:D
Whoopee. I have updated. :] Yes, I changed my chapter formats again. I felt like it wasn't only me doing it anymore; which has been bugging me for... a long time. Especially with the A/N's, but I haven't changed them, for some reason. I'll find a way to make it different, hopefully. Also, I took off chapter titles; I take too much thinking about ones that don't make sense/aren't great. Plus, I decided not to use any different colors, since it probably might affect you guys depending on what skin you have on the forum. Also, again, it felt like it wasn't only ME doing it anymore, if you catch my drift.
Anyway, I don't keep you guys in anticipation for too long. This chapter will, hopefully, get thinking. If it doesn't, then either I'm the worst author in the world or you're just not good at reading well enough. So, well, happy Sunday-ness. You know what today is... You're a good friend. Now, read.
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"All Together Now"
Chapter Three
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The past week had been at peace for quite some time, and the unfolding summer seemed to have gone smoothly just as it had been so far. There had been no signs of serious trouble or anything worth taking time of anybody's vacation; in other words, alarms didn't ring off in hot pursuit with people in the dire need of assistance or ridding of any so-called 'evil,' as of such.
Everyone, especially the well-known heroes of DISOM, had been going about their respective places normally, as if there need not anything to worry about at all. It had seemed that nothing would stop anyone's summer this time, or would it last any longer as if felt?
---
"What?! You're leaving in two days?!" cried Sarah, in a somewhat disappointed and shocked tone, "There's something I've been trying to- I... I mean, I've been wanting to spend more time with you here. You know, w-we've been having so much fun this... past week. I didn't know that you had to leave!"
"I'm sorry," Kevin replied unsurely, and a bit sadly, now that she had mentioned that, "I've been planning to go to spend my summer in Miami for quite some time, and I didn't know you really wanted me to stay that bad. Plus, I don't think I would forgive myself if I spend my whole four months off just here in Ohio."
"It's, uh, fine... I guess," She sounded as if she were caught off-guard with the response, "I mean, I can't stop you from having your summer there if you've been wanting it, right?"
"...I guess not," His voice still remained transfixed with a mix of confusion and guilt, "Well, I have to get things ready now; I just wanted to let you know about it. So, uh, I guess I'll see you again later, okay?"
"Wait!" Sarah exclaimed all of sudden before Kevin could even turn away and make his way home, "There... there's... something important I want to tell you."
"I'm listening," Kevin glanced over curiously at her pleading eyes. She took a deep breath, as if it really were imperative that he had needed to know. But then, it seemed that her heart when against it and just sighed.
"N-never mind... Sorry," She stammered as she brought her hands together, looking down, regretting to have done the opposite as she had intended to do, "I don't think it's that important anymore."
"Alright, then," He noticed the extremely saddened expression on her face, thinking deeply about what could've been so important for him to know about, but was so bad that she decided not to let him know after all, "But, I'll be back in a bit, okay?"
Sarah just nodded slowly, adding a shrug before bidding farewell then turning away, "Right, then. I'll just... see you later, Kevin."
And as she walked, she kept bearing the same sort of thought in mind...
---
"Morning, sleepyhead," Florence greeted warmly, hearing soft, distant footsteps approaching closer even as she continued to stare ahead at the sky of dawn. His feet dragged like heavy weighted cinder blocks attached tightly around his legs, as he tiredly made his way over.
"Hey there," Shade yawned for a moment. He then walked over and stood next to Florence, who had her hands rested along the wooden rail of the veranda just outside their room. Once there, he had done the same as her, "Why're you up so early? There's no reason not to sleep in anymore, you know."
"I know," She replied, pulling her hair back as the breeze from the shore had begun to pick up from afar. It seemed to satisfy her as she faced him, "But, I'm not sure why, exactly. I guess it's because of this strange dream I had that kept me wondering..."
"Dream, huh?" He wondered, gazing far ahead just as she had, but then glanced over her direction just seconds later to make direct eye-contact; it had only seemed fit to act polite, especially towards your girlfriend, "What about?"
"To be honest, I have no clue, really," Florence stepped down from the higher platform of the deck and then took a seat nearby, "It's kind of... hard to explain."
