by K Dezendorf
She walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on. Water gushed forth out of the sink straight at her face. Rose got wet but moved out of the way to avoid the high pressured water. She grabbed the faucet knob to turn off the water, but the handle broke off.
Okay, then. Great way to start the morning. Although, compared to how yesterday started, this was fairly tame.
Rose carefully caught some of the water into her canteen, then she went back to the bedroom to eat, shutting the door behind her. She sat down on the bed and ate the sandwiches. One was egg salad, the other was tuna. Both had a very interesting, tangy flavor to them.
She half anticipated the bed deciding to have her for breakfast, but it didn't occur, and she was left to her meal in peace. As she finished her breakfast, Rose noticed water beginning to creep into the bedroom from underneath the door.
"No way..."
Rose hurried over and opened the door, four inches of water rushing in. She quickly stepped into the kitchen and shut the door to avoid flooding Billy's room, then went back over to the faucet. She tried fitting the broken faucet handle back on to turn it off, but to no avail.
The room, she noticed, was quickly flooding. Rose trudged over to the door she hadn't tried yet, to find something to help fix this, but it was locked.
The water was now ankle deep.
Rose then tried going through the double doors, pausing when she felt a strange flux in the air. She glanced around, but saw nothing. When she pushed the doors they hit resistance. She fit her fingers between the small gap and managed to pull it open, only to find the large crate blocking the door. It was also preventing the water from flowing to the rest of the warehouse.
"So everything decided to reset except you, huh?" she asked it petulantly.
Thinking through her options, Rose remembered the strange vial she pocketed earlier. Deciding to experiment, she took it out and poured a small drop of the gray liquid on the crate. She had hoped it was an acid that would eat away at the wood, but as she watched, nothing happened.
Rose wondered if maybe it needed to be mixed with something in order to react. So she got up on one of the tables and dropped some of the gray liquid into the water. As she watched, it acted like mercury. It held its form and turned to a small glob that settled on the bottom. It started bubbling, but other than that, Rose couldn't see any change.
Seeing the water continuing to rise, she decided it was probably best to get out of this room and figure it out later.
She went back to the double door, but when she opened it, she found that the crate had an identical crate stacked on top of it, completely blocking the door.
"What the...where’d your friend come from?!" Rose tried to push against the crates, but they didn't even budge. "Oh, crud."
By this point the water was knee deep. She tried to go to the bedroom, but found she was unable to pull open the door from the weight of the water against it.
Starting to panic now, she headed back to the sink. On her way, she noticed the little glob was still bubbling rapidly. Rose grabbed up the faucet handle and trickled the gray potion onto the broken part. Some of the liquid dropped into the overflowing sink, beading and settling onto the bottom of the water.
As she went to try to fit the handle back on, it rumbled in her hand. Rose watched as the handle seemed to grow. No... not grow. Another handle was sprouting from it. Seconds later, a second, identical broken handle dropped into the sink.
As Rose stared, it finally clicked in her head. This potion caused things to multiply. Which meant…
She looked down at the sink and the beads of gray were bubbling fervently. The water was rising a lot more rapidly now. Soon it would be at her waist. Shoot, my phone! She pulled her phone out of her pocket, as well as her tin of pens and pencils. It was a tight fit, but she was able to squeeze the phone inside and seal it shut.
Unsure of what else to do, Rose pulled herself onto the counter and jumped over onto the freezer to give herself time to think. What should she do? What could she do?
The water was creeping higher and higher with each passing second.
She looked at the vial in her hand. There was only about a quarter left of the gray liquid.
Well... if she was going to die anyway, what was the harm? Closing her eyes, she drank the rest of the liquid. She nearly gagged as it tasted like a handful of nickels, but she swallowed it down. Once again, she thought she felt it. A brief sensation, like a vibration in the air. It was over as quickly as it started.
After drinking the potion, she felt nauseous. As more time passed, her stomach tossed. Maybe drinking it wasn't such a good idea. She almost wished she would drown now. Rose hunched over, and after some dry heaving, it finally came up and she vomited over the edge of the fridge.
Once she finished being sick she felt a little better, until she noticed the water was nearing the top of the fridge. She heard splashing and looked to see… herself.
"Holy crabs…” It actually worked.
Rose saw herself, a ways out, splashing around in the water, trying to swim. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a rope.
"Here, grab on!" she said, casting herself a line. The duplicate grabbed onto the rope and Rose pulled her over, helping the double onto the freezer with her.
Rose stared and her duplicate stared back at her, wide eyed and dripping wet. Same ludicrously freckled skin, same brown eyes, same strawberry blonde hair that was only managing to hang moderately straight from being soaked.
At this point, the water was above their ankles.
"Okay, okay, there's gotta be something... something..." Rose looked up to the ceiling. It looked like the same material as the walls. So, maybe...
She took her wooden sword and jabbed upward into the ceiling. It gave way and there was a small hole where her sword hit. Rose continued to stab into the ceiling as she felt the water rising up her legs.
"Help me break this!"
The doppelganger mimicked her, using her own wooden sword and hitting into the ceiling. Bits of it rained down as they chipped away at it. Together, they broke open a hole big enough for one of them to squeeze through. The water was nearly to their shoulders.
