The beach leg of our travels was annoying. The red sand continued to be a great annoyance for me. At least this sand wasn't sharp. The density of the sand made it difficult to walk through, so every step felt like twelve. I had put both our shoes into the bag at the start of this beach episode.

Unlike most beach episodes, it wasn't fan service; it was a physically challenging beach stroll.

Hi, my name is Max. I like killing people and taking long-ass fucking strolls on beaches exclusively made from fucking steel sand or whatever this stuff is.

I was going to suggest the letter game to help pass the time, but couldn't find the mental energy to initiate it. Every bit of my focus was on lifting one foot and placing it down. The whole journey could be boiled down to that; one foot up, one foot down, repeat.

Jane was obviously the first one to collapse into the red sand. I guess I could use a rest too. She rested facing the barely cloudy sky, taking in massive breaths of air. Seeing her breathing fine let the last bit of doubt leave my body; that old crone had truly healed her.

The sun was a few thumb lengths from the horizon meaning that there was only an hour or two before nighttime. Neither of us was particularly worried about shelter as we had survived weeks on a deserted island. We could make do with just about anything.

I laid down in the sand as well, letting the heavy particles wrap around me like a heavy blanket. They were still very warm, almost hot, from the constant sun they received during the day. They might even provide warm protection lasting the entire night.

Jane snuck glances at me every few minutes. I didn't know what they were for, but no harm no foul. She could do whatever she wanted so long as she didn't jeopardize the mission.

I wish I had shot those glances down earlier since it gave her enough confidence to ask questions.

"I've wanted to ask you for a while, but where are you from? You act like you aren't even from this planet," Jane jested.

"I'm not."

That threw her for a loop, "What?"

"I said I'm not. I'm from a different planet."

I loved to watch her squirm. What? You didn't like lil' ol' alien me?

She accepted it kinda quickly, much to my annoyance, "Do you miss your family?"

I sneered, "Fuck no. The hellspawn that birthed me could rot for all I care. The only people I really cared about are all dead. Turtley is the only person on the planet that I cared about, and I took him with me."

Jane took the answer and looked like she tried to formulate meaning from it. Good luck, I lived it and it still barely made sense to me. Family was the catalyst for the person I was today, the good and the bad.

"Are you..."

"My turn. So if this world is all castles and kingdoms, then why are you an only child? Don't families usually have like a dozen kids or something?"

"A dozen!? What kind of planet did you live on? The average in our city is 2.8 kids; doctors keep people healthy long into adulthood. Thousands of years ago, we were given the tools to understand medicine by a mystical sage. Ever since then, people needn't have excess children, just enough to get stuff done."

Hmmm. So technology is borked, but their medicine is fairly advanced? Seems like an acceptable trade-off.

The sun hit the horizon in the middle of our conversation. We were talking into the night, and wouldn't you know it, the sand remained warm. It was nice to have the cold ocean air on my face and warm sand wrapped around my feet like rocky socks.

We both fell asleep to recover for the day ahead. We still had kilometers and kilometers of beach to traverse.

---------

*Gurgle*

"Shut up."

*GURGLE*

"I said shut up!"

Jane looked at me, confused, "I wasn't talking..."

"Not you, my stomach is complaining again. Not eating for several days has thrown it into a tizzy --- I looked at my chest --- and it WON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT!"

Jane looked concerned, I wish she wouldn't. I was fine, so fine. The journey totally wasn't taking a toll on my already worn body and mind. Every muscle didn't yell at me to quit. My skin really didn't burn from all the sunburn and scratchy sand. My lungs were perfect, not on fire with every breath I took. Entirely fine.

I handed Jane the last ration of food; it was just some sort of dried meat. Personally, I thought the texture was all wrong. Way too stringy and bland. The thing was COATED with spices to give it a modicum of flavor. I had never had more bland meat, well, maybe uncle Bobby's thanksgiving turkey that one year.

Jane didn't want to eat it after hearing how my stomach was complaining. It was strange, having someone else worry about you. Haven't had that in a long time.

I pushed it back to her, "You need it more than I do. I'll live."

Jane wasn't having it, "You won't live much longer if you don't feed yourself! Bodies need food, food is fuel. If you get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die."

Look at you; a cooking rat.

Jane's eyes were glaring daggers at me, her blue eyes stern and frustrated. It was adorable to think she could manipulate me. Jane hadn't lived alone a day in her life, I know what is best for me and I'll keep moving onward until my goals are met.

*Agitated Gurgle*

You are *This* close to me removing you.

*Fearful Gurgle*

I keep walking away, Jane trying to drill a hole in my head with her stare. Finally, some damn silence. I could put my body on auto-pilot; one foot after the other, and imagine the future. It always was a fun exercise, imagining. Imagination was the root of all inventions. I would be able to...

"Will you for the love of all that is scaley and shelled, stop staring at me!" I screamed; I couldn't take it.

She continued her death stare, holding the piece of carefully wrapped jerky. Her idea of force was guilt and awkwardness. The move was super effective.

"Fine. I'll eat something." I ran over to the edge of the beach where rock met sand and ripped out a couple mushrooms that would be some protein for my meal. I swallowed it down faster than Jane could shout.

"No! Stop! Throw that up right now, that was Grubbell mushrooms!"

I didn't care, "Yeah, so?"

She was trying to Heimlich maneuver me, but being a head shorter than I, it wasn't working so well. All that happened was my intestines being scrambled up a bit.

"Raw Grubbel mushrooms are highly toxic when eaten and..."

The world exploded with colors. My eyes dilated to their max*tee hee*imum and balancing became quite the chore. I simply fell to the ground as gravity laughed at me and my attempt to defy it with my legs.

"Whooooooooo!"

