“Are you done?” I asked but Rina continued to cower behind my wheelchair.

I then let out an extended breath before taking us back to the physical world and just as we surfaced, Rina rushed to a corner and glared at me fearfully.

“What was that?” She squealed.

“I told you that I was going to take you to another dimension. Well, technically speaking, it’s another layer of our reality but that’s neither here not there.”

“AHHHHH!” Rina screamed while pressing her body against the wall.

[We could have showed her so many other things and yet you chose to take her to a world of never-ending darkness.]

I sighed before wheeling myself over to her.

“Hey, sorry about that.”

Rina’s glare intensified as she heavily breathed.

She eventually calmed down and as she unglued herself from the wall, I handed a bottle of water which she drank all while continuing to glare at me.

“That… other dimension… what is it?” She asked after downing the entire bottle.

“So, there are eight aspects of magic. Darkness, light, heat, cold, life, death, time and space. I have domain over darkness and so that place is my domain. A dark world that exists parallel to the real one.”

Rina’s eyes narrowed.

“Go there by yourself.” She instructed.

I frowned at this but I didn’t question her and after giving her a nod, I sunk into the dark world.

“Ah…” Rina gasped.

I then resurfaced and this made her eyes widen to their limits.

“So… when you go to that other world… you disappear in this one?”

“Kinda. It’s literally just traveling into a separate space and so of course you wouldn’t be here while also being there.”

Rina nodded before taking a deep breath.

She opened her mouth as though to speak but quickly shook her head afterward.

“Nope! Could you show me something that doesn’t need me to go to that dark place?”

I sighed before pointing at the bed.

Rina’s eyes narrowed.

“Just sit. I was planning on showing you a one to one recreation of Coh, the place Katsíki and I spent most of our time but I guess I’ll have to settle for a diorama.” I sighed.

Rina then sat on the bed and, after backing away a little, I raised my left hand and allowed darkness to pour out of my fingers.

Rina covered her mouth and nose with her hands as the darkness covered the floor.

“Hehe. Don’t worry.” I chuckled but Rina didn’t listen. Instead, she raised her legs and placed them on her bed to keep them from touching the darkness below.

Speaking of which, the layer of darkness rapidly sunk to form a miniature version of the Expanse.

I then created a meter long pointing stick which I used to point at Coh which stood at the centre of the three dimensional map.

I then gave a frightened Rina a summary of the economic and political ongoings of the Expanse and the more I talked, the calmer and more relaxed she got.

“And so, at least from what I remember, trade between all major settlements was smoother than ever. Especially considering that Rendaya was all the way over there.” I said.

Rina remained silent.

Her eyes glued to the map.

“Tell me… is there magic in that world that can resurrect people?”

“No.”

“I see.” Rina droned.

“What was Lanceberg like?”

“I can’t say for sure. Most of our time there was miserable. We were either hungry, hurt or being hunted or even a combination of the three. I remember grand cities, vast stretches of grass and…”

A moment passed as I blankly stared at the hill atop which we stood when we took the first steps towards what was supposed to be our revenge.

I shook aside all terrible thoughts and returned my focus to Rina but before I could open my mouth to speak, her stomach growled.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Are going to go back home for lunch or…?”

“No. I told my husband that I’d be spending the day with you so I guess we could order something.”

“Got it. Pizza sound good?” I asked.

“Sounds good.”

“Toppings?”

“Anything but avocado.”

“Hehe. Alright.” I said while pulling out my phone from my pocket.

While I ordered the pizza, Rina seemingly acquired some courage and so she lowered her legs and even leaned forward to inspect the map.

“Umm… did your cities have plumbing?” Rina asked and so I shifted the darkness all across the map revealing the system of tunnels and pipes that sat beneath all major settlements.

I put my phone back into my packet and pointed at one of several places in the Expanse.

“Space magicians would work day in and day out moving water through these pipes which would provide water and plumbing to my people.”

“I see. And electricity?”

“Oh, we didn’t have any of that. There aren’t that many electricians on Edenton and even if there was, they’d need factories and mines to recreate an operational power grid.”

“I see. And food?”

I explained where the Expanse got its food and answered more of Rina’s questions while eating pizza after it arrived.

Several hours passed and the time came for her to return home.

I accompanied her to her car which was by the motel’s parking space and although she opened the door to enter it, she stood for a moment.

“Are… you going to go back to Acan tomorrow?” She asked.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“I… I might have enough courage to go to that other place tomorrow, so…”

She turned around to face me and weakly smiled.

“Oh, then I’ll stick around.”

“You don’t have anywhere else to be?” Rina asked with a concerned expression.

“Nope. I’m quite literally from another world, so…”

“Oh, I see. Then, see you tomorrow then. Although it’ll have to be after work.”

“Alright.”

