Abby walked over to Lory, Haley and me. “You fought well, all three of you. There is a free house, it has only one bed, but I can get another one for Haley.”
I smiled, “Thanks Abby, please lead the way.”
Lory took my hand, and we followed Abby to a small house. From the outside, this house looks snug and comfortable. It has been built with brown stones and has sandstone decorations. Tall, squared windows let in plenty of light and have been added to the house in a fairly asymmetrical pattern, luckily the windows have curtains. As we walked inside, it was indeed snug. The house is equipped with an old-fashioned kitchen and one modern bathroom.
There is indeed one bed, I also saw a small desk with a chair. I looked around, “Alright, this will have to do.”
Abby looked at me, “I am delighted you are back, Steve, even if you are a bit different.”
“I am glad to see you again, Abby, it has been a while, and you are different as well.”
Abby stretched her hand, I took it and locked wrists with her. A black tentacle came out of Abby’s wrist, and it started crawling over to me, I quickly let go. Abby stared at her wrist, “Huh, that is new.”
Haley looked at her, “Just contain your energy.”
Abby looked at her, “It does not work like energy. It is like, I am not sure. It feels, as if it is alive inside of me. Whatever it is, it talks to me in my sleep.”
“Abby?”
“Yes?”
“Are you sure you are fine?”
She smiled at me and seemed to shrug of what had just happened. “Oh, I am perfectly fine, nothing is wrong at all. You should get some rest,” she quickly left, before any of us could respond.
Lory looked at me, “That was strange.”
“Yeah, I might need to check in with her soon. That black tentacle seemed to be interested in me.” I sighed, “It might be good if I do that now. Lory, Haley, will you be okay?”
They both nodded. I gave Lory a kiss and hugged Haley, then I left the house. After looking around for a little while, I saw Abby disappear into her house. Quickly I followed her. Instead of barging in, I looked through the window with the opened curtain and saw Abby sit down on a chair. Square is also in the house, he seemed to be sleeping in his basket. I could hear Abby clearly when she spoke up. “Look, that is just Steve, you did not have to scare him like that.”
Another voice spoke up, I could not see where it came from. “I am sorry, Abby. It is just, he smells interesting.”
Abby chuckled, “Then we mutually agree on that. I know you are a defector, making you a bit weaker, but, you are still immortal. Since you are inside of me, I am immortal too.”
The unknown voice spoke up. “To be fair, it is quite fun to die.”
Abby giggled, “Yes, it is. It is hard for me to pretend like nothing is up. But ever since you woke up in that mushroom cave, we have been having such great chats. And when you promised me I wouldn’t die when I tried stabbing myself, it worked. I came back.”
Abby got up, and I moved aside, making sure she could not see me. She stretched, “Perhaps it is time for you to take control again. I am tired, do you mind if I take a nap, Mimic?”
“Not at all, Abby.”
This seemed to be something private, she just has some kind of split personality. I walked away, thinking Abby will be fine. She is just talking to herself, how bad can that be? After I made my way back home, Lory looked at me, Haley had fallen asleep. “And, is Abby alright?”
I shrugged, “She is talking to herself. I think she might have mentally snapped.”
Lory put her hand on her chin, “It is better not to mention it to Funk.”
I nodded, “I don’t think she is going to harm anyone, or be a problem. If she just needs some private time to speak with her other personality, then I guess we need to give it to her.”
Lory put Haley’s right wing over her body, making it some kind of blanket, then she pulled another blanket over Haley.
I sat down on the chair. Lory walked over, “Are you alright?”
“Not really, this does not feel like home. If it were not for you, or Haley, I would be lost. Some of these people feel like strangers. Or like old friends you made in high school and seeing them at a high school reunion.”
Lory sighed, “I know, and separating fake from real is hard. My dream memories, have been coming back more and more, like from before I met you in that world. This, feels fake to me.”
I nodded, “Yes, but we have a duty to save this reality. Then we can find our friends. I am certain, destiny, fate, whatever you want to call it, wants us to find them.”
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Lory smiled at me, “I am going to make a cup of coffee, do you want a cup of coffee as well?”
