Chapter 2: A Missed Goodbye

I could see the gates beginning to close, still a good block and a half away. I took a moment to prepare my body and sprinted straight towards the center. At the last possible second, I jumped, turning sideways, and slid right between the gates as they shut behind me.

I even stuck the landing.

"Ash!" Mr. H, our loveable gym teacher in charge of closing the gates, shouted. "How many times do I have to tell you that you are cutting it way too close! And that you should tell me to stop closing the gate instead of risking being crushed by them."

"But would you?"

"No! But you could at least ask so I could have the time to shut the gate on you."

"Never change, teach, never. And don't worry, it won't happen again!"

"You say that every time, Ash!"

I waved goodbye, telling him I'd see him later in class, and kept running. I said morning to anyone who called out to me, but I didn't stop and practically slid right into my class, loudly enough that my classmates stopped what they were doing. They were all confused about what that sound was, but they returned to whatever they were doing when they noticed me.

"Ash!" our mighty class president, Lia, yelled, suddenly appearing as I stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm..." I instinctively got into a fighting pose, "...not all that sure myself. You came up to me even more aggressively than usual that you activated my fight or flight response. And I guess I'm more of a fighter than a flyer."

"Can you please stop being an idiot for once!"

"I don't know. Can you stop coming at me so aggressively every morning?"

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't feel the need to run in the hallways and slide into class every day. We're in a school, not a playground, Ash!"

"Well, I woke up late, again."

"Playing games late last night, no doubt."

"Now, I think we've agreed that you can't be stalking me, Miss Lia."

"No one was ever stalking you!" Her face got red, and I let my hands down, knowing I had won. "Anyway, just stop coming to class like that! And fix your tie!"

Lia walked away, joining up with her friends as I chuckled to myself and headed to my desk. As I sat down, I glimpsed outside the window and saw a girl not in uniform looking up. I thought she was looking at me for a second, but I wasn't so conceited, and assumed she was here for a tour and was just looking up at the building.

"Oh, she looks cute?" Alex declared, his face pressed on the window.

"She's probably here for a tour. So you keep away from her, you womanizer."

"What?" he darted his attention to me. "Me, a womanizer! I Alex am nothing but a gentleman and have the highest respect for—"

"Let's see we, just this year we have Rebecca, Alice, Ali, Jaki—"

"Okay! You've already done that stunt before, and I get it. I've gone through a lot of girls. But I don't think dating makes me a womanizer."

"It does when you cheat on them."

"Hey! I did not cheat on them. We broke up, and I moved on. It's not my fault they wanted to play games when I was looking for love."

"Sure! Love? You know what, why don't we leave it at that. The last thing we need is to fight about something so stupid."

He sat down, and my eyes glanced over to Lulu. She had been walking around the room the whole time but had abruptly stopped. I had long trained my eyes not to look at her so obviously, knowing from experience the problems that stem from looking at someone who no one else can see.

But when I looked over, I must have moved my eyes too much and kept them on her for far too long that when I looked back at Alex, a massive grin had appeared on his face. We both glanced in the direction I had, and I didn't even notice that Lulu was standing next to Lia.

"My, my, Ash. Tell me it ain't so. Lia? The class president? You've been arch-rivals since freshman year. That is where your eyes wander to!"

"No, Alex, don't start this again."

"Look, Ash, I admit I was in the wrong last time. But you didn't see your face when you looked over in Lia's direction. You, my friend, are head over heels for her! Frankly, I felt your heart skipping just by looking at her."

"Again, Alex, I don't have any desire to get into a relationship. Plus, Lia and I are not like that."

"Fine! But as your best friend, I'm doing it!"

He jumped out of his seat before I could grab him. But I was still saved! Our teacher finally got to class, and Alex bolted to his chair, far away from Lia.

He looked over at me, and I knew he would try again the second we had free time. I had to plan a way to stop him. But I couldn't think here. I needed it to be quiet, and once Mr. Z started, he wouldn't stop talking for an hour, minimum.

"Teach!" I raised my hand, and he pointed at me. "Can I go to the nurse's office?" I placed my hand on my stomach and put on my best sick face. "I don't feel so well."

"Just make it quick, Ash!"

I thanked Pops for pushing me into the 5th-grade play for that fabulous performance.

I got up and left the room. The nurse's office was to my right, but I turned left and went up three floors to the door leading to the roof. It was the best place to go in the school to be alone and think as no one was really allowed up there.

