《The Masked Twins》


 The Brush and the Eraser

    It was just after dawn when Chroma and Keno finished gathering crops that they had been growing in the garden for the past few weeks. Chroma and Keno were twin elves both around 12 springs old that lived with just each other.


    ¡°Wow, can you believe we were able to make a large healthy farm?¡± Exclaimed Chroma.


    ¡°I bet the humans our age on Earth couldn¡¯t do this,¡± replied Keno.


    Chroma knew it was expected from Keno but it was still just uncalled for, ¡°Not all human kids are like that¡±. ¡°Lets just bring the crops to the market,¡± Keno scoffed as if he hadn¡¯t heard him.


    They brought their crops to the market to sell. ¡°Fresh produce!¡± Chroma yelled trying to get everyone''s attention, ¡°Fresh produce!¡± Fortunately it had worked, however Chroma wasn''t surprised and he could tell that Keno wasn¡¯t either. Everyone came running to their stand buying items, leaving really large tips and donations, and asking questions.


    ¡°How are you managing?¡± asked an elf, ¡°Why won¡¯t you let one of us take care of you?¡± questioned another elf, ¡°Where are your parents?¡± inquired a witch,¡±Why do you guys always wear masks?¡± asked a demlin. Keno abruptly shouted, ¡°EVERYONE SHUT UP¡¯¡¯. It had startled everyone. It even startled Chroma. Everyone stopped talking, paid and left.


    It was around noon when they closed shop and packed up their things. Chroma gathered the leftover crops while Keno counted the money. ¡°671, 672, 673, 674 silvers¡± (the currency) ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot!¡± replied Chroma, ¡°and we still have loads of crops left.¡± ¡°Let''s just get these back to the cabin,¡± said Keno.


    Once they put everything in the cabin they went to the materials market and bought some hunting tools such as bows and arrows, quivers to hold the arrows, knives, and spears made to catch fish. ¡°Now we can hunt for animals for us to eat!¡± exclaimed Chroma excitedly. Keno looked at him as if he was an idiot, ¡°We''ve got to learn how to use these first¡±. Of course Keno had to say something to make it negative. But Chroma knew he was right. ¡°Well then let''s start learning!¡±


    Keno and Chroma had went to the nearby forest to find and hunt some small animals. They then noticed something glowing from a distance. Keno was curious as to what it was but didn''t want to go near it. Then he saw Chroma racing to it without thinking twice. ¡°Chroma, get back here!¡± he yelled. Chroma didn''t listen.. Of course he hadn''t listened. Keno chased after him and saw him staring at something.. Or things.


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    In front of them were a glowing paint brush and eraser. Chroma picked up the paint brush and Keno picked up the eraser. Both objects seemed to absorb the glow when they were picked up. ¡°What do you think these are?¡± Chroma wondered. Keno inspected the art utensils. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°The brush has paint on it!¡± Keno watched as Chroma bent down to draw a xeshroom. Suddenly, the fungi became 3-dimensional and then a real-life object. Keno and Chroma both stepped back as the illustration became real.


    Keno developed a theory as he looked at the eraser which he was holding. He went to test the eraser. He bent down and rubbed the eraser on the grass by his foot. The grass had disappeared. He chuckled, then it turned into a laugh. He had never laughed before. He turned to Chroma who was looking at him in shock with a hint of fear. Keno stopped, then spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t you see what power this holds?¡± Chroma was silent, ¡°We could become rulers! We could take over the world!¡± Continued Keno who had might as well lost his sanity.


    Chroma was shocked, confused, scared even. He had never seen Keno act like this. ¡°N-no that''s horrid!¡± replied the scared elf. Both the twins were silent for what seemed like eternity. ¡°No?¡± Chroma could see the insanity in Keno¡¯s eyes, ¡°NO?¡± Keno repeated with a louder tone.


    Chroma said again, ¡°No!¡± Chroma saw Keno go silent for a while. ¡°Well then,¡± Keno started, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to share the power with me, I¡¯ll have to take it all to myself!¡± Chroma understood what he meant immediately as Keno charged towards him with the eraser. With the paint brush Chroma quickly drew a wall to block Keno from reaching him. It stopped the power driven elf just long enough for Chroma to get out of the way.


