I'm in a Magical World

I woke up in a place completely different from anything I'd ever seen before. A vast valley stretched out before me, encircled by mountains that pierced through the sky.

Lying down, I passed my hand through the cold dirt. I was in the middle of a long road, leading toward a large city not too far away, enveloped by high, weathered walls.

My chest tightened as my eyes wandered around. No sign of my sister. Nothing.

We were together when that bright light had swallowed us. She had to be here too… But where?

I hastily got up, shouting for her name until my voice cracked. My throat burned. Still, I couldn't give up. I had to find her. What if she was in danger? What if she needed help?

I had failed to protect her. That was clear. But to accept it would be an even greater failure.

The ritual was supposed to be just an innocent game, a childish pastime. Instead, it had turned into something truly magical. The kind that we only see in movies and fantasy books. Who would have thought that a simple, silly game could have this effect, changing everything, altering life itself?

I searched the area, calling, scouring for my sister, walking until my legs threatened to give up. Nothing. She wasn't here. If she were, she would've heard my shouts.

Exhausted. I leaned against a tree next to the road, sliding down until I got seated on the ground. Birds flew back and forth, feeding their chicks in their nests like the world hadn't changed a little. I wanted to hate them for that indifference. While nothing had happened for them, to me, the world seemed to collapse.

The face of my parents came to mind, imagining their reaction if I had ever come back and had to explain what happened to them.

"Sorry, a mysterious light took her, and I couldn't do anything about it."

Yeah. They would throw me out of the door for that.

I stared at the intense sky, almost artificial. The tears rolling down my cheeks felt burning. Maybe I never should've helped her. It would be better if I had ignored her completely. She could hate me, never talk to me again, but at least she would be home now, safe.

I wiped my face. Steady footsteps were approaching. I wasn't alone anymore.

A girl was watching me. She had long, fiery orange hair spilling down to her waist. Her eyes were of a bright red, almost incandescent. She wore a tidy jacket, a white shirt beneath it, a black pleated skirt, and matching thigh-high socks. A hood too big for her covered most of her head. Around her neck was a necklace with a green stone. Maybe jade.

She opened her mouth and spoke.

"Odan’rcho val ne stárien?"

Not a single word made sense to me. It was like listening to an alien language.

"Sorry, I don't understand," I said.

She frowned, repeating the same weird thing.

"Odan’rcho val ne stárien?"

Great. As if being in a completely bizarre place wasn't enough, now I couldn't even communicate with people.

Suddenly, a sharp pain tore through my head, almost knocking me over. I brought my hand to my temples, pressing hard. It was like thousands of disconnected words were being hammered into my brain, one at a time. Each syllable, each sound, merging until they rearranged into something coherent.

The pain stopped as quickly as it began. When I lifted my gaze, the impossible had happened.

Her words, mysterious and disjointed, now made sense.

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

As if that language had always been part of me, I understood her perfectly, and instinctively I knew how to speak it.

"There's nothing else I can do," I answered without thinking, still trying to understand what had just happened.

Her eyebrow arched, and the hood twitched lightly. "Dramatic," she said before turning to leave.

"Hey!" I shot back. "You could at least offer some help."

She stopped, glancing at me over her shoulder.

"If you need help that much, why don't you get up and go after it yourself?"

"As if I haven't tried," I said, biting down on the words.

She narrowed her eyes, scanning me from head to toe, and, like she had already reached a verdict, she snorted a dismissive "Hmph." Without ceremony, she started walking again.

I froze, dumbfounded by her attitude. She didn't even bother asking about what had happened to me. But before getting back on the road, she turned again.

"You planning to sit there until a dragon shows up to attack you?"

A dragon?

The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. The walled city, the strange landscape. I wasn't anywhere on earth. I was inside a scene straight out of a fantasy medieval book.

"Wait... where are we?" I asked.

"Next to the city of Andratia. Don't you know?"

"Andratia?"

"Yes, in the kingdom of Thaloria."

Andratia? Kingdom of Thaloria? My heart pounded in my chest. So that was it. I was indeed in another world. And if I was here, then my sister had to be too, lost in the middle of a totally different place, with dragons and possibly monsters, maybe even gods. I had to find her.

"Listen, the truth is that I'm looking for my sister. We appeared here after being swallowed by a strange light. She has to be somewhere around here."

The girl only sighed.

I wasn't sure if I should've shared the details of the light with her, especially about us coming from a different place, but I didn't have much choice. I had to protect my sister. And that girl could help me right now, even if she clearly wasn't interested.

"That sounds like teleportation magic. But... It's not something common. Usually, only experienced mages can do this type of thing. You sure about that?"

"Absolutely. Can you help me?"

"It's not that simple. As I said, only experienced mages know about this kind of magic. It's too much for me. I'm only a student. But maybe there's a person in the magic school who could help you."

She hesitated for a second, her expression revealing a hint of concealment, the hood twitching involuntarily.

"Alright, I'll take you there," she resumed.

It felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I stepped closer and extended my hand. "Thanks."

"Nina. Nina Aderyn. And you?"

"Haruto Nozomi. But you can call me Haru."

"Very well, Haru. We’d better get moving."

We walked together down the road toward the distant city. The wind gusted around us, carrying dust and leaves. Eventually, her hood slipped back. And for a moment, I even forgot about my sister.

Before me was something unexpected. Fox ears peeked through her fiery hair, twitching subtly.

And just like in a cliché anime scene, I had confirmation.

This wasn’t a dream.

Nor an illusion.

I really was in a magical world.