Chapter 2

2

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Several hours later, Caste said her final goodbyes, trying to play it cold when she walked toward the boarding area after breaking the fierce grip Harumi had on her hand. She could still hear the little girl's whining and wailing echoing behind her. Two weeks were nothing in the grand scheme of things and it wasn't as if she'd never see them again. She shook her head to clear the creeping guilt, found her seat, and opened a romance novel she'd never had the time to read. Several pages in, just as a battle raged between the hunky protagonist and a wicked hag, the spell of the story along with Caste's deep concentration were broken by a soft-spoken passenger. "...iss? Miss, is this seat 2B? I'm sorry, I don't have my glasses..." "Oh, oh no! You're fine, here let me see your ticket...Yep, looks like we're seat-mates." Caste smiled and extended her hand for a quick shake, but the woman sat down excitedly, "Oh, thank god! I'm so relieved...I embarrassed myself in the airport by almost sitting in someone's lap, and my anxiety levels are through the roof. I was in a hurry so I probably left them back there," "Are your reading glasses yellow with daisy patterns?" "Yeah! Hehe, what are you, psychic? That's amazing!" Caste smiled again, reached up, pulled the reading glasses off her new acquaintance's head, and handed them to her. "Found them for you." The woman blushed and introduced herself as Chise Nakamura. The two exchanged stories for the first few hours of the flight and found they had quite a lot in common. Just as Caste had followed her dreams in the fashion industry to Japan, Chise was heading to America to pursue a solo singing career starting with a talent search audition in Burbank, California. There were slight differences here and there. Chise had her parents' blessings and full support whereas Caste had neither at twenty-two. Her original path to modeling at eighteen had morphed into a management and ownership position at her own high fashion retail clothing company by the time she was twenty-four. Now, at age twenty-eight, she felt proud and content with her lot in life. Running a business alongside the perfect family left her with no regrets. Once she patched things up with her mother, she'd feel truly satisfied and complete. She was sure of it. After indulging in Chise's stories, the two exchanged numbers and social media. Casterline showed off pictures of her two most favorite people in the world and was having a great time until she realized she was homesick already. "Oh, Mrs. Akahoshi , your makeup is running! Hold on let me get you some tissues." Chise wasn't used to soothing others when they cried, but she did her best. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would hit me this hard. I'm such a big baby haha. Please excuse me, I'm going to go freshen up a bit...Chise...May I call you Chise?" She knew it was a bold thing to ask of someone she'd just met but she'd found a kindred spirit in this aspiring young songstress and just couldn't help herself. Chise was a bubbly teen who luckily took no offense whatsoever. But refused to call Caste anything less than Mrs. Akahoshi, due to her strict upbringing and sincere wish to be respectful to those with age and wisdom on their side. As she headed to the restroom she felt a wide array of emotions. But she promised she'd hold it together upon meeting face-to-face with Katlyn. No tears, she chanted to herself. No tears. Only smiles. She lifted the mascara wand up to her lashes, slid some balm across her lips, and reached for her favorite applicator in the set, her eyeliner pencil. Before she could finish the winged look for her left eye, her pencil began to shake violently between her fingers. Her initial thought was turbulence, but this was more an onslaught of tremors than anything else. Before she could utter a single word, she was whisked away in a cylinder of blinding gold light. When she hit the ground, her knees buckled hard. She winced before opening her eyes to see the dark and dreary remnants of a castle outstretched before her. Where there once might have been bustling bazaars and cityfolk now ran wild with goblin creatures, snakes, and three-headed vampire bats. Once her vision focused completely, Casterline noticed the girl sitting atop a red throne. Long, platinum-silver hair coiled into a tight bun atop her head, one piercing lilac eye peaked out from behind her overlong side-swept bangs. She wore a crown of black thorns and a gown of crows' feathers. When she stood from her throne, it cracked and snapped and whined until Casterline realized it was made up entirely of human bones and that the red coloring wasn't the red paint of a glamorous, gothic movie set but blood. "Where...am I?" Caste asked timidly. "None may speak before they are spoken to in the presence of greatness such as mine, you insolent fool!" The girl was attempting to sound intimidating, but alas the high pitched sound of her voice gave her away to be no older than fourteen years old. This did nothing to ease the fight or flight adrenaline rush coursing through Caste's veins. "I was on a flight. Thousands of feet in the air. What is going on here?" The only plausible explanation that came to her racing mind was alien abduction. The strange youth giggled, "No, no, nothing like that. I am as human as you are. Though my rank far surpasses yours, I assure you." A Telepath? Now Caste was wondering if her drink had been spiked by a flight attendant or a crazed passenger or even her new found comrade. "Again, no. I simply summoned you here of my own accord. As Empress, Queen, and Glamorous Ruler of the Kingdom of Krowne, I wield and possess abilities the likes of which an Earthbound woman such as yourself would never understand!" The girl huffed a triumphant, snooty sound full of confidence and pride at her proclamation. "I need to get back. If you know what Earth is, then send me back the way I came!" The girl faltered for the first time. "Y-you will address me as Empress Fiaerna! Krowne is mine to rule, everything you see before you belongs to me. This glorious capital city, the stalls, the stallions, the...the citizens..." The Kingdom of Krowne lay in shambles, no more than a shadow of it's former brilliance. Caste had no idea what had become of this place but her gut told her she'd be better off not knowing. And at present she didn't want to know anything other than how to get back onto her flight. "I can't tell you how to get back there! I didn't...I didn't think the legends of your world were true! I'm just as shocked to have you here as you are, you know? But...since you are here, I must make use of you as intended. You will champion the beast-fiends of this world on my behalf. And once you've attained enough strength, you will bravely face the final fiend. It has no name, but it is the key to unlocking my final gift and sending you back whence you came. The legends say it is so and so it must be!"

