Between Two Worlds

If what Erebos plunged through really was water, it didn’t offer the same sensation. No resistance slowed his descent, and instead of coming to a stop in a cold abyss, he found himself surrounded by open air. But instead of something colliding with his feet to stop the fall, he smacked face first into stone. If his arms hadn’t been in front of him, he most likely would have broken his nose from the unexpected impact.

As if the gravity itself had changed, Erebos found himself lying on his stomach against what he thought would be the wall of the pit. Unsteadily rising to his feet, he opened his eyes and surveyed the environment. Starting at his feet, the ground he stood on was indeed curved like the pit’s walls. Raising his eyes, the round mouth of the tunnel he stood in was blocked by an undulating field. Realizing that this was the surface of whatever he had plunged through, he stepped forward and lightly brushed it with his fingers. Besides a slight tickling, nothing could be felt in the field.

Finally coming to his senses, Erebos realized that his friends were still on the other side. They obviously hadn’t followed him, but that was probably for the best. Whatever this substance was, it probably wasn’t good for a normal person to touch.

He thought long and hard about whether he should return to the other side, still wanting to avoid capture but guilty about abandoning his friends and worrying them. Deciding to investigate a little more before emerging, he turned around to look at the other end. As if mirrored, an identical field stood a few tens of feet away at the other end of the round tunnel. More miniscule inscriptions were wound around the length of the tunnel, giving it a peculiar textured appearance. But strangely enough, those weren't the only features reflected.

“…”

Erebos: “…”

Silence ensued between the two figures with locked eyes. One with short hair and the other shoulder-length, one a male and the other female. Erebos didn’t know how to start a conversation like this, with another person’s presence here being exceedingly strange. Then again, he couldn’t say his own presence wasn’t as well.

Luckily, the girl across from him spoke first.

“U-umm… I-I… I’m s-sorry, I don’t know w-what to say…”

Hearing only a quiet stutter, Erebos didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t blame her for trying, and he probably would have done the same.

Erebos: “W-what’s your name?”

That was the only thing he could force out of his confusion. It might not be the most important thing right now, but something was better than nothing. She looked startled for a moment, shutting her eyes and pulling her hair. But after a few seconds, she slapped her cheeks and mixed in a little confidence into her embarrassed expression.

“I-I’m Aethra, w-what’s yours!”

Raising her voice into a shout, she forged through the awkwardness and gave a name. She was probably a meek one regardless, so it took some effort to break that barrier. And again, he couldn’t blame her once more.

Erebos: “O-oh, I’m Erebos. So… Um, how did you happen to get here...?”

Desperately thinking of how to determine the nature of this person, Erebos figured that the best course of action would be to come to a common ground. If they both knew why they were here and where they came from, maybe the nature of their current surroundings would be revealed as well.

Aethra: “A-ah, that's a... funny story… I was wandering around and accidentally f-fell into this pit when the edge crumbled out below me. Strangely though, I went in face down but landed on my feet…”

Sure enough, a few bits of stone laid at her end of the tunnel as if the edge collapsed in with her. Not as dramatic of an entrance as his, but at least it was something he could believe. Supposing that it was his turn, he wondered how he should go about his explanation. Would she believe his story, and just how long had she been in here? Did she even know about the war back on his side?

Settling on the truth, Erebos rubbed his chin and explained his entrance without a prompt from her.

Erebos: “I was getting chased by a group of soldiers, so I jumped in myself. That’s why I came in like I did.”

Not sure if she had seen his actual entrance, he felt that he should explain his lack of gracefulness regardless. She responded with a concerned expression at his mention of soldiers, disregarding the rest of his statement.

Aethra: “What were soldiers doing on that side?! And what’s on that side anyway, you have to tell me!”

Erebos was taken aback by her sudden boldness. She obviously recognized what a soldier was, and at that she demanded for him to tell her what was on the side he came from. But that question itself raised many more with him. Does that mean she never came from his side? What was on her side, then?

At the same time, he noticed a few more details that only deepened his concern. Her outfit, although similar in function to his, was entirely different in styling. And according to her story, she had been standing on the other side of her field before falling through. Wouldn’t that mean she was standing upside down in relation to Erebos on his side? Although hard to believe that gravity could yield such effects, their current environment showed that his conception was false.

All of these questions pointed to one thing. She didn’t know what was on the other side because she had never been to the other side. Her confused expression transitioned to disbelief, indicating that she had similar thoughts. Both of them stepped toward each other, with his eyes darting over her as if vainly searching for an explanation.

But unlike anyone he had met before, Erebos whether she was doing the same. Where her eyes should be were two round, featureless orbs.

Gasping as if struck in the stomach, Erebos backpedaled and fell onto his behind. She similarly stepped back, clutching her stomach in the same sense of breathlessness. She wasn’t blind, and neither was he. They both knew that, and that alone was enough to implant a thought into Erebos’ head.

Erebos: “C-can y-you, see what I see…?”

Aethra: “D-do y-you, see how I see…?”

Similar questions, but both meant to find one answer. Similar people, both seeking and hoping for one answer. Approaching closer and closer, Erebos needed a way to dispel his anxiety and confirm his suspicions, his hopes. He reached for his wand, and she unsheathed a small rod as well. He offered his left palm, and she offered hers.

Writing a single word, he poured more effort and strength into these few letters than any others before. Drawing her palm back, she looked at what he wrote. Erebos did the same.

A simple word.

