“Raven, hang in there. You’ll be alright, I promise,” a far away voice echoed through my mind. Wherever that voice came from it sounded melancholic, and it soothed me into the depths of my mind.

“W-w-where am I?” I stammered unsure of my surroundings. It seemed nobody was around, so could I be dead – maybe? Everything around me was almost pitch black, but I could see the faint lines of civilization, dull light shining from a barely visible crescent moon, and slightly shimmering stars. Yet something seemed far off compared to the Earth I once lived on. Nothing felt the same as it did on my planet, so I knew I shouldn’t trust that I’m on a planet populated with billions of human beings. I’m not where I thought I was anymore, right?

“Do you need help up?” somebody whispered in the darkness that shrouded most of my sight. No matter how hard I tried to see this person, well if it really is another human, I couldn’t. I sat on the cold ground staring into the darkness towards the general direction I believed the thing was. Wait. Wouldn’t this being have to be human? Even though this can’t be my world this thing can speak my language. Are there humans here, too?

“T-thanks f-for the offer!” I yelled with a strange excitement that I can’t describe.

“Shhhh! Are you an idiot!” the voice replied, wavering between pitches.

Undoubtedly this voice belongs to a girl. This voice may come off to people as a guy’s if you don’t pay attention, but I can tell the owner took a slightly larger breath before speaking. The most likely reason is they are forcing the pitch change in their voice to avoid whatever reason they have for doing so. Anyways, the person would only count as a guy when he was only a boy and hadn’t experienced his voice changing. I couldn’t help but laugh at this unknown girl. It wasn’t my best idea in this situation - apparently.

“What is wrong with you? Are you a disease patient or something? Anyways, just trust me and make sure to keep your mouth shut. If you don’t then you better know you aren’t gonna be freely roaming around by yourself anymore,” she said almost a whole octave higher than before.

To my surprise, the dark curtain that was draped over us before, was vanishing. The luminosity of the sun’s vivid arms dispersed throughout, pulling open the shady curtain with warm hands, leaving me mesmerized by the girl’s eyes. She isn’t human as I expected, which I had proof of mainly because of her eyes, that had the same shape as a cat’s eyes would.

Her eyes then burst with curiosity as she stated, “Wow you really are human. Most of your kind can’t break out like you must’ve. My name’s Nynx, in case you’d like to know. I really like humans, so I’m completely on your side. You guys really intrigue me. Anyways, what’s yours?” She finishes with a grin, and I’m left staring intensely into her eyes trying to figure out what she is talking about.

“Mine?” I replied unsure of anything this girl was saying.

“Yeah, your name. I told you mine, so it’s only natural that you tell me yours,” Nynx explained.

“Raven. By the way, Nynx, what’s with the ears and the tail? Is it Halloween?” I added.

She looked right at me, and she laughed. I couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on, or why Nynx had the ears, eyes, and a tail of a cat. Other than those features she looked completely human; like me. Which would have to mean she is just dressed up as a cat.

“Well, you’re smart. It’s not this so-called Halloween, and I happened to be born with these ears and this tail. Is that a problem?” she demanded.

“N-n-no it’s j-just, never mind. I’m just joking,” I commented. I couldn’t finish what I tried to say to her because I was drowsy again. The ground was so warm and comfortable, especially to sleep on.

“Are you okay, Raven? You look really sleep deprived. Should I bring you to my house? As long as you aren’t too loud you shouldn’t be caught,” another familiar voice tenderly offered. It was Nynx. I wondered why she looked so worried.

“Here I’ll pick you up. Don’t flail too much. I’ll end up dropping,” she paused with a petrified expression, “you.” Why did she pause?

“Y-you really are a disease patient! I’m truly sorry for the jokes I’m gonna take you to my house, and I’ll make sure Darius can’t find you!” Nynx apologized. Was it Nynx?

I was really comforted, but I shouldn’t have been. My subconscious was screaming – danger! Yet for some reason I felt relaxed and joyful around her. There was a feeling of warmth surging through me, like I was melting.

Then a voice said, “Hey, seriously are you alright? ‘Cause, like, you just passed out on me. Your disease sure must be a pain, am I right?”

Whose voice was playing through my mind? Oh yeah, Nynx. I forgot her so easily. Again. Why did she keep bringing up something about a disease?

