Ronnie, Tirinius, Liane, and Chad walked through seven different portals to get to their final destination.
A world illuminated by only stars, with black sand, and stiff air.
A planet with blue grass and a green sky, filled with winding purple rivers.
A forest of sighing trees and talking flowers that were kind enough to give directions.
When they came out of the final portal, they were inside a lush, miniature rainforest stuffed inside an apartment. Light illuminated the room, streaming in from a broken wall that exposed the room to the outside world. The sounds of the city made the small rainforest feel even more out of place.
“I thought we were going to the beach,” Ronnie said.
“We are. This was the last place we landed at though, so I thought we could come here,” Liane explained. “A lot has…changed…”
“Uh, where are we exactly?”
“Some rich dude’s apartment. Let’s bounce,” Liane said. “I think I felt a bug on my leg.”
Tirinius looked outside and down to the street below and saw the mangled frame of an old mirror. He swore he heard soft cries and gasps of pain come from it. He planned on getting the magic mirror from Levi, or if it came to it, stealing it. Now they were stuck in a foreign land with two hotheads and no way back since it was broken. His entire body went cold and he forced a smile on his face to hide his unease.
"So uh, are all the mirrors broken everywhere," Tirinus asked Liane.
"Yeah," she grunted. "I guess they're all connected or something. Makes sense if they connect all kinds of different places."
Tirinius' strained smile stretched ever so slightly, and Liane could smell the fear on him.
"Why do you ask? You don't need it to get back, I can always take you," she said.
"Well I-
Their conversation was interrupted by Chad.
“I found my finger!”
“You what,” Tirinius exclaimed.
Chad bent over and found his finger. To everyone’s horror, his finger was rotting, old, and covered in mold, with his wedding ring still somehow attached to it. When Chad put it back on his hand, it slowly came back to life, its skin softening and the mold falling off.
He held his hand out.
“Do you like my handy-work,” Chad asked.
“No! That’s disgusting,” Liane said. “Stop fooling around!”
Chad complained about Liane’s attitude while they continued to push through the rest of the apartment which had vines crawling all over the hallway and the carpet replaced with moss.
The front door had to be cut open with Liane’s sword and when they finally exited the apartment building, the town was a lot stranger than the inside of Levi’s apartment.
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The heavy smell of ash clung everywhere and filled the insides of Tirinus’ nostrils, making him uncomfortable. Even though it was clear that a major fire had just ended, no one walking around town paid it any mind- they were accustomed to it.
Fish-men, women, Alterians, Earthians, and a few other races of beings Ronnie and couldn’t place bustled down the sidewalk, the water-way, or flew above. His neck almost broke from how much he kept swiveling at every new sight around him. The glass spires gleamed against the sparkling twin suns making them wince, not used to the overly bright days and tropical heat.
Tirinius and Ronnie followed a few steps behind Chad and Liane, and while sightseeing the odd sights and smells of downtown Atlaan, Ronnie realized the obvious.
“What are we going to do when they realize that we lied about the watch,” Ronnie whispered.
“We’ll just run away, I do it all the time,” Tirinius replied.
“…really….?”
“Fight to live another day is no shame,” he mumbled. "Now is the right time."
"What!?"
Tirinius blinked and they reappeared a few blocks away at a bookstore they had passed earlier. The few seconds of relief both of them felt were quickly replaced with more panic as to how they would return.
"Okay, how much money do you have?"
"Fifteen credits...I used most of it going to Cascadia and coming back..."
"Don't panic," Tirinius told himself. "We're fine as long as they can't find us."
"You know what you're right. This week has been shit. And this is a lifetime event going on this week. That weird thing where the sun finally sets."
"We can have fun and blend in in! Let's just be tourists until we figure out how to get back."
They quickly entered the bookstore and Ronnie again was intrigued about the small differences that made Atlaan special.
The bookstore, Read-y Or Not!, had a thick, soundproof glass, see-through floor. It made him pause the moment he entered, and from above he could see the fish people. They were in an underwater version of the shop, browsing and swimming about. Occasionally someone would look up, give a short wave, and go back to shopping.
"Whoa."
Ronnie's eyes were so busy, glued to the floor, that he didn't notice two flashy customers entering.
Nero and Adonis.
Tirinius did, and he quickly took him aside and hid him behind one of the aisles.
"Dude, what gives," Ronnie grumbled.
"Shh, quiet. Look and listen," Tirinius whispered.
They moved a few books to the side and peeked through to see Nero and Adonis walk through the store, discussing their plans for more future crimes while the cashier at the front pretended not to hear a thing. They came to a stop at the back wall, where Adonis read aloud the labels on the wall for the audiobooks while Nero took his time deciding.
"Ya know, after seeing what happened earlier...I'm kinda rethinking some stuff in my life," Nero said.
Adonis tried to contain his excitement at the possibility that Nero was gaining self-reflection.
"O-oh...like what?"
"You seemed okay after deciding not to kill-"
"-I was never going to kill her and-"
"-so maybe I can try to move on in my own way....Maybe I won't kill my family..."
"Please don't talk about that in the store," Adonis pleaded. "We can't get banned from another".
Tirinius and Ronnie had no idea what their conversation was about and were more entranced by seeing another Acheus copy. Ronnie couldn't tell if he was a tall teenager or a small adult. He oddly smelled of ash, wore fancy clothes, and spoke with the confidence of a car salesman.
"Do you know this guy," Ronnie whispered. "He has crazy person eyes."
"Yeah," Tirinius grunted.
"From where?"
"Killed him."
"Uh, what?"
"Depending on what he does next I might have to kill him again," Tirinius mumbled.
Tirinius' eyes slowly faded to black and a chill ran down Ronnie's spine. The sudden shift in tone was so drastic, that it was impossible to be laughed off as a poorly executed joke.
"How about we not kill people and instead go home," Ronnie suggested. "That mirror was broken and this adventure is not very fun anymore."
Tirinius ignored Ronnie and silently watched as Nero and Adonis left the store and toward their car.
"Now's our chance! Let's-"
Ronnie gripped him by the arm and started pulling him away from the store entrance.
"What is wrong with you! We're supposed to get back!"
"That man is dangerous. In my world, he kills thousands, maybe even millions!"
"Well this isn't your world," Ronnie screamed.
"Let go of me....SO...I CAN KILL HIM! HE'S GOING TO DESTROY US ALL! DESTROY US ALLLL!"
They stopped struggling in the aisle when the cashier told them they were banned from the store indefinitely.