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White. Everything around Chosen was white—everything but his own body and the faint outline of the red colored stick next to him, whose words he wasn’t in the state to decipher, his mind still processing their unreal situation. He was floating, feeling almost ethereal and weightless in this endless white essence.
An invisible force was pushing them both through this white tunnel with great speed, towards... The truth is, he had no idea where they were going with this. He didn’t know why he ran for the WiFi icon in the first place. Call it intuition, call it a gut feeling, but it was the best option Chosen could think of to save both their lives. And for now, it seemed to be getting them somewhere. Where was that somewhere was still to be found, but it couldn’t be worse than the computer; he was sure of it.
“-nd then it went ‘ka-boom!’ and ‘bang!’ and we went ‘swooosh!’ He is gonna remember that one for life!”
Chosen started to become aware of his companion, who was loudly cheering and gesturing next to him. Whenever he imagined the day of his escape on one of the never-ending nights of his imprisonment, he never thought he’d have anyone but himself. Now, the option of a friend didn’t sound bad at all. He raised his hand to him for a high five, which Dark eagerly accepted with another cheer.
Before he could even realize it, he saw a blinding light fill their surroundings and then they were falling. They managed to ignite their fire in time to avoid the impact and land on the soft ground below. Chosen was quick to plop on the grass while Dark landed smoothly on his feet.
Dark gazed around at the jaw-dropping view. They had landed on a cliffside right next to a forest, far from the nearest trace of civilization. The sea below, reflective of the deep blue afternoon sky, glittered from the sun rays that washed over its surface. Green hills in the distance adorned the horizon, stark contrast to the blue of the sky, yet complementing it so well in the complete picture of the landscape.
Dark held his breath. “It looks like the computer. But it’s not. It’s real,” he whispered.
Chosen was lying still on the grass. He could lie there for days, feeling the itchy touch of it as it brushed on his skin—a constant reality check reminding him he wasn’t dreaming. He let the brisk autumn breeze blow over his face and mess with his hair. The clouds moved slowly, dancing with the wind over their background of endless blue. He couldn’t get enough of this. Even if he tried, he could never get tired of this.
An undefined amount of time had already passed before Dark came to check on Chosen. "C'mon, lazy, you can’t be lying there forever. Let’s go see what this place has to offer!”
Chosen blinked and rose to his feet. He looked at the captivating view once more before turning to Dark with a nod. Then they both ignited their hands and took off to wander in this newly discovered world.
They were soaring the skies with no specific purpose, no destination in their minds, enjoying the moments because they had the space to. No pressure. They needn’t follow anyone; they could do what they wanted, go where they wanted and live their lives their own way. Noogai was defeated. They were free.
Dark was pulling off stunts, cartwheeling and spinning in the air and Chosen went after him. Dark whooped when Chosen froze a platform in the water for them and then propulsed them through the waves with insane speed. Chosen shook his head, faking a look of disapproval, when Dark made a new crater with one of his fireballs. Dark was clutching his sides when Chosen tried to fly through a cloud, only to end up soaking wet. Chosen teased him when Dark tripped and fell on his own crater. Both laughed when an entire cave system collapsed on their heads after they tried to see who could throw the strongest punch. They flew up and down, low through the treeline and high up to the clouds. They landed at mountain summits, feeling at the top of the world.
“Bet I can beat you in a race,” Dark said sometime.
“Mhm. Sure.” Chosen was unfazed by his declaration.
“I’m faster than you. I’d win every time,” the younger continued.
“Like you ‘won’ during the fight?”
Dark glared at Chosen’s amused look. “We both won,” he huffed. “Besides, it’s a race, not a fight!”
Chosen simply rolled his eyes, prompting his brother to stick his tongue out in response.
In the end, they raced towards the city they had spotted earlier, zig-zagging between buildings and swinging over rooftops. Some pedestrians whose gaze happened to turn upwards might have been puzzled by seeing two teens flying through the city’s skyline, but the both of them sure didn’t bother.
The city felt magical, different than anything else they’d seen that day. Street lights glittered below as sticks of many different colors roamed around, everyone dealing with their own lives and struggles. It was loud and overwhelming the farthest down they flew, but there was a special appeal in this.
Chosen slid down a skyscraper covered in mirror glass, reflective of the setting sun. Dark landed on rooftops and ran, as if he had discovered a new parkour course before taking off again. Both of them had seemingly forgotten about their previously declared race, instead taking their time to once more absorbing their surroundings, so vastly different from the view at the cliffside from before. They could get used to this.
After a while, they settled on landing on the roof of one of the highest skyscrapers they found, the one that offered them the clearest view. Dark grabbed from the building’s radio mast, whooping excitedly, while Chosen was content with simply sitting quietly on the edge. He watched as the sky put on its warmest colors, like the swansong of the sun as it left the stage after its final performance of the day. He was gratified to think this was just the first of many days with his brother, the first of many sunsets. His freedom wasn’t handed to him on a silver platter; he fought for it with his life. And he was certainly going to make the most of it.
He was too absorbed with his thoughts to notice Dark sitting down next to him before the latter took his hand in his and squeezed it, reminding him he was there. Chosen squeezed it back affectionately. They didn’t so much as exchange looks with each other, too engrossed with the view before them.
“I'm guessing we agree I won this one, don't we?” Dark asked sometime later, which only earned him a smack on the head.