Astral Dimension [#WattPride] (In Progress)

Chapter 5: Past to Present

Silence suppressed the room in its cold wrath, holding back our voices from breaking free. Not one of us could speak, as if ice had blocked our throats and could not melt. I was in too much shock to say a word, and Skylar looked petrified. My tears still clung to my face, reminding both of us of what we were feeling inside. Not only did I feel fearful of my true home's possible fate, but I also feared being faced with Skylar, someone who I never knew shared my long-distant home. No wonder she knew everything - she was a part of it all along.

"I'm so sorry, Sylena," she whispered. She tried to say something else, but she closed her mouth, holding back her sadness like I had attempted to. Like me, the thoughts were unbearable, and seconds later, she had tears down her face too. I was still so shaken up I couldn't even make a move to comfort her. Nobody should have to feel how I felt about my home, yet Skylar had no other choice. She was in the same situation as me and I couldn't blame her. I had so many questions, but didn't dare to ask them in this moment.

"You didn't deserve anything I did to you, it was wrong of me to act like I did and keep everything from you like that." Skylar wiped her eyes with an arm. "I thought you would remember, but forcing it wasn't the way to do it, and not even that worked. I'm the worst medic ever!" She shut the book and went to the medicine cabinet to grab a tissue to wipe her face. She instead took out the entire box and handed it to me, but all I could do was stare at her face. She acted like she knew me her whole life, and I didn't recognize one bit of her. Unless I was blind or she was lying, she couldn't have come from the Astral Dimension.

"Look, Sylena," Skylar whispered. "There's a lot to explain besides what I've said. I just don't know how..." She trailed off on her sentence, mouthing words to herself. She kept wiping her face with her hand, trying to clear her tears away. I hadn't done a thing to clean my face. I hadn't moved from the position I was in since Skylar said she came from the same place as me. The tissues were left untouched, even by Skylar, who kept mouthing words that I couldn't read. Seconds later, she snapped her fingers and opened the book again, sending up clouds of dust as untouched pages were flipped over rapidly.

'What is she doing, and what is with her and that huge, old book?' I was really confused why all she would do is open it and suddenly know another secret about me. She flipped the pages so fast I couldn't even read a single tiny word printed or possibly written in that book.

"Bam!" Skylar yelled, slamming her hand down on a page in the book. "It's been so long, who knows what's in here now." She waved me over to a chair beside her. She took her own seat on the left side of the table, closest to the previously locked door where she retrieved the book from. I managed to force myself to stand up and sit down, looking at what Skylar was holding her hand on.

"So this has everything about what's happening in our world, and I mean everything." She lifted her hand and pointed to the text, which looked hand-written. I just stared at it, confused. Some of the text was readable, but most of it seemed splotched with ink or scribbled over with an odd symbol. I wiped my eyes to make sure I wasn't blinded by tears, and sure enough, nothing changed. Now that I was feeling more confusion than sadness, I worked up the strength to talk.

"Am I blind, or is this in another language?" I asked. Skylar rolled her eyes like that was an obvious question.

She flashed me a look and said, "No and no. It's meant to be this way to hide it from thieves or spies, and people in general." She thought for a second, then added, "Don't worry, there's a way to reveal it."

"So do it," I pleaded. If this book had answers, I wanted them now.

She sighed. "I don't remember the way to do it, though." She shook her head, like her mind had just gone blank. "I'll be right back." She quickly jumped up and opened the door, shutting it fast and leaving a loud bang behind. I decided to just try and read what I could so I could find out whatever was happening that this weird book could tell me.

'Possibility of...Alien...safety is...Dragons...None of this makes sense!' No matter what I could read, none of it added up. Ideas on what to do popped into my head, so I picked the best one.

Try to erase the extra ink.

I was either going to read more than a few words or read smeared ink and graphite. With that in mind, I started using the bottom of my palm to try and erase some of the ink. After a minute, nothing had changed. Not even my hand had a single mark on it. It was like the writing was on the back of see-through paper...except it wasn't. I even went the mile to spit and rub, but I got zero results again. I didn't know what magic Skylar knew, but she was good.

'Hurry up, Skylar,' I thought to myself. 'I need to know what is going on.' It was more than finding about home, it was my friends. I lived my life there, and I couldn't bear to not know for longer than however long it's been since I...left. Looking down at the book, still covered up, I made a move to search Skylar's medicine cabinet for something to use on the book.

I opened up bottles, I read odd labels, I rummaged through long-forgotten solutions, and nothing signaled "Will reveal all secrets in old magic books". I was getting frustrated, and when that happened, I would do the craziest things. So, right then, I grabbed two bottles of who-knows-what and dumped them on the page, then used the tissues behind me to wipe away the residue. Turns out, I make a few black marks blue, and may have stained trough a few pages. As long as it was still readable, I still had a chance.

"Hey, Sylena, do me a favor?" It was Skylar, shouting from behind the door. I heard the creak of metal moving and Skylar pushed the door open with her back. "I found this box that might -" She blinked a few times at the book and everything scattered around it, then looked at me. I avoided her gaze and looked at the ground. "Umm...Sylena, do you want to explain?" I gave a little shrug and felt my face go a bit red. She lowered the iron box to the ground and stared at the book. "How did you manage to break the code before me?"

"Wait, what?" I flashed a look at the book, which was left as I had last seen it. "I think I made it worse. What code?"

"What do you mean? You did it!" She gasped and picked up the book. "You revealed the message!"

"Yeah, no. I actually stained it and probably -" She turned the book, and there, I saw clean pages and clear black text. My eyes went wide with amazement. Whatever I did, it worked somehow, and I was just now seeing it, or losing my mind.

"Sylena, now we can find out what's happening at home!"