The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 23.5: Time Paradox

Part 1/11

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked as he leaned against the wall of his hut. Sunny had a troubled look on her face, her eyes squinted and her head hung in shame. Her bright orange hair seemed duller than usual.

“Ben, do you ever regret not finishing your story?” she questioned as she looked up with remorse.

Ben paused, then put his fists in his pockets. More vines continued to ensnare his limbs as he struggled to find the right answer.

“Yes. And no, at the same time,” Ben answered honestly, “I never really told you why I stopped working on my story, did I?”

“No. You never did,” Sunny replied, her eyes darting around the area. The others were still asleep. But Sunny knew that Ben hated revealing his secrets to people he didn’t trust. People like Samuel could make way with that information and use it against him, to either emotionally bribe Ben or get him on his side. Ben took his hands out of his pockets again and clasped them together, trying to feel some sort of semblance. Some sort of semblance to affection.

“I never finished my story because I-”

SWOOSH!

The air around them began to crackle, and suddenly the world around them began to corrupt. A chilling bellow echoed throughout their ears, as Ben and Sunny fell through time and space itself.

“Okay… I didn’t expect to be interrupted by THIS!” Ben shouted as he felt his words distort and replay all at once. The two of them looked around to see four figures falling with them. Samuel, Aurora, Neddy, and Ruby. But as Ben squinted his eyes, in the distance he could see a fifth. It was a girl with long, black, glittery hair.

“Who is that??” Sunny screamed.

SWOOSH!

In an instant, everything seemed to return to normal. A chilly wind brushed past their cheeks. They were in some small city that had stone paths and had buildings of the old days. It was the dark of night, and Ben felt a tight feeling on his body. He looked down to see himself in a black tuxedo with a red tie. Sunny was wearing an orange, modern dress that was the color of the sun.

“Where in the world are we?” Ben asked as he looked around, “And why do we have these uncomfortable suits on? What is going on here?!”

Before Ben continued to speak, he reached for his pocket, and let out a sigh of relief as he felt the soft touch of the hibiscus flower in his tuxedo pocket. He pulled it out a little and now it stuck out, like how a gentleman would wear it.

There were a few burning lights, but they could barely see whatsoever. The streets were barren, and it looked like a ghost town if they’d ever seen one.

“I don’t know, but something about this place looks familiar,” Sunny murmured as her head darted around the place, “Let’s look around. I saw the four recruits get transported with us. Maybe they’re somewhere around the area.”

The two began to wander the city, until eventually they spotted a woman marching toward them. The two stopped in their tracks, and as Sunny took a good look at her, her face washed with white.

“No, it can’t be,” Sunny whispered.