"Well. I mean. It could be worse." John and Cassy sat on the extended portion of a particularly chunky tree root that half-jutted from the soil. Bio-luminescent white mushrooms served as the fungal lanterns that provided their only natural light source in a near pitch-black, silent forest. They could not see that far up the trees, as a canopy of darkness prevented them from seeing any possible canopy of leaves.
John wore casual clothes alongside a reasonably-sized backpack and a holster for his newly issued pistol; this one actually had metal bullets. Cassy sat next to him, still wearing that body armor she had from her 'failed' universe.
"Yeah. It's real pretty, though." She remarked, eyeing a large mushroom. It was translucent; individual strands of mycelia were visible through their membrane.
"Yeah. I guess." John shrugged. He turned to look at his drawn-to-life friend. He saw the words that formed on her cheeks.
Intrigue. Curiosity. Apprehension.
"I still really like how those words always either say how you're feeling or what you're thinking." John gave Cassy's hand a squeeze.
She squeezed back.
"I kind of do, but…" Cassy looked away.
"But?" Squeeze.
"Nothing." Squeeze.
"But?" Squeeze. Despite the angle, John could see the letters slide and re-arrange themselves into new words.
Hug. Peacefulness. Serenity.
"...What if they say something embarassing?" Blush. Blush. Blush.
Squeeze.
"Like what, blush?" John elbowed her playfully. The body armor absorbed most of the blow, though John still went softly despite that. His smiled faded a little whenever he looked at that armor. Every time he looked at it, it always reminded him of that failed universe. Even despite it all, he still saw the death canvas. She died once. What was to stop her from dying again? He had no control over the dimension-hopping. Egrene had gifted them with actual equipment, yes, but—
I know you can!
"Stop telling me it says blush every time I blush!" Cassy turned to slap him playfully, or hit him, or something, but then she saw the haunted look on his face.
John was shaking and failed to realize that he was squeezing Cassy's hand with increasing force.
"John?" Cassy whispered. His grip was starting to hurt. Pain. Concern. Friend. Hug.
John snapped out of it. "S-sorry. I just—" He unconsciously pressed the drawing pad in his pocket with his free hand.
Cassy saw the small gesture and instantly understood. "I'm alive." She whispered. Hug. Comfort. Hug.
"That body armor keeps reminding me of—" His voice caught in his throat.
"Do you want me to stop wearing it?" Cassy edged closer to him. "You could draw me more clothing. Or maybe a different kind of armor."
"No. I can't draw." John chuckled.
"Maybe you could write it down? Maybe I could so something with that. I have a way with words now." Cassy giggled.
"Yeah, you sure do." John teased her, barely batting away the memories that roamed the edges of his mind like a memory revenant.
John looked at Cassy's face, her pale skin dimly lit by the mushrooms. She smiled reassuringly at him. Hug.
"So. Uh. I want…" John struggled to find the words.
"You want…?" Cassy's eyes widened eagerly.
"...Can you read what's on your cheeks?" John looked to the floor.
"Yeah." Cassy scooted closer and firmly wrapped her arms around him. He hugged back. Tightly. Cassy tuned her listening in to the quiet breathing of her trembling friend.
John was tuned in to the silent screams he saw right before his closest friend was torn to shreds in unknowable agony. He still trembled.
Cassy noticed this.
"How about we walk?" Cassy pulled away and stood up. She offered him a hand.
"Y-yeah. I think that sounds great." John stood up took the offered hand.
It was no peaceful meadow, but he found the silence somewhat soothing. Aside from themselves, the trees and the mushrooms, this forest seemed completely and utterly devoid of all life. It was quiet and peaceful. There wasn't even a single gust of wind to rustle the leaves, if there were any. Not even leaves on the ground to crunch beneath their feet. Even the grass refused to rustle from their steps.
Cassy was enthralled by the sights, frequently touching John and staring at her own hands and fingers; it seemed as though she would never grow accustomed to this physical body that she so loved.
Despite the soothing nature of such a locale, John saw too many parallels between this forest and that meadow. His heart rate increased as they walked. His breathing quickened. Fight or flight had kicked in. He undid the strap on the holster of his gun, drawing it.
"That mushroom's real pretty." Cassy grinned. That grin vanished when she felt John take his hand out of hers. She saw him hold his gun at the ready. There was no immediate threat; not even a subtle drop in temperature in either the air or the blood to signify danger. Cassy heard a click, which let her know that he dropped the safety.
