I decided I would stay for the negotiations with General Hart, just incase the shit hit the fan. It went well, much battery then expected. Hart met with Rick, Maggie, and a battered Ezekiel, who managed to barely survive a ambush. It was tense at first, being at war just a few hours ago and all, however both sides found Carmine and the Saviors at fault, Hart being held hostage by Carmine and his tremendous power. We talked, haggled, and even laughed, finally coming to a agreement after a hour and a half of conversation. The military will have access to the Kingdom, the Hilltop, and Oceanside, all four parties working together to form a new state, and single state, something they call The New United States. Starting next reconstruction will begin in addition to attempts to reconnect to the American central government in D.C.

Im leaving today... coordinates all locked in and Fenrir by my side, all that's left is to say goodbye. Ive been locked in my room to avoid being overwhelmed by crowding, and people are filtering in one at a time to say their goodbyes, ask me questions for records, and bring me snacks. Its umm... its been weird.

"Yeah..." Tara says, standing by the door awkwardly. "We've like... never talked before."

"We never seemed to have the opportunity."

"Exactly!" She says a smile on her face. "Our timing was all fucked up, if you were at Oceanside I was at the Hilltop you know?"

"Yeah.." I say. Social shit like this is something I've never gotten used to... it's awkward.

My shoulders slump forward as I attempt to make myself small.

"Tell you what..." The woman says, her face lighting up with a idea. "If you ever manage to come back, we'll umm... bake a cake!"

My eyes frizzle at the idea, Ive never baked anything before, especially sweets. "A cake?"

"Yeah!" She says with enthusiasm. "A big cake! And we can decorate it and put strawberries in it and write rude things with frosting!"

"That sounds fun!" I say with a smile, coming out of my shell a bit. "I'll definitely come back."

"Great." She says inching towards the door. "I'll make sure to find a good cake making oven!" She says as she waves and exits. "See yah!"

"Bye Tara." I say just as she closes the door, letting out a shaking breath,being social is exhausting. I put on a brave face as the door creaks open revealing Enid.

"Hi Dindu." She greets and I relax, I know I can be myself around her. "So you're actually leaving huh? You excited? Or are you nervous?"

"Both." I admit as she crawls behind me, scooting her legs on each side of my hips as she grabs onto a lock of my shoulder length hair, twisting it into a braid. "Im always nervous before travel."

"You'll be fine." She says in a soothing voice as she braids my hair. "Why didn't you ever get a haircut? You'd look nice with short hair."

"I thought you liked braiding it." I lied with with a giggle, the real reason is because I didn't wanna ask someone for a haircut. "Every time you see me you braid my hair, do you think Carls jealous?"

"Nah, not with you." She says, and I can hear her voice heighten slightly, indicating a grin.

"What do you mean?"

"I think he likes to see you happy, I mean you tend to spend a lot of time alone."

I shrug my shoulders, taking in the information. "I didn't know Carl was worried about stuff like that."

She lets out a little snort, apparently finding something I said funny. "We both were." She admits, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pressing her body against me. "You're one of us after all, of course we worry about you."

I absorb this information, not really sure what to do with it. "Why? Is it because I look young? Or is it my accent? Or..." I ramble on, listing adjectives before Enid shooshes me gently, her breath on my ear.

"It's nothing like that." She says, giving me a little squeeze. "I think we're just overthinking it. You're not human after all, but we expect you to act like one." There was a long pause before she continues. "There was one day, a couple months ago. You were just pacing back and forth for hours, talking to your self in some language I couldn't understand, you didn't even realize we were looking at you. Usually you sense us from a mile away, but you didn't that day. What was that about?"

I tilt my head as I think, wracking my brain and searching through my memory... nothing. "I have no Idea..." I admit with a shrug "But If I had to guess, it was probably just anxiety."

"You get anxious?" She asks. "That's okay, I do too." She admits and I look at her over my shoulder, examining her face. She won't tell me if I ask her what makes her anxious, she's always been a bit secretive about herself.

"You know, your the only person to braid my hair?" I say, bringing up a new topic of conversation. "I used to have a buzz cut when I was in Afrika, and it grew out a bi inside the walls, but you're the first to braid it."

