yeah, so i lied: the older i get, the more i enjoy stories with angst and drama in them, so you will get drama and angst. i suggest abandoning this story now if you're not big on the drama -u-

the drama will center around the disappearance of their parents and, of course the blatant love-rombus i've created, huehuehuehuehueh

plus one other thing -u-

there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter about time and space and alternate universe theories oTL sorry for spamming you, but i think this stuff is legit fascinating. if you guys are still confused, i could make a chart.

xxx

My throat was dry and my mind too filled with rushing thoughts to even think about not stepping on any cracks, as Jon and I reached the library; I didn't realise how fast my heart was beating with adrenaline until we stopped on the fourth floor where my brother was. He rushes us over and as I approach, the book that lay open on the desk made my eyes widen,

"Elle...remember what Marie-Jolie said about other worlds?"

I nodded, "Yes, yes, she said that only we would be unfortunate enough to-"

"And?"

"...and that no two universes can exist at the same time."

Clyde nodded, "I think ours might be the exception...again."

I braced myself against the chair and stared at the aged pages before me...what were they, fairytales? Fables? Marie-Jollie did say that the secrets of the world were usually hidden in old children's stories, but these were titles I had never heard of..."The Prince and the Lion", "The Nine Witches", "From Beyond the Twilight"; were they local? Unique to this area? Now that I've thought about it, it seemed more than odd to find such a strange mix of cultures in one city in the United States...they had mentioned traveling to other eras, and were there always monsters and people with magical abilities running about? What is this?

Sensing my confusion, Jon squeezes my shoulder, "She herself said that even she doesn't know all of the world's secrets...and we have a theory."

Clyde nodded, "Elle, I'm sure you've heard of parallel universes, correct?"

"Of course."

"Well, what about perpendicular universes?"

"...What?"

"Exactly what it sounds like: while parallel universes are side by side, never interacting or crossing one another, perpendicular universes cross at only one point in time and space-"

"Assume that time exists just as space does," Jon added in,

"So then that Universe A only has one aspect of Universe B, like, oh say, a wave of frequency."

"...Like radio?" I ask,

"Yes! Like radio!" my brother looked excited, "So certain signals or transmits riding that wave can reach us!"

"Think of it like a sort of spooky show from the Twilight Zone," Jon tells me as I try to absorb everything that's being explained to me.

"Well...alright, but why the children's stories?" I point to the open books on the desk,

"Ah! Excellent question," Jon says, just as excited about this as my brother, "You see, remember way back when, when we were back at the Academy, when Emi was explaining to us that time travel, as we know and understand it, is impossible?"

I nodded, "Yes, she said that time wasn't linear and that it flowed freely like air or the ocean; she said this was why your dreams had the power to predict the future if you were lucky and skilled: by passing or brushing by a 'point' in the future."

"-And do you remember her own theory about time travel and how it was possible?"

"Ah...something about carbon dating the particles in the universe?"

"Yes! That if time travel were possible at all, that it could only be achieved by measuring the entire universe as we know it and tracing back every last atom to where it was somewhere in the past, that is, if the Big Bang Theory is in fact, correct, which she did not believe it was so," Jon laughed at the memory, "But of course that would mean that we would have to actually know where those particles and atoms used to be, and we don't know that, so we would have to monitor the universe, and in that case, then the time travel probably wouldn't work because the placement of the atoms would be so small, that it wouldn't even be worth mentioning, not to mention the amount of energy it takes to power a machine that records the universe, much less something that reverses everything to the beginning of time...if time exists."

Massaging my temples, I try to keep up with what Jon is saying, trying to remember back to all the lectures on time and alternate universes, "Alright, alright, I understand, but what does that have to do with the fables?"

"Marie-Jollie claimed that all of existence's, and therefore God's, secrets lied in fairytales, but how did the writers of such come to know this? God doesn't just give out this information at random!" Clyde answered,

"...Divine revelation?"

Jon shook his head, "Close-the universe itself split them up-using this imaginary line we told you about,"

"The perpendicular universe," Clyde finishes.

"I...I..." I swallowed, "Do you have any evidence?"

Clyde and Jon's faces fell a bit, when,

"I do."

I turned around, and standing there, for who knows how long, was Rachel and the Heathen.

And we knew that he was, at this point, our last hope.

xxx