Dunya- The Key To Earth

Yreyna

Yreyna was having a nightmare.

In it she found herself in her parent's room, standing next to the white drawer where her mother kept all the family documents and important papers, her mom was seated on the bed with an envelope in her hands, tears were streaming down her face and she was sobbing loudly. Yreyna wasn’t sure what to do so she just stood and waited for her mother to say something, she looked at her baby brother sleeping in his crib next to her parent's double bed, he looked so serene and for a moment she wished she could go back to being a baby, back when she couldn’t disappoint her parents in any way because whatever she did they loved her unconditionally, now things were very different, nothing she did was ever ok for them, but she tried, she did.

-Do you know what this is? – Yreyna wasn’t paying attention as she was lost in her thoughts, so she was taken aback by the question, her mother handed her the letter she was reading and Yreyna carefully went through it, it said:

Dear Ms. Kumar,

Thank you for your interest in the RSSM (Royal Serizian School of Medicine).

After careful consideration of your application, we are sorry to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place in our school at the moment. This year we have seen a great increase in the number of applications, and we are unable to offer admission to every student.

Although your score on the HSE (Higher Serizian Examinations) was certainly up to our standards, we found your essay on “The origins of the five founding families of Serizia” to be very generic, for future reference, it is not wise to end an essay without going back to your initial point.

We greatly appreciate your interest in the RSSM, and we wish you all the best as you pursue your future goals.

Sincerely,

Markietz Mustafa.

Dean of the Admission Committee

Yreyna’s mother waited for her to put the letter down before pointing out the obvious:

-You were rejected-

-The school's acceptance rate is 4.3%, you really didn’t expect me to make it in did you? – she dismissed, normally she wouldn’t be responding to her mother like that but she knew this was all a nightmare so there were no real repercussions on the reality.

-Of course, I did! Why did you apply then if you didn’t think you could make it in? - insisted her mom,

-You wanted me to apply, I just did it because you forced me too- Yreyna’s mother got up from the bed and approached her daughter, she looked angry and disappointed, a very dangerous mix of emotions.

-Do you even realize what you just said? I forced you to apply to one of the best schools in the whole kingdom. Because it’s my fault you got rejected right? You’re saying that if you hadn’t even applied, they wouldn’t have rejected you, then keep not applying to schools just to not get rejected-

Yreyna didn’t want to open her mouth, she didn’t want to say anything because she knew that she wouldn’t be able to control herself once she started talking back, all the anger inside her would come out and that wasn’t something she wanted her mother to see even though she was the person that caused most of that anger.

-Don’t you have somewhere to be? – her mother said after calming down, Yreyna looked at the time and realized that right now she was supposed to be at the Dunya temple in the city center.

The local news outlet her father worked for hosted this apprenticeship for young Serizian who wished to become reporters or photographers, he had signed her up for it without her knowledge and now she had to spend three days a week studying how to hold a camera properly, today was her first actual assignment, she had to take pictures at the temple so that they could use them for the article on the newspaper.

-Go before you’re too late and end up losing this apprenticeship too- said her mother before adding:

-I wish you could be a better example for your siblings Izyer-

-What? Who’s Izyer- Yreyna tried asking, but the words didn’t come out of her mouth, the room was spinning and she was shaking, an earthquake, was her first thought but her mother wasn’t moving she kept on talking:

-Izyer wake up-

-Izyer wake up, please-

-Izyer, it's me wake up, please-

Then everything around her went dark.

She felt herself falling and then hitting the ground, she didn’t feel pain but she did feel like she was drowning, the air around her wasn’t normal, her lungs weren’t used to it so it took her some few minutes to start breathing regularly.

Her eyes felt heavy, so she struggled before being able to open them, the first she saw was a girl with long black hair crouched over a boy with brown curls, the girl had tears streaming down her face and kept calling out the name Yreyna had heard before.

-Izyer come on wake up- Yreyna was about to get up and bring him back to his senses herself just to not hear the girl shout anymore, but the Izyer decided to wake up on his own, he opened his eyes and Yreyna was pretty sure she saw a sort of disappointment on his face when he saw the girl with the long black hair.

-Vexia… I thought you were still… there- the girl, Vexia, didn’t even answer she just started hitting him out of the blue, Izyer at first was too shocked to react but as she was reaching to hit him again he blocked her hands.

-What’s your problem? – he exclaimed, Vexia tried to free her hands but Izyer wouldn’t let go.

-HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? YOU FORCED ME TO GO THROUGH THAT DOOR! I WANT TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW- Vexia’s face was red with anger but not as much as Izyer’s, he let go of her hands and got up, the girl got up too and approached him, she hadn’t stopped crying and through her laments she was able to say:

-You won't leave me here, you’ll take me back, I don’t care how, you work for me so you will do as I say- Yreyna didn’t even know her, but she already couldn’t stand her.

Izyer laughed. Hard.

-You think I’ll listen to you just because I used to work for your family? You’re delusional-

-What do you mean “used to”- Vexia said air quoting the two words -You still work for me, we just need to get back, take me back-

-I won't take you anywhere, you decided to follow me, I told you so many times to leave but you didn’t listen, it's not my fault- Izyer shrugged and put his hands in his pocket waiting for Vexia’s reaction.

Their argument had woken up other two people who were lying down not far away from them, Yreyna moved to see them clearly and that is when Izyer and Vexia noticed her, the three of them just stared at each other for a few seconds before Vexia turned her attention onto someone else, on the people that had just regained their senses, he was wearing a Keeper cape and looked at least 40 years too young to be one.

