I sobbed as I clung to Zetris, my only friend in this strange and hostile world. We had just arrived on Earth, but not the Earth I knew and loved. This was a primitive and barren version of my third home planet, millions of years before humans existed.
"Please, Zetris, I need you now," I cried. "I cannot live without him. I cannot wait that long to see him again."
Zetris hugged me and stroked my hair. She was a Quantum Knight, a multidimensional being who could travel through time and space. She had saved me from a terrible fate, but she could not bring me back to the Philippine pre-colonial period. Not yet.
"Do not worry, Patricia. We will find a way to get you back to your heart. We just need to wait until the right moment. Trust me. I have done this before."
"How did you know I call him my heart?" I asked, curious.
"Just a wild guess and common sense. He is your soulmate, right? You have been married for many millennia, right? You love him more than anything, right?"
I nodded, feeling a surge of emotion. "Yes, yes, yes. He is my everything. He is the reason I am alive."
"Then he is your heart. And he is waiting for you. Do not lose hope, Patricia. We will get through this together."
She stood up and looked around. We were in a forest of ferns, towering over us like skyscrapers. The sky was a dull gray, and the air was humid and heavy. There was no sign of civilization, no sign of life, except for some insects and reptiles.
"Come on, let us find a safe place to hide. We do not want to attract any unwanted attention. This is a dangerous era, full of predators and natural disasters. We need to be careful."
She reached out her hand to help me up, but then she paused. She looked at the hologram generated from her vape-like device. It was her own personal quantum computer, a tool that allowed her to use technomancy.
"Shoot! I need to go!" she exclaimed, her voice full of panic.
"What? What do you mean you need to go? Where are you going? You cannot leave me here alone!"
"Listen, Patricia. I have a problem. A big problem. My quantum time box is running out of balance. It needs a special kind of currency to operate. A time token. And I only have one left."
"A time token? What is that?"
"It is a type of cryptocurrency that is used in the future. It is very rare and very expensive. It is the only thing that can fuel the quantum time box. And I do not have enough to take both of us back to the Philippine pre-colonial time."
"Then buy more! Use your credit card! Sell something! Do something!"
"It is not that easy, Patricia! One time token costs a million U.S. dollars! I do not have that kind of money! I have not received my paycheck yet! I am broke at this moment!"
She sat down on the ground and buried her face in her hands. "I need to think. I need to find a solution. There has to be a way."
I sat down next to her and tried to calm down. I knew she was doing her best, but I was scared and frustrated. I wanted to go back to my heart, to my life, to my husband. I did not want to be stuck in this prehistoric place.
I looked around and noticed something odd. The forest was full of ferns, but nothing else. No flowers, no fruits, no trees. Just ferns, everywhere. I turned to Zetris and asked, "Zetris, why is everything full of ferns? Where are we? Is this really the Earth? And you want to leave me here alone?"
She lifted her head and pointed to the screen on the gadget tablet I was carrying. It showed a map of the planet. "This is the Earth, Patricia. But not the Earth you know. This is the Earth in the Carboniferous period, about 400 million years ago from the 21st century that you came from. The climate was warm and wet, and the land was dominated by ferns and other plants. There were no flowers, no fruits, no trees. Just ferns everywhere."
"Hey, is this planet Earth? Where are the continents?" I asked Zetris, bewildered.
"Carboniferous Earth, Patricia. This is Pangaea, the supercontinent that existed before the continents drifted apart. It was the only major landmass on Earth at this time."
I squinted at the map and saw some tiny dots near the edges of Pangaea. They were islands that Zetris mentioned. They looked insignificant compared to the giant landmass.
"Oh, so it is true. In this era, Earth still had a supercontinent," I said, trying to sound interested.
"Yes, it is true. And it is also true that this supercontinent will break up in the future, due to the movement of the tectonic plates. That is why we need to get out of here as soon as possible. We do not want to be caught in the middle of a geological catastrophe."
She stood up and dusted herself off. She looked determined and confident. "I have a plan, Patricia. A plan to get us back to the future, or rather, to the pre-colonial period of the Philippines. That is where you want to go, right?"
I nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope. "Yes, that is where I want to go. That is where my heart is. How are we going to do it?"
She smiled and winked at me. "We are going to steal a spaceship, Patricia. A spaceship from Asgartha."
"A spaceship? From where?"
"From Asgartha, Patricia. The hidden city inside the Earth. The secret civilization built by Solana. The most advanced society in the history of the world. Come on, let us go. I will show you."
She ran with me through the forest of ferns, dodging the branches and the bugs. She was fast. She had super speed, another ability of hers. I struggled to keep up with her, feeling out of breath and out of place.
She stopped at a clearing where a large hole was visible in the ground. It was a tunnel, leading to the depths of the Earth. She pointed at it and grinned. "There it is, Patricia. The entrance to Asgartha. The gateway to our escape. Are you ready?"
I looked at the hole, feeling a mix of curiosity and fear. I had no idea what awaited me inside. I had no idea what Zetris was talking about. I had no idea what was going on. But I trusted her. She was my friend. She was my savior. She was my only hope.
"Yes, Zetris! I am ready! Let us go!"
She hugged me and said, "You are so cute, Patricia! Then follow me. And hold on tight. This is going to be a wild ride."
She jumped into the hole, dragging me along. We plunged into the darkness, into the unknown, into the adventure of a lifetime.
"Grandma what?! I cannot bear a child with my king, and now I have a granddaughter?" I said to her while we were running.
"Dang! Sorry! I mean Ka-Li, the old non-aging queen! Hurry!" Zetris replied.