The Other Side

     Wait. Where was Zalyin?

     Zulyin stopped running. She turned around behind her. The same red, loud, darkness that was in front of her was also behind her.

     “Zal?”

     Nothing. Just the occasional gurgle of what appeared to be magma below her.

     What happened? How did she get here?

     “Think, Zul.” Sometimes talking out loud helped her think. “What do we last remember?”

     She thought hard. Zalyin was walking behind her. More than a walk, but they were not quite fully running. They seemed to be anxious. They were trying to get away from someone? Something? But who, or what? Nothing ever happened in their town.

     She continued to think. Her thoughts became interrupted by a low whisper of voices chattering over each other. They sounded familiar, but not in a comforting way. She heard this before and she hoped to not hear it again. She couldn’t make out what they were saying but it definitely made her uneasy.

     “Who’s there?”

     The chattering stopped.

     “Keep going up the mountain. Keep following that path. OR ELSE!” A voice hissed in the darkness. It was still a whisper but it sounded like it was right in Zulyin’s ear. She jumped back in fear. No one was around.

     “MOVE IT!” This time it was multiple voices again.

     Zulyin gulped. She looked where she had come from but there did not appear to be an escape. She nodded and headed back up the path she was already on.

     Was this a dream? It had to be a dream. This wasn’t any world she knew about, make believe or otherwise. Maybe she would wake up soon.

     Any minute now.

     Alrighty, let’s go.

     Time to wake up.

     Please, please wake yourself up.

     Zulyin pleaded with herself. The longer it went on, the less likely it seemed like a dream. Maybe Zalyin would come, or she was already here, or she would save her.

     The whispering started again. It scared Zulyin less this second time. While it sounded sinister it oddly comforted her this time.

     But that was when she realised this wasn’t the second time they had spoken to her. She heard it earlier with Zalyin. But that was not the first time either. The more the chatter went on, the more she realised what the chatter was saying.

     Zulyin had felt these urges and heard these voices off and on throughout her life. The urges to be bad. The voices encouraging her to be bad. She did not want to be bad, but something deep within her said she must be bad. She fought the urges frequently. Sometimes it was unimportant bad, like spilling a glass of water on purpose. Other times it was larger bad things that would upset those she loved. It wasn’t her fault, and the voices agreed. Zulyin was just special. Malevolent. Why did that word keep coming up?

     Had these voices been telling her something else about herself all along?

     She started to feel more confident and comfortable in this strange place. It started to feel more like where she belonged, unlike the place she just was. This felt more like her, not those silly childish games she was playing. This was power. She was starting to like these thoughts and feelings.

     Zulyin felt herself shudder. She then shook her head. “No, that’s not true,” she said aloud, “I am kind, and my sister is my best friend.”

     One of the voices laughed. Another scoffed. “We’ll see about that,” said a third, much louder above the rest.

     Zulyin continued to follow the winding path all the way to the mountains, wrestling with her own thoughts against the voices and competing against herself. When she finally reached the top it opened up into a big flat rocky field.

     A large Krawk appeared. He looked like fire and ash, and held a big spear.

     “Welcome, Zulyin. We have been waiting for you for many years. I am glad you finally figured out how to join us. It was hard work setting up that portal, and even harder to get you to activate it. Now with you here, we can finally begin.”

     “Begin what?” Zulyin did not like the sound of this. She loved it. No, she hated it. She loved it?

     “Oh, now now. There is a lot to discuss and catch you up on. You have a lot to learn. I can’t go spilling everything right now. I need you well rested. I think you should go lay down in your new room.”

     A few guards showed up. They also held spears.

     “Am I a prisoner?”

     “Oh, most definitely not. You are one of us. You are an important piece of our puzzle. You see, you’re no ordinary Plushie Poogle. But I think you know that, right? The thoughts, the urges, the bravery. You are special. You are important.”

     Zulyin still did not understand. But they all had spears and she did not, so she decided to do as she was told and followed the guards. They escorted her to a room and locked the door behind her. It certainly felt like a prison. She finally realised she had no idea how long she had been running or walking but she definitely felt very tired. The adrenaline must have finally worn off. Her legs were weak, her back ached, she was hungry; but most importantly, her brain was fried.

