Derek, Anna, and I went high up into the mountains. The air was crisp, thin, and smelled of pine and fresh water. A thin layer of snow covered the ground. We were above the clouds, so the sun couldn’t hide anymore. It was cool to be able to look down at the smooth tops of the clouds; what I had thought was just fog before. I learned from Derek, that we were on one of the highest peaks on Earth, called Babylon’s Summit.
I didn’t really pay much attention during geography or history, but I was sure that this was not the Babylon I was thinking of. Apparently it was an artificial mass of land created by aliens as a refuge for other aliens living on Earth. Babylon’s Summit was only ten meters shorter than Mt. Everest, which is (just in case you didn’t pay attention in geography either) the highest mountain above sea level. Strangely, I couldn’t see my house from there; just miles and miles of sap-encrusted pine.
The hike hadn’t been easy, or short at that. By the time we’d gotten to the top, I was worn out. I didn’t feel like learning to defend myself, even if my life was at stake.
“We should take a break or something…” I suggested as I gasped for air.
Derek pushed the suggestion away, “We’re already here at the peak. We shouldn’t stop; it’s cold up here and Anna needs to keep her blood flowing.”
Anna hadn’t said a word the whole way up. She only crossed her arms over her chest, and kept a scowling expression. She couldn’t keep herself from shivering though, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if her teeth were chattering behind her tight-sealed lips.
“What’s her deal?” I asked Derek, knowing that Anna would probably ignore me.
“Anna is more accustomed to warmer conditions. She’s from Athica; and the planets temperatures are usually above ninety-degrees. I think she’s strong enough to stand the cold,” then he whispered to me with a smile, “but be ready to help her if she starts freezing.”
“I can hear you.” Anna said from behind us.
Derek ignored her and pulled the strange remote with the green knob on it from his pocket. He pressed the knob on the end, and just like before, his and Anna’s clothes were changed into the armored jumpsuits.
“You should be feeling a little better now Anna.” Derek remarked a he pulled the cowl of his white cloak over his red hair.
His grey face was now overshadowed by the cowl, and his glowing blue eyes shined brighter out of it.
“Do I get one of those?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Seeing them wear the suits that I didn’t have made me a bit jealous. I pictured myself for a second wearing one of them. I could see myself as a warrior, a hero of some sort running to the aid of a damsel in distress. Then I remembered that I didn’t have one, and jealousy boiled up inside of me.
“We don’t exactly have one for you, but there is a simple solution to this,” Derek answered, “It’ll be the first step in your training.”
“What do I do?” I was eager to know.
“You’ll have to unlock your memories, and use a very small portion of your powers. Down by the lake, your powers were triggered by an adrenaline rush. Unfortunately the nanites in your body took over and you couldn’t control yourself. This time, there is nothing to trigger your adrenaline, and nothing to control you. You’ll have to use your powers by channeling all of your focus to a specific part of yourself and opening the lock that’s on it.
“My powers have a lock on them, why?”
“Without those locks, you wouldn’t be able to control the lightshpere inside of yourself. You’d just be a big mass of pure energy.”
“So I just focus on whatever I want to do and it happens automatically?”
“That would be the simplified way to put it, but yes.” Derek held up the strange remote, “Anna and I will leave so that you can focus. We’ll be back the minute you’ve done it.”
Derek then pressed a button on the remote; there was a quick flash of green light, and the both of them disappeared from sight. I was alone. I was standing alone on the peak of a mountain trying to unlock my so called “powers”. Then the questions popped into my head. What the heck was I doing there? Why was I here? Was this really happening to me?
Just the other day I’d been at the mall, minding my own business, living the good life! Why had I been swept up into this so suddenly? I wanted to believe that this was all a dream, but there was a loud voice shouting in my head. You know it’s real! No dream has ever been so real! What they are telling you is true, and there’s no escape! If you don’t do what they’re telling you, you’re going to die…
I wasn’t afraid of many things, I actually considered myself brave at times; but there was one truth that I accepted and knew without a doubt. I hated the thought of death. I feared it.
I accepted another fact at that moment. Up in the mountains, where I could feel the cold, the scent of pine, and hear the rushing wind. I understood and admitted that everything about that moment was real. Everything that was happening to me was real; and I wasn’t going let that reality kill me. I would learn to hone my powers and protect myself from whatever was after me.
I began to direct my focus inward; blocking out the biting cold and pushing away every doubt and fear. I searched for a hidden power inside of me. I saw a lock in my mind’s eye, reached for it, and unlocked it.
Then I noticed how stupid that was and I lost all focus.
Pacing back and forth I tried to come up with a solution of my own. It was obvious that I couldn’t focus hard enough to “unlock” my powers, and I couldn’t see any other way.
“This is so stupid!” I shouted.
My words echoed out into the air and surrounding mountain ranges; and then I remembered something. My powers could be also unlocked with a rush of adrenaline. If I could get myself to have an adrenaline rush then I could use my powers! I was thousands of feet up in the air on the peak of one of the tallest mountains on the earth; that fact alone was exciting. But how could I really get myself going?
I walked over to the edge of the mountains peak and looked over the edge. It was a sheer drop, thousands of feet down to a cluster of pine trees that I was sure wouldn’t break my fall. I was determined to learn to use my powers, but not that determined. I turned and began to walk away, sure that there was another way that I could do this.
But then the ground started to shift under my feet.
And I fell.