"Really? Im glad..." she says but trails off, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Dindu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really forget everyone? I mean when you travel?" She asks, with a microscopic tremble in her voice, a apprehension in her tone.

"I'll forget your name." I admit, letting my voice become a bit more sincere. "I'll forget your face too. But I'll remember the way you talk, the way you move and the things you say." Maybe that will be some sort of ummm... whats the word? Comfort.

The girl scoots beside me and grabs my wrist, sliding something onto it. "Me, Carl and Judith made this for you?"

"Judith made something?"

"Judith was in the room and therefore helped... so yeah." She explains with a giggle. I look at the foreign object that was now attached to my skin.

"What is this called?" I ask, admiring the design and colors of the thing.

"Its a bracelet." She says, using her index finger to trace the carvings in the little wooden pieces held together by a piece of string. "That's you,me, Carl and Judith." She says, each icon representing a person. A book for Enid, hat for carl, rattle for Judith, and a U.F.O for me.

"Im not a alien." I giggle out and look at Enid, allowing myself to make eye contact. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She says, standing before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and I return the gesture, squeezing her torso. "And for the record... I would have let you watch." And just like that she lets me go and walks out the door leaving me perplexed.

Another knock on the door. "Come in!" I scream and the head of Carl Grimes pops in, his blue eyes meeting mine. "Hi cousin ." I greet the boy and my eyes flare.

"Hi Dindu." He greets me as he enters the room, closing the door behind him. "Did Enid give you the bracelet?" He asks, and I raise my hand, showing off the colorfully bracelet wrapped around my wrist.

"She also told me she'd let me watch." I say with a wink, he rolls his eyes at me but chuckles. "So you've come to say your goodbyes?" His eyes flare at me for a moment before he charges forward, tackling me onto the bed before I could react.

"Ohhhh Im gonna miss you!" He says, hugging me tightly and I giggle at his affectionate outburst.

"You're gonna come back right? Eventually?" I wrap my arms around the boy and squeeze him tightly, savoring the bond that grew between us for a few moments.

"I'll try my best." I say, letting go of the boy. He scoots beside me and I rest my head on his shoulder, something that's pretty common for us, the awkwardness faded away along time ago. "I'm supposed to bake a cake with Tara."

I feel his shoulders shake as he chuckles at my words, probably imagining me taking my time to bake a cake. "Hehe I'd love to see that!" He says with a bit of enthusiasm, apparently cake makes people happy. "Just imagining you, using your weird fire hands to make the cake cook faster tickles my insides."

"It would be delicious!" I giggle on the boys shoulder. "But highly radioactive. Only you and me could eat it." Im not actually sure if it would be radioactive, but It very well could be. "Just think of it as extra flavor."

"Sounds spicy." Carl says, scratching the top of my head. "So... you'll come back?"

He wants a definitive answer doesn't he?

Probably.

"Yeah. I'll come back."

"Great!" He says, giving me a quick hug before exiting my room. "Don't forget!" He screams as he closes the door.

"I wont..."

I know I will. But fucking hell atleast I get to say goodbye this time. I haven't been so lucky in the past.

A jolt of electricity shoots through me, and I rub my eyes, pushing the stining sensation back. The door opens again, and Toby's bright hazel peaks around the wooden barrier.

My eyes stung once again as they light up, "Hey!" I call happily, waving at the boy by the hip. "I was starting to think you weren't showing up..."

A chuckle escapes his lips as he slides into the room, closing the door behind him. "There was no way I was gonna miss your sendoff." He said with a smile, his eyes lighting up blue for a moment before settling back into their natural, hazel color. "How is it even gonna work?"

"Dont know. Get eaten by white hot flames and end up somewhere else. I dont really know the science behind it." I say, tilting my head as I talk. Honestly my theory is that these dimensions I visit are stacked on top of eachother, and that the bubble is a sort of bridge between them.

Alright maybe that doesnt exactly clear it all up, but its the best I got! I didnt exactly have the chance to apply for college or anything.

I can see him smirking at me, the type of smirk that lets me know I said some dumb shit. "Oh Im sorry mister psychologist! Is my theory wrong?"

"I think you mean pycisist and I honestly dont know. The world went to shit as soon as I got into college." Toby said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "I was a english major anyways."

