The Crossroads

Report Tape 3: Anonymous

Reporter: "How long was the train ride?"
Anonymous: "It was probably, around, 20 minutes?"
Reporter: "Is that both there and back?"
Anonymous: "No just the way there, the way back was instantaneous."
Reporter: "How many people were on the train with you?"
Anonymous: "It was only me. Every train car persisted of one person, but there had to be hundreds of cars attached to that train. It went on for miles, farther than you or I could possibly see."
Reporter: "Why was there only one person per car?"
Anonymous: "It's hard to explain, it's like your [REDACTED] is connected to it."

Report Tape 3: End

***********************************************************************

A cold breeze blew steadily through the entrance to the crossroads. Surrounded by 30 foot tall hills, it's no surprise the air was channeled through the flat walkway between them. The path was probably 20 feet wide and made entirely out of stone. Mark's footsteps echoed through the valley, but Lea's didn't --she doesn't wear shoes. 

"So, explain it to me, how does this area work?" Mark asked.
"The crossroads start right when we reach the end of this road. From there, a passage will appear before us."
"I take it this 'passage' is just a huge maze?"
"That's the idea, but the maze is selected on a rotation through the Guardian Beasts lairs."

Lea stops moving and starts morphing her shadow arms into a shadow large diagram. 

"Serenity's almost impenetrable defense comes from three circles. The first circle in the middle is Serenity, there's almost no border protection here, they really don't need any. The third circle is what we just crossed through, so it's just where the train lands. The second circle is the reason the first and third circles don't need any protection. I don't know the exact details, but I believe it's based off of which Guardian Beast is protecting the city that night. If you're allowed into the city, you'll find your way through their lair, but if you're not allowed inside, the Guardian Beast will come kill you."

Lea shifts her arms back into her body and keeps moving forward.

"You and I don't have to worry about getting through the lair though, as long as you stay by me, I'll show you the way!"

They both continue in silence, unsure of what they could even possibly talk about, before Mark speaks up again.

"How have you been here multiple times though? Chief Robertson told me the Undead weren't allowed the return?"
"Ah, yes, about that..."

Lea stares at the ground trying to collect her thoughts. Mark glances at her for a moment, but turns back and decides this is probably a good time to just stare straight ahead.

"I've been meaning to talk about this," she begins. "I've been trying to think of a solution around it."
"You can't return with me back to the train, can you?"
"No, you can only return to the train through death."
"How does that work?"
"It's a rather simple process. You have to die, reach Serenity, reincarnate, and then repeat that cycle. This is my third time here, so I know about the process of getting there, but not much more then that."
"So it looks like I'm on my own tonight, huh?" Mark asks, rhetorically.

He stares up into the sky, trying to conclude how he's going to survive the night. He can see the resemblance of stars, but they're covered by fog.

"Why do stars even exist here if you can't even see them? Mark asks."
"This place is like a parallel universe to Earth. The ground exists, and so does the sky. Naturally, the stars do too because they are organic and not artificial. Though, it is a myth around here that the stars are Gods who bless us with gifts, so maybe Diana is up there watching you, too."
"..."

They both continued in their own thoughts until they reached the barrier to the crossroads.

***********************************************************************

The barrier was made up entirely of trees. There was a strong wind emitting from outside the barrier. Was it the magic keeping the barrier alive? The trees past the barrier weren't moving at all, so it was a safe assumption to think it was only like this on the outside.

"We're finally here!" Lea shouted, trying not to get blown away by the wind.

Lea summoned the arms out of her body and smashed them into the ground to keep herself from flying away with the wind. Mark on the other hand wasn't effected nearly as much. His clothes were blowing hastily, but he could barely feel it on his skin. 

"On the count of 3, we're going to jump in, got it?" Lea shouted, trying to help her voice reach Mark.

Mark nodded.

"Alright!"
"3, 2, 1, GO!"

Both Lea and Mark flew through the air and into the barrier. As their bodies collided with it, there was a spark of blue light that emitted from Mark's chest. Only for a moment, something seemed to have reached out from Mark's soul.

