“You have permission for take-off, pilot Stella.”

With Adina’s words, the warship hummed to life, greatly shaking the interior. Sett could feel himself shaking with an excitement that almost seemed shake in frequency with the warship.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” Stella’s voice sounded through every surface on the warship, sounding a lot like a captain on a commercial aircraft. “We will be departing for the trauma facility in the Occult bureau located in Section 1 in one minute. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened and that your arms and legs are inside the shuttle’s structure. A pleasant flight to you all.”

Sett heeded Stella’s words and quickly fastened his seatbelts, though he was probably the only one that needed the reminder.

“Told her not to say that…” Adina, for her part, had her head in her hands, lightly shaking it. “Yet does she listen? No…”

Despite Adina’s low muttering, the take-off continued without problems. They were soon airborne.

*Clank**Clank*

“Hello, you two.” The bright voice of Stella arrived from within the small hallway that connected the hold to the helm. “How are you two enjoying the trip.”

Stella came walking with easy steps despite the heavy shaking of the departing ship. Looking down, Sett could easily see that her footsteps were far heavier than usual. Sett reckoned that it was probably magnetic shoes or something magically similar that allowed her to stand upright.

“Stella, is this really necessary?”

“Sure is, vice-cap.” The pilot grinned widely at her sister. “Just because the captain isn’t here and the Sett fellow is, doesn’t mean that I have to holed up in the cockpit all alone, right?”

“Fine, do what you want.”

With Adina’s consent, Stella plopped down in the chair opposing Sett.

“So, what do you want to know?”

Likely having seen Sett’s excited eyes, Stella let Sett ask any question he wanted.

“How are we flying without you being in the cockpit. Do you have a co-pilot?”

“Hohoho. Nothing of the sort, my young gullible friend. This here warship has a second-grade spirit integrated within it.” Seeing Sett’s confused gaze, Stella explained further. “Basically, it is a sapient autopilot that has the ability to reason. It can make basic altercations in the route, should the need arise. In short, I am only really needed if there is actual aerial combat.”

“Amazing.”

Sett found himself in wonder. Every single thing in society could be upgraded with the use of magical things. Even complex things, such as flight, could be easily automated beyond anything science had been able to.

“How about…”

Before Sett could finish his sentence, Stella held up a finger.”

“Watch this.”

Stella went to dial and press some buttons.

The next moment, Sett almost jumped from his seat in fright. Everything around them had disappeared. The walls and floors had turned completely transparent, allowing one to see directly through the hull of the warship.

“Bet you won’t be able to see this on the mortal’s warships.”

Stella proudly showed off the strange feature.

“Stella…”

Adina complained lightly.

“Jeez, sis, don’t be such a killjoy.” Stella scolded her sister, apparently having forgotten that she was supposed to address her as vice-captain. “The kid is going to the trauma facility for who knows how long. It won’t hurt to let him have some decent memories before he is enveloped in tests and bureaucracy for months upon end.”

“This… you are right. Just do not show him anything confidential, alright?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Sett had barely heard the words of the two siblings. He had been way too absorbed into the sight that was before his eyes.

The world was rapidly disappearing. Not Gliese Prime, mind you. Sett had already figured out that they were someplace entirely a long time ago. The world was beyond strange. The ground looked like rivers of blood. The only geographical feature present was the enormous spikes of pure black stones that erupted from the ground. The biggest of these spikes had naturally been the one that they had just departed from.

Just what was this place, Sett wondered.

“Departure of realm 22-11b imminent, please brace and expect great turbulence.”

A mechanical voice spoke on the same intercom that Stella had used to address the crew earlier.

“Oh, you will definitely love this.” Stella brought Sett’s attention back to her. “Do be careful not to miss this sight, alright.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Sett looked quizzed at the pilot for a few moments but decided to follow her line of sight anyway. What he saw once again scared him greatly. They were approaching the heavens, yet the heavens seemed to be solid. Unlike the normal world, it seemed as if the heavens above were a spherical mass. A mass they would soon crash directly into.

“Hey… What is going on? Aren’t we approaching that wall?”

Sett scaredy asked the two before him.

“No need to worry, bud. Everything is under control.”

Not entirely sure if he could trust the happy-go-lucky girl before him, Sett turned to look at Adina.

“It will be fine.”

With her words, Sett could finally relax, knowing that things would not go badly.

Approaching the spherical mass that encompassed the world, Sett noticed that it was liquid with many antiquate details moving about on the surface. It was almost like an abstract painting.

“Departure of realm commencing.”

They breached the spherical liquid with the mechanical voice announcing their departure.

Sett immediately felt an immense surge of vertigo. It felt as if everything had been turned on its head. Gravity was way off, despite the artificial gravity on the warship still function. Sett had to shut his eyes and squeeze his mouth shut for a moment in an attempt not to throw up for the second time in only half an hour.

It took many seconds before the intense sense of vertigo turned for the better. It was still there, but it was manageable.

Sett could finally open his eyes.

“Wow…”

That was the only word he could say to describe the sight before him. The sight was absolutely surreal.

“Transdimensional stabilization optimal. Everything looks good.”

