/Elyon
The high trees and their branches reach towards the sky, dividing it, so full of strength, giving off the light. Strange creatures in this place lurked everywhere. Little beings crawl on the leaves, the fairies that fly around rustling flowers and leaving traces of starry dust behind. All this seemed like a part from a movie or dream that is too real and too vivid.
I got up, wobbled a bit, before gaining my footing. It felt like my feet were jelly and my body was made of wet cotton. What is this?
Ahead was a path, leading somewhere. Unsure of what was going on, I took a few steps ahead, then bumped into something, almost tripping over.
Looking down I saw a fairy-creature standing opposite me. This fairy was barely one metre tall, looking like a child, watching me with her blue-green eyes, her wings fluttering on her back.
"You!" – Angrily spoke fairy, hands on hips, eyes squinting.
"Me?" – I pointed at myself with a finger in surprise.
"For as far as I see - you're the only intruder to our forest, so yes, you! Follow me, as I," - fairy flew up to be on the same eye level as me, - "the amazing Lilly, shall guide you to our magnificent Goddess!"
Lilly pointed a finger at me.
"You! Follow me!" - as she said that, she turned around and flew above the path, turning around a few times to make sure that I would follow.
I decided to walk behind her, so as to not be that lost in here. It's still unknown what's going on. Am I really in a dream…?
The swishing sound caught me, I took a look - it were Lilly's wings. Do wings really make that much sound, as they work? Never seemed to notice.
"Where am I?" - I asked, to get some ideas of what this is.
"The great Goddess will explain." - Lilly replied.
"Can you not tell me?" - I persisted.
"The Goddess will explain it all. Lilly is not doing that." - She replied without looking back, as she now knew for sure that I'm tailing behind her.
Path was twisting up ahead, with scenery slightly changing after the trees that hung just a little below the clouds.
I enjoyed the scenery of what I observed around me, trying to keep up with this fairy, as we were on our way to this Goddess.
The creatures reminding of small fairies were like bees buzzing around a tree, then climbing up, going down. So hard working.
There were like, small fire lizards, breathing small fire, which was totally not safe, in my opinion, but other beings did not seem to mind. As I walked I also noticed something odd - lumps with glowing fungi on top of them, with eyes… And they watched me.
I felt a shiver down my spine. That was unsettling.
"Elyon! Is that you?!" – I suddenly heard in her head. Loud voice, a shout directed at me. I looked around - nobody there. But the voice...
"Elyon! That is you! Oh my, it's Orin!" – voice kept on going.
Now I did recognise the voice, the worried and excited tone of my girlfriend.
"Orin?" – I shook my head, trying to figure out "how" I heard Orin, as it was too strange. What was going on? She spoke around me? Or is this in my head? Am I hallucinating? Is this the fairy thing that affects me, maybe?
My head began hurting, like it was a migraine.
"Hey! I am with a man. Name's David! He says that you should be careful! He says that we are linked in some way. Oh! He's asking where you are, he might know…" – Orins voice was buzzing inside my head, and the fuzziness with dizziness, reminding of a hard hangover, hit me hard. I stumbled back, as I couldn't balance myself. World began to spin.
It felt like this was too much for a body to handle. I tried to grab onto something, I reached out my hand, but could not grab onto a single thing, it all was floating. The world seemed to be spinning round too fast now.
Orin kept saying something, but I could not make out words. Each sentence was like a hit that made me feel worse. Like a really bad type of phone call that makes you hear sounds, but not make out the words. Suddenly everything went dark.
/Lilly
I turned around to see this girl trying to grab onto air, then she fell down. Passed out.
"Really? Ehh…" – I exhaled, flying back to Elyon. I stood right next to her. - "Using this straight up now, eh, how annoying."
I felt the magic through me, as my body began glowing and I managed to get in my original self - two metre tall elf. The magic given was to use it to change back and forth between different looks, to not get in trouble at work. But this is annoying.
I let out a sigh, as my arms were filled with old battle scars, few armour plates protecting me, and my trusted daggers at my sides. I brushed back my long, green hair, then got down to pick up this girl in my hands.
Guess now I have to carry you, as you just decided to give out like that. Still must get you to the Goddess though, so you better not die on me.
/David
I look at Orin, as I absorb the sense of "made it", as Orin is happy to experience the connection with her girlfriend. The sheer surprise, yet happy face was all there needed to be.
A large cup of hot chocolate was on a table, as it was set for Orin.
Orin turns to me, now that she seems to be ready to get on with the program.
"Now, darlin', tell me every detail you saw, heard, sensed. Alright?" - I spoke to Orin. She nodded, as she was trying to catch her breath, holding onto the chair, as the dizzy fit hit her.
It was hard for me at first also, until Niko drilled the sense of reaching it into me. Yeah, but then, as you connect - it all appears. What the other sees, senses, feels, tastes, all of it. I get it, it's not an easy thing to do, nor the one that comes in easy from the first try. It is absolutely the pain and the exhaustion that drain you the hell out, at very first, but then, as you allow yourself the very things that are needed - all makes sense and you're right there, with your person all the time, no matter the space, place and distance.
