Infinity. What an interesting thing to think about. How it’s true some things never stop, just like...time. Imagine if each number in the infinity was a world. Just like ours, but each different in its own way. Well, what if time just one day did stop. But only in one number of infinity, just in one of those worlds. At what cost would you go to save a world, billions of lives, including your own.
July, 31, 3015, headlines all said: “Universe 869’s Sky Pulling in!!” I’m 21 years old and I still don’t know what that means. I kept reading, “ Supernova has taken place and is taking away time as they know it.” I’m thinking to myself how ridiculously FAKE this is. I’m just thinking to myself who would write such a serious fib because at the end all it says is “-anonymous”
    That night I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that time was stopping. How crazy. How ignorant. How scary it would be if it. Actually. Did. Happen. No, it’s not possible I tell myself out loud as I’m spitting out my toothpaste. Just publishers trying to get people exciting for nothing; happens all the time. As I’m jumping into my bed it feels like there are weights pulling my eyelids shut. When I hear a noise. It sounded like a mouse scattering around in a quiet room, until it gets snapped by the trap as it reaches for the cheese. I go back to sleep telling myself it is nothing. Then I hear it again. I know I am not dreaming as I jump out of my shaking bed. I run down the stairs in the pitch black. All I have is the light of my clock that fades as I keep running further down the hallway. Until I stop to see a person. The same height as I am I think well that’s all I got to see before I ran out the door making a screech that sounded like one of those obnoxiously loud birds and a dog when he sees a squirrel combined. I finally stop running but somehow it has caught up with me. And said hi I’m Skylar, well you are too, but are you ready to save my world, world 869 in three days?
    “Can I think about it?” I said in a panic. Surprisingly calm, she, it, said: “of course!” I went back upstairs to my room and took about three seconds to fall into a deep sleep. Then I woke up to a beep. I reached out my arm to turn my alarm clock off, but there was nothing there. My eyes burst open, I found myself still in my bed but in a lab. The door had a large poster that said, “Notaow labs, we help you now and probably helped your ancestor too.” What in the world was that supposed mean? The most obscure thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen it all. I got up opened the door to find myself in a huge main lobby area that had a giant number in bright red it said 148. I looked to my right and heard a familiar voice that said: “Skylar follow me.”
    “You are special. I don’t mean you are special like when you got a good grade in class and your mom called you special. You are literally one in a million.”
    “I don’t understand?”
    “ You are a special breed in the human race. You are what we call an everlaster.”
    “WHAT?”
    “ Have you not seen headlines? World 869’s sky is pulling in and only everlaster's can save it. All headlines say something wrong happened when the supernova occurred but there is actually some special type of energy not known to man-kind. We’ve only found out recently that it is called Petreum. Who knows maybe it can close the whole multiverse. All we know is that there is a special person with a special power controlling it.  I’ve told you that you are special but haven’t told you that you are especially special right now.  That special person is, well she is us, just from another world. She has met me before, that’s why we need you. We may look the same but you have the slightest idea of how different we all are from each other.”
“ So what are you saying I need to do because I’ve never even shot a gun.”
“ Well, we figure since all of our the same person just from different worlds we can understand each other on a different level than anyone else can. We want to talk to her just tell about our lives and how we want to understand how the Petreum is getting controlled by her and why she keeps controlling it in such a negative way. As I’ve told you before, I’ve met her and we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot.”
“ So you are telling me you want me to talk to me from another world. But this version of myself can control this highly dangerous and rare type of energy. I’m out.”
“ You can’t we need you that’s what I think you don’t understand. Your training begins now whether you like it or not.”
    This thought soon comes to me. What would happen if I don’t, but, would greatness would happen if I do.
    I went back to my room and there was this ugly looking suit on my bed. It has a note on it that says “ please put this on Skylar, then come to the indoor shooting range.”
My life is crazy enough right now I just think to myself, why not. I put the rags on and head down, of course, I got lost on the way but I followed the signs there. I walked in put on a helmet and grabbed a gun. 3 shots fired and I looked around to see Skylar waving her hand to come over. She tells me to hit this target of this three-headed alien. 1-2-3 I hit all straight in the head. What a natural she tells me.
“You are ready.”
“ You are insane I just had three lucky shots.”
“That’s enough for me”
This girl is crazy I think to myself. There is one thing and one thing only going through my head and that is what if it doesn’t work? What if talking to her doesn’t work? I may be an everlaster but that doesn’t mean I am invincible.