"John…?" She whispered. Her voice croaked at the end.
John didn't seem to notice. He didn't care. He didn't trust this environment. He'd never trust anywhere ever again besides the safety of his own room.
"I can't let my guard down, Cassy. We don't know if we're safe here." John's eyes glowed with panic and fury.
"John...please put it down. I'm alive. I'm okay. I'm here." Cassy hugged him around the shoulders. "Just put it back in the holster, John."
A singular tear welled in his eye; it slowly slid down his cheek and to the tip of his chin.
"John." Cassy put a shaking hand on the top of the gun, lowering it. "There's nobody here. It's just us."
"How long will that last?" John whimpered, allowing Cassy to move his hand down.
"Just put the gun away, John." She wiped his tear away.
John complied. He switched the safety back off and slipped it back into his holster. He, however, left it unstrapped.
"Whatever happens, happens, John. We get to be together now." She tightened her embrace. "Let's just keep walking. Okay?"
John nodded and let Cassy take the lead.
They walked for a time, John staying quiet for most of it. Cassy was enjoying the sights to no end, but her friend's PTSD was dampening the mood a smidgen. This, however, did not stop her unwavering support.
"What do you want to do when we get back?" Cassy asked him just to distract him.
"Hug your drawing pad really close to me…" John shook his head. "No. I might just leave you in my room."
"What? Why?" Cassy asked, outraged.
"So I don't lose you again." John looked her full in the eyes.
Cassy saw the glare of a bright mushroom reflected from John's eyes. To her, this made him look ghostly. This environment was wearing on him. Despite how different it was in sight, the similarity in feel was eating him alive.
John's gaze drifted to Cassy's cheeks. Keep me with you. Please. Don't leave me behind.
He softened at those words.
"You...were pretty lonely before we met, huh?" John asked.
Cassy nodded. "They tried to tell me I was the last human in an apocalypse and I had to find other survivors. One of them accidentally put my case file next to the pad. I got curious and looked." She gave him a sad look.
"Did anybody try talking to you after that?"
"Yeah. It didn't help. At all." She laughed. "I felt something in the air the day that black thing came. I got really scared and you helped pull me away from it all, at least for a little bit. It hurt when it killed me, but I was happy I got to talk to someone. In person. And touch them." Her smile warmed John to the very core.
"W-wow. Cassy…" John's fear melted away at once. "That's—"
"Keep this with you, John." She patted the pad in his pocket.
John nodded and they continued.
He felt his confidence renew, at least just a little. The fight or flight instinct still ate at him, but now, he felt as though it was manageable. They had guns. They had—
"Flashlights. You know, I forgot we had these." John dropped his backpack to the ground and withdrew them.
"You know. Me too." Cassy took her own flashlight from her body armor. She turned it off and shined it in the distance.
The light from the torch revealed furry beasts with infinite legs; some were attached to each other, while others seemed to have slowly drifted into existence from an invisible void. Their bodies were covered in mouths and teeth. They all had two humanoid arms with five fingers each; each fingertip had a bulging, dripping eye. The fluids made no sounds because they didn't drip downwards; they dripped upwards into the canopy.
"J-john?" Cassy took his hand. She kept her flashlight trained on them.
John dropped his own flashlight before he even had the chance to turn it on. He said nothing at first. He felt nothing at first, but then it all closed in on him all at once. "No." John's veins froze into a solidified, circulatory-system shaped chunk of ice. "No. No, no, no."
The beasts' covers were blown. They didn't know what the beasts had been waiting for the entire time they were there, but they didn't care.
They slowly inched forward, their eyes completely trained on them.
"I'm happy we could hold hands again, John." Cassy's voice quivered. "I'm sorry."
John hugged Cassy incredibly tightly. He didn't bother trying the guns. There were too many, and they didn't look like the mortal, dying type.
"John. You're gonna hate me and you're gonna hate me so much." Cassy whispered into his ear. "Please. Get us out of here." She hugged him back.
John relived it all. He relived every second of that meadow and those invisible walls in a matter of a few seconds.
John closed his eyes.
"I forgive you if you can't. Thank you for being my friend." Cassy rubbed her cheek against his and closed her eyes. She cried.
John couldn't hear the beasts getting closer, but he felt it. Their very movements and intent were tangible; he could feel their legs passing through the trees as though they were nothing. He felt their fingertips quietly clack together with every other step.
