Skyler was falling from everything into the vast empty space of nothing. She was falling from the crust of Planet Mortem to the core of the planet. Nothing but the color of midnight black surrounded the fifteen-year-old unconscious girl. There was enough dim light to see the surroundings, but what was there to see? It looked like midnight space without the stars or the moon. It was without anything that made the space desirable.  

Slowly, consciousness returned to Skyler. First, she breathed heavily. It was hard because the air that surrounded her barely had oxygen. The pit she was falling in was like space in another way. The farther from Mortem, there would be less air, which meant less oxygen. But the place was different than space in one aspect. While the space was far from Mortem, the place Skyler was falling in was inside Mortem.

And much like the space up above, it was cold. Skyler felt her skin freeze. It was damp like the morning after a rainy night but there wasn’t the breeze or the cold wind. It was the cold created not from the wind, but from having no heating object. Wasn’t it that the deeper you go into a planet, the warmer it gets? Or maybe it was cold because the creator was too in their heart.

Skyler’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times. And when she opened her eyes, she quickly closed them again. Her eyes felt as if they were staring at a burning star eclipse with a laser glass for too long.

Out of curiosity, Skyler opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes burned, but she managed to hold on for five seconds before getting used to the pain.

Where am I? Skyler thought; her memory was vague and fuzzy.

“Hello?” Skyler asked.

Her voice was barely a whisper in the silence. It just faded away, having nothing to bounce off of. But it kept on repeating over and over again in Skyler’s head.

“Stop,” Skyler whispered, tears swam out of her eyes. “Just stop.”

But was there a point in whispering? There was no one who could listen to her, so why bother wasting her voice? Her voice was just fading into nothing. Just like her.

Skyler closed her eyes hard. Trying to piece things back together. First, she was near a cliff with her friends.

But why? Skyler closed her eyes even harder. Why am I here?

The mission! Skyler’s eyes popped open in her mind. The mission!

But what was the mission?

Let’s see… there was the cliff, and we had to retrieve something. But what?

Skyler blinked as an idea came to her. Could it get her out of this thing, whatever it was? Could she go back to her friends, family, and life?

Skyler looked at her palm and concentrated really hard. Her eyes stared intensely  at her palm.

Please work, Skyler begged. Please work.

Nothing happened.

Why now? Why, all of the sudden, can I not use my power?

Her power was supposed to work! Sure, Skyler was still learning how to use it, but-  it wasn’t fair! She had gotten her dad back from a coma, she had brought him back from death! So why couldn’t she go back in time? Why now? Skyler had even saved Danny from being hit by a car by going back in time.

Was it because Skyler was weak at the moment? Or was she not desperate enough? Maybe there was a mistake when the doctors and scientist at the Element had genetically engineered Skyler to have power when Skyler was a kid. That was probably it. 

It’s useless, Skyler thought.

She was going to die.

Happy thoughts, Skyler thought. Think of happy thoughts.

But the only thing Skyler could think about was about the things she could never do. The things she always wanted to do. The things she always thought she could change in the future. Because after all, she was too young to die. She had all the time in the world.

All the time in the world? Well, look at where she was now.

Skyler scoffed at the philosophy she had believed in for such a long time. Bad things happened to people all the time. The truth was, no one is lucky or safe. It’s all at random or at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Then a thought pressed in Skyler’s head.

I will never be able to call mother mom.

“Mom,” Syler said the word out loud.

Hearing how it sounded made her smile. She hadn’t said the word in, what? Seven years? Not since the accident. Not since her mom had moved on so easily and quickly.

But was it easy for her mom? It must have been hard on her too, after all, she had lost her husband to a comma.
Alice. Cole.

It was hard on them too. Skyler had never stopped to wonder if her dad’s accident was also killing her older sister and cousin on the inside. Had it torn them apart too? They always looked so strong. Skyler envied them for that. Now, Skyler wouldn’t be able to tease them or just apologize. For the first time, they weren’t there for that. And it was all Skyler’s fault.

There wouldn’t be so many things Skyler could do or feel anymore. Like the warmth when she hugged her dad. Or talk with her friends and teachers.

Enough of sad memories, Skyler told herself strictly.

She was dying and she wasn’t going to die with negative thoughts. That’s what Skyler told herself when she was near the edge of the rope countless of time. And then the happy thoughts made her back out of ending her life forever. But no happy thought would get her out of this. For such a long time Skyler had wanted to be dead. And now that she was going to die, all she wanted was to live again. 

If I could go back and relive one memory, what would it be? Skyler questioned herself.

