Portals & Realms

Chapter 2 - Once Upon a Time

-
-
    As if the world was turned upside down, the dark alleyway presented seemed welcoming at first glance. It was away from the loud world outside its walls, and it was spared the horrible sand that lined the streets. Though it did however, still smell like sand and some variation of rare fruit, possibly a mix of bananas, dragon fruit and mangos. The sun overhead added to the safe feeling, for it was covered in a light layer of clouds, blocking its harmful rays from the two unsuspecting guests at Vesuvia's doorstep.
     The world outside of the black brick walls seemed to go on with its daily life, practically ignoring the fact that the sky was overcast, and that there was a loud crash and thud in the alley to the right of one of the many main roads. People bustled about, the sellers and scammers all gained money, and carriages drawn by horses continued on with their daily lives as if that was normal for the city. Or maybe it was just that they didn't really mind or care.
Behind their eyes, still with eyelids shut, buildings floated past to form a backdrop of sorts on a black square. Stars shooted past the buildings, and the constellation of a running goat formed in the sky of black that was the image. The ground became sand, and dust blew up to form a swirl twisting to the goat's feet. Letters formed from a snake breathing fire, and it read "VESUVIA".
    One of the two new citizens in the town grabbed their neck in pain as they attempted to stand up on their own two feet, but they were greatly disappointed by the fact that it wasn't their feet. They looked at their hands and saw that their skin color had seemingly gotten a tad darker, though not by much, and their nails were now painted a light blue. They stood up slowly on their new two legs and stretched their new two arms before looking down at the other friend in the ground who was attempting to stand as well.
"Kir-" Not-K sputtered out before shutting themselves up in shock. What happened to her voice? It sounded much deeper and more mature than it already had been, and it also was raspy. She coughed, a bit of dust coming from her mouth as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. She opened back up her mouth to speak, but was left with nothing else to say.
"What happened to us!" Not-Kira said in shock and grabbed Not-K's shoulders. Not-Kira's hair was very short, yet it was more fluffy than it had been before. The color and highlights in his hair had now changed drastically as well, for the colors now displayed were a light pink mixed in with white strands here and there. Not-Kira no longer had a female body, for he now had the male one he was saving up for back home. No breasts were there to weigh him down, and he had a light pink crop top over his chest. He had a much more masculine build, and also grew an inch or two. He had already been taller than K before, but now the extra inch helped. He wore green camo pants, and some comfortable, new-looking boots.
"I don't know!" Not-K exclaimed back in worry, her eyes darting all over Not-Kira's new look. Not-K now sported what seemed to be a regular brown shirt with a golden leaf pattern on it, along with a lace, partially see-through tunic over her shirt, buttoned up halfway before draping over her arms and her body. Her hair that was blue on the shaved down portion of her hair, but it was a light, fluffy teal everywhere else. Her skin color was also indeed darker, but it wasn't an obvious change, and maybe was only darker by half a percent (it was actually the lighting of the alley, her skin tone didn't actually change). She had a thinner build than what she originally had before, and she seemed to not have grown any taller. Her loose pants were the same color as the silk tunic, though they were not see through at all. Her shoes were also different, but they were very similar to the quality and style that Not-Kira sported.
Not-Kira paced around, but then stopped and looked at Not-K, "K what has happened to us?"
She shivered at that name being mentioned, and then processed what she had just felt. Uncomfortable? Yes. But more like that was wrong.
Mae Mae Mae Mae Mae Mae.
Mae... "I'm.. my name isn't K. It isn't K. It isn't K!" She exclaimed, smiling and letting out a little laugh. "Mae. It's Mae."
"And how did you come up with that one?" He asked, cocking his head to the side and walking around his friend. "May? As in the month? Or a different spelling of it? How... very odd that this is the turnout. Y'know, I didn't expect to get a new drip when passing through a mysterious, ominous glowing orb in our highschool."
"It's M-a-e, not the month May. And I didn't just come up with it on the spot. There's a little voice inside of me. Look, I'm going to try something. Kira." She said, waiting to wage a reaction. As soon as she got the one she was looking for, which was a look of surprise and him putting a hand on the wall to balance herself, she leaned forward beside him. "What is ringing in your ears right now? What name have you finally been given that you have wanted and incentivized with more than any for long?"
