Chapter Three: Gotta Go!

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“Olivia, Aunt Rachel -” His voice was choked, his heart still heavy from the past few minutes of action.

Alone in the strange world, he gave himself a moment to feel afraid. He allowed himself that, where nobody else could see, because he couldn't be weak when he went back.

“I’m scared." So there he stayed, basking in the almighty presence of the Power Node. Its reassuring warmth temporarily cleansed him of fear and uncertainty. Letting out a deep breath, he steadied his will and moved to the next Node.

Its engravings didn't make much sense initially, but he pieced together an understanding.

Unlike the Power Node, this one radiated an aura of impenetrable defense. Images flashed through his mind. First, a troll with its ability to regenerate. Then, a golem with its mighty natural shell. Finally, the great aquatic beast that even dragons feared. The leviathan, its monstrous and talent for water manipulation unmatched...

No one could bypass the absolute infallibility of Durability.

The figures depicted never once moved. Instead, the same weapons that sliced, stabbed, and slammed against the unknown enemy from the previous Node reappeared, ineffectively rebounding away from an indomitable defense.

Something about the concept resonated with him. The feeling the Durability Node oozed reached to his insecurities and for those that wanted to endure no matter how hard things got, for those that wouldn't break no matter the abuse…

Ultimately, the Node existed for survivors. Even if that meant they were bloodied, bruised, and battered, they still lived when their opponents' weapons became no more than scrap metal.

Aiden wished he had another Orb to slot into that dais then and there, but he didn’t. His only other Orb was absorbed by the Pen.

He lamented the loss now that he knew the purpose of the Essence Orbs and wondered if there was any way to reclaim the precious resource.

Putting the thought aside for later, he wandered over to the third Node. Everything about this one screamed speed. Whatever images moved on the dais did so far faster than he was able to perceive. When he felt the aura wash over him, it buzzed in his mind.

Alacrity.

Everything became clear before him while in range of the Alacrity Node, his mind working faster than ever with almost no strain. The Node came with the ability to perceive and move at a rate otherwise impossible.

This.

The feeling of clarity and speed enticed him almost as much as Durability.

Each Node gave him a lot to think about. Each unique. Each equally exciting. He saved his pondering. Better to see the last two before making any grand plans.

Stubbornly, he tried to analyze the dais. No matter how long he spent, he couldn't figure out what happened with the magical etchings. He spent too long doing so and eventually gave up. For representing Alacrity, he didn’t get a very clear understanding of what it tried to portray.

His heartbeat skipped a beat as he moved toward the next Node.

Magic.

Honest to goodness magic crackled across the side of the Node. Elemental magic - fire, water, earth, air, but also so much more. Gravity, space, even time.

Arcana.

“Magic…” His heart kicked into overdrive and his mind considered all the implications. “Magic is real?”

Okay, so maybe not all the implications. Suddenly being told by some strange game-like system that magic existed took no small amount to process.

Not only that, he still didn’t even know how he got to this place. Anything could be happening around him.

Olivia could be in danger.

He moved to the last dais, gazing over his shoulder longingly at the Arcana Node.

Focusing, he approached the next Node. It was hard to describe what he saw here. A figure meditated as the seasons slowly shifted and changed around them. The passage of time accelerated around the figure until all that surrounded them was desolation.

Everything halted to a stop as the lone figure rose, the only thing amongst an empty plane of ruin. They opened their eyes, filling the world with an earthy scent. Immediately, invigorating revitalization restored beauty to the world. Seasons passed once again, and the entire world buzzed with life.

Spirit.

This one felt far more intangible to grasp than the others. It felt like slippery oil to his mind, unable to process the complexities hidden within its depths.

Attribute Nodes observed.

Depart Orrery?

Yes.

No.

As soon as the option appeared, he started to smash “yes”.

When he came to, he looked at his watch. To him, at least ten minutes had passed in that strange world, but his watch told him he was very wrong.

Seven forty-four.

Almost no time had passed the entire time he’d been away.

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“Oli,” he started, turning toward her. “We have to get to Aunt Rachel. She’ll know what to do.”

She nodded, stiffening her lip and narrowing her brows. “Let’s go, Aiden.”

When she reached for the door, he grabbed her hand. She tilted her head in confusion.

“Let me lead.”

She looked between the door, him, and the spot where the monster had dissipated. She bit her lip in consideration before nodding her head and stepping to the side of the door.

He straightened upright and looked at the rest of his classmates. They stared back at him. Only vague familiarity registered in their eyes.

Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, he took a moment to collect his thoughts. Everyone waited for him, their eyes wide, shining expectantly.

“Time to go. Who’s coming?” His voice sounded awfully loud in the silence of the room.

“Y - you can’t be serious?!” Viktoria exclaimed fearfully from her corner of the room, shaking like a wet puppy. “That monster just ate Mr. Feriger! We can’t go out there. What if there's more?”

“We can’t stay here,” Aiden refuted. “We’re wasting time. We don’t know how big this is, if things will get worse the longer we stay in hiding, or…”

Aiden looked away, considering how much he needed to tell them. His pause dragged on too long. Several other students shifted in place uncomfortably. The longer he went without speaking, the more eyes narrowed his way.

The tension could be cut with a knife and used as jam.

A guy Aiden didn't recognize slammed his hand onto his desk in frustration. “What?! What aren’t you telling us? There’s a reason you want to get out there, and we wanna know why.”

