The Warning| Prologue + Chapter 1

“It’s not that I’m not happy where I am in my life right now, but I do wish I could have changed certain things I did in my past …”

Mae awoke with a sudden jolt. She grunted in pain as she brought her hand to her head and rubbed the afflicted area. Lately she had been traumatized with nightmares. Nightmares of her past. These bad dreams weren’t like normal ones where the dream inserts yourself into it. In her dreams, she’s in the past. It’s her, five years ago.

Mae always thought about her past. The good things, the bad things; and everything in between. She thought about the people she met, the friends she made, the enemies she fought. She remembered regrets, and mistakes, and she remembered the people she loved.

Of all people, she remembered her good friend, Rose, the most. Rose and her had created a fantasy that they could live in forever. Back all those years ago, adulthood was something that didn’t want to be rushed. Fantasy - it was a thing that could be clung to forever. And they lived in it, for days on end. However, after Mae decided it was time to leave their fantasy, Rose couldn’t leave. She was connected with their dreams of a new life and couldn’t quite leave. Mae never saw Rose after she left. Their fantasy had taken her best friend away from her.

After she left their dream world, she finally began to focus on the more important things in her life. School, work, and trying to make her life better. Even so, she never let adulthood get in her way of her childhood. Video games, above all, was something she could always escape to if she was having a bad day. Although. everytime she escaped to certain games, she’d remember her old friend who was still trapped in their imagination land. She remembered all the mistakes she had made. She remembered the bad times mostly.

She lay back down in her bed, still in pain from the headache and the surreal nightmare and wondered many things. She wondered what she could change if she had the power to go back in time. To save herself from making so many stupid decisions. What would happen to herself if she did this? Would she be able to find Rose again? And all the people in her second life that she left … how would they react upon seeing her? It didn’t matter. There was no way of ever going back and rewriting history. But if there was, she’d have a few choice words to tell her past self.

She wanted to make things right. Not have her past self live through the heartbreak and turmoil she had to go through. All the confusion, all the tears. She needed to go back in time! But then again, time travel, different worlds; it’s all fictional. Just like the world she and Rose had conjured up. Just like the people in it. Time travel wasn’t possible. And she’d never be able to right what she had done wrong five years ago.

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You started something that you just couldn't stop,
You turned the ones that you love into the angriest mob.
And their one last wish is that you pay for it
And there's no way you're getting out of this!

~Enemies (Shinedown)



Chapter One
The Return

A gusty wind blew through Mae’s hair and a shiver was sent down her spine. She awoke with a fright, noticing that she was no longer in her warm, cozy bed. Wherever she was, it was dark. Dark beyond belief and oh so very cold. She came to a sitting position and shivered in place for a moment, trying to regain her bearings. She had no idea where she was, yet it indeed felt so familiar. She stood up, still clutching to her arms, her body shaking and trying to generate heat.

The darkness was so thick around her and she could barely make out what was in front of her. Was this another nightmare? But she wasn’t in the body of her past self. This made no sense whatsoever. Would her dreams suddenly change on her and make it so it’s her present self in the dreams? Then again, this time it felt so real.

The cold air around her started to dissipate around her and she finally stopped shivering. At the end of the seemingly endless hallway she saw a light starting to form. Finally she was getting somewhere. As the light began to fill the darkness around her, she finally got her bearings.

“This can’t be … this must be a nightmare … how can I be here?”

She walked into the light and was in the middle of an empty room. With the way it was formed, little hovering platforms floated in the air. It seemed like some sort of meeting room. She knew it now. She was definitely in the world Rose and her past self had made up. As much as she wanted to believe this was just a terrible dream, she knew somewhere deep down she was here. This was happening.

Then it occurred to her. If this wasn’t a dream, and she was actually here in the world of her imagination, then she could finally say what she had wanted to to her younger self for so very long. But in this labyrinth of a place, it would be near impossible to find herself. At that moment, she remembered who else was here alongside her past self. All the people she left and forged awkward relationships with.

It was then that she heard mumbling down the same hallway she had come. She backed away into the darkness, hoping not to attract whatever it was behind her. At that moment, emerging from the shadows, ironically, was her past self.

“This is amazing! I can’t believe it actually worked, Rose!” younger Mae exclaimed.

‘Rose …’ Present Mae thought sadly, ‘she’s actually here …?’

From behind younger Mae came Rose. She stood a bit taller than younger Mae and wore a black and blue long sleeved shirt. She looked exactly the same as when it came time for Mae to leave her. It was her, Rose was standing before her.

“It is quite amazing. I never would have expected to be dragged to Castle Bleck. And look at us; apprentices of Dimentio and Vaati!”

Two names she wished she’d never hear ever again - Dimentio and Vaati. It’s not that she hated those two, she was actually quite fond of them. It was however that her younger self made it incredibly awkward to even hear their names without cringing.

“Dimentio said he’s going to start training me early tomorrow, so I need to get to sleep soon.” Rose said with a genuine smile on her face.

“Hey wait, Rose!” past Mae called out. The girl looked back at her. “Let’s stay here forever, ok?”

Rose nodded with a small smile, “Yeah.”

Mae had never realized before, but the sincerity in Rose’s voice varied most of the time. Most of the time though, she sounded dead on the inside. It sounded full of empty words, and it always unsettled Mae. Even now, when she was watching her old friend, it unsettled her how unfamiliar Rose sounded.

When Rose left, past Mae began to skip away and hum a tune to herself. Mae knew she had to introduce herself, and confront her younger self, but she had to do it when no one was around. Right now seemed like the perfect opportunity. No one was here, and her past self was all alone. She began to slip out of the shadows when she heard footsteps in the big room. She stayed in the shadows a bit longer and out of nowhere appeared her old mentor. The wind mage himself.

“Ah, there you are. The girl I’m suppose to be mentoring.” he said in a calming voice. “Count Bleck said you’d be around here.”

“V-Vaati!” past Mae said a bit surprised.

Mae sighed angrily. The past version of her was so dumbfounded by the stupidest things. She was more intrigued by a character instead of the world she was in at the moment. She cared more about winning the approval of this fictional character than where in the world she was.

“The count wishes for the training to start tomorrow. That’s good for you, yes?” the wind mage asked the girl. Past Mae nodded happily.

“Oh wait, before you leave, can you tell me why Rose and I are here? I mean I’m happy we are, but …”

She was met with a smile from the Minish disguised as a Hylian, “In due time, my apprentice. In due time.”

With that, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Mae with her past self yet again. This was her chance. While past Mae was entranced in the moment, Mae came out and grabbed herself by the shoulders, spinning her around. Past Mae let out a gasp and stared wide eyed at herself. Mae brought a finger to her own lips and shushed the girl.

“Listen, I know things have been strange for you today, but right now you need to listen to me. Things are going to get stranger, and you need to heed my warning. You may not trust a mysterious girl who looks like an older version of you, but that’s exactly what I am. I am you! And you need to listen to me, Mae.”