11 New World

***

"Arry, come on, the water's so nice!" Emma called out.

He was sitting by the lake, looking over her as he was supposed to. He sat under the beach umbrella, a notebook on his knees. He tapped against it with his pencil then took a look at Emma. She waved at him, smiling all along.

He shook his head. "Not now, Emma, I still have two pages to write."

'Idiot!' He screamed inwardly. 'If you went in, none of this would ever happen.'

He hated the dream, and the memories it brought him. Yet, he knew he couldn't escape it. Ever since that day, he'd always have this recurring nightmare. He'd have to live through it again, and he couldn't change a single thing about it.

Emma raised her hand and brought her tiny thumb down. "Boo! We're here to have fun, not to do homework!"

He chuckled. "It's not homework, it's my dream."

Lake Ozark's sparkling water was very inviting. The sky was cloudless that day, and the water lukewarm, the perfect conditions for a nice long swim. His parents took this expensive vacation to reconnect. They rented a boat and went deeper into the lake for some one-on-one time, leaving him in charge.

People around them swam or played near the water. Jet ski aficionados rode their vehicles around at terrifying speed.

"Tell you what, I'll finish this page then I'll come swim with you, deal?" he called out to Emma.

Her face brightened. "Really? You promised!"

He nodded, and she giggled in response.

He buried his head into his notebook. Creating scripts and colorful characters, similar to the movies he watched or even better, was his dream back then.

'Look up, you idiot!' he screamed inwardly, fully aware his dream self wouldn't hear him.

He only noticed something was amiss when somebody shrieked at the top of their lungs. He looked up to see a jet ski rider zooming too close to the shore at full speed. He took a sharp turn then sped up into the lake and disappeared into the river, riding upstream.

People gathered around the lake's beach. He saw the small body floating first, face down, then blood painted the crystal clear waters. Aaron's heart jumped. He tried to breathe but his lungs refused to let air in or out.

The dream faded, and he found himself in their house. The shutters were closed. His mom stood before him, frowning.

'You were supposed to watch her!' she said, her voice piercing through him like sharp razors. 'What were you doing when that murderer hit her?'

He looked away, fists clenched, teeth grinding against each other.

'You should've looked up!' He reprimanded himself.

"Answer your mother, Aaron!" his father growled.

She gripped his shoulder and shook him. "What were you doing? Why did you let him do that? Answer me, Aaron!"

***

"Aaron! Aaron!" a feminine voice called out to him. She shook him lightly from the shoulder.

He jumped up, sweating and breathless, then looked around. Sofia was looking at him, frowning heavily.

"Aaron! Thank goodness you're alright," she said.

His eyes didn't meet hers. He was looking at the place he woke up in. He was lying on a soft bed. Wooden walls surrounded them. The only light in the room came from an oil lamp by a small table near his bed.

He looked at his friend, confused. "Where are we? What happened?"

Sofia let out a long sigh of relief. "You had me worried, you asshole."

His mind was still hazy on the details. The events of the dream fogged up his brain and left him confused and saddened.

His eyes immediately veered toward his new arm. It was still there. 'Not a dream then,' he thought, still trying to piece together the last events he could remember.

It slowly came back to him. His eyes were wide open by the time he remembered the beasts, Sofia's abilities, and those ninja looking men. Sofia sat next to him all the while. She didn't speak, but gave him enough time to process what was happening.

"You should be dead. Come to think of it, I should be dead too," he said.

He looked at her and saw her furrowed eyebrows. She bit on her lower lip as she immediately averted her gaze. He recognized that look. She was hiding something, ashamed of it.

"S, what happened?" he asked again.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. You were unconscious, and those men were screaming at us. Blood wouldn't stop flowing out of your arm."

Aaron's confusion increased. He frowned at her. "S, get to the point. Where are we?"

She gave him a quick glance. "We're in some village. The people here took care of your wound and healed you."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Why are you sorry then? You saved my life!"

She shook her head. "They had two conditions when they agreed to take us to their village."

Aaron groaned as he adjusted his seat on the bed. His bones ached, and his muscles resisted every move he tried to make. He leaned against the wall and looked directly at Sofia. "No matter the conditions. It was either accept them or die, right?"

She nodded. "They're not your ideal conditions though."

He crossed his arms. "I'm all ears."

Sofia raised a finger. "One: Never, ever, provoke the guards in town or challenge their orders."

Aaron took a loud gulp. "I can try to live with that."

Sofia raised a second finger. "Two: We have to swear loyalty to the chief, and pledge our life to him."

"What?" Aaron leaned forward. "Are they for real?"

Sofia nodded. "They say their village is secret or something. They don't want outsiders finding their way here, especially Drifters, whatever that means. They blindfolded me and brought me here as well." She looked around the room. "This, basically, is our prison. We can't leave this house unless we agree to their terms."

Aaron clenched his jaw. "What if we disagree?"

Sofia shrugged. "They said they'll throw us in the middle of some woods, far away from the village. We'll be at the mercy of the beasts again, and probably something worse than these people."

Aaron scratched his chin. "What do you think?"