A chuklleaves my lips, the eyes flashing with the briefiest sense of amusment. "You said that with so much pride! Hehe..."

There it is. That feeling of excitement mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety. The fear of leaving the safety of the house is trampled by the curiosity to explore the unknown. I see Fenrir perk up and look at me, and for a moment we hold eye contact, as if he knew too.

"I... I think its time for me to go." I say, what was usually a radioactive flash held a steady glow in my eyes.

Toby's face changed to a expression I couldnt read before he lets out a deep breath, a calm smile on his face. "If you say so..." He says, maintaining the smile. His hand reaches down and grabs mine, pulling me off the bed and onto my feet. "Can I walk you out?"

Of course I wasnt gonna say no, so instead I just smirked and entwined my fingers with his, fenrir following close behind. "Such a gentleman." What? You really think I was just gonna leave without teasing him just one more time? Not a chance.

He pushed the door open, and I felt the sun on my face. It made me wonder, does the sun change too? I mean the earth changes. The people, the enviornment, the technology. It only make since that the sun changes too, right?

But the sun always follows the same path, is the same color, and stays in the place. So I cant help to feel that if I can jump from one dimension to the other, the sun can too.

Listen fuckboi, Im not here to debate astrophysics with you. I know it sounds dumb as fuck. But if you jumped around as much as I do, you'd have these thoughts too!

The cool air fills my lungs, the taste almost sweet, and I cant help but savor it. Not too many people are outside, news of my feelings towards crowds probably spread. Rick and his people are here, along with Dwight.

I expected Toby to let go of my hand when Jacy came into view, but he didnt and I couldnt surpress my smirk. "I bet shes jelly."

"Hm? What was that?"

I chuckled again. Sometimes is fun being the sole speaker of a language. I can talk shit infront of people and they never know.

I glance up at him and say, "Oh, its nothing. Just a little preperation prayer is all." He bought it immediatly with a nod, and I surpressed my laughter.

I gasped when I felt a icy chill hit my skin, my arm growing goosebumps instantly. "This is the place." I say, Fenrir sitting beside me as if to confirm my suspicions.

Now comes the hard part.

It doesn't feel like it does when I use my psionic blast, the static doesn't exactly climb up my spine as much as reverberate around me. I had to let go of his hand before the white flames began to flare up, tha sparks igniting in the air around me.

I can see fear in their eyes and I say, "It doesnt hurt." In a multylayered voice. The flames were around Fenrir now too, his just as bright and powerful as mine. "Well, I guess this is-.."

"Wait Dindu!" Toby cuts me off, as if I could just halt the proccess at will. "I need you to promise me something!"

A promise? I guess I could try and remember. "What is it?"

"I need you to promise that if you find out what you are, you'll come back and tell me!" He says, almost yells as the flames begin the burn my body away. Was that it? He wanted me to fulfill some sort of curiosity for him? He's taken up the job of being the worlds newest historian after all, so I guess that makes sense. "Promise me!" He screams again, or maybe he didnt? Maybe these flames were making my hearing sensitive.

I let out a sigh, the snow white blaze dancing in my breath. "I promise." I say before he disapears from my sight, replaced by a blinding light so bright it should be painful but somehow isnt.

And then their was nothing. I couldnt see. No light, no darkness. I couldnt even see black. I saw nothing, felt nothing, thought nothing, but for a moment...

I swear I remembered everything.

—————————————————

Running diagnostics...

Heads up display: Online

Automatic regeneration: Online

Alma personality matrix: Online

Flesh skin: Active

Combat skin: Energy required

Leviathan skin: On standby

Weapons: On standby

Shields: 40%

My vision slowly began to appear, the nothing ness being replaced by mirky blue. Naturally I felt confusion, until the realization hit me.

Holy shit, I'm underwater!

My shield pushed me up and through the surface, my head poping up to get a bead of my surroundings, and my god, what a sight it was.

A landmassive with hundreds of buildings on it. Big ones, little ones, each with their own colors and personalities! But what really got me was the people.

God, theres so many people.

I launch myself to shore, my shield keeping me from retaining any moisture despite being submerged in it. My body cut through the waves at a explosive pace before launching me up and onto a wooden pier, luckily out of sight.

