Beyond

Seraina: The Study, Part 2

Hello everyone!  It didn't seem like anyone was reading this so I decided to come back to it later on- lo and behold... New chapter!  I hope you like it!

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Seraina: The Study, Part 2

"First, you have to know a bit about the world you're from," Eveline began, "It's much more complex than it seems."

She said that, but from what I'd seen, my little world was a fairly complicated place with the weird visions of killing people or people shooting me and whatever else the universe decided to torture me with. I can't honestly blame Adam for worrying about me, especially when I'm seeing things. I felt my heart sigh with sadness at the thought of him.

"The world you live in is actually more of an in-between world," She said, pulling a map and spreading it out in front of her so I could see. "It's like this one, an in-between world that people can land into more easily than most other ones. They tend to be smaller than actual worlds, because they were only intended for ease of travel."

Eveline pointed at the corner of the map, which had a name of what was pictured.

Or it was supposed to. The corner was completely empty.

"It doesn't have a name because we haven't named it yet. People from there, like you, can name the world. Then it will appear on this map," Eveline explained.

"So-" I was cut off by my inability to speak properly. I waved my hands around in frustration. I'd had it with my stupid illness. I couldn't say much at all, and it had always been that way. My throat would suddenly give and I wouldn't be able to talk for minutes, hours, or sometimes days or weeks, if I was that unlucky. My vocal cords were unimaginably weak, and from what I could tell I was born that way.

Eveline noticed that I'd gotten frustrated.

"Are you okay?" her eyebrows pushed into each other with concern, the force of the impact tilting her head sideways.

"..." all that came out was air. I sighed noiselessly and shrugged at her.

"Well, anyways," Eveline quickly recovered her place in the lecture, "There are many places that you can use to enter this world, but it seems they only work one way. This world is special because of that. But, that wouldn't explain the Valley of the Lost, would it?"

I shook my head.

"Well, it's a magic valley. People's lost things are moved to the Valley, and to recover it people have to go through a series of trials. The can only leave when they've found what they're looking for. That's just the basics of how it works. Inside the valley, sort of in the middle, but of uncertain size, is the pit. Because of all the fog you can never tell how big or where it is. This pit, at the bottom has a portal that will lead to to any world at random, unless it's you're first time. Then you go into the introductory world, where they give you the prompt for why you're there and how to leave. They also typically know what you've lost, only they can't tell you. Anyways, after that world you go to other worlds in a seemingly random order and pass time in those worlds to try and find what you've lost. Only then can you go back to the in-between world you came from." Eveline finished, rolling up the map again and setting it on a table behind her chair.

"So, they story of how I came here," Eveline said, sounding like she was getting more uncomfortable, "is from a long time ago."

I nodded and rolled my eyes, to try to tell her that I'd gathered, on account of the fact that I'd never met her before.

"Back when I was ten, Adam was six. We had been pushed through a portal- only that erases memories you have of the world you were in previously, because the worlds are slowly closing off from one another. So we tumble into this muddy, rainy world and wander. Adam and I ended up by Seeker's Hill, trying to find people or food or both, if at all possible. When we reached the top of the hill, I saw all the fog. At the time I hadn't known it was magical fog, so I offered to go in first, to make sure it was safe." Eveline's gray eyes got watery, which made them look bluer, more like Adam's. "Then... I fell into the pit. That was ten years ago."

Eveline was full on crying now, tears coming down like rain from her eyes, only her voice was steady and she didn't make a sound other than talking.

"I don't know what happened to Adam after that," Eveline finished, wiping her eyes.

"I do," I managed. I mentally cheered that I could talk.

"You do?" Eveline's eyes lit up like candles, eager to hear of her brother.

I cleared my throat, and took a deep breath. I was going to need all my strength to tell a story, no matter how short.

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