"Dante. That's all that I hear it's-" he did a spasm kind of hop as soon as realization hit him and smiled. "I got my name! Dante! DANTE!" The two laughed at their small excitement, forgetting about their situation. So what if they just woke up in an odd alleyway? They just unlocked and became themselves.
As they exited the narrow alley, they were met by the smell of sand (which had increased by a billion percent) and the sights of your common passerby's. "Welcome to Vesuvia, home of a medieval like setting with abundant plague doctors and some wacky magical hijinks waiting to be ensued," Mae said simply, seemingly caught off guard at the odd beauty that this place was portraying. The talk of the people drowned out the stomping horse hooves and the clicks of the wagon wheels as Mae and Dante walked past like simple pedestrians who were doing some shopping.
"So, how do you know this place again? I know you're the genius of fictional worlds, but in all of your rambling, past and present, I don't recall Vesuvia being mentioned." Dante asked as they passed a stand that was selling unique fabrics from across the globe, and then by another one that was making and selling cooked and seasoned shellfish products. "I'm a good 90% sure we have never been in a place like this, but then again maybe you have. Well actually scratch that you couldn't have because we got here through a magic floating orb."
"It's been a long time since I last thought about Vesuvia. Maybe a year or so ago was the last time I ever truly set my mind to thinking about this place again. Of course, I remembered it existed, but it's story was one that had multiple endings and stories that, depending on the person you chose, changed the story. It was more of a "here's this cool place that can inspire your own fictional cities one day except this time in medieval, old-time form" more than just loved for the characters since it was all hinging on a player's choice." K took a breather and then looked around, wide-eyed and with a smile creeping on her face. "Magic does exist... I knew it! I told you guys! Fantasy creatures and magic can exist."
"Like what sorts of fantasy things? Magic? Serpents?"
Mae and Dante passed by a house with its window open, the smell of roasted pig and turkey flooded their nostrils. "Yes...and technically yes."
"Like, the kind of magic that makes us look like wannabe hippies?" Dante pointed out and silently wheezed, making it so Mae then wheezed alongside him. They finally made it to the end of the incline and at a crossroads, shops and houses lining both sides of the street. There was a certain house to their left that didn't look like the others exactly. It had a sign out like any of the shops, but it was decorated much nicer than the others. In fact, it seemed to stand out like a sore thumb.
"And that right on over there," Mae began, sighing as if she was expecting all of this to suddenly turn to sand and drift away, "is our safe house... I hope."
"How can it be safe if we don't even know where we are exactly, or what even that orb was and how it led us here?" Dante asked, "You're just hoping some random dude here knows about the orb thing so we can go home."
"Oh right... going home is an objective.'
"Well duh it's an objective! This place is nifty but I don't want to be stuck in a different universe that A, you just realized existed, and B, IT'S A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE."
"Listen, just... trust me on this? I know you can't necessarily because this is all weird and I am partially going off of speculation and I'm also freaked out about how on god's green earth this is all even happening, but I heard something coming here, and I think that this man can help us. And if he can't... we'll have to find everything out ourselves and pray that the others don't get stuck here too." Mae put her hand to the wooden spruce door and traced the hand carved patterns in the wood before it unlocked with a small, yet loud, click. The lanterns inside of the shop were all already lit as if it was set up this way in preparation of something. It smelled of sweet cakes and vanilla, the scent dispenser on the main desk in the front room was the obvious originator of the scents. There were books cluttered on the desks and potions laying on the highest shelves. The whole place seemed to hum with some invisible aura that was speaking to Dante and Mae, but it didn't affect their current mood.
The curtain at the far end of the room swung open and a curious face poked out from behind it. The figure was a male with a head full of white hair. Around their neck was a pink silk cloth that draped across the right half of their body, and a yellow and purple tunic underneath. They wore the same sort of loose pants that Mae sported, and wore a kind smile. "Hello there Mae. Hello there Dante."
