"You want me to come back?" I responded.
"Yeah, man." he said, "Things just aren't the same with you."
"I... don't think I can." I replied.
"W-why not!?" exclaimed Oswin.
"I already died back there." I answered, "It wouldn't be right to mess with nature like that. That's what you've always believed, right?"
"But... I..." started Oswin.
"It also wouldn't be fair to Rose if I had just left her here." I said.
"Damn... I guess I really didn't think this through."
"Do you even know how you'd get back home?"
"Now that you mention it, I really don't."
"So you're stuck here!?"
"I guess I am."
"How did you get yourself into this mess?"
"I'm not giving up though. I'm still going to try to bring you back."
I had a lot to think about that night. Oswin wanted me to come back. But the thing is I think he wants Gabe back. Would it even be possible to go back to my old body? It should be dead, after all. Plus, if I did, would I still have that illness? In this new world, I've met several people and made so many memories as Nova. I don't want to lose all of that.
I didn't really get much sleep that night. The very next day, I slowly got myself ready for school. Rose noticed that something was wrong and tried to ask me about it, but I told her everything was fine. I could tell she wasn't buying it though. And what could I do about Oswin? I knew I couldn't leave him stuck in this world.
In class, I noticed Oswin was staring out the window. It seemed he had something on his mind as well. Whatever it was, I could tell it was bothering him. The two of us had known each other for so long, that I could usually tell these kinds of things. But it's weird to think about though. For me, it's been years since I've seen him, but for him, it had only been a handful of weeks.
"What's going on with Oswin?" asked Rose, she asked when school was over.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Well, he took off as soon as school was over." said Rose.
"That's not like him." I said.
"You know more about him than I would." said Rose, "What do you think?"
"I... don't know." I said.
After our short discussion, we left and started walking home. For some reason, I just couldn't get Oswin out of my head. I did want to help him, but I knew I couldn't really grant his wish. The two of us would never be able to go back to the way things were. I had started a new life, literally. I wouldn't be able to get my old one back. As I thought about these things, I expected the walk home to be normal, but I guess that was asking for two much.
When we were halfway to my house, we ended up seeing something strange. There was someone on the ground and there was a tall woman standing over them. She had black hair with a ponytail and purple eyes, with one of them covered up by an eyepatch. On the ground below her was Oswin.
"Dammit..." he said.
"Your time's almost up, isn't it?" the woman said.
"Damn... you." responded Oswin.
Looking closely, I could see he was holding onto is arm.
"What did you do to him!?" I exclaimed angrily.
"Oh, did I hurt your boyfriend or something?" she asked.
"He's not boyfriend!" I yelled, "And who the hell are you!?"
"You must be stupid if you've never heard of me." she said.
"I'm willing to be nobody has heard of you." said Rose.
"Shut up!" the strange woman yelled, "I'm Naomi Altena. Don't you dare forget!"
"Who?" the two of us both said.
"How dare you!" she exclaimed.
"You're the one that hurt our friend there," I said, "so you have no right."
"Think you're tough, huh?" she said, "Well, then I guess I better take care of you."
"I'd like to see you try." I said.
After that, she started shooting beams of light out of her hands. I barely avoided all of them. After that, I stood up and formed fired above my hand which I shot at her. She shot back with water.
"Dammit." she said, "You're much better than I thought you'd be. I guess that hair of yours is real."
"What did you think it was!?" I exclaimed.
"I thought you were just trying to look tough." responded Naomi.
"Shit." said Oswin.
"Oswin!" I yelled, running over to him, "What's wrong!?"
"Stay back!" he yelled, pushing me away.
"Is he dying!?" exclaimed Rose.
"Far from it." said Naomi, "I just figured I'd help send him back where he came from."
"Where he came from?" asked Rose.
"He's not from our world." answered Naomi, "If he stayed any longer, he'd cause problems."
I ran over to him after that, not paying attention to anything else Naomi was saying. Up close, I noticed something. Oswin's body was fading!
"Oswin!" I yelled, "Don't go! ...Not after I just got to see you again!"
"I guess that's all the time I've got." he said.
"So this how you're going back?" I asked.
"I had no idea how I was going to get back," responded Oswin, "but I guess I should have asked. I would have taken this even more seriously if I had."
"You can't leave me!" I exclaimed.
"It's weird how things work out in the end," said Oswin, "first you leave me and now I'm leaving you."
"Please..." I said.
"Nova, get back!" yelled Rose.
"What are you doing, you idiot!?" yelled Naomi.
Just then, a bright light flashed. The voices around us had been growing quieter and then were in a familiar place. It was my old neighborhood. From my old world. How did I get back here? However, my body didn't change back to the way it was.