` Adrenaline Factors `

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SatyrWarrior

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'How in the hell...did I end up on this...?' was the repetitive thought flooding her mind, a dull expression on the girl's face as the young lady beside her whooped with unnecessary excitement. Though, it reminded her that the whooping young female was the friend that had just dragged her onto the undesirable ride. Thankfully, they were not on a ride dedicated to small children. However, the roller-coaster they were currently seated in was a bit too mild for Xeph's tastes. She stole a glimpse at her cellphone's time prior to glancing over to a much steeper and hastier roller-coaster with genuine longing in her azure irises. Before the academic year officially came to an end, the school had decided to launch a vast school trip to one of the largest amusement parks in the area. The perfect summer treat for the majority of the students. And although Xeph had probably ridden most of the adrenaline-pumping vehicles in the park multiple times already, she truly wanted to interact with the ultimate roller-coaster she did not yet engage with. Why? Because it was the most massive, spiraling, and swiftest roller-coaster in the park. She was utterly astonished that she had not ridden it primarily but of course, she aspired to save the best for last. Then again, it was nearing the departure time. Would she arrive there in time?

"Alright. Now. That." Directly after exiting the mild roller-coaster Xeph stated the three words whilst pointing to the extensive roller-coaster Adrenaline. Her friend swiveled her head to look, but almost instantly, she gaped and shook her head profusely. "Are you crazy? If I fall off that ride, I'm dead meat!" she exclaimed. "Come on. You promised you wouldn't chicken out on me..." Xeph replied with a frown. "I'm not! Besides, we don't have enough time anyway. I'm heading back to the buses." her friend dismissed, walking ahead. She disappeared in the midst of the bustling crowds. "Fine." With a sigh, Xeph, turned on the heels of her feet and made her way over to the gravity-defying roller-coaster The line was bizarrely short; either this wasn't the park's busy hours or most people didn't seem very fond of said ride. Huge crowds intervened with waiting weren't exactly Xeph's strong points when standing on three-hour lines, but this particular wait only took about twenty minutes. Eventually, the 16 year-old had stepped up to the roller-coaster of which only held one cart with two seats. It was unusual for a roller-coaster to solely possess two seats and one cart, but the intensity of the roller-coaster certainly made up for its oddities.

The young man operating the ride brought her to an abrupt halt, just as she was about hop into one of the two seats. "Where's your partner?" he queried, looking down at the petite teen. She was approximately 5'5" in height, but next to the larger man, she appeared very insignificant in size. Xeph stared at the worker momentarily, as if he were speaking a foreign language. "My partner...?" she repeated, optics dilating slightly. 'Well, my former partner chickened out...' she mused to herself, mentally rolling her eyes. "I don't have a partner..." Xeph began, trailing off to glance backwards. Alas, she had been the last individual on the line. "You can't ride without a partner, Miss." the operator informed her. The expression of disappointment immediately swept across her features....until she perceived the sound of someone walking up the metal staircase. Although the steps could have been regarded as hesitant, the owner of the sound was coming towards her and the operator.

"Foolish girl. You are walking straight into our death trap." A deep, distorted voice spoke within the depths of his dark chamber. The creature smiled with twisted delight, residing in a completely different dimension from the agent's own. "And it looks like I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone..." Through the obscure mirror before him, he watched the young man as he trudged up the stairs, towards Xeph and the operator.
 
Eric sat on a bench, looking up at the blue sky. There were no clouds to be seen. He looked at his watch and sighed. "They probably forgot about me. Better get back to the bus instead." He mumbled to himself.

He had been with his two friends, Chris and Daniel, until just an hour earlier. They wanted to test one of the roller coasters but Eric wasn't that found of those kind of rides so he had told them he would wait for them at the bench. It wasn't that surprising that they forgot about him, those two were best friends and Eric was mostly the third wheel in the group. If Anya hadn't been sick, then he wouldn't have been so left out. But it wasn't like they had ditched him the whole day. They had been together for hours before those two forgot about him, and there wasn't anything more Eric wanted to ride anyways so it didn't matter.

As he passed a roller coaster he happened to hear a discussion between a woman and an employee at the amusement park. Apparently she couldn't ride it without a partner. At first Eric decided to just keep walking, but then he stopped mid-step and sighed. He turned towards the attraction and walked up to the two. "I'll be her partner." Eric said. He might have looked calm on the outside but on the inside he were a wreck. 'Please don't let me die'. He thought over and over again. He hated roller coaster with all his heart and soul, but his father had also told him to not turn his back on a lady in need. He sat down beside the girl and tried to look as calm as he possibly could. He didn't want to loose face.
 
