Illusion: Destiny Awaits (In Editing)

6 - Christi

"Fine," I respond. Not one of us talks for a little while until I figure out a very fascinating thing.

"Yo! Sabrina! Guess what I discovered?!"

"What?" she answers eagerly.

"Watch this!" I plant my feet on the "floor" of the bubble thing and start running.

"Do ya feel it?" I inquire. She nods, staring outside the bubble's walls.

"We're moving! Keep going! I'll help you! Maybe we can get out of this place!" She hops next to me and we run like the wind.

"If only Jago were here," I say. Sabrina's face turns sour and I stop running. The bubble slows down but keeps moving.

"I'm sorry." I pat her shoulder. If Katy was here, I wouldn't really care that much. But Easton is a different story. Thinking of Jago reminds me of him, his sandy blonde hair blowing just the slightest bit in the wind as he and Jago take their morning weekend runs. This way, I can feel Sabrina's sadness in my heart.

"You know, Sabrina, if we get out..." Sabrina's expression lightens, as she realizes the plan.

"I'll get to see Jago again!" She smiles after speaking.

"Let's run," I add, hoping the plan will take us home. Running only makes me think of Easton, my beloved brother.

"Yeah." Sabrina plants her feet onto the bubble and we run like we never have before.

"Look, Sabrina! I can see something above!" I point up, spotting the bottom of an island. Sabrina cheers, clearly excited for the sliver of hope. We force the bubble upwards, so we can get a good look at the island.

"It's majestic. Magical. Dazzling!" Sabrina compliments the island. We can see only a minor part of the island, but it does look nice. A pleasant place to get in a little nap and leisure. That's a total possibility once school gets out in a few weeks. School. We're missing school.

"Sabrina, how long have we even been down here?" She shrugs, then taps her chin.

"Over a day!" I roll my eyes at her response.

"You know what I mean, Sabrina! Geez!"

"Chill out, Christi. Just a little joke to revive the place." I don't protest, instead I turn the bubble around and run towards the open ocean. Sabrina joins me, so we bustle on our way. I feel my toes run over the liquidy smoothness of the bubble. I wonder how we got here in the first place.

We keep running for what seems like infinity hours, until I have a sudden feeling.

"Sabrina, I'm feeling a little anxious about this. Let's turn around." She glares at me, arrows digging into my heart.

"Turn around? Turn around when we've come so far? No! I want to see Jago!" She spins on her bare heel, and continues running. The feeling becomes stronger, and I think desperately to stop Sabrina.

"Sabrina—" My sentence is broken. Zap! Gzz! Gzz! Sabrina falls back, I catch her.

Purple lights of voltage appear and I look at my surroundings. All around me, there's purple. The bubble is electrified! From the inside of the bubble, I can recognize that the violet flashes of possibly fatal light are forming four vast walls around us. An arena, large. Extremely large. Blocking our way out. We're trapped.

✦

"I'm never going to see Jago again!" wails Sabrina. I want to tell her something, but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it worse.

"Maybe we can talk about something else?" I suggest. Sabrina looks away.

"I don't want to—Lupo!"

"Heh?" I respond, whirling around. A grey wolf stands near. He growls softly, then circles around us.

"Lupo! Why have you come?" Sabrina says, clearly proud of him.

"Don't you mean 'why have we come'?" Lupo states and Skifter appears next to him. He's still in flight, but then lands suddenly.

"We came to tell you. About Zaroho." Sabrina gasps. Who is Zaroho?

"Who is Zaroho, you ask?" Skifter speaks abruptly.

"Wha? How did you know what I—" I stutter out.

"What you were thinking? It's a Soul Animal thing."

"What about Zaroho? Are you going to tell us? Huh? And what are Soul Animals?" Sabrina asks, narrowing her eyes in thought.

"Of course..." Lupo lowers his head in a bow after speaking. "Of course. Master."