    Chroma needed to move quickly if he wanted to stop Keno. He saw Keno charge for him again but this time instead of reaching for the paint brush it seemed as if he was trying to erase Chroma. Chroma drew another wall and quickly before Keno erased it he drew a cloud meant to fly him. He had drawn the cloud just in time and managed to get on before Keno erased the wall.


    The cloud had worked and before he knew it Chroma was flying on it. This time Chroma had charged towards Keno and had a plan. He knew that Keno would try to erase the cloud, therefore he was going to jump over the cloud and land on the other side of Keno while also snatching the eraser from him. To his surprise it had actually worked.


    However suddenly Keno grabbed the knife from his belt to stab Chroma with it. In defense, Chroma wasn¡¯t thinking properly and used the eraser to erase Keno. Keno disappeared due to the eraser. He was gone. Chroma¡¯s only family left was gone.


    Chroma began to tremble, tears began to form in his eyes as he dropped to the floor. His breathing became uneasy and then finally he began to sob. He cried, he cried so much a puddle almost seemed to form beneath him. That was the first time he had ever cried in his lifetime.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± asked Finley.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± replied Eva, ¡°No one¡¯s in here this late.¡±


    Eva and Finley are best friends and somehow Eva convinced Finley to go with her to trespass in a government lab. ¡°You heard the rumors,¡± Eva continued, ¡°There¡¯s a portal somewhere in here. We just have to look.¡± Finley sighed since there wasn¡¯t anything he could do to stop her. The two friends kept looking around until they saw a door that had something glowing behind it.


    ¡°Look, over there,¡± pointed Eva. They slowly walked to the door and then Finley turned the knob. The door opened but an alarm was set off. They could hear sirens and people yelling, getting closer to them. ¡°Finley, what did you do?!¡± Eva asked, scared. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± Finley replied, ¡°I think opening the door triggered an alarm!¡± ¡°You think!?¡± Eva yelled.


    They could see people running up around the corner. ¡°Come on!¡± Eva yelled to Finley, grabbing his hand. Eva pulled Finley inside the room and there it was.


    The portal was so big and bright it almost hurt their eyes looking at it. It glowed a purplish blue color and the center looked like an abyss.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t go in there Eva¡± Finley worried. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have another choice!¡± Eva replied. Eva ran into the portal dragging Finley with her and then everything went black.


    Finley woke up and it seemed like he was in a forest. ¡°Eva?¡± He called out, but there was no reply. Finley was alone stuck in who knows where. He felt a small sting on his cheek and put his hand on it. He took his hand off and there was blood. He was bleeding and it seemed like a lot too.


    He got up from the ground and suddenly heard rustling in the bushes. ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡± He wondered. He was scared out of his mind. He had no idea where he was and now there¡¯s something about to pop up from the bushes.


    It finally came out where Finley could see it. It was almost human-like but was as small as a little kid. It had large fluffy hair that was white? Kids don¡¯t have white hair.. Do they? It had silver eyes and pale but dark skin. It seemed to be wearing a mask covering where its nose and mouth would be.. if it had a nose and mouth that is. It also had pointy ears and a tail?!


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    Finley screamed. It screamed too, holding up what looked like a knife in its hands. ¡°Human!!¡± It yelled. It could speak?? Then it stopped yelling and covered Finley¡¯s mouth with its hand. ¡°Shh! We¡¯re going to attract a Lytle if you continue yelling that way!¡± It whispered.


    What the hell is a lytle? What is that thing? Where am I? All those questions were swirling through Finley¡¯s head. Finley was scared and wanted to run away but he was also scared of running into whatever a lytle was. He was frozen in fear.


    The thing took its hand off of Finley¡¯s face and noticed the blood on its hand from Finley¡¯s cheek. It froze.. almost looked scared. They were both frozen with fear for a while. The creature reached into its bag and grabbed a cloth looking thing and something that looks like it¡¯s for cleaning? It then put some of the possible cleaning liquid onto the cloth and then put it on Finley¡¯s scratch.