On instinct, Xeph had chosen not to pay any mind to the footsteps. It was best to properly assume that it was just another individual passing by rather than another participant for the ride. She did not see a point in raising her hopes, of which had already deteriorated several moments ago...until she perceived a male voice stating that he would go on the roller-coaster with her. Simultaneously, the young woman and the operator turned in the direction of the young man. Xeph's lengthy raven lockes gently whipped her in the face as she had swiftly shifted her head to him. Her former expression of dismay had disappeared. She wasn't aware of his true feelings towards the ride, but perhaps her elevated excitement had blinded her senses. The operator nodded towards the adolescent male, prior to gesturing at the roller-coaster. "Alright. Just step right--," the operator began, but interrupted himself when he noted that the eager female student grabbed the young male's hand and was now faintly pulling him to the cart. "Dude, you're a lifesaver." she partially joked, smirking slightly. Soon enough, she had released the guy's hand and quickly leaped right into one of the seats in the cart.

"Yes!" she stated beneath her breath, all the while buckling herself into the ride. In all honesty, it was quite rare for Xeph to be somewhat eager about doing something. On a regular basis, she wasn't very enthusiastic about much of anything else...unless the activity was something like this--adrenaline-pumping and maybe even a tad dangerous. And although she still maintained her casual personality, the brightness in her eyes were rather evident. After Xeph connected her seat-belt, the burly operator made his way over to the side of the cart, pulling the safety bars down over the two of them. Xeph stole a quick glance at her partner in the meantime. Blinking blankly, she found herself raising a brow at him. And it wasn't because she'd seen through his calm exterior. '....He looks familiar. I'm sure I've seen him around the school a few times. That's probably why, but...' she mused, trailing off within her thoughts as she found herself staring without realizing. When it finally hit her senses, her eyes dilated with surprise. 'That's it! I remember now. My agency--they were interested in him and they still are. I can see why. I'm detecting a vast amount of life energy from him. It appears to be manifesting within the beginner's stage though...' she mentally analyzed.

Eventually, the operator's voice had snatched her out of her rapid thoughts. Still...how coincidental, that her partner was the same guy that her agency had been watching for a short while now.
Xeph, finally noticing that she was staring, looked away to focus her attention on the operator's words. She simply nodded as the operator essentially told them to keep their limbs in the car, or else he'd have to search for a stray arm or leg afterwards. Xeph smiled a little at the joke, although something like that could probably happen. On the other hand, her sense of humor was a little peculiar at times... Her hands were now folded impatiently, but calmly over the safety bars. As the operator initiated the ride, Xeph immediately turned her attention back onto the roller-coaster. Gradually, the cart lurched forward into the dark tunnel. It creaked and hissed faintly as it began to climb a rather steep hill. It was rendered a bit difficult to make out just how steep it was due to the pitch-black around them. After about a minute of ascending, the cart had finally exited the dark tunnel....but when Xeph was able to see with the newfound rays of the sun, she looked down only to become aware of the fact that they were at the top of the first hill.

No wonder the roller-coaster was credited as one of the largest coasters around. In all honesty, the slope itself didn't even have a curve to it. The extremely high drop was merely straight down, and their car was steadily creeping over the edge of the extensive slope.
 
'What have I done?' The young male thought to himself as he got pulled towards the cart. He was certain that he would regret that day for the rest of his life, and he could never imagine how right he was. He tried not to shake when he sat down in the cart, especially since he didn't know the woman that he sat beside. His two friends would probably have laughed at him because he were so ridiculously afraid of roller coasters, Anya though would have pretended that she didn't saw his 'moment of weakness' as she called it when someone was afraid. Who knew what this stranger would think of him if she knew how afraid he was. But on the other hand, without him she wouldn't even have been able to get on the ride so maybe she would be thankful enough to not say anything if she noticed how scared he was.

While the operator's voice started to speak Eric noticed in the corner of his eye that the girl was staring at him. 'Do I have something on my face?' He wondered but didn't say anything since she might just be daydreaming a bit and not realizing which way she was looking. It wasn't like he was much to look at either way. He wasn't muscular at all and people often made fun of him because he was weak. He was weaker than the average guy but also faster. Another good trait he had was that he was tall thanks to his Scandinavian genes. He had never been there himself since his ancestors immigrated from Norway in the late 19th century.