I couldn’t help but look at her, and I asked pleadingly, “Disease? What do you mean I have a disease? I’m perfectly healthy!”

I thought she was just mistaken, maybe even joking, but she shook her head. Instead she looked at me despairingly and bewildered. Did I do something to upset her?

I am so sorry,” she cried, “Truly sorry. You shouldn’t have to believe my stupid jokes. I’ve probably offended you deeply. Ha-ha. Of course you’re…healthy. I just, uhh, wanted to fool you. That’s all. Funny, right?” She was stuttering a lot, but why?

“Ha-ha. It’s fine. You’re great, Nynx!” I whispered reassuringly. Something was terribly off with her. When I said that she looked even more depressed and worried. I must have done something stupid without realizing it.

“Here we are,” she stated immediately after I looked at her, confused, “my house may be small, but you’ll come to love it!” Was it even a house? That question made me have to ask her because her house was like a rabbit’s hole.

“Why do you live in a place so tiny? No offense, but can you even fit through the doorway?” I questioned. Wrong idea. Stupid, idiotic me. She’s going to flip out on me! What was I thinking? Making fun of someone else’s home, and the person who decided to take care of me, too! Of all people I could upset it just had to be Nynx!

“Yeah I know, I know. Darius apparently doesn’t think I need a normal sized house. He can be such an idiot sometimes! Especially,” she trailed off, “now.”

I looked at her with a questioning stare, and I asked,” Who’s Darius?”

She must have thought I was joking because she gave me a look that screamed, are you kidding me?

“Darius is practically our dictator! How can you not know him? Unless…you have the Paradoxin disease. Do you?” she questioned in curiosity.

“Paradoxin?” I glanced at her momentarily.

She is being extremely weird again! Why does Nynx keep saying I have a disease? Who’s Darius, I still don’t understand. I’ve never heard of a dictator named Darius! What is going on?

“Yeah it’s a pretty messed up disease that your kind isn’t really immune to like my kind is. It killed off all the plants, too. Luckily, the humans are all safe where Darius put them, and he made sure they all had oxygen. Our kind can tolerate the lack of oxygen, but yours can’t. Well, apparently most. ‘Cause you seem to be handling it well. But, anyways, even though Darius was kind enough to give them oxygen rich buildings, he’s still like a disease that spreads bad luck to humans. Let’s just leave it at that, ‘kay?” Nynx explained calmly.

“Okay. Sure. Well, then. What are we gonna do now? We can’t exactly just stay at your place forever. So, where are we going since I’m not supposed to be skipping around out there, and I’ve learned way too much crazy information for one day,” I jokingly agreed.

“How about I take you around today, then? Darius shouldn’t be out today, and everyone else usually wouldn’t bother to tell on me for having a human with me. So, you should be alright today, I promise. How about it?” she offered with a glimmer in her eyes. She must have thought that it would be some kind of dangerous adventure especially with that look she gave me.

“Sure,” I exclaimed, “why not!”

She glanced over at me again, and then she grabbed my hand, practically ripping my arm off. I looked back at her small house, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how hysterical it was. That small house was precisely why she had that look in her eyes, and why she was overjoyed by the excitement of a dangerous adventure appearing. For some reason I felt so comfortable around Nynx, even though I’d just met her earlier in the day due to being unconscious in the middle of a barren field, but I figured it was because I never really had any friends to begin with. She was amazing to me, as well, because in every expression she wore it looked as if she was telling you a story. A story filled with all of her emotions and thoughts that were being written right before my eyes. It was almost as if she was asking you to open up that very book, even though it could still go on and on without ever ending, and she wanted you to read carefully until, you too, felt and understood each and every word written.

Nynx slammed the door behind me, and she took off running at full speed, dragging me along by my now, sore arm.

“Aren’t you going to bring us bad luck, and get us caught? You are a black cat after all,” I joked. I’d only realized once we got to her house that she had a black furry tail, along with ears, and that her eyes were chocolate brown.