    Finley flinched since the thing stung the cut. It wiped off the blood on Finley¡¯s face and then grabbed something like a bandage and put it on his cut.


    Chroma removed his hand from the human¡¯s mouth. When he removed his hand he saw blood on it. He then looked at the human¡¯s face to see blood dripping from a wound. He froze.


    Suddenly Chroma was back five autumns ago. He was hiding with Keno as frightened as ever. Then he heard the scream of murder. It went silent. He saw a tall figure walking up to him and Keno with a knife. It raised up its knife then Chroma was back in the present.


    Chroma snapped back to reality. He quickly grabbed a cloth and a wound cleaner from his pouch and dampened the cloth with the cleaner. He then put the cloth on the human¡¯s wound. The human flinched. He wiped the blood off the human¡¯s face and took a plaster from his pouch. He put the plaster on the human¡¯s face.


    The human then spoke, ¡°Y-you helped me?¡± Chroma felt embarrassed, ¡°I just don¡¯t like the sight of blood.¡± He cleaned the blood off his hand then took a closer look at the human.


    The human was significantly taller than him, had round ears, and was missing a tail. That was definitely a human. It had dark brown, messy hair that almost reached the bottom of its neck. Its eyes were so dark of a brown it almost looked pitch black. Its skin was a light brown shade. He couldn¡¯t tell what sex the human was.


    The human spoke, ¡°Umm what are you and where am I?¡± ¡°I am an elf and you are on the planet Xekia,¡± Chroma replied, ¡°However you shouldn¡¯t be here. You should be on Earth.¡± ¡°Yeah I think I can tell,¡± the human spoke very rudely, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really seem like I should be here.¡± The human spoke very oddly and it was difficult for Chroma to understand it.


    Chroma heard footsteps getting closer to him. It seemed like the human heard it too. He grabbed the human¡¯s arm, ¡°It¡¯s not safe to talk around here, follow me human!¡± Chroma pulled the human away and brought it to his cabin.

 Chapter 3: Alive?

    Keno took out his knife after Chroma had taken the eraser from him. He lifted his arm to stab him when Chroma used the eraser on him. He felt dizzy and weak. Then everything had gone black.


    Keno woke up somewhere completely new to him. He woke up? How was he alive? He had been erased, therefore he should have been dead¡ª or at least that¡¯s what he thought. He put his hand up to his head feeling light headed, but.. his hand wasn¡¯t there. He could feel his hand, but it was out of sight.


    ¡°W-what?¡± Keno said out of fear. He looked down to see his torso but it wasn¡¯t there. Neither were his legs. Keno was invisible? To his knowledge only demlins went invisible. However this was involuntary. Demlins turned invisible voluntarily. This was something else.


    Keno attempted to stand up but failed. It was difficult considering he was invisible. He tried to stand up again, this time with success.. possibly. He tried to see if he could become visible again. He didn¡¯t know how to.


    ¡°Become visible,¡± Thought Keno over and over again. He closed his eyes and continued, ¡°Become visible.¡± He then suddenly felt a shiver run through his body. He opened his eyes to see himself again.


    Finally he was visible but now he had to see where he was. He began to look around. He was in what seemed to be a mountain. Suddenly he began to get really weak. He was dizzy and lightheaded when he then collapsed.


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    Eva woke up in the middle of nowhere. She began to look around and stood up. She checked her phone to see that it was cracked. It had no signal and the time said 0:00. She thought that was weird since it was bright outside, plus her phone was set to the twelve hour clock.


    She put her phone back in her pocket and began to look around. She started walking and suddenly she tripped over something. ¡°Ow,¡± She groaned. She heard someone else say ow and quickly checked what she tripped over.


    Nothing was there. Not even a single rock. Something though was lifting her legs above the ground. ¡°Get your legs off of me,¡± she heard someone say. She looked around but there was no one there.


    She felt something grab her legs and push them onto the ground. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Eva got up from the ground. ¡°Finley, if you¡¯re playing a trick on me it¡¯s not gonna work!¡± Eva realized Finley never plays tricks on her.


