A Lost Factor

Chapter 9-Awkward Encounter
Jasmine and Alimon took the bus down to Chesum. It wasn’t that far, no further than the college was. But the bus didn’t go all the way there, and not down the streets she needed, so they ended up walking for a while. It was getting dark by the time they got to Alysha’s street, in the middle of a countrylike area, with quiet little streets and few people walking around.

All along the way, Jasmine kept trying to find a way to explain everything to her. How could she do it, tell a basic stranger that she is more than what she knew, but the one who could help her, and whom she was to help, was gone? How could she tell someone she had barely known about friends whom they had shared were now gone, and it was up to the two of them to save them? How could she tell a girl whom her best friend had considered just as close a friend as herself and Brandy had been? Was it even the right choice, to ruin a girl’s life by telling her about her forgotten past, and that if they don’t do something, the world, no, the four dimensions, would be taken over and ruined forever? But if she didn’t, then, Lunamon…Thinking of Lunamon still made her sad, almost making her think that maybe it was her fault. Lunamon had died to protect the tower so Jasmine would have a safe place. But, she would have wanted Alysha to be safe. Even if illusioned to forget everything she knew about the past, Lunamon still had cared, and would want her safe. And perhaps, the two of them could see what Lunamon had in her room, something that might help them.

It took a few minutes to get out of her thoughts and back into actually looking at where she was going, and try to see which house was Alysha’s. She didn’t notice right away that a girl a little younger than her was staring at her. When she did see her, she thought she was looking at Alimon. But, she remembered what Alysha had looked like, and some pictures of when her and Jenni were kids. They had looked like they could be sisters, just like Jasmine did. The girl staring was just like that; a possible sister of Jenni’s.

“Um, excuse me,” Jasmine called, running over to her. “Can I ask you something?”

“I guess, sure,” the girl replied, still looking at her. “Are you Jenni?”

“Are you Jenni’s friend?” Jasmine asked at the exact same time. They both smiled, looking at each other closely.

“I’m Jenni’s friend, Jasmine. Are you Alysha?”

“Yeah, how do you know Jenni?” Alysha asked, leading her to the porch.

“She’s…she’s one of my best friends. But due to an extremely weird and rather unbelievable story. And, I’m not sure if, I’ll leave it to you if you want. I don’t want to really bother you if you don’t want to be.” Jasmine said, nervous. She wanted to make sure Alysha wanted to be in this mess again.

“It can’t be weirder than the things that have been happening all over, can it?” Alysha asked.

“I suppose not, but then again, if you mean what I think, they’re intertwined,” Jasmine said, thinking.

“Like that?” Alysha said, pointing to Alimon.

“Digimon am I.” Alimon said. Jasmine nodded.

“And you’re saying that you and Jenni are friends because of this?” Alysha said, a bit skeptical.

“More than that. The honest truth is that I met her when I first came here, about 2 or 3 years ago, to this dimension. But, that’s part of the problem here now. There are several worlds that have been put together. The digital worlds are some, and your and my worlds. And, there is this mess, causing trouble. Me and Jenni and our friends had been fighting it,” Jasmine said, looking down, at the ground. She didn’t want to look at Alysha, questioned why she was even telling her this. She could still leave, not tell Alysha how involved she was besides knowing Jenni.

“Other worlds? You’re being silly. But you came for more of a reason than to tell a silly story, didn’t you,” Alysha said, curious.

“Somewhat…” Jasmine said, hesitating. “But, it’s up to you if you want to know. It’s not a good thing to know, so if you want to just be like normal, then I won’t tell. I’m not even sure if I should tell.”

“So either I hear a horrible secret, or worry about Jenni. I’d like the story please,” Alysha said, looking at Jasmine, questioningly.

“Are you sure?” Jasmine said, rubbing her eyes. She hadn’t noticed that she had started crying, she was barely aware of anything these days.

“I want to know. Jenni is my friend, even if I haven’t seen her for years,” Alysha said.

“Technically,” Jasmine started, finally looking at Alysha. “not really. I have to say, you don’t look like the girl I remember. Which, was you. Because, you were part of this too. Part of a crazy story and you got lucky in a way and got sent home, but made so you wouldn’t remember, no one knows why really, probably to make Lunamon upset and useless since she needed you, but, somehow she survived for longer than the others did, until a couple days ago, but I need your help. I think you might be able to help me, help stop what’s happened.” Jasmine said, barely stopping to take a breath. She covered her eyes, not wanting to see Alysha, who reminded her of Jenni as much as people had told her that she did too.

“How can I help?” Alysha asked in disbelief. “I don’t know anything, I don’t understand this really.”

“Lunamon’s gone,” Jasmine said, still not looking. “The others got caught. But Lulu Tower, a place Lunamon made, it’s safe, and she said there was something in there, something that can help. But, you were one of the few that could get in there. And I think that she’d want you to have it, she was never right after you got send back here, with no memories. So we’d have to tell you a story that seems made up, and I guess not want to help me. But, I guess, I shouldn’t have bothered you. I should go,” Jasmine babbled again. She started to walk away.

“Hey,” Alysha called from the porch. “If I was to believe this story, what would you need me to do?”