Beyond?

“Deeper and deeper we went. Down into the earth, yearning for warmth. Down in the depths we found caves and tunnels. Endless miles of them. And other things, life which evolved in the darkness and heat of the earth. The deeper you go down towards the planet's core, the thicker the mana around you gets. We already knew that long exposure to mana can change your mind and your body. The creatures which exist down here are warped, twisted and malformed. Those creatures didn't belong on the surface and they didn't acknowledge our position at the top of the food chain.

But that's not our concern. We, who chose to live down here. Because the same is happening to us.”

-unknown.

***Beyond, Somewhere***

***Azir***

“Azir? Why do you know so much about this world?”

I tense up when Stella asks me the dreaded question. “There are some things that can't be that easily explained. And some which are better left unsaid.” I feel Stella's hug becoming tighter.

Her fingers claw into my side. “I want to know. Even if it's a dark secret. I can see that being here isn't good for you. You look sad, especially since we entered this city.”

“Will you tell me why you aren't introducing me to your parents then?” My eyes wander to the other people who sought protection from the cold. “Maybe we should discuss this in private, later.”

Stella looks towards the other people. Then she stands up and pulls me to my feet, dragging me to a far off corner of the shop. There she pushes me down and sits down between my legs, placing my arms around her. “We've known each other since we were five! Unless you tell me that you are another person, you can't tell me anything that would change my mind about you. I admit that there are some aspects about my family which I don't want anyone to know about.” She stops for a moment. “And I haven't told you... because I am not allowed to. If I told anyone, we wouldn't be able to enjoy our university life any more.”

I raise an eyebrow. “But I wouldn't tell anyone. So...”

“It was a bargain. I really can't tell anyone. But I promise that we'll always be together, even if someone finds out. I was promised to get something important if I can make it through university with my current identity.” Stella whispers grabbing my hand. “So now your turn.”

I am puzzled. Does she belong to one of the great clans after all? Why would she disguise herself as a commoner? And what's up with that stupid bargain thing? She must have made it when she was five? What kind of deal do you make as a five year old child?

Leaving me none the wiser, I grab her hands. I'll have to tell her at some point anyway. Better now than never. “I lived on this world. I was one of the... seekers of knowledge, just a bumpy translation. That's what they called us. My people created this city. We thought of our civilisation as untouchable. The pinnacle of society. We controlled the weather of our planet and we could travel from one continent to another within the blink of an eye.”

I gather my thoughts. “I was always a loner, trying to unravel the last mysteries of magic and science. But then one day our sun darkened and shone less brightly. We never found the reason for it. Well, let's say that we didn't have the time to find the reason. Our planet cooled down and as there wasn't enough food for everyone, wars broke out. We thought we were above such low activities. In the following years I watched my people die. Either they froze to death, or they were killed by others of their kind. It was a hard time and I did some uncivilised things to survive.”

“The last survivors dug deep into the earth, where it was still warm. But there are some other indescribable horrors down there. I didn't follow them and tried to uncover the mystery behind our sun. The depth and darkness changes people. The skinny, white things are some kind of degenerated version of them. One day I woke up and had to admit that I was the last one of my kind. But I refused to die. I researched ways to escape my world.”

“First teleportation, then summoning magic. I devised the plan to let myself be summoned to another world. But I failed and died.” I feel Stella's hands tense up. “My body died, while my soul was summoned to your world. The soul is something like a container for memories. My mother was involved in a summoning ceremony against her will. My soul entered the body of her baby and she got rescued.” At least that's the sugarcoated version.

“She accepted me as her son, despite my strangeness. Her family gave me something which I had long forgotten. Bonds with other people. The only one who dislikes me is that old hag over there. Probably the summoning process of those dark magicians is somehow linked to this world. I think that's the short version. So now your turn.” I turn silent.

Stella says nothing for many minutes while she is holding my hands. Then she turns around and hugs me, pressing her cheek against mine. “I don't care, I love you. And my little secret is really insignificant compared to yours.” She leans against me and seconds later I can hear her breath becoming slower.

S... Sleeping? “Hey! Wake up! That's not fair!” I shake her.

Suddenly her hug becomes tighter and her tail wraps around her legs. I try to push her away, but all that I manage to accomplish is to cause Stella to drowsily grab my head and bury it in her bosom. “Don't move... tired... sleep...” Her legs lock around me and I feel the pressure intensify!

What's with this strength? No, I have problems breathing now! “Mmm!” I have to get... out...

***

I open my eyes and look around. A faint light is shining through the glass of the shop's windows. The people are still sleeping, huddled together in pairs or even in groups.

Stella is resting with her face on my chest, holding with both hands onto the fur of my makeshift clothes. I feel her tail around my neck, so I free myself carefully and slowly from her grasp. She is a very fitful sleeper and I am afraid that she could break my neck if I disturb her too abruptly.

When I am free I sigh and stand up. I survived another night with her, it feels like I am getting really good at that.

Now standing, I find out that I am not the first one who is awake. Agate is crawling on all fours around my teleportation circle. She is inspecting every detail of it like having found some kind of holy grail. She looks like some kind of overgrown rat in her furs.

I shrug my shoulders and turn away. It doesn't trouble me as long as she doesn't damage the circle.

In another remote corner of the shop I find Quarma kneeling between several piles of books and magazines. She is skimming through one of them, only stopping to look at the pictures.

I step behind her and take a look at it. It's an advertising magazine with pre planned travels. Not something she would ever read, but I guess the pretty pictures are what counts.

She looks up from her studies and fixates on me. I grin at her, guessing that she imagined the world of the demons a little different. Quarma knows my story in detail like the rest of the family, but I guess she never believed me.

“You didn't lie.” She states with a disturbed expression.

I answer with a flat and tired tone. “No.”

She drops the magazine and takes her staff, which was lying beside her. Quarma stands up with a tired expression. “So we try to go home now?”

I nod. “Once everyone has woken up.”

.