She sends me to an isolated area where there is just a hole and there is one tiny little sign and all it says is “jump if you dare.” That’s reassuring I think to myself. But like I said before it couldn’t get crazier than this so why not. Then I look down the hole, questions come into my head faster than a cheetah can run. What happens once you jump? What if it doesn’t take you where you want to go? I hear a voice on an overhead speaker instantaneously. Jump in 3-2-1 GO. What else could I do, I just jumped. The only thing was I left my speaker the only way to communicate with my world in my room.
There I was there alone with my gun as my only source of protection in world 869. I hear crows and I look up at a darkening purple-black sky, twisting and turning trees and frightening shadows.  I hear a voice pop up behind me. A frightened voice.
“Hello? Who are you, are you here to kill me? Can I trust you?”
“Come again? I say”
“I’m sorry for all these questions. I’m Lilliana. I’m in hiding”
“Random by any chance do you know your way around this place?”
“Of course where are you heading”
“Toward a person named sky, I don’t know if I am supposed to tell you this but she has a source of power, and energy called, Petreum.”
“Are you kidding me, I am a scientist I know all about this. Let me take you back to my lab, I will tell you a little more about Sky and Petreum.”
“I barely know you!”
Then she grabs my hand, snaps three times, closes her eyes, turns, and jumps. I open my eyes and find myself in an underground lab. She tells me she has to do her research underground, everyone lives in fear here from this new source of energy.
“Petreum: A self-multiplying toxin that can strengthen any being that gets a hold of it.
Skylar: An amazing scientist, well at least used to be. Many years ago, she was my lab partner, a very smart being. Then she got a hold of Petreum she had an uncontrollable source of power she can’t do anything about. It is almost as if the energy has grown inside her and taken over. This is not the Skylar I know. My theory is, if someone, you, talk to her, her true self will overrule the energy.”
Obviously, I have heard this before but I felt I shouldn’t say anything. I don’t know if I can trust this girl. After all, how would you feel if u were told that this random person was from a different universe?
“ Petreum is attracted by one thing and one thing only. Light. The light will attract it and destroy it. Since it does multiply quickly, the light may not be all it needs to stop it. That’s where you come in. You need to talk to her, say something meaningful. Has anyone ever told you that you are a spitting image of Skylar?”
“No” I reply faster than the speed of lightning. I don’t need people to know who I am or what my deal is. I want it to be fast, in and out.
“By the way, how rude of me, I didn’t even ask for your name. What’s your name?”
Oh no, what do I say?
“It’s Ann my name is Ann.”
“Ok Ann, one last thing, I feel that living in this dark world, literally and metaphorically, the power could be stronger than any other place. Are you ready for this challenge?”
Well, what was I supposed to say I just said yes.
I saw a flicker of light for half a second and I suddenly appeared back above ground. I was standing behind a tree and a shiver ran down my back.
“Let’s go collect some lights!” Lilliana exclaimed!
“Now?”
“Well, we only got a few more hours till 869 could potentially end! Times running out!”
All I’m thinking to myself is how? How does she know this? I thought only everlaster's knew this? We finally come to a stop. I look up we are stopped at the bottom of an enormous tree. With long pieces of moss hanging down. Except Lillian knocked a certain pattern on the tree. All that moss turned multi-colored.
“This is my archetope,” she told me
Archetope? What was this girl thinking?
“Think of a wizard, in midget form, an archetope can get you anything in a matter of seconds.”
The tree had a giant hole in the middle that started to expand. Out pops a little guy with a long robe.
“ What can I do you for today Lillian?” the Archetope asked.
“ Oh and I see you brought someone. Who might you be?”
With an immediate response, Lillian told him “ This is Ann.”
I only remembered they were talking to me once I realized the Archetope had his hand out waiting for me to shake back. Soon after, Lillian told him, lights, we need lights. Millions. Millions of lights appeared. Once again Lillian grabbed my hang spun and we appeared back in her lab.
“Now we just need a spot to set up.”
“ The tree, the tree I got the shiver by. Remember deep in the forest?”
“Perfect!” she replied.
We were there fast. I was thinking how we needed to bring teleportation back to my world. We set up hours and hours it took to get all those lights. We hid behind a tree. We waited. We smelled gas. Gas? In the middle of the forest? There she appeared. Each step, getting closer to the lights. Not bringing her feet far up off the ground. She was there. At the lights. I had to make a decision. I’m not sure if I made the right one but I went up in front of her and stopped her.
“I am Skylar, Skylar from a different world. Much like yours but different. I am here to save you. This is your choice, you can let it take over your body or you can fight against it and win. Push. Stronger. Harder.”
The body started to shake. Then suddenly it stopped. Her eyes. It seemed as though they had turned bright green. A gust of wind came out of nowhere pushed us all down. I stood up to see a confused face.
“Skylar?” I said quietly.
All she said was “I’m home.”