Prologue
Don't concern yourself with who I am. For I am not a 'who'. Nor am I a 'what', 'when', 'where', 'why', or 'how'. We are supreme rulers of the universe. I rule over this planetary constellation. In other words, your universe. I'm also the Keeper of the Strands, which means I can see the past, present, and future of all beings that have existed and will exist. I can see all that has happened and will happen, in our and other universes. I am the 'seer' of all and 'doer' of nothing. I am bigger than the whole of space itself, yet smaller than an ant. I rule all, but have no power. But I don't expect humans to understand, because in general, humans don't seem to comprehend much of anything. Humans don't believe in anything bigger than themselves unless it can be seen and known for positive.
But none of the previous matters for now. The problem lies in the strands. I do not make decisions; on the contrary, I have choices. My choice now is to do something, or nothing. To do something would give the dimensions a chance to survive. To do nothing would mean total annihilation. A simple choice. My kind is not allowed to interfere. And that is where the journey begins…
Chapter 1
All was silent on the open field that day. A deer was daintily munching on the grass. Suddenly, the deer lifted its' head and pricked it's ears forward. There was a faint thundering in the distance. The sound got louder and nearer at a sudden rate, and the deer leaped into the woods just as a galloping horse passed it.
The horse and rider ran on. The rider saw a stream trickling in the distance. A slow smile crept over her face.
"C'mon Song, let's do it!" the rider whispered to her horse. The horse seemed to nod in agreement. As the duo approached the river, the horse gathered itself and leaped gracefully to the other side. The rider laughed ecstatically as she reined in her horse. The rider turned the horse to face the river and dismounted.
"That was a good ride, Song," the rider said as she rubbed Song's white forehead. The chestnut mare nickered in agreement. She led her horse over to the river, and Song started drinking gratefully.
As Song drank quietly, Asia Sterling looked out over the horizon. Her dark green eyes gazed out over the field while her vibrant red hair shone brilliantly in the evening sun. The wind caught wisps and tendrils of her hair and blew it over her face, and out behind her. Her tanned skin set off her eyes divinely. Her thin, slight structure gave her a beautiful look, almost making her seem frail. But her persona covered up for that. She had an aura about her, which made people realize she was a force to be reckoned with.
Asia looked longingly over the rolling fields of waist-high grass, and wished that she were out laying in it. She had a feeling of uneasiness, like there was something greater out there that she wanted to, no, needed to, be a part of. But those were just foolish thoughts, weren't they? She turned her mind to other thoughts. Thoughts about her visions…
Suddenly, a flash of light filled Asia's mind. She saw things, things that couldn't possibly be in front of her. First she saw a boy, about her age, but the image was veiled. It was like she was trying to see something, but through dense fog. "Who are you?" she managed to scream before the image changed. FLASH! Another blinding light filled her brain, and with that, the image changed. Now she was seeing a dog, but its tails, they were strange…Asia couldn't quite place what it was. All of a sudden, a blast of fire shot out of its' mouth, straight for Asia. "NOOOOO!" She screamed, just as the fire came upon her. FLASH! The image reverted back to that of the boy. She could feel his crystal blue eyes boring through her.
Just as suddenly as the vision had come, the vision faded before her eyes. She found herself on her knees, a very anxious Song nudging her with concern. Asia looked up, frantically trying to find what she was seeing, but to no avail. She decided to stand up, and her legs barely able to hold her. She leaned on Song for extra support.
"The visions seem so real," Asia thought, "am I going crazy? Why are they tormenting me?"
The visions had started about three months ago. At first, she had tried to block them out, and then she tried telling her parents. Both methods failed. Blocking them out made them more persistent, and telling her parents made them think she was crazy. Now she just kept them to herself. Mostly, her visions were about that boy. But sometimes, she had visions that glowed with the presence of evil. And in those visions, there was always a man, a man with a scar across his eye, and deep, dark eyes. A face that haunted her not only in her visions, but also in her nightmares.
She quickly mounted up on her horse. She no longer wanted to be out here. She felt the need to go home. Song picked up on this and started on their way home, running as fast as she could. Asia wasn't even concentrating on where they were going.
"That vision," she thought solemnly, "was the only one I've had with that weird dog in it. What could it mean?"
All of a sudden, there was a 'pop', and Asia disappeared, along with Song.
*****
Asia quickly regained consciousness. She found herself still atop of Song, who was prancing.
"Oh my gosh, Song, are you okay?" Asia asked, quickly dismounting. It was typical of her, always thinking of others before herself. She did a quick check of Song, talking to her gently and assuringly the whole time. After she had taken care of that, she looked around.
She found herself in nothingness. There was a white expanse as far as she could see. From what she could tell, she and Song were floating in the middle of it. As in, whiteness underneath her, on top of her, and to all sides of her.