The cart started to move and the blue eyed teen felt the panic rise in him. Why had he put himself in such a bad situation? He didn't even like the small rides. His short blonde hair started to move in the wind as fast as they came out of the dark tunnel. He had preferred the dark tunnel since it had been slow in there and he hadn't seen anything. Once they were out in the open and he could see down from the frightening and deadly height he felt his hands shaking. Why did people think that roller coasters were fun? Eric could not see anything funny with such a horrible death trap. He felt like screaming even before the cart had gone off the edge, but he forced himself to swallow the screams.

'It will soon be over, it will soon be over'
He chanted to himself. But it was far from over.
 
Just as they had reemerged into the daylight, Xeph happened to glance over to her partner once more. Finally, she had noticed a sign of...fear perhaps? 'Is he nervous?' she pondered mentally, assuming so. His hands were shaking slightly, and it urged her to ask if he was alright. However, she wasn't so sure if it'd be a good idea to bring said nervousness out into the open like that. Of course, she did not look down on fear or similar emotions in others. If not for him, she wouldn't have been able to ride this in the first place. She admired the fact that the young man had swallowed his fear to help someone that he barely knew. It was definitely a desired trait for an agent as well. Almost instantly, the girl's eyes had widened when she caught sight of just how steep the tall slope was. She gaped; this...this was going to be so much better than she thought it was. A small grin smeared into her lips as she felt their cart slipping over the edge of the slight curve. Her heartbeat rapidly sped up in its pace, due to both adrenaline and her enthusiasm.

The cart dropped with such abruptness and swiftness that she felt as if she would fly right out of her seat. Her hair soared right up behind her, and she found herself clutching onto the bars a little tighter. You know, just in case she were to fall out or something along the lines of that. She eventually had to squint, for the wind was beginning to bother her bright eyes. Nevertheless, she was already enjoying the ride. What sounded like a yell intertwined with laughs escaped her mouth as they dropped endlessly.
The incredibly deep hill must have given the cart its speedy momentum because directly after the hill had ended, the cart swooped around a side curve at a blinding speed. Then, it launched right into a series of corkscrews. A couple more swift turns here and there, prior to reaching the spacey loops. Roller-coasters tended to go through loops a little slower than usual, but not this one. It literally raced through every course, and soon enough, it was spiraling upwards for another steep fall. Xeph recalled to hold on once again, as they plummeted once more. Then again, the drop wasn't nearly as steep as the primary one.

Their car swooped into yet another dark tunnel, and miraculously, it slowed down in its pace as it traveled through a straight path. It certainly wasn't over yet, but perhaps the sudden slow pace and straight path was for intermission purposes...? She knew that it was normal for these kinds of rides to stall a bit before proceeding, so she didn't pay much mind to it. Xeph smiled and glanced over to her partner. "Some ride huh?" she said almost breathlessly. It wasn't nearly as dark as the former tunnel, so she could at least make out his features in the dim light. He had short blonde hair and charming blue eyes. Although he didn't look very muscular, he was certainly on the tall side of the spectrum. Needless to say, Xeph could see why she recognized him from around school despite not really knowing him all that well.
 
Eric held onto the bars so hard his knuckles became white. They were the only thing that would keep him alive, the only thing that could keep him in the cart. He didn't dare to lift one finger away from the bar in case something would happen. His mouth and eyes was closed during the downfall and as he opened his left eye in one of the curves he immediately regretted it. He heard the laughter from the woman beside him and tried to concentrate on her laugh instead of the deadly thing he was stuck in. But he couldn't keep that concentration for long.

After what felt like an eternity it finally slowed down and they were back in a dark tunnel. But even Eric knew that it wasn't over yet, those roller coasters often had at least two high places and the second one was often the highest. Oh well, if he would die he could as well die beside a beautiful young woman. The joke he made in his head sheered him up a little bit and calmed him down. But he knew that was just temporary, soon his uneasy, nervous and frightened feeling would be back.

"Yeah, some ride." Eric replied, trying to stay as calm as it was humanly possible after having gone down in that speed from that height. He just wanted it to be over and hopefully he would be sane enough to never go on a roller coaster again.
 
Maybe she had imagined his fear formerly, because as the lad responded to her, he sounded perfectly calm. Of course, he could have just been a good actor too but... Xeph's eyebrows rose when she suddenly realized that she still didn't know the guy's name. "I don't think I caught your name just yet..." She trailed off in her statement, just as she felt the warm air around her convert to coolness. Odd. A small frown burrowed into her brows, keen eyes scanning the dark tunnel in attempts to survey what her eyes could perceive in the obscure surroundings. "No... It can't be..." she said aloud without awareness. She tried to push up the safety bars, but they didn't budge. And then, all of a sudden, the slow pace of the car shot forward into a speed zone that was far more intense than the coaster's former velocity. Ignoring the abrupt alteration in momentum, Xeph peered just ahead of them. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, but...it did not look like sunlight. No. In fact, the luminosity of the other side glowed with an eerie green hue that gave the girl negative vibes.

