The familiar smell of popcorn wafted into Jayden's nose. It was dark, and he had no idea where he was, but he knew the smell of the cheap popcorn that stadiums gave out for snacks. He cleared his throat and looked around the dark space, and suddenly, he was sitting on a bench in the locker room. 

His coach was standing next to a board with positions lined up. The familiar faces of his baseball team surrounded him. Had everything that happened just been a dream? Surely, he couldn't imagine a whole world where he could fly and his grandpa coming back to life.

You sound crazy. He tuned in to what the coach was saying and then a flash of a blue monster came into his head. The spiked tail, the weird fashion of clothing the monster seemed to be obsessed with. He remembered the girl with the knife pressed against her throat. He remembered panicking and bringing the others to the Dead World. 

Ander wasn't a dream. 

And neither were the people that told them about how their powers came into play. How could you forget that you were coming to get your memories back? Jayden asked himself annoyed. The irony of the situation did not fly over his head.

"Jayden?!" screamed the coach from the front of the locker room. 

Jayden snapped back to where he was. The team was long gone, and he was the only one that remained seated. He stood up and walked toward the coach who held a hand out to block his chest. "Son, I need your head in the game. I can't have my best player not with it tonight. Not on the championship." 

Jayden gulped. Whatever place his head brought him to sure had him under a lot of pressure. The coach led him to the dugout, where the entire team greeted him cheerily. He was about to sit down when an announcement came over the loudspeaker of the stadium. 

"Welcome one and all to the Texas State Championships for high school baseball! I'm your commentator Chip Ukanowa and I'm bringing you the latest and greatest if you're not lucky enough to be seated in the stands on this truly beautiful day." 

Jayden looked at the outfield and saw a team in red uniforms. They were all tall, and lean. Jayden felt a twinge of nerves build up as he watched the other team's pitcher throw the ball into the air and catch it over and over again. He made eye contact with Jayden and grinned.

"Up first batting for the JP Adams Giants is Jayden Moore!" The coach slapped Jayden on the back and placed the bat into his hands as the commentator gave his stats to those in the stands. "Jayden's got a big game ahead of him. His father spoke of the numerous scouts he had coming from all the big universities. I wouldn't want to be under that kind of pressure folks!" 

Jayden came up to the plate and took a deep breath. At least when it came to baseball he knew what to do. Hit the ball, run the bases, and score for your team. It was simple, almost second nature for him at this point. 

"Jayden you better hit that ball, boy!" screamed his father from the stands. "You have too much riding on this day. Hit the damn ball!" 

The pitcher from the other team looked at Jayden and grinned. He gave a cocky smile to his teammate on the first base before he centered his attention on the catcher behind Jayden. Jayden bent his knees and made sure he had his elbow in the right position. The pitcher from the other team lifted his back leg and sent the baseball flying toward him straight down the center. 

Jayden smiled and swung the bat with great force, but watched as the ball stopped midair, changed directions, and dodged the bat before he could hit it. 

"Strike one!" screamed the umpire. 

What the actual hell just happened?!

Jayden stepped back from the plate and looked at the catcher who just nodded at Jayden with disgust. Surely there was some sort of cheating going on. He wasn't sure how, but baseballs don't just change directions in midair. 

Then again, Jayden shouldn't be able to communicate with the dead, Selena shouldn't be able to control the weather, Asher shouldn't have powers over water, Elle shouldn't control nature, and Judah shouldn't be able to do well, well, whatever it was that he did. 

Nothing in his life recently had made sense, and this situation was no different. 

"Are you going to play ball or stand there?" sneered the catcher. 

Jayden took a deep breath and stepped back up to the plate. He got back into position when his father's voice filled his ears again.

"What the hell was that last swing?! How could miss that?! Your mother and I didn't spend thousands of dollars on baseball stuff for you to mess up now!"

Jayden felt his upper back tighten with each word that came out of his father's mouth. He watched as the pitcher waited for his cue from the catcher, and he felt time move in slow motion. 

"GET YOUR ASS IN THE GAME, BOY!" screamed his father. 

Jayden narrowed his eyes, and the pitcher sent another ball coming toward Jayden. This time, Jayden expected something crazy. He stepped to the side and watched what direction the ball was going to go in. He was ready for whatever the ball was going to do. 

Only this time, the ball went straight down the middle. 

"Strike two!" screamed the umpire. 

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU MISS A BALL RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE?!" screamed his father from the stands. He kicked the chair in front of him and roared angrily as Jayden turned back to the game. 

Surely this was part of getting his memories back. What did baseball have to do with that? Jayden stepped back from the plate and closed his eyes. He tried to remember what he was told by the elders, but all he could remember was sitting down at the giant wooden table. Everything else seemed like a million years ago. 

Every one of you has something you must overcome.

The voice appeared in Jayden's head and he looked back at the field. He closed his eyes and bent down to the ground, running his hand along the grass. His grandfather sprouted from the ground and, and time stood still as he smiled at Jayden. 

The world around him froze, and Jayden and his grandpa were the only two people moving. Everyone else stood perfectly still. It was quiet. For the first time in a long time, Jayden felt relaxed. 