Surprisingly, begin with her friends or family wasn’t the first thought. It was the mango smoothie she had in the little cafe once.

Skyler’s head filled with thoughts of the smoothie she once had in a small cafe near Baker Park. The tasty, rich flavor seemed so perfect at the moment.

Skyler remembered every detail. It was raining that day when she first went there. Her hair was soaking wet and drops of water were dripping from her t-shirt. Skyler’s new shoes were covered with mud. Her mom was going to kill her for that.

Quickly, Skyler ran into a building where she could take cover. Her legs splashed again a puddle. People were walking around talking to each other with an umbrella over their head. Her head had canceled all sounds so all she could remember hearing was some fuzzy noise.

Instead of going inside some fancy building, Skyler had chosen a small seven-story, run down building at end of the street. She was greeted with the fresh smell of fruits and the sound of people laughing. Barry, the shop owner's son, was with his mini band playing some song. The air was filled with music.

The cafe was a place where Skyler could just get away from everyone and everything. She knew no one there. Everyone there had been strangers but they were so welcoming.      

Skyler mentally laughed.

Here she was, dying, and her only thought was about wanting

to drink the mango smoothie again. Did this mean that Skyler was selfish or a bad person? Her family and friends hadn't been her first choice. But Skyler wasn't selfish, was she?

Sure she had ignored some people’s feeling and wants, but hadn't Alice once told her that you should put your needs in front of people’s wants?  

Maybe this is what they mean when they say that life flashes through your eyes when you are at the moment of dying. All the memories that no one would have never given a second thought just come to you. Even if it was just for a second.

Well, Skyler’s life wasn’t flashing through her eyes. Not exactly.

Not possible, Skyler though. Thousands of seconds of memories can't just appear in a minute.    

Maybe the most desired memories would come. But what if someone had lost their memory? Would it still be possible?

The only memory Skyler desired at that moment was to know how she got to where she was now. Why was she in the pit to the core of Mortem? How exactly did she know that that the pit was going to the core?

Think Skyler. Just think.

She squeezed her red eyes together and concentrated really hard.

First, she was with her friends, on a mission. The mission was about getting something. Skyler remembered Danny screaming, their friends were nowhere to be found. Then Skyler remembered her letting go of Danny and the sight cliff getting smaller and smaller.     

Skyler’s eyes snap open. She remembered what had happened.  She had accidently fall down from the edge of the cliff. She was holding onto one of the rocks but the rocks themselves  had started to attach itself from the cliff. Then Danny had rushed over and managed to hold Skyler as she was dangling from the cliff. But it was too late, because, like a black hole, the pit was absorbing her. It was eating her. Then Skyler had let go of Danny’s grasp because he would have come with her otherwise.
 

¨I am sorry,¨ Skyler whispered as tears leaked out of her eyes.
 

If she had been careful then she wouldn’t be here. She probably wouldn’t have ruined the mission too.
 

“I am sorry!” Skyler yelled from the top of her lungs.
 

Maybe someone would hear her or maybe not. But what was the point in that? It’s not like even if someone had heard her they would just jump in just to die.
 

What will happen to me? Skyler thought. What happens to people after they die anyway? Do their spirits live on or their brain just stops? Will they go to a new place or just go away? Will they not cease to exist anymore? No one will know.
 

What was the point in that? Skyler thought angrily. What is the point in living your life just to have it turn into nothing? What’s the point in anything if it just goes away?
 

Skyler’s head started to get hot. She was angry and mad. Had all she done been for nothing?
 

Calm down, Skyler told herself over and over again.   
 

She was going to be safe. When she fell to the core, it would just hurt for a little while and then she wouldn’t be able to feel the pain anymore. Her life would be over and she would be safe.
 

For the first time, Skyler wouldn’t be safe inside the bubble she had created to protect herself. That bubble would finally burst. The bubble had burst once before when Skyler had learned about her power. She had been so happy and now her happiness just disappeared without any warning.
 

Her power was the best gift ever. Maybe even than seeing her dad alive again. It had given her a sense of herself. Without the power, Skyler would have been dead. It had saved her. Skyler would forever be grateful to the person who gave her this, Time.
 

Who exactly is Time? Skyler wondered. Or is Time a what?
 

Hadn’t it been Time who assigned Skyler and her friends this mission?
 

But, why?
 

Why would Time, itself, assign a mission? That was the trainer's’ job.
 

The mission must have been important. Or maybe the thing they going to retrieve was.
 

But what was that thing?
 