Shade hopped off and then followed her, happily grinning, "Well, whatever it is, I hope you don't let it get to your head so much; we're going to Maui today. We're going to take another way to get there; unless, you'd rather to ride on a ship or some boat."
"That's good to know. I think I'd rather go your way," She looked up, after pondering deeply for a brief moment, "But what is your way?"
"Oh, I think you already know," He remarked, as if he expected her to understand what he had been trying to tell her, "Hey, speaking of that, there's something I've been wanting to do for a while. Want to know what?"
"Sure, why not?"
Shortly after he had questioned for her permission, and upon receiving the response, the two of them had soon made their way to the beach in a matter of minutes. It hadn't been too far, as well, seeing as the place that they were staying at had been less than a quarter of a mile away from the beach.
"Well, this isn't quite what I expected," Florence tapped her foot tentatively against the sand, looking ahead to watch what he was doing.
"It was just something I thought about while we were here," said Shade, holding his arms out to present his 'finished work;' a perfect line of ice set into a single path that lead from one direction to another. It was as if the beach had been set into a winter wonderland, only in the time as of late in such a month as mid-August.
"You sure have a creative mind then," She complimented, walking forward and took his hand, which he had held out for her. Once she had done so, both of them slid along the icy path, hand in hand. The sounds of giggles and laughters came not too long after. For safety, they decided to hold on to each other (because either way, Shade and Florence would either both stay up or both go down).
All of a sudden, though, it seemed as though a strong force had pulled Florence below to plunge into the ocean, slipping off the ice away from Shade. She also lost his grip, and he hadn't seemed to have gone down with her, either. Surely, she hadn't expected such a thing to happen, her eyes widened with fear as she tried to make her way up again.
For some reason, it seemed as though the laws of physics had decided not to cooperate with her and she, instead, had continued to sink down. She shut her eyes in impact; obviously, it had became apparant to her that Shade hadn't come to realize that she had disappeared below the 'deep depths of the ocean,' seeing as she now around seven to eight feet below at this time. Once she realized that she stopped descending, she opened her eyes again.
As most humans, Florence had started to lose oxygen after being underneath a body of water for some time. It felt as though she was about to black out when she noticed that a small, strange figure about in front of her. She couldn't believe her half-closed eyes as she gasped, which wasn't exactly the best reaction to have done in this case, and covered both of her hands over her mouth.
Florence glanced hastily from one direction to another, seeing that the bizarre being was no longer in sight. She thought this would be an opportune moment to make her way towards the surface, but it seemed so long since she had had any air to breathe, and stopped at her spot, close to losing consciousness.
Shade, who had just come from above and had begun to dive deep down the ocean, had finally found Florence drifting about the water and dashed towards her as fast as he could. She acknowledged his presence, but didn't have much to show that she was and she grasped Shade's hand as they both began swimming upwards.
In a matter of moments, both of them were now sitting up on the shore. Once it became evident that Florence was in a 'breathable' atmosphere, she inhaled, then exhaled, deeply and blinked slowly, bringing one hand close to her and began to cough a few times. Shade stayed close-by for reassurance, need it be, and continued to gaze at her in worry until he came to realize that she needn't anything else, as her condition hadn't been serious in any way.
"Wow, don't know where that came from," Florence muttered silently, after she had maintained her composure. But as fine as she had been, she couldn't help but 'freeze' right on the spot and just stare ahead, her reaction showing to be completely in shock.
"What happened?" wondered Shade half in thought, "For a moment there, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I nearly couldn't find you in that... vast amount of... ME!"
"Really! I'm not sure how it all happened," She had tried to recall what had occured just now, "It's as if someone, or rather something, just pulled me down and I couldn't get back up."
"Well, whatever did happen, that could've been some near-death experience," He sighed a little, still slightly concerned.
Florence then thought deeply for a moment, "But I saw this... thing. It looked like a dragon; a bit like you, only way smaller in form and having bore a different color that I didn't have much time to glance at and remember."
"Dragon? Well that's strange..."
"Maybe I was just imagining things, since I was running out of air right there- and you know, hallucination could take place in certain cases. It's funny, though; remember that dream that I told you had that left me wondering all morning?"