Mae put her hands to her mouth and felt like she was about to pass out or cry. The last she had seen of this man was him dead, or him happy with the player, or him playing with his pet snake, or him doing magic, or a dumb meme about cotton candy. "You're- This is actually happening!"
Dante flinched at the mention of his name and looked at the unknown male with a suspicious stare. "How do you know my name?! I mean uh.... nope not us we are just normal people doing normal people shopping things and definitely are not who you said we were- how does he know US?!"
He laughed. "The cards spoke of you two coming, though they didn't say when. Might as well had prepared early, and seems that it had all paid off," he walked over and grabbed Mae's hand, shaking it firmly, and then shook Dante's as to not freak him out anymore than he already just was.
"I-It's good to see you as well," Mae stuttered, her cheeks turning red. She still seemed in a slight shock that this was all real, and that everyone in front of her was real. Again, the feeling that everything may just drift away from her began clinging to her heart, and she forcefully tore it away. "Wait, you knew we were coming? How on Earth did you know! This can't be happening."
"The friendly Magician told me so, said he heard the news from another source and that another Major Arcana warned him of something similar, but yes, I did."
Mae looked around with shock in her eyes, "how is all of this.. is this an illusion? Are we high? Did that weird orb cause us to get high and hallucinate?"
"It's all real, you're not going to lose it. Neither of you," he said with a hint of hope in his voice and looked behind the two. "The cards said there would be more of you."
Dante looked at him strangely. "Wait wait wait...you saw all five of us coming here? Pidge, Addi and Perri all came here too?" His head was buzzing with too many questions that couldn't be answered all at once. He was still puzzled with how on earth there was a magic orb hidden behind a vent in the girl's bathroom.
The male looked confused, ruffling his white cotton candy like hair. "I recognize this 'Perri' you speak of, but not the other two," he moved one hand to his chin and stood there, thinking deeply for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "The other two people who came alongside this Perri were named Ramille and Elvadoer. The cards spoke nothing of a Pidge or Addison."
Mae and Dante exchanged glances, nodding to each other internally as if they could communicate telepathically. When they both transported through this odd portal thing they found, they became themselves. Did this mean that Addi and Pidge had real selves? Did they wish for a change they identified with as themselves? Did Perri like herself how she was? Which isn't a bad thing at all, no sir no ma'am. It just.. well that's odd that we all do except for her. She is so into change and growth and all the mystical stuff that it's... odd she wouldn't have changed.
The male looked at Dante with a lighthearted glance and then went wide eyed, nearly feeling as stupid as a pigeon. "I'm so sorry, I nearly forgot to introduce myself to you Dante. I'm Asra the magician, and your friend Mae over here is- well I guess was is the correct term, my apprentice."
Dante went wide eyed and looked at Mae with a resentful look. "You know him?" He hissed out quietly. "How on Earth do you know everyone and everything here? Have you been able to do these weird orb things all along and never told us!"
Asra filled in the empty air with his own response before Mae could even breathe. "She has her connections. The magic I work in was already humming through her heart in your own world it seems, and it seems to be connected to you as well. That is, I cannot sense it as strongly here, but I assure you, it's there," he winked at Mae as a "you're welcome" and put a hand on his desk.
"So first there is a magic orb portal thing behind a vent, then we appear here completely different, and now it is revealed that MAGIC exists in OUR world," Dante clapped his hands together and let them drape to his side in defeat. "I give up."
"You were never completely different from how you are now. This is how you want to look," he looked down at Dante and put a finger to his heart, "and this is how your soul looks."
Mae sensed the tension that was bubbling between Asra and Dante and stepped in the way. "Look, we all have questions, Asra has some for us, and we have some for him. Let's all just calm down and go to the reading room and talk, ok?" She looked at Asra with a "please agree with me" look and then back to Dante, echoing the same glare.
Asra nodded and turned back around towards the room separated by the silk curtain. "Yes, I am sure you two have a few questions for me, especially you Dante," he said with a kind voice and gestured to two to follow him to the secluded reading room. In the middle of the room was a large circular table made out of the same material that the door was, and it was carved the same way. The red and brown circular seat/couch outlined the table, and in the middle was a stack of cards that Mae felt all too connected with. Seeing this in reality, touching it with her own hands instead of looking at it through a screen. Dante looked at them as well, feeling some sort of tug towards the neatly stacked pile as well. The room smelled much more like vanilla once they entered, the sweet cake smell had all but vanished. Asra led Mae and Dante to sit at the table, closing the curtain behind them.