Suddenly all of Skyler’s sense opened. She looked at her palms. Her powers, they weren’t there. That was the thing they were going to retrieve. They were going to get back the strongest power in the world, Time Control. The power that was given to Skyler.    
 

That’s it, Skyler thought.
 

It all made sense now. Except for one thing. Why didn’t she get back her power? Unless…
 

“I got it!” Skyler yelled. Her voice sounded like a five-year-old excited kid.
 

“THE CORE! THE CORE!” Skyler yelled.
 

The core will have my power, Skyler thought. But I will die. I cannot land unless I get my power back before the crash.
 

But that didn’t bother Skyler as much as she thought it would now. As long as she had the thing that made her the happiest, Skyler would be able to die in peace in the core. 
 

There were myths about the core of planet Mortem. Some said that there is a teleport at end of the core. Or that it was where Time lived. Maybe Skyler would live if there was a teleport or maybe she would die. But Skyler couldn’t care less now. As long as she had her power, the only thing that made her complete, Skyler would be okay and safe.
 

Suddenly, Skyler felt her heartbeat beating. It was beating harder and faster than before.
 

Thump. Thump.
 

Air, Skyler took a deep breath, then another one. The air is running out. I need air.
 

Skyler gasped, her hands went around her neck.
 

“I will be fi-,” Skyler’s voice got cut off as her neck tightened and she started to choke.
 

Her throat felt like it was going to burst as she kept on choking.

Oxygen! 

The air was running out of oxygen.
 

She was running out of breath. Skyler could feel her heart pumping even faster.
 

Thump. Thump.
 

Hearing her heartbeat, Skyler knew it was time for her to be put out of misery.
 

“Bye,” Skyler whispered with the little strength she had.
 

As Skyler started to close her eyes slowly, the most beautiful scene appeared before Skyler. The darkness was replaced with the color emerald. There were big stones of rubies, and sapphires, and more! The place was even prettier than the rumors. It shined with light that was brighter than any light ever created. Even then the famous man-made solar eclipses. It was a breathtaking place, literally. 
 

This is it, Skyler thought.
 

And with that, Skyler kept on falling with her eyes closed and a genuine smile.

Tea slammed the door to the funeral and left the house full of  people who were still crying after three hours.
 

Tea looked at her hands. A small blue flick of power came out. Yep, her power was still working. Was it wrong that she had chosen power instead of family? It wasn’t fair that it was the power who made Skyler complete. Where was her family when Skyler had tried to kill herself so many times? Where were they when Skyler had created 47 scars in her body?
 

Nowhere, it was her powers and herself that had saved her. No one else. 

And now her family are sobbing over an empty casket. Maybe if Skyler had died earlier then there would have been fewer tears.
 

As the wind blew, Tea’s vision of the street was replaced with the view of her midnight hair. Tea tried to push her hair out with her hands but the wind came out even stronger.
 

“Stop,” Tea whispered.  
 

Instantly the wind stopped. Tea smiled, her anger slowly fading away. Not only had the fall made her stronger, it gave her new powers.
How it worked was a mystery to Tea. She had gone through a bunch of tests and labs in the last few weeks. And she was also given a lot of shots too. Maybe a chemical in the shot gave her her powers? Or maybe it was already there when Skyler was secretly genetically engineered when she was six. And maybe the things the scientists gave her triggered the genes controlling Tea’s power. 
 

Tea crossed the seemingly empty, damp street and went to the little cafe in end of the street. Tea took a deep breath and absorb the place; it was more crowded than usual. The air was filled with music and the smell of fresh cut fruit.
 

Tea sighed and walked up to the last seat in the cafe where a girl with the same midnight hair and violet eyes sat. Everyone and everything seemed so slow as Tea made her way to the older girl. It felt as if Tea was watching a movie in slow motion.
 

“Skyler,” the older girl greeted as Tea sat down across the table.
 

“My name isn’t Skyler, it’s Tea,” Tea replied staring at Time as if she was challenging her.
 

Time laughed. “Sounds like someone didn’t like their funeral.” 
 

“Whatever. Can we leave now?” Tea asked staring at the table hoping to disappear.
 

She wanted to get away and just rest in a place that was completely silent. Tea knew that she was sick of everything.  Skyler wondered if Time knew this too. Was this what all of Time’s assistant felt like? 

Maybe that was why they all left.
 

When Tea looked up at Time and saw that Time was smiling, Tea knew that Time knew too.
 

“Whatever you say,” Time said, her eyes twinkled with amusement at her project.
 

Tea looked at her palms and the world froze.