Orientals? We must be in some asian community.

I've never seen so many in one spot. Are you taking notes?

Always.

I stepped into their view with my hands up, a few men who were chopping fish stopped and glanced at me for a second before returning to their work. I couldn't help but tilt my head to the side and whisper, "Okay? I think Im accepted now?"

The men wore some sort of hairnet and apron uniform, something I cant remember seeing before. "H-hi!" I call out, waving at the men. A majority of them ingnored me, but a few waved and yelled something I couldn't quite under stand.

If you want to understand them, keep em talking.

"So, can anyone tell me where I am?" I ask in english, only recieving giberish in response. Although their is one word that stood out.

"Hokkaido."

At first I thought they were trying to put some sort of spell on me, but I eventually realized it was a name. Well not the name of a person, it was the name of a place. "Hokkaido?" I ask, and the men smile and nod in confirmation. "We have a location."

Cheers and applause.

Thank you Alma for the sarcasm.

You're welcome my dearest Djimon.

I'm your only Djimon.

I make my way through the busy market, my bodysuit attracting a good deal of attention. I manage to get through the stares of the crowd and emerged at a surprisingly busy street. Holy fuck on a cross thats a lot of cars. None of them are on fire either! What a strange world this is shaping up to be.

I step into the street only to jump back when a car skids to a stop and blares its horn at me, the driver apparently very angry at my actions. "What I do?" I yell, holding my hands to my sides while the man speeds past me.

I see people gathering on the sidewalk on the corner of the steet, their eyes on a red hand sigle across the ashphalt. I wandered into the crowd, surprised that I managed to be taller then a good amount of people, which felt good honestly.

Hehe, look at these short little fuckers.

The light turns the green, and the crowd begins crossing the street with me mixing into the herd. This place is packed to the brim with people! I wonder if this is one of the larger cities of this dimension. So many colors! So many smells! So many people...

Too many people.

I felt the shift in my stomach, my curiousity quickly being drowned out by my desire to escape the crowd. My skin grows hot before I spot a nearby allyway, the empty corridor practically calling my name. With a shove I make my way through the crowd, a few people telling at me, although I ignore them. I run into the ally and attempt to calm myself down, mentally calling out what I see.

Red bricks, green dumpster, brown cardboard, red blood, blue cup, green toy...

Not only did you see it, you mentally called it out. I can hear too that you know.

It wasnt a puddle so much as spatter, the red liquid dripping onto the ground near me. I look up to see a body hanging upside down, his shirt down and his jaw missing. I spot something shiny on the mans chest, and zoom my vision inorder to make out that its a police badge.

"A police man? This place must have a functioning government." I whisper to myself. A shadow catches my eye, a man in a robe it looked like. "Hey!" I call out, and the man begins to run. "Wait! Don't go!"

Of course the man didnt listen, so I charged up my static and bounced from one wall to the other until I got to the top of the roof, the man already a good distance away. "Come back!" I scream running after the man. We move roof top to roof top, from one place to another. He cant pull away from me, but I cant catch up to him either! "Stop running you bitch!"

The robed figure dives into another ally way, its black and gold clothing flapping in the wind. I follow its lead and dive down after it, expecting him to run away but instead finding him waiting.

"It takes a special type of fool to chase a ghoul." He growled. The man looked mote hungry then angry. "You don't look like a dove. You something else? American?"

Oh good the translator is working.

"America is a thing here too? Whats going on Alma?"

Nothing. Its just a coincidence.

"So you're not American, and you're not a dove. So what are you? Atlas? Anchor? Something else? You dont smell like a ghoul." The man takes a step closer and sniffs the air, growling. "Hmmm, you dont have a scent at all."

"Stop smelling me its wierd." I growl back, alarms blaring in my head. This guy is something else ain't he?

Of course he didnt stop, and took another step forward. I placed my metal foot behind me defensivly, sensing a impending assault. "If you dont want me to smell you..." he says, his sclera turning black and his pupils turning red.

"Then how about a taste instead?"

Okay, I like to think im a pretty quick guy. But if you think I anticipated that thing growing golden wings and charging foward at blinding speeds you are sorely mistaken. Or I am, as this thing sinks its teeth into my shoulder, his teeth managing to dent the biometal on my suit.

