Capítulo 2: The New World

PART 1: THE REALITY

It was not long ago when Katie lived a normal human life as well. One fateful day, she accidentally blew up her study lamp. Master Owens came the next minute and informed her about everything. Luckily, her father was at home at that time, it was weird, but Master Owens's words were truly convincing. The reason why the Elemental Powers were not discovered easily was the dampening caused by Communication frequencies. They were discovered only in cases where the person is tired, stressed, angry or hurt. As the senses go dull in such cases, the body emits Elemental Energy. Katie was tired that day.

Just like at Katie's time, Master Owens explained everything to Raymond too. The tale about two Earths, how he got here, that was through an existing hidden portal, and also that very few human beings had such powers. Master Owens was a Master Level Elemental being, he wished to train Raymond in his ability to help others. There were jobs in the Elemental World where these powers could be used for various tasks and also in the army.

It was hard to get all this, but Raymond maintained a calm face through all of it. He had also been weak and insignificant, maybe this was his chance to get some meaning from his life. Master Owens left the decision on Raymond; to stay or not. It appeared as though he knew that Raymond would choose to stay.

Raymond was really considering not returning to his home. He knew there was no home, he knew there was no one for him to return to. If he stayed here, he could start a new life, a fresh one, like a clean slate to write on. Not everyone got that. He had questions and doubts in his mind for sure. But he had time to get everything sorted.

PART 2: SIMILARITIES

After Raymond had decided to stay as Katie had, they were in Master Owens's car to buy some clothes and supplies for him and her. Katie and Master Owens did not ask him why he chose to stay. It would be pressuring. All of them were new people for each other, it would be best if things were known gradually.

After reaching a place. They got out of the car and started walking towards a busy alley. There were shops of clothes, shoes, books, etc. There were pet stores, book stores, pubs, etc. This world seemed so much like his home, Raymond could not control his happiness. He could start his new life in this similar world and finally change things about him.

"This is so similar to Human Earth — " Raymond was saying but Master Owens blocked him by placing his hand on Raymond's mouth.

"You, idiot!" scolded Katie. "Why did you say that?"

Raymond was confused and frightened at the same time. Katie's face was frightened. Master Owens was looking all around them calmly. He was trying to find anyone who had heard them, but the noise and crowd all around them were as before.

"It's okay, Katie," said Master Owens, "go into that shop, the owner is my friend, he knows we were coming. Go in there and shop whatever you need, and buy clothes you are comfortable to train in, you'll be needing those. Also, buy something to swim in. I will take a quick look around and be there. Don't come outside until I come back."

Katie pulled Raymond towards the shop and they entered. Master Owens was lost in the crowd by then. Raymond was still confused.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked.

"It's not your fault," said Katie. "Both of us forgot to tell you that you cannot mention here that we are humans. People here don't like humans. There are people who hate us because some wars took place in the past. I have been here for a week and there have been 2 articles about a human girl being present in the Elemental World. They don't have my picture as I don't meet people. So that's a relief."

"Then why didn't you mention that before?" asked Raymond.

"Why? Would you have chosen to return to your home if I had mentioned this before?" asked Katie.

"I don't know, maybe," said Raymond.

"Okay," said Katie. "Ray — you don't mind me calling you Ray, do you?"

"No, it's okay," replied Raymond.

"Good," she said. "Master Owens is strong and smart, he will be back in no time. I don't think that anyone heard us anyway."

Raymond was not yet sure from his face, but they moved inside. The owner of the shop greeted them and showed them the way. The girl's section was upstairs so Katie went upstairs and Raymond shopped downstairs.

He took a bag, T-shirts, shirts, jeans, gym clothes, swimming shorts, shoes, underwear, etc. It did not take him long. He returned to the counter where he made the bill and packed everything. Master Owens had not returned. The shop owner was nice, he offered Raymond coffee and snacks.

Katie came downstairs. She handed the bag to the shop owner and sat beside Raymond at the couch. The shop owner said that he would bring some snacks for them and then he left. The shop was empty, there were no other customers.

Raymond had been wondering about the weather for a while but now was the chance to ask. "Hey, Katie," said Raymond, "It's November, so why is it so hot here?"

Katie smiled. She and Master Owens had forgotten to tell Raymond this too. "Well, you see," she hesitated while saying, "it's December. When we pass through the portal to reach the parallel earth, one month passes on both the Earths."

"And you are telling me now?" reacted Raymond. He was too shocked to calm down. In this one wasted month, he would have been fired from work as he did not show up. His school was finished, he did not lose anything there. But he could not get into a college.

"Calm down," said Katie, "I have lost that time as well. On the contrary, I lost extra two months when we came to bring you here. So you owe me."

"Thanks, and sorry," said Raymond.

"It's okay," said Katie, "and about the weather, the Government here controls the weather so people cannot mess it with their Elemental Powers."

"This part is quite fascinating," Raymond stated.

