***
So of course I recognized the sound as being a bird. Oh, not just one, but many. Hundreds, maybe. All crying out for.. for what? What could they be saying? Were they expressing a longing? Maybe just like me.. they all had secrets. Secrets they covered up with their cheerful chirps.
Beyond my closed eyes, there was light. I also sensed cold underneath me, coldness and hardness, as if I were lying on a bed of stone.
I moved my head and was welcomed into stinging consciousness by severe roughness scraping my chin. Grimacing, I quickly clutched my head with my hand. In the process, my eyes flickered open and attempted to make sense of all they drew in.
First, I saw a great path of blue and silver. At the end of the path, like a monolith beckoning me in the distance, was the grandest of battleships.
I pulled myself into a seated position, frowning. "What am I still doing here?"
The irony. That after all that time among the Power Rangers, all that time surrounded by love and acceptance; forced and uncomfortable though it was, I end up in exactly the same place, in exactly the same position, asking exactly the same question.
I should be ashamed, I thought. This is horrible. If Andros finds me here, how will I ever explain myself to him? I'll look so ungrateful.. or even worse, suspicious.
And I couldn't look suspicious.. because my intentions were nothing but good. The evil has been completely purged from my mind; caught behind a filter formed by love and kindness. An impenetrable filter.
Funny.
I began to get up, shaking my head. I absolutely had to get back before Andros came looking for me. I had no idea what time it was, but he would no doubt be coming to look for me soon.
I stood up, determined never to take a look behind me again, when suddenly I found myself staring down into the eyes of a young girl.
I shrieked involuntarily and jumped backwards. The girl reacted instantly and stood up, running over to me. She took my hand and patted it with hers.
"It's okay, it's okay! I'm sorry!"
I frowned at her. She was slightly shorter than I was, with large blue eyes concealed behind thick glasses. Her hair was long and blonde, tied back in a ponytail.
"I'm sorry." She repeated, releasing my hand. "Please.. don't run away."
"I.. uh.. I'm sorry?" I said, shakily.
"Well.. you're her, aren't you? I guess I mean, you're you, aren't you?"
"W..what?"
"Oh, jeez, that didn't make any sense. I mean, you're Karone?"
I nodded.
"Oh, Gosh, you're really her."
Oh no, I thought. Please, god, not another flustered and emotional fangirl. I'd seen enough of them on the news to know them on sight, and luckily enough my contact with them had been minimal. But now I'd opened myself up to countless assaults. They didn't even sleep, did they?!
"I'm sorry.. I really have to get back to the megaship." I said, smiling apologetically, preparing to run if necessary.
"The beds there must not be up to par." She said cryptically.
"Excuse me..?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Just a speculation... but you aren't used to sleeping in those conditions, are you?"
"What conditions? Who are you?" I demanded, quickly losing my patience.
"Comfort. Safety. You crave the unstable, the rough, the dangerous. I could see it in the way you slept on the cold cement. You looked completely content, despite the temperature and the discomfort."
I shook my head. "I passed out, I wasn't asleep!"
"Then why were you snoring?"
My jaw dropped. "I WAS. NOT. SNORING!"
"Were too. I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole city!"
"Well, you're certainly rude! You wouldn't happen to know someone named Sylvia, would you?!" I snapped.
She frowned, then giggled. "Amazing. I'm actually having an argument with the Princess of Darkness!"
My face blankened, as I felt my thoughts scatter to the winds.
"I.. I'm not the.. that anymore. You shouldn't call me that!"
She cocked her head, then nodded. "Okay, you're right." Then she turned around, so she was facing the same direction I was.
"Well, it was certainly nice talking to you..." I began, but she cut me off.
" It's none of my business, really... but this thing fascinates me. I even took time off from college, just so I could fly across the country to come see it."
"College?" I asked incredulously.
She looked behind her shoulder at me. "Yes.. college.. it's school, you know."
"But you can't be old enough to go to college! You're about 10!"
"I'm 14, thank you very much!"
"So what are you... some kind of prodigy?!"
"No.. not at all. I'm just like you. I see things."
"Things like what?"
She sighed, and looked to the sky. "I see a harbinger. This. It's already done its damage to the physical world.. but its destiny is uncertain. Whatever it is, however, it can't be good."
"Why not? And who's to say what's..." I stopped myself.
"You see things too. But what you see is the past. The past that keeps repeating itself."
"That's for sure."