She leaned against her chair and looked at the window. "They won't even open the shutters for us, but I saw them do things I couldn't explain."

He raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

She nudged her chin toward his arm. "Does it hurt?"

He looked at his human arm and saw clean bandages wrapping it. He waved it around, inspected it, even pressed on it; it didn't hurt at all. He looked at her, eyes wide. "What did they do?"

Sofia leaned on her knees. "A woman came here three times a day to give us food and heal you. She hovered her hand above your arm and said some words, it sounded like an enchantment, like in fantasy movies. Your wound closed with every visit, and the bandages had less and less blood overtime."

Aaron frowned. "Wait a minute, how long have I been out of it?"

"Ten days. According to the woman, you spent all your mana fighting and collapsed from Exhaustion. If we didn't get you to her when we did, the poison from the mantis would've killed you," she said.

Aaron leaned back against the wall, troubled. "I owe them my life then, and to you too."

He looked at her. "If the mantis poisoned me, how about you? That thing riddled you with cuts."

She showed him her arms. There were no signs of injury. They were more toned than he remembered. Her tricep muscles stood out the most.

She grinned at him. "Get this! The lady told me I may have some body enhancement powers. She's not sure what they are exactly, but she promised to help me understand them if we decide to stay."

He frowned. "Are you thinking of staying? Swearing our lives to some strangers?"

She looked away. "I'm not sure yet. These people promised they'd teach us more about our powers. They know about the witch too."

"They do? What did they say?" Aaron asked.

Sofia shook her head. "They thought she sent us to fight them, but when they saw your injuries and how, in their words, crudely we dealt with the beasts, they knew we'd escaped."

He raised an eyebrow. "How do they know all this?"

She shrugged. "They said it happened before. They're a refuge for those who oppose the witch, but you'll have to live on their terms."

"I don't know, S, this sounds too fishy for me," Aaron said. "I'm not sure I want to swear loyalty to some stranger. That's the same as agreeing to the witch's terms."

She nodded. "I'm not sure either, but they know things that can help us. They can also teach us to control these new powers."

He remembered how her muscles had grown the last time. His lips parted into a smile. "You kicked ass back then."

She chuckled. "Your Jedi tricks are more impressive, believe me."

He snorted. "I can shoot super strong wind from my new hand. I don't know what's impressive about that."

"You should see it from my eyes, it's just out of this world," Sofia said. Aaron didn't know if that was a compliment or a simple observation. Sofia wasn't one to give compliments easily.

He chuckled. "And from my eyes, I saw you grow triple your size in the matter of seconds…"

He gasped and pointed his index at her. "Wait a minute! You're She-Hulk!"

Sofia smiled, but immediately froze then frowned. Aaron's ears perked up as he heard keys jingling behind their door.

"They don't usually visit us at this hour," Sofia mumbled under her breath.

The keys jingled some more as the door's lock made a distinct clicking sound.

Sofia turned to Aaron. "Do you trust me?"

He nodded. "With my life."

"Then follow my lead."

The door whined as it was pushed open. A tall figure stood behind the door. It was dark outside, and Aaron could barely make out a white fox mask, hiding their visitor's face.

The visitor walked in, the door slowly whining to close behind. Aaron managed to make out the visitor's features as she walked into the light. Her sleeveless shirt showed she was a fighter, as her arms were bigger than Aaron's. She tied her long black hair above her head, yet it still flowed behind her back, reaching for her waist. Her baggy brown trousers jingled with every move.

Aaron frowned. 'Is she the gatekeeper or something?'

She gracefully walked toward them and settled on an empty chair by the foot of the bed. She set her long leather boots on the bed and looked at Aaron.

"How are we feeling?" she asked in a neutral tone.

"Better," he said, waving his arm. "Thanks for looking after me."

The fox mask lady nodded. She turned to Sofia. "Did you tell him about our conditions?"

Sofia nodded.

She turned to Aaron. "Do you agree to our terms?"

Aaron looked at Sofia. "Not sure yet, what do you think?"

She leaned on her chair and looked at the ceiling. "What if we want to leave one day?" she asked.

The fox-masked woman chuckled. "I already told you. You can only leave this place in a coffin strapped to a boat, ready to be incinerated."

Aaron shuddered.

Sofia cursed under her breath. She turned to face Aaron. "These people helped us, nursed us back to health. It's either this or beasts outside. I'm tired of running. We can get strong here, Aaron."

He frowned. He did many shows with Sofia, and there was a reason Karla was the face of the show. Sofia couldn't lie to save her life, nor could she act. She always sounded like an AI, mechanically reading a script, and she sounded like one now.

Something was amiss, but he decided to trust her, as she asked him before. "Agreed."

Their visitor stood. "So, do I have your consent?"

They both nodded at her.

She looked at them both before turning on her heels. A small piece of paper fell off her belt as she headed for the door. "There will be an official welcome ceremony for you tomorrow. Get some rest. "

Then she left the room, Sofia hurried to the foot of the bed and picked up the paper. She quickly scanned it then handed it to Aaron. She put a finger on her lips and looked at the paper.

He followed her gaze. Only one line was scribbled. "They can hear everything you say."