Asra sat down, looking at the two. "Would you two prefer a reading before we begin questioning each other?" He offered, taking the cards in his hands.
Dante looked at him as he shuffled the cards and sighed. "If we must. Say, you said magic exists in my heart right? Is that the humming coming from the cards?" He asked and frowned at Mae.
"I could ask the same," Asra replied back with a stern tone. "You haven't shown any sign of being able to sense magic in your world before today, which is odd. The cards normally don't call out to someone who hasn't even felt an inch of their power, unlike Mae. Mae's felt them since her odd dreams that occurred some odd years ago I believe. I was not there when they happened, but she did tell me what happened. The cards showed her things, and she pushed them away at first," he stopped and looked at the deck in his hand, sighing. "But then she accepted the fact that they existed. That they were there in her bloodstream and in her soul. So it is no wonder they are calling out to you right now, is it not Mae?"
Mae gave him a confused, worried look, "I do... but this is a weird feeling. I don't know if I necessarily like it. I've... never seen or felt anything like this in person or ever actually." What does he mean by "I told him the dreams"? I've never communicated with him before. Have I been here in some other kind of way?
    Asra gave a worried glare to Mae at her response, but shook his head. "Your memory must be avoiding you for the moment, but I understand, world hopping is weird and it has been some time... You haven't ever been in contact with the power physically, meaning that the aura will hum much stronger now than it did before for both of you. It was unnoticeable for both of you, so it is no wonder that some odd feeling is being generated right now. Being around the cards for a while will help that humming become normal," Asra sighed and laid out the cards on one fell swoop onto the wooden table. "Now, let's get your reading."
Dante reached forward as to grab one, but Mae stopped her. "He has to choose them I think. That's how it usually works," she said in a whisper as Asra concentrated quietly, his hand hovering over the cards. He laid his hand down on one of them and pushed it towards Dante, and then another at the end of the row towards Mae. The cards hummed in their blood as Asra opened back up his eyes and looked towards them.
"What do the cards read?"
Dante grabbed theirs and flipped it over slowly. "The Magician, a fitting card for you," Asra said at the other end of the table, putting all the cards he still had together and back in his satchel. Dante opened his mouth to ask what it meant, but Asra was already speaking. "The Magician means that you are wise and powerful, but also at points... manipulative. It uses its strength more than its brain, but it uses its heart more than its blood."
"The hell does any of that even mean?"
"That's only a question you can answer, Dante," Asra replied and looked to Mae. "Flip over yours Mae, the readings don't stay with me forever."
Mae grabbed hers in her hand, face down, and flipped it over onto the table. What were the damn chances. Thanks fate, I owe you one.
Asra looked at it in concentration, then back to Mae. "The Lovers, well that seems a little ironic, don't you think? Considering the past of this world." He laughed and then picked it up. "I'm sure you already know what this means, but Dante, do you?" He leaned over the table and held it near Dante's nose, "do you know?"
Dante flinched unexpectedly, but answered after a moment of hesitation. "It means sacrifice and love, bonding between two people," he looked at Mae, confusion written all over his face, "and the choice to choose which path you travel at a crossroads."
Asra nodded in approval and took it back and in his satchel. "Excellent work Dante, I'm sorry I had to pressure you to do that so suddenly, but excellent work."
Dante held his head of hair with one hand and looked at Mae, then to Asra, "how did I do that?" He asked with an intimidating approach to his question.
"It's magic," Mae shrugged and nudged Dante. "Simple plain magic."
"Now that the cards have spoken," Asra said and readjusted his sitting position. "Ask away. I want to clear up anything you may want to know to the best of my abilities, and I wish to know what brought you back so suddenly Mae, and how this adventure will begin."
-
    -
        -
    -
-
Their adventure has begun, but there are more eyes in the shadows than what they suspect.