As they approached said green light, she came to the conclusion that it looked like some sort of...portal? Was that really a portal?! "Damn it...!" she hissed to herself, turning to the other student. "Help me push up the bars, quickly! We have to get out of--!" Too late. They had already entered the glowing portal; the bright green light nearly blinded Xeph. She could barely see anything around her now, but it all ended as swiftly as it had occurred. When the brightness subsided, Xeph reopened her optics only to realize that their car was no longer on a track. In fact, they were temporarily airborne before colliding with the ground. In the course of time, it came to an unexpected halt from continuously scraping against the concrete. Simultaneously, the stubborn bars sprang right open. The harsh movement of it all literally rocketed Xeph right out of her seat, a few feet away from the wrecked coaster.

She landed on all fours with relative ease, but was quick to spring up to her feet. A single glance around the dark area told her that they were no longer in the actual amusement park. It still looked like the amusement park they had been in, but this one was completely abandoned. And it even seemed a bit worn-down... Oh--her partner! Was he...? Directly after spotting him, she ran right over. "Hey, are you alright?" she questioned with slight urgency, alert senses already activated.
 
Eric was trying to keep calm as he heard her ask about his name. He didn't even notice that she seemed to trail of in her thoughts, and maybe she didn't even catch his reply. "Its Eric." He said before noticing that something was wrong. 'No.... It can't be...' She said and made Eric both curious and a bit scared. What was she talking about? Had she just realized that the ride wasn't over yet maybe? But that shouldn't give her such a reaction. Suddenly she tried to open up the bar and then she even asked him to help him.

"What are you do..." Eric hadn't even noticed the portal before they were in it, then suddenly they were out of it. The cart fell on the hard ground and the bar opened up, and both the girl and Eric was thrown off. He made a couple of rolls before he stopped at the side and was laying there until the girl ran up to him.

"This is why I hate roller coasters." He complained when she asked if he were alright. He took a hand up to his head and touched a wound on his forehead. It was bleeding a bit but nothing serious. "What just happened?" He asked confused.
 
'Damn... I can't believe didn't I see this coming!' She mentally cursed herself prior to turning her attention to the young man when he had responded to her, stating that this was why he hated roller-coasters. She blinked blankly at that. Okay, that sentence definitely explained a lot. Thankfully, he didn't appear to be critically wounded. She received a few scrapes of her own; her jeans were a little torn as well, but that was all. She offered a hand of assistance towards him to help him back up to his feet. 'Above all, this guy's now mixed up into this. I'm not sure if I should tell him what's really going on or not...but for his own good, I probably should...' Xeph examined the abandoned amusement park once more, just as he asked her what had just happened. It was then that she had decided. Now would probably be the best time to tell him everything, considering that she currently possessed bizarre proof. Additionally, it would be for his own protection and would possibly make him aware of his true potential. "...I think...we entered some sort of warp hole...into an alternate dimension." she told him casually, despite that she knew she most likely sounded as if she had lost her sanity. She frowned and hesitantly glanced in his direction to observe his reaction.

"I apologize for getting you mixed up into this mess, but...they would've gotten you sooner or later. They wanted both of us here..." She paused right there, uncertain about continuing her explanation. It was then she also noted the wound on his forehead. Swiftly, she ripped a piece of cloth from the sleeve of her T-shirt. Instinctively, she inched closer to his face and applied gentle pressure to his forehead with the cloth, to slow down the bleeding. In the intervening time, she kept her senses in tune with everything surrounding them. Just in case...and perhaps that caused Xeph to not realize how close she actually was to his face.
 
Eric took her hand and let her help him up. He didn't really think that the girl knew what was going on, he just thought that there had been some kind of trouble with the roller coaster and they had flied off the track. But when he looked around he got an eerie feeling. How come no one was there? It was as if the place had been abandoned for a long time. But it looked like the amusement park they had been, except that there was less people around. 'Am I dreaming?' He thought to himself. Then the girl started to explain what had happened.

He listened carefully to what she had to say. Wrap hole, alternate dimension. Had he gotten thrown into star trek or what? He hadn't really watch star trek before but he guessed they had some dimensional stuff going on there. Maybe he was on a hidden camera tv program and that was a prank. It was probably Anya that had set him up, pretending to be sick just to laugh at him. But then she continued to talk about how sorry she was that he had gotten mixed up in it. Also that they wanted both of them. Who were they? Then she noticed the wound in his forehead and came a bit too close to him to help him slow down the bleeding.