Shade nodded reluctantly but without much to instantly question, "Yeah. What about it?"
"It's like... deja vu that just popped out of nowhere! The same that happened here a minute ago was exactly similar to what I saw in it- from the way it all began, the being I spotted, and you coming to my rescue. It's all strange; I hadn't expect it to actually take place, though."
"Now that sure is unusual..."
"I'm a bit frightened," Florence admitted, staring out towards the sea, "I mean, who knows what else could happen now that this has...?"
---
Sarah, now in her own room, lied back on her bed and stared downwards; her mind seeming to be teeming with 'thoughts of something,' or the other outmost possibility, 'somebody.' Her gazed was transfixed at what she held in her hand- something that looked to be a journal.
She reached one hand towards a nearby windowsill (without taking even a single glance if she were accurate) and took a pen, capping off the pen by simply pulling it with her teeth, then opened the next blank page. Sarah began to jot down each word, one by one, occasionally stopping to think about what she's about to say, and then went back to her scribbling. Once finished, she slipped it back in her 'secret hiding place,' which was conveniently under her bed tucked away with the rest of her secluded belongings.
After she had 'done what she needed to do,' it came the perfect timing for a knock to sound from her door.
"Come in," She responded to the noise, not exactly focused as she had spoke, neatening her bed a little, taking a book from her bookshelf, and then going back to the same relaxed position she had been in earlier. Slowly, the door creaked open and someone she half-expected to enter had peeped their head through it- Kevin.
Sarah looked up slowly, half-surprised but... also half-disappointed? Or so it seemed to her at this point of time. "Oh... hey Kevin," She spoke in a tone that had been a bit 'dull,' as if she weren't in the greatest mood at the moment.
"Is something the matter?" He questioned in silence before he could return her greeting.
She slowly shook her head, trying to fit back the feeling of venting, "No..."
"You don't sound like you have nothing to be upset about," Kevin took a seat on her bedside, gazing at her still-saddened expression, "Come on, you can tell me."
He didn't receive a response.
"Is it... because I'm leaving?"
Sarah shrugged a little, her gaze was turned away from him, which she had tried to do as much as possible; avoid eye-contact.
"Then, what's wrong? You seemed just fine up until the time I told you that I was leaving."
From that point, Kevin believed that he wouldn't receive a response, but expected the wrong reaction.
"Well," She muttered softly, "maybe I was a bit... sad... um, disappointed... about that. But, there's really something else that bugs me the most other than you leaving."
"And what would that be?" asked Kevin, knowing that he could expect an answer when Sarah finally made eye-contact with him.
"I... I don't want to tell you," Sarah felt a bit selfish, and mostly regretful, as she mustered out those words, hiding her face in her hands. A moment later, she stretched herself upwards from where she sat and quickly rushed out her door.
Kevin, still seemed extremely confused by all of this, had gotten the sudden urge to follow after her to wherever it was that she had gone off to. The door shut behind him and from there on, he could hear footsteps dashing towards the nearest room. At that point, he believed that it was best to just leave her alone and just ask her again later; that way, she wouldn't be any more upset.
But as he was about to make his leave, he turned to the direction behind him and noticed some sort of 'book' that was half-tucked from underneath her bed. Though, thinking he would be nosy, he hadn't decided against it and thought he felt the need to know what had bothered her so much. Kevin flipped to the last written page and skimmed hastily through (thinking that Sarah could just return to her room any moment) and soon reached the ending, gasping softly in surprise. It felt as though Kevin had been possessed by an evil spirit and froze himself with solid ice right at the spot.
And there, on the last line of the journal entry wrote:
Which is why I would never be able to tell Kevin how I truly feel about him...The last words were an attempt to be crossed off with her pen, but it was still clear and legible to him:
That I love him.....---
Leah had continued to keep her nose on her map, walking without any worry that she would ever run into anybody in front of her (which she hadn't done, mind you). She hung back slowly from the rest of her family, as if she had been too preoccupied. Eventually, it took her long enough to decide where she had wanted to go, and ended up losing them through the large crowd in Disney World.