I roll with the momentum and get back to my feet before my back is slammed against the concrete wall, his hand around my throat. He's deceptively strong, even if he is a little bigger then me. My neck was in a vice grip, and I struggled in his grasp, my normal strength almost laughable in comparison to his.

The thing is, I'm deceptively strong too, my eyes flashing as I peel the mans hand off me by the wrist. I slam my palm into his sternum, the man stumbling back. He jumps backwards, his golden wings flashing before a hail on needles come crashing down on my position.

My guard goes up and the shield goes with it. The needles slam into the barrier before clattering onto the ground. "Are these coming out of you!?" I yell, kicking the sharp needles away from me. "Thats weird bro."

"Im not your fucking bro!" He growls landing a good ten feet in front of me. I feel the gravity around me lessen as we both blitz foward, his gold wings shimmering like the electricity in the air around me. He jumps foward, and I release the energy around me by swinging my fist foward, the distortion slamming into his chest and launching him backwards and out of the alley. He smashes back first into a parked car, the chaises bending on impact, though he himself seemed realtivly unphased.

Dude didnt even wobble, and just pushed himself off the crushed vehicle with his teeth bared."You should be dead already." I grumble, getting ready for what ever comes next. The fucking creature managed to leap a good forty or so feet in the air before barreling down at me like a falcon to a rat. He straigtened out, and his left wing managed to clip my shoulder, leaving a nasty gash that healed in a matter of seconds. That assault was followed by another, then another, and soon I found myself in a flurry of wings and fists.

I felt the static charging in me, a ball of enegry cocentrated in my chest that suddenly burst, firing flames and lightning through my entire body. The creature is sent backwards and clatters onto the street, a series of flashing lights and cars rounding the corner and stopping behind him. Several men wearing the same uniform that police officer was earlier stormed out of thier vehicles and pointed thier pistols at us, screaming orders.

"They're ghouls! Take them out!"

A orchestra of gun fire echoed around us, and I had to literally dive behind that same car I had crushed moments ago. Small arms fire wasnt much of a threat, but I'd rather not take any unnecessary damage. The bullets slam into the car with a furocity I didnt expect, one that simple 9mm rounds shouldnt be able to provide. "Special ammo?"

I assume so.

I let out a growl when a bullet pierces the vehicle and narrowly misses my head. It was a rash decision, I know, but I couldnt help myself. I charged up the static, popped out, a fired a massive, electrical wave at the cluster of vehicle, killing a good number of the cops. Blood and limbs and screams splattered around the area.

What ever civilians saw the fight decided it was in their best interest to run away, a wise decision. I feel the air shift around me, and I swing around only to be lifted into the sky by the ghoul, his teeth gnashing at my throat as to use my hands to try and keep him away. Suddenly we bank down, and end up on the top of some bakery.

I slam my elbow into his face and onock him a few feet away, my hand up by my chin. "You should've run!" I scream, the air around me igniting in a blue flame. His golden wings gleamed in the sun, and the sick bastard actually smiled at me! I think he's actually enjoying this...

"You really think I wanna miss out on all this!? Youre the first good fight I've had since that little freak in California!" He screams, smiling with bloody teeth. I don't care if the blood is mine, his, or some cop's at this point. I just want him dead!

He pushes foward with his wings, launching himself at a accelerated rate. In all honesty I dont think I even saw him do it, and my body managed to react without my brains comprehension. His wing just barely missed my scald, and I fired a punch right into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. A simple rotation and suddenly I found myself behind him, slamming his head into the tile roof below us.

Flames in the air around me helped me hit harder, move faster, be better, and I was definanlty winning this fight. I charge up, feeling the static in my fist, as I slammed it down into his face with a force even I didnt expect. He smiles up at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Missed me..."

The roof collapses, and I suddenly feel like im sinking in quickand. Usually Id be able to blanket out and slow my decent, but with all the debris collapsing onto me and dragging me down I quickly found it to be impossible. "Ah, shit!"

Fucking building with there fucking five hundred pound wooden beams! You know how difficult it is to do a pushup with a beam that size on your shoulders!? Plus all the other debris stabbing into your sides and pining your legs down?! Also this building came down way too easily. Whoever verified it for earthquake safety needs to by hung in the streets.

