World 1.12

Outside the gates of Arkport, Yuri stretches her arms with a grunt, sighing in relief at the satisfying crackle of excess carbon dioxide escaping her bones.

Andromeda materializes before her, looking behind Yuri at the gradually fading town as they begin walking down the dirt road outside.

"It's kind of a shame Kaoru-san isn't able to see us off..." Yuri comments to no one in particular. Andromeda turns so she's hovering, one might even say swimming, in midair beside her. "It is," she agrees, "but we'll be meeting more of her soon enough."

"I guess." Yuri frowns, just a little. "Though it wouldn’t be the same, y'know?"

A nod. "That is certainly true. But it can't really be helped, right?"

Now it's Yuri's turn to nod. "Right. Actually, come to think of it," she holds a finger to her chin contemplatively, "how does travel between worlds work anyway?"

"Well," Andromeda begins, "first, I'll need you to be unconscious."

"Eh? Unconscious?"

"Mm. The space between dimensions is.... eldritch at best, and a Lovecraftian horror at worst."

"Really?" Yuri asks incredulously. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes. The human mind is simply unable to handle it- even at minimal consciousness, the mere sounds of the various beings of that space would drive you mad and destroy your brain chemistry."

"Oh... but then, why are you fine?"

"Because I'm a spirit- I'm nothing but conscious, ironically, but because I don't have a physical body, let alone a physical brain, for the sound waves to effect, I'm safe."

There's a moment of silence as Yuri processes this new information.

"I guess in that case," she eventually says, "there's no need for you to explain the rest of the process if I'm going to be functionally comatose for it regardless." Yuri decides with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, fine then." Andromeda huffs in mock indignation.

And in this way, they begin their journey.

It's long enough to warrant a lunch break somewhere off the beaten path, and also short enough that by nightfall, they reach their destination; a completely isolated clearing deep in the forest.

After another long stretch of her limbs, Yuri sits down, leaning her back against a wide tree trunk.

Andromeda gives her a minute to get her bearings.

"Alright. Are you ready?"

Yuri closes her eyes. "Yeah. I'm ready. I think."

She slows her breathing and focuses on getting to sleep.

The mild temperature helps, too, of course.

It's...just right...