Alma 23 Island For Two

Simply put, she was out his league. It was clear as day that he couldn't understand half of the things she'd said.

He'd come to the abrupt conclusion that he'd never have a meaningful conversation with her under normal circumstances. The most vexing part of it all was that she likely held some important knowledge about the unique incidents that have happened to him.

"It's still too early for you, Ka'an. Please understand that if I revealed the truth to you, it'd break you into pieces. You are immature and will be unable to bear the weight of the karma that you have inherited," Lu'um replied.

"That's a pretty outrageous; just how bad could it truly be that you won't tell me? Do you really think I'll have some sort of mental breakdown? You're being a bit overdramatic, don't you think?"

Lu'um shook her head and said, "Your mind would shatter like glass; allow me to put it into perspective so you can understand why I will not tell you." She put her hand over Reed's chest and a horrifying wave of dread arose in his heart. He felt mind-numbing pain as his tattoo lit up like it was on fire.

Reed knew where these dreadful symptoms came from; it was from that which he had no resolve to face. He felt his strength leave his legs and an unpleasant sweat poured from his body as he poured all of his focus into avoiding the issue at hand. More than anything, he wished for this feeling to end as soon as possible.

Suddenly, the pressure disappeared and he felt like he could breathe once more as he struggled to regain his composure. A comforting flow of heat radiated from Lu'um's hand that slowly put him at ease; it reminded him of the time he fell asleep back when he visited the Will of the World.

"See? You can't even handle the idea of facing a fragment that you've suppressed deep within your mind. If a mere piece of the truth can affect to this extent, what would happen if you faced the whole thing? That's why I can't tell what you want to know. Be patient, Ka'an," Lu'um said. She patted his back and comfortingly reassured him that everything would be fine.

(....This is a pretty nice feeling. It's incredibly weird, but also really pleasant. I don't know what to think about this situation.)

"Alright, fine. I get it, so get off me already," Reed spat out. He mustered enough strength and finally tore himself out of Lu'um tender embrace and said, "So why, or rather, how are you here, anyway? I was told that the Flux was an uninhabitable void that was dangerous to all living things."

Lu'um pursed her lips and said, "Flux? Do you mean the Heartless Domain? I don't live here if that's what you're asking. As you can see, nothing exists in this empty land; it is devoid of substance and direction, unsuitable for Man and God."

"I am here because you are here, Ka'an. I will go where you go and see what you see -- that is my raison d'etre. I thought that was obvious?" she asked.

After a bit of back and forth, Reed finally had a rough understanding of the situation, or so he thought. It only took a half-hour of repetitive interrogation until she finally made some sense.

From what he understood, this girl firmly believed that she had some kind of destiny with him, but as to what that entailed, he was unable to figure out. In any case, she knew something about his circumstances and was unlikely to divulge the details at the moment. Her main objective was to stay by his side and assist him henceforth -- the issue was he couldn't figure out she was supposed to 'assist' him with...

Reed sighed as he massaged his forehead and said, "Okay, we've finally come to an understanding, yes?" He pointed at the empty, barren landscape and asked, "Do you know how to get out of here, Lu'um? Can you help me get back home?"

"Okay. Where's home? My home is wherever you are, Ka'an, so let us be off," she replied. She nonchalantly strolled up, grabbed Reed's hand and said, "I can take you anywhere you want, but I can't guarantee that we'll get there accurately. You're going to have to deal with certain a margin of error. Is that alright with you?"

"It's fine, so let's leave already. The longer I'm gone, the more Violett's going to worry about me. My friends are probably concerned too. At least, I hope they are... Take me back to the Reef, Lu'um."

She didn't waste any time. Lu'um casually tore an opening into the void and pulled Reed into it as if it was a matter of fact. Reed who wasn't prepared, once again, was abruptly dragged into the void and let out a pathetic yelp as he vanished into the ether along with his new companion.

When they came out the void, the sky had grown dim and cast the sun had almost receded into the horizon. Reed guessed that everyone must have already turned in for the day and headed towards the villa.

His mind had already begun spinning like clockwork as he walked home, formulating the perfect apology that'd win over the princess's favor. He also had to factor the whole part where he picked up a certain freeloader in the void, which was going to be a hassle to explain...

(Well, I'm sure it all work out once I work my magic on her. The puppy eyes routine has never failed thus far, so I don't see why it won't work again.)

He walked into the villa and discovered that the house was dark, something that he felt was odd. She was nearly a century old but acted as if she was still in her twenties.