It had been about a week since she's been in Florida, and yet, she still had completely no clue where she wanted to go and what to do; she did know the park right off the bat, like the back of her hand. Still not realizing that she had nearly gotten herself lost, she looked over and soon came to see that she was no longer with anybody she knew anymore.
"Hey there, are you lost?" came a voice of a teenaged boy about her age, "You seem to be, as far as I can tell..."
She glanced away for a brief moment, in slight embarrassment, but then looked over at her greeter, nodding slowly. She held out her hand, "Leah."
"Maverick," He returned in a polite manner, "Nice to meet you."
Leah decided to, firstly, remember the appearance of her newly met acquaintance- and, more likely, soon-to-be, friend. She noticed his dirty blonde hair and gentle, blue eyes. Leah also saw that he was only about a few inches taller that her; he also dressed like a regular boy would seem to, but 'cleans up quite nicely,' might I say so myself.
(
A/N: I absolutely love dirty blonde hair. People who have it just make me feel jealous or I just frickin love it! That's for you guys and gals with that hair color. *sigh* And my friend Maverick is SOO cute. I mean, if fine were a crime! XD)
"So, what brings you here?" Leah tried to talk over the shouts of loud talking or excitements blending with the noises coming from rides and all those sorts of things, "In Disney World, I mean?"
"I begged my family to take a vacation here in Florida for once, you know what I mean?" explained Maverick.
She simply gasped at his response, "Me too! I feel the exact same way."
Maverick smiled with please, "Nice to know we can relate already. So, I guess now we can skip the formalities; where are you headed to?"
"I'm not sure, really," Leah shook her head, "But, maybe somebody like you can help me decide where to head to first?"
"Now that sounds like a fine idea to me..."
Before they could proceed forward, there was a sound that gave off from her bag- her phone was ringing. Leah noticed that it was her boyfriend trying to call her. She glanced over at Maverick, thinking she would be a disrespectful, but gestured to him that she would only take a second.
"Hi Ben," She greeted in a charming way.
"Hey there, Leah," Ben responded politely in return, "I just wanted to tell you something really important-"
He stopped when he realized that he overhead another conversation with Leah going on- only it wasn't with him. He tried to listen through what they could be talking about and heard things clearly.
"Oh, okay. I'm sure you know what that is, right?"
"Of course, it's just past that sign over there, and-"
"Leah! Leah!" He called out from the other line, "Are you there?!"
There came no response for a moment, but soon, he noticed that Leah was back, "Oh, sorry, Ben! I'm kind of busy right now!"
"But Leah," said Ben in a slightly disappointed tone, "Wait, who are with right now?"
Leah spoke hastily, as if she were in a rush, "His name is Maverick. Look, I don't have time to explain right now! Sorry!"
And with that, she hung up and Ben was left on the other line, wondering: "Who's Maverick?"
---
Ash crossed her arms, staring at Lewis expectantly, "Is this another excuse to get away from me?!"
"N-No! No!" exclaimed Lewis in response, scratching his head nervously, "I just, um, thought I saw something... over there!"
And with that said, he dashed off towards the streets of Ottawa and rounded a corner that lead to an empty alleyway.
With that having just happened, she turned to Liam, "You think he's fibbing?"
"A hundred bucks tells me that he so is!" He replied, pointing over at him until he had completely disappeared.
Lewis, as expected by Ash, had indeed tried to escape from her and Liam. I mean, who would enjoy watching Spiderman 3 for the hundredth time?- or whatever else it was that Ash wanted to do that he hadn't looked forward to at all. He turned on his heel and sprinted in an even faster pace to avoid them having the ability for either of the two to catch up. Lewis, later on, stopped after having ran in such a hasty speed for possibly about a mile or more than a half.
"Man, who knew some alleyways here stretch out this far?" He managed to whisper to himself, after panting heavily from all that sprinting, "Makes me wish regular people were a bit more oblivious to surroundings; flying would really help."
(
A/N: I don't think they really do in Canada, but, I don't care; just follow along the story. XD)
The alley soon gave way to a large, widespread area of lush green, which had been a bit unusual for Lewis. He slowed his pace and approached the incoming area, eyeing each little corner as much as he could. It seemed to be a familiar, yet completely new, sight. Lewis hadn't any idea how to explain it; maybe he was just imagining things?
