Chapter 3: Phase Out

Chapter Three: Phase Out

            Psi’s eyes flew open, and were immediately flooded with fluorescent white light. He quickly shut them again due to the sudden brightness, and struggled to put the pieces of his rattled mind back in place. What had happened? Why had he been unconscious? He could tell that he was lying on the ground, and that he was outdoors, but he had no recollection of how this came to be. The ground felt rough and sandy, and the air was dry and hot. He figured he must’ve looked straight at the sun when he opened his eyes earlier. That explained the brightness.

With eyes still shut, Psi slowly propped himself up with his arms, feeling incredibly weak but not seriously injured. His head hurt unbearably, and his body moved almost as if he were a ragdoll, and someone else was manipulating his sluggish, disjointed movements. Trying to swallow revealed how parched his throat was; it felt as if he hadn’t had a drink in ages. Dehydrated, weak, and feeling alienated from his own body, Psi was a mere puppet before Death’s door.

He could no longer sit up so he tried to lie back down, resulting in a sudden loss of strength in his arms. The impact of his head smacking across the hard dry ground made him see stars.

Stars…Psi got the feeling that there was something important he was forgetting, and that it was related to his current sorry state. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t remember a thing. And now his headache was even worse than before.

Still lying on his back, Psi finally opened his eyes again. From what he could see, he seemed to be in a dry, barren flatland. There was sand and dirt, but not much else to see. No plants, no water, and no animals. There were no people, and no signs of civilization even in the distant horizon.

He looked up at the sky, careful to avoid staring at the sun this time. It was clear and blue today, with only a few clouds strolling along lazily without a care in the world. How nice for them, Psi thought.

I suppose…I’m just supposed to die here. Without even knowing why.

The thought didn’t frighten Psi. He hadn’t had the best life, after all. Far from it. His life had been one of isolation. A life where he had been consistently shunned and hated for being different. Others could not accept him, even when he tried his best to fit in. His existence was one that was unnecessary. He had been thrown away by everyone. He was a freak, a heretic. A monster.

But even so, this monster still wants to live.

Psi gathered his strength and sat up once again. He really didn’t like doing this sort of thing, since it usually meant big trouble for him. It was silly to worry about that now, since there was no one around anyway. He wasn’t even sure if there was any chance of him getting help, but he had to try something. He was dead either way, so he’d rather at least make an attempt to survive.

Psi closed his eyes and blocked out his surroundings. He needed to focus; his physical senses would only be a distraction to him now. He focused with all his might, mustering as much strength as possible in his weakened state. What he was planning was crazy. He had never even attempted something like this. Even so, it was his only chance at survival. He pushed himself to go on. The only way to make it work was to believe he could do it. Allow it to take shape in his mind.

But nothing was happening.  

 Psi focused harder, clutching his fists so tight that they hurt. He was determined to succeed. He had no other choice. Still holding his concentration, Psi shakily forced himself to his feet. He opened his eyes, but they saw nothing. All that mattered was his will to live, and his Focus.

Soon, Psi’s eyes began to glow. His previously grey irises now shone like candles of light-blue flame. Psi could feel the warmth buzzing around his head, telling him that he was ready. However, in his current state, he knew that he could not hold out for long. It was now or never. He had to release it.

“I’m going to live!” he screamed.

A burst of bright blue-white light shot out from Psi’s body, soaring high into the sky. Psi watched in wonder as the light flew higher and higher, up until it began to arc in midair and fall back towards the earth. It resembled a shooting star, and was large too, being about the size of a person. For the first time, Psi had added his own brushstroke to the celestial painting. Too bad it wasn’t nighttime. He laughed weakly, watching the light come back down towards him. It seemed to remind him of something, but he couldn’t quite place it.

I should probably move now, right? Psi tried to move, but immediately collapsed face-first into the ground. He lacked the strength to get back up, and crawling would never get him out of the way in time. He shut his eyes in anticipation of the self-inflicted painful death that was soon to come.

Perhaps this is what they refer to as irony, Psi thought to himself. I try to make a beacon to save my life, and end up killing myself with it instead. It was really quite funny. So funny, that despite his situation, Psi began laughing uncontrollably, lying in the sand and dirt. He figured he should at least see how his death plays out, so he painfully turned over to lie on his back, choosing to stare down the great blue-white body of light heading for him. This was it. It was the end. He took a deep breath and--

“Are you stupid!?”

Just before Psi’s ‘star’ could collide with him and end his life, a bright orange ball of light about the size of a human head rammed right into Psi’s energy, knocking it away from him at the last moment. Psi’s eyes followed the two bodies of into the distance as they disappeared on the horizon and exploded in a mix of color. The sound of footsteps approaching his head told him that someone was standing beside his immobilized body. He sure hoped they were friendly.