"Am I in a coma or something?" she thought to herself. "I can't remember falling off though. Maybe I finally went crazy!"
NOT CRAZY MY DEAR GIRL. NOR ARE YOU IN A COMA.
The voice startled Asia. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, and then from nowhere. She thought she heard it with her ears, but then again, did she actually hear it?
"H...how did you know what I was thinking?" Asia asked. She stuttered a bit at first, but then she realized that if this thing was out to hurt her, giving it an intimidating appearance would be the best thing to do.
I KNOW EVERYTHING. Now Asia was more curious that afraid.
"Who are you? Or what area you?" Asia pushed.
I AM ALL THAT EXISTS. I AM NOT ANYTHING. BUT I AM SOMETHING. EVERYTHING IS SOMETHING.
"Is that hypothetical or rhetorical or something?" Asia asked. When she got no reply, she asked another question, "Why am I here? I…I don't understand what you are." The being chuckled sympathetically.
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE A HUMAN. HERE, MAYBE YOU CAN RELATE BETTER TO THIS FORM.
Suddenly, a blue mist formed a few feet ahead of Asia. The mist assembled and formed into the shape of an older man, maybe in his 50's. Asia stepped back in surprise. A small beard covered his chin, and his hair was a snowy white. His eyes were a bright blue, the same color as the glow that was cast about him.
"Is this better?" he said.
"Much, thank you." Asia replied as confidently as possible.
"Come with me." He said, and all of a sudden, Asia found herself somewhere totally different. Instead of it being totally white, it was pitch black, with a few stars dotting the 'sky'.
"These are the Strands. They are the mapping of the past, present, and future of everything that has, is, and will live." Asia was about to comment that she couldn't see anything, but the being moved his hand, and millions upon millions of golden ribbons unfurled across the vast expanse of the space. Asia was absorbed in the beauty of it all. The beings' voice snapped her back into reality.
"These are the 'timelines' of the beings of every universe. Every motion, bump, twist, dent, cross, and curl represents something different." He lifted his hand and one strand in particular glowed brighter than all the rest. "This one is yours."
Asia watched as other ribbons crossed over hers and her ribbon made slight curls and loops at times. There was one huge loop. The being pointed this out.
"This is you now." He said solemnly. The ribbon kept on doing its' own thing while Asia watched in awe.
"That would mean everything else would be what will happen in the future." Asia half questioned, half stated.
"Yes." Came the reply. Then Asia noticed one ribbon that stayed with her. One that didn't leave. The two ribbons twisted around one another for quite a while. Then they were separated by another line and a bump. Then there was a flash and all of the lines disappeared.
"No one needs to know all of their own future." The being said, a small smile on his lips. "All of the visions you had will be of great use to you on the mission you will be going on. There is more than one dimension. You, along with your world, exist in the third of five dimensions. The unrest is in the fourth of the five dimensions. You first must understand that the dimensions depend on one another to survive. Should one dimension fall apart or become unstable, all of them will parish. You are The Chosen. You exist in all of the dimensions at once."
"I don't understand." Asia said, genuinely confused. "You mean the fate of everything lies on me?"
"Of course. And the outcome of your mission. You may survive the mission, but the outcome may be wrong, still making the dimensions collapse upon one another. And that is considering you survive." Asia was struck silent. Then rage engulfed her entire being.
"If you're so powerful, why don't you do it?!" Asia practically screamed.
"Because I can't." he said calmly. "Make your choice now. Will you save possibly trillions upon trillions of people, or will you sit back and let the dimensions die at your doing."
"It's no use," Asia thought to herself, "he can read my thoughts, listen to my gut instincts. I wont sit back and do nothing." Asia regained her composure. Aloud she said, "I'll do it. But what will I need to do?" Asia turned her head from side to side, trying to find the being.
ALL YOUR SUPPLIES WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU WHEN YOU GET THERE. YOU MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH TO NO ONE. IN YOUR HEART, YOU KNOW THE MISSION. YOUR TIME WITH ME IS GROWING SHORT. THERE IS ONLY TIME FOR A FEW QUESTIONS MY CHILD.
Asia racked her brain, "How will I know where to go?"
THERE WILL BE A GUIDE. YOU WILL KNOW HIM. THE NOTE.
The last part confused Asia, but she kept on. "Will you be there to help me?"
I MAY AT TIMES. THIS IS YOUR JOURNEY, WHERE YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS. I CANNOT INTERFERE. THE OUTCOME IS NOT FOR ME TO SAY. YOUR TIME IS UP. GOOD LUCK.
There was yet another 'pop', and Asia landed in a world totally different than her own, naïve to everything.
