IV.

I’m chilled at how he can control her. Reverse her.

As far as I can tell, he either lives outside of all of this, or he’s in control of it. The strangest thing is that he can barely contain her.

That isn’t all though. Not only did he reverse her words, he reversed the reality around her. Dust didn’t fall, it climbed. Plants didn’t grow, they retreated. The sun didn’t move west, it moved east.

He was capable of reversing reality. At least temporarily. She was capable of controlling his sounds.

Once he had pushed her back several paces, he turned silently and went back to his path. She followed repeating her last reality for a few paces before we met the timeline where it should be.

We walk into the afternoon sun. We each know something that we don’t dare speak: It is nearly blackout time. And none of us trusts which of us might persist through it.  The implications of not blacking out is huge. It means you are either special or you are in control.

If I had to guess right now it would be her. She is able to control his sounds. His movements.

Although, he can reverse her actions. Rewind reality.

We walk along as I consider this. Consider if I trust either of them. He moves with purpose. She moves him with purpose. I open my mouth to speak, but she cuts me short.

“So how many times have you ascended?” Her eyes unsettle me.

I glance at her as we continue trailing him. I’m not sure what she means.

“You don’t remember? I didn’t either my first time. Some bits of it may come back. After you do it more than once.” She stops walking.

I stop. Do I follow him or stay with her. She knows something.

Reading my thoughts she says, “You won’t lose him. He always walks the same path. In fact, if you wait long enough he will pass us again. Only problem is, if you aren’t with him when he ascends, you stay here. Until he comes back.”

“Stay here? This is where I’ve always been.”

“Has it? Have you seen anyone else here. Besides me? Besides him? He brought you here. You just don’t remember.” She sits down on the dusty pavement.

I join her. “What about the blackouts?”

“You mean the darkness?” She picks at a vine growing from a crack.

“Mmmm hmmm. I can never remember much after those. It’s like coming out of a fog.” I stretch my legs out.

“They happen everywhere. Not just here. The last place we came from was less…overgrown than this one.” She trails off.

“Wait.” I straighten, “You’re saying we came from somewhere else. Are we aliens? Is he an alien?” I feel closer to an answer than ever before.

“Do you like music?” She asks.

Confused by her abrupt pivot, I pause for a beat. “…Yeah. Never here though.”

My own words shock me. Never here. My mind is trying to rewind back to before here. But I’m stuck.

She smiles, but it isn’t warm. It’s recognition.