Rina got into her car and after exchanging goodbyes, she left.

I then returned to the motel room where I promptly crawled onto bed and without an added word or thought, I allowed myself to sleep.

.

..

I cursed the fact that I could not properly sleep.

I sat in the living room of Mr. Quinn’s home all while blankly staring at the TV for hours as each second painfully ticked by.

“Zuri?”

A voice called prompting me to turn my head.

I saw a sleepy Mr. Quinn standing by the hallway in his pyjamas, a dark red robe and matching pants.

“Yes?”

“You haven’t slept in a while. Does it have anything to do with what happened to your body in that world?”

I nodded.

“Oh.” Mr. Quinn sounded before lowering his eyes. They then wandered for a moment and, after taking a deep breath, he walking into the living room.

“May I?” He asked while gesturing at the spot next to me on the sofa.

“Of course.”

Mr. Quinn nodded before sitting next to me and sighing again.

“I…” He tried saying but no other words followed for a while.

“Is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“Pertaining to what?” I asked.

“Everything. I figured there might be a few things that you’ve always wanted to know and… well, there’s no time like the present, right?” Mr. Quinn lightly chuckled.

My brows furrowed for a moment as I looked into his bright hazel eyes which were illuminated only by the light from the TV.

This man, George Quinn, had separated me from my father all that time ago and so I had only one question.

“Why?”

His eyes widened before lowering.

“Spite. Or… maybe just cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”

I… didn’t understand what he meant.

Mr. Quinn must have seen this and so he sat upright and clasped his hands.

“Do you remember what your father did? What he was?”

“Barely. I know he was some kind of businessman but… that is the extent of my knowledge.”

“Oh. Well, his story, our story is one of four college students who, like everyone else, dreamt of achieving great success. We came up with a business idea and, using the skills we each possessed, that idea would go on to become a very lucrative business. But… each of us had our faults, with your father having the most… problematic one. As I’m sure you probably remember, he was a gambler. A compulsive one. This wasn’t a problem when we were broke and the most he could gamble was whatever he had in his pocket but things changed once our company grew. He became more… reckless. Playing countless games wherein entire fortunes were won and lost. Fortunately for us, at least in the beginning, he won. That’s because, even though gambled compulsively, he was good. Very good and so we allowed how to do as he pleased, especially since he didn’t particularly care for the money he won, that money would just go into the company. Then, just as we reached our highest of highs, he played a game and, for the first time in seemingly forever, he lost. What was at stake? Our entire company.” Mr. Quinn said. His jaws clenched.

“Our two other partners and I rushed in to save what we could and we ultimately managed to get the company back but at this point we- I was burning with rage and so I visited your father and demanded that he pay us back for the trouble he caused. He accepted but… that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to watch him suffer and so I continued to drain him of his wealth until all he could afford was a little flat all the way in Kukulkan. However, no matter how hard I tried, he was still happy. I’d always known he cared for you but I wanted to see to what degree and so I made my way to Kukulkan and asked him for two more games. These would be our last. He won the first one and I promised that I would stop taking any more of his money. In exchange… I wanted you.”

My heart frantically knocked on my chest as the words left Mr. Quinn’s mouth but I remained seated without expression.

“I told him that if he won, he could keep you but you’d grow up poor and miserable. Or…”

My vision blurred and my heart fell as I realized that I could no longer clearly recall my father’s face.

I closed my eyes and took several breaths before looking at Mr. Quinn once more.

“A-and where is he now?”

“He… killed himself a few days after we left-“

I stood up before Mr. Quinn could finish.

I couldn’t look at him and so I chose to look to the side all while my heart raced.

“D-did you bury him?” I wheezed.

“Yes.”

“Take me to him.”

Mr. Quinn nodded before standing up and making his way upstairs.

He then returned with a set of keys before leading me outside.

We entered his car and he drove towards a Vectrain station where we boarded one of the trains which sped to Kukulkan.

As the train moved I pulled out my phone from my pocket and dialled a certain number before placing the phone on my ear.

[Mmm? What’s with the late call? Is something wrong?] Katsíki asked.

“Umm… I’m not quite sure. Could you pick me up in a few hours?”

[Where are you?]

“I’m on my way to Kukulkan.”

[Mmm… alright. Send me your location when you’re ready. I’ll start moving in the meantime.]

“Alright.” I said before ending the call.

The train eventually arrived in Kukulkan and by this time, the sun was steadily rising, casting the world in pale grey light.

Mr. Quinn got us a taxi which took us to a graveyard a few near the outskirts of the city of Allery, the city where I spent some of my teenage years.

After getting out of the taxi, we made our way to a certain grave which was marked with the name “Bahati Huzuni”.

I fell to my knees and placed my hand on the tombstone.

Then, with trembling lips, I whispered.

“Papa?”