One week later…

The apartment was no longer a tangled mess of boxes and furniture. The living room was set up nicely; a pale blue secondhand couch facing the wall where the tv was mounted. It served as both a place for relaxing and as a room divider: in the alcove created by the back of the couch stood a small wooden table with room enough for two chairs, one on either side. The setup and the couch framed the sliding glass door. Opposite the door was the kitchen. The generic white fridge had photos stuck on it with cheap magnets.

Back to the living room. Minny was taking advantage of being the sole owner of the home by stretching fully across the couch, feet propped on the other arm rest. She was twirling the henshin pen above her, face wistful. After the first encounter when unpacking, the pen sat on her bedside table for a day or two, before she got tired of seeing it and put it on top of the bookshelf.

But after the third day, that didn’t feel right. It was like she could still see it, even though it was out of sight. Pulling on her mind, begging. Please. Start again. She found herself looking to the place where it was hidden every so often, and a longing feeling would come to her chest. But always, Minny turned away, and the more she tried to ignore it, the harder that longing solidified deep in her soul.

After the fourth day, she got frustrated. Stretching up and grasping the pen, she stared at it angrily. “What is your problem!?” she muttered, feeling the urge to throw it off of the balcony. What had happened to ‘out of sight, out of mind’? It was like the exact opposite here! She grumbled, green eyes stormy, and instead of chucking it, placed it on a lower part of the bookshelf. Her dreams that night were filled with half remembered faces. Lenka, a bright redhead with an equally bright costume, what was her name? Someone older than herself, someone concerned about her and Lenka fighting monsters…

The monsters came to her dreams the fifth night. Dark, swirling creatures with vacant eyes that glowed bright red. The fear that left her bolting upright in her bed, sweat on her brow and tears in her eyes. Her hand reached out as if to grasp something, but it wasn’t there. She thought of the pen, and shook her head, balling her hand into a fist. That ball of fingers went to her chest, and it took half an hour for the fear and the ache of her starseed to subside. She sat in the dark, concentrating on her breathing, forcing the tears to remain unshed. The following day was one spent surviving on caffeine to keep her awake.

And now here she was. A full week after finding the henshin pen. The honey colored object glinted enticingly in her long fingers, waiting. While her mind grappled with what the henshin pen meant. A return to a world of monsters, of magic, of living….and dying….

Death was the main fear in her heart. As a kid, the world seemed unending, her world seemed unending. But after seeing what the Negaverse was capable of, the ends they were willing to go to get what they wanted… the façade of ‘good will always triumph’ came crashing down hard for the then child Ambrosia. That’s when the pen went away.

But here it was, years later, again in her hand. And part of her really wanted to use it. To feel that surge of power again, to feel invincible. Was Lenka still fighting? The fiery redhead that helped them, was she still out there? Were they alive, or dead?

Her brown hair fell in a brown curtain around her shoulders as she rose from her laying position and sat cross legged with the pen sitting on her knee. It felt like it was burning a hole in her jeans.

“Just once.” She said quietly, hugging herself as the decision brought dread and nerves to her belly. “Just once.” Her resolve hardened just a bit as she grabbed the pen and rose to put on her shoes. It was dark out; less chance of being spotted. A jacket over the cozy green sweater, and she was out the door, taking extra care to lock her apartment up. It was the nerves making her cautious. Then she began to descend the steps to the ground floor, to find a place that was out of the way.

It was time to reunite with an old friend.

Words: 776