“Just shut up and follow me!” she replied.
We were headed towards many more extravagant houses that were enormous in comparison to hers, and every one of them was much different from what I’ve grown up knowing. Each house had doors that almost looked like a giant bubble stretched out in the place of a door, and some of the houses were even floating a bit above the ground. They all, however, lacked the green prickly grass that I’d rolled around in so much when I was younger, and the giant trees that my dad would always help me climb up. Instead they all stood there, beautiful without a doubt, surrounded by barren space. For some reason though, Nynx’s house had a hinged door, complete with a plastic wooden-looking knob, that was exactly like the doors from my memories. I completely became lost in the moment of watching the motionless homes, and the houses that hovered as well.

Nynx must have noticed how taken away I was by all of the sights, so she whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “Watch closely. Do you see that man over there that’s about to walk out of his home? Well, look closely at his door, its fascinating!”

“Um, okay. Why though?” I questioned.

“Be quiet! Just watch. Here it goes!” she exclaimed.

I quietly obeyed her, and I looked wonderingly at that man. He was another one of her kind, an ajin. I’ve always known what an ajin was because my father was extremely interested in them. He explained to me when I was just out of my toddler phase that ajins were a mixture of an animal and human, so I knew what Nynx and her kind are. Even though it’s extremely hard to believe they are actually real. My dad would be so happy if he were here with me.

The bubble door that the man was walking up to rippled as he walked through it. I was so amazed I stood there silently mesmerized by it, while Nynx chuckled beside me. When I looked at her I realized she was laughing at my expression of awe that I must have had.

“Incredible, right?” Nynx commented as a huge grin spread across her face.

I couldn’t help myself from smiling, along with her, as I said, “Yeah. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Is it really still 2014?”

“2014? That was close to a decade ago. It’s 2022 right now – correct?” she asked me confused.

“Sure,” I paused muttering, “correct. I guess.”

How could it have been 2022? I was completely positive she was just lying again. Maybe a joke – again? It had to be. Even though I knew something was different about my surroundings, including futuristic stuff, I knew it couldn’t be true. No matter what.

“Sure? You don’t sound like you remember. It’s presently the year 2022, ajins live in an utopia, humans are stuck in a dystopian world, and Darius is the leader that caused both of those to happen. I really thought you didn’t know anything because you were in hiding before to get away from being imprisoned by the ajins, but you really are this isolated from the outside world, aren’t you?” she wondered.

What is happening? I know it has to be 2014, and humans, only humans, can speak. Now this non-human is speaking our language that only humans speak! She is telling me to believe it’s 2022, and ajins are taking – no, took over, and humans are being forced away by them! Why can’t I fit the pieces together yet? There are too many, way too many, questions swimming through my mind. The only thing I can even make sense of is this can’t be Earth. No way – right? If it isn’t Earth then why does Nynx understand me in the first place? Ugh, this is driving me insane! Other humans should be around if it was Earth. I just can’t believe they are captivated; I can’t! Where the heck am I?

I got my proof immediately after I had those repetitive thoughts. As I thought so desperately about humans, Earth, and wherever I was then, I saw someone I wouldn’t have cared to run into before. My second grade teacher, kind but sometimes harsh, was hand in hand with her husband who I’d known from various pictures scattered across her desk at the back of her classroom. Right then I decided I was still on Earth, and I figured the ajins could just be extremely skilled actors and actresses. Mrs. Smith and her husband weren’t the only ones either; there were twenty – no thirty people walking around right in front of my eyes. Nynx was just fooling around with me all along!

“Hi, Mrs. Smith!” I shouted as loud as possible, even though I knew that was one of her biggest pet peeves; unnecessary shouting. The excitement of seeing so many people got to my head, and I started waving to everyone who walked by me, grinning. Something was off once I’d finally calmed myself down. Everyone, who hadn’t aged like me, around just kept walking; unfazed and without a care. Even Mrs. Smith, who never changed, acted as if I was invisible. Well, she was always the type whenever she saw any of her former students; especially me.

I’d never been happier to meet one of my teachers away from school, especially her, but I couldn’t care then. I had been misled by Nynx the whole time, and I could finally say I wasn’t alone. Seeing other humans made me realize I hadn’t gone crazy. All I could do to keep myself from jumping up and down was to smile so wide that I literally felt as if my mouth would surpass the length of my face. Usually, I never liked being around a crowd, but right at that moment I thought the crowd wasn’t quite big enough.

