I never knew how I ended up in there. I was just with my friends Rose, Dave, and Jade. No one knew what happened. We were just walking on a dark night on a street in a medium sized city, and somehow we ended up in a wooden shack. At the time I was in a dark room, my friends were present with me. The walls of the room were made of old and rotting wood with a dark brown color, and the entire room was empty besides me and my friends. A door stood before us. My friends were in a pile stacked above each other, not yet conscious. On the night before, just before we woke up here, I met a man who was known as The Senator. The Senator is a famous man from North Dakota who represents the interests of the working class in Congress, but he held a strange demeanor towards us that night. We had met The Senator at a party which he personally hosted. It was a more traditional party reminiscent of those often held by the rich, but still The Senator was a middle classmen.

At the party, of which we were invited to due to our guardian's affiliation with politics, The Senator held a keen interest in the four of us. He followed us constantly throughout his home, no matter where we were. He tried to avoid being spotted by us, usually pretending to talk to people or he hid behind a wall until he knew we were not looking in his direction. Being the host he offered us some glass cups containing a strange pink liquid, which bubbled and had strange scent which was reminiscent of sweat. We each tasted it making sure not to consume too much of it. Despite the appearance and the foul odor, it was absolutely delightful! It tasted like fresh strawberries. The party continued as normal, the people conversed amongst themselves, we made a bunch of good friends, The Senator had left alone this time.

It wasn't until about a quarter of an hour after the party had finished when my life would change forever. We were walking down a dark street in the middle of the night, my friends were right behind me. The air was damp, the street was empty, leaves of trees were falling onto the cold and hard pavement. The houses were still; we could even listen to our footsteps, which made a moderately loud noise. I heard a thump right behind me, I reluctantly turned around to find that Jade had fallen onto to the hard ground, unconscious. The three of us picked her up and carried her to a little spot among the grass that permeated the side of the street. I asked what happened to Jade and Dave had no idea; neither did Rose. I went to go look for some help, but the houses were lifeless. I searched around, but it was no good so I returned to the same spot we put Jade. Only to find Rose and Dave unconscious as well. I suddenly felt tired at the moment, as if all the energy I had was being drained. I fell on the grass, tired and weak. I fell asleep. Which takes me back to the shack, which is where I woke up.

I waited until my friends were conscious to open the door. When they woke up they were as curious as me as to how we ended up here, yet only Rose and I had any recollection of what happened on that very street. We then stood up and I opened the door. We had ended up in a forest, but before us lay a little stream. The forest filled with a bright and cheery atmosphere: The birds were singing, the trees were mighty and strong; the forest was a haven for the peaceful. On the other side of the stream, not too far away, stood a harp. We crossed the stream with the help of some rocks to get to the other side. We then examined the harp. It was a strong man-made object. Its strings were gray as silver, the body of the harp as bright as gold. On the body of the harp some numbers were inscribed: four, one and three. Jade, curious, touched one of the strings. Behind us leaves fell from a stone wall revealing four slabs.

Each slab had a symbol, name, and a title corresponding to each one of us. I had blue waves as my symbol which represents breath, Rose a yellow sun which represents light, Dave a red gear which represents time, and Jade a white swirl which represents space. The names and titles were read John Egbert the Heir of Breath, Rose Lalonde the Seer of Light, Dave Strider the Knight of Time, and Jade Harley the Witch of Space. Each slab bore a handprint pertaining to each person, so we simultaneously put our hands into each print. The slabs attached to the walls bearing the handprints and iconography began to shake ominously. After several seconds of increasingly severe tremors, they began to ascend slowly, shattering our ears as they scraped along the stone of the walls. Vanishing into the cracks in the ceiling, they revealed four long and dingy passageways leading deeper into the complex. I picked up a small stone and tossed it down my passage. The echo continued loudly for several seconds.

