Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“Where…?” Caoilainn started to ask, but then stopped when she saw Memphis trying to climb down from the roof. “Memphis! You have no idea where we are! We might not even be on Earth!” I yelled. “Which is exactly why I’m going to ask where we are. People may get suspicious, but oh well.” He explained.

“Don’t you think they’ll be worried when they see someone like you? I mean, we’re normal looking but they are green and slimy and gross.” I said. Memphis chuckled. “We’re only normal looking to people that look like us. Who knows, we could be the ugliest thing ever to them, just like they are to us.”

I pouted. I didn’t want Memphis going down there, even if nobody did anything to him.

“I’m coming with you.” I said. “And if she’s going, I’m going.” My sister said, taking my hand. Memphis thought about this for a second. “Ok.” He said. 

We helped each other climb down. It wasn’t easy, and I was terrified because I recently had relived the memory of falling out of the tree, and I imagined that falling off a huge building would be worse than falling out of an apple tree.

Once we got down we began to walk. And as we walked, we were getting more and more shocked. The people looked exactly like us. Well, we were a bit prettier, what with our luminescent glow and violet eyes, but their skin definitely wasn’t green or slimy.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Memphis asked a random lady. She turned towards him. “Hmm?” She asked. “Do you know what this town is called?” The woman raised her eyebrows. “Washington D.C.”

Then, realization came across her face. “You’re names wouldn’t happen to be Caoilainn, Kyranee, and Memphis…would they?” “They are.” I replied.

She covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m Neasa Bowry.” “Is that name supposed to mean something to us?” I asked. “I’m here to warn you. You’re father sent me.” Neasa said. She pointed to us, so she didn’t mean Mr. Collis. 

“Our…father?” Caoilainn asked. “Yes. Don’t worry, he’s ok…for the time being. But I must warn you, do not trust Mr. Collis, or a man named Aedus.” She said. “Wait…why wouldn’t I trust my father?” Memphis asked.

She smiled at him, but it was a smile filled with pity. “You’re father is working for Aedus. When Mr. Egan and Mr. Collis discovered the portal, Mr. Collis pushed him in, which is why you are here. Only you three can save him. Not two of you, not one of you, and definitely not anybody else.” 

This was confusing. Caoilainn asked the question that Memphis and I were afraid to ask. “But what if one of us dies?” Neasa’s expression turned to one of pain. “Then there is no hope for your father, or our world. This is why you must watch out for one another. If you want you three and Mr. Egan to return home safely, then make sure to watch the others carefully.”

We nodded. “I will help you get a train to New York City, where your journey begins. But after that, I can only help you in emergencies. You may meet some people like me on your way. If they have this…” She showed us a tattoo of a portal on her arm, “Then you can trust them. Don’t worry about someone having the same tattoo. It is special, and they will let you touch it. Then you will know it is a good person, because the tattoo will give warmth to your fingertips.”

It was a lot to take in, but it was the most unsurprising thing that had happened today. “Can we eat first? Falling down a portal that makes you relive every single memory you’ve ever had in 5 minutes makes you weak.” Caoilainn said. “Of course, child.” Neasa said. Caoilainn scowled at the child remark.

Neasa was one of us, I realized that when she said our planet, and because her eyes were the same stunning violet as every other person from Zimphi. “Now it is my turn to ask a question. Which one of you is Caoilainn and which one of you is Kyranee?” She asked. 

“I’m Kyranee.” I spoke up. She smiled at me and then put a necklace around my neck with K.E. on it. Kyranee Egan, I realized. Caoilainn’s had C.E. on it, and Memphis’s had M.C. on it.

“And before you ask why you need these, just know that it is for identification purposes only.” She said. Well, that didn’t make much sense, but oh well.

She took us to McDonalds, a place I was skeptical about. It seemed dumb that a human would put a piece of meat between bread, when they could just eat the two separately. But when I tried it, I realized how good it was.

