Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 80b: Paul

It was a chilly day.

And the sun wasn’t out.

Paul was holding onto a bouquet of flowers, looking on at the oncoming crowd of students coming his way. His palms felt clammy and hot. Paul looked past the conglomerate but couldn’t spot who he was looking for.

“Maybe I should just give these to her in class,” Paul thought. Yes. That’s exactly what he was going to do.

The bell rang, and Paul quickly rushed to math class. As soon as he walked in he heard chatter all around him. Newton wasn’t exactly the best middle school around, but Paul wouldn’t have met Jane.

Paul’s eyes darted around the classroom, and then, he spotted her! She was sitting with her friends. They were chatting and gossiping about whatever was the latest news.

“Did you hear about that one guy, Ben?”

“Hm? Oh him? Loner boy?”

“Yeah, apparently he got a HUGE glow up or something. It’s crazy. He doesn’t even look the same anymore.”

“That fast over just a few days? Impossible.”

“Well it happened.”

“So what are you saying you wanna go out with him?”

“What? Ew, no girl. Didn’t you hear? He was into some other girl named Ariana or something like that. When she rejected him he was bawling his eyes out for days. I’m not going out with a guy like that.”

“Jane?” Paul called out, walking up to the group of girls with the bouquet of flowers behind his back. Jane looked at Paul with a sweet smile.

“Yes Paul?” she asked.

Paul showed her the flowers with a big, bright smile. The other girls began to giggle and nudge Jane.

“I got you flowers!” he exclaimed. All eyes in the classroom turned to him. Jane looked him in the eye, smirked, and then batted the flowers away. The bouquet collapsed onto the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. The whole classroom gasped, and Jane and her friends began to laugh.

“You think I’d like you Paul? You’re an idiot if you think otherwise. Get out of my sight,” Jane sneered. Paul’s smile dropped. He moped back to his seat and plopped down with a deadpan expression. He felt his eyes burn up and his throat ache.

“Ow,” Paul thought as he stared at his desk.

Tears dripped forward from his face, coating his cheeks with salt and water.

He never really got into love after that.

~

“Ben! Please pick up your phone, now!” Paul screamed into his phone.

BEEP!

“Yoo. Ben’s out right now,” the voicemail beeped, “Just leave a text or something.”

BEEP!

“He didn’t answer your phone either?” Carlos asked. Ian grumbled, shaking his head while John seemed distraught. Paul shook his head, putting his phone away.

“No luck. He’s really gone. I even went to his home the other day, but there were no cars there. There’s only one option.”

“He moved.”

“But WHY?!” John suddenly screamed out, “Why wouldn’t he tell us?!”

“And on his birthday too!” Ian hollered.

“I really don’t know,” Paul said, “I just-”

Paul’s expression dropped. His head hung low, and he looked at his friends solemnly.

“Let’s all just go home. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

Everyone agreed. They all slowly walked away, leaving Paul the only one to remain at this lonely, lonely school. Paul rubbed his eyes and walked out the front door, sitting on a large, cement bench.

“Why would he do this?” Paul thought as he clenched his fist, “Why would he have to leave?”

As Paul pondered the circumstances, a woman walked up to the bench and took a seat on the edge. Paul shot a glance at the woman. She was wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. She had a solemn look on her face, as if she just lost a friend too. She looked up and into Paul’s eyes.

“What do you want?” Paul snapped at her. She softly sneered, but it faded away as she continued to look into his eyes.

“I knew him too, Paul.”

Paul was taken aback. His mouth opened in shock.

“How’d you know my name? Are you spying on me-”

“No. I’m not. And I’m not a stalker either if that’s what you’re thinking,” she replied, “I’m just saying that I knew Ben too.”

Paul frowned. He sighed, and looked down at the ground.

“You know he left, right? He moved.”

“I’m aware,” she sighed, “It happens. I get it. I…”

She paused. She looked up at the sky. It was beginning to turn night.

“What were you about to say there?” Paul asked.

“Nothing,” she bluntly replied.

Paul shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“I still don’t get it. How can you tell?”

She blinked her eyes.

“Eyes. Look into their eyes and see what story it tells.”

Paul squinted his eyes at her.

“Righttt-”

“Look. Test it on that couple,” she said, pointing at a boy and girl walking hand in hand. They chirped compliments to one another and seemed lovestruck. Paul blinked his eyes a few times, and then peered as far as he could into each one.

Paul could feel a slight embrace from each one. The running train that was a heartbeat. But it faded away to nothing, leaving nothing but the sound of arguing and yelling. Then, it faded to nothingness, leaving Paul struck with horror. She smirked at his reaction.

“Told you. Not so hard is it?”

“No it isn’t.”

She patted him on the shoulder, getting up from the bench with a smile and closed eyes.

“You’re a good guy, Paul. It’s a shame that Jane had to go about and ruin your heart. Don’t be afraid to love again, okay?”

Paul wasn’t even surprised anymore. He smiled back with a big grin.

“Well, thank you! Thank you so much for the… uh, advice? I guess? But hey I never got your name! What’s your name?”

She turned around.

“Oh? Oh yeah! My name is…”

She suddenly paused. She blinked her eyes, and looked up at the constellations with a glare.

“Nevermind. I shouldn’t say. They’re watching right now.”

“Wha- What do you mean? Elaborate!”

“...You wouldn’t get it even if I told you. Flashbacks, am I right?” she said, looking back with a wink. She looked up at the constellations one more time, clenching her fists and staring at one in general. Paul looked up to see nothing in particular. He wasn’t exactly the greatest with imagination, but one of the constellations looked like a dragon.