Stella and Adina conversed, but Sett did not pick up on a single piece of what they said.

It was as if they were in another space. Not even the laws of physics seemed to work as they should. It looked exactly like the liquid sphere did, only that they were now inside it. It was beyond wild. Enormous plumes of strange red particles floated everywhere.

At the point where they had passed into this strange space, a single tear, in reality, remained to allow one to look back into the world they had just departed. Within moments, however, this tear closed.

“Activating transdimensional support system.”

Slowly, normality returned to Sett. He no longer felt vertigo or fatigued.

“Where in the world are we?”

He could not help but mutter to anyone in particular.

“Well… Speaking in a strictly Technical sense we aren’t in a world, right now. We are in the space between two planes of existence. Specifically, we are in the void between 22-11b, or the vampire’s abode, and the prime material realm, where Gliese Prime is located.”

Sett lightly extended his mind towards the space that enveloped them, hoping to gain a better understanding of the space between worlds. Even despite the obvious interference from the warship's magically powered parts, Sett could clearly feel it. The unbound power that laid in the space that surrounded them. The sheer amount of it was almost frightening.

Lettings his mind wander even further from the ship, Sett made contact with one of the enormous plumes of red coloured particles. He soon regretted his decision. The empty space was overflowing with power, but the plumes were magnitudes higher.

With heaving breath, Sett withdrew himself from the plumes that threatened to tear apart his mind.

“The plumes,” Sett spoke through laboured breath. “What are they?”

“No one truly knows.” Stella, too, looked at the plumes with a sense of fear. “Scholars have tried to figure it out since that dawn of trans dimensional travel yet have never been able to ascertain exactly what they are. Some theories that it is broken realms. Others say that it is dead gods. Some have even proposed that the plumes are yet to be born universes. The only thing that I know is that we must never steer close to them unless we want to forfeit our lives.”

Sett agreed with the last point. If his mind had almost been shattered from merely approaching it, how could his body have fared any better?

As time passed on, Sett noticed that the space around them changed ever so slightly. The red backdrop had slowly been transformed into a pale emerald-like colour. A colour he knew all too well.

“Arrival on Prime Material Plane imminent, please brace and expect great turbulence.”

The colour that existed in the seemingly infinite space represented the area they were connected to. The pale emerald-like colour was naturally the skylight of Gliese Prime.

“Arrival on Prime Material Realm commencing.”

This time Sett knew what was coming. He gripped onto his seat's handles to ensure that he would not be lost in vertigo and shut his eyes just in case.

The warship shook and a slight vertigo assaulted Sett, but it was far more manageable than earlier.

“Systems nominal, switching from trans dimensional systems to standard systems.”

Only when Sett heard Stella’s affirmation, did he open his eyes.

“Woah…”

They were just above Lankone, the biggest of the twin moons. Even under the faint sunlight, the red light that they were known for was still faintly visible. This was where the entrance to the realm was. It largely explained the colour scheme, at least.

Turning his eyes in the opposite direction, Sett saw Gliese Prime in all its glory. Lankone and even the red and black world from earlier could not hold a candle to the magnificence that Sett felt seeing his home planet from outer space. Even atmospheric photography could not embody the sheer awesomeness of the sight.

Below him were countless people. Billions even. All of them either sleeping or beginning their day. Underneath him, Sett could see the point where night turned into day. He saw the way that the nightlights would turn off to welcome the coming day.

If he was allowed to, Sett could stare at the sight for an entire day and not be bored.

“Mortals…”

Adina lightly muttered from her seat, mocking Sett’s loving gaze.

“Don’t be like that, my dear sister.” Stella quickly came to Sett’s rescue. “Can’t you remember the first time that you and I exited the In between? I swear your eyes were sparkling the purest of joy.”

“You.”

Adina's voice turned dangerous, but her face was visibly lightly tinted red even underneath her helmet at Stella’s truthfully spoken words. Despite this, she could not find any rebuke and simply glared at her sister with a promise of retribution later.

The angry glare was, however, interrupted as a communication array lit up.

Perhaps wishing to escape the situation, Adina quickly fled the place to answer the call elsewhere.

Stella giggled, clearly happy to tease her sister.

“I hope that’ll loosen her up a bit.”

Stella remarked as she lightly massaged her chins.

“Is she always this…” Sett struggled to find the right words, fearing that the person in question would hear him. “…cross?”

“Nah. I think she is just peeved that the captain left in such a hurry after the raid. She is probably unhappy that she can’t show off in front of the captain anymore, considering that it’s our first mission with the squad and all.”

That made sense, at least partially. She wanted to show off to her superior.

“Wouldn’t she have a better opportunity to show off now that he isn’t here?”

“That is certainly true.” A mischievous grin appeared on Stella’s face. “Truth be told, I think it is just because she likes the captain.”

“Oh…”

She was only angry because they would not be able to spend time together. With such a reason for his poor treatment, Sett could not help but feel slightly indignant.

Footsteps approached them. Sett and Stella immediately began to do anything but talk about Adina’s sore subject.

“Sup, sis. What did they call for?”

“Turn the ship around. We are bringing the prisoners to home base.”