"Listen, Ray," Katie said with a calmer and wiser tone. "Back home, I didn't have many friends. I wanted to change but I couldn't. Coming here, I got the Clean Slate I wanted, I am now changed. If you have any such regrets, it'd be nice if you left them behind like me."

It was wisely said. Katie had been weird ever since Raymond had met her, he never expected such advice coming from her. Raymond smiled and extended his hand towards Katie.

"We will be different from now on, for all of our lives, let's promise this," said Raymond. Katie smiled and they shook their hands.

PART 3: KATIE'S WISH

Raymond and Katie had been sitting and talking for a while, Master Owens had not returned yet. Katie's face lightened suddenly, her eyes widened, she got up and looked outside. Raymond followed her in confusion. Katie began to sniff her nose like a dog smelling suspicious stuff. Katie opened the door and walked outside and Raymond followed.

"Hey, Katie," said Raymond, "What's wrong? Why are you leaving like this?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just smelled something," said Katie. She walked hurriedly and crossed the alley. She did not even check whether Raymond was following or not. They walked into another alley filled with loads of people. Raymond ran and grabbed Katie's hand to make her stop.

"Master Owens told us to wait inside the shop," said Raymond. "By the way, what do you smell?"

For all Raymond knew, Katie smelled something important. He had believed and seen a lot of unexpected things in this short time. He thought Katie's smelling could be some kind of a power.

Katie's face filled with excitement when Raymond asked what she was smelling. She smiled and said, "I smell cakes nearby. I want to eat some."

Raymond could not believe what he heard. He asked, "Is it like when you don't eat cake your powers stop working?"

"No, don't be foolish." Katie started walking ahead.

"Don't you think it can wait? It's just a stupid cake," said Raymond following her. Katie stopped suddenly, Raymond crashed into her shoulder. Katie suddenly stretched her hand and grabbed Raymond's collar. She was angry. She was as tall as Raymond and was skinny too. She should not have looked scary, but she did. The rage in her eyes showed everything.

"How dare you say that cake is stupid!" Katie said in rage. "Apologise or I will electrocute you!"

"Okay-okay," said Raymond, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you liked cakes so much."

Katie let Raymond's collar go. Her reaction changed immediately. She smiled and said, "Of course I like cakes."

Katie closed her eyes to visualise herself eating a cake. The soft bread, the sweet cream on its top, and the topping like the crunchy wafers with the package. She could not predict anything better than having a cake on a bad day to make it good or on a good day to make it better. Raymond tapped Katie's shoulder to bring her back from her dream world to reality.

"If you stay in there for any longer, you'd be drooling," Raymond said to her.

"Let's go, my friend," said Katie. She pulled Raymond's hand along with her.

"Um, Katie," Raymond was afraid to say, but he gathered courage anyway, "do you even have money?"

Katie stopped. She seemed frozen. She stomped her foot at the ground in anger, it was true that none of them had money to buy anything.

"How could you not remind me about that sooner?" said Katie.

"I was going to, but you kind of choked me to death earlier," Raymond said in his defence.

"Let us treat you, kids," said a woman's voice behind them. A man and a woman were standing behind them. The nasty looks on their faces showed clearly that they were not good people. The woman said, "We overheard you were from Human Earth, that's pretty far away. Allow us to show you our hospitality."

"Run!" Katie said. She began to run grabbing Raymond's arm. Those two followed them. Raymond was not looking ahead, he crashed into an old man and they both fell.

"I am sorry," said Raymond to the old man. He saw a bag of apples on the ground. He began to pick them up and Katie was shocked that Raymond did not understand the magnitude of their problem.

"It's okay, young man," said the old man to Raymond. His tone was really nice.

The woman from behind yelled and said, "Those two are humans, get away from them!"

The old man's face was suddenly covered in fear. He ran back. Not just him, everyone around them in the alley was scared suddenly. They all had stepped back. A mother shielded her little girl from Raymond and Katie's sight.

"Mommy, I am scared," said the little girl, clutching her mother's leg.

"Don't worry, dear, mommy will protect you," said the mother. She was scared herself but gave hope to her child.

"We won't harm anyone," said Raymond, "Please calm down. We need your help, those two are chasing us."

The old man in whom Raymond had crashed threw an apple at Raymond. It collided with his chest and fell down. "Go away, humans!"

Katie pulled Raymond's arm and ran. That woman and man chased them. Raymond was heartbroken. He was hated for something he did not even know about. This was heavier than it seemed.

"No one will help us," Katie said, running through the alley. "They are not following us just because they'll be put in jail for the crime of discrimination. But they still hate us."

They got into a dead end. They were panting. None of them knew their way back.

"I am — sorry," said Katie. "I got you involved in this. And now, we will die because of that."

"Stop the nonsense," said Raymond. He shook Katie to get her out of regret. "It's not your fault, I was the one who announced we were humans, I don't blame you. And we won't die here."

That man and woman came to the corner of the alley. They were panting too. "Done with running? All that work for nothing. You brought us in this gloomy alley, you both will die here and no one will see it, no one will save you."