I feel my eyes burn hot, my muscles aching from the weight, but I manage to push myself up to my feet. The dust shimmers around me and ignited in the air. I dont know if you've ever smelled burning dust before but it aint exactly pleasant.

The cracking of gunshots hitting my shield from behind made me jump, the bullets swaying in the air like they had hit water. I turn and fire off a thunder clap, missing a majority of the cops but still tossing one of their cars down the street. I dont wanna waste all my energy on those fucks with that winged bitch around, but god damn they were annoying!

I swear, I didnt mean to growl, but I snarled like a hungry animal. "Leave!" I scream, the flames flaring out before dying down. The cops that survived the blast limped into a alleyway, dissapearing behind the corner. "Good."

There is a fucking plethora of alley ways in this fucking city apparently. Not even a exacerbation, like seventy percent of the city is fucking alleys. I saw that gold winged freak smile at me before slipping into another one. There was no way I was gonna let him slip away! No until I can figure out how to kill it.

So I sprint after it, my legs still a little shakey from the buildings collapse on me. I fight through the ache and sprint after him, preemptively charging the static in my lower back.

As I predicted he was waiting for me, a blood stained smile on his face. "You don't know when to quit huh? Fine! Im always up for a free meal!" He snarls, his wings flashing gold before a hail of needles come my way.

I manage to jump over the projectiles and push myself off the side of a brick wall, my hands raised over my head like a angry gorilla. I slam my fist into the ground, the concrete cracking as red lightning spread across the ground like the roots of a tree. Like vipers, they strike out at him, eating through his robe and bringing him to his knees, a scream echoing through the alley.

"Earn your dinner you winged faggot!" I scream, taking a step forward. He glares up at me before muttering something under this breath, his wings pushing him up and over the building, and I realize he's running. I take a step forward...

"Stop!"

I stop dead in my tracks not because the words command me to, but because of the language they were spoken in. Summarian is supposed to be a dead language, but the words were spoken so easily...

I look over my shoulder and see he staring at me, taking slow steps forward with a weapon in her hand, barrel down. She was beautiful, but strange.

She had smooth, milk chocolate black skin, and dark black hair. A odditiy in itself considering this is a asian community, but thats not the strangest thing about her. It was the eyes...

Green, bright green at that, not just a rare gene, but a nearly impossible gene in dark skinned people. It reminded me almost of my own radioactive blue eyes. They were scanning me, just as I was scanning here.

"So that is you."

I shake my self out of admiring her and remember the laguage issue. "How do you know this language!?" I ask, my foot sliding into a defensive stance. "How do you know me!?"

Careful with this one.

She didnt stop her advance, and a grin grew on her face. It wasnt smug, or sinister like that ghoul's grin from before. No, this was genuine, like seeing a long lost friend.

"You don't remember me?" She asks. I shook my head, but her face didnt change in anyway. "I remeber you, chieftain."

"Chieftain?"

I have the word in here, but I dont have any context to go with it.

I growl. I dont like that this chick has designations in Alma's dictionary that she doesnt even know the meaning of. "Whats a chieftain?"

There it is! The change of expression, like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie Jar."Oh? Ehhh nothing really." She says. I really really dont like this...

I take a step back, but keep my glare trained on her."Well this had been fun and all but it's weirding me the fuck out so imma go now. Bye bye."

"Wait! Don't you wanna know about your past!?!?"

I stop again, shock changing into anger. She defiantly knows me, theres no mistaking it now. But not inly does she know me, she knows I don't remember anything! My fist clench into a ball as I stomped forward, the static charging in my lower back again. I swear I had no intention to hit her! I just wanted to make a show of force.

She put a stop to that almost immediately, her hand striking out to a spot right above my ear. Naturally I jump, my body readying itself for a fight. But, you see, she found that spot that pretty much turns me to Jelly. I couldn't help by close my eyes, no matter how much I tried not to. "How did you know to do that?" I ask, suppressing the purr growing in my throat. "How do you know any of this?"

"Oh child." She says in a soothing. The image of a wise grandmother popped into my head, and I had to remind myself this woman was twenty at the absolute most

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything... in time."