20 Chapter Five - 3 || Entrance (1/2)

Darren looked unconvincingly at her. She pursed her lips and thought for a second.

”Then pinch yourself,” she suggested.

He looked startled. ”You mean—”

Essairyn sighed and raised her palms to his face. Before he could back away, she slapped them squarely on his cheeks. He jolted at the sting of the slap and stared down at her dumbstruck. As the soreness quickly faded away, he felt only the pleasant warmth of her hands on his face.

”Do you believe me now?” she asked teasingly.

His mouth gaped open a little in shock, and she dropped her hands and observed him. He closed his mouth as he got his bearings again and glanced away in embarrassment.

”Yeah, it hurt,” he admitted.

Essairyn smiled and reassured him. ”It's not so bad here. This world is quite beautiful, and it has the most amazing creatures in it. And ah!” She clapped her hands in remembrance. ”That reminds me, where did Akari go?”

”Hm? Who's Akari?” Darren questioned. ”Another traveler?”

Essairyn shook her head and debated for a moment whether to divulge that Akari was a fox, and a talking one too. ”Well, you'll meet her soon, enough. But first, let me show you something really cool. Don't be too surprised, ok?”

She lifted her hands in front of Darren and slowly formed a ball of magic. He started back at the initial spark but watched in awe as the magic ball ballooned.

She extended the sphere toward him, and he gingerly took it in his hands. The lavender light inside coruscated as if it were dancing, and his eyes sparkled in a similar fashion as he fixed his gaze upon the sphere.

”Is this..magic..?” he laughed incredulously.

”Yes,” Essairyn murmured. ”Everything is made of magic in Sol'h'meyr.” She looked up at him tentatively. ”It's almost like some fantasy video game.”

”A video game, huh,” Darren entertained. ”Like one of those stories where you get stuck in one?”

”Yes, and yet at the same time, it isn't just some video game. There's a whole ecosystem, economy, physics, and history. It really is like we stepped into a whole other universe.”