"Rose!"
As Luke was swallowed by the kaleidoscope of swirling colors, he could still vividly feel the force of her push. When he emerged on the other side, he stumbled forward before catching his balance. Straightening up, he met Andrew's confused gaze as the latter carefully lowered Ethan to the ground, leaning him against the warehouse wall.
"R-Rose, Rose, she—!" Luke stammered, the shock of what had just happened making words fail him.
Andrew's eyes widened as he processed Luke's frantic gestures toward the portal. "Where's Rose?" he demanded, his voice sharp with sudden understanding.
"Rosie? What happened to Rosie?!" Panic overwrote the pain in Ethan's leg as he struggled to stand.
Andrew quickly placed his hands on his friend's shoulders to keep him in place. "Don't move!"
But Ethan wouldn't listen. With each passing second that his sister didn't emerge from the portal, his panic grew stronger. Despite Andrew's restraining grip, he pushed himself up on shaky legs, his face contorted with both physical pain and emotional anguish. "Let me go! I need to get her!" he shouted, his voice breaking as he struggled against Andrew's hold.
"You're not going anywhere—you're injured!"
"T-Then I will!" Luke shouted, ready to jump back through the portal when a sharp bellow from Andrew froze him in his tracks.
"You stop right there!"
His gaze was so stern and dark that Luke didn't dare breathe for a second. Ethan was equally shocked by his friend's outburst, but he quickly shook it off, his mind preoccupied only with his sister's safety.
"You both need to calm down first," Andrew said through gritted teeth. "You," he said to Luke, "explain what happened when we went through the portal."
"I-I'm not sure. Rose suddenly shouted to shoot, so I did. Her shield was gone, and that creature attacked us with those strange black tendrils. I just shot a fireball at it, and then I felt Rose push me through the portal."
A heavy silence fell over the group as Luke's explanation sank in. Andrew's jaw clenched as he processed what had happened - Rose had deliberately created this situation, using Luke's instinctive reaction to set her plan in motion. His eyes darted to the portal, weighing their options.
"Andrew, let me go. I need to go to Rosie. What if she got hurt?" No match for Andrew since he could barely keep himself on his feet, Ethan now resorted to pleading with his friend.
"And what then? You'd be useless in there. At least Rose has her ability—she can outrun the fire. Any of us going back would just be dead weight." He hated being harsh, but Ethan needed to hear it this way.
"We will wait for her. She will be fine," he said soothingly. *At least until I get my hands on her...*He would teach her to stick to plans and ensure there would be no more of these reckless solo missions.
"Half an hour. Let's give her half an hour. If she hasn't returned by then I will go in and drag her out of there myself."
Ethan slumped back against the wall, his face a mix of frustration and worry. Though every fiber of his being screamed to go after his sister, he knew Andrew was right - in his condition, he'd only put Rose in more danger.
Luke paced anxiously nearby, his hands clenching and unclenching as they all watched the portal's swirling surface.
Minutes crawled by with agonizing slowness. The tension was palpable as they waited, the only sounds being Ethan's ragged breathing and Luke's restless footsteps. Andrew kept his eyes fixed on the portal, his expression unreadable as he silently watched down the time.
"Hello, there." A soft female voice pulled them out of their waiting. "Are you hurt? Do you need help?"
Three pairs of footsteps stopped only a few meters away from them and a young woman with doe eyes carefully looked out from behind two young men that had taken up protective poses in front of her. While their gazes at them were full of suspicion and ready to take action any second, she seemed genuinely concerned about their well-being. Her gentle demeanor contrasted sharply with her companions' wariness.
Only now did Andrew take in their surroundings. Unlike in their last life, the area around the portal was deserted—the streets completely empty. Rose and Luke's dramatic portal entry must have scared everyone away, or perhaps the authorities had sealed off the area. But if that was the case, why were these people here? And why her, of all people?!
Before anyone could respond to the woman`s question, her eyes landed on Ethan's injured leg and widened with professional concern. "You are wounded!"
She didn't wait for a response, already approaching the crouching Ethan. Her two companions exchanged glances maintaining their guard, though they didn't stop her from going closer.
When she passed by Andrew, there was no change in his face, but his fist opened and closed several times, thinking of reaching out and stopping her, only to stop in it's tracks.
Lara, they had met her after all…