Don't concern yourself with who I am. For I am not a 'who'. Nor am I a 'what', 'when', 'where', 'why', or 'how'. We are supreme rulers of the universe. I rule over this planetary constellation. In other words, your universe. I'm also the Keeper of the Strands, which means I can see the past, present, and future of all beings that have existed and will exist. I can see all that has happened and will happen, in our and other universes. I am the 'seer' of all and 'doer' of nothing. I am bigger than the whole of space itself, yet smaller than an ant. I rule all, but have no power. But I don't expect humans to understand, because in general, humans don't seem to comprehend much of anything. Humans don't believe in anything bigger than themselves unless it can be seen and known for positive.
But none of the previous matters for now. The problem lies in the strands. I do not make decisions; on the contrary, I have choices. My choice now is to do something, or nothing. To do something would give the dimensions a chance to survive. To do nothing would mean total annihilation. A simple choice. My kind is not allowed to interfere. And that is where the journey begins…
Chapter 1
All was silent on the open field that day. A deer was daintily munching on the grass. Suddenly, the deer lifted its' head and pricked it's ears forward. There was a faint thundering in the distance. The sound got louder and nearer at a sudden rate, and the deer leaped into the woods just as a galloping horse passed it.
The horse and rider ran on. The rider saw a stream trickling in the distance. A slow smile crept over her face.
"C'mon Song, let's do it!" the rider whispered to her horse. The horse seemed to nod in agreement. As the duo approached the river, the horse gathered itself and leaped gracefully to the other side. The rider laughed ecstatically as she reined in her horse. The rider turned the horse to face the river and dismounted.
"That was a good ride, Song," the rider said as she rubbed Song's white forehead. The chestnut mare nickered in agreement. She led her horse over to the river, and Song started drinking gratefully.
As Song drank quietly, Asia Sterling looked out over the horizon. Her dark green eyes gazed out over the field while her vibrant red hair shone brilliantly in the evening sun. The wind caught wisps and tendrils of her hair and blew it over her face, and out behind her. Her tanned skin set off her eyes divinely. Her thin, slight structure gave her a beautiful look, almost making her seem frail. But her persona covered up for that. She had an aura about her, which made people realize she was a force to be reckoned with.
Asia looked longingly over the rolling fields of waist-high grass, and wished that she were out laying in it. She had a feeling of uneasiness, like there was something greater out there that she wanted to, no, needed to, be a part of. But those were just foolish thoughts, weren't they? She turned her mind to other thoughts. Thoughts about her visions…
Suddenly, a flash of light filled Asia's mind. She saw things, things that couldn't possibly be in front of her. First she saw a boy, about her age, but the image was veiled. It was like she was trying to see something, but through dense fog. "Who are you?" she managed to scream before the image changed. FLASH! Another blinding light filled her brain, and with that, the image changed. Now she was seeing a dog, but its tails, they were strange…Asia couldn't quite place what it was. All of a sudden, a blast of fire shot out of its' mouth, straight for Asia. "NOOOOO!" She screamed, just as the fire came upon her. FLASH! The image reverted back to that of the boy. She could feel his crystal blue eyes boring through her.
Just as suddenly as the vision had come, the vision faded before her eyes. She found herself on her knees, a very anxious Song nudging her with concern. Asia looked up, frantically trying to find what she was seeing, but to no avail. She decided to stand up, and her legs barely able to hold her. She leaned on Song for extra support.
"The visions seem so real," Asia thought, "am I going crazy? Why are they tormenting me?"
The visions had started about three months ago. At first, she had tried to block them out, and then she tried telling her parents. Both methods failed. Blocking them out made them more persistent, and telling her parents made them think she was crazy. Now she just kept them to herself. Mostly, her visions were about that boy. But sometimes, she had visions that glowed with the presence of evil. And in those visions, there was always a man, a man with a scar across his eye, and deep, dark eyes. A face that haunted her not only in her visions, but also in her nightmares.
She quickly mounted up on her horse. She no longer wanted to be out here. She felt the need to go home. Song picked up on this and started on their way home, running as fast as she could. Asia wasn't even concentrating on where they were going.
"That vision," she thought solemnly, "was the only one I've had with that weird dog in it. What could it mean?"
All of a sudden, there was a 'pop', and Asia disappeared, along with Song.
*****
Asia quickly regained consciousness. She found herself still atop of Song, who was prancing.
"Oh my gosh, Song, are you okay?" Asia asked, quickly dismounting. It was typical of her, always thinking of others before herself. She did a quick check of Song, talking to her gently and assuringly the whole time. After she had taken care of that, she looked around.
She found herself in nothingness. There was a white expanse as far as she could see. From what she could tell, she and Song were floating in the middle of it. As in, whiteness underneath her, on top of her, and to all sides of her.