"But the future to you is terribly forboding. That's why you seek comfort wherever you can. Even if it's on the cold cement. There must be something very powerful drawing you to this place."
I looked upward, at the top of the Dark Fortress, beginning to shine with light that only began to brim over the horizon.
"The truth. I want to know the truth." I whispered.
"About what?" She inquired.
Instead of answering her, I turned around to where she was sitting. There, on the cement, was a pink, girly backpack, a notebook, and a laptop computer.
"So you came.. just to see the Dark Fortress?"
She shook her head. "Oh, not just that. I can't show my bias so strongly. I'm not on the side of evil, it's just this that fascinates me. Its very structure... seems to contain a spirit that's trapped in a dilemma. Look at it. It's roundness shows even-mindedness.. but even that isn't perfect. It's jagged, too. And its power and majesty seems equally full of an almost.. vulnerable soul. Oh, it's just amazing."
"You see all that in this?" I asked.
"Exactly. I see things. What do you see in it?"
I shrugged. "I see.. a playground. And a battlefield."
"Contradictions?"
"No. They're one in the same."
She frowned at me, an almost amused frown. Then, she reached up and touched my cheek.
"You're bleeding."
I quickly reached up and touched my face, and sure enough, both my cheek and my chin were dripping in blood from the scrape. I cried out in disgust and searched for a place to wipe my hand.
Suddenly, the girl reached down to the ground and wiped the blood from her hand onto the pavement.
"Blood really never comes off." she said, as if that were some sort of explanation.
It was growing lighter, all the time lighter, and I suddenly looked behind me, back at the megaship.
"I'm really going to have to get going.. uh.. thanks.." I said clumsily.
"Karone... if it's the truth you're looking for, then you're going to need to find it. Show Andros the blood you spilled for this. I don't think he'd want you to spill more." She said, soberly.
I looked around, and then turned to head back.
"Oh, my name's Kendrix, by the way. Kendrix Morgan." She called after me.
"Kendrix, huh?" I asked quietly. "What an interesting name."
"Well you'll have to look me up or something sometime.. give me the specs for your ship."
"It isn't my ship." I said firmly.
"Well... it sure owns a part of you. I think you should ask for it back."
***
So of course I recognized the sound as being a bird. Oh, not just one, but many. Hundreds, maybe. All crying out for.. for what? What could they be saying? Were they expressing a longing? Maybe just like me.. they all had secrets. Secrets they covered up with their cheerful chirps.
Beyond my closed eyes, there was light. I also sensed cold underneath me, coldness and hardness, as if I were lying on a bed of stone.
I moved my head and was welcomed into stinging consciousness by severe roughness scraping my chin. Grimacing, I quickly clutched my head with my hand. In the process, my eyes flickered open and attempted to make sense of all they drew in.
First, I saw a great path of blue and silver. At the end of the path, like a monolith beckoning me in the distance, was the grandest of battleships.
I pulled myself into a seated position, frowning. "What am I still doing here?"
The irony. That after all that time among the Power Rangers, all that time surrounded by love and acceptance; forced and uncomfortable though it was, I end up in exactly the same place, in exactly the same position, asking exactly the same question.
I should be ashamed, I thought. This is horrible. If Andros finds me here, how will I ever explain myself to him? I'll look so ungrateful.. or even worse, suspicious.
And I couldn't look suspicious.. because my intentions were nothing but good. The evil has been completely purged from my mind; caught behind a filter formed by love and kindness. An impenetrable filter.
Funny.
I began to get up, shaking my head. I absolutely had to get back before Andros came looking for me. I had no idea what time it was, but he would no doubt be coming to look for me soon.
I stood up, determined never to take a look behind me again, when suddenly I found myself staring down into the eyes of a young girl.
I shrieked involuntarily and jumped backwards. The girl reacted instantly and stood up, running over to me. She took my hand and patted it with hers.
"It's okay, it's okay! I'm sorry!"
I frowned at her. She was slightly shorter than I was, with large blue eyes concealed behind thick glasses. Her hair was long and blonde, tied back in a ponytail.
"I'm sorry." She repeated, releasing my hand. "Please.. don't run away."
"I.. uh.. I'm sorry?" I said, shakily.
"Well.. you're her, aren't you? I guess I mean, you're you, aren't you?"
"W..what?"
"Oh, jeez, that didn't make any sense. I mean, you're Karone?"
I nodded.
