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It was dark and cold. The air was thick like water, and she was drowning in it. In the beginning, she tried to swim to the surface, but it just sank further into the abyss. How long has she been left in the dark? Days? Week? Months? Not even her magic can save her here.

How did she end up in this situation? Last thing she remembered, she was at the festival fighting Zombozo. She had to take off her mask and then she was here where ever here is. She was terrified and searched frantically for some other form of life. But she never found them. She was alone.

Her magic was the first to leave her. She'd use it to try and traverse or conjure something, but without the proper components, she was just wasting mana. Next, she lost her strength. It felt like swimming deep in the ocean during a storm. She'd try to fight the current, but it'd just drag her deeper and deeper. And the deeper she fell, the harder the pressure became. It felt like her ribcage was crushing her lungs causing her to wheeze every time she took a breath.

All that remained was her sanity and even now she can feel it slowly fleeting. Memories of her past plagued her mind and filled her with regret. She couldn't help thinking about what her family would feel if they saw her here. Max would probably search every corner of the universe until he found her. Her parents would cry but in time they'd move on. And Ben… would he even care? There was once a time that he was ready to destroy the universe for her, but that was a long time ago.

"Gwen."

That voice. She looked up at the surface and saw a pale blue light flickering. She tried to move her sore arms but they felt like lead.

"Can you hear me?"

She tried to scream, but nothing would come out. The light grew brighter, and she could feel the darkness loosening its grip on her.

"We're worried about you."

Another push got her moving towards the surface. It was so far away, but she wasn't going to give up.

"I'm worried about you…"

The light began to shine and she felt her mana surge as she blasted it sending her flying through rippling surface. The landing was hard but she could finally breathe again. Looking down she could see that the floor was covered in water but there was no sign of the abyss below it. Awkwardly she got back to her feet and examined her new surroundings. It was dark, but she could make out that she was in a large room. Forming a ball of light in her hand, she could make out bookcases lining the walls as well as a couch and fireplace. There was no other way out, save for a single wooden door.

On the other side was a tight but long hallway. She formed a second ball of light and shot it down the hall, but it dissipated before meeting the end. Taking in a deep breath she made her way down the corridor. The building was quiet save for sounds of her feet hitting the wet floor. The walls were bare, leaving no sides of if she was even advancing, but she trekked on.

She hadn't heard the voice since leaving the abyss, but she knew it was him. She tried to use her magic to sense if there was anyone else around but couldn't feel anything. She was starting to regret not searching the library but it was too late to turn back now. She needed to find a way out. Her doofus was worried about her.

"Ben…"

The sound of a door unlocking caused her to turn around with an energy bolt ready in hand. Another wooden door was blocking the path she had come from. A glance back showed that the hallway was now walled off. With no other choice, she opened the door.

She was back in the Rust Bucket. The wooden door was replaced with the metal door she was all too familiar with. She felt something swell in her chest, but it quickly sunk just as her stomach did when she looked outside. She was home, but it was wrong. The windows were boarded up, the grass overgrown, and the door was destroyed.

The inside was so much worse. The furniture had been thrown about some even torn to shreds. Glass covered the living room floor where the family photos had been knocked down. With shaky steps, she ascended the stairs. Every fiber in her body was telling her to stop. To turn around and run back to the safety of the RV, but she kept going. A glance inside her room caused her breath to get caught. It looks like a fire broke out and destroyed everything. She continued down the hall to Kenny's room. She didn't think it could get worse, but she was wrong. There were small holes riddled the walls. Bullet casings scattered across the floor like the Legos he loved to play with. His desk was destroyed, and the closet doors were shattered. His bed was missing, but one quick look out the broken window would solve that mystery.

Finally, she reached her parents' room. Everything inside her was telling her not to open the door; that there would be no turning back once she saw what was inside. She saw her hand inching closer and closer to the handle, almost like it had a mind of its own.

"Gwen!"

"Ben!" She cried out, "Help me!" Another blue light brought her back to her senses. She ran as fast she could go out of the house towards the blue light escaping from the mobile home. Once inside, she ran to the back room where it was waiting for her. Floating in front of her was the blue orb. It wasn't much different than the ones she could form with her mana, but this one was different. The sphere was calling to her, begging her to touch it. And when she did, it changed. In an instant, it changed from a light blue to a vibrant pink.

