Ch. 5: The Prism's Past

POV: Kyle

I woke up with a massive headache, in a place I didn’t recognize. The glare from the sun hurt my eyes as I examined my surroundings. There were lush green hills dotted with trees and flowers stretching endlessly in every direction- something straight out of a movie.

In the distance, I saw a figure coming towards me; I squinted at it. It looked like a man, but a really short, chubby man. He was getting close, and he was coming straight for me, but I wasn’t sure if I’d need to defend myself from something that looked so small and harmless. I knew that I could’ve easily outrun him if I needed to, but I felt so weak and tired, so I wasn’t very confident in that option.

Although he was standing right in front of me, the sun shone behind him, so all I could see was the black silhouette of his body. The brightness of the sun made my eyes heavy; I was fighting to keep my eyes open and stay alert. I saw him reaching down to grab me and tried to swing a punch, but my arms felt like lead- I couldn’t move. Somehow, even though adrenaline was pulsing through my body, I slowly blacked out.

When I woke up, I was sitting on a really short couch with my knees to my chest and a blanket over me. I looked around to see I was inside of a very small, log cabin. The small man walked into the room carrying a tray with a teapot and cups. He set the tray on the table and sat in the chair across from me.

“Who are you?” I croaked.

“No one important. Now, drink your tea,” he instructed.

“Why? What did you do to it?” I asked skeptically.

“It’s soothing tea; it will help with the pain,” he said casually and took a sip from his own cup.

As I sat up, pain shot through my whole body, making me feel dizzy. I groaned as I reached for the cup. In my hand, the tea cup looked like it could have belonged to a doll. It reminded me of the times Dylan and I had been dragged into Amy’s tea parties. Dylan! How could I be thinking of how strange a tiny cup is when I was in a strange tiny house, with a strange tiny man while Dylan was probably freaking out?

“What happened? Where am I?” I demanded.

“You had a pretty bad landing, interdimensional travel is pretty tricky, but it will get easier with practice.”

“Wait, what? Interdimensional travel? What are you talking about?” I panicked, wincing with the pain that came from raising my voice.

“Drink,” he ordered.

I watched him carefully and sniffed the tea as I held the cup to my mouth. It seemed like normal tea, and I hadn't been tied up or anything in my sleep, so I decided to take a sip. A warmth went over my body, and he was right, it did soothe the pain.

“Now, tell me where I am.”

“We are in the second dimension, but I’m sure that means nothing to you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked defensively.

“You’re a human, and I know you’re new to opening dimensional portals, so I’m sure you don’t know anything about the dimensions yet,” He explained.

“How do you know that? Are you the guy who sent us the packages?”

“No, but I was sent by him.”

“Why can’t he come himself?” I asked.

“It’s a long, complicated story.”

“Please tell me; I want to understand! Why did the prism choose me? What are we supposed to do? How will we know when and where we are needed? How did the prism give us powers?” I rambled anxiously.

“To answer that, I’d have to explain the origin of the prism,” he said.

“Will you?”

“I suppose… At the beginning of time, there was one plane of existence with a single king and queen inhabiting it. The king and queen both possessed powerful magic, and together, they were able to create other beings like them to inhabit their world. They built a city and ruled over the beings they created. Eventually, they gave birth to a daughter, and as she got older, they realized her magic far exceeded their own. With much time and careful work, she learned she could create any being she could imagine. She created every other being in existence, and when she married and became queen, she gave birth to eight sons.

“Sadly, darkness corrupted some beings she had created, and a Dark War was started among all creatures. The new king and queen knew that if they didn’t intervene, all creatures would become extinct. While trying to stop the war, the king and queen were killed, and their youngest son went mad with grief and joined the corrupted monsters. In order to protect the other beings, the other seven sons banished their brother and the corrupted monsters to a dimension of darkness. They created eight dimensions, one to contain each group of species that could live together in peace to prevent another interspecies war. Each brother looks after a dimension and upholds the barriers to prevent their youngest brother from getting through.

“Then, the brothers cast some of their power into a crystal prism. The oldest hid it in his dimension, your dimension. It was made to activate when their youngest brother gained enough power to break the barrier of his prison and choose eight people to grant powers so they could protect the world and stop their brother. That’s where you and your friend come in,” he explained.

“So, was it like our destiny to find the prism?” I asked.

“Not exactly, destiny isn’t set in stone. It has many paths it can take. The prism saw something in you, though, something it was looking for. Each brother had a different characteristic that made them strong; that’s what the prism looks for in the people who come into contact with it. Once all eight of you unite with your powers, you will be strong enough to stop the youngest brother from taking over all dimensions.”

