Carina

Elias nodded. "Yeah... I get that." He grimaced. "That does suck. Sorry. I had no idea what was happening."

Elias gave a forced smile, deciding to not comment. As Jerica came closer, he sat next to her, fiddling with his thumbs. "So," he said in the silence. "You, uh... ...

Elias was relieved that they understood his frustration. He was also relieved that Aerik finally gave a clear answer. He was beginning to understand... kind of. It sounded like a ...

"This isn't really fair, you know," Elias said defensively, deciding to be more stubborn this time. "I'm not from this world, and I'm completely clueless on how anything works around ...

"Right, that..." Elias glanced at Jayk. He hadn't told him, but he was clearly smarter than him. He could maybe fill in the blanks. "So, what kind of other stuff ...

Oh. The portals went both ways. Elias was under the impression that it was a one-way portal. "Oh," he said, then decided to voice that thought out loud. "So it's ...

To be fair, Elias didn't know alternate universes existed either. He barely understood the concept, and he was from another world. Did that mean he didn't exist either? This was ...

Elias rubbed the side of his head. Of course Aerik existed. He was just being too damn cryptic for him to understand... And what was this about protecting humanity? If ...

Only one question resonated in Elias's mind as Aerik continued on with the cryptic answer: "Why?"

"I am so confused," Elias admitted, tired of the cryptic answers. "What do you mean?"

There it was again: Aerik doesn't exist . Elias rubbed the side of his head in thought. "You guys keep saying Aerik doesn't exist," he said. "What, is he supposed ...

Elias huffed out a bit of air through his nose and then strode over to sit next to Jayk, slumping in his chair. "Why were you so hostile to us ...

Elias opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but the words hit him all at once. "Wait," he said, backpedaling. "Your brother? You mean... Aerik ?"

That piqued his interest, and Elias's eyes seemed to catch the light. "Do you know how to use the R'hyk?" he asked.

Elias watched as Jerica basically threw a tantrum and got dragged away like she was a small child pouting that she had to take a bubble bath. In a way, ...