    ¡°AHHH HUMAN!¡± Eva heard someone yell. They sounded scared? About a human? Eva reached out and to her surprise she grabbed something, something invisible. It felt like someone¡¯s shoulder. Whoever she grabbed was short.


    ¡°Alright I can¡¯t see you but I know you¡¯re there!¡± Eva hissed. ¡°There is no need to yell I¡¯m right in front of you human,¡± Eva heard someone say. She felt a hand take her hand off the shoulder she was holding. ¡°This is weird,¡± Eva thought.


    Keno removed the human¡¯s hand from his shoulder. He despised the fact that he was invisible. He tried to become visible again. He felt a shiver and then he was visible. The human appeared to back away in fear.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?¡± The human yelled. Keno then heard a faint ringing in his ears. It was happening again. He became dizzy and fell unconscious.

 Chapter 4: Minor Conflicts

    They went into the cabin, both of them out of breath. ¡°Human!¡± Chroma yelled, annoyed, ¡°How do you run so slowly?!¡± ¡°Dudechill,¡± the human replied, ¡°And I have a name you know.¡± The human also sounded annoyed but scared as well.


    ¡°Are you not going to tell me your name?¡± ¡°Jeez calm down,¡± the human replied, ¡°My name¡¯s Finley.¡± ¡°Fin-ley,¡± Chroma sounded out, ¡°What an odd name.¡± Finley seemed irritated, ¡°It¡¯s like the most basic name on Earth!¡± ¡°We are not on Earth!¡± Chroma yelled.


    ¡°I should have just left you with the lytle,¡± Chroma muttered to himself. ¡°What?¡± Finley said. ¡°What?¡± Chroma replied. ¡°What?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± This continued for a while until Chroma got annoyed, ¡°Alright human that¡¯s enough.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I- you know what, never mind,¡± Finley was irritated, ¡°What¡¯s your name if mine is so weird?¡± ¡°My name is Chroma.¡± ¡°Like the chromaticscale?¡± Chroma was puzzled.


    ¡°Okay never mind that, how do I get back to Earth?¡± Finley asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t got a clue,¡± Chroma answered, ¡°How did you get here?¡± ¡°A portal.¡± Chroma thought for a moment. He came up with an idea and took out the paintbrush he had gotten earlier that day.


    ¡°What¡¯s that gonna do?¡± The human asked. ¡°Describe to me this portal you went through,¡± Chroma said, completely ignoring it.


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    After describing the portal to Chroma, he then began to wave the paint brush around the air and then something started to appear. Then a portal-like thing showed up but it didn¡¯t look exactly like the one in the lab. ¡°Well this was easier than I thought,¡± thought Finley, ignoring that it doesn¡¯t look like the actual portal.


    Finley walked through the portal but it just ended up leading him behind Chroma, causing him bump right into him. ¡°Awww c¡¯mon!¡± Finley whined, ¡°I don¡¯t wanna be here.¡± Chroma groaned, ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be here either.¡± ¡°Well at least that¡¯s something we can agree on,¡± Finley responded.


    Then Finley remembered something: Right before he and Eva went into the portal, Finley was able to take a picture of it. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened up the picture. He showed the picture to Chroma to see if that helps him draw it. Chroma examined the picture and then drew the portal.


    Finley poked his head through the portal and saw that it was Earth, an urban city. The tall buildings and the sounds of car engines and cars honking. He was about to fully walk through when he remembered that Eva went through with him. Finley stepped out of the portal.


    ¡°What now, human?¡± Chroma groaned. ¡°I went through the portal with my friend, Eva,¡± Finley began, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving without her. She¡¯s gotta be somewhere.¡±


    Chroma was annoyed, but then thought for a moment. He remembered his loss of Keno. He nearly broke into tears right then. Helping Finley could help distract him from it, ¡°Alright human-¡± ¡°Finley,¡± the human interrupted. ¡°Alright Finley, I will let you stay with me until we find your friend.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Thank you so much!¡±, Finley exclaimed, ¡°I promise I¡¯ll get out of your hair once we find her.¡± ¡°You are not in my hair?¡± Chroma was confused. ¡°It just means I¡¯ll leave you alone.¡±