outvaded (skeppy, bbh & a6d)

XXIII - the eight waves

I was right.

Finn had brought me to the mirror dimension, somewhere I didn't think I'd ever return.

I looked around, spotting Mega, sitting down, running his finger across one of the mirrors.
His nose & side of his face still has dark bruises, giving me the hint they were scars that would never fade.

"Mega. I got someone for you,"

Mega looked up at Finn, then to me. For a moment, he eyed me intensely, once dark brown eyes now faded to grey & lifeless.
"I don't want to talk to you."

I jumped at his voice- his voice?
"You can speak?"

"Kind of," he replied, "it isn't my real voice. More like, a robot I can make speak for me on command."

"Ah.."

"Mega knows why you're both here, but you don't. So, let me explain. Mega is going to be.. your protector. You two are going to hop dimensions, trying to find Dave. In the meantime, you are going to fix a running issue with the dimensions. Some of these issues have been caused by Dave, others were already there to begin with. Some are deadly, some, you wish you could stay. Make sure you don't die, because you aren't coming back. This is the real world, not some story, or game."

He smirked to himself at the last part, nervously chuckling.

"So, make the best of it, if you will. Mega, please try to protect him. You are already dead, so you can take as many hits as you like. I know A6- Vincent is a bit more daring than you.."

"A bit?"

"By far; but, please."

Daring?
I've never been called something like that. If anything, I have felt like the bad guy this entire time..

Mega sat up, crossing his arms & looking over to me.
"Well, let's waste no time."

He held out his hand to me. I took it, closing my eyes as he did. Now, when it felt like the ground was slipped from under my feet, I expected it. This time it wasn't as shocking, but the feeling of calmness still threw me off guard when Mega tapped on me to open my eyes.

I looked around to our surroundings.

We seemed to be on a beach without any people. It was all clean sand, no umbrellas, no mats, no sandcastles. Above the beach was a stone wall, small houses sat atop the grass overtop of it. From there we could see people inside houses, walking down streets, & playing at the park.

There was a pathway up to the streets. We went down that way, taking in the new area. As we walked along, several kids waved past us, people offering for us to try free samples.

"Hello, young men. May you want a sample of the local bakery's newest cookie type? It has a four-and-a-half star rating. We are giving samples out to everyone to hear the feedback of the customers."

"No, we're good, thank you." I smiled, turning to Mega, "You want something?"

He shook his head, not even looking over to the man offering or I.

"Are you okay?"

"We need to keep it low, Vincent. We never know if Dave is here, or if he has somebody in the other dimensions trying to spy on people coming through. He knows that people are after him."

"Oh. You're right.."

As we continued on, we could hear more people talking, kids playing, & classical music. We arrived to the town square, where hundreds of people scurried about.

Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face, communicating with everyone around them.

"Hello, young fellows!"

I was thrown off guard by a lady grabbing onto Mega & my hands, pulling us back.

"Are you new here by any chance? I haven't seen you around!"

She wore a straw hat with a light blue ribbon attatched onto it, complimenting her lighter eyes. To go with the straw hat, she had a simple grey dress with a blue bow at the front, quite odd since she seemed older, but cheerful nonetheless.

"Uh- yeah!" I faked a smile, nudging Mega's side, "I'm here with my friend, Mega. He doesn't talk much, but he says hi."

Mega waved, eyeing the lady.

"Welcome! May I ask, how did you get in here? It's not often people choose to come here.. you know, once you do, you can never leave?"

Her smile was now very off-putting, almost forced.

"Could you repeat that?"

"Oh, my.. you don't know?"

"No.. we wound up here by mistake, you could say."

She looked down for a moment, sighing, then looked bacl up at us.
"The eight waves is a curse cast over the island, centuries ago. It prevents everyone from leaving. Once a day, at the same time everyday, the eight waves comes, waiting for someone to step in. Everyday we must make a sacrifice to the waves. There are 8 waves, each with some type of "task", or, "job" to complete. Everyone that has ever came here has never left. It's why we try to stay close to family & friends here; you never know when they may be the sacrifice."

It took a moment for it to sink in, for both Mega & I.

"One sec, if you please."

I pulled Mega away, to the corner of the sidewalk near a shop.

"You remember how Finn said there was something to fix in every dimension? Well, here we are.. This wasn't caused by Dave, obviously - but this place needs our help."

He looked down, as if he was processing what I was saying.
"So you're saying, we need to be the sacrifices?"

"Yes. I'm not sure if they can take two, though."

He looked up, "Then I'll go."

"No. You have no idea how to fight. You can defend, but that's mostly it.. I saw what happened, you can't deny it."

He glared at me, taking in a deep breath.
"That night was different. It was more sudden. Plus, I can die an infinite amount, as long as I make it back to the mirror dimension in time. You? If you die here, that's it, Vincent. You can't die in the first dimension."

I turned away, looking back to the lady.

He can't stop me.

Without waiting for Mega, I approached the lady, tapping on her shoulder. I could hear Mega running behind me, pulling at my arm.
I pushed him off, smiling to the lady,

"When is the next sacrifice?"