Chapter Five: Life Slips Away
Ima=Mercury Atile=Jupiter Aneresa=Moon Eire=Mars Animi=Venus
Atile woke up to the sun shining in her eyes and set about getting ready for school. It was too early in the morning for conscious thought, so she let her instincts guide her. Fifteen minutes, and some caffeine, later, she had her usual double lunch ready (part for Aneresa to eat) and hair up in the characteristic pigtail. She glanced in the mirror as she headed out. Standing at about 5 ft 8 in, Atile remembered a life where she had trouble putting her books on the top shelf of her locker and would have killed to fit into a size ten. She flippantly flipped her hair behind her and strode confidently out the door.
Ima heard classical music playing in the distance and slowly brought her mind into awareness. She instinctively knew Amy's mother was gone to work already. Ima was always careful to call everything in this place "Amy's" so she wouldn't forget her real life. Every moment spent here erased part of that life, like it was the dream that after waking, one tries to recall, yet it begins to slip away like so much sand. To help her remember the distinction between realities, Ima had taken down all the mirrors in the house and never looked at her reflection. It was those moments when she saw herself that that other life seemed the most ludicrous. Luckily, she had short hair. She went to take a shower. After leaving the others the night before, Ima had gone out to get hair dye to make her hair the color it used to be. She reached to the bottle, but pulled back as though from an electric shock. Amy was beginning to take over. Slightly shaken, Ima dressed and left for school.
Artemis glanced at Animi as she slept. Was it his imagination, or did she actually snore louder and talk more in her sleep then Mina? He was brought out of his revelry by the sound of the alarm clock. Without opening her eyes, Animi swatted the alarm off and rose like a thing from the grave (not looking a lot better for it either J ). She stared dumbly for a moment before stumbling out of bed. An unreasonable amount of time later, she came to full sentience. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she struggled to brush her long golden hair and suddenly understood why Mina never changed hair styles, it was impossible to do so. The hair stayed as though super glue had molded it while she brushed, yet somehow moved just right when she moved or ran her fingers through it. Unfortunately, Animi had a fanatical side and, just as Mina deliberately had her heart snatched, so Animi wouldn't just let her hair go. In the end, she managed to braid the small part in the red bow – and be an hour late for school. She had a vague memory of her hair being different when she lived in Chicago, but couldn't seem to get a firm grasp on it. As she ran to school through the city, Animi began to wonder if she hadn't just mistaken Chicago for Tokyo because of the video her English class had seen the day before on it. After all, other than living in England, when had she ever left Tokyo?
Rini poked her head into Serena's room again. The girl inside was actually sleeping peacefully. Rini had awoken the night before to the sound of Aneresa's screams. Scared, she had peeked in to find Luna trying to calm Aneresa, to no prevail. She had wanted to go in, but there was something unfamiliar about Serena such that she hadn't felt it right to intrude. Now, she couldn't help but be happy, it seemed that whatever was wrong had gone. This morning, she felt comfortable enough to skip right in.
She crept up to Aneresa's bed and then smacked her with the cold, wet towel that had been drying Rini's hair. To her surprise, Aneresa just looked at her as if she had betrayed her deepest trust. Rini mumbled an apology and backed out the door.
Aneresa was feeling especially dour that morning. The nightmares persisted, only this time it ended with a disembodied voice whispering ominously that soon she would be the only one longing to return home. A force unseen had seized her and began to pull her toward a dark abyss while her friends watched as if they were blind to her struggle and deaf to her pleas. Just as she had managed to stop her descent by clinging to a branch that cut into her hands, a young man with dark hair and armor had raised a sword and cut the branch so that she fell forever, occasionally being knocked against the sides of the chasm. All the while, the voice laughed softly and cruelly, mocking her despair, and saying that now she would know how it was to never be able to go home, to be always cut off from all you loved.
Luna slept protectively next to Serena. She had been up most of the night pensively considering her sleeping charge. Luna felt unduly responsible for her and that should anything happen to Aneresa, it would be her fault somehow.
Aneresa wandered about her room, unhurried. She got dressed and left without getting her lunch or eating breakfast. Rini had woken her up early enough that she needn't run, but she jogged out of some habit. She entered the school without saying a word to anyone. In retrospect, Aneresa recognized that the man with the sword in her dream had been Darien. What did it mean? She longed for Darien, whom part of her had missed all her life and the other had always had.
The five gathered for lunch. Eire had spent her night consulting The Fire, with nothing to show for it besides, being a little singed that is. No one mentioned teleporting again. Two days, and now only Serena wanted to return. Eire had already made ESP a part of her daily life such that she couldn't imagine being whole without it. Atile had the freedom and space she'd always desired. She had family in her friends and felt needed in a job she'd discovered she had from a message on her machine telling her not to miss work again. She worked at a botanical garden's children center. Animi had finally given up with her hair and found she liked it. Even Ima, though she would never admit it, had lost her grasp on real and imaginary. Aneresa was the only one to not let go. She couldn't, the dreams made sure of that. While her appearance had changed to one hundred percent Serena, most of her memory remained her own, with a firm distinction between the two realities. However, Aneresa was in too dark and pensive a mood to say much of anything. What's worse, no one noticed.
Ouch, that was a downer. Oh well, next chapter will be better and explain more. The short summary of this would be: only Aneresa really remembers her other life and she's having mad dreams. R&R!!! Have happy day.