Mark shot through the barrier and slammed into the ground beneath him. He laid there for a moment, eyes growing blurry as if he was losing consciousness. As he was gathering his thoughts, he glanced at his surroundings.

There were trees as far as the eye could see, but that wasn't far. The dark fog that covered the brightness of the stars above, blocked his vision about ten feet in front of him. The trees were tall and motionless, as if he was just staring at a photograph. There was no wind inside the barrier, but the air was thick, making it hard to breath. 

"Lea," he groaned, "Are you hurt?"

There was no response.

"Lea," he tried once more, "Are you injured?"

There was no response.

His head was spinning as if he had just charged straight into a wall. His body ached as if he had just fallen a few stories off of a house, not falling from a jump. But he pulled himself up anyways, he needed to see if Lea was unconscious like he almost was.

But there was no one there.

"This is really bad," he muttered to himself.

He spotted the nearest tree and dragged himself across the ground to get to it. He could feel the pebbles and sticks stabbing into his skin, along with the mud sticking to his hands, clothes, and legs. The dirt beneath him was damp, as if there was a water source nearby keeping it moist.

Mark laid his back up against the tree and groaned in pain, it felt like the world was moving and he was just getting dragged with it.

Weighing his next options, he glanced back towards the barrier --but it wasn't there. Everywhere around him was surrounded by trees. He didn't think he'd moved more than a few feet inside the barrier, but it looked like he had been traveling for miles. 

"There's no turning back now, so how do I get out of this?" 

Mark let out a big sigh; he had only two options he could take. He could either rest here and risk the wrath of whatever monster lies here, or he could risk meeting an even quicker fate and try to make it out of the forest alone. 

"I've already died once --so dying twice can't be as bad."

An atrocious resolution, completed by an anxious mental state and a death wish, spawned his motivation for surviving. As nonsensible his reason, finding his daughter was sensible, and all the more reason for him to keep on living.

"Okay, let's do this."

Mark slapped his hands on his face to give himself some courage, and he finally stood back up to his feet. As much as the pain in his body was dragging him downwards, the thought of losing Lily forever made him take his first step forwards.

As his foot reached the ground, it was ignited in a bright blue flame.

*CRASH*

The sound of glass shattering rang through his ears and the entire forest faded into darkness.

He moved his foot to the sound of water splashing. The forest that once surrounded him was gone, and all that was left was a massive, circular lake, that Mark had just stepped his foot into. 

The lake was a beautiful blue color, radiating the moonlight from above. The fog that existed in this place had vanished, and he could finally see the moon and stars up above. It was as if he was all alone at the top of a mountain, stargazing, while washing all of his worries away in the water.

His daydreaming was met with an abrupt end when a light rose from the middle of the lake, as if it had just been alerted to his presence. The light kept growing and growing, five, ten, until at twenty feet he could see a face emerge at the top.

The Guardian Beast.

It was a brilliant white color, as graceful as the moonlight shinning on it. The fur on it was fluffy and grew in all different directions. The mouth on it was massive, it looked like it could devour an entire cow with one bite. It's legs were elegant and smooth; when they were dipped into the water, they moved with elegance and grace as they splashed water droplets into the air that shone with it's reflection. The Guardian Beast was a wolf from heaven.

As beautiful as this Being was, it caused Mark to freeze from fear. It was radiating immense power that made the wind outside the barrier feel like a breath of air.

Mark snapped back to reality and looked around to see what he could do. But there was nothing around him. His foot was still engulfed in a bright blue flame, but he didn't feel any pain, so he figured he could save that problem for later.

He glanced back up at the Guardian Beast to catch it's next move. It stayed still, not moving an inch, but it's ears were perked straight up, as if it were listening for something. He glanced back down at his foot, but this time there was a message written next to it with the same blue flame that engulfed his leg.

"DON'T MOVE"

Mark reacted out of surprise and shifted his leg backwards, causing a ripple in the water in all directions. Mark watched fearfully as the ripple slowly headed towards the Guardian Beast and hit it's tail in the water.

Blue flames shot up from his leg, right in front of his chest, writing another message.

"RUN"

He glanced back up, but the Guardian Beast had already found him.