I looked over at Nynx, and she insisted, “Who are you talking to? No one’s around here right now, even that man from before left. Raven?”

She’d completely caught me off guard, at first, but I knew she was trying to be a comedian again. My teacher was right in front of us, along with many others. Why is she trying to make up stupid jokes again, anyways? Maybe ajins aren’t very perceptive, but isn’t she a mixture of a cat and human? That would mean she should be even more perceptive. Well, I definitely won’t let her fool me this time! I’ll get Mrs. Smith’s attention!

She looked at me with human eyes, that her cat eyes turned into when it was dusk, and she replied, “No one is there. Thank you for revealing the best proof ever. You do have a disease; the Paradoxin disease. Sadly, you have the symptoms, all of them, including delusions, hallucinations, and losing consciousness randomly. To explain to you more clearly your body was forced into the future, my present, which is why you see things from your present that I can’t. Like whomever you were talking to.”

Out of everything Nynx told me since I woke up on the ground that was by far the worst. I had no memory of how I got here, or how I became unconscious on the ground. Any memory that must’ve dealt with what happened to me were blurred and whipped from my thoughts. I could remember everything else, but when I have a memory that had some involvement with my circumstances it just ended or skipped to another memory. In truth, I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t help but stand there in bemusement to Nynx’s theory.

“Raven,” Nynx added, “You are in the future, in Darius’s world. The past used to be filled and controlled by humans, until ajins came along. Now Darius took control to make an ajin utopia, and he also made a dystopia for the humans because he hates them so much. So, you can’t be seeing real humans because they are all locked up. Darius has tight security around all of them too, so they don’t have much of a chance of escaping.”

“Why?” I strongly added wanting an immediate explanation.

“Well,” she paused ultimately planning to leave me guessing. I was not having something. No matter what.

I went for her shoulders and started shaking her before I asked, “ Tell me about what you just said. Now!”

“Darius was the first ajin that was made by our master, the greatest genetics scientist. He was a man who wanted to find a way to cure the Paradoxin disease, so he made us. That disease killed all of the Earth’s plants only last year, and it affected some humans too. Our master already created a whole population of us, out of cat and human genetics. Animals could withstand having little oxygen, and those animals mixed with humans weren’t affected by the lack of plants. Darius, who loved master more than anyone, became angered that he was only created for master’s son. His son had gotten the Paradoxin disease, even though most humans couldn’t get it. But then how did…” she cut off at the end. I knew right when she stopped what she meant.

“How do I have the disease, you mean?” I immediately responded, “I understand now. Even though I still don’t know much, especially about how the disease will affect me, but I get it. Did you know my dad was a really amazing genetics scientist? Everyone always said he was a prodigy, and he even decided to try creating ajins. And he always told me that if he had a second son he would name him Darius.”

“What the heck are you doing here, human?” a deep voice bellowed behind me.

“D-D-Darius. Please don’t tell me you heard all of that. And he’s master’s son, so you shouldn’t hurt him, alright?” Nynx stumbled.

“I don’t believe him. He’s going to be locked up, no matter what you say, Nynx,” Darius calmly stated, “How did you deceive her, you mere human?”

He brought out handcuffs, and he shut them over my wrists, and they grazed my skin. Nynx stared at him until I expected her to burn holes into his skull, and he just ignored her as she did so. Darius grabbed the handcuffs, which were still tearing my wrists up, and dragged me along away from Nynx. Even though I was sure I wasn’t in the past anymore I still felt like an outsider. I was always the one kid to push around, and I am yet again. I’m like a pencil shaving, completely useless and in the way.

“Darius let him go, or I’ll use my invention. On all of us!” Nynx screamed. Darius came to a halt, and I bumped into him.
He trembled with trepidation filling his expression, “Y-you can’t. Do you understand what you’re even saying?” I followed Darius’s procedure, and started trembling as well.

“Yes,” she stood her ground, “I do.”

“What is your invention gonna do, Nynx,” I stated nervously. She gave me a terrified look, and I could tell something horrible would happen.

“Give me it, and I’ll trade you for this,” Darius offered pushing me towards her. She nodded and began to walk over to accept the trade, and she – fell. The invention went flying through the air, and I immediately lunged to catch it.