"It was a forest, tall trees… Elf? I think I saw an elf." – Orin wiped beads of sweat from her forehead.
"Elfs you say… Forests… That sounds like… Shit!" - I felt the familiar sense that was out for a while, one that I'd not like to feel again. - "She is near Krator! Well, let's hope she gets to the Goddesses hands before anyone else grabs her. I hope that elves still answer to that old hag. I gotta let them know…"
I walked to my study, and opened the room, which welcomed me as it always would. I began searching for it… The notebooks fell off the table, the books fell down from the shelves, as I rummaged through the items for that one thing. Where did I bloody put it?!
AHA! It's here! I felt the joy for a second, and the next - the pain and the defeat that comes after. The goddamn old vinyl was staring back at me.
I walked back out with the recording, going right to the phonograph. I let out a breath, as I knew how it would hurt in just a moment. I put the music on, and the opera-rock began playing.
I gave self a nod, as my body began to tremble. Yep, the body is true to itself and knows what's coming. And that in itself is nothing good. I go towards the cupboard in the kitchen, take out the bottle of absinthe, take out a glass, then pour myself full of it.
Then I walk towards Orin.
"Now listen carefully. I need you to slap me hard if I begin to tremble too hard, most likely it'll look like I have a seizure. Might look scary, but don't freak out. Muster courage. All you need to do is slap me as hard as you can. Got that?" – I asked Orin, as I took a seat opposite her on a couch. She gave me a nod.
"Good girl. Do whatever to get me back, once I'm there." -I smile at her, yet my body trembles. It senses the pain and the ruin that comes with too many times connecting to your other half. That's the payment for fucking around.
I pulled out purple pills from my pocket, the great magical concoction by Niko. Put them in my mouth and downed it with a glass of absinthe.
Well, here we go again.
/Orin
I looked at this man, as he was dozing off, eyes closed, breathing so slowly, as if dead, his chest barely moving.
He is handsome. Messy white hair, his features seem to be chiselled out of marble, rose lips, long lashes… I turned around, blushing, realising that he is that one man many dream of - the prince in shining armour. But David was real.
Oh my, keep them fuzzy thoughts at bay! I have Elyon as my faithful partner! Shoo bad thoughts! Shoo! Shoo!"
I chased invisible thoughts above my head with a hand. Then slapped a few times my cheeks. Getting me the stinging sensation. I sat down next to David. He was out, sleeping or so it seemed. The travels he explained were quite bizarre.
Now that I had a moment to think over what he said prior to me a few hours ago… I decided to look it over in my head.
Once the drinks were settled and he felt more at ease, explaining to me all the troubles that we got into, it was a mess.
He was explaining to me the whole thing, as he sat and drank the heavy alcohol, like it was water.
"You see, there was research once. About people who had extraordinary abilities. Researchers called it telekinesis with infused dream data sharing, morphing and shifting through time parallels. I was one of those lab rats for tests. So were a few other people."
"One man in particular was curating this process. His name is Adrian. He, along with Niko and Erick, were the co-founders of the whole research. It just so happened that when Niko and Erick were 'communicating' Adrian managed to intercept that. But things got muddied. The experiments and tests were trying to figure out "how" this thing worked, as the occurrence was rather unique and rare."
"You see, this was a sort of communication between individuals in different places. I mean not even planet wise - universe wise. You could talk and exchange what you see and hear, feel, taste and perceive to someone else, who is on another planet."
"Later we discovered that it also spread through time. So you can even send the ideas, as well as communicate through time. That is where terms like 'multiverse' and 'time travel' had floated up in the experiment's thesis."
"As the experiment progressed - we discovered we could insert Our consciousness into Us in different time or universe. To participate in that life. We called these places "parallels". As the body you transferred your consciousness to was You. But from another time and another universe. That led to multiple casualties."
David poured himself some more whiskey, as the topic progressed.
"See, once you insert your mind into the body, the mind that was there is either merging with yours - giving you the information that 'you' knows, or does something else - pushes out that other 'you' completely."
"It causes an amnesia effect, once that consciousness returns. But that is where gore comes in - sometimes the impact of replacement is so hard - it leads that 'other you' to commit suicide or finds ways to drive self into death by all means."
"When such 'death' occurs, there is no longer a body to 'host' your consciousness, but the availability to get there still exists. That is when you transcend not only consciousness, but also your body. So you fully 'teleport' there - wherever you go."
"But since discovery of transcending fully to other parallels experiments took a shadier turn. Piquing the interest of 'original body and main consciousness'."
David paused, let out a sigh, then continued.
"Erick and I have the original bodies in this world.
Adrian achieved the skill of transcending the body through parallels, so we're... I'm uncertain where he originally is from, but right now - he is here. As far as I've got it, he's unable to transcend anywhere as much as before."
"The lack of freedom to roam places grinds his gears. But not as much as the mystery of where the original Niko is."
"Due to me joining the research later on during first trials - I'm not as far advanced as they are."
"Thing is - you can transcend through parallels, your mind and body, but no matter time spent in another parallel - you must return to 'original you' to avoid the 'breakage'. In other words - to not die."