"You brought me here on a whim? Based on what, some bedtime story you read? Where am I? Tell me what you know, kid. I have a family waiting for me, so if this isn't some hidden camera show or movie set or whatever, you need to prove it to me right now!" "You talk big, but you're scared. I can hear the fear in your subconscious voice. But if you must be made to believe, then I shall strike fear into your heart. Be warned, as a royal I have but one Magical Restriction brand on my forehead, see?" She pushed her bangs up to reveal an odd symbol seared into her skin. It looked as if it were perpetually burning, as if the brand had only been placed their a moment ago. "It pains me not, fair lady." And without warning, Fiaerna raised her right hand and shot a black and purple swirl of fiery energy right past Caste's head. The Magic hit so close it singed a couple of hairs from Casterline's usually perfectly sleek shoulder length bob-cut. She didn't have to speak aloud to convey that she most definitely believed Fiaerna's words. She tried to envision a brick wall before bolting into the city ruins. She was lost in a strange and dark place with a Magic-wielding maniac hot on her heels. "Please wait! I don't want to hurt you, Mama!" Mama? The word echoed in Casterline's mind. It was such a shocking word to hear that it stopped her where she stood. "Ma'am! Miss! Ma'am, please wait!" Fi said through ragged gasps. Ah, so she had misheard her after all. Never mind the fact that she had the ability to blast Casterline's head to smithereens, being called "mama" by anyone other than her daughter felt bone-chillingly wrong. She knew she was addressing a powerful being but she couldn't help herself when she said through gritted teeth, "Don't ever call me anything other than my name, you psychotic little brat!" Fi, too, had stopped cold in her tracks. Caste braced herself for another blast, but was instead stunned to find Empress Fiaerna on her knees crying like the little girl she truly was. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Don't leave me! I don't even know your name yet..." She said through heavy sobbing. Casterline's heart sank. This child was lonely. It was plain to see and easy to understand why in a desolate land such as this. Motherly instincts overrode her sense of danger as she stepped forward toward the little girl. That lilac eye shot up, fear stricken. An audible gasp, then another bolt of elemental energy, black-purple lightning this time, shot from Fiaerna's hand. A sickly green goblin twitched and jolted in a heap at Casterline's heels. "You saved me?" She whispered. Fiaerna nodded. "So now will you listen to me, please?" Caste was already leaning forward to wipe away her royal highness's glistening tears. "Yes. Tell me everything."

Several hours later, Fiaerna lay sleeping soundly with her head in Casterline's lap. She was grateful for this quiet moment. She wouldn't be able to process what she'd just learned otherwise. Dimensional Rifts were real, not science fiction. Dimensional Rifts connecting one world to another were also real. In the Kingdom of Krowne a book of legends based on ancient exploration records suggested that a mythical blue planet could be synced with this one, the purple planet Odinsai, to summon forth he whom the sovereign ruler deems worthy to fulfill his deepest desire. Fiaerna, who'd lost her mother to a terrible plague several months prior, had longed to fill the ache of loneliness in her heart. She would not open up much about what happened to the citizens of Krowne, but Caste came to the conclusion that dark sorcery was involved, that the unnamed beast-fiend was no work of fiction and that she had to take this situation seriously if she had any hopes of ever making it home.