Episode Two: Exodus
“Are you sure this is the right museum, Gem?” Aurora whispers to Gemini as she points her flashlight into a glass display.
“Yeah, this is the one that was finished earlier.” Gemini whispers back as she looks around, observing the overhanging chandelier that was ‘brought from Earth’ by an unknown Billionaire.
“The items they have in here all look fake. I don’t believe for a second they came from Earth…” Ares whispers to Orion, the latter stopping to look into a display case.
“It looks like you’re right. You see this? That’s supposed to be ‘Earth soil’, but it just looks like any other old dirt we would have here on Oria.” Orion says, pointing to the sample in the display case.
Aurora and Gemini reach the case Orion and Ares are standing at. “Hey, that looks like the dirt from the forest behind the orphanage,” Aurora flashes light over it.
Gemini squints her eyes at the dirt sitting just behind the glass, “I think the dirt from my older cousin’s museum looks more foreign than that. The government just wanted to display fake exhibits to shut people like us up.”
“They thought they could keep us happy, didn’t they?” Orion also whispers.
Aurora taps on the glass.
“What are you doing, Rori?” Orion asks, he didn’t whisper this time. He’s only serious. Aurora starts punching the glass.
“What are you doing?” Ares asks, he raises his voice.
Aurora deals a couple more blows to the case before it gives in.
Panting,
“I’m observing the exhibit…” Ares and Orion look at each other in shock as Gemini remains silent, her hands cupped over her mouth.
Aurora ignores the stings on her knuckles leftover from the glass, she picks up the sample of dirt. It doesn’t fall apart in her hand; it stays solid and steady. The soil from Earth is supposed to be almost like cake that falls apart, or so the legends say, but the dirt on Oria stays solid, never breaking apart so minutely unless forced to.
“They probably got this from just outside, or maybe from before construction when this place was just a plot of land they bought.” Aurora let the dirt fall to the floor, she looked down in disappointment.
“What now?” Gemini asks, Orion and Ares only look to Aurora.
Aurora looks around at her friends and says, “I guess we could just skip to the part where we run away?”
They all look amongst themselves in the darkness and settle on an answer—yes.
“But how do we do that?” Orion asks.
“Ooh, ooh, I think I know just the person!” Gemini says, raising her hand and grinning.
They exit the museum of despondency and let Gemini lead the way.
After a decent gathering of minutes passes, she stops at a seemingly simple boulder.
“Gem, do you see what I see?” Aurora asks Gemini, her brow furrowing at the sight of the large rock.
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because we’re standing in front of a boulder?” Aurora yells at Gemini.
“Hey, keep it down, we have a way in…” Gemini lowers her voice as she puts her hand on the center of the boulder, presses down, and steps back. The boulder moves aside slowly as a staircase leading downward comes into view under the ground.
“What? You mean to tell me that you’ve been hiding this throughout our entire friendship, Gemini?” Orion asks, putting his hands at the sides of his head in shock.
“Yup. For the day that I need it most…” Gemini replies. She and the gang walk down the staircase, the boulder puts itself back into place above their heads as they progress in a downward spiral.
“Welcome to the Taurus museum!” Gemini extends her arms up to gesture to the grandeur of the place.
“I know it’s a little dark in here, but you’ll get used to that.” She assures them.
They start walking around, turning their heads more than once wherever they go.
I wonder if Medo’s here. Gemini thinks to herself.
“Who owns this pl—”
“Welcome to Taurus’ museum, newcomers—Oh, it’s just you and your little gang of rats, Gem.” An unknown young man greets the four, cutting Orion off midsentence.
“I know you think you’re like, super bad and stuff, but chill, you only got the keys to this place for a week anyway, cuz.”
Cousin? Orion asks himself.
“Yeah, fine, whatever, just don’t break anything if you pick it up. Although, I’d strongly object to that…” Medo says.
“What’s your name?” Ares asks in a serious tone, stepping closer to Medo.