"We intend no harm, let us go," said Raymond.

"Maybe now you are nice, but when the time will come you will be like your ancestors who brought war on our lands," said the man.

The woman took out a knife from her ankle and ran forward. Katie launched a small lightning bolt at the woman, she deflected it with her knife. Her face had a smile. She summoned lightning around her other hand. Her Element was lightning too.

Raymond summoned all his power and stretched his palm towards the woman, a huge fireball came out of his hand and exploded at the woman. The area was fully covered in smoke.

PART 4: ENOUGH HATE TO KILL

Master Owens entered the shop and found his students missing. He looked at the shop owner, who said,

"I went to bring snacks for them, they were not here when I came back."

"Oh no," said Master Owens. He came outside the shop. He looked around. He was worried, he did not find anyone suspicious when he was looking around, maybe that was because they silently got in touch with Raymond and Katie.

He went to the back of the shop, jumped zig-zag on the walls of adjacent shops like a ninja and reached the roof. He looked around, nothing abnormal was seen. Suddenly, a surge of Elemental Power happened, Master Owens sensed that and pinpointed the direction and jumped through the buildings to reach there.

Back at the gloomy alley, the smoke was still covering the centre of the alley.

"How did you do that?" Katie asked, hitting Raymond's arm. "One more of that will be enough for a distraction to help us escape."

"I don't know how this works, it just came out," said Raymond.

The smoke disappeared. The woman was okay, she just had some soot on her clothes, she smiled nastily. "That cannot injure us. You are gonna have to do better."

"I was not trying to injure you," said Raymond. "I have nothing personal against you."

"Isn't it personal enough that they are trying to kill us?" said Katie to Raymond.

"Brother," said the woman to the man behind her, "kill the girl, I will kill the boy."

"But, I don't want to kill anyone, we should just beat them up and leave," said the man.

"Are you kidding me?" reacted the woman, "they are responsible for soaking our soil with our ancestors' blood. We must kill them. If we leave without that, they'll complain to the cops and we'll be in jail."

"But," the man hesitated.

"No, buts," said the woman. She ran towards Raymond. She slashed her knife and Raymond dodged. Katie tried to attack the woman, but that man launched a fireball and Katie had to dodge that.

That man came forward and started taking hits at Katie. Raymond and Katie were smaller and faster, they were easily able to dodge every one of their hits. Katie found a gap and punched the man's face. He got angry and slammed Katie into the wall.

"Katie!" Raymond yelled.

That was enough, Raymond moved his eyes from the opponent and she took advantage of that. The woman with the knife kicked Raymond's feet and he fell on the floor. She came forward to stab Raymond, he crawled his way out every time.

That man had held Katie by grabbing her throat. Katie could not breathe properly. Raymond found a gap and kicked the woman's face, he got up and ran to tackle the man holding Katie by the throat. That man was huge, Raymond's tackle did not work.

"You are mine," said the woman who went straight to stab Raymond's back. Raymond was prepared to die. There was no way he could move away in such a short time. But the knife did not come. Instead, he felt some warmth, like a fire behind him.

Master Owens had come. He had grabbed that woman's arm. His face was serious but calm, his blue cloak waved in the wind. That man let Katie go and stepped back. Katie was coughing. Raymond was soothing her back.

"How dare you harm my students?" said Master Owens.

"Sister, he's a Master," said the man, he was shivering.

"He's a fake, no Master will be in this dump," the woman said.

"Raymond, take Katie and get to some distance," said Master Owens.

"Yes, Master," said Raymond. He picked Katie up and went to the end of the alley. Katie was still coughing.

That woman tried to punch Master Owens, but Master Owens grabbed her arm and made her punch herself. She fell down. Master Owens looked at the man behind him. That man was down to his knees.

"Please forgive us," he pleaded.

But the woman got up to take a hit on Master Owens from behind, Master Owens dodged and hit the woman behind her neck. She fell down unconscious.

"Maybe this will calm her down," said Master Owens. "Where will you go next?"

"To the cops and surrender ourselves," said the man to Master Owens.

On Master Owens command, that man picked up his sister and ran outside. Master Owens then came to his students. Their injuries were not too serious. Katie was back to normal in a few minutes.

"What will happen to those two?" asked Raymond to Master Owens.

"They will be sent to jail, for at least two years," Master Owens replied.

"It's pointless," said Raymond.

"They just tried to kill us," said Katie. "You don't want to send them to jail?"

Even Master Owens did not understand what Raymond meant.

"They should be punished," Raymond clarified, "but this will only make them hate us more don't you think. They should be educated."

"That is really wise of you, Raymond," said Master Owens. He kept each of his hands on each of his students. "This was too much for you. Let's grab your bags from the shop and then something to eat. After that, we move towards our destination."

"Which destination?" asked Katie.

Master Owens smiled and said,

"To a safe place."

END OF CHAPTER. TO BE CONTINUED.

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