John then heard unintelligible whispers. Somehow, these whispers cleared his panic, washing it away in a tidal wave of the welcome unknown.
He felt a warmth sprout in his chest. He instinctively grabbed this warmth, willing it to surround both him and Cassy.
He thought of just one singular word.
Home.
#
They were in his room, tightly entangled in each other's arms. Cassy was still weeping, her entire body wracked with tremors. She awaited her second demise, acceptance deep in her heart.
The demise from which John had saved her.
He looked at the plain walls of his room in stunned disbelief. Then he laughed. He laughed, and he laughed loudly.
Cassy opened her eyes. She, too, saw the plain walls. She, too, was in stunned disbelief.
And she, too, laughed. Loudly.
"John!" She took his cheeks in her hands. "You—" She looked down and giggled in relief. "You—" She had to catch her breath. "I told you you could do it! I told—"
And then she noticed. She wasn't in her pad. She wasn't in her world of art and text. She was there with him.
He noticed it too. "Cassy. You're…" He looked her up and down, mouth agape. "You're here. With me. In my room."
"I am." Cassy looked at him in stunned silence. "I'm here. I'm really here."
There was a knock on the door. "John?"
John recognized that voice.
"Please open the door, John. I must log your return."
John practically tore the door off of its hinges, greeting Agent Egrene with the happiest look that the Foundation member had ever seen.
"Egrene!" John yelled.
"Happy to see you back." Agent Egrene smiled and nodded. He then noticed Cassy standing slightly behind him. He gave her a slightly frown of confusion.
She gave him a small wave.
"Cassandra? Out of your drawing pad? In the flesh?" Agent Egrene smiled.
"I can control it now. I willed us back here and it worked." John's smile of victory gave Agent Egrene satisfaction.
"Can you, now? Well. Meet me in my office. Both of you." Agent Egrene winked and walked away.
John took Cassy's hand.
#
Agent Egrene sat at his desk in his usual smug, elbow-on-table, chin-on-hand position when John and Cassy hopped into his room.
"Ah. Just in time." He gave the two of them a smile. "Time for the scheduled report. Tell me everything."
"We were in a dark forest with glowing mushrooms. It was really quiet…"
John gave the rest of his story to Agent Egrene.
"Hairy beasts with endless legs and eyes on each fingertip…" Agent Egrene typed this down on his computer. "And you say you heard whispering?"
"Yeah." John nodded.
"What did it sound like?" John noticed that Agent Egrene did not ask what it said. For some odd reason, this stood out to John.
"It sounded like…" John pondered for a moment. "A growl. A guttural noise deep from the throat." John frowned. "It wasn't human."
"I see." Agent Egrene's face was blank. "Did it seem malicious?"
"No. It seemed like...this is gonna sound strange. It sounded like it liked us. Felt like a friend." John vividly remembered it. The warmth, the feeling of empowerment.
"Do you know what it said?"
John shook his head.
"I see. Well. I suppose I'll have to launch an investigation on that as well." Agent Egrene typed more on his keyboard.
"Speaking of which," John added, "a-about…"
Cassy held his hand in encouragement. Squeeze.
"What...what's going on with your other investigation? On those...black figures?" John stammered.
"I believe I have a lead on those." Agent Egrene nodded. "You have control over your ability now. Should you ever encounter them again, just come here."
"In your office?" John asked incredulously. "Is it safe?"
"I'd wager, yes." Agent Egrene nodded.
"We really appreciate this, but I'm confused," Cassy interjected.
"About?"
"Why are you going so out of your way to help us?" Cassy asked.
"Research purposes," was Agent Egrene's only reason, "that's all. Leave it at that." He then stood to his feet. "I have business to attend to. Enjoy your down time, you two." He nodded to both of them and left the office.
#
John and Cassy sat next to each other on his bed, both of them eyeing the drawing pad.
"I'm happy to be here, but I almost miss being in there." She tapped the pad.
John looked at the pad and tapped it with her. He stared absent-mindedly at the blank page. He hadn't felt this relaxed in such a long time. Such a feeling was foreign to him. His 'curse' was no longer a curse; it was a power now.
The flashbacks of the meadow would likely never end, but now he could bare them. He could hop on command now. Danger was now simply a matter of ambush. Barring that, he could keep Cassy safe.
He smiled.
"I have an idea," said Cassy, her face lighting up.
"Yeah?" John muttered, looking at her.
"Come to my place." She gave him a playful grin.
"You mean…?" He glanced at the pad.
She nodded.
