Portals & Realms

Chapter 9 - Chill

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The electricity that had flowed through Dante was almost unbearable as he felt his body suddenly become one with the orb as he was pulled into the inky darkness. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that there were things that surrounded him in what felt like tar. He heard things going in and around him, his actual body began feeling more and more ghost like as he felt the pressure being lifted up and away from him and to nowhere. He opened one of his eyes and saw a figure in front of him that was standing above his body. He jumped up and crawled back and away from the figure in the dark and screamed for help.
"Get away from me!" He shouted as the figure came closer, it's demeanor and motives still unknown to Dante. That's what he feared most at the time ...the unknown.
"They can't hear you right now. You are in the transition of going somewhere, so my time is limited," the figure said that was in the darkness, it's red eyes were now visible. Dante squinted at the object in its hand and felt more and more scared, for it looked like a sword or a claw.
"Where am I going!" He demanded, unable to stand still as the ground began closing in on his being once again. He struggled, but the more he did, the faster he was drawn into the ink.
"You will find out soon enough."
"I just want to go home!"
"You'll be there soon enough," the figure said as Dante was fully pulled into the ink. He screamed as his lungs were filled with nothing. He thrashed around in the darkness before he opened his eyes to a ball of white before him. Colors erupts from it as a beach formed from the ball, the white background becoming a setting sun. There were white foamy waves hitting the beach as a purple wing came up around the image he was sitting in front of and turned into the face of a wolf, jaws wide to eat the sun. Words formed from splashes by the waves, spelling "Starlight".
Finally, the image faded and he opened his eyes and sucked in a desperate breath of air. All around him was the smell of soup and a brew, and over him was an unfamiliar face that definitely wasn't human. Dante yelled and slipped off of whatever he was laying on and onto the ground below him, hitting the surface with a small "oof".
"Bark!"
"Darn it! Celestia don't lick his face!" A female voice said and came over by Dante and picked up the small purple ball of fluff in her hands. She had orange hair and on a purple and yellow witches hat, and she had red-orange eyes. "Sorry about that realm hopper, I thought she would be more tame."
"Realm hopper... I'm...wait how did I get here?" Dante felt his adrenaline rushing and his head was pounding. I don't know where I am. Where is this place? Am I home? Who is this woman!
"By a portal or some magic source, I don't really know exactly," the woman shrugged and leaned down and helped Dante stand up on his feet. They seemed to be in some sort of laboratory room...or just a bedroom in general. The lady had long ginger hair, wavy and curling around her shoulders and then to the middle of her back. She also had pale skin, eye bags slightly visible underneath her eyes and purple colored nails as she wiped a loose strand of hair out of her face. She was wearing casual cloths, being a red flowing shirt and dark blue shorts, one rip in them visible just below the knee. She also had orange, reflecting eyes.
"Holy shit, how am I going to get home?" Dante asked her and himself, suddenly feeling the urge to fall back over.
"I don't know. I could try connecting magic again, but the potion I used wasn't meant to connect realms, let along bring someone to ours. It must've been a mistake in the mixture..." She shrugged, "my name's Lucinda by the way."
Could she have caused this? But that doesn't make sense. There was a scary ink creature who pulled me in and brought me here, not her. Maybe she did have an impact on it though. I don't know what's going on. Where am I? Think think think... what world could this be? Is this another fictional one or is this another "real" world? I'm going to smack Elvadoer upside the head for making us go on this adventure!
"Dante," he said and looked around the room. "Can you help me get home? Now? I can't be here and I need to go look out for my friends."
    "I'm sorry, but it might take a day at least, the potion is one I had never tried before."
Dante sighed, obviously defeated. He wouldn't be able to get back to his friends for a long while. What does Elvadoer think right now? Why was I so stupid...
"If you think your stupid for going into whatever you went into to get here, then don't be. I should've practiced this spell somewhere farther away from a magic concentrated area," Lucinda apologized and looked around, and then at the ball of fur in her hands. "This is Celestia by the way, she's my friends pet."
Dante gently stroked the dogs fur and smiled a little bit, feeling the adrenaline going away. This world wouldn't be much different than Vesuvia, right? The only difference was that Dante was all alone. In Vesuvia, they had no distinct way home, and so far, neither did this place. "Are you the only one here?"
Lucinda seemed a little surprised that Dante was what seemed to be, eager to meet her friends. "No, there are others here. You have Kim, Zane, Garroth...though he is out somewhere right now along with Aaron and Aphmau..."
"Wait, Aphmau?"
"Oh don't tell me you somehow know her realm hopper! I mean...uh...Dante!"
"Not personally," Dante said. Man I'm really starting to sound like Mae. That's the kind of response she would give when talking about...yeah. "But I've heard her name before. Through other people." This world must be fictional then. Great, so that means at least two exist. Or maybe three? Maybe every game has its own real world! Argh, my head can't take this nonsense!
Lucinda seemed interested. "How so? Do you have a realm hopper friend that somehow met her?"
"Oh Lucinda, I have a lot of realm hopper friends now that I think about it. My friend Mae has mentioned her name before."
Lucinda smiled, as if she was actually enjoying where the conversation was going. "Well, why don't we at least say hi to who's here? I think you can answer a few questions, right? I have a few running through my head, but of course I don't want to overwhelm you with all that's going on, you are as clueless as I! Although maybe a little less clueless. Oh do please tell me where you are from!"