Aiden didn't like being yelled at or cast under suspicion when he was trying to just do what it took to survive. Narrowing his eyes at the guy, he started to open his mouth to lash out with an angry response.

“Aiden?”

And there it was, his greatest weakness.

Steeling his gaze, he looked back at his classmates. “Clearly, the world is changing. We’re going to have to kill these monsters. I don’t know what things are gonna be like, but it only makes sense that the longer this goes on, the stronger things get. If we want to survive, then we have to -”

“Wow, dude. You were just gonna go out there and kill all the monsters to get stronger.” Aiden couldn’t remember the guy’s name no matter how hard he tried, but the accusatory tone really stung.

“That’s not -”

“You were gonna use us as meat shields!” Viktoria shouted, her makeup long since streaked by tears and snot that caked her upper lip.

“No -”

“He would never!” Olivia shouted back at Viktoria. “He just wanted to make sure we stayed safe. Right?”

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

Given the circumstances, it really showed how much she believed in him. She hadn’t wavered once, defending him from the accusations immediately. Her trust in him was unshakable.

Knowing she was there to support him, he continued to speak, glaring at anybody who might interrupt. “I want us all to get stronger, for everyone to survive. We don't know the situation fully, so to survive, we need to move. We need to find others, find a way to defend ourselves, and get out of here. If we want to do any of that, we have to move.”

No longer did he wait for them to agree. He said his piece. Before they could wrap him up in further talks, he bared his Pen in front of him and slowly opened the door, peering into the hallway.

The walls oozed darkness that warped the world around them. The hall was still long, but the darkness made it seem much longer.

To his left, the back stairwell was in sight, but there was an entire group of the little monsters meandering around. They chittered and cooed, filling the halls with ominous echoes.

Looking down at the next classroom, he nearly groaned. It wasn't far, but it was far enough to make him wonder how many people would really make it before alerting the group of monsters.

And if they were alerted, how many students would die?

Not only that, what would he find if he opened the classroom door? Would everyone inside be alive, panicking like his classmates?

What if they were already dead?

What if the room contained another group of monsters?

What if…?

There were a dozen more questions he could ask, but standing around wouldn’t get any of them answered.

As badly as he wanted to rush down the staircase, he lacked confidence. There were too many unknowns. He didn’t want to risk himself haphazardly.

That went doubly so for Olivia.

He’d been hit by their strange paralyzing tongues once, so imagining what would happen to someone under a combined assault wasn’t too hard.

Taking Olivia’s hand in his, comforted by her presence, he prepared to rush to the next room.

He'd said it himself, they needed to move.

His legs tensed as he leaned forward onto the balls of his feet. Olivia was also prepared, ready to follow after him the second he pushed for the next classroom.

“Wait!” Viktoria cried out.

“Yeah, man. Hold up a second.”

Aiden ignored them as his heart pounded in his ears, making every second feel like an eternity. Dreadful waves of goosebumps roiled down his spine. He had the feeling that if he didn’t move now, he never would.

Looking back into the classroom one more time, he saw several panicking faces. He internally promised himself to come back for them.

With a lurch, he dashed forward with Olivia in hand.

The inky darkness acted like a muddy cinderblock on his feet, but he hammered his legs as hard and fast as he could. Olivia struggled to push through, her breaths coming in heavy gasps.

Aiden essentially dragged her forward with everything he had. However, the walls seemed to stretch farther and farther the longer he remained in the hallway under the shadowy influence.

Confusion became a close friend of his, but with significant effort, he shook free and redoubled his focus.

Holding hands, they crossed the hall to the next classroom, crossing the stretch. Looking back, he checked to see if they'd alerted any monsters. So far, so good.

Opening the door slightly, Aiden peered within to see the class proceeding normally.

He and Olivia slipped into the class, leaning forward with their hands on their knees. They greedily gasped for breath, attempting to provide comfort to their aching lungs and burning calves.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Ms. Briggs, the second-year math teacher, asked.

Aiden looked around. Belatedly, he remembered the entire hall had the state exam today, and he’d just barged in uninvited.

With the monsters and the Nodes occupying recent memory, the test had been completely pushed to the farthest corner of his mind.

“You’re not gonna believe this -” He paused and looked around the classroom for any signs of monsters.

He hadn’t seen the first one appear, so he didn’t know what to look for exactly, but he knew that keeping an eye out was better than not. “The school is under attack.”

“What?!” several voices exclaimed.

“Stop playing around, dude. You’re not funny,” another student shouted back.

“Who’s your teacher?” Ms. Briggs asked.

“Aiden, back there!” Olivia pointed to the far corner of the classroom where the wall oozed the familiar inky darkness.

Two stubby arms poked through the portal.

Pen in hand, Aiden rushed to the back of the classroom to meet the monster as it spawned. He wouldn’t let what happened to Mr. Feriger happen again if he had anything to say about it.

Its head stuck through the inky portal of darkness, its red eyes and white lips contrasting its round obsidian body. It licked its lips as it looked around the classroom, continuing to pull itself through.

Adrenaline coursed through Aiden as he pushed past one desk after another, shoving aside students that got in the way.

The monster’s torso fit through the portal and it started to pull the lower half of itself through.

Aiden didn't think he'd make it. Only a few steps away from the portal, he knew it would get through.

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