Twisted Returns

Life goes on. Time does pass. Even for me, the heartbroken. And even so, I must continue my journey.

As soon as I whispered the one word that would change everything, I jumped in shock and turned around. A blue light had engulfed us all and an unearthly wind had picked up. I knew we were on our way, and I turned around again.

But it was too late. I never saw his face again. He was gone. I never saw how he reacted to my choice.

I never got to say goodbye.

----

The first thing I notice is the cold. The type of sharp, piercing cold that sinks into your skin until you can't feel anything else. Like the cold in my broken heart, I wonder if I will ever be warm again.

I try to take a breath, but instead of air, a strange substance fills my lungs, leaving me coughing, gasping. Everything is dark, which way is up?

I'm in some type of liquid, the taste so sickeningly sweet that I want to throw up. The cold threatens to numb my mind as my lungs reject this liquid. But this won't be the end, I've made it too far...

Flailing my arms in a desperate attempt to surface, I can feel myself moving. More of this liquid finds its way into my lungs, my throat... maybe this is the end.

I surface. The first thing I do is take a deep breath, bringing much-needed oxygen to my lungs. But this "water" tries to simultaneously escape my body, making for a violent coughing session.

The air is warmer than the "water". But not by much, and being wet doesn't help. The coughing stops.

I open my eyes and see a sight I will always remember. My eyes adjust to the dim light.

In front of me, I see an ocean. The water is still, the waves frozen in place. It's like looking at a photograph.

The moon above these waters glows a bright blue. It looks just like our moon on Earth.

The cold becomes nearly unbearable as this strange ocean water evaporates. Every inch of me is soaked through, my clothes heavy and sticking uncomfortably to my body.

Even so, I can't help but stare at this sight. My first glimpse of Crystallaria through human eyes. I realize there is sand beneath my feet - soft, fine, sand. I vaguely remember wishing for a beach here on Crystallaria. A beautiful one - and there is no doubt that this one is gorgeous.

But there's still another beach I'd rather be at.

----

Slowly, everyone drags on. Our feet are numb from the cold as water drips into our shoes.

Most of us had landed in the ocean, although not fully submerged as I was. Cody and I had gotten the worst of it.

It hurts to look at him, to see the family resemblance. But I can't stop myself from looking.

Our bags are no where to be seem. When I was making my decision, most had thought I chose fate. I surprised even myself with my choice, but somehow I knew I would always choose destiny.

When I walked towards Connor, I heard something falling. Everyone had dropped their bags on the ground, and so they did not go with us. But at least we don't have to carry them.

As of now, we walk through a small village, shivering. It seems to be somewhat warmer, but not much. Couples walk with their arms around each other.

I tell myself that this is not the end. When this is all over... anything can happen. I will see Connor again. I know it.

But in this moment, he seems so far away, and yet so close. I am going to wake up and find him here with me...

"Someone, please, d-d-do someth-thing!" Lorraine says, unable to keep her teeth from chattering. "S-Sarah, use your powers, it might w-warm us."

Sarah would usually not listen to Lorraine, but even she's a bit desperate. Wrapping her arms around herself, she closes her eyes. After an excruciatingly long minute, her shivering stops.

"I'm... warm now," she says.

"Good, but that won't help the r-rest of us!" Lorraine says.

A word pops into my head. A spell? The word is in some different language, and I would not normally know how to spell it, or even pronounce it. A picture of a swimming pool pops into my head, leaving me even more confused. Nevertheless, I recite the spell.

The result has nothing to do with swimming pools. Instead, a transparent dome covers us all.

"Sarah, g-get warmer," I say. I'm not sure where this is all coming from, but I know that it will work.

She obeys me and everyone watches in envy. Soon, we can feel heat radiating from her. Her hands glow red-hot.

"Sarah, t-touch this... shield," I say.

"The what?" Apparently, no one else had noticed it either. They squint to see it in the dim moonlight.

Sarah touches it and immediately jerks her hand back. I panic, wondering if I had said the wrong words. But all Sarah does is mutter "cold" and she shows no sign of injury whatsoever.

A few seconds later, a flood of warmth comes at us, like hot chocolate on a cold day. Only this is much, much better. It leaves us completely dry and warm, like we were never cold at all.

Now that our bodies are at a safe temperature, we begin to observe our surroundings. Even though there isn't much to see.

Everything is completely still. Time has still not passed, I remind myself. We keep walking through the village.

The houses are all small and wooden. Like cottages on Earth. Maybe I had been expecting everything to look different, but so far it's pretty much the same.

The silence is eerie, the stillness ominous. Three dark figures stand at the corner of a house. Reflexively, I flinch, even though I know they can't see or hurt me.

I don't know where we are, or how far the palace is. We could be walking away from it, for all I know. But the alternative would be walking into an ocean of liquid sugar. As sweet as it is, the taste still burns my throat.

We keep walking.