help but let out the tiniest smile. There was something she'd never experienced before crawling out the deepest recesses from her blackened soul, and as she turned her head down to her hand, she could spot the blue glow radiating off from it.

What this meant, she had no idea, she even turned her head quizzically around it. Eventually, her curiosity got the best of her, and she was unable to look away, inching her hand ever close, fingers grasping around the ball of azure light. Extremities moments away from enclosing around the sphere, it vanished without a doubt, yet the feeling lingered on in the depths of her soul.

Turning her head, she could feel it come again, staring at June and Kima, remembering Ace ruffling her head, Alex welcoming her to her new home. The sphere of blue returned, still incorporeal, she managed to look upon it just a bit more… the warmth was euphoric, something she'd never felt before, an unimaginable feeling of calm washed over her body, therefore deepening to her astral spirit, she sighed out in relief. What was this feeling she was experiencing; so alien to her mind yet so familiar to her soul, a phenomena she'd wished for eternity, as she looked on ahead with the future laid out before her, she asked but one crucial question,

"Is this… Joy?"

Ace walked through the halls of the upper floor, barely making it to his classroom, one foot stepping across the border a half second early. Waving to the teacher and greeting some of his school friends, he took his seat near the back, instructor handing out papers for everyone to take notes. Projector displaying the movie onto the whiteboard, some of the pens and pencils started to scribble, but Wilder's stood in place, letting the ink run.

Staring right ahead, he spaced out of the world, imagining himself somewhere better than this reality. This place, where he was forced to take a role in a story he wanted nothing to do with, he couldn't help but groan, placing his head in his arms,

~I won't let your sacrifice go to waste, Father~

What sacrifice, anyway? What sort of father would abandon his children for the sake of them living a better life when their parents depended on that? Was that really who I was fighting for? My father; someone I never even knew or cared for? Someone who never even gave me a message through his memories or anything of the sort? Who am I fighting for, and what's my purpose in this vast… place?

When that ball zoomed past my face, I saw my death, my whole life flashed before my eyes, and I was powerless to do anything. What's the point of fighting if I can't do it to protect anyone, when they're so much better than me..?

I just want to sleep.

So I closed my eyes and the darkness enveloped me; things are so much better when I'm not here.

"Ace!" Kima yelled to me,

And as I opened my eyes, I was back in this world, staring at the beautiful face of this wonderful girl in front of me. Katie sitting beside Kima while June rested on my shoulder, pulling my phone out my pocket, the time revealed itself to be around 3 PM. Yes, things are so much better when I'm not here. Those eyes of yours that I'd feel would be my home are foreign to me, I should know they hold love for me but I can't feel it, I just wish I could do something meaningful for once. I wish I could be like you, babe,

"You okay, hon?" Sweetly asked Kima of her lover, reaching out her hand to place on top of his own, the bags under his eyes had grown, she observed, all he could say in return was,

"I'm fine,"

Behind the curtains, the truth was hidden from her, right in plain sight, as it always truly is,

"Promise?" She asked to clarify,

"Promise," He retorted, smiling at her brightly, Kima squinting at her lover, she gave him back the same smile,

"You two done bein' lovebirds..?" Sleepily asked June as she yawned, opening one eye, Katie turning the page of her book after licking her thumb.

The school day had ended, lively chatter of students behind the entrance door to the clubroom, simply designed. One long rectangular desk along the middle of the room, Kima on the left hand side with Katie while the Wilder siblings sat on the right hand side. Skipping by as if it'd never happened, Katie closed her book after placing a marker, creasing the page on where she last left off.

Stretching her arms to the air, knuckles cracking as she interlocked her fingers together, joints satisfyingly snapping into place as she bent her waist to the side, June moaned at the euphoria caused by this,

"Why'd you call us here anyway? Shouldn't we be goin' to join with Alex?" Questioned June in the middle of her stretches, yawning as she finished, closing her eyes and widening her mouth,

"I didn't call this meeting to order, actually- Katie did," Kima corrected, turning her head, she presented Katie as if she were a model, sparkles flying everywhere around her face,

"I wanted to present more facts about the case, I suppose. We have a sort of… uh, well, we basically solved most of the mystery already, and we're going to finish it when we meet up with Mr. Amara later, but- there's this gut feeling I can't shake. Like we're missing something, a piece of the puzzle that's right in front of us but we can't find it because it's blended in with the shade of the curtains," Explained Katie to the rest of them,

"Are you referring to Callum Rivers' plan with the Requiem Artifact?" Inquired Kima of the protagonist,

"Something like that. Well, uh, here's the timeline we have so far," Katie slid her notebook out her bag and spread it out over the table, a line straight through both pages seen.

Indicators pointing to the timeline they'd formed together at the bathhouse just yesterday. Beginning when the Island was discovered off the coast of Texas, the date had been written as July 22nd, 2010,

"Did you Google the date?" Ace teased at her jokingly,

"Yeah… I didn't… I didn't really know when it was that the Island was discovered, heh," Kate admitted sheepishly to her 'cousin',

"Wait, was the Island just discovered in 2010? I remember Instructor saying something about him always living here, no memories about living anywhere else except from the Old World," June interrupted, pointing her finger to the start of the timeline,

"We're missing the start. There has to be something, right? Something we're missing but we're too blind to see," Kima rubbed at her chin after saying this,

"That being, the state of the Outside World and why Callum left it in the first place. Not to mention… his intention with the Requiem Artifact," Ace interjected them all.

The timeline was incomplete, the puzzle broke into a multitude of pieces before them, yet Katie could feel something in her gut; they were blind to this, weren't they? It was right in front of their faces all along, however, they didn't have all the information. The beginning of this, the state of the Outside World, that was all they needed in order to find out the truth behind this vast mystery spanning just over 11 years. For the first time in her life, not only did Katie experience joy that day, but the thrill of being apart of something bigger than herself. A mystery that cannot be stopped, one that holds the truth of this world and all others before it.

As the sun set on the Island, cars were seen zooming past them, the quintet of Agents and their instructor leading them under a highway. Ace with his hands hidden in the pockets of his hoodie, he groaned, feeling the sweat drip down his skinny arms; he tore off the sweater and tied it around his waist, grumbling angrily leading June to giggle mockingly at her brother,

"Mr. Amara, sir… I hope you don't mind me asking, but I have a bit of a personal question," Katie said, stepping up, leading Alex to look down at her momentarily before staring straight ahead, always smiling, huh?

"I don't mind, Kay. Ask away," Alex authorized, hands in the pockets of his hoodie continuing to walk as the summer's heightened rays of the sun shone onto their bodies,

"Do you remember your first day here in the New World?" As Kate asked this of her teacher, they all fell silent as the elder attempted to recall the lost memories of his first day in this unknown plane of reality,

"Heh, unfortunately… I don't recall much about it," Alex answered sheepishly rubbing his nape,

"What's the last thing you DO remember?" Kima asked quizzically.

Touching his finger to his chin, he stopped in his tracks, relentlessly searching through a memory vault of locked down recollections, unfortunately, there was one thing he did remember. The last memory lodged into his brain wasn't that of the New World, the sight of those bodies, one of a Star Bomber cut to pieces, hearing the last words of a Blonde Hermit… the last thing he remembered was,

"Dying."

This is a story of acceptance.