I found myself in a strange place. I could feel the ground beneath my feet but couldn't see it because of all the fog which obscured everything else as well. "Anyone here?" I called out starting to wonder through this landscape.
"I am here Ariel Moon," a male voice said sounding as if it came from everywhere and yet nowhere.
I turned around trying to find the source of the voice and said, "I'm not Ariel Moon. I'm Anna Thompson."
"That is not your real name," the voice said. "You are Ariel Moon and you are from a different world than the one you currently know."
"What?"
"You came to the world you currently know from one which people in this world call CYOC."
At the mention of CYOC I flashed back to my dream of being a man and looking at a website by that name. "This has to be a dream," I muttered.
"This is no dream Ariel. It may be difficult for you to believe but I speak the truth."
"Why should I believe you? I don't even know who you are."
A man stepped out of the fog toward me at that moment. He was tall with curly hair and tan skin. His face was smooth and there seemed to be a slight glow around him like he was radiating power. I had seen those same features before in the temple. "I am Apollo and as the god of truth I can not lie," he said with a smile.
"Ok I accept that you're Apollo but how do you know my name?"
"I'm a god that's how," Apollo said with a little smile.
"Why have you come to me now?"
"I need to warn you. Don't trust Bill and Lori or anyone who follows Isis and Inari. Isis and Inari want nothing more than to rule as much as they can. To those ends they say that only they have the truth but that's a lie. Their servants, the Quondams, will use any tactic to either convert or eliminate people."
"Doesn't sound like a religion I want to follow."
"It isn't."
"Why haven't you done anything to stop them?"
"Gods don't fight each other often since it could be disastrous for mortals. Instead we choose mortals to fight for us."
I had a sinking feeling why Apollo was here. "You want me to fight," I said hoping I was wrong.
"There are two others that will join you in this fight. You don't have to find them, they'll find you. All three of you will return to the world you came from. Don't worry about Jack and Jill. We'll make sure that they'll be fine once Isis and Inari are dealt with. Now time is about to resume so you should get back in the shower. Oh one other thing. Don't attempt to go into a Quondam's mind or that of Isis and Inari. If you do they'll know and you'll be in danger. You'll know when to enter their minds. Now I need to be going. Good luck." He stepped back into the fog and everything went black.
______
I hadn't noticed that my eyes were closed until I opened them. Heeding Apollo's advice I immediately went to the bathroom and got in the shower. It was only like a minute or so after I got in that time restarted. I was thankful that I was finally able to take a shower. After my shower Lori had me get dressed in the clothes I wore yesterday since those were the only ones I had at the moment. "We'll go get some of your clothes here in a bit," Lori said with a little smile. "After that you children will be meeting the Quondams."
I didn't want to meet the Quondams but it looked like I would have to. I started to think about ways I could get out of it while getting my clothes from my house but I didn't come up with much. I could probably get hurt somehow but that would only delay the meeting. So I resigned myself to meeting the Quondams but that didn't mean I had to like it.
The meeting with the Quondams took place in a restaurant in the mall. They had a private room reserved for us and it was very boring. The Quondams say that children should be seen and not heard unless spoken to which wasn't suppose to be very often. They talked about the good work Bill and Lori were doing taking in orphaned children and teaching them the ways of Isis and Inari. They kept telling me, Jack, and Jill about how Isis and Inari were the path of truth and all who followed them were good. Those that didn't were bad and would eventually get what was coming to them. They could be saved however by truly repenting and following Isis and Inari. I was seeing red by the time the meeting was over. I knew my mom was a good person and no one would be able to convince that she was bad.
Once the meeting was over we went to Lori's sister's house and watched a movie. After that we walked back to Lori's house to get ready for bed. Before we went to our rooms however Lori handed me, Jack, and Jill a book and a diary each. "Now I want each of you to read the book and write in your diaries," she said as she handed them to me.
"I don't want to follow Isis and Inari though," I said looking up at Lori.
"You're my responsibility now and part of that responsibility is making sure you follow the right path," Lori said with a stern look on her face. "The right path is following Isis and Inari."
"It isn't when they say my mom was bad for not following them," I said anger coloring my voice.
"You will not talk to me like that," Lori said her anger rising. She then sighed and said, "I'm sorry for that. I know you want to believe that your mom was good but the fact is that what happened to your mom only happens to bad people. Those that follow Isis and Inari are protected by the truth. Now I know you've had a rough day yesterday so you don't have to read it tonight. I do expect you to have at least a bit of it read by Sunday when we go to church. Now go get ready for bed and write in your diaries."
I reluctantly did as I was told since there was no point in arguing with her. She was convinced that following Isis and Inari was the right thing to do and she seemed determined to force it on the children in her care. I didn't like it but as long as I was under Lori's care there wasn't much I could do. I wrote down my feelings in my diary and then laid down. I couldn't get to sleep however as I was still angry. I didn't want to stay here. Following this the idea to runaway came into my mind. I knew it would be risky. Lori was sure to call the police and they would look for me. What would happen after they found me I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to get away from here.
I waited until I was sure everyone was asleep. This way I wouldn't be missed until morning and by then I should have a place to hide. I quickly take the pillowcase off the pillow and stuffed some of my clothes into it. I had brought a suitcase with me but I couldn't carry a suitcase around with me. I carefully opened the window and slipped through. I paused for a moment listening to the sounds in the to see if I woke anyone. When it was clear that I hadn't I slipped into the woods looking back briefly worried about Jack and Jill being in Lori's care but Apollo had assured me that they would be fine. I had to hope that they would be ok. Taking a deep breath I turned around and made my way through the woods wondering where I would be sleeping.