“Wait, if these guys are as powerful as you say, why can’t they just stop their brother again?”

“Their remaining powers are used to maintain the borders between the dimensions. If they stopped to fight their brother, the barriers would be gone, releasing the monsters and allowing the war to continue,” he elaborated.

“If all seven of them are using their power to keep up the barriers, then how can he break through all of them by himself?”

“While their powers are constantly being drained to uphold borders, their brother has spent all this time honing his powers to break out of his prison. He has already succeeded in getting some of his monsters into other dimensions. If the prism has awoken and began choosing heroes, it must have sensed him getting close to breaking the barriers of his prison.”

“Ok, that’s scary,” I tried not to panic, “will he be able to come to my dimension?”

“His banishment should be strong enough to keep his physical form trapped in the eighth dimension. However, if he can open a strong enough portal, he may be able to cross over.”

“Great, anything else I should know?”

“Yes, actually, we have gotten off topic; I almost forgot to tell you the message I was given,” he said.

“From the man behind all this, right?”

“Yes, the oldest brother, the rightful king of all creatures. He instructed me to warn you that danger is coming fast, and you need to be ready.”

“Danger? Like monsters?” I worried.

“Likely so; I assume you will be needed to protect innocent people from their attacks."

“Just me and Dylan? How are we even supposed to know where to go? Or what to do?”

“The prism will tell you. If two of the chosen heroes touch the prism while it’s flashing, it will show you where you are needed.”

“What about the other heroes? Will we find them before the danger comes?”

“That I cannot tell you; time goes on, and the events that pass cannot be controlled or well-predicted. Worry about preparing yourself and Dylan, and the rest will fall into place,” he said calmly.

“But how are we supposed to find the others?”

“They will find you. When they are close to the prism, if it finds what it’s looking for, it will draw them to you, and they will be chosen just like you. You are their leader Kyle. You will show them the way.”

“But I don’t know the way,” I protested, “I don’t know the first thing about fighting monsters, so how am I supposed to teach other people? I’m not the right person for this!”

“You are the right person. I know it’s an intimidating position to be in, especially for a young man, but you have something in you that will make you a great leader. When the time comes, you’ll know what to do. Just follow your instincts, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. You are all in this together,” he said.

“This is a lot to take in.” I rubbed my sore head.

“Finish your tea,” he instructed.

I sighed and slurped down the remaining lukewarm tea.

“Better?” He asked.

“Actually, yeah,” I said.

“I told you the tea would help.”

“Alright, now will you answer some questions for me?” I set my cup down and sat up all the way.

“That depends. What do you want to know?”

“Are you like a dwarf or something?”

He laughed, “This dimension is home to creatures you would consider mythical or imaginary. Unicorns, elves, fairies; pretty much any fairytale creature you can think of all live here. Except for mermaids- those troublemakers belong in the third dimension, along with sea monsters. Sometimes, the creatures find a way to sneak through the barrier into your dimension, someone sees them, and they tell people about it, but no one believes them, so the stories are written off as myths, passed down, and recreated as silly stories to tell children.”

“Really? That’s kinda cool,” I thought.

“Perhaps, but it’s a mystery as to how they get into your dimension in the first place.”

“So, do like dragons live here too?” I asked curiously.

“No, more violent creatures like that live in the fourth dimension. This dimension isn’t nearly as safe as yours, but it is definitely one of the safer ones. The closer you get to the eighth dimension, the more dangerous the dimensions get, and that’s why it gets progressively harder to get to and from each dimension, to protect the peaceful species.”

I suddenly remembered Dylan didn't know what had happened to me, “Wait, what time is it? How long have I been gone?” I asked him.

“Who knows, time passes differently here,” he shrugged.

“Dylan is probably worried about me. How do I get home?”

“The blue button on your bracelet; it can take you anywhere, as long as you know where you want to go. If you imagine a place when you press the button, a portal should open to take you there,” He told me.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

I held my finger over the button and thought about going home to my bed, and then I thought about going to see Dylan as I pressed the button. A portal opened in front of me; this time I wasn’t sucked in. I was about to step into the portal when I turned around, “Hey, what’s your name anyways?” I asked.

“Cian,” he told me.

“It was nice to meet you, Cian.” I smiled.

“It was nice to meet you too, Kyle.”

As I approached the portal again, I rubbed my head as I remembered my bad landing. I thought for a second and did a dive-roll into the portal.

“And the next thing I knew, I rolled onto your front lawn,” I said.

“Incredible, so we really can travel to different dimensions.” Dylan’s brow crinkled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Somehow, I was still hoping all of this was some crazy dream. But this, this history, unknown to our entire dimension, it changes everything. It’s both exciting and terrifying how much you learned in one afternoon.”