Jane was frantic, "They are a powerful hallucinogen!"

So this is what tripping balls felt like. Everything was impossible to put properly into worlds. It was just too visual, the colors, the textures... I could taste the air; a little like strawberries. My hands were awesome, folding over and over like a kaleidoscope of images.

I looked at Turtley and he spoke to me, "You need to calm down."

"You caaaaaaan talk! Sooooo Coooool. Don't worry duuuude. I'm fine, I'm calm, I'm, I'm, I'm..."

My brain hit a little loop, but I was back to the strange world I found myself in. Everything was great until it wasn't. The air started to laugh at me and the ground began to breathe. Every little rock became a pore for air to be inhaled and exhaled from. I knew it wasn't happening, but everything was just so real.

Jane's face entered the scene, warping slightly and being wrapped in a rainbow of color. She started to speak, but time seemed to halt. I was starting to get frightened, without time, I would never make it to the turtles. I needed time. I NEEDED TIME.

I started to freak out and flail my arms. I was completely unable to move, restricted by the single moment stretched into an endless thread that wrapped and tangled my body. I tried to struggle harder and harder, but the grip only got tighter on me.

Breathing was becoming difficult and sweat was pouring out of me. My chest just wouldn't stop resisting me. My mouth became dryer than a desert as the last of my saliva flew out of it as I struggled. New saliva refused to do its job.

I hate this. I need to get out of here!

The trip seemed to last for centuries, bringing me through the rest of civilization. All of history was nothing but viewports that I could look through, but not affect. I watched the world die, regrow, die again, and grow once more.

I've lost control. I can't... I refuse to lose control... I just want Rebecca back...

Tears fell from my eyes as the universe itself collapse into a super blackhole. Existence was terminated. Billions of years had passed, but I had finally woken up.

I couldn't move a single muscle, looking down to find my naked body covered up using my clothes. Rain fell from the sky and pattered against my body. Jane was curled into a ball next to me, underneath a rocky overhang to escape the precipitation.

"What happened?"

Her watery eyes looked at me, relieved and scared, "You took a lethal dose of Grubbel mushrooms and started to hallucinate almost immediately. I tried to calm you down, but you just went insane, screaming about how the air was out to get you and time was stopping around you. You started to undress as you yelled about being constricted and started to seize."

"I had no idea what to do... I was so scared... You wouldn't stop seizing."

While she spoke, I put my wet clothes back on. They were a bit more uncomfortable now, but I didn't care; I wanted to hear what happened. I needed to know what I did; how I lost myself.

She continued, "Your body went limp after a few minutes... and I felt your heart stop. The whole time, I was trying to get your heart beating again. I hit your chest over and over until you took a sharp breath and grabbed my neck."

She lifted her hair to show the bruise I had given her.

"You whispered in my ear 'I just want Rebecca back' before you fully collapsed and just fell asleep."

Jane curled back into her ball, crying into her lap. I didn't know I was that big a hassle when high. Everything I did was involuntary, but she had to deal with the brunt of it. I felt...bad again. Why did I feel bad?

The curled-up Jane overlapped with a crying Rebecca. The pieces of the puzzle were being revealed. I was starting to see her as my sister. Every act that brought us closer only caused me more pain.

I should just kill her, stop it all before she causes more pain.

My hand was going to reach for Mr. Axe, but instead, it was placed on her shoulder. I tried to reach for it, but my hand wouldn't move. I tried to move my left hand; reaching for my weapon, but once again, it placed itself on her other shoulder.

She looked up at me. The resemblance was annoyingly close enough. The hair color was wrong, the skin hue too, and even the height and age difference was wrong. But it was the eyes that matched the most.

Those blue eyes that held just the right mixture of pain, sadness, and forced joy. It was just like Rebecca.

Jane looked up, staring at me. My body moved on its own. I hated it, I refused, I didn't want to. Regardless, I hugged her. It was a bit awkward since we were both sitting, but the gesture seemed to make it through.

The hug was gentle at first; I didn't have much strength left after my bad trip. Though as the seconds dragged on, my energy slowly returned and I hugged tighter and tighter. Jane hugged back.

I was forced to apologize against my will, "I'm sorry I put you through that."

"It's... ok..."

Jane cried into my shoulder. She did a lot of crying. I was much stronger than that, I would never cry, never show my emotion other than those I specifically crafted for the world. At that moment though, I let out a few tears.

I'm weak. Only the weak cry; so I'm a weakling.

I still remained there hugging Jane. Even with my thoughts, my body wanted the hug. It yearned for the connection to her, to Rebecca. For now, Jane would have to do.

"I don't think I can stand right now, and from how my skin seems to be turning yellow, I think my liver is failing."

I touched the pendant on my necklace.

Nothing a magic necklace can't fix; apparently.

We rested together, watching the rainfall from our little rock shelter and Turtley prance about in its liquid splendor. We still got wet, but much less than we would have otherwise. I didn't want to believe it, but my mind started to go fuzzy and crave sleep. Jane had long fallen asleep on my shoulder, and I then fell asleep against her.

---------

The sun peaked through the clouds as the rain stopped. Neither of us knew how long we slept, but judging from the rising sun, we guessed it had been well over a dozen hours. Jane was snuggled up against my body, siphoning off my heat. I let her, just this one time. Shit happened, so we would just keep moving along.

I stood up first; my liver fixed and not dying anymore. My hand reached down, offered to Jane to help her stand up. She placed her thin hands in mine and stood up with me. Turtley walked over to us and before I could reach him, Jane had placed him on her head.

I chuckled a bit and put on the backpack. It was much lighter without all of our supplies in it. I would need to go find us some food before them, but I just let this memory remain happy as we continued along our strange journey.