//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Mark My Words // Story: Lost Marbles // by Beta Breakout //------------------------------// I yawned, getting out of bed. I didn't have the best night, but it was something. But that didn't matter, it was 10 in the morning; the time of greatness! At this point of the day, you could eat breakfast OR lunch! I ran to the kitchen to see if my sister had made anything, and as it turned out... ...She didn't. She wasn't even up yet. Well, crap. I have to be PRODUCTIVE and make myself a breakfast? Sad day! I guess I can deal with making some- nope. No knock-off Captain Crunch. Maybe I could make some eggs? Sure. I started the stove and cracked the eggs into a pan. The sizzling of the cold against the warm made me joyous and I realized I am so ready for this to be done! "Arik, what are you doing? You have no idea how to cook unless it's a cup of noodles." And the beast awakens. My sister and I have been living as each other's roommates for around three years in this apartment. Lucky for us, we've been interested in the same field for even longer. This doesn't mean we're the best of friends though: She'd often order me around and I'd just have to do it. Knowing her, she'd make it worse if I didn't do what she commanded. "Hey, I can at least handle eggs, okay?" I turned back to see her with a skeptical look on her face. She knew that that wasn't true and so did I. "Fine, here you go. I'mma go do some homework then." But god knows I'm just gonna be searching the internet. "Atta boy. The eggs'll be done in a few minutes. That should give you enough time to finish a whole two problems if you're lucky!" she laughed. "Or you could just go on Gmod like you always do." Well, I guess she knows me too well. Oh yeah, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Arik and my sister's name is Madeline. We're twins, not identical, and... well, there really isn't that much to compare us with. She's assertive while I'm here as a wimp, which she always uses to her advantage. I've tried standing up to her, but she just doesn't care. I'm just glad that she's here so I'm not lonely. Also, she helps pay the bills; like, a lot. My job right now is editing videos for random people who need help on YouTube, which pays about 10 bucks per person. And I get maybe one person a month. She, on the other hand, works at Olive Garden as a manager, waving her buttered bread stick baton getting people to work as she counts profits. I plopped onto my chair and awaken my laptop and see I have a notification: My friend Ryan shot me a message seconds after I came online. I sent one back saying 'What's up dude?'. 'Nothing much. Just wanted to give a quick happy birthday before I go to class!' He put an emoji with a party hat and party horn. 'Hey, thanks! :D' I almost forgot today was my birthday! May 1st, the day of the baskets, for some reason. At least that's how I learned it. If I remember correctly, 3:20-something in the afternoon, my sister being around 2:10, and she takes too much pride in that. A simple "hey, I'm older than you" is fine, but she uses it as the reason to command me around. It's not my fault I'm younger than her. Time went by and Maddy and I finished up breakfast, watching some YouTube and she headed out to her job. I just stayed home and did some homework for once. I have my main class tomorrow, so I might as well do something while I'm not wanting to be online. I guess I should tell you what I'm about to master: computer-aided engineering. I've been working with CAD since I was in 5th grade due to being simply amazing while my sister is mastering architectural development, which is pretty much the same thing except with more buildings and less effort. I do the work of going to the place and scanning the area for markings on trees and Maddy just builds the house on the computer. I spent a few hours playing with what friends I have on Steam at this time and went back to studying at around 3:00. I wanted to play more, but I knew I needed to get to work. But I've really got a lot on my mind right now. I've had these weird dreams about an almost dystopian feeling world where there was this goat-lion-dragon thing attacking all these houses while my sister and I were hiding. All of a sudden, she bursts out and just yells at this creature about how she owns this property and she will defend it with her life. Then he just laughs and grabs her off the ground, chanting this thing as she yells at me to run and just evaporates into thin air. At that point, I ran for my life. I couldn't fight something that could kill someone off just like that. I wanted to save her, but I had no choice. I ran for around ten seconds before I stopped feeling the ground beneath me. "Oh, look at the little pony, running as always. I mean, what could you do? Your sisters are gone and you've got nothing left of your farm" He just cackled as he floated me in the air. I did my best to hide from him, but with what? "Aww, how sad. It seems you're hopeless now." Then I felt nothing as he chanted. I remember it word for word. For Five Score Divided by Four, Your memories removed, your body confused, For your insolence you must pay, Cast off to a land far far away, To scatter the six, just the start of my tricks, Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak, Forgetting everything and living like a fool, You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule! And that was all I had before I woke up at a start. Ugh, I don't even know why he called me a pony, but that doesn't give a reason towards why this dream had me so scared. I mean, my sister died, my town was being overthrown by this monstrosity and I was killed by the same creature without even having a chance. ... Well now that it's in that context, I believe I have every reason to be afraid. Alright, now that I'm back from that horrible memory, I should get back to work. I looked at the clock to see it was 3:40. Meh, I'll finish up in- "Wait, what? I just got started a few minutes ago!" I exclaimed. Now it's like half an hour later? What the crap? I didn't think the dream was that long. Whatever, I need to take a break. I got to the bathroom and began nature's call. As I pulled down my pants, something seemed a bit off. It wasn't my stomach or head, but something just didn't feel right. I looked down a bit further... and a little to the right... Aaand the left. I might need to sit down this time around. I found out what wasn't right. Two tattoos on my thighs appeared. What. The. Crap.