“Yeah, it sure shed some light on a lot of things,” I said

“Like the gravity of it all. We’re going to need a lot more training than beating up a couple of pillows,” Dylan said.

“Then let’s get to work!”

I woke up with Dylan’s feet in my face, “Ew,” I gagged as I sat up, shoving his feet aside. The two of us somehow managed to fall asleep in Dylan’s twin size bed. My complaint woke Dylan up, and he glanced over at the clock on his nightstand, “Wow, it’s already past eleven,” Dylan observed.

“Well, we did have an eventful day yesterday. I’m exhausted,” I yawned with a stretch.

“Yeah, me too,” Dylan agreed.

“So what do you want to do?” I asked.

“Let’s get some breakfast; I’m starving.”

“Sounds good.”

We groggily got ourselves out of bed and walked downstairs into the kitchen. Dylan grabbed milk and cereal, and I grabbed us bowls and spoons. We sat down at the counter to eat; both of us scarfed down our cereal and slurped the milk.

I glanced over at the clock and saw it was 11:25, “Haha, we just finished breakfast and it’s almost lunchtime,” I joked.

“Lunchtime,” Dylan thought, “my family should be home soon.”

“Cool, what do you wanna do until then?”

“Video games?” Dylan suggested.

“Sure.”

Dylan and I walked to the living room and turned on the PlayStation 2. I grabbed the controllers and plopped down on the couch while Dylan put in Madden.

After a few rounds, Dylan’s family came home.

“Dylan?” His mom called when she walked in the door.

“Yeah mom?” He replied.

“Have you eaten yet? We brought home lunch,” she told us.

We jumped up at the smell of burgers and met his mom in the kitchen.

“Awesome, I’m starving! Did you get me anything?” I asked.

Dylan’s mom laughed, “Yes, I figured you’d still be here, so we got plenty of food.”

“You’re the best,” I exclaimed as Dylan and I began rummaging through the large McDonald’s bag.

“We already ate our food, so it’s all yours,” Dylan’s dad said.

“Thanks dad,” Dylan said with a mouthful of double cheeseburger.

We both downed a couple burgers and two large fries that were still warm and perfectly salted.

Needless to say- it didn’t take long for the two of us to finish all the food. We each washed down our food with a glass of water and went back to our game.

Amy came in the room with a pouty face, “Dylan, it’s my turn,” she whined.

“Not now Amy, we’re in the middle of a round,” he shooed her away from the screen.

“Mooooommyyyyy, Dylan won’t let me play,” she cried.

Dylan’s mom came in to deal with the dilemma, “Sweetie, that’s a big kid game. It’s too hard for you.”

“No it’s not! I AM a big kid!” Amy protested.

Their mom sighed, “Dylan, would you boys mind doing something else after this round so she can watch a show or something?”

Dylan sighed, “Yeah, that’s fine."

“Thank you.”

After we finished the round, Dylan turned the console off, put the controllers away, and went up to his room.

“So what do you want to do now?” I asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a nap,” Dylan groaned as he plopped onto his bed.

“I hear that,” I agreed and sat down at his desk chair.

Dylan laid his head in his hands and closed his eyes; I leaned back in his chair and put my feet up on his desk.

After a moment, I heard Dylan mumble, “Kyle, what’s in your backpack?”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I took my feet down and spun around.

“Why is there a light blinking in my face,” he complained.

“The prism!” I jumped up and rummaged through my bag. Sure enough, the prism was blinking.

“What does that mean?” Dylan asked.

“It means people are in danger. They need our help.”

“What? Now?” Dylan panicked.

“I guess so.”

“But we barely know how to use our powers!"

“That doesn’t matter! If we don’t go, innocent people are going to get hurt. We have to try.”

“How do we know where to go?”

I thought for a second, “The man I met from the other dimension said that we both need to touch it.”

Dylan reached out a shaky hand, and a projection of a map appeared with a red dot at the center.

“I know where that is,” Dylan said, “It’s just a couple towns over, but if the monsters are already there, walking won’t be fast enough, and it’s too far to run the whole way.”

I smirked, “Not if we-”

Dylan cut me off, “No, you are not giving me a piggyback ride while you run at super speed!”

“That’d be awesome and you know it. But I was actually going to suggest that we try out our rocket boots.”

“Great, just another anxiety-inducing afternoon for me,” Dylan complained.

“It will be fine,” I assured him.

“Are we really doing this?” Dylan asked nervously.

“Of course, come on!”

Photo Credit: Braxton Apana