-You, you’re a Keeper, you know what to do- Vexia pointed her finger at his cape and smiled from ear to ear, behind him the other person had just gotten up and when she was her shivers ran down Yreyna’s spine, that was the girl she chased, the one who knocked out the guards outside the temple and also most of the ones inside, she had removed her ski mask and Yreyna could now see her face, she had dark skin and black eyes, her lip was bleeding but she didn’t even seem to notice, her eyes trailed from the green grass to the cloudy sky and then to the people In front of her.

Everyone was now aware of each other and their surroundings, they had landed on a hilltop, and from what they could see there were not any building around them, the first one to break the awkward silence that had fallen between them was the boy in the cape:

-Well, I guess it was fun to meet you guys but I have to go now- he passed a hand through his hair and smiled at them, the dark-skinned girl rolled her eyes and picked up the backpack that had landed next to her, she looked around and started heading down the hill, Yreyna didn’t know what possessed her at that moment but she asked for her to wait, the girl turned around and faced Yreyna, she gulped and said:

-We can’t stay here, we all must go back to Serizia, do you even realize the trouble we are in right now? –

They all turned to look at her and Vexia nodded, she then proceeded to ask the boy in the cape how he intended to get back, the boy, who presented himself as Rekiel confidently said:

-I have the key to the Dunya obviously- the ski mask girl and Izyer weren’t impressed at all, the only ones who gave any sort of reaction were Yreyna and Vexia, their faces immediately light up with hope and they waited for Rekiel to bring out the key, he put his hand in his left pocket and touched around a little but didn’t find anything, he then proceeded to check the other pocket, and still nothing, everyone was now looking at him waiting for him to say something, after some time Vexia decided she had waited enough:

-Do you have it or not? - she asked impatiently.

-Which one of you took it? Which one of you took my key- Rekiel examined each one them but Yreyna was pretty sure none of them had taken the key, Vexia turned to look at Izyer and angrily told him that this was all his fault to which he simply replied:

-You shouldn’t have followed me- she got really angry at that point and started accusing him of abandoning his family and being selfish, Izyer kept a neutral expression on his face until Vexia mentioned his little brother, something in him shifted and in a deep voice he told her:

-I didn’t abandon anyone- but the other ones had heard everything, and they did think he abandoned them.

-Wait, what social class are you in? - Rekiel asked Izyer, he told him he was a needer and Rekiel smiled, Yreyna doubted she had ever seen someone smile so hard.

-And your whole family works for her family, right? – Vexia nodded for him.

-So technically now that you’re here, they are the ones that will pay for you breaking the law- Rekiel hadn’t stopped smiling, he was now walking in circles around Izyer whiles talking.

-So, if I managed to find the key and went back I could always pin the whole thing on you - he paused – I mean think about it, a Needer who can’t go to the public ceremony and never went to the private one, decides that this is just the year to go and visit the temple, and when someone manages to knock out the guards he’s the first to find the Dunya and accidentally goes through it? Honestly, who would believe that it was all just a coincidence-

Izyer remained quiet for a few seconds, none of them knew what to say, Vexia looked at Izyer and said:

-He’s right, they would think you stole the key, and even if you’re not there to punish your family will be imprisoned, all of them-

He turned to look at her with a confused expression and asked her what she meant to say.

-If you don’t help us find the key and go home, I’ll tell them you stole the key- she stammered.

-Wow, you sure switched up fast, I better warn Rekiel about how obsessed you can get with a person, to the point where your parents will start treating them badly just because you like them even if they don’t like you back- he snapped, even ski mask girl who previously had tried to leave was now fully invested in the argument.

-I can’t let you stay here, it's not fair- Vexia complained, she looked desperate and her pale clear skin was slightly red.

-It’s not fair to who? You? Because I know you don’t care about my family, you just don’t want to have one less maid, that’s it, you are the selfish, arrogant, and spoiled brat-

Rekiel gently pushed Vexia aside and went face to face with Izyer, he looked almost amused whiles the person in front of him didn’t look like he was having fun at all.

-Listen, I don’t care about your couple problems, all I need is for you to tell me you’ll help me look for that key, and if you don’t just know that when I find it, all the blame will go on you, however, if you do help me find it I’ll help clear your families name once I go back-

-You seriously do think highly of yourself- the ski mask girl had approached Rekiel, she moved the weight of the backpack from one shoulder to the other and looked at him daring him to say something, he accepted the challenge:

-And who are you, princess? –

-Someone who’s done with all your bullshit, I kept waiting hoping that you might say something to redeem yourself for all the other crap, but it just kept getting worse, you’re seriously trying to blackmail a guy into helping you look for something that YOU lost? Find it yourself Mr. Keeper- the girl hadn’t hesitated to shout in his face but Rekiel kept smiling, he seemed to be good at that, he waited to see if she would add anything else and when she didn’t he said:

-You know, for someone who beat Keepers to a pulp just to get to the Dunya you are pretty stupid, I don’t know what you’re here to do but I know for a fact you’ll want to go back eventually, and without a key how are you going to do that? If I find it just know I won't come back to tell you- he passed a hand through his hair -You will just have to wait until the Dunya opens again, maybe in two years, or a thousand you never know, and when that happens you won’t even know where the door opens so you won't be able to reach it, so let me make it easy for you to understand, you are stuck here forever unless you help me find the key-

-So, are you going to help me or not? -