June 11, 2016

Silverton, OR; 11:47 pm

A loud rustling woke Ben from his restless slumber. Cautiously, he made his way into the kitchen, where his grandfather was running around franticly.

"Grandpa?" Max was quickly snapped out of whatever trance he was in but quickly got back to whatever he had been doing before.

"It's been a week since Chicago. She should have recovered by now." Ben looked over at his cousin, who was still slouched in the booth. Max had been doing everything he could to keep her hydrated, but she was getting thin, and it was apparent that if they didn't do something soon, she would need to seek medical attention. "I have an old contact that lives out here. If there's anyone that knows what's going on with her, it's him." After grabbing the rest of his belongings, he reached for the side door and gave him one last look. "I'll be back as soon as I can so, please, look after her." Then he was out the door.

Ben wasn't sure what to do now, so he just sat down on the other end of the booth. He was tempted to text Julie, but it was almost three in the morning back home, and he figured she was already fast asleep. He tried to watch a video on his phone or play a game, but he couldn't seem to focus on the screen. With nothing else to distract him, he stared at the girl in front of him.

Her cheeks were sunken in, and she was deathly pale. Her usual fiery red hair didn't have the same vibrancy it once had. Max would rub her down with a wet cloth, but it was no secret that she needed an actual shower. If her ten-year-old self were here, she'd die from shock. His ten-year-old self would probably deck him for not helping her.

"Gwen," he whispered. "Can you hear me?" There was no response. He figured there wouldn't be so why bother. But he kept going. "We're worried about you. I'm worried about you…" Worried was an understatement, and he knew it. Every time he saw her, his heart sank. This was his fault. If he had stopped to help her, she wouldn't be in this condition. But it was too late. He let his emotions control his actions, and she paid the consequences because of it. Again.

"Ben…" The hoarse voice snapped him out of his thoughts. It had been so quiet that he almost played it off as his guilt playing tricks with him. But still, he rushed around the booth and grabbed her.

"Gwen!" He shouted, hoping for another response to prove that she did speak.

"Ben… Help me…" It felt like his heart had shattered into a million pieces. He wrapped his arms around her in an instant. His mind raced trying to figure out what alien could help in this situation but there wasn't a single one he could think of. He felt an intense heat build-up against his chest. He pulled away and was blinded by a pink like emanating from her chest. He shielded his eyes for a moment then it was gone in an instant leaving no trace of what caused it.

When he looked back at her, she was staring back at him with tears in her eyes. The two of them just sat in silence, watching the other unsure if this was real. Then she collapsed onto him.

"Gwen… GWEN!"

Max had arrived at the old brick house just outside the town. It's probably been thirty years since he was last here, but nothing about it has changed. He knocked on the wooden door and listened for movement inside. When he didn't hear anything he knocked again a bit more frantically. This time he heard the shuffling of footsteps and a string of curses that he didn't need to make out to know he had the right man. It took the old man a minute to get the door open but when he did it didn't take him long to shut it back in Max's face.

"I told you bastards that I'm not going back."

"This isn't about the Plumbers, Jeremiah." The man opened the door slightly and looked back at him. "My granddaughter needs your help." He opened the door, ultimately inviting Max inside. The two sat at the dinner table while Max clued him in on the situation.

"Dammit, Max, you should have taken her to the hospital!"

"You're acting like I haven't helped you treat hundreds of others in a worse state."

"She's a civi!"

"A civi with enough magical potential to rival a master sorcerer!" They were quiet after that waiting to see which would budge first. Jeremiah was a skilled doctor and trained in various fields of medical training, including some alien and even magical. No one in the galaxy could do a better job than him.

"I'll do it," he began, "but I want my credentials redacted and wiped from the system."

"Consider it done." Even if his family would say otherwise, his colleagues knew that he was a man of his word. The doctor quickly gathered up his supplies, and they were off.

They were up the street when they saw the flash of pink light escape the RV windows. Neither of them wasted a second getting through the small door. Max, however, did hesitate for a moment when he saw his grandson crying while holding his limp cousin. If it weren't for her ragged breathing, he would have thought the worse.

"We need to move her to the back!" Jeremiah's harsh voice snapped him out of his daze, and in an instant, they were in the back room, hooking up IVs and running tests. He knew every step and was ready with the appropriate tool for what was to come next, but the thought that this was his granddaughter had slowed his pace a bit.

"Grandpa…" Maxed looked back where his grandson stood, but all he saw was the little boy he once was. "Please… Help her…"