A blush appeared on his cheeks, he only had one friend that was a girl and she never got that close to his face if she weren't teasing him. He backed away a step and put his hand on the wound as hers disappeared from it. "I'm fine, you don't have to do that." He told her a bit embarrassed. "What do you mean with them? Who are they and why would they be after me? I'm just a normal student." One part of him believed in her and that's why he asked the question, while another part told him that it was rubbish and he only pretended for the hidden camera. He didn't like any of those explanations, so he started to make up a third. It was definitely a dream. It couldn't be anything else. No way he had just been thrown into another dimension.
 
When Xephele finally did realize just how close she was to him, apparently making him a tad uncomfortable, she moved back just as he had backed away a step. "Er, sorry about that." she murmured awkwardly, evading eye contact for a moment. She forgot how carried away she could become whenever she noted that someone was even remotely harmed. She began to frown in a thoughtful manner when the other adolescent questioned her explanation on the current scenario. "Well, first of all, you aren't exactly as normal as you think..." She paused, wondering how else to explain everything to him. "I know everything I just said sounds like a fabrication of my own imagination, but...trust me, I'm not on drugs or anything like that. Nor is this...some sort of reality show." she added. Of course, she had tossed in the 'reality show' bit as a minor joke. However, she didn't actually know that he had been thinking of that to be a possible answer to all of this. She ceased once more to recall his former series of queries. Good questions, indeed.

How was she to answer...? "Hm. Let me start from the beginning... You see, I am...what you'd call an 'agent'. And you, Eric, possess the potential to become one as well. My agency has been...interested in you for a little while now. This is how you aren't really normal." She walked past him as she spoke, active eyes continuously searching the new but familiar-looking environment. "My guess is that the enemies somehow know that the agency has wanted you, and that's why they want to get rid of you along with me. Now, you may be wondering why my agency is interested in you. It's because of your life energy." she added, turning back to him and pointing to his torso. "Potential agents are determined based on the amount of life energy they posses, and if they have an abnormally large amount of it, the chances are that they'll eventually be recruited as an agent..." She nodded and mentally reviewed the details she had just went over with him. "And if you don't know what life energy is, it's this."

She opened up her slender hand to reveal her palm, and gradually, a gentle glow of blue light surfaced from her hand. It shaped itself into a sphere of blue energy right before her eyes, and she kept her arm extended so he would be able to properly view it. This was the way in which Xeph went about revealing said delicate information: bluntly and to the point. She merely wanted to give him more proof to persuade him, because it was for his own good to believe in her words. After all, if he was not properly informed of the potential dangers... Well, Xeph attempted not to think further on such a negative notion. Instead, she hoped that perhaps showing him instead of explaining to him would help him to comprehend part of the situation at least. For the time being, she chose not to answer the question about 'who' the enemies were. That was a whole different story, and in order to take that information in, it was best to speak with him about the basics first.
 
Eric looked skeptical at her as she spoke, he started to wonder if she actually were on drugs. But that didn't explain how the amusement park had suddenly changed from being filled with people to being abandoned. Maybe he had fainted during the ride and now was dreaming, did people dream when they fainted? He had never fainted before so he had no idea how that worked. He almost believed that she might have read his mind when she told him that they weren't on a reality show. But right afterwards he decided that it must have been a coincidence.

She continued to speak about agents and life energy, a lot of things that Eric had no idea how to handle. It sounded too much like some kind of TV show. No way that was actually happening. Then she suddenly showed him the life energy. In her palm a blue light started to appear, beautiful but also frightening, mostly because he had no idea what it was or how something like that could happen. Eric had never been a believer in supernatural things like ghost, karma, life force or whatever and now suddenly she was showing him some kind of life energy. "Now I know that I'm dreaming." He said and pinched himself, but he didn't wake up. He tried again to pinch himself but it still didn't work. Then he looked back at the woman in front of him.

"So if I have understood this correctly, you are an agent, some people wants to kill you and because of your organization having their eyes on me they want to kill me too. But as far as I can tell we are completely alone here. Why would they send us off here if they aren't even going to attack?" He asked her still believing that he was dreaming. He felt like he were awake, but that was very common when dreaming and when the person woke up they always wondered how they could mistake the dream for reality. Yep, that was probably a dream.
 