Everybody reluctantly stepped into each of their passages. Once we entered the stone slabs that led to the passages now closed, leaving us with no possible way of returning. I walked down my passage, the walls of it were made of a dark mud, heading straight towards a shining beam of light. I walked, and walked, the passage unbelievably long began to take its toll on me. I had been walking for I believed to be about an hour or two; it's almost as if time didn't exist there. The passage had rectangles on each side, each showing an old memory I once had. I remember seeing a time when I rode a little cart along some train tracks. The cart had a mast, and wheels, and I was traveling with my friends on these tracks, crossing the river it intercepted. Another was when I was walking through San Francisco with my father. I had stopped to gaze at a ship. Once I passed all the rectangles, I suddenly felt weak… On my knees I began to crawl, slowly. A fresh breeze hit my face. It was cool and relaxing. I kept crawling towards the light, even if it hurt. I did it for my friends. I will not stay here and die, I will make it out of here, I thought, which is what happened, after crawling for what felt like a long time. I almost threw in the towel. The pain was to an unbelievable degree, growing sharper and more powerful with each movement. I gave the final effort though, and I had to drag myself using my arms and the ground I would hold and pull.

The passage led me to a plain, empty, desolate, filled with a nice breeze that was comforting and inviting. I stood up, my body aching. I bent my knees and fell to the ground. The plain was flat, with no sign of any other wildlife, just short grass. I looked straight ahead, squinting my eyes, and saw a booth. I walked slowly towards it, and once getting there I saw a man standing. It was The Senator. He gave me a smile. On the table of the little booth were two buttons. One was green, the other red.

"Senator, what is happening?" I said. "Why am I here."
"This means… It was you, wasn't it?" I said.

"Yes. Now, don't be alarmed, boy," he replied. "I brought you here so you could make The Choice."

"What is this Choice?" I asked.

"Well, you have to pick a button. The green, when pressed, will take you back in time before this incident happened, and you may live your life at your own leisure," he said. "Or, you may choose the red button, which, when pressed, will give you the powers of the title you read earlier. For example, your title, the Heir of Breath: It will give you abilities associated with wind, plus conditional immortality."

"But, doing this would put a heavy burden on you," he said. "You will, with a stroke of The Harp you saw earlier, will be sent back in time to correct, amend, and rectify the wrongs many countries have subjected their people to…"

"But why me?" I spouted instinctively, interrupting him. "I'm just a sixteen year old teenager who has to make this 'Choice' after just spending not even two hours at a party!"

"I know, but the thing is, you're young, energetic, and willing to punch many politicians in the face," he replied. "Your father told me of your political opinions."

"I didn't mean it entirely... Well, actually…" I replied, "Just give me a few minutes to think."

"Alright, fair enough I suppose," he said, "I will not stop you. Push a button at your leisure."
I pondered, constantly asking myself whether my friends would make the same choice. I know I want to fix the mistakes, protect people, and oppose the government. But, through violence? Is that the purpose of the powers I would inherit? I like the idea of non-selfishness, but would it make an actual difference? I finally made my choice, but with many unresolved questions.

I had chosen the red button, which is why I stand before all of you today, like this. I began to levitate, as the wind started picking up. My clothes transformed into a different outfit, my simple red shoes replaced with shoes of a bright yellow color with a blue sole, my black shirt and dark blue jeans replaced with a blue shirt which bore the breath symbol and a pair of pants of a darker shade of blue, and finally I got a hoodie with a long windsock hood on it that extended more than a few feet. The Senator had disappeared, along with the booth. In front of me was a new path, but with the same dirt appearance as the last one. Reaching the end of it led me to the same forest as before, my friends already there. Dave, the Knight of Time also got a new outfit, similar to mine except it was in red and bore the time symbol, and had a cape with a different style hoodie attached. Rose, the Seer of Light, had an outfit consisting of a yellow robe, with teal shoes, and again included a hood.

A strange figure stood among them, though. His name was Jake. Jake was a tall figure, and his outfit consisted of yellowish tights, a little cape, and a yellow shirt which bore the symbol of hope. He is Jake English, the Page of Hope, and his symbol was reminiscent of angel wings. We then started to talk about what happened when we separated. Dave had to jump across spinning gears while avoiding the lava that was below him, Rose had to solve various puzzles, and Jake didn't feel like describing what he did.

"So, bro, I see you chose the path the rest of us did," Dave said.

"Yeah. This is a pretty sweet outfit," I replied.

"Hey, you think you're going to miss home?" Dave said.

"Yeah, especially the cool parties," I said.

"Hey, you think we're missing somebody?" Dave said.

I gave a little gasp, turned around, and looked straight into Jade's path. I looked and stared, yet she didn't emerge. The path was filled with darkness. Absolutely lifeless, still, dead. I waited, and waited. I was only able to utter one thing in response to Dave.

"Jade."