Beyond the Looking Glass

Chapter 14: The Other World

When Zion and I entered the meeting room, everybody was already there, pulling out random things from Manuel's chest.

I saw Aya and Haruo examine a crytal like stone. Raymond was with Shaine and Ally, looking into an old mirror while Kenisha and Allister were reading a scroll.

Allister saw us walk in and jogged towards us. "Hey Sierra we found-"

I looked up at him because he suddenly cut himself off. "What?"

He pulled my by my wrist and examined my face. "Have you been crying?" He asked then looked at Zion. "What did you do?"

Zion shot his brother an annoyed look before walking towards the chest that was placed on top of the table in the center of the room.

"What was it that you found?" I asked to distract Allister.

He let go of my wrist and lead me to the table where he layed out the scroll.

"This is the instructions but it seems to be in another language. I've never seen it before." He explained.

Ally stood beside me as she examined the scroll. "Me too and I swear I've learned every language here that was needed to be learned."

I skimmed through the words on the scroll then I realized that it was written in hebrew. Never in my life have I been so thankful to learn hebrew. It was because my mother taught me. She said my grandmother used to be fluent in that language so I had to be fluent too. It never made sense to me why I needed to learn it so badly, not until now that is.

"I can translate this!" I exclaimed in excitement.

"Really?" Keni asked.

I nodded and read through the first instruction.
"In the beginning is where you vision,
the location where the lost one started the mission."

"This is easy." Aya said.

A chorus of what's poured out from us.

Aya smiled. "The place where Sierra appeared."

"Near Keni's treehouse!" Shaine piped up.

~*~

We were all gathered outside the place where I showed up. The trees that the apeig knocked down were already rotting on the forest ground.

"What does it say next?" Zion asked.

I read the scroll and studied the words.
"To pieces, the stone shall break.
Each piece shall one partake."

"I don't get it." Ally complained.

I read it out loud once more for more clarification. It didn't make much sense.

"Partake so that means we have to break it into pieces and swallow it?" Raymond asked in disgust.

"Actually, I think that's what we have to do." Allister said.

I held out my hand towards the crystal-like stone and clenched my fist to crush it under my power. Shaine scooped up the crushed levitating pieces.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"We have to try." Shaine confirmed. She then distributed it to each of us.

I took the small piece and swallowed it with ease. Surprisingly, the stone wasn't hard at all. It melted as it made it's way down my throat and I felt a nice burning sensation as it landed in my stomach.

"Woah." Alli whispered at the feeling.

"Pluto shall hold the glass towards the sky and chant the following line."

I took the mirror that Haruo was holding and held it towards the sky. I cleared my throat before chanting.

"Through the glass we wish to be,
Celestial gates I open thee.
Planets align and grant us power.
Signs and wonders we wish to encounter.
Access among the worlds unite.
I establish with all my might."

Just as I finished saying the last word, the mirror glowed and light shot out from it. We gasped at the sight.

One by one, our bodies glowed too. I held the mirror in my hands tightly. If I let it slip, our chances of going to the other world would be ruined.

Keni shot through the mirror first and disappeared. The others followed according to their planets which made me come in last. Everything became blurry. When I opened my eyes again, we were already in my room.

The familiar walls, bed, closet, table. Everything was where I left them. Even my phone was still on my bed where I placed it when I disappeared.

My friends were all silent, still in shock.

"This must've been how you felt when you entered our world." Allister whispered to me and I nodded in response.

The sunlight from outside beamed into my room from the window. The feeling of comfort and familiarity oozed into my senses which made me feel more relaxed than ever although I knew it wouldn't last long.

"What's that wonderful smell?" Ally asked with a smile.

I breathed in the scent and it was all too familiar. Mom was baking cookies.

I rushed down the stairs and saw Mom in the kitchen and I was right.

"Mom!" I exclaimed and rushed towards her.

She turned around and looked at me with shock. "Sierra? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

I hugged her. "I'll explain later but first, cookies!"

She smiled and hugged me back. When she saw the others who were standing behind me shyly, she gestured for them to sit around the dining table and they did.

After the cookies were done, Mom placed them on a tray and served it to us.

"What are these?" Aya asked.

"Cookies!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Don't you guys have these over there?"

They all shook their head. They bit into the cookies curiously.

"This tastes wonderful!" Ally stated.

Aya nodded. "It does! Haruo try some."

Haruo took a bite and smiled as he chewed into it.

We were all distracted by the cookies when we heard a ringtone. Mom pulled out her phone from her pocket and answered it.

"What is that?" Shaine asked, pointing towards the phone.

"It's a cellphone." I said.

"The one you mentioned at the meeting?" Allister asked.

I nodded with a chuckle. They were so foreign to the things in this world that it was amusing.

After mom was done, I borrowed the phone from her and showed it to my friends. I flipped through the phone and they kept gasping when I showed them something new.

"That's so much like Alli's archive." Keni said in amazement.

I opened the front camera and held it infront of us.

"Woah." They said in unison.

"Why is there a mirror there?" Ally asked.

I clicked the button to take a picture and flashed the pic towards them.

"It can take pictures? That's so cool!" Raymond exclaimed.

"Guys." Zion said in a firm tone. Only then did I notice that it was the first thing he said since we stepped into this place.

"Stop fooling around. We need to find what we're looking for." He added.

I rolled my eyes at his seriousness. "Zion, will you chill out?"

He glared at me and walked out of the dining area and into the living room.

What's his problem?