Xeph arched brow quizzically as the young man across from her began to pinch himself more than once, claiming that he was still dreaming. "This...isn't a dream. I don't want you to get hurt because of that belief." She sweat-dropped and tried to dig up more evidence. "Look, if you were dreaming, you wouldn't be bleeding from our former crash. And...you wouldn't be able to feel pain, right?" At least, that was what she had assumed from her own dreams. Even when it appeared that she'd been harmed, she could not actually pick up the genuine sensation of pain in a dream. As quickly as it had appeared, she extinguished the tiny sphere of energy floating in her palm. It was probably best to get rid of that for the time being. Surrounding them, the majority of the abandoned amusement park's rides were worn down. However, one of the rides did become conspicuous in her range of vision. Was that ride there before? It resembled the infamous Gravitron ride. For now, she chose to ignore it. She kept a mental note of it though, because it looked like a potential method of proceeding through this odd realm.

The young woman listened to Eric's summary of what she had explained thus far, and nodded her head afterwards. "Exactly." Silently, she looked around once more with narrowed optics. "We aren't alone though. This is the enemy's realm, so we're never really alone. I'm sure they're watching us right now, just waiting for the right time to attack." she said, folding her arms. "Oh, how I despise these little waiting games." she muttered to herself, mentally sighing. Xeph glanced back up to the tall blonde lad beside her. "In the meantime, we should probably try to advance further into this world to try and find a way out. I guess, in a way, we'll be 'playing along' for now." she suggested, tapping her chin thoughtfully. She gestured towards the generic Gravitron ride that appeared to have recently materialized. "And that could be our ride to the first level." she concluded, gradually walking up to the spaceship-looking ride designed to spin on its axis.

Gently, she brushed a hand against the cold metallic surface as if searching for a door. Soon enough, her hand came into contact with a mechanism that opened the door to enter the device. The door lowered itself until it resembled a ramp for them to walk up on. Xephele smirked momentarily, prior to glancing back to Eric. Then, she stepped inside and scanned for any traps. "Okay, it's safe to come in here Eric." she notified from within the ride. "We're going to get the hell out of here one way or the other." she added, leaning back against the cushion on the wall.
 
Eric realized that the girl had a point, if he would be dreaming he wouldn't be able to sense pain, at least not the same kind of pain. Now he felt the burning pain from the scratch on his forehead. It probably couldn't be a dream. But he still wasn't completely certain of that, he might just think he felt pain even though he didn't. It was almost impossible to know if you were dreaming or not, people that noticed it often did some mental training before going to bed or just happened to notice that they could fly all of a sudden and realized because of that that it was a dream. But most people didn't even realize that it was a dream even when they were breathing under water. How could he become a hundred percent certain?

Oh well, it didn't matter. He just had to try and get through it all and hopefully he would either wake up in his bed or get back to his own dimension and be able to get back to school without any bad wounds. Eric felt chills going down his spine as she told him that they probably were watching. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. She talked about all that as if it were a game, but if it were as serious as she had made it sound like then she should have acted more serious. At least that was what Eric thought. He wasn't that found of her attitude towards the situation but followed her lead since he didn't know what else to do.

It had taken him that long to realize that he recognized the girl from somewhere, and now finally he remembered that he actually had seen her in school. How come he hadn't remembered that earlier? Well, they didn't have classes together as far as he knew so there had been no reason for them to meet each other anyway. It felt really weird that someone so young was an agent, which just made him a bit more certain that it was a dream.

"So what's your name anyway?" He asked her casually but a bit sudden. He had realized that she hadn't told him her name even though he had told her his. It didn't really feel like they were in a life threatening situation to Eric so at the moment he couldn't really grasp that it might not be a good time for questions.
 
Many probably wouldn't have approved of Xeph's casual attitude towards the situation, but her calm demeanor and almost careless exterior was most likely due to the fact that she'd been in quite of few of these types of situations already. And no matter how relaxed she appeared, all of her senses were peaked to detect any potential threats. Above all, even if she had never been in such a situation before, she would have acted to same way. It was simply in her nature to be calm and collected. For the most part, she wasn't a very excitable person or one to freak out easily. Of course, she didn't view such a perilous situation as a game, especially with Eric's life in danger here. But alas, the enemies certainly thought of this as just a game. A game of what they could reign over next... She honestly could not wait to end that little corrupted game of theirs though, and maybe if Eric were to tap into his true potential along the way, she would have aid permanently ending their evil ploys.

