Chapter Text
It felt like her entire world was falling apart. Was nothing she knew to be the truth the actual truth? What else had her family members and friends lied about? Vesta wanted to run to her parents arms for comfort and ask for answers, but she didn't know if she could believe anything her parents said. Vesta knew she'd need to figure it out herself. She needed clues.
Commander, it sounded so familiar. The word echoed in her mind. She racked her brain for answers. She could only think of her mother's made up backstory for the cadets. Was it made up? How much was true? Her hands were shaking. She couldn't take her eyes off the shattered device on the floor. Vesta knew her mother had all her technology in a drawer next to her bed. Vesta was never allowed to open it. She didn't want to go behind her parents back. But they hadn't been honest with her. "I'll just check." She thought. Maybe there was some clue to what was happening in that drawer.
As Vesta walked her heart pounded in her chest. She didn't want to betray her mother's trust. But she couldn't stand to live her life based on lies she'd been told any longer. The door to her parents room creaked open, the sound adding to Vesta's growing anxiety. She walked in and took in the scene. Cadet's drawings covered the walls. There were fake stars on the ceiling that softly glowed lighting up the dim room. The walls were a light blue color.
In the corner of the room there was her father's desk. In the center of the room was her parents bed. There were two drawers on each side of it. Vesta crept to her mother's side, in case either parent returned she did her best not to make a noise. Her hand lingered on the handle to the drawer for what felt like an hour. Finally taking a shaky breath she opened it.
It wasn't tech? Well not only tech. There were faded baby toys, a folded shirt, framed pictures that were covered in dust. Vesta didn't recognize any of these well loved items. As Vesta looked through these artifacts of someone's life she didn't know something caught her eye. A bracelet looking piece of technology. It looked like the ones her mother and father wore. It was slightly smaller than theirs, which was perfect for Vesta. Hesitantly she picked it up. It had a small screen with a keypad and a few buttons. She slid it on her wrist and started pressing the buttons. Vesta waited for something to happen. "Of course it's dead!" She muttered, frustrated that she lost her lead.
Closing the door Vesta headed to her room looking for a charger. Her uneasiness around the situation was growing. She was confused, betrayed! She trusted them. She trusted all of them. Angry tears welled up in her eyes making it harder to find the charger. All of her doubts she ignored because of love. Because of trust! Her shoulders shook as she quietly sobbed. Vesta flopped onto her bed, she'd find the charger later. Tears ran down her face as she buried herself under blankets. Suddenly, she heard a faint whirring sound coming from her wrist. "What the heck-" She shrieked as a portal opened under her sucking her into it.
Vesta was rapidly teleporting from dimension to dimension. It felt like she was free falling but the scenery kept changing. It was disorienting. She looked at her wrist where the device was sparking and flashing red with symbols on the screen she couldn't decipher. Her mind raced. She started frantically pushing buttons trying to stop her fall. It was nauseating being tossed from dimension to dimension. It felt like she couldn't breathe.
Panic set in. Nothing was working. Was she going to fall forever? She should have never touched this! Vesta wanted her mom and dad. Bright dimensions, dark dimensions, cold dimensions, hot dimensions. The device stopped flashing red. Vesta fell through the portal 15 feet in the air. She barely had time to panic as the ground rapidly grew closer. Thump! She hit the ground knocking the wind out of her.
Vesta was gasping for air. Her head was pounding, her stomach was churning, her palms were bleeding. Everything hurt. The air around her was cold and dry. Vesta groaned pushing herself up off of her stomach to sit up. She needed to find out where she was. How to get home. Holding herself up with her arms she scanned her surroundings. It looked to be nighttime.
She was in a forest. The trees looked almost blue in the moonlight. The grass beneath her was a dark blueish green. There were two moons in the night sky. The forest was quiet, peaceful. It looked like something out of a fairytale. Vesta sat against a tree. Her ears drooped. It felt like the life had been sucked out of her. Her vision was blurry. Vesta desperately wanted to go home. Her anger was replaced with regret. She brought her knees to her chest and covered her face as she cried lost in a foreign world with no one to turn to.