"Give me a boost," she told her double.
The doppelganger complied and boosted her up towards the hole. Rose pulled herself up and found herself in a crawl space above the kitchen, about two and a half feet high so she had to stay low. It was enclosed, but she did see a vent on the far side.
Once Rose had pulled herself fully up, she tried to throw down the rope for her double, but the water snatched her away and she disappeared beneath its surface.
"Oh, no!" Rose reached down into the water, grasping for her doppelganger but her hand came up empty. The water reached the hole in the ceiling and began flowing into the crawl space.
Rose abandoned the rope and crawled over to the vent which appeared to be just large enough to fit her. Whatever screws were holding it were on the outside.
The water was flooding in around her, filling the crawl space.
Rose turned herself around and started kicking at the vent. After several hard kicks, the vent gave way and fell down to the floor below.
Water flowed out of the vent, but was still rising in the crawl space. She stuck her head out and saw a daunting drop onto concrete, with the water flowing out like a waterfall.
Resigning herself to the inevitable, she positioned herself as best as she could, took a deep breath, and slid out of the vent with the water. Her feet hit the ground as she landed in a crouch, lost her balance, and fell back hard onto her butt. She groaned in pain, her legs and now her butt feeling sore.
The water stopped, and, looking up, she saw what looked like a piece of glass covering the vent area as the water continued to fill.
Rose was still unsettled over the fact she'd left herself to drown in the other room. Carefully she got up, wincing from the aches, finding herself back in the main warehouse area.
Lookin
g around, there was the portal room, the bathroom, and the double doors with the crates blocking them. There was also a door she hadn't tried yet. Possibly the entrance?
As she approached the door, she felt it again. That sensation somewhere between vibration and a strong current of wind. A loud, scraping noise sounded from behind her. Turning to look, she saw there was a lone crate.
Rose regarded it warily. So far, nothing in this room had jumped out at her or tried to squash her. The crate was decently large, like the batch from yesterday. Almost as tall as her.
She took a cautious step towards it. Nothing happened. She slowly continued forward until she was in front of it. An examination revealed a gap at the top large enough to pry it open.
Rose took her wooden sword and wedged it between the wood. She put all her weight into it and the wooden lid slowly pried open.
Inside were three weapons. A short sword, a double bladed battle axe, and a broadsword. She reached in and took a hold of the short sword, pulling it out. It was definitely heavier than her wooden sword. The feel of it brought back memories.
Memories of sword training with Hadwin.
“Okay, I think I’m done,” Rose announced, dropping the sword and raising her hands in surrender.
Hadwin made a swinging motion towards her head with his mace, stopping inches away from her skull. “And you’re dead.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Take no prisoners, huh?”
“It’s the best way to survive,” he told her, lowering the mace. “You’re very good at reading your enemy’s movement and avoiding attacks, but you really need to improve your offense. You didn’t even manage to hit me once.”
“I’m not exactly planning on going to war.” Rose grabbed up a rag nearby and dabbed at the sweat building around her neck. “If it comes to a confrontation, I’ll just run.”
“And if the enemy was faster than you?” he probed. “What then?”
“I dunno. I’m pretty fast.” At any rate, she'd yet to meet another person who could outrun her.
“Are you two finished?” It was Macklass. He stood in the doorway, looking as somber as ever.
“Yeah, we’re done for the day,” Rose announced.
“Hadwin, Jenkto was looking for you,” Macklass told him.
“Yeah, I get it,” he said, a knowing grin stretching his mouth. He set his weapon down on one of the tables and exited the room, giving Macklass a teasing shoulder nudge on the way out.
Rose picked up the sword and placed it on the table beside Hadwin’s mace.
“After sparring with Hadwin, I think I’ve come to the conclusion the path of the warrior is not for me.”
“Regardless, he seemed happy,” Macklass remarked as he stepped into the room to join her. “He always did enjoy a friendly sparring match. He and Andros always...” He trailed off, his face going stiff. “Never mind.”
Rose wanted to ask about it, but she knew the topic of Andros was a very sensitive one for all of them. She felt honored Macklass was relaxed enough around her to even mention him. “So, I’m curious. Why did Hadwin choose physical combat instead of magic?”
Macklass shook his head. “It’s not for everyone, and it’s not something he was ever interested in learning. Myself… I happened to have a predisposition for it.”
“How do you mean?” Rose asked, her interest piqued.
While he seemed grateful for the change in topic, his answer was hesitant. “My bloodsin runs a bit… darker, compared to my siblings. Shadow magic comes naturally to me, so that’s what I chose to hone.”
As he spoke, he held out his hand, and small dark wisps of shadow curled and danced around his fingers. Rose watched in rapt fascination. She loved seeing his magic, and she caught the faint trace of appreciation in his eyes her admiration brought.
“Unfortunately, I cannot risk doing much more than this.” He closed his hand and the shadows faded away. “Otherwise, I’ll suffer mana burn.”
“Mana burn?” Rose repeated questioningly.