"Am I in a coma or something?" she thought to herself. "I can't remember falling off though. Maybe I finally went crazy!"
NOT CRAZY MY DEAR GIRL. NOR ARE YOU IN A COMA.
The voice startled Asia. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, and then from nowhere. She thought she heard it with her ears, but then again, did she actually hear it?
"H...how did you know what I was thinking?" Asia asked. She stuttered a bit at first, but then she realized that if this thing was out to hurt her, giving it an intimidating appearance would be the best thing to do.
I KNOW EVERYTHING. Now Asia was more curious that afraid.
"Who are you? Or what area you?" Asia pushed.
I AM ALL THAT EXISTS. I AM NOT ANYTHING. BUT I AM SOMETHING. EVERYTHING IS SOMETHING.
"Is that hypothetical or rhetorical or something?" Asia asked. When she got no reply, she asked another question, "Why am I here? I…I don't understand what you are." The being chuckled sympathetically.
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE A HUMAN. HERE, MAYBE YOU CAN RELATE BETTER TO THIS FORM.
Suddenly, a blue mist formed a few feet ahead of Asia. The mist assembled and formed into the shape of an older man, maybe in his 50's. Asia stepped back in surprise. A small beard covered his chin, and his hair was a snowy white. His eyes were a bright blue, the same color as the glow that was cast about him.
"Is this better?" he said.
"Much, thank you." Asia replied as confidently as possible.
"Come with me." He said, and all of a sudden, Asia found herself somewhere totally different. Instead of it being totally white, it was pitch black, with a few stars dotting the 'sky'.
"These are the Strands. They are the mapping of the past, present, and future of everything that has, is, and will live." Asia was about to comment that she couldn't see anything, but the being moved his hand, and millions upon millions of golden ribbons unfurled across the vast expanse of the space. Asia was absorbed in the beauty of it all. The beings' voice snapped her back into reality.
"These are the 'timelines' of the beings of every universe. Every motion, bump, twist, dent, cross, and curl represents something different." He lifted his hand and one strand in particular glowed brighter than all the rest. "This one is yours."
Asia watched as other ribbons crossed over hers and her ribbon made slight curls and loops at times. There was one huge loop. The being pointed this out.
"This is you now." He said solemnly. The ribbon kept on doing its' own thing while Asia watched in awe.
"That would mean everything else would be what will happen in the future." Asia half questioned, half stated.
"Yes." Came the reply. Then Asia noticed one ribbon that stayed with her. One that didn't leave. The two ribbons twisted around one another for quite a while. Then they were separated by another line and a bump. Then there was a flash and all of the lines disappeared.
"No one needs to know all of their own future." The being said, a small smile on his lips. "All of the visions you had will be of great use to you on the mission you will be going on. There is more than one dimension. You, along with your world, exist in the third of five dimensions. The unrest is in the fourth of the five dimensions. You first must understand that the dimensions depend on one another to survive. Should one dimension fall apart or become unstable, all of them will parish. You are The Chosen. You exist in all of the dimensions at once."
"I don't understand." Asia said, genuinely confused. "You mean the fate of everything lies on me?"
"Of course. And the outcome of your mission. You may survive the mission, but the outcome may be wrong, still making the dimensions collapse upon one another. And that is considering you survive." Asia was struck silent. Then rage engulfed her entire being.
"If you're so powerful, why don't you do it?!" Asia practically screamed.
"Because I can't." he said calmly. "Make your choice now. Will you save possibly trillions upon trillions of people, or will you sit back and let the dimensions die at your doing."
"It's no use," Asia thought to herself, "he can read my thoughts, listen to my gut instincts. I wont sit back and do nothing." Asia regained her composure. Aloud she said, "I'll do it. But what will I need to do?" Asia turned her head from side to side, trying to find the being.
ALL YOUR SUPPLIES WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU WHEN YOU GET THERE. YOU MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH TO NO ONE. IN YOUR HEART, YOU KNOW THE MISSION. YOUR TIME WITH ME IS GROWING SHORT. THERE IS ONLY TIME FOR A FEW QUESTIONS MY CHILD.
Asia racked her brain, "How will I know where to go?"
THERE WILL BE A GUIDE. YOU WILL KNOW HIM. THE NOTE.
The last part confused Asia, but she kept on. "Will you be there to help me?"
I MAY AT TIMES. THIS IS YOUR JOURNEY, WHERE YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS. I CANNOT INTERFERE. THE OUTCOME IS NOT FOR ME TO SAY. YOUR TIME IS UP. GOOD LUCK.
There was yet another 'pop', and Asia landed in a world totally different than her own, naïve to everything.