Once the two of them were in the only ride that looked relatively new around the area, the door automatically began to rise back up from its ramp form. It closed them inside, but Xeph was expecting that. It merely appeared to be how these kinds of 'games' worked. Just after it closed up, it was then that she heard Eric ask for her name. Oh, that's right. She never gave him her name. She looked kind of surprised when he asked, but the expression faded quickly. "...It's Xeph." she replied with a slight smile on her face. Her full name was Xephele, but...she wasn't of the full name for various reasons. She didn't see anything wrong with him asking that right now, while they waited for the ride to...transport them? She had assumed that that was why it was there after all. Her smile weakened. "Sorry we have to meet on such...peculiar circumstances. Would have been much better to get to know you on, say, a regular date instead." she partially joked, chuckling weakly.

However, when she realized that her 'joke' in attempts to lighten the mood sounded more like a dumb attempt to hit on him, she rubbed the back of her head and looked off somewhere else with a flat expression on her face. 'Xeph, you are indeed an asshole...' she reminded herself telepathically. Her sneakers suddenly became very intriguing to examine. Although calm and collected in dangerous situations, the teen still possessed her occasional awkwardness in certain areas. She blinked and looked back up when she felt the ride shift just a tad. "About time. Might as well enjoy the ride." she said with a slight shrug. The faint shift soon converted into a full tilt, and the ride was in full motion in no time at all. As per the norm for the swift spinning ride, the gravitational forces kept Xeph glued to the cushioned walls. Thus, that was just how fast they were rotating. She figured that that was probably the only good thing out of this: a free ride. And a fun one too, in her opinion.
 
The closing door surprised Eric and he felt a bit of a panic. That was weird, he had never really felt panic in his dreams before. Fear yes, but never panic. That just didn't occur in his dreams. At this stage he had just started to force himself to believe that he was dreaming even though he knew that it wasn't true. Even though the situation seemed so serious the woman, Xeph, still were able to joke. It didn't help Eric to calm down the slightest. Actually he didn't even know if she was joking or actually was serious, but he had a hard time believing that someone would flirt with him in that kind of situation. Even someone like her that seemed to be calm no matter what.

He felt how the ride started to move. Why did Xeph even want to go into a ride when they might be in a life threatening danger? What was the point? He should probably have asked that earlier, but it didn't matter now. "I swear, if I die, I will come back from the grave and kill you." He told her with a hint of a joke but still serious to tell her that if they died then it was her fault he was involved. Even he knew it wasn't completely her fault, he should just have walked away when she needed a partner. But as all humans he needed to put the blame on someone. And she was the only one available at the moment. Eric didn't really enjoy the ride since he were too anxious about the whole situation, but he couldn't get himself to dislike it either. As long as it weren't a rollercoaster.
 
'I'm not sure what they'll have planned for us at the end of this transport ride. I'll need to be ready for anything. This is their realm. And so, they have the advantage over us right now.' Xephele thought to herself as the ride had proceeded. Although it appeared to be quite risky to enter a ride that the enemy probably wanted them to enter in order to travel to the next level, she felt that if they didn't go along, something else would have occurred. And if they were to merely remain in the same area, they would never find a route of escape. Blinking, Xeph looked up upon hearing Eric speak. She smiled faintly in his direction, despite the somewhat dark joke...that most likely wasn't a complete joke. "Don't worry Eric. I'm not going to let you die here. It's mainly my fault that you're here, so I'm going to make sure we both get out of here at least somewhat safely." Xephele was rather accustomed to taking the blame of said situations. It was kind of a part of her job as an agent.

Aside from that, she knew that if she had not been blinded by her own rare excitement from the roller-coaster itself, she could have possibly detected what had been amiss beforehand. She fell silent for the remainder of the ride, taking the time to perceive their surroundings to pass the time. Soon enough, the Gravitron ride had come to a gradual creaking halt, allowing Xeph to move freely now. She honestly did not know where they had stopped, but she would just have to find out upon opening the door. After Xeph neared the door, it began to automatically open up again. However, directly after it had opened all the way, she widened her eyes and swiftly ducked in the nick of time. A lengthy metal spike shot right over her being and pierced through the other end of the Gravitron ride, knocking it off its stand slightly. She was thankful that Eric was not in the area that it had penetrated through, which had been the back. Actually, that had been her former position.

She stood back up, but soon after, another spike came through the wall. It was a tiny one, but this one had slightly brushed up against the front of her neck. Xeph frowned; if she'd been just a centimeter forward... "Damn. Spike pit." she muttered, pushing the spike away as she proceeded to exit the ride. Upon exiting, she spotted the new area filled with metal trees and a dark barren wasteland with the occasional spike sticking out of the ground here and there. "Alright, we can get through this Eric. We'll just need to watch where we step, or else it could trigger more traps. We'll go through slowly, and I'll help guide you through. Are you ready?" she questioned, glancing back to him. The area in front of the ride was relatively empty, so she assumed that they wouldn't have worry about any spikes in this section. Well, with the exception of the two spikes that had attempted to stab her.
 