“All magic needs a source. That source is mana. Something that essentially doesn’t exist here. When one tries to cast magic without mana, the magic will instead take from your own lifeforce, and quite literally burns you up. If bad enough, it can even be fatal.”
“So, how do you and your siblings get mana to cast the occasional spell?” Rose asked, fully invested in the conversation.
“There are certain places where our world and yours are more closely connected, where trickles of mana flow in. Comparatively it’s not very much, but it’s enough to restore us if we’re close enough to a source.”
“Oh, right… the portals,” Rose recalled. “Jerome was telling me you guys were working on making one here at your base, right?”
Macklass sighed, his fingers rubbing his forehead. “Him and his loose tongue. But I suppose it does little harm in you knowing. Yes, ideally if we can force a portal here, we’ll have a readily available mana source. Perhaps then you’ll be able to see a few more of my tricks.”
“I can’t wait,” she said brightly.
Her recollections were brought to a very abrupt halt as a loud banging noise sounded from across the room. Rose whirled around as the two crates sitting in front of the double doors went flying away from the door. Rose stared at a sopping wet version of herself walking out of the breakroom, wooden sword dragging along at its side, a small flood of water following in its wake.
"You're alive!" Rose shouted.
Though upon closer inspection she saw the skin was pale, the lips blue, the eyes sunken in. The sight was nothing short of disturbing.
"You let me drown," it said in a gurgling voice.
"I tried to save..."
"DIE!" it screamed as it lunged at her with its weapon.
The doppelganger swung the sword, missing Rose as she jumped back. That was when the epiphany hit her.
Mind magic.
It made the most sense. Everything that happened so far, unless there was heavy duty power involved, there was no way all of this would be possible. At least not in the human world where mana was incredibly scarce.
Mind magic, however, it wouldn’t take much. Just a matter of turning one’s mind against itself. However, even if she was right, and the threats were all just in her head, the injuries she was getting from them were very real.
Rose raised her sword to swing but hesitated. The double took the opportunity and swung hard at Rose who parried. The tip of the sword struck the ground, cracking. The wood from the double’s sword fell away revealing a metal sword underneath.
"Oh, no..."
The doppelganger hissed as it took another lunge at her. Rose attempted to step back as the double tried to impale her. The sword began to pierce into her stomach, but Rose jumped out of range.
The cut wasn't deep, but it wasn’t just a scratch either. She'd need to treat it at some point.
Rose quickly realized there wasn't any way to resolve this peacefully. Illusion or not, she needed to fight back. Going on the offensive, she swung the sword and her doppelganger jumped back before taking another lunge at her. Rose pulled out of the way and swung again. The doppelganger ducked under her swing and came up with a slash at her stomach.
There it was again! That pulse, that flux in the air. Rose’s eyes darted around. She thought she felt it come from nearby. But what direction?
A slash came across, scratching her along the abdomen but not as deeply as the first cut. Rose glanced around seeing the four large, load bearing pillars in the warehouse.
She ran to gain cover behind one of them, dodging another swing from the doppelganger. She hid behind the pillar, waiting for the doppelganger to make the next move. She looked to the right, to the left, but there was no one coming around the pillar.
Rose heard a noise from above and looked up to see her doppelganger above her, clinging to the pillar like a spider. With a yell it jumped down at her swinging its sword. Rose managed to jump back as it struck the ground.
> Rose swung as she stepped back, the tip of her sword just missing. She backed away to avoid a counter swing. They kept going back and forth, with Rose dodging and attacking, but not managing to land a hit.
This was getting her nowhere. What could she do? There had to be something...
As the doppelganger prepared its attack, Rose slipped off her backpack and pulled it up, using it like a matadora. She stepped to the side as the doppelganger stabbed at the bag. Rose pulled it out of the way and stabbed, managing to leave a nice wound on her double before it pulled back with a hiss. Dark blood oozed out of its wound.
Both of them were panting and bleeding. Rose wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up for.
As the doppelganger attacked, Rose threw her bag at it.
It jumped back in surprise as the bag hit. Rose rushed forward with her sword. The blade came down on its neck and there was a burst of blood as it jerked away, clutching its bleeding neck with its free hand. It stumbled back a moment before taking another lunge, but it was slower and weaker now.
Rose felt the pulse again, and this time, having been waiting for it, she knew where it was. She was certain it was coming from the nearest pillar.
The doppelganger came forward with an attack, scraping Rose's side as she sidestepped and thrust the sword forward into the doppelganger's stomach.
The double stumbled off to the side, landing against the wall.
In a last desperate attempt, it threw its sword at her. Rose easily avoided it and it went clattering across the floor. The double panted heavily, holding onto its neck and stomach, glaring at Rose, clearly bleeding out and unable to fight any longer.
"I'm sorry," Rose told her genuinely.
The double didn't answer, just continued to glare.
Rose took a few breaths, backing away, bracing the sword at her side, as though preparing to charge. Then, she pivoted around, and swung her sword down at the pillar.
Her attack hit, but it didn’t hit the pillar. Instead it hit a wall, only visible by the faint shimmer and refraction of light it gave off. Behind it was Billy, leaning against the pillar, having appeared out of thin air.