"Yeah, no problem," Dante said. She isn't worried about other worlds existing like I am. Does that mean I'm wrong? Should I be less worried about other worlds existing except our own? I'm sounding like Asra now too. Man how impressionable am I?
Wait. This isn't a coincidence or an impressionable situation. This is how we all answer like this in those situations. But I refused to understand. I'll have more knowledge about this realm than anyone else, like how Mae had the most knowledge about Vesuvia than anyone else.
"Kim! Zane! We have a visitor!" Lucinda yelled as she walked down the spiral staircase with Dante trailing behind, his energy and stance were a little drained, but it wasn't noticeable. The house they were in had white and brown walls with gleaming windows. There were some paintings on the walls as well, some were purchased, and others were hand drawn. Two figures were seen sitting in a kitchen, one was wearing nearly all black and something was covering half of his face. The female in the kitchen, who was eating part of a sandwich, had light blond and brown hair along with a green and brown shirt.
"Sup," the male, who Dante presumed was this 'Zane', said unenthusiastically, his eyes were on his phone, which was also black.
The female, who Dante then presumed was Kim, got up and walked over, wiping off any excess sand which crumbs on her jeans. "Lucinda, who's this?" She questioned kindly.
Lucinda looked at Dante, and then to Kim. "They're a realm hopper. You know how I was attempting my theory of other worlds and stuff this entire week after... I uh, got some info through a dream," she whispered while giggling a little bit. Dante just rolled his eyes at the reaction Kim gave and looked down.
"No way!"
"Yes!"
"Seriously, what are you two giggling about?" Zane said in annoyance and looked at Dante, who was a little shorter than him. "Who are you anyways?" He asked in a mean and sarcastic tone. Just your typical jerk Dante, no need to panic or get mad. You'll be out of here soon. Back to my friends and my family and my nice apartment and finishing up my school without any supernatural worries.
Or will I?
"Oh, this is Dante. Dante, this is Kim and Zane. Zane and Kim, this is Dante. Bada bing bada boom," Lucinda said more seriously until the ending part of her spiel. Dante let out a small chuckle along with Kim, but Zane still stared at him with his icy blue eyes.
"Ok, that doesn't explain what you two were all giggling about. I don't think Dante, as a name of course, is that laughable. Maybe his height yes, but-" Zane dragged on the "but" and narrowed his eyes at the stranger. "Who really is this person Lucinda? You don't just bring people here out of the blue."
"He's a realm hopper!" Lucinda beamed and put a hand on Dante's shoulder. "He's from a whole different world!"
"He's a what!" Zane stumbled backwards and nearly fell. "Oh no, keep your magical hijinks away from me!"
"I'm not magical in any way. Lucinda brought me here.....we think, but we still don't know. Hell I know less about what's happening than her probs le since nothing was happening until something jacked me into a glowing ball of light and now I'm here," Dante said and stared resentfully at Zane as he did the same. Alright jerk, it's on now.
"Zane you have to trust me, Dante isn't the new Ein," Lucinda explained and looked at him with reassurance in her eyes and posture. "The magical source he must have found was a result of a spell of mine, which was created to help good people, like me, connect to other worlds."
"And why do you trust a spells judgement!"
"She wrote it herself, I've seen the crumpled pieces of paper lining her bedroom floor!" Kim explained, her posture grew into a more defensive position.
Zane looked at Dante, then to Lucinda and Kim. His ice cold eyes were tracking everyone's breath. "Fine, do whatever you want with this 'Dante'. Don't blame me if they begin killing people with magic." He waved a hand towards the group and let out a "tsk" before sitting back down at the barstool and looking at his phone. His posture was much different, however, it was more rigid and stiff, like he was preparing for something.
"Ignore him, let us show you around this place a little! Maybe we'll run into Garroth or Katelyn!" Kim tried to say enthusiastically. "Hey Zane? Do you know where KC went?"
"She went with Garroth and whoever else was with him, maybe Aph or whatever...." He said, not looking in their direction.
Lucinda lead Kim and Dante past Zane, who was eyeing Dante wearily, and out of the large place they had been in. Outside it was nearly dark out, and there were lights lining the sidewalks and people chatting. Dante took in some deep breaths, his mind beginning to assemble what was happening around him. You asked for an escape from reality Dante, and here you are. So why am I not enjoying it?
"You know Dante, I'm sure that everyone else would be more enthusiastic to meet you. Zane's just, well, Zane. We had a rough last year," Kim explained and walked alongside Lucinda and Dante, people not paying the group of three any mind. Dante's eyes scanned the surrounding buildings, people and shops as they walked down the lit walkway.
"So...who are we trying to find?" Dante asked and looked at a person as they continued walking, their eyes met for a moment, yellow versus purple, before neither paid attention to each other. Why do they feel familiar? Also wait a minute, wasn't it past midnight in Vesuvia? Is this world's time different than theirs by a few hours? Or is it really eight AM back there? Did it take me that long to get here? No... that can't be it.
"Oh right! We are looking for our friends Garroth, Kawaii-Chan, Aphmau and Aaron. They all went out earlier today for a day at the water park across the way, but they hadn't come back yet," Lucinda explained as the three turned another corner and saw a person sitting down on a bench, looking lonely. Dante looked at them carefully, seeing strands of short red hair under a hat, and began walking in their direction. "Dante! The water park is-oh," Lucinda said quietly as she and Kim saw him beginning to run.
"Elvadoer!"