Right next to the station was a giant pool of blue-green liquid surrounded by a ring of rocks. The rocks were in various shapes; some were sharp and pointy, some were round and bubbly, some were large and flat. They were all in various shades of red, yellow and orange, which also matched the colour of the landscape. The pool was completely still and reflected the sunlight, making it sparkle. "It's beautiful.", said Joseph. Elisa simply nodded in agreement. For a place that was crawling with danger, it seemed to have a lot of beautiful spots like this. "Soo...what do we do now?", asked Joseph. It was a good question. Elisa thought for a moment, then answered, "We stay put. We don't know what's out here. And I don't want to run into anymore monsters." Joseph nodded in agreement. It made sense. There was no telling what was out there in this strange world. Thinking about that reminded him of something. "Hey, Elisa wait. There are two other kids out there! What about them." Elisa looked
"Nirvana?", said Elisa. "Is that the name of this world?" Sage laughed at that, and said, "Oh, that is good! You think that this is some kind of alien planet?" He then continued laughing, while three of the kids just looked confused (Wendy wasn't confused). Joseph asked, "Ummm...isn't that what this place is?" Sage firmly shook his head and said, "No, no. Not at all!" With that, he finally stopped laughing, straightened himself up, and continued, "Nirvana isn't an alien planet. In fact, it technically isn't a planet at all. It is a digital paradise for the students of Eastwood Academy. A place where they can become the best versions of themselves!" He smiled at them expectantly, perhaps waiting for a reaction of some kind. Well, sure enough, he got one. "What do you mean, 'digital paradise'?! Are you saying this is all virtual reality! Wait, are we in some kind of COMPUTER GAME?!" Sage shook his head and said, "Sorry, no. That's not it, although it is a little close to the truth." Then
In just a few seconds, the four children had landed somewhere new. They had just zoomed down the tunnel, as though they were falling down a hole, and had landed on their feet without any impact. It didn’t feel like they had moved an inch, more like they had been placed somewhere else like dolls. It was a strange feeling. It took them a good minute to collect themselves and assess their new surroundings. Elisa was able to analyse it and come up with an accurate description in just a few seconds. The quartet had just arrived in a rocky landscape. A hundred metres ahead of them, there were two large rock formations, one forming a thick loop, the other resembling a whale’s tail. To the left, the landscape slowly became a downward slope that ran for another hundred metres, while behind them it sloped upward for a few metres before becoming flat ground and then sloping up again, then repeating four more times, creating a giant natural staircase. The landscape to their right was mostly flat,
Creed? As in, the mysterious person (or AI?) who had been sending all those messages? This was HIM? Elisa and the others stared at him, unsure of how to react. However, that issue was quickly solved by Creed himself, who barked, "Didn't you hear what I just said? Go and hide yourselves!", startling the four kids out of their shocked trance. Elisa then asked, "Umm, where exactly are we supposed to hide?" Creed whipped his head around to her direction, saying, "Anywhere! Go anywhere that will keep you kids out of the Fallens' sight." He then pointed at something behind them. "Like those rock formations. That should be an excellant hiding place from the Fallen." Just as he finished speaking, a loud screech sounded above. As they all looked up, Creed sighed and then said, "Nevermind."A giant bird was flying above them. And not just any bird. Elisa and Joan recognised that screech as the sound made by the Giant Teratorn! It looked down at them as they gazed upon it. Creed moved his arm an
They had superpowers. All four of them. And Joan had just used hers. Elisa still couldn't quite believe it. She was startled out of her trance when a loud howl sounded, which was followed by a series of roars, shrieks, and cries coming from beyond the natural staircase. They all sounded dangerously close. Elisa turned to face Sage, who had just turned to face the Wolf-Fallen. Or, what was left of it. "Seriously? It survived?!", said Sage, who was both shocked and frustrated. The Wolf-Fallen had lost the left side of its head, as well as its right paw, left leg, and parts of its torso. Right now, it was a weeping mess (although, technically, it didn't weep). It howled again, and this time more monsters answered it. In fact, Elisa realised that some of those calls came from the area to their right. She looked to her right, but couldn't spot any Fallen approaching them. Sage took it one step further, and extended his neck upwards by at least a metre, giving him a better view of the lan
Ms. Walker was running late. The bell for class rang over five minutes ago, yet here she was, rush-walking down the hall to get to her class. Normally, she was always right on time, but then the light had started flikering all over the building. She and a few other teacher had gone to see the headmaster to ask what was going on. Afetr a quick discussion, he decided to send Jack the maintenance man to the generator building to see what was wrong. About two minutes later, Jack calls the headmaster and asks him to come to the building. When he went, he asked the teachers to go to their respective classes and check on the students. As Ms. Walker rushed to her class, she met one of her students playing truant; Janet Taylor. She came to an abrupt stop and said, "JANET! What are you doing here? You should be in class!" Janet grinned sheepishly and replied, "Umm, well, you see, its....the lights started going crazy in the classroom, and everyone paniced, and then we all just left the classroom
"Umm, now?", asked a nervous Wendy. "Right now?" Jack nodded and turned, saying, "Yes, now. Follow me. An' no funny business from any of ya, understan. I'm in no mood for that." He started walking and looked over his shoulder to see if the children were following him. To his chagrin, they were still standing in the exact same spot as they were a second ago. He stopped and beckoned to them to start moving. Elisa then spoke up, asking, "Can't we see the headmaster a little later? Like, say, after break?" Joan was covertly shaking her head and tugging Elisa's arm, but was ignored. Jack gave Elisa a hard look and snorted, startling her. "Sure. If you wanna see him after break, that's fine. I'll just pick ye up at teatime. That sound good to you?" Elisa, who was still thinking about the wonderful snort he gave earlier, which sounded like a truck engine, was snapped out of her reverie and quickly shook her head, saying, "No, it's okay. We'll see him now." The others nodded in agreement. J
It was beautiful. The sun was shining overheard in the clear blue sky, its light filtered through the thick canopy of leaves. The trees were tall, thick and strong, unmoving against the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves and grass. Song birds and butterflies flew to and from the trees, a beautiful diversion from the flowers and leaves on the forest floor. A natural path wound between the trees towards a clearing bathed in sunlight, and on this path was a little girl. She was about 7 years of age, a small child with long, straight, jet-black hair that reached her shoulders, eyes as red as the brightest rubies, a cute little button nose, and a pale face with the loveliest smile. The dress she wore was as black as her hair, with white frills, reaching past her knees towards her knee-length socks. It was simple yet elegant, perfectly complementing her beauty. She was running on the winding path towards the clearing, laughing as she held out her arms at her sides like an airplane. As