     “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try to sleep.”

     She didn’t exactly feel comfortable, but she did feel safe for some reason. These strangers welcomed her. No, they knew her. Were waiting for her? Was she really all that special?

     She wanted to stay awake and think harder, especially about the gaps in her memory not just from today but from her whole life, but she was too tired and ultimately fell asleep.

     She was woken up by knocking at the door.

     “Hey, sleepyhead. You up yet?”

     Zulyin rubbed her eyes and looked around. Nope, still in this quasi-prison. I guess this is real now. Maybe they will give her answers today.

     “Um, yeah, just woke up.”

     “Great. I’ll be back to grab you in ten. Get yourself presentable.”

     She listened to the footsteps go down the hall. She stayed still for a moment. No use in waiting around, might as well get up.

     She had no idea what time it was. There was a window in the room but the outside looked exactly like it did yesterday. Earlier today? What is time?

     What was apparently ten minutes later had passed and the footsteps returned. The door unlocked and slowly creaked open. Another magma looking soldier came up, a Kyrii this time.

     “Come on. Boss is excited to talk to you.”

     Zulyin followed the grumpy Kyrii down the hall, up some stairs, down some different stairs, and into what could really only be described as an evil lair. The Krawk from before was sitting at the head of the table.

     “Ah, you’re finally awake. Welcome. Come sit down.” He gestured toward the opposite end of the table and smiled. His molten body glowed in what was otherwise a mostly dark room.

     Zulyin cautiously walked up to the table, pulled out the chair, and sat. She summoned all her bravery. “Where am I? And where is my sister?”

     “Now, now. Don’t go worrying yourself about her. We have much to discuss.”

     Zulyin shifted in her seat. As she did, she felt something shift within her. It was like when the voices spoke to her; this time, however, she did not hear the voices.

     “You, Zulyin, are no ordinary Plushie Poogle. I believe I have told you this. What you are is something better. Stronger. Smarter. Braver. You, my dear girl, are our leader. Our queen of malevolence. With you hear now, we will go on to burst forth from this realm and enter the one you came to us from. We will take over.”

     Zulyin felt herself smile. It felt involuntary.

     “But first, we must prepare you for the art of battle.”

     Several guards came from out of the shadows and surrounded the table.

     “Fight them.”

     “What?”

     “Fight them. You have it in you. You’ve always had it in you. We’ve been talking to you for years. As soon as you came into the world we knew it. Everything shifted for us and we did all we could to find you. We spoke to you. We were training you all along. Telling you your purpose. Why do you think you got in so much trouble?”

     Zulyin thought about this. Before she had a chance to react, the Krawk shouted.

     “GO!!!!”

     The soldiers charged at her.

     Before she had a chance to process what was happening she was fighting. Not only fighting, she was winning. She was taking down a well trained army like they were nothing. It did not feel real to her, but she could see that she was really doing it. She felt her eyes narrow and get hot. She felt her body go from tired and weak to exhilarated and powerful. She felt so many things in her body and had so many thoughts in her mind. Everything was so new and so scary but somehow felt exactly right.

     Then the fight was over.

     “Alright you are ready. You have finally figured out how to unlock your true potential. Are you ready to go over the mission?”

     Zulyin felt hunger she never experienced before. She craved this mission she knew nothing about moments ago but suddenly it was in her head like she always knew what it was.

     A little voice in the back of her mind cried out, “Don’t forget Zalyin, don’t forget who you are or where you came from.” This gave her pause. Zulyin finally had a purpose, she wasn’t going to let that go. This was real; this wasn’t kid games and playing pretend in the yard. This was a genuine chance at adventure. Zalyin would understand. Right? This was important. She didn’t know how exactly but just she knew it was.

     “Let’s go.”

     And with that, the wounded soldiers got up and hobbled away. The Krawk, Zulyin, and other leaders of the tribe sat around the table. They discussed their plans, battle strategies, and locations they saw as weak. They had exactly one year to get the army in shape. There was no room for error. Neopia was soon to be theirs.

     Over the course of that year of planning and training the voice that would continually remind her about Zalyin and everything that she had left behind on the other side of the portal got quieter and quieter until it wasn’t there at all.

To be continued…