"Oh, Gosh, you're really her."
Oh no, I thought. Please, god, not another flustered and emotional fangirl. I'd seen enough of them on the news to know them on sight, and luckily enough my contact with them had been minimal. But now I'd opened myself up to countless assaults. They didn't even sleep, did they?!
"I'm sorry.. I really have to get back to the megaship." I said, smiling apologetically, preparing to run if necessary.
"The beds there must not be up to par." She said cryptically.
"Excuse me..?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Just a speculation... but you aren't used to sleeping in those conditions, are you?"
"What conditions? Who are you?" I demanded, quickly losing my patience.
"Comfort. Safety. You crave the unstable, the rough, the dangerous. I could see it in the way you slept on the cold cement. You looked completely content, despite the temperature and the discomfort."
I shook my head. "I passed out, I wasn't asleep!"
"Then why were you snoring?"
My jaw dropped. "I WAS. NOT. SNORING!"
"Were too. I'm surprised you didn't wake up the whole city!"
"Well, you're certainly rude! You wouldn't happen to know someone named Sylvia, would you?!" I snapped.
She frowned, then giggled. "Amazing. I'm actually having an argument with the Princess of Darkness!"
My face blankened, as I felt my thoughts scatter to the winds.
"I.. I'm not the.. that anymore. You shouldn't call me that!"
She cocked her head, then nodded. "Okay, you're right." Then she turned around, so she was facing the same direction I was.
"Well, it was certainly nice talking to you..." I began, but she cut me off.
" It's none of my business, really... but this thing fascinates me. I even took time off from college, just so I could fly across the country to come see it."
"College?" I asked incredulously.
She looked behind her shoulder at me. "Yes.. college.. it's school, you know."
"But you can't be old enough to go to college! You're about 10!"
"I'm 14, thank you very much!"
"So what are you... some kind of prodigy?!"
"No.. not at all. I'm just like you. I see things."
"Things like what?"
She sighed, and looked to the sky. "I see a harbinger. This. It's already done its damage to the physical world.. but its destiny is uncertain. Whatever it is, however, it can't be good."
"Why not? And who's to say what's..." I stopped myself.
"You see things too. But what you see is the past. The past that keeps repeating itself."
"That's for sure."
"But the future to you is terribly forboding. That's why you seek comfort wherever you can. Even if it's on the cold cement. There must be something very powerful drawing you to this place."
I looked upward, at the top of the Dark Fortress, beginning to shine with light that only began to brim over the horizon.
"The truth. I want to know the truth." I whispered.
"About what?" She inquired.
Instead of answering her, I turned around to where she was sitting. There, on the cement, was a pink, girly backpack, a notebook, and a laptop computer.
"So you came.. just to see the Dark Fortress?"
She shook her head. "Oh, not just that. I can't show my bias so strongly. I'm not on the side of evil, it's just this that fascinates me. Its very structure... seems to contain a spirit that's trapped in a dilemma. Look at it. It's roundness shows even-mindedness.. but even that isn't perfect. It's jagged, too. And its power and majesty seems equally full of an almost.. vulnerable soul. Oh, it's just amazing."
"You see all that in this?" I asked.
"Exactly. I see things. What do you see in it?"
I shrugged. "I see.. a playground. And a battlefield."
"Contradictions?"
"No. They're one in the same."
She frowned at me, an almost amused frown. Then, she reached up and touched my cheek.
"You're bleeding."
I quickly reached up and touched my face, and sure enough, both my cheek and my chin were dripping in blood from the scrape. I cried out in disgust and searched for a place to wipe my hand.
Suddenly, the girl reached down to the ground and wiped the blood from her hand onto the pavement.
"Blood really never comes off." she said, as if that were some sort of explanation.
It was growing lighter, all the time lighter, and I suddenly looked behind me, back at the megaship.
"I'm really going to have to get going.. uh.. thanks.." I said clumsily.
"Karone... if it's the truth you're looking for, then you're going to need to find it. Show Andros the blood you spilled for this. I don't think he'd want you to spill more." She said, soberly.
I looked around, and then turned to head back.
"Oh, my name's Kendrix, by the way. Kendrix Morgan." She called after me.
"Kendrix, huh?" I asked quietly. "What an interesting name."
"Well you'll have to look me up or something sometime.. give me the specs for your ship."
"It isn't my ship." I said firmly.
"Well... it sure owns a part of you. I think you should ask for it back."
***