“Name’s Medo, as in Mighty Earthly Destroyer of Organisms.” Medo answers back, chewing on some sweet field leaves.
“Cool, that’s what your name stands fo—”
“No, that’s not what my name stands for, it’s just Medo. Medo Taurus, I’m your friend’s older cousin.” Medo replies to Aurora.
“Anyway, Medo. Can I have The Book of Stellar? I really need it.” Gemini gets the closest to Medo than the others, clasping her hands together and begging.
“Well, that would depend. What do you need it for, and when would I have it back?” Medo asks, taking another bite from his sweet field leaf.
“Oh, I don’t need to take it out, I just need to read a few passages and you’ll have it back on the bookshelf in no time!” Gemini pleads again.
Medo considers her proposition. “Hmm, okay, you can have it,”
“Yes!”
“But. I need to keep an eye on you all so you don’t tear any of the pages out.” Medo says.
“Yes, I promise, promise, promise I won’t take out any of the pages.” Gemini replies. She turns around, “Okay! Let me show you guys to the library.”
Gemini walks toward a dark corner of the room; a bookshelf and a half stand in the darkness.
“That’s the ‘library’? I thought this place had an actual building full of books built into it.” Ares says.
“Oh no, not at all, the humans that brought all this stuff scattered it all around the planet, so naturally I don’t have everything here.” Medo explains.
“Oh,” Aurora rubs her forehead. “What’s that book you said we needed, again?” She asks.
“The Book of Stellar,” Gemini tells Aurora as she looks around the bookshelf. “Ah-ha, I found it.” Gemini steps over to a small desk and sits down, reading out loud for the rest to hear.
“The following are the diverse types of stars in The Universe, from which one may ask to have their unique abilities: Queen Onulets, White Stars, Blue Stars, Pink Stars, Yellow Stars, Red Stars, Grey Stars, and so on. One may approach one of the stars mentioned above to have the ability to do their wonders. One may access these stars via traveling using a concealed bridge named ‘The Bridge of Light’.” Gemini stops to look up at Aurora.
“The early humans said that this bridge awaited the brave in a forest where you need a passport to enter. I thought I had that part figured out until I heard passport.” Medo says, the four turn to see.
“What do you mean, ‘passport’? Do we need to leave the planet?” Aurora asks Medo.
“No, I theorize that the passport in question might be a metaphor for some sort of password or item needed to be granted entry. If you read forward, that book says this forest is located near a tunnel, you go through that tunnel and the forest materializes on the other side. You walk a few steps and there the bridge lies, over a flowing creek. Those that walk over the bridge then fade away, only to reappear amongst the stars…” Medo scratches his cheek.
Aurora sits on the floor near Gemini and the others, she thinks about all the places near the orphanage where she’s been. All she can remember is one river, flowing away from the city.
“I got it.” Aurora exclaims, standing upright. “You know that abandoned train we went to?”
Ares’ eyes brighten, Orion looks back at Gemini, she stands up, “Yes?” She answers.
“I think I saw a river just past it, and that place does have a forest near it.” Aurora says. “All we have to do is figure out that ‘passport’ part.”
“I think I might know a girl.” Medo says, Aurora looks at him.
She walks up to him, “Who?”
“It’s possible that she may have talked about selling ‘passports’ to a forest full of blue-colored lilacs.” He shrugs, “Maybe she smoked a clip or two, I don’t know. But, I can get her number for you.” Medo says, he turns around to shuffle through his desk covered in files. “Here, just call her on the way out using this phone,” Medo hands Aurora a burner phone. “We don’t like certain visitors.”
He sees Aurora and her friends out to the exit. They climb the stairs as Gemini says goodbye to her cousin and they are off to search for the forest.
Aurora starts up the burner phone and calls the mystery girl’s number.
“Here goes nothing…”
Horizon Star Walk
I'm SO HAPPY to share the second Episode of HSW to you all, hope you like it. Leave a comment, like, and subscribe for the latest from A.M. Productions!