After we ate she took us to the train station and got us on the 6:00 a.m. ride to New York City. We were going to wait for a little more than an hour, so she bought us each a book at the gift shop. 

“Goodbye”, She said, “If you need anything, just think my name inside your head and I will come immediately.” After she said that, she walked off, and we were by ourselves.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Memphis whispered. “I know.” I replied. 

Our train arrived and we boarded it. And then after nearly 3 hours, we got off it.

This new city was strange. There was a ton of people walking around, one even stepped on my foot and didn’t even think to apologize. “I wish she would’ve told us who to see once we got here.” Caoilainn muttered.

“I know.” I replied. There was a slight breeze that tousled with my hair, and a scent came towards me. It smelled like how Zimphi smelled. I know how weird that sounds, but different planets have different smells. I started to run after where the smell had come from.

“KYRANEE! WAIT!” Memphis yelled. I looked back quickly and saw him and Caoilainn chasing after me. Out of breath, I stopped at where the smell ended. It was a large white building, with a big sidewalk leading up to a marble porch.

I went up to the door and used the lion shaped knocker to knock. A man opened the door, and I saw the portal tattoo on his arm. I touched it, and I felt warmer than I ever had, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable heat. 

“Kyranee or Caoilainn? The man asked. “Kyranee. But my sister and Memphis are coming.” I wheezed. “Ok. I’m Dagobitus.” He said, shaking my hand. 

Memphis and Caoilainn showed up a minute later, coughing and panting. “You…really…shouldn’t…run…like…that.” Memphis said between pants. Dagobitus took us through the mansion and had us sit down on some stiff, fancy couches.

“You can call me Dag.” He said. “Tea or Coffee?” He asked. All three of us said Tea. He gave us each a cup of Chai and a chocolate chip cookie. 

Dag took a cup of coffee and sipped it. “Neasa sent you?” He asked. We nodded. “You guys are friends?” I asked him. He shook his head. “No, Neasa is my wife.” “Wow.” I said. Dag wasn’t ugly, he was cute…but he didn’t seem like the type of guy that would attract Neasa, even though I didn’t know her very well. She was very petite and tiny, but Dag was big and buff.

“So…are you here to show us what to do next?” Caoilainn asked. “Sort of.” He said. “I’m here mostly for directions. Neasa took care of most of it, but every time you go to a new city you meet a new person. You’ll meet quite a few of us, though I’m not sure about the exact amount.”

“Where are we going next?” I asked him. “Kentucky. My sister lives there. Her name is Stediana.” “Really? That doesn’t really sound like a Zimphian name…It sounds more like a Earth name.” Memphis said. 

“We are humans.” He said. This time I asked the question, “But Neasa said that we had to save our world. Her included, as in it was her world also. How are you humans?”

“We are humans that grew up in Zimphi. They chose special, elite humans when they were just babies. We were adopted into a Zimphian couple, and when we grew up we became part of a group of people who serve and protect all Zimphians.”

“Is there anything else we should know about?” Memphis asked. “Not right now.” Dag replied, “I assume Neasa took you to New York City by train. I’m going to give you a much more stylish ride. First class plane tickets.”

“Sweeet.” Memphis said. 

Dag took us to the airport. I had a feeling that there would be quite a few trips like this, so I might as well get used to them.

We took off in the air and I dug my hands into the leather upholstery of my seat. “Peanuts?” The stewardess asked. “No thank you.” I whispered. My sister seemed to have the same frightened expression, but Memphis was having the time of his life, flirting with the pretty stewardess and eating all you can eat peanuts.

The plane ride was shorter than the train ride, it was about 2 and a half hours. We landed in Louisville, Kentucky, according to what the stewardess said over the intercom.

“I’m hungry.” Memphis complained. I rolled my eyes. “I would have never let you come along if I knew that you were going to act like a two year old. For Zimphi’s sake, your older than me! An 18 year old man, an adult, acting younger than a 16 year old girl.”

