Sorry it took so long... Grounded and all this other stuff... Oi. I meant to update sooner, I really did.
Anyhow, I don't own Pendragon.
Um... yah. Here's another Press-based chapter... I think this is the last one...
Um, so yeah...
So, enjoy chapter seven of "The Truth". Here's "First Earth". Read and review, please. Thanks.
Chapter Seven: First Earth
Once he got out of his mother's sight, Press was met with a bunch of huge dogs with terrifying yellow eyes. She hadn't warned him about this. They chased him, attacked him. One dug its claw into his left shoulder.
He screamed in pain, but he kept running. "Star. Door. Flume! First... Earth!" he chanted in time to his footsteps. He started trying to dodge the dogs coming after him; their claws had hurt a lot, and he wasn't looking forward to feeling them again.
Finally, he saw the door his mother had spoken of. He quickly opened it, launched himself inside, and slammed the door shut behind him.
He looked around. It was dark. He didn't see how saying anything would do anything... but he trusted his mother. And he needed to do exactly what she had told him, though he wondered exactly what First Earth was. It had to be some kind of code... but what did it mean?
"First Earth!" he called out into the darkness.
The flume opened. He tried to back away from the bright light and music that had suddenly appeared from nowhere. But a force started pulling him toward it. He struggled, but it was no use. It sucked him in.
And soon he was deposited on First Earth, completely terrified. He turned around to stare at the wall that had just deposited him. "First Earth!" he screamed at it. Nothing happened. "First Earth! Home! Anywhere!"
The flume stayed silent.
He sat down, trying not to have a breakdown. He had no idea where he was. It looked like where he had just come from, but it was... different. Would he ever be able to go home? After a few minutes, his head started to clear. He had to do what his mother told him. He had to find this Rosalita. She was waiting in front of the Manhattan Tower Hotel. He got up.
Seconds later, he heard the music again. He turned. "Mom!" he cried as his mother appeared.
"Get changed, Press." She seemed unfazed by the strange lights and music. "You can't wear those clothes here."
"Why? Where are we?" he screamed.
"First Earth." She stepped away from the wall as she said it.
"And where's First Earth?"
"Earth," she answered with a slight smile. She started to change. Press eventually followed suit. "Even your boxers." Terese had been watching him out of the corner of her eye. "You can't bring anything from Second Earth."
"Is that where we were? Second Earth?" he asked as he took off his boxers.
"Mmm-hmm."
Press looked himself over quickly when he finished changing. It felt strange. The clothes were just... weird. They fit him perfectly, and they looked like clothes... but from out of a black-and-white movie.
"Coming?" his mother called to him. She was up ahead of him, waiting for him.
"Yeah."
As they walked out, Press looked around at the scenery. "Hey, I recognize some of these places!" he said. "But they look... newer."
Terese smiled. He was being observant. Good.
They finally arrived at the Manhattan Tower Hotel. There was a girl waiting on a bench on the sidewalk in front of it, alone.
"Mama!" she cried (pronouncing it "Ma-mah") when she saw them, standing up. She was about half a head shorter than Press, and very tan. Her long black hair was tied back. With her dark green eyes, she looked at Press, regarding him carefully. "Is this the boy Press you told me about?"
"This is him," she said with a nod.
Rosalita held out her hand to him. "Rosalita."
Press took it and shook it. "Press Tilton." He turned to his mother. "Now will you-"
She smiled and shook her head. "There's one more person we have to get."
Press groaned. Rosalita looked at him questioningly. They both followed Terese back to the flume.
"Third Earth!"
Press wasn't as shocked, since he had seen this once already. Rosalita, however, was terrified.
And with that, the three of them were whisked away to Third Earth.
- Kuramastrass -