But from that point on, he had realized that all of this, whatever it had been exactly, was no imagination. Although, it had been more than slightly unusual to spot no sign of human life anywhere around these premises. Either way, he thought of this as a better place than at a movie theatre with Ash, sobbing her eyes out at Harry dying, along with Liam, laughing hysterically at the heartbreaking moment to try and ruin it for everyone.
As he had pondered about that, though, he noticed a small creature that circled his head, soon giving Lewis, not only the dizzying feeling but, the intuition that there was another 'person' around; though it hadn't provided the best reassurance. Moments later, the being disappeared 'in thin air' and the bright sky had dimmed to a feel of evening.
Lewis glanced about until he saw a strong glow giving off from the sky, which penetrated the night-like atmosphere. It amazed him the most that he hadn't seen anything else around that would be providing light other than that- no moon, stars, or any source of electricity of some sort that would help him see. But he, in the decision he felt was best, dashed off along the darkened area. Avoiding anything else strange around he, Lewis shut his eyes as he did so; that was, until he realized that it hadn't been his smartest idea.
"Oww!" furiously exclaimed the sound of an all-too-familiar voice, Ash.
Lewis groaned, rubbing his throbbing head in pain, slowly opening his eyes to realize that he was... back in the alleyway? Strange; hadn't he been in that 'one place' just seconds ago? How could he end up colliding into Ash (especially after he had done all that running)?
"I... KNEW IT!" She screamed, almost mad enough that her whole, entire face could turn red from so much rage, "You were trying to avoid me and Liam!!"
"No! I really did see something!" yelled Lewis, defensively, "Well... that was... after I tried to run from you guys."
"So you DID try to avoid us," said Liam, crossing his arms in slight disappointment.
"But, at least I can that my 'excuse' was true, and I can't be fully blamed for the cause..."
Ash glared, still angry, "That may be so, but that's not getting you out of watching Spiderman 3 with me!"
Lewis moaned, slumping his shoulders as Ash dragged him down through the sidewalk, "Not again..."
---
"Being a dragon surely does have its advantages," whispered Ari to herself, who was in her alter-ego form, Redemption. She was silently gliding in the air, letting the wind run through her face as she occasionally looked below at the state of New Hampshire just below her. The time was mid-afternoon, and it seemed as though this had been one of the only things she had wanted to do at the moment.
Once she decided she had 'enough fresh air,' though, she had descended below and reverted to her human form in a nearby, empty harbor by the bay.
Her feet touched the ground below and she lowered herself down by dock, sitting while letting her feet dangle loosely. Ari enjoyed the quiet feel of the beach, that was, until a fellow girl around her age range took a seat next to her. She was a blonde, as it seemed apparent, and Ari acknowledged her presence by glancing over.
"Oh, um, hello there," Ari smiled in a pleasant manner.
"Hi!" greeted the teenager, taking a seat just inches beside her and held out her hand, "My name's Stephanie- but you can me... um, Steph or something."
"Ari. Nice to meet you."
"So, the beach," said Stephanie, staring out beyond the ocean, "It's pretty refreshing with all of this breeze coming in, huh?"
Ari nodded slowly, "Feels nice, I guess."
"I come from a state that's a bit more 'inland,' so this feels sort of like a new experience to me; in fact, I've never come by here before."
"Wow. You're telling me; I've been to New Hampshire dozens of times."
"That's nice to hear. Makes me wish I was like you..."
"Why is that?" asked Ari, jumping down the dock and onto the sandy beach.
Stephanie followed her and they both walked along together, "It's just that... I never get to roam around as much as you do. Being here is just... good enough for me, you know? I've wished to travel all this time, and there aren't many things I haven't gotten to do yet."
"Oh, I see..."
"Yeah, it gets me a bit... upset, knowing that I haven't been able to take a step forward and look around the world that seemed bigger than I thought it had been; now here I am, taking the first step to my life-story."
"I never thought of things that way, especially from a different person's perspective; now I feel a bit more fortunate now you've told me that."
"It's okay; some of us just aren't that lucky, and we just have to accept the fact that that's true. Well, until what you've dreamt becomes a reality, that is..."
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