“Sorry Grandma.” He muttered. I thwacked him on the back of the head. “Ouch, daggonit Kyranee!” Caoilainn giggled. “What do we do now?” I asked the two of them. “We could go get some food.” Caoilainn suggested.

We went to a Panda Express. It was even better than McDonalds, even though I have no clue what a Panda is. In our world we don’t really have animals, at least not wild ones. Mostly farm animals and things you would see running around your house at night, like Raccoons.

I did have a dog though. His name was Jasper. I had named him after his beautiful red coat, because Jasper was a red gem. I missed the way he would jump up on my bed and curl up on the pillow next to mine, even though he put his butt up right to my face and demanded that I scratch it.

I rubbed my eyes. It was a struggle to stay awake, after all, staying up all night, falling down a hole that gave you the most painful memories ever, and then landing on a planet you knew nothing about except from myths and legends was quite exhausting.

“I’m going to go and lay down on one of the benches near the Food Court.” I said, yawning. Caoilainn and Memphis nodded and went back into their argument about which Star Wars character was best. Memphis liked Chewbacca, but Caoilainn liked Luke.

They had seen the first Star Wars movie while we were at Dag and Neasa’s house. We were there for quite a while, so we watched it. Now they both vowed to find a way to watch the Star Wars movies back in Zimphi.

As I began to drift of into sleep, a voice came in to my head and Neasa’s face clouded my eyes until it was all I could see. “Kyranee! Don’t fall asleep. Your sister needs you, use your necklace. Don’t worry about saying anything, just let the magic from your K.E. necklace flow into hers. You will save her.” She said, then she disappeared.

My eyes fluttered open. I looked over to where my sister and Memphis were sitting, only to see my sister coughing up blood. “CAOILAINN!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I ran over as fast as I could and grabbed her. With Memphis’s help, I pulled her outside and into an alley.

I took off my necklace and put it around her neck, and then put my two index fingers on the onyx circle in the center, and closed my eyes. Warmth flooded through me, and Neasa’s voice came to me. “Think of pleasant memories with your sister.” She said.

I thought about the time an Ice Cream Truck broke down near our house and we ransacked it and got a ton of ice cream, and then had a sugar rush. I remembered the first time we ever went to the movies, we had gone to see Falkon with Memphis. But the best memory of all was when I was in the hospital 5 years ago with appendicitis and she hadn’t left my side the whole time.

I felt the warmth leave my body, and I instantly got very cold. I curled up next to Memphis for warmth. “Are you as cold as I am?” I asked him, still thinking about good memories. “No.” He answered. He was blinking back tears. 

I heard a strange Ping! sound and looked to see the onyx circle on Caoilainn’s necklace turn scarlet red, and then color returned to her cheeks and her eyes fluttered open.

 

She coughed and then turned to look at me. “I’m alive?” She asked. I nodded and began to cry tears of joy. I hugged her tight, and Memphis did also. I put my arms inside my jacket after I hugged her… I was FREEZING! Caoilainn looked at me and then said, “Kyranee, your really pale. And your eyes aren’t violet, their white.” 

“What?” I hissed. Neasa again came into my mind. “It won’t be for long. You’ll have to rest for a while so that you can get your color back. She drained the life out of you by taking away all the magic within your necklace.”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, like. “If she had drained the life out of me, then why was I still standing here?” and “I thought the necklaces were for identification purposes only, what’s going on?”

Surprisingly, she answered those questions. “She did drain the life out of you, and technically your immortal for the time being, but it only lasts a day or so. So go jump off a building or something, because for the next 24 hours you don’t have to worry about pain or death. And I lied about the necklaces, I didn’t want to bombard you with too much information. Oh and incase your wondering how I answered your questions, I can hear your thoughts if I tune into you. But I tend to stay out of people’s minds unless I sense their in trouble.”

Dang.