He loved silence. 

"I can't help you here, Jayden," said his grandfather. "This has to be you." 

"Why did I end up here though?" Jayden asked. "Why am I dealing with dad screaming at me right now?! Of all the times this is not what I needed at all." 

His grandpa merely shrugged his shoulders. "Just remember Jayden, none of this is real," he said. "I am not real. The crowd isn't real, and in this time and realm, your dad isn't real. This is the deepest part of your head. The only thing that is around you, is you." 

His grandfather fell back to the ground and Jayden let out a groan as everything unfroze. The silence that comforted him was now replaced by the screaming of the crowd. In particular, his father. 

"You better hit the ball, Jayden! Your mother and I didn't raise a little wuss!" 

Jayden wanted to throw his bat at his father. He could never just be proud of his son. He always pushed for more. Jayden was never enough. If he won, it was because he was lucky the one mistake during that game didn't mess him up completely. If he lost he was a sissy that disappointed him and his mother. 

Jayden's dad was never a dad. He was always a coach. 

"Shut up," he mumbled under his breath as he stood back up to the plate. He lifted his elbow and prepared to get into the batting position when he felt something stop him. He stepped back again and looked into the stands. 

Seated in the very middle of the crowd sat a younger kid that looked a lot like Jayden. His clothes were all black, and his eyes had bags under them that looked as though he needed three years of sleep just to begin the process of them going away. He had a black hood that sat on his head. The kid sat there with a look of annoyance as he watched the game. 

Jayden knew that whatever he was here for, this kid was involved. 

"Who are you?" Jayden called out to the kid. 

The kid just sat there with the same annoyed expression on his face. He ignored Jayden, he ignored the game, instead, he just looked up at the sky and moped. He adjusted himself in the seat, and it was then that Jayden noticed the chain attached to his wrist. 

He's stuck. 

"How can I help you?" called Jayden. 

The younger version of himself once again ignored him and kept their stare at the sky. Jayden stepped toward the stands when the umpire held his arm out to block him. "Are you going to take the bat or what?" Jayden glanced at the kid one more time. He was no longer staring at the sky but looked at Jayden. His eyes pleaded with him to help. 

Jayden was about to continue walking toward the kid when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder. His father was now on the field. He spun Jayden around and pushed him in the chest. "I've given up so much for you! How dare you just try and walk away right now! Have you no shame, boy?!" 

Jayden looked at his father and gulped. He went back to the plate and got back into batting position. "That's what I thought!" his father said as he stood behind the catcher. 

Jayden centered himself again and looked at the pitcher as he wound up. The voice of the elder came back to Jayden, this time louder than before. 

Each of you has something you must overcome. 

Jayden stepped back once again, the crowd booed from the stands and Jayden looked at his father. Anger flared up in his core, and he stood tall in defiance as his father ran toward him. 

"Did you not hear me?!"

Jayden threw the bat down and looked his father square in the eye. He watched as his father ran toward him, but Jayden bucked him in the chest and sent him back a few steps. Jayden was taller than his dad. He knew he was stronger. While Jayden was expected to live a life of an elite athlete, diet included, his dad lived on donuts and coffee. As Jayden stared at his father before him, he had no idea why he was so intimidated by him in the first place. 

"Y-you-you can't do that!" screamed his dad. 

"I just did," Jayden retorted calmly. He looked at the umpire and bowed his head as he walked off. His father followed him, screaming at him to turn around. Jayden could hear the anger and hurt, but he could hear the annoyance most of all.

Jayden spun around and looked his father in the eye. "My life is not yours. My future is not yours. What I choose to do or not do isn't a choice that you get a say in. I'm my person!" 

You each have something you must overcome.

Of course, it was his father. With Jayden, everything revolved around his father.

The crowd vanished, and Jayden looked into the stands to see the younger kid free from the shackles. Jayden's father stood there frozen in time as the kid walked down the stands and silently crossed the field over to Jayden. 

"Are you me?"

The kid nodded and stuck out his hand for Jayden to shake it. "Welcome back." 

Jayden took his hand, and the world started to spin. He felt a strong pressure in his head build, and then as if it popped, it went away. Instant relief flooded over him as he recalled his past in Glorianna. 

He watched as he accidentally summoned his first dead relative as a child. He was five and cowering under his sheet as they stood next to him confused. 

"Go away!" Five-year-old Jayden screamed, and the relative disappeared. 

He saw himself at ten sitting under a tree with Asher. They held books in their hands and were both reading when they saw a boy run past them quickly. "Roman stole from the castle again, Brennan-" Asher said laughing hard. 

The scene disappeared and Jayden was once again back on the field. The kid was no longer there, but the memories of his childhood danced through his mind as he recalled everything from the past. 

He picked his head up from the table and saw Selena was already up. She looked at Jayden and smiled. "Brennan?!" called the elders excitedly. "Are you back?" 

"Brennan will never be back," said Jayden firmly. "None of us will ever be back to what we were. I do, however, remember who I was. I'm ready to take on Ander. I'm ready to fight."