"So when I learned that Niko is transcending here - I did ask where she originally was - she never replied. Erick might know, but he would never tell. Not because he wouldn't - because he can't. He lost his memory about it."
"Yes, losing memories is also something that comes along when you transcend in parallels.
Because you obtain new information and at times a new full bunch of memories, because that other you lived life from birth, just as you, and you get the whole thing in one go - the whole load of information mixes up. Sometimes even leading to replacement of your original memories with memories of the other you in a different parallel."
"When you travel, transcend, a few times - you can still maintain order to memories from each parallel, but transcend one too many times - and all memories become jumbled up. Indistinguishable in where was what."
"Like my memory of Niko, me and Erick studying together and Adrian being the professor there. But it is not correct in this reality."
"After I had the incident in the Labyrinth - all my memories became mush.
Right! Labyrinth! All of us, who transcend, end up in "labyrinth" at some point. A place of horrors, especially crafted for every one of us, with each having a remarkable name to it. Mine was called Krator. Quite the madness it was. Heh. The goal is - to escape. It is never easy to escape from the Labyrinth. It grows on you. It really does. "
David downed his glass of whiskey.
"Right, Adrian. I'm still clueless about what exactly he did to Erick. Poor sod was the main experiment puppet in Adrians hands. Niko was there, but was not. Due to 'original' not being here."
"She can transcend through parallels better than anyone. A veteran at transcending. She was the one who taught Adrian the basics of transcending. This occurrence was referred to as 'Echo', eventually the name became the name for research."
"She taught us, too, how to transcend. That takes up a lot of sanity and strength. It's like your brain overloads on endless types of programmes, data, viruses, bugs and others - simultaneously."
"That led to many other test subjects dying from the overload. Transcending through parallels takes a toll. Huge on body, immense on mind. Eventually the replacement and mixture of memories at times led to suicide and death of the 'original'."
"For you might have experienced a new life, a better life in that parallel."
David laughed, as he remembered something.
"What else? Although it seems like Adrian is the eldest out of all of us - Niko is the predecessor to everything. Forever stuck in twenties, for what it looks like. Her being the ultimate mystery that rubs Adrian the wrong way every single time. He is real mad about it"
David looked out the window, a shadow of sadness lingered in his expression.
"Erick was damaged when he went through his Labyrinth and his parallels collided. He was ripped out of coma only three months later. He no longer was the same. We kept him on medication, but there's not much we can do. He still proclaims he is a journalist, although he studied law with me. But he remembers none of that. I also have memories of things I'm not sure if they happened, but they feel real."
"Once Erick said that for him it was not three months, it was around three hundred years if not more... Well, in each parallel time flows differently. Here you are spending a day - there it can be a decade."
"By all means it's as twisted as it gets, but all you have to know – now due to encountering Niko, both you and Elyon are endangered. Ardian had been up to other sorts of experiments, and some of those are worse. I don't know what he wishes to accomplish but he became insane. It wholeheartedly took piece by piece out of him - each time he dived deeper to solve the mystery."
"So you and Elyon are most likely linked, just like I am linked to Erick and Niko. Right... The concept of 'linked'."
David ruffled his white hair, taking a deep breath.
" 'Linked' refers to individuals who, although are not the same person, but might be friends, lovers, very closely entwined through life in all parallels. Making them have a strong bond that allows them to communicate through the same or different realities, time and parallels."
"Basically - your love and deep affection for a person, just like strong hatred or loathing - are the strong feelings that link you to that person. Allowing you to communicate with them. But that works only if one of this couple had been transcending through parallels, which enables the other to be communicated to."
David stretched, as he was talking a long while now. He seemed to feel like the whole mass of heavy fog was on his shoulders with all this.
I just watched him, trying to soak in all that he spoke of. Staying silent and listening the whole time. It just felt like this is hard for him to go over.
Then he continued.
"So, now we're in a huge pickle. Erick was abducted from under my nose, so I couldn't protect him. Elyon was taken away. They both most likely are now in the system, inside some parallel."
"Right now the only person able to get them out is Niko. But just in case I have an informant who helps keep tabs on our loved ones - just in case... Just in case the wind blows in another direction."
David got up after all this spiel, stretched some more, then walked into the kitchen.
"Let's start with some food, then I'll teach you how to reach Elyon. We need information, after all."
Thinking back to it - when David was talking he made pauses, deeply inhaled, then exhaled, as he spoke of his memories. He rustled his white hair, being so unsure of what was real or from parallel, is how it felt like, as he was speaking of all of this. He was sincere in what he said, but it still was so complicated.
I got up, walking around the apartment. He was still on the couch, 'asleep'.
I checked out the study he had been rummaging prior. The place was filled with different writers of known and unknown names, cover backs were in strange languages. There were writings and drawings of weird creatures on the scattered pages on the table, as well as scattered on the floor.
What was going on in those parallels?
I noticed that there were a few highlighted words on papers repeating over and over - "Hikaru", "Yuki", "Gabriel". One of the papers with header read "War between kingdoms and Feriton". What are these endless stories?