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Layer 5:
False Reflection

The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 1. Story and art: Hannah Josette Blank. Music: Kateryna Storcheus. Special thanks: Andrew Blank. Sound effect, SPLASH, to a sunset with water splashing into the air. Panel shows Aryes crawling out of the water, coughing. Sound effects, Cough, huff, huff, push. Panel shows him pushing his brown travel stone away from him. He is dripping wet. He lays on his back, arms stretched over his head, Green jacket sticking to him. A river is running next to him. “Aryes?!” a young woman with pink hair, a red shirt, and glasses yells from a bridge. “Are you okay?” She asks and Aryes looks up, confused. “Um, yes?” He replies in the comic.
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 2. Vertical manga-style comic strip showing two characters, Aryes and Paisley, having a conversation near the bridge. The pink-haired woman says, “I'll be right down,” and the brown-haired Aryes appears confused in the next panel, thinking, “Do I know her?” He slides the travel stone into his pocket. “Look at you, you're completely soaked! What happened? Did you fall in?” the woman asks, her blue eyes expressing concern. Her pink hair has a stripe of yellow and a stripe of light blue in the bangs. Her glasses are red like her shirt, and she looks worried, surrounded by sparkle effects. “Um, not exactly,” Aryes says, scratching his head. “Paisley!” another man yells from a distance. Aryes looks shocked to see a man who looks like him, running towards him yelling, “Get away from her!”
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 3. Aryes places a hand on his own chest and yells in defense, “Wait, I haven't done anything!” The pink-haired woman looks confused. Aryes thinks, “This could be bad. I need to get out of here. I don't know what's happening, but everything in me is saying to get away!” Panel shows Paisley running to the man, who puts his hands on her shoulders and asks if she's okay, while she asks him what is going on. Aryes thinks, “I'll trust my intuition until I know more.” and takes off running. Matching his eyes is an orange background from the setting sun in the panels. The other man points at him and yells Hey, but Aryes dashes away. Panel shows Aryes now catching his breath with sounds, huff huff, and thought, “I could really use some water.”
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 4. Male character Aryes is sitting on the sidewalk against a brick building, staring at the stone in his hand as he thinks, “I really lost everything to those machines. Wait, Xander's--” He holds his head in distress as he recalls his backpack being crushed, and flashbacks of his friend and getting the notebook flash through his mind as he things, “No... no...” Sound, GRIT. “How could I have only just realized?” he thinks to himself. Sound effect, Step, step. The young woman with pink hair approaches him cautiously, asking, “Are you okay?”
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 5. Aryes looks up at her. Panel shows her as she says, “You ran so far, I wasn't sure I'd find you... I wanted to apologize for my boyfriend.” She leans towards him and he replies, “You don't need to do that, but I would like to know why he was upset.” She says, “Oh, you know, he just thought you were a monster that crawled out of his mirror.” Panels show chibi forms of both characters. Aryes asks, “Is that normal here?” seriously, and she says, “No. That said, you really do look and sound just like him, so I had to find you and ask... Who are you? Where did you come from?” Aryes rises up and says, “My name is Aryes... ...and I—stood up too fast!” Panel shows chibis as he suddenly looks dizzy and she panics.
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 6. “Careful!” The young woman with pink hair says as she catches him by the arm and helps to steady him. “I-I'm fine, thanks! I just... haven't eaten in a while,” he says as comic panel shows him turn away with blush. She looks up at him, “There's a juice bar just down this street!” “I don't have--” he tries to reply but she continues, “I'll grab something for you!” “Th-thanks,” he replies. The scene goes white with word bubbles that read, “Follow me! We can head to the beach right after.” “The beach?” “Yeah! I have some questions for you! I'm Paisley, by the way!” Panel shows them now walking side by side while Aryes looks in his cup. “I forgot to ask what flavor you'd want,” she says. “Oh, it's great! Mango is my favorite fruit!” he says with a grin. She looks up at him in wonder, with the thought that even his likes are the same. “So what is it you wanted to ask me?” Aryes asks.
The Five Layers of Earth, Chapter 5, Part 7. Panels show the sun almost set across the sea, and the beach with brown-haired Aryes sitting next to pink-haired Paisley. “So layers are like different dimensions, and you learned about them through a book you read back in middle school,” she says. “Yes, it was written by M.C. Ritchard. He disappeared a few years after his book was published...” Aryes replies. “And you're sure there's only five?” she asks. “Yes, everything else has turned out to be true, so I have no reason to doubt,” he replies. Word bubbles continue over the beach and sea panels, the sun almost out of sight. “So is there another version of every person on the other layers?” “No, I don't think so... I'd love to see Xander again if there were.” “Xander?” “He was my best friend.” Aryes is shown looking sad. “What happened to him?” “Remnants.”
TFLoE C5 Part 8. Panels show Aryes and Paisley on the beach at night talking. Word bubbles: “It was a test that went very wrong. He said before entering Remnants that he wasn't going to let me put off seeing the layers after the test. His final moments remind me that it's my fault he's not here today.” Aryes is shown in a panel brushing his hand through his hair. “If we had just gone when we planned, he would never have gotten involved with Remnants.” “Don't.” Paisley responds. Panel shows the two looking at each other. “A friend wouldn't want you to blame yourself for an accident that you had no control over. We all put things off thinking we'll have time for them later, you couldn't have known.” Aryes looks distant before speaking, “So your boyfriend is also named Aryes?” “Yeah, strange, huh?” “Was he also adopted at birth?” “Y-yeah, he was!” Scene fades to white with thought bubbles from Aryes about the evening, the people he met, how he wished he could give more than his story.
Chapter 5, Part 9. Black thought bubbles on white background, “I have seen the Five Layers of Earth, now... I don't see myself taking risks to see them again. Especially after my not-so-fond farewell.” Panel shows a man who looks like Aryes holding Aryes up by his green jacket. “What I can do is share my experiences. And maybe I can encourage others... so fear doesn't stop them from moving forward. Finally...” Panel shows a blue sky with a blue rift, like lightning, opening up. Another panel shows Aryes on the beach, red scarf blowing in the wind, smile on his face. One last black text box for thought reads, “I'm home.” Title, The Five Layers of Earth in cyan and navy gradient text.

The End.

 

Aryes will return in Beyond Remnants.

 

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Author notes:

 

The Five Layers of Earth began at the same time as another series of mine. It had several crossovers in just five chapters. It's been enjoyable writing this short story to help flesh out some of the world my comics take place in.

 

Though the story is not based on any real people or circumstances, my inspiration for this series came from a difficult time. A friend from my childhood died suddenly and unexpectedly at the young age of 25. She was in her favorite chair when her heart stopped beating. It's a reminder that we never really know how much time we have left. When writing The Five Layers of Earth, I thought a lot about her funeral, and how difficult it is to lose a friend, and how there's often something we didn't do that we regret once it's too late.

 

There is a comfort for me in knowing that, even though she is no longer with us, her trust was in Jesus Christ before her passing. Because of what He did for us, one day, when my time comes, I'll be able to see her again.

 

I'm looking forward to telling you all about the comics I wrote, Lor.

 

-Hannah Blank

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