She had woken up to a blank space. Nothing but blinding white surrounded her, and she remembered the white room torture technique from her English unit during her recent sophomore year in which she had just finished.
All she had remembered was falling asleep and she found herself here. She thought logically about this and decided that it was a dream. At least, for now. She couldn't ever recall having a dream like this before and it was slightly unnerving because all she could see was white. The silence was also playing a part as well but considering the fact that she hadn't tried breaking the silence was something she took into consideration.
Well, she hated stereotyping and cliché so the standard 'hello' was out of the question.
'Yeah, just like every horror movie. The character sneaks around and says hello like the thing that's trying to kill them is gonna say "yeah I'm in the kitchen, want a sandwich?" C'mon, that's so stupid.' She scoffs to herself.
"That's an interesting way to put it."
The sudden voice startled Noreen out of her sarcastic musings and snapped her head where the voice came from. It was deep and calming-she always loved deep voices, they had an effect on her and she knew it-it came from a silhouette of a person. A male, she guessed.
She rolled her eyes, "I hate it when people don't think things through. No one ever seems to really think for themselves these days and seem to have truly little intelligence. A simple hello is too cliché and stereotypical. Why can't people be creative with their greetings?"
"Because, as you said, people don't know how to think for themselves anymore." A familiar voice spoke near her. Noreen turned to her right and saw her brother standing there in his pajamas just like she was.
What many people considered gym clothes; the siblings claimed PJs. They're comfortable and airy. If you don't agree you can fight them.
"You both have a very...interesting...way of viewing humanity." The being noted. Stephon rolled his eyes.
"We spent a majority of our lives observing people and how they act. We are very disappointed in humanity and essentially lost all hope for it."
"Oh, dear brother, let's not forget the politics. They're getting out of hand." Noreen threw in. Stephon nodded in agreement.
The being just stood there and observed the siblings' behavior before asking, "If you could save humanity in a way, would you do it?"
The pair took their time with the answer. On one hand, they really had given up hope for the human race because they both knew no matter how hard they tried nothing productive would ever get done. Ever so painfully did they know this. On the other hand, if they had the chance––a possible winning chance––to save what they could, they most likely would do it. Why? Because they believed people could change. Because people always change, or they die before they do. And Noreen knew this all too well.
Stephon was conflicted. He knew his limits and he didn't think he could do this. Try as he might, pretend all he wants, put up every confident mask he could, but he still couldn't do it alone.
"If we were to, hypothetically, accept this; what does this-we'll call it a mission-mission completely entail?" Noreen asked from the blue. She wasn't going to make any kind of decision without proper Intel.
The being sighed in amusement before answering, "You both would be sent to another world. They need help. Wrongs have been made and I need you to make them right. Fix what needs to be fixed, mend and fill the holes that need to be."
A phrase quickly flashed through Noreen's head at that moment.
"Wrong will be right..."
She shook her head to clear it and dismissed the slight pang that came with remembering her favorite story.
Stephon stepped back in, "You'll need to be specific." He crossed his arms. Firmly setting his narrowed gaze upon the being. He wasn't about to go prancing in some world he doesn't know about, on a job he doesn't know what he's supposed to do, for someone he knows nothing about. Much less his little sister who he knows can be a little reckless.
Noreen, catching onto her older brother's drift, adds to his statement. "We're not going to walk in there blind. Both metaphorically and physically." She knew to be specific. She knows how lawyers work and threw in the physical part just for safety's sake. She hates when people twist her words. That's why she prefers physical actions. As the saying goes, 'actions speak louder than words.'
"This is a world both of you will no doubt recognize. Once you realize where you are you'll know what wrongs I speak of. I'll have you start from the beginning and work your way up. You can build your own foundation."
The siblings stared at the being. "What...do you mean by...' starting from the beginning'...?" Stephon asked slowly.
"You'll know when you arrive." The being stated simply.
Noreen narrowed her eyes in distrust. "You're discrediting yourself. You're making yourself seem untrustworthy."
Stephon scoffed. "That just makes it easier doesn't it then? After all, it's the untrustworthy that you can trust to be untrustworthy. It's the trustworthy that you can't trust because you'll never know when they'll do something incredibly untrustworthy." Noreen paused and looked at him incredulously.
"Did you just quote Jack Sparrow?"
"... Maybe...but he was right," Stephon responded, sticking out his tongue and acting like a stubborn child who thinks he's right. In which, in this case, he was. And they both knew it.
"So, what will it be?" The being asked.
"...Is death a possibility?" Noreen asked. Stephon stiffened beside her.
"Death is always certain. No matter what world you are in."
The siblings remained silent. Their muscles were tense, and Noreen could feel her breathing picking up bit by bit.
'No,' she scolded herself, 'I will not show weakness––not in front of some stranger that could use it against me. School your features. Breathe slowly in...and out. Again.'
Stephon noticed the small signs of his sister's distress and gently took her hand and held it in his own as discreetly as possible. The being showed no signs of having noticed the young girl's mini-mental panic session.
"Will we die in the world we originate from? Are we to merely throw our lives away for a place we don't know where we are going to? Are we supposed to just drop everything we love for a stranger?!" Stephon stepped forward and started to point his finger at the still being in his rising anger.
"Are we supposed to just fucking do whatever the hell you say at the drop of a hat!? WE DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU!"
At the sign of a yelling conflict, Noreen started to close in on herself and focus on her self-control as she too, was now fighting against her own anger. The being stayed silent. Noreen was ready to chuck something at him. Preferably something heavy and/or lethal.
She instead, slowly placed her hand against her raging older brother's deltoid and shook her head slightly when he paused in his yelling to look down at her.
"Yelling will get us nowhere–"
"Wise words from someone so young such as yourself." The being interrupted what she was about to finish saying, making one of her fingers twitch.
Noreen's irritation with the being was beginning to reach some new heights and decided this conversation needed to end soon or she was going to blow her top. In no way was it going to be pretty.
She glared at the being and he shivered under it. He knew that look. She was ready to kill him if he didn't give them the answers they needed.
"No. No, you will not die. Find solace that no time will pass from your homeworld while you help this one. If you dodie, however, you will stay dead in both this world and your own. So do not take what is given so lightly. When I say you will start from the beginning, I mean the beginning. Not of the world–no–but of the story you will be rewriting."
Noreen and Stephon looked into each other's eyes before turning back towards the being. In unison, they spoke, "Let us remain as siblings. Not only of spirit but of blood as well."
The being bowed his head in acknowledgement and with a wave of his hand, the siblings went to the world they were supposed to help.
With some last parting words the being said, "I wish you good luck, literally, you shall need it on your journey. And I do hope you enjoy my little...gifts...as well."
He smiled.
