Withered - 2. Chapter 2

Josh looked around the empty room as he slowly got up. He could hear a few faint noises coming from the other room in the house. He looked around the empty room, before he sighed softly. Slowly, he walked to the door, and open it slightly, trying to avoid any unnecessary attraction but failed when the door let out a thundering creaking sound. He winced a little, before he finally let his head out to peek outside the room, only to meet with Jake’s face in front of him.

“Heyyo, sleepy head! Good mornoon!” Jake said lightly, his usual jovial smile came into view. He pushed the door wider, and beckoned Josh to come out of the room. Josh couldn’t help but to smile a little, as he shyly come out of the room into the living room.

“How’s your sleep?” Jake asked lightly, as he walked slowly towards the opposite end of the living room. Josh just followed Jake, and looked around.

“Sleep is okay. My head is getting better. Erm, where is everyone?” Josh asked when he noticed the room is empty.

“They are out to find crystals, as usual. Only Rina and I are here. Rina helps to tidy up the kitchen, and I have to babysit you.” He said, chuckling as he went out the main door. Josh ran out and keep up with Jake, as he looked around the outside of the house. He had only been outside once; when they had dinner yesterday. But then, the surrounding was dark, so he couldn’t get a glimpse of what the outside looked like.

He looked at the house, and frowns a little. From the inside, the house looked quite big, and cozy to live in, although the floor was made out of solid ground with a few patches of grasses here and there. But outside, the house looked rather small and old. It was made completely out of the woods, with the roof made out of dried leaves that were tied together. The outer design of the house made Josh think that the house might crumble any minute.

The house was surrounded by a few shady trees that helped to shelter the house from the winds and the sun. There were forests just behind the house, to which Josh finds very interesting. He slowly went nearer to the edge of the forest as he tried to peek in through the darkness in the forest. He looked earnestly, and although he could see nothing beyond the stretches of the forests, but he still tried to see as far as his eyes can capture.

Suddenly, Josh could see a few movements among the shrubs and trees, which made him froze. He let out a soft squeak when he felt something knocking his head. He looked around, before he saw a stone the size of his fist were coming straight to his face. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact, hoping that the stone won’t hurt his face so bad. He stood there frozen, waiting still for the stone to hit his face, but it never did. Josh opened his eyes, and he was startled when he saw the stone was a few inches away from his eyes, floating midair.

Jake sighed a little as he waved his hand, and the stone flew away, back into the forest, before a loud ruffling sound was heard, and then silence fills the air again.. “You should be careful. There are many creatures in the forest, and they are very mischievous. It's probably the red-haired monkey. Naughty animals.” Jake said, as he looked into the dimness of the forest. “Let’s go. The lake is the other way. And don’t just stray away from me.” Jake added, and gave a playful glare to Josh, to which made Josh smiled sheepishly.

“Erm, Jake, how did you do that?” He asked when Jake turned away and started walking. Josh quickly caught up with Jake, and walked beside him.

“Do what?” Jake replied as he looked straight to Josh, but still walking slowly forward.

“The stone. It’s like you are controlling them.” Josh said as he furrowed his eyebrows a little.

“It’s telekinesis. Controlling things with my mind. I have that ability.” Jake chimed in, before he fastened his pace. “Come along now. We are almost there.” Jake said, beckoning Josh to come over quickly, before he went forward and disappeared through the bushes. Josh couldn’t help but to run quickly, and he leapt through the same bushes that Jake went through, before a gust of wind slapped his cheeks.

Josh looked around, and he saw the most spectacular view of a lake.The water was as clear as a crystal, that he could see every inch of the cloud lazing through the sky, reflected on the surface. There were little ripples at the edge of the lake, and the place where the water ends, a group of vividly coloured flowers of all kinds were blooming and swaying along the wind. The lake itself was pretty much secluded. It was surrounded by the bushes and trees, giving it a sense of peace and tranquility.

“I knew that a lot of things are troubling you. That’s why I brought you here. To the Mirror Lake. I always find some peace and answers here.” Jake said, as he moved towards one shady spot near the water, and plopped down. Josh looked around in amazement, before finally he followed Jake, and sat down beside him as well.

“This place is really nice.” Josh said, before he sighed softly.

“Josh...Why is it that you don’t remember anything?” Jake said after a few seconds of silence. It took a few moments of silence as well, before Josh sighed again.

“The truth is, I don’t know, Jake. Everything about you guys and this place...It is scary. Beautiful, but scary. It feels like, I don’t belong here. I don’t...I don’t know…” Josh started. “Jake, I’ve been thinking if...If I don’t actually come from here. I mean...Among all of the things about the Endowed, and the Withered, why doesn’t anything sparks my memory? I only remember my names, and a few blurred memory.” Josh added, which made Jake thinking deeply.