“Oh, and one more thing Paul. John and Carlos have it handled!” she yelled at him. Paul raised his eyebrow.

“What do you mean by that?! What about Ian?! Doesn’t he play a role in… whatever?”

“You’ll see soon enough Paul! Just don’t worry, okay? Just relax and let your body take over. Carlos will help you, it’ll all be handled!”

“Just don’t give up, no matter what!”

~

The memory was over in an instant, and Paul gasped as he let out a gasp of air. He could hear John and Carlos’ weeping, and his body in their arms. Tears dripped onto his face that weren’t his. He felt some strange creature sniff at his arm and rub its head against him.

“What do we do Carlos?!”

“Give him CPR!” Carlos decided. He placed both his hands on Paul’s chest and began to press on it repeatedly. Paul let out a groan, and Carlos began to profusely apologize. He removed his hands. Paul blinked his eyes, and his friends continued to weep. He raised his hand up and grabbed Carlos by the shirt.

“You,” Paul muttered to him, “You gotta help me. You’re the only one who can.”

“How am I supposed to do that though?”

“You’ll figure it out… But that's all… Up to you,” Paul muttered. He could feel his heart pounding through his chest as blood gushed from his body. Carlos placed his hand against Paul’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. Then an idea sparked in his mind.

“His heart’s beating too fast!” Carlos realized, “Paul… if we put you under some form of anesthesia it’ll stop beating so fast! You’ll lose less blood and we can figure out how to close the wound!”

“But we don’t know how to make that! You don’t have a recipe Carlos!”

Carlos looked at John with vigor and determination in his eyes. He tightened the apron on his chest, and took his trusty pot out.

“Screw recipes. We’ll just make it from scratch. We’ll use the black berries in the bushes or something. Combine it with a few other stuff… and that should knock him out.”

Carlos took a satchel of cherries off Paul’s hip, and then afterwards took out a ton of black berries of his own. He rushed to the campfire and afterwards placed the pot above it. He poured both of the berries inside.

“The substance will be too thin!” Carlos realized, “And then Paul can’t drink it… We need something solid to even it out!”

John rushed into the house, opened up the preserving bin, and pulled out a bunch of raw but spoiled meat. He rushed back to the pot and gave it to Carlos. Carlos looked at John as if he were crazy, but John shrugged.

“We don’t have any other option Carlos! This is the best we got!”

Carlos gritted his teeth and dropped the spoiled meat into the pot. He reached down for the campfire, took two sticks, and afterwards rubbed them together as fast as he could. In just a moment, the fire sparked, lighting the pot up. Carlos reached for his jar and poured some water into the pot. The ingredients began to rise up and heat up, slowly mixing together.

Carlos didn’t know it, but his implant was glowing.

Carlos looked back at Paul, his chest was still rising up and down. Carlos pointed at Paul.

“John, put pressure on the wound so it stops bleeding!”

John rushed over to Paul and ripped a chunk of his shirt off, pressing it against Paul’s stomach. Paul sighed. The fire was beginning to crackle faster, and the water began to boil.

In just a minute, the ingredients had dissolved within the water, leaving a thick red liquid behind. Carlos took his jar out and afterwards picked up the steaming pot. It scorched his hands, and he winced, but it didn’t matter. He poured the liquid into the jar, and once he was done he dropped the pot onto the ground.

Carlos quickly rushed over to Paul and brought the jar to his lips. Paul weakly opened his mouth, and Carlos gently poured it into his mouth. Paul swallowed it all, leaving no drops behind. Now they were just waiting for him to fall asleep.

But something even more miraculous happened.

The hole in Paul’s abdomen began to close in!

John and Carlos gasped, and Paul’s eyes were open in shock. As soon as the hole closed up, Paul placed his hand over his abdomen, rubbing it as if it were going to fall apart, but it didn’t. Paul slowly stood up, looking at both his friends one by one, until finally he grinned.

“I knew I could count on you.”

A teary smile grew on Carlos’ face, his eyes still bloodshot and his cheeks dry with tears. He let out a cheer and hugged Paul. Then John rushed in too and hugged Paul.

“I’m so happy you’re safe! Oh I’m so happy!” John cried as they all hugged it out. The albino capybara let out a snort and began to jump around happily. They all began to laugh, and they pulled apart from their embrace. But the mood quickly changed as they realized that there was still unfinished business with the Crimson Crusader.

“Paul… I’m really glad we saved you. But there’s still more problems that need to be resolved. Ben’s been kidnapped,” John revealed. Paul’s smile fell, and he clenched his fists.

“That damn June…”

“We’re going to get her, right? We’re going to jump her? Who KNOWS what she’ll do to Ben!” Carlos yelled.

“I think Ben can handle his own. She loves him, after all. She didn’t kidnap him for information. She might have sinister plans for him, but for now we must prepare,” Paul said. He turned to Carlos, “Your concoction was no coincidence or miracle. It was YOU. You brewed that drink up and it had healing properties. I have a feeling I wouldn’t be talking right now if not for your attribute… So you’re going to have to make more of that drink. And, perhaps other foods too. I bet that’ll help.”

“Aye aye, sir,” Carlos saluted him. He immediately got to work.

Paul turned to John next.

“And you? You’re gonna have to help me make a saddle for that Moso-saurus. And some cannons. And cannonballs. And maybe tame a few creatures along the way.”

John grinned, “Sounds like a plan, leader man.”

And so the preparations began. They would just have to hope that the Crimson Crusader didn’t do anything crazy to Ben. But it wouldn’t have mattered either way. As soon as they reached the castle doors and found her…

She’d regret everything she’d done to them.