Beyond Orcus

Chapter 1

Alex has been walking for over an hour now. She arrived at Phoenix Park in Cabra. It is about 11 pm and the moon and all the stars are already there. Alex sat on a public bench and looked at that dark sky. She first found Great Bear of course, and then started looking for Orion. The constellation of Orion has many legends.

Legend has it that the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, fell madly in love with Orion, the brave hunter and the most beautiful man alive. She neglected her job of driving the Moon's chariot across the sky to light up the night. Apollo, Artemis' brother, was displeased and pushed her to kill her lover. When she recognized her mistake, she drove the body of her beloved hunter into the darkest part of the sky, which suddenly lit up with stars, adorning Orion's body with golden armor. She left him in the company of his two dogs Sirius and Procyon.

Suddenly, an old man sat down next to Alex. He too was stargazing.

"The stars are amazing, aren't they?" he said.
Alex was a little confused and nodded to the man.
"Look up, lady."
Alex looked up as the old man told him to.
"The stars!"

The sky was not the same as the one they were looking at a second ago. The planets were much bigger than usual. In fact, they weren't bigger but closer to Earth. The stars were much more colorful and they weren't just pretty little dots in the sky, they had many different shapes.

"Did you make it? Can you put the previous sky back?"
The old man put our sky back in its place.
"Was that the sky from another world?"
"What you just saw was from another universe."
"But, I don't understand. Why did you show it to me?"
"It's just the way things are Alex."
"Don't tell me it's some kind of destiny or fate. I'll never believe in those meaningless beliefs," Alex said with an exasperated look.
"What's it like up there?" continued Alex.
"You'll see," he mutters.