Creating Worlds Writing Camp - Challenge 6

Hi everyone!:D

Here's my entry for the next CWWC challenge. First, here are the prompts I used-

 

Now my story!:D

 

Aden felt nerves build up inside him as he was driven to the Room of Choice. He had turned fifteen, the age when you became eligible to embark on a quest to help someone, something, or some world.

"Here you go," his mom whispered, but didn't follow him out of the car. Aden knocked on the car window and she rolled it down.

"Are you coming in?" Aden questioned. His mom shook her head and Aden frowned.

"Why not?" he asked, trying to hide his nerves. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.

"You are supposed to do it alone," she explained. "Good luck."

Aden nodded and patted her shoulder and, mustering as much courage as he could, walked into the building that housed the Room of Choice.

***

"Welcome to the Room of Choice, Aden," a man's booming voice called. Aden didn't know where the man was, but he had learned that they usually used a phantom voice to tell the quester what they had to do.

"You will see six portals on the wall," the man warned and as he said it, one after another, portals blinked onto the wall in front of him.

"You must choose one to go into, find their problem, fix it, and come back a man of honor. If you fail, you will be shamed. It is a tradition."

Aden took a deep breath and stared at the different portals.

The first was a world with red ground, a scarlet sky, and spiky tomato colored trees. Lava poured from a trembling volcano and Aden looked to the next one. This was an orange island, with a tangerine colored sky and blazing sun. Aden thought about going into that world to help with what he could when he noticed the sharp point of a shark fin swimming round the small island. He moved to the one beside it. Golden rays danced across a yellow lake and far off, yellow trees graced the sides of it. An evil looking woman hovered above the middle of the lake, her blonde hair floating ominously as the yellow water spun around her madly. Aden couldn't help but wonder if each would be as terrible as these. He looked at the next portal, which had the theme of green in it. A beach with mint green sand and green-blue water lay ahead of him, with a huge pale green moon with two rings around it hovered in the green sky. Clouds of green smoke floated above a building that had a massive, glass dome around it. Aden paused as he took in the scene, there was no horrifying monster prowling on the sand, nor a super villain threatening that world. Whatever the problem was, it wasn't stopped by defeating an immediate evil source. He glanced at the other portals, but they didn't have any appeal to him.

Aden pointed at the green world and shouted, "I choose this one!"

The portal lit up and Aden was sucked away.

***

Aden stood up from the sand and looked around him. It looked exactly like the portal had. He walked to the building inside the dome and studied it. Why was there this dome?

Aden knocked on the glass and a woman in a sanitary mask came out of the building.

"What?" the woman's hair and eyes were dark green and her skin was white with a slight greenish tint, almost like she was seasick.

"What's this?" Aden asked, gesturing to the building.

"It's an orphanage," the woman said through the glass dome.

"Why the spherical protection?" Aden questioned.

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you," he replied. The woman crossed her arms and frowned.

"How could YOU help?" she asked, her tone icy.

"I first need to know what your problem is," he stated. "I only have a day."

"You don't even know-" the woman trailed off and her face twisted into disgust. "I am afraid you can't help us, good day."

She turned around and disappeared inside the building.

Aden sighed and tried to think of some way to get in, then he blinked in surprise. The dome was made out of glass, he could easily break it and get in, but to what price? He couldn't destroy their property. Aden glanced up to the windows in the building and noticed two small girls with the same sick masks covering their mouths and noses. They looked at one another then turned away from the window. He continued to stare up at the window until they returned after a few moments, carrying papers. They slapped the paper onto the glass and he made out the words "CURE US" written on them.

"So they have a disease?" Aden said to himself. How could he fight that? He had to admit, the evil sorceress was looking more appealing. He brought his hands up in a helpless gesture and mouthed the words 'how' to them. Again, they disappeared. Aden expected them to reappear with another piece of paper, but they didn't come back. He stayed for a couple more minutes, then the kids came rushing out the front door.

"You need to swim to the bottom of the ocean and get the Cube of Healing!" the girl shouted breathlessly.

"Cube of Healing?" Aden questioned. "What is your disease?"

"We don't know, it's just an illness that is slowly killing kids. I am so scared, but I have hope now that a hero has arrived!" she cried, her mint colored eyes sparkling.

"What's this dome for?" Aden asked, tapping the glass separating them.

The girls paused and looked at each other.

"We hadn't known that we were sick. We slowly came to realize that this dome was put up here to protect the people from us, not the other way around. We finally found out that we were sick, once the first child died. You have to save us," the girl murmured.

"Hey, what's your name?" Aden inquired.

"Ally."

"And I am Rose," the other girl piped up for the first time.

Aden smiled at them.

"I'll save you. Don't worry."

***

Aden stood knee high in the ocean.

Where was the Cube supposed to even be? How large was this ocean?

Aden suck in a huge breath and, once he moved deeper into the ocean, dove in.

He opened his eyes in the murky water and he tried to see anything through it. Aden swam deeper then retreated back to the surface for air. Treading water, he searched his surroundings. How would he find the Cube of Healing and save the kids? He dove back into the water, repeatedly going up for air, for what seemed like hours. Finally exasperated, Aden surfaced. There was no way to find it and even if he did, he couldn't get to the bottom without needing air. He sighed and looked around him again, he needed to get back to shore. A faint glimmer of white sparkled in the corner of his eye when he began to swim back to shore. He twisted his body to look behind him, when the glimmering burst into pure white light. Aden squinted his eyes and covered his face, but he had to go back up again. Aden bobbed to the surface for a deep breath, then plummeted back into the ocean, pushing his way to the sandy bottom.

His lungs ached for breath and he breathed out, bubbles floating to the surface. He reached out his hands for the Cube of Healing and pushed upwards once he had secured the white glowing boxlike lava lamp.

He broke through the water and kicked his way to the shore. He pulled himself farther onto the beach, the cube pulsing in his hands. He had to get it to the children. Aden mustered his strength and staggered to the glass sphere, his wet hair dripping onto the sand. While he banged on the glass, the woman came out, her eyes blazing.

"What are you doing back here?" she cried.

"I found what you're looking for," Aden replied and placed the cube where she could see. She gasped, and she pulled her mask off, letting it fall to the ground. She reached out her hands, but the dome stopped her. Digging something out of her dress, the woman unearthed a knife. She managed to cut a circle through the glass so he could hand it to her. The woman took the cube with shaking hands and whispered something about the Cube of Healing.

"Thank you, thank you. You are a hero!" She gasped gratefully and Aden grinned. He had saved those children!

The world twisted and changed around him until he was back in the Room of Choice.

"You did it! Congratulations, you are now a hero," the phantom voice shouted and Aden beamed. And with his triumphant smile still on his lips, Aden walked out of the room a hero.

***

I am not the biggest fan of this story, I kind of had to finish it in a rush!;P It didn't really have a conflict, other than the quest itself, which makes it sort of boring to me, but I hope you liked it!;)

-Emma-