“What the hell were you thinking?” the same voice as earlier asked. Judging by the voice, it was a young woman, probably not much older than Psi. He slowly turned his head to the other side so that he could see the person who had approached him.

Standing there with her arms crossed and looking decidedly peeved was a tall girl Psi could only describe as strange. She had long blonde hair and a pale complexion�"meaning she must be an Arlian�"and her eyes were a fiery orange color, which was very rare, even for an Arlian. What Psi found even stranger than her heritage--it was unusual for Arlians to come to Ban’nu, assuming he was still in Ban’nu, even he didn’t even know anymore�"was her clothing. She was wearing a form-fitting black-and-orange short-sleeved top, with matching skin-tight shorts. Psi did not recognize the material, and had never seen that type of clothing. But then again, Psi had rarely ever seen Arlians before, so maybe this type of clothing was normal for them. Furthermore, she had two handguns in their holsters attached to a belt she was wearing. Hopefully she wasn’t planning on using those on him.

“Are you just gonna keep staring at me or are you gonna answer me, huh?” the girl said, clearly angry about something.

When Psi spoke, his voice came out unexpectedly weak, “What was the question?”

The girl clicked her tongue in irritation. “I was asking how you could be so f*****g dumb as to try and blow yourself up, dipshit.”

Psi was caught off-guard by her rudeness, but understood what she was talking about. So she had seen it. That was the point, after all, so Psi should have been happy. But instead, he was more confused that this girl hadn’t been shocked by his power. And what was that orange ball of light that crashed into his?

“Oh, that? It was an accident. Never tried that before.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Then you probably shouldn’t try it again anytime soon.”

No complaints here. But do you have to be so rude about it?

The girl knelt down by Psi’s head. “Can you get up yourself? Or will I need to drag you outta here?”

Psi didn’t think there was any chance of getting up in his state, but the idea of being dragged across the sandy dirt wasn’t too appealing.

“If you help me up, I think I can manage,” he responded.

The girl gestured for Psi to extend his hand, and he complied. She then grabbed it and helped him up�"rather roughly he thought�"and allowed him to lean against her. He draped one arm around her shoulders and she wrapped one of her arms around his waist for support. Psi wasn’t particularly short, and this girl was still a little bit taller than he was.

Looking at her closely, Psi realized this girl couldn’t be more than a year or two older than Psi. And though he had almost never seen an Arlian woman before, he thought she was quite pretty. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable with their current physical intimacy.

It finally occurred to Psi that he was just going along with her flow without understanding the situation. I suppose I’m still a bit disoriented. He had a ton of questions, such as who this girl was, where that orange ball of light came from, why or even if she was helping him, and if she had any water for him to drink--but one thing was probably the most important to say right now.

“I thought for sure I would die out here. Thank you. I am in your debt, um…”

“Alice. Alice Greenwood,” she said, while still walking ahead.

“Pleased to meet you, Alice. I am Psi.”

She gave him a look. “Psi? What the hell kinda name is that? Doesn’t even sound Ban’nuin.”

“I was wondering if you would be so kind as to tell me where in the world we are right now,” Psi asked, changing the subject.

The girl looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re kidding. You mean you came out here without knowing what this place is? And you’re Ban’nuin, too. All the Ban’nuin know to avoid this hell-on-earth. Thought you must’ve had some reason to come here.”

“Sorry, I have no memory of how I got here. Please, any information would really help me understand what’s going on.”

The girl laughed and said, “This is Dry Bone Valley, former site of the Ban’nuin capital city of Balaal.”

Psi stopped in his tracks, forcing the girl to stop as well. “W-what?”

She looked pissed to have been stopped by him. “The f**k is your problem?”

Psi was in a cold sweat. His heart was pounding in his ears. It took a moment for him to calm himself down enough to speak again.

“W-what do you mean…the ‘former’ site of Balaal? You mean to say this barren wasteland is all that’s left of the capital?”

Psi was totally confused. What could she be talking about? Surely, there must have been some mistake! He was just in Balaal…until, he ended up in this desert…

“Duh. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise you know. You’re kinda freaking me out. Maybe your memories really are missing.”

“Why shouldn’t this come as a surprise? I live in Balaal!” Psi said, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

Her eyes narrowed, oozing skepticism. “Don’t bullshit me. That’s completely impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

 “Because Balaal was wiped off the map fifty f*****g years ago of course.”

 

            

Author's Note

Please leave your thoughts and feedback! There will be more to come! Also please check out my book Lotus Eaters, which is available here and is related to this book!