"Yes"

As both of them mouthed out the word, those few letters proved to be enough. No matter what was written, the act of reading what each other wrote was proof enough.

He had just met this person, but a sense of closeness he reserved only for his family and best friends overcame him. Tears wet the corners of Aethra's eyes, but he couldn't blame her. He was the same way, after all.

***

Giving way to a new bond between them, the barrier of awkwardness and confusion that inhibited their speech crumbled away. Erebos and Aethra talked away as if they were old friends, and what each other had to say was truly astonishing.

His notion of her being from a completely foreign world proved to be correct. While similar in most natural aspects, their terrain and civilization were completely different, save from their language and the existence of similar ancient structures. From both of their perspectives, the world was a flat disc falling off at the edges, with only the Lacuna in between. It turned out that both sides of this disc were inhabited, with the different sides never learning of the other's existence.

Honestly, this would’ve been too much to believe for Erebos if the one telling him was anyone else. But to see someone just like him, with the same peculiarities, it was a truly fulfilling experience. He couldn’t doubt what she said, because it felt like he himself was the one saying it as well. In fact, he was saying the same kind of things about a different world, and she must have thought the same as him. He didn’t want to, he couldn’t if he wanted to, entertain the idea of her lying to him. Neither could she.

Not all of their discussion had the same joyous tone, however. After the initial excitement wore down, they began delving into the issues that they both faced in their own halves. She had shown a certain knowledge about soldiers and there being another, although unknown, side. After hearing her accounts of the politics of her world, he understood why.

Whereas Erebos’ side was tasting its first major conflict in all of history, the nations of her side had already been at their first war for years. For her conscious self, she had lived through more war than peace. Existing in those conditions, she had also come to know the reason for the conflict as well.

Aethra: “You have a nation in the center as well, don’t you? One that has control of the largest ancient tower?”

Erebos: “U-uh huh. Yeah, we do. Is there the same on your side too?”

Aethra: “Well, there used to be, but you can’t really call it the center anymore. Prolitsa used to be just that and the southwest, but they control the whole southern half now. They’re pretty much the aggressors through and through, no matter how they try to spin it.”

Erebos: “‘How they try to spin it’? What do you mean?”

Aethra: “I suppose you wouldn’t know about how they try to justify their wars, but its never as simple as it seems. For Prolitsa at least, they staged an entire war between their neighbor and made both look bad just so the other nations wouldn’t intervene. It was pretty obvious though, and look at where they are now.”

Laying her head in her hands, she cast her gaze down while they both sat on the floor and exchanged information. Despite her acclimation to wartime, she was obviously still upset at the circumstances of her world. Erebos, however, was also immediately concerned about her world. To be specific, her was concerned with the last piece of information she just relayed.

Erebos: “Staged… a war? How’d they stage it, what did they do?!”

Aethra: “Huh? A-ah, they just made some crisis and did some mock decisive battles. Our nations had an ancient treaty that said no territory exchanges, alliances, or wars could never be held between the nations. Even if their crisis was frivolous, it was enough to keep the other two nations from getting involved.”

Hearing such details from Aethra was somehow more convincing of the war on his side than anything his friends had told him. He might have been placing too much trust in the words of someone he’d just met, but the scenario she just explained was too familiar to disregard.

Erebos: “Our Capital just went to war over a hostage crisis, but they declared war against the one everyone thought would be the instigator. If what you said was happening to my side too, do you think the same thing is happening…?”

Aethra rubbed her chin and leaned back. Pointing her face to the curved ceiling above, she mumbled something that Erebos barely caught.

Aethra: “Just a few years late, but I wouldn’t doubt it…”

If a war between the Capital and Editha was hard to believe, if the war she had in her world was anything indicative of his, an actual, serious conflict was coming. He clambered to his feet, and took a shaky step back.

Erebos: “I-I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here much l-longer… If what happened in your world is going to happen to mine as well, I can’t just ignore it.

Aethra got up to follow him, glowering at his sudden desire to leave. He was sure she understood his hastiness, so he hesitated for a moment and looked her in the eye.

Erebos: “I’ll come back though, all right? This won’t be the last time we meet. If something helps one of our worlds, we have a duty to help the other, right?”

Her expression melted into softness, and she came close to him and looked up into his eyes.

Aethra: “A duty…? I don’t think there’s much more I can do for my world, but if it's to help you, I can try my best. I still have responsibilities on my side though, so I can’t do much just yet.”

Giving an inquiring look, Erebos watched as she stepped back and turned towards her portal.

Aethra: “It’s what the whole war is about, so as long as it happens, I’m not going to squander what people have fought for. And especially now that I know what's on the other side.

Growing only more confused, Erebos cocked his head and waited for the complete explanation. Her face steeled into a determined expression, and she clenched her raised fists.

Aethra: “So many people have died so I could release the Four Tower’s seals. If that’s what Prolitsa needs to break this barrier, I now have a personal reason to do it. I can’t leave my friends behind and neither can you, but after we’re done, we’ll come and see each other’s worlds, right?”

She gave one last smile over her shoulder, with a solemn wave. Before he could even process a response, she sat on the edge of the tunnel, hung her legs through the barrier, and slid down onto the other side.

Chasing after her, Erebos tried to put his hands though and follow her for just a moment. But as his hands came to graze the field, the same prickling sensation as when he passed out covered his arm. Recoiling back, he stood and stared at the rippling barrier in a pensive silence.