“Caught…” Everything went black.

“My head hurts,” Nynx muttered.

“Where is this…is that...me?” Darius groaned.

I tried to look around, but I had lost all of my energy. Darius sat up, and his face was smeared with blood. Nynx wasn’t getting up, until Darius sat her up as well. She must have been in excruciating pain because her forehead was dripping blood, and her eyes were filled with tears.

Darius spoke with anger controlling his voice, “Nynx, I told you not to use that thing. Hey, human. How are you feeling?”

I began to reply, “Fine…” My answer was cut short by outrageous coughing that swept over me. The coughing cut off most of my oxygen, and I had a feeling of death. Darius looked at me, not with his usual hatred, but with an expression of disbelief.

“You really are master’s son, aren’t you? That means that you are going to die if we don’t get you back to the past! I promise I’ll get you back home, and I’ll do whatever else you ask,” Darius exclaimed.

“The world…it’s cold,” I muttered. Darius must have understood what was happening to me because he looked at me with a painful expression, unlike Nynx who was occupied with our surroundings.

“Darius, what is that black thing? And why can I hear people screaming! I’m scared, brother!” Nynx cried. Now it made sense. Darius knew her so well because she is his sister. I’d wondered how they just happened to know everything about each other. Nynx wasn’t lying either when she said she was scared. She was covering her ears and rocking back and forth on the ground, until Darius hugged her to calm her down.

“It’s okay, Nynx,” Darius whispered, “ We are going to fix this together. You’ve done nothing wrong. Okay?”

“Y-y-y-yes,” Nynx muttered, “but brother is this the result of my Time Warp?”

Nynx was right. Her invention forced us - no, the whole planet, into the future. It created some sort of black hole that was sucking up everything around us. Never mind a post-apocalyptic world. If we didn’t fix all of that it would have been a real apocalypse. The world is dying right before my eyes.

“You are right. That’s the effect of your Time Warp, as I had expected,” Darius answered. I was listening to him, but I started coughing once he finished. Maybe I’m dying as well – no. I am. There is no maybe.


“We should stop it,” I sputtered through my endless coughing, “I know how. Just find the Time Warp machine, and I know what needs to be done afterwards.” I know how to fix this. My memories are reappearing, and I know how to stop all of this. It has to work, no matter what. Well, it’s not like I can stop this from happening. It’s too late to go back now.

“Raven,” Darius said with concern in his faltering voice, “Stay with…” Why can’t I hear him? Am I going deaf, or is this the result of…yeah, it is. My time is soon to arrive. I will achieve my part in this.

“Leave me here for now,” I muttered, “Find the machine. Once you do come back here.”

“Raven, no! I don’t wanna!” Nynx screamed.

“Yes, young master. Come on, Nynx,” Darius stated. Good. They should find it in time.

At that moment I understood everything. My disease, the Paradoxin disease, sent me to the future, and it had an effect on my body. Especially whenever I time jumped. The more I traveled through time the harsher the effect, and my coughing is a result of being thrown into the future again by Nynx. Then as I could see blurs I could see Nynx running towards me with the machine and Darius behind her. I took the machine in my hands, and I held it to my forehead. Then I was blinded for a few minutes as we were sent back, and it looked like 2022 again.

“What did you do?” Nynx questioned, “How are we back in our time?”

“My life,” I barely said, “caused all of this. All of the things that happened; the ajins birth, humans being imprisoned, Darius’s pain, and that future. All of it. And now…”

“Don’t speak, Raven,” Darius commanded.

“My death. It will cause all of the disturbances to rest along with me. Now that you, Darius, know who I am you will fix the world to be an utopia for both my kind and yours. That future, will no longer happen. I’m the paradox that caused all of this, because of my disease. So, destroy the paradox and you will fix the time flux.”

“Raven. You can’t die! I won’t allow it!” Nynx screamed while tears strolled down her face.

“Raven, thank you. You were going to ask me to build an utopia for everyone…since I told you I’d listen to any request you gave me. I will, therefore, fulfill this promise to you,” Darius added.

“Thanks,” I coughed, this time blood dripped onto my hand, “for giving me friends…and…a-and…” Thank you both for everything, though it was short. I faintly smiled at them.

“Goodbye, master.”