“Yes, darling, I would love that.”
After a minute, she gasped, “There are pickles!” I sighed as I pulled out the book from the library, and a pen.
I opened the empty book as Lory put down a cup of coffee for me, and I saw her sit down on the other bed that had been put down. As I scrolled through the empty book, I suddenly saw one page with letters. That is strange, when I checked it in the library it was empty. I am sure of it. I put down the pen and looked at the page, it seemed to be some kind of letter, I started reading it. Hello anyone, I am sending this letter back in the hopes it will reach my mom and dad, to let them know I am not dead. My name is Haley Bloomington, my dad is Steve Bloomington, my mother is Alice Bloomington. They got married in a dream world. After an incident while travelling through time, I got lost in the time stream.
Then I found myself stranded here, in the land that is lost in time. Things are wacky in here, it took a lot to send this letter back into the time stream, I am not sure where it will end up. I am not strong enough to destabilize this land. While performing the ritual to bring this letter back. A massive creature attacked me, by using energy and ki, I managed to kill it. However, in the battle I got injured, I feared for my life. When suddenly a woman found me, she had a fucking guinea pig with her. She seemed to be a doctor and called herself Megan.
She patched me up and asked me if I had seen Mydude. After a bit of asking, she told me his name is Riley, they got separated in the time stream. We are both stuck here, and I fear more people are stuck here too. Whoever is reading this, please send a backup. Time is not relative here, time passes slow, or fast, the mood of this place changes. I am not strong enough to get out, send reinforcements, strong fighters, then we can travel the land and get out of here, I just want to see my mom and dad again. Greetings, Haley Bloomington.
I got up, “Lory, you need to read this.” She looked at me while eating a pickle. She stood up and walked over.
Lory read it, “Megan is fine?”
“It depends on your point of view of being fine. At least she is still existing somewhere. We need to find a way to get there as well. It also mentions Riley, he ended up somewhere. What about Valentine and Bob?”
Lory sighed, “This is already more than we had. Steve?”
“Yes?”
“Can we have a date tonight? Under the moonlight? Just the two of us?”
I smiled, “Yes, of course.”
She smiled, “Good, I have a gift for you.”
“Oh, that sounds intriguing. Look, I wanted to write down some thoughts, but should I go see Bella about this first?”
Lory nodded, “You should do that, she might be able to help us.”
I got up and kissed Lory, “Alright, I am off to the hangar.” Quickly I ran outside while taking the book with me. Many things started going through my head.
There is another me? One that fell in love with Alice? How strange, I ran into the hanger and looked at Bella working on the airship. She slowly walked over while covered in grease and elemental residue. “What is going on, Steve?”
“Do you know of a land that is lost in time?”
Bella shook her head, “I never heard about that place, why do you ask?”
I showed her the letter. Bella looked at me, “That is strange. What is ki?”
I shrugged, “You are the scientist here.”
Bella gave me the book back. “I will see if I can crack what it is, but if it is similar to that island in the sky, a portal is not going to take you there. They have a magic shield, this place seems like you can only get when you are lost in time. Hence, the name. You travel through a long portal, or a time stream and something bad happens, then it would end up there, including people.”
I put my hand on my chin, “Like a massive laser hitting you as you are about to travel through a portal?”
Bella nodded, “That could be the trigger, now, I am not saying you should get blown up by a laser while entering a portal. This is all just speculation. This seems important to you, Steve, is it because another Haley is involved?”
I shook my head, “Megan is family, she is a good friend of mine.” I smiled, “We had such great moments together.”
Bella nodded, “I understand, I will do my best to try to find a way to get there.”
“Thanks, Bella, if you need any information on Megan, please let me know.”
She nodded, “Do you need anything else?”
“No, I am going to get ready for a date, I need to decompress a bit.”
Bella smiled at me, “You are a remarkable man, Steve, never forget that, I am glad you exist, you are living up to most of ”
“What? That was out of the blue. But, I will take it, thanks Bella, you are not so bad either.” Then I walked away, wondering what in god’s name has been going on here for the last three weeks.