Violett always stayed up late all the damn time; it was really rare for her to fall asleep this early. Every night she'd force him to watch horror movies with her. She was even in some of the movies as an actress, too. There was nothing this lady wouldn't do, he often thought...

(Maybe she went to bed early because I'm not around for her to torture? It'd be sort of depressing if she actually watched her own films alone.)

"There's no one in here, it seems," said Lu'um. She inspected the house and remarked that she could not detect any presences within the home.

"You sure about that? Let me go check Violett's bedroom just in case you're wrong," said Reed as he quietly shuffled towards the lady's private chamber. He did his best to remain silent as he slowly cracked open the door to the maiden's room.

It felt like he was committing a serious crime, but he pushed down his morality as he peeked into the unknown. Reed discovered that Lu'um was right; Violett wasn't there.

What caught him off guard and set alarms off in his mind was that the room had been emptied. It was a bare room that held nothing in it at all. Something was wrong.

He'd been in here once before and had seen it Violett's handiwork in all its glory. She'd gotten heavily drunk on some special type of liquor and had taken liberties with what constituted as a relationship between a teacher and student.

'A bonding experience', she called it as she hauled him off to her room and forced him to do questionable things for her. By the time he'd woken up, the morning had come around.

Reed awoke in a bed that wasn't his, in a room that shocked him silly. It was a pigsty of incredible proportions; all sorts of things littered the room. Clothes, accessories, weapons, books and other... unmentionables lay strewn across the room. It looked like someone's landfill and smelled like one, too. An awful stench of alcohol permeated the room, presumably from last night's celebration.

It horrified to the core and wished he could forget it all happened, but now he was glad he remembered.

This was definitely her room; even though her mess was gone, the faint smell of alcohol still lingered in the room. A sudden thought popped up into his head and he immediately rushed to his room to check his suspicions.

His hunch was on the money -- his room had been emptied. Everything had been taken away and only the bare walls remained untouched.
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Lu'um walked into Reed's room and said, "Is this your home? It is beautiful, but is lacking certain amenities, Ka'an."

Reed paid no attention to the girl's comments and rushed outside like a madman as he ran towards the student dormitories. He begged for someone to be there, anyone at all. His gut churned as he denied the reality of the situation.

He ran into the dorms and yelled out, "Astor! Horatio! Ophelia! Astrid! Sebastian!"

"Hey, you guys, stop playing around with me and get your asses out here!!" He hollered.

Enough was enough. If this was some kind of cruel, elaborate joke that they'd cooked up for him, he wanted out.

Reed burst into the nearest dorm room and found that it was empty.

He couldn't accept it and tried another room...

And then he tried another...

And then he tried...

And then...

And...

Everyone was gone. He had searched every single room in the dormitories and found nothing.

Violett disappeared; his friends disappeared. The island was deserted. Only he and Lu'um remained.

Reed eventually returned to the villa after he gave up. Rather, there was only one person who probably knew what'd happened here.

The same person who had brought him back. It was the only explanation he could think of at the moment. It was either her or an act of god that caused this, he guessed.

".....Hey, you told me that there would be a certain margin of error in getting us home, right?"

"Hm? Yes, that's right. I don't have a fine grasp of my power at the moment since I've barely woken up. Is something the matter?" Lu'um asked as she sipped on a fruit cocktail.

"Yeah, I've got a bit of a problem. You see, this Island used to have a lot of people here. Now hear me out; although you have done a fine job of getting us home, my friends have disappeared."

Lu'um laid down on Reed's lap and said, "That sounds troubling, I suppose. What are you going to do about that, Ka'an?" she asked as she let out a lazy yawn. Reed was beginning to think that this wretch wasn't interested in the slightest...

"I was wondering if you knew why this is happening is all, dearest Lu'um. I would be most appreciative if you would grace me with your wisdom this evening," Reed said. He was practically grinding his teeth as he politely requested advice from her.

"Hmmmmm... I think I know what happened. It's just a guess though."

"Yes, my fair lady? Please enlighten me."

"I told you that there was a margin of error in getting us home. That error might have manifested as a spatial shift in our exit point. That didn't happen, right? So it makes sense that when the error presented itself in the other way."

"It seems like a temporal misalignment occurred on the way here. I got the spatial coordinates right, but I probably messed up getting the time of arrival."

"Well...I did get you home, right? I technically succeeded," she softly mumbled.

Chapter end