Waking up shouldn't hurt this damn much, I think to myself as I open my eyes and look above me. The blue sky has sheens of purple and green crossing over it, and there isn't a cloud in sight. The red sun hangs low in sky, leaving me feeling warm despite not having any blankets or even a jacket.

I sit up, looking around at the dark thick grass patch I seem to have landed in. The green field is relatively small, and surrounded by strange, thick trees. They're taller than any trees I've seen before and have leaves hanging down that are bigger than me.

Spotting Enzo across the field of green, right on the edge of the tree line, I try and pull myself up. As I stand, my ankle immediately gives out, sending me right back onto my ass. I cry out in pain as I clutch it to me, pulling up my dress to assess the damage. After slowly rolling up the dark leggings I still have on under the dress, my eyes burn with tears as I look at the bruised mess my body is in. Not only is my ankle completely bruised a horrible shade of dark purple, but my entire leg seems to be littered with bruises and scrapes. I take a moment to look over the rest of my body, and find that the rest of me doesn't appear to be in great shape either.

“Enzo?” I croak out, but it's so quiet he doesn't even stir. Clearing my throat, I try again. “Enzo!” I shout, swallowing after to clear the dry prickling feeling in my throat. I could really use some water right now. How long was I even out?

I hear a groan coming from his direction.

“Enzo!” I shout again, but then I can't stop the coughing fit that follows. I press my hands into the grass, trying to just ride it through. A hand pats my back, and I roll back over, breathing a sigh of relief as I look back into Enzo's dark eyes staring down at me.

“Take it easy, Crowe. You'll cough your lungs up at this rate,” he says dryly.

“You're okay,” I state, looking over him and see he looks mostly unscathed despite his slightly torn clothing. He shrugs.

“I wasn't. I healed myself when I first woke up, but I was so wrecked I passed back out before I could make my way to you. I'm sorry, I should have crawled over to fix you first,” he says guiltily as he sits down beside me and places his hands on my ankle.

“No, I'm glad you healed yourself first. It's not like I could have,” I mutter, looking down at my unmarked skin. I feel his hands warm up as the healing energy from his mark flows through me. A stab of jealousy strikes me at the knowledge that I can't do that anymore. With no healing mark, I have no power to heal anyone. With no marks at all, I’m completely powerless to help anyone, or even defend myself. How is this possible?

“Shit, I barely noticed. They haven't re-appeared?” he questions as he runs his dark eyes all over me, as if wanting to check for himself. “I noticed when they disappeared during the fight, but I just assumed they'd come back once you didn't...”

“Once I didn't die?” I supply for him, as he trails off, and then I feel the tears start to trail down my cheeks. Ryan. How could I even let it slip my mind for a second, much less the minutes I've been awake?

“Hey, don't cry. It's okay, you're okay. I’ve got you,” he mumbles awkwardly, as he pulls me onto his lap and wipes at my tears with his sleeve.

“He's not okay, Ryan's dead. Alaric killed him...how could he?” I question as the tears continue to flow. I feel the lump in my throat forming, and I feel a headache setting in, but none of that matters.

“Shh, it's okay, just breathe,” Enzo says, but his voice is lying. Even he doesn't believe it's okay, nothing is okay. We're trapped on a different world, lost from everyone else but each other, and Ryan is dead. My brother is dead, and my father is the one who killed him.

“It's n-not...” my words are lost in my sorrow, drowned by my cries and the shaking of my body as my entire body racks with sobs against him.

“Get your shit together, Crowe. Breathe. Gods, I'm not good at this...” he trails off. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “Kenzie, listen to me. Crying won't change it, and right now we need to focus if we're going to have a chance at saving everyone else we love. We need to find the others, and then find a way home. And then, we're going to get that son of a bitch and make him pay for what he did. He's going to pay for hurting you, and for taking Ry's life. I promise you that; we won't rest until it's done,” he says.

For some reason, whereas softness and reassuring usually makes me want to cry harder, a goal makes the tears stop. It's as if someone cut off whatever supply was fuelling them and left in their place a burning drive to make Alaric pay. I gather my sorrow into a box and shut it, knowing that I can deal with my pain after Alaric is stopped. I swallow thickly and pull myself from Enzo's arms.

“He can't get away with this,” I say, and he nods.

“He won't.”

“How long do you think we've been here?” I ask, looking around at the unfamiliar landscape. The trees make me think of pictures of rainforests I've seen, but the strangeness of the green and purple in the sky is a firm reminder that this place is not my home world.

“I'm not sure. Too long, I'm dying for some food,” he mutters.

“You're hungry?” I ask incredulously. This really isn't a time for snacks.

“A guy's gotta eat,” he says with a shrug, but his shinning dark eyes show the real emotion that he hides behind his cool outer facade.

“Let's find water first,” I say and then freeze. “Is the water even safe to drink in this world?” I question, and I can feel the crease in my forehead as I really begin to feel the gravity of what being on another world could mean. We both stand, and Enzo walks a little toward the tree line.

“Our ancestors lived here. If they found ways to survive here, so can we. We find water, and then we search for the others. They went through before us, but hopefully they haven't moved far,” Enzo says, and I look around. There's no sign of the others being here whatsoever.

“Enzo,” I breath, and he looks back at me concerned. “I don't think they landed in the same spot as us. They could be anywhere... Do you have any idea how big Ariziadia is?” I ask. His eyes widen as he too looks around, and sees for himself that there really is no sign of the others.

“I have no idea. Not a fucking clue.”