'Somewhat?' That word didn't ring that well in Eric's ears. Couldn't she just have skipped that word. Even though she might have lied if she had said that they would get out safely it would at least make him a bit less stiff. He had been a normal high school student less then an hour earlier, and now he was about to get killed by people he didn't even know. 'I should have left with mom when I had the chance.' He thought to himself. It had been some time since he had actually spoken to his mother whom had left him and his father during summer the year before. She had told Eric that he was welcome to come and live with her in Denmark but he had refused. If he had left with her then he would probably not have gotten into the situation he suddenly had found himself in.

The ride stopped and Eric started to breath after holding a breath without realizing it. Xeph started to move towards the door and Eric didn't dare to move before she told him it was okay. Suddenly she ducked just in time for a metal spike to miss her. "What the heck." Eric exclaimed as the spike penetrated the place Xeph had been standing in less than a minute earlier. It was first then he really realized that they might actually die there. Someone was actually trying to kill them. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't some weird prank TV program. Some weirdo simply tried to kill them. He had gotten pale and barely even noticed that a second spike had been aimed towards Xeph. He woke up from his dazed state first when she spoke to him.

Eric wanted to answer no, because he were far from ready. But one part of him told him to get this shit over with or else they might both die because he slowed them down. "Yeah, I'm ready." He told her, trying to keep his voice calm.
 
Although Eric had stated that he was ready, she caught onto the feeling that he may not have been completely so. Of course, that was understandable with their current situation, but she chose to go with his words instead. She was prepared to get out of here just as much as he was. Nodding towards his response, Xeph headed down the ramp and paused a couple of inches away. With her steady breaths, she could only detect the metallic scent around them with her sense of smell. Her keen ears...heard nothing, however. Even when it was quiet, she could still usually pick up on very faint vibrations. Nothing in this peculiar place though. Thankfully, the ground left rather distinct footsteps in the dirt. Thus, Eric would be able to follow her exact path at an easier rate. Even if it was slightly darker in this locale, it was still dimly lit enough to see properly. Gradually, she walked ahead and glanced back every now and then to check up on Eric.

It was an odd method, but she soon came to realize that the ground's hardness determined where the hidden spikes laid. The majority of the ground was composed of soft dirt, but the tips of her feet came in contact with a couple of sturdier sections. She didn't apply enough pressure to trigger them though. She decided not to mention this to Eric, but...she didn't know how to feel out where the spikes were until now. However, by going ahead of him and having him follow her lead, the hidden spikes would strike her instead of Eric if she were to accidentally set a trap off. Well, now that the gambling part was generally over, she wasn't in as much danger anymore. Well, supposedly not. 'I'm not caring for how quiet it is. In the first area, I was at least able to detect faint sounds but here... Everything is so dead, and I'll be too if I'm not careful...' she mused, frowning as she continued her straight path. Carefully, she moved into a curved path that would avoid the concealed spikes.

She paused for a second to turn back to Eric again, ensuring that he was still near her. Then, she looked ahead and took note of another part that appeared to be more litted. Looks like that was their ticket out of this area. Xeph continued on with full concentration on creating a safe path there, additional silence looming over.
 
He followed after her, not daring to step even one inch away from the place she previously stepped. It felt as if he had his heart in the throat the whole time and he barely dared to breath in fear for it to release a trap. He just wanted to get away from there alive and unharmed. Would those weird people that had targeted the girl, and apparently him too, still be after them when they escaped? For a couple of seconds he considered to leave for Denmark if he survived that weird adventure he had gotten caught in, but right afterwards it felt a bit ridiculous. If they could open up gates to other dimensions, or whatever it was, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to find him in another country.

The silence bothered him, it was too silent. He couldn't hear any animals, nor wind, not anything. There was no place on earth that was completely free from silence, and still that place seemed to be. If they hadn't been there to give the place footsteps and breathing sounds then it would probably not be a single sound anywhere. It was creepy.

After a little while he could see something a bit brighter ahead of them. Xeph walked towards it with Eric right behind her. Eric almost felt like running forward since he just wanted to get out of there, but even he could realize that it would only be suicide to do something so stupid with all the traps around them.

"So, are you going to tell me who those people are that got us here?" He asked after some time. He had thought about it ever since she mentioned that she didn't know what 'they' had planned for them, and since it was so quiet anyway it might be a good time to ask. If not he was certain she would just tell him 'later', or maybe just give him a 'no' because of reasons he couldn't figure out.
 
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