“You know, there was once, Granny Marie has told me about an ancient magic. She said that there was once a magic so strong, that it was said to let a person controls the life and death of something else. It was so strong, that lots of people seekedfor it; craved it for themselves. The world was chaotic. There were killings, mass murders and all sorts of dreadful things we can never imagine. They called this era, The Dark Ages. However, there were 4 people - the high priestess of their kingdom - united and combined their power. They were the most powerful Endowed in their time, and together, they make the most powerful combination of all time.” Jake said, before he cleared his throat out, and looked ahead.

“All 4 of them decided that the world could not be polluted by such greed, so they decided to seal this Old Magic away somewhere deep in this world, where no one could find them. Then, it was rumored that they had created another world, an alternate universe just like the one here, where there were no magic, and put most of the Norms there, for their safety. The connections to the both of this world was only with the Old Magic, and since it has been sealed, no one else had crossed to the other world before.” Jake stopped, and then looked at Josh and smiled.

“Unless you are somehow Endowed, and you have the Old Magic with you, then probably you are from the other world. But it is a rumor though. No one has a clue whether this “world” existed or not. I’m pretty sure your memory was just playing hide and seek, or somebody probably locked away your memory.” Jake said, and laughed at his remarks. Josh smiled bitterly, however. He couldn’t help but to fill something was missing, apart from his memory.

“Jake, what were you guys doing back there when you found me?” Josh asked softly.

“Erm? We were collecting diamonds. You see, at the edge of The Withered, there are thousand of diamond fragments embedded in the ground. That’s what we were looking for.” Jake replied.

“Why do you collect them? What was it for?” Josh furrowed his eyebrows while looking questioningly at Jake.

“We trade them. Apparently, the Crytals have some value for the people in the city. Each week, they’ll come and collect it from us, and in returns they will give us plenty of food supplies for us to thrive, up until the following week.” Jake said lightly, before he smiled and put his pointing finger on the middle of Josh’s forehead, pressing it lightly. “Don’t do that. You’ll get wrinkles soon. Would be a shame for that cute face of yours eh?” Jake said playfully, before he pulled his hand away and gave a soft wink at the other, making Josh blushed a little.

“Oh, okay. No one has said that to me before, not that I could remember anyway.” Josh chuckles awkwardly.

Suddenly, something ruffles in the bushes, and Jake immediately stood up, facing the source of the sound. He put his hand forward, alert for whatever was coming.

“Wow! Calm down, silly. It’s just me.” A short haired, fair skinned girl came out of the bush.

“Oh, Rina! You scared us to hell!” Jake said, sniffled a little.

“Sorry! My bad. Anyway, hello there boy! I’m Rina.” She said cheerfully and walked straight to Josh, before she plopped down beside him, and gave him a very cheeky smile. She put out her hands, offering a handshake. “Well, it is always nice to meet new people. What’s your name again?”

“Oh hi! I’m Joshua, might as well call me Josh. Nice meeting you too.” Josh said, before he pulled his hand out and took Rina’s hand, and shake it softly. He smiled and pulled his hand back, but he felt Rina’s grip becoming tighter and tighter.

“Excuse me, Rina, but can I have my hand back? Ouch, you are hurting me.” Josh said as his voice rose in alarm. Jake immediately went to Rina, before he signalled for Josh to shut up.

“Something’s wrong with her. She’s shaking. Rina, what happened?” Jake asked, while Josh scooted nearer to Rina. He could feel his hand was squeezed by Rina, but he decided to brush it off. “Is she okay? What happen?” Josh looked at Rina, who had her head down.

“I don’t know. She was never like this before. We should probably carry her to the house.” He said, ready to get up before Josh grabbed his arm.

“Help me. She won’t let my hand go.” Josh said, trying hard to pull his hand out of Rina’s grip, before Rina suddenly looked straight forward. Her eyes were all silver, and when she opened her lips, she was sort of screeching and yelling at the same time.

“All of you are in grave danger! Sufferings will come, but so are hope. Bloods are spilled, but justice will be hold. Trust and love, in eight must unite. Succeed you must, or all shall falter in plight.” Rina hollered, each seconds her voice becoming higher, while her grip on Josh’s is tighter and tighter, before she finally stopped screaming, and fell down on her side, letting Josh’s hand go. She was sweating profusely, and she fell into unconsciousness when Jake finally got to her. Meanwhile, Josh was shaking in terror, a little bit surprised at the sudden event.

“What the hell was that?” Josh asked, to which Jake just shrugged his shoulder.

“I think...She just got her power. A prophecy. To you.”Jake replied, giving Josh some kind of sad look, before he put Rina’s arm on his shoulder. “We should get back.” Jake said as he stood up with difficulty, trying to drag Rina along.

Josh quickly got on his feet and went to both of them, taking Rina’s other arm and put it on his shoulder. “Okay. But I don’t think it was for me. I think it was for us.” Josh said slowly as they started walking back together.