Broken Reality

This is a three chapter sample of a new story I'm working on. Further chapter updates can be found in OpenFeint...

This story is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from my and OFDK's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

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Prologue
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It was a silent, cool night. The air whispered and played with the old trees in the forest, which tapped against the hard stone of the Temple of Balance. The Temple was a large, dome-like marble structure that had one floor above ground, and four more below. Its entrance was a trapdoor a few yards away, which led to the very first floor underground. 

Now, this temple might look like any other temple, with priests that inhabit and protect it, but one object makes it different from any other temple in the world: The Balance of Life and Death. On the room above ground was a single altar, and on top of that altar was a golden scale with a fresh, ripe strawberry--The Strawberry of Life--and a rotten, darkened strawberry--The Strawberry of Death. They say the Strawberry of Life will grant you eternal life, while the Strawberry of Death killed you. If the Strawberry of Life were to be taken from the scale, making it unbalanced, all the people on the world will, one by one, drop dead, except for the person or persons who have taken a bite of the Strawberry of Life. 

Moonlight glinted off of the scale as silence caressed the room. Everything seemed in order... Or was it? 

A shadow of a man dashed through the woods, his foot falls barely audible. He broke the lock to the trapdoor entrance open and slipped in. The man was instantly in the temple, quickly assassinating the priest-guardians in his way with throwing knives and a deadly katana. Blood was splattered in the holy temple. He ran up the steps, slowing down once he reached the room with the scale. 

The shadow-man approached it slowly, his hand outstretched. Just as his fingers neared the Strawberry of Life, an arrow whistled through the air and pierced his hand. He cried out in pain and threw a knife at his opponent, straight through the skull. Cursing, he ripped the arrow out and used his unwounded hand to get the Strawberry of Life and stuff it into his knapsack. 

With a quick look around, the man disappeared from the temple. 

* * * * * *
Ch. One
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Blaise couldn't believe her eyes. It was *him*. She remembered, two years ago, when they first met, and how she had had a crush on him, even when he left a few days later to return to his home dimension. He hadn't said anything that day he left--his name, his dimension, nothing. 

Yet, today! There he was, standing in front of her with those shining, gem-like eyes and ruffled, silvery hair. Blaise didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter: his face clearly said he had something to say to her. 

"Blaise," he said. How did he know her name? She felt like melting at the sound of it. "I'm here to help your planet and save mankind, and I have chosen you to accompany me in this mission." 

Blaise blinked. "S-save mankind?" she stuttered. 

His expression didn't change. "Yes. The balance between Life and Death had been tipped, thus humanity will slowly end. Every hour, a human falls dead due to this. In order to reset this problem, we must retrieve the Strawberry from those who have stolen it," he explained. 

"But w-why me?" Blaise asked. 

"Because you will be the last to die. I need some one who will last long enough to complete this mission. I know this because of what the High Priest told me," he replied coolly. 

Blaise's heart thumped. She was going to be with him again. It didn't matter if he did not share the same feeling she did for him. All that mattered was that he'd be there, with her. "I'll definitely do it. I promise I won't let you down," she said, catching his eyes. 

His lips formed a slight smile. "That is good. Rest for today; you will need a lot of energy for this," he told her. Then, he turned and started to walk away, into a portal. 

"W-wait!" Blaise called after him. 

He turned. "What is it?" 

"I didn't catch your name," she replied breathlessly. This was it. His name. She held her breath. 

"Call me OFDK," he answered and passed through the portal. 

Blaise's eyes widened. OFDK. She giggled breathlessly to herself. 

* * * * * * 
Ch. Two
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Morning couldn't come soon enough. Blaise could barely sleep that night due to her excitement. A mission! With OFDK! Could life get any more exciting? 

By sunrise, a knocking on the door woke her up. In her bunny pajamas, she dashed to the front door and opened it. OFDK was outside it, smoking a cigarette. He threw something black at her, and Blaise caught it unsteadily. "Wear that," he said, letting himself in and sitting on the couch. 

Blaise blinked once before coming to her senses and running back to her room. Her cheeks flushed. It was so embarrassing, meeting him face to face in *bunny* pajamas. She shook her head and put her attention to the clothing he had given her. 

It was skin-tight over all with a hard bodice and combat boots. She quickly put them on and admired herself in the mirror. With her strawberry blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, she looked just like a secret agent. Blaise giggled at the though before skipping back to where OFDK was. 

"Okay, done!" she exclaimed, a smile brightening her face. 

OFDK got up and nodded, motioning her to follow him. A portal erupted in front of him and he stepped through, grasping Blaise's hand in doing so. Her heart thumped so hard, then, they were through. 

It was so fast; there was absolutely no sensation. It was just like stepping through a normal door. OFDK continued on, pulling her after him through a metal hallway with windows showcasing different rooms; some rooms looked like test labs, others conference rooms. The lights above were, amazingly, bubbles. 

"Where are we?" Blaise whispered. 

OFDK didn't slow down. "We are in the Earth branch of the organization known as OpenFeint, or OF for short. This is where we'll be briefed for our mission," he explained. 

Blaise didn't get it, but she continued after him anyway. The feel of her hands intertwined with his was lovely. She nearly swooned. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they made it to their destination. The door slid open, and OFDK and Blaise entered what looked like a conference room with a giant screen on the far wall. It was showing a map of the world. 

They each sat down before a series of men and a few women. 

"Blaise Archer, and the OpenFeint Dark Knight, welcome. We are the heads of this organization. We shall introduce ourselves, beginning on the very right," the man in the middle said. 

The two shifted their attention to the right. It was humanoid man with green scales all over his body. He wore a black suit and an eyepatch over his left eye. "Call me by the human name 'Drake'."

Beside him was a tall figure wearing a dark hooded cape, that covered almost all of her face, showing only glowing emerald eyes with a red dot in the center. "I am The Hunter." 

Next was the man who talked to us first. He looked human, except for those gray, knowing eyes that took in everything but gave away nothing. "I am The Logic." 

"My name is Milexy!" exclaimed the woman beside him. She was, literally, on fire. Her hair was a wild, burning fire, and her eyes were a blood-red. She wore a strapless red, orange, and yellow dress that made her look even more flammable. 

Then, finally, was a man with silver hair and blue eyes. "I am Tim Spac," he said in a rather mysterious voice. 

"Now that you have met the Head, we shall begin with the briefing," The Logic said, standing up and indicating to the screen.