"Hey, why are you moving so fast!" Lulu panted.

"Um, Lulu, why are you out of breath?"

Lulu didn't have a body, so she didn't need air. She didn't even run up the stairs. She just floated up to the top, but I guess Lulu wouldn't be herself if she didn't add some comedic effect to some scenes.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," her panting ceased. "Anyway, what are we doing up here?"

"I need to think...so, um, if you don't mind."

"Oh, yeah, of course, I don't. Be back in a minute."

Lulu stepped right through the door to ensure that no one was on the roof so I could pick the look open. Teachers with the key can lock it from the outside, and I learned that the hard way, so I need Lulu to check it out first.

A minute passed, and she didn't come back. One grew to two, and I started to get the door open at the three-minute mark.

It had never taken her this long to come back.

I pushed the door open and walked out onto the roof. The sun made it hard to look for a moment, but when I regained my vision, I saw the girl I had seen outside the classroom window, glancing over the city with her back to me.

"It's quite a stunning view, isn't it? Such a grand city, filled to the brim with so many people going about their day, yet life is still so peaceful."

"A-Are you talking to me?"

"Well, who else would I be talking to? Unless there is some invisible person here that only I can see, logically, I could only be talking to you."

I was taken aback by what she had said, but before I could question her, she spun to face me. I was instantly lured in by her mismatched eyes that seemed to have a soothing, almost mind-controlling effect on me.

Her left eye was a glowing crimson red to the point that I was worried she was bleeding. Her right eye was a brilliant golden yellow like she had somehow taken the whole sun, shrunk it, and placed it in the center of her eye.

She was young, middle school age, with long raven hair. She had on an incredibly puffy black dress with silver-like ornaments, but those elements of the dress couldn't be entirely made out unless she moved.

"Your name?" she asked.

"Ash."

Her face showed me that she was bewildered by my name. It almost seemed like she had anticipated some other name to come out of my mouth.

"Ash...and just how did you obtain such a name?"

"I was rescued from a burning building when I was just a baby. Everyone thought no one was inside, that everything would be lost. Be burnt to ash. But one man, my father, heard a small cry from within. Against all odds, he saved me without suffering too much harm and named me Ash when he adopted me as if to remind me always to fight back from certain death."

"I see, a fitting name indeed. I am sorry if my face showed otherwise. And how rude, I have not introduced myself yet." She picked up the side of her dress and did what looked like a curtsy. "My name is Terra. My mother passed it down to me and her duty over the worlds."

"Duty?"

"Yes, Ash, the duty. To keep the worlds from ending. A task that you and Lulu also were to share! But your father and Lulu's mother didn't wish to burden you with it, instead, pushing it all on me. But that will no longer be the case, now that I have found you both. And lucky me, in this world."

"What? Wait, what are you saying? And, where's Lulu! What did you do to her!"

It was like I was under her influence, thinking only about our conversation that I hadn't even noticed Lulu was missing from my senses. Even when she stayed at home and I went to class, I could still feel her presence. But right now, it was like she was no longer here at all.

I tried to move closer, to intimidate her into telling me what was going on, but a brilliant light from below blinded me, and once it dimmed, my body was frozen. A massive, almost monstrous grin appeared on Terra's face, contradicting the proper, near doll-like impression she gave off. But it wasn't long until she returned to normal, apologizing for the unseemly sight.

She walked up to me, but stopped short of taking a step into the large ring that had formed around me. It was pulsating like it was alive and shined a bright white color that hurt to look at for too long.

"I, Terra, daughter of Terra, return the boy now called Ash to the realm of conception. Thy keeper link is reinstated and amplified. May thy forever be bonded to not just each other, but to the very world thy reside in next!"

The light grew brighter until all I could see was white. I thought I had gone blind as I couldn't see anymore. Everything was black, but gradually, light and color started to make a complete return.

I sat up from the ground and glanced around, letting out a brief laugh when all I saw was a vibrant green forest. I rubbed my eyes, assuming that the light messed with my eyes, but when I quit, I could still see the trees stretching up towards the sun that obscured most of its light.

I could hear animals rustling in the bushes, the playful music of birds rang in my ear, and I saw something come towards me from the shrubbery. At first, it appeared to be a chicken, but I noticed it had three heads and eight legs as it got closer.

I took a deep breath, calmed my mind and—

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."