"Wh-what...are..." Shoba brokenly asked the mysterious unannounced visitor, finding his words choked in his throat.
The majestically dressed figure slightly tilted its round face to one side in a curious and somewhat innocent manner, upon noticing the existence of the bewildered youth, it blinked its large magenta glowing eyes a few times and exhaled an exasperation breath after inspecting Shoba in silence for a little while. Shoba mirrored its thoughts, he didn't say anything else and watched the visitor massaging the bridge of its nose for a few moments before raising its helm again.
Once its delicately shaped mouth opened, a string of gentle inaudible sounds flowed out. Shoba was a little surprised, its voice was watery and almost feminine. Leading him to question if he had misinterpreted the alien's gender.
A look of displeasure appeared against its bizarre blueish face, but it continued enunciating different inaudible sounds Like a novice pianist searching for the starting key, Shoba very quickly realized the strange fellow was muttering a series of different languages one after the other.
He was considered one of the top 10% of youth across the Asian eastern continents.
Since attending private schooling as a child, he was already well-versed in multiple dialects, so he caught a few familiar tongues during the bizarre ordeal. Soon enough, a familiar tongue sounded through the air.
"C-can you understand me?" a clear and melodic voice spoke out to him.
At first, Shoba was still startled by the strange fellows' outward appearance, its sudden arrival, and now its soft coral-sounding voice dousing the air like a musical instrument . Almost nothing he heard nor saw matched anything. Also, the voice didn't seem to match the cold glint in his eyes. Although the figure carried an aura of maturity, its voice suggested someone not a day over 18. The situation was becoming increasingly bizarre, to say the least
The mysterious fellow's brows narrowed, seemingly displeased with Shoba's initial silence.
"I said...can you...understand...me?" it repeated less than friendlier this time with its brows tightly knitted
"Ah? Y-yes, I can...ahem. But w-w-who are you?" Shoba finally found the confidence to ask shakingly
The blue-skinned fellow's brows relaxed at the question. "Po," he replied indifferently taking a deeper look at its surroundings.
"Po?" Shoba echoed, a confused expression crossing his face. He also didn't like how this Po fellow was regarding his house.
'What's with that face, it's not that dirty is it'
The fellow nodded, then cast a gentle gaze around its new surroundings.
"So, this is the famed untouchable realm, hm? Doesn't feel all that majestic if you ask me. One wonders what the higher-ups find so alluring about this place." It said with a slight disdain
Meanwhile, Shoba's thoughts drifted back to the events from seven nights ago. The appearance of those ominous portals came to mind, widening his eyes as traces of anger and hope flickered through his already fragile state.
"Sigh ...why am I always delegated to these odd places anyway? Who did I offend to deserve this?" Po mused to himself dramatically holding the side of its head in faux distress. It rather impolitely began wandering around the small apartment without a care in the world. Shoba, still slightly stunned, quickly regained his composure soon enough and rose to his feet in a flash. Suddenly the feeling of life had reignited through his bones.
"H-hey! What exactly are you looking for? And who are you? Why are you in my home?" His voice, fueled by a surge of emotions this time around, carried a reprimanding tone, surprising both him and Po.
Rather than reacting to the tone, the blue-skinned visitor studied the distressed youth before him more intently. This led to an awkward, drawn-out pause.
Shoba maintained his frail balance, refusing to shift his piercing gaze from the visitor. Despite every being in his body urging him to keep his distance.
'I have to know what happened. There's no way this is all a coincidence, he must know something.'
Po studied the boy and the damp room with a careful expressionless gaze. Yet, there was a hint of deep thought within his oval magenta eyes. After he sized Shoba up and down.
Suddenly, Po lightly clapped his palms together, a look of eureka as though he had solved a great conundrum.
His movements seemed swift and elegant, he lowered his hand and pulled out a strange thing out from his robes, Shoba had no idea he carried pockets. You couldn't tell from a first look at those flimsy silk robes.
Caressed in Po's hand, was a peculiar black metallic ball, about the size of an apple, covered in bright silvery veins. Po caressed the steel ball, lightly tossing the ball a few times, measuring his throw before lightly tossing the weighted ball into the air.
Shoba stepped back in a hurry, fearing the heavy-looking object might damage his floorboards.
Miraculously, the ball never dropped; it stopped at eye level with Po and held its flight.
Po' cleared his throat and started to exhibit strange clicking sounds. Shoba arched one brow, but then his gaze glazed with marvel, quickly noticing a response in return from the black ball, which instigated a series of beeps and tiny whirring noises from inside it. The ball started to violently rattle around, moments later its dark case was covered in silver pulsing veins. The mechanical whirring suddenly stopped. And then it sprang to life, with two ethereal wiry wings unwrapping themselves away from the onyx shell.
Shoba stood motionless, marveling at the floating metal ball as it excitedly whizzed around Po's head like a firefly. It seemed his curious marvel was only shared by himself though, Po flailed its arms a few times, failing to swat the flying black ball away in annoyance.
"That's enough! Stop it- stop! Damn, golem… 'Virilteus! Virilteus!' I say." Po's desperate calls finally evoked a response.
The metallic ball ceased its erratic flight and gently settled beside Po's shoulder. He sighed in relief, clearing his throat in a bid to mask his embarrassment. Slowly his stern gaze returned to Shoba again. Behind those magenta eyes, Shoba was unearthing a cold air surrounding them. Po creased a slight crazed smile as he finally addressed Shoba directly.
"You… mortal… me… God!" A sinister smile creased against his dark blue lips after he said that.
Shoba felt a chill crawl down his spine watching that chilling smile. Just as he was about to speak, Po burst into a cackling laughter that filled the entire apartment.
"Hey, now, why such a serious expression? I thought mortals were more intuitive with matters of jest. Ahem, to clear the clouds in your thoughts, let me explain a few things.
Go on - don't be afraid - take a seat."
Shoba studied the fellow for a few moments, he didn't seem scary or a threat on the outside, there was even a tiny part of him that felt rather intrigued by him.
"My name is Polaris Thasslemoreton the 4th , and the 64th child of the great and benevolent Helvetios! You may call me Sir Po, of course," he declared proudly, chin slightly raised.
'Wait did he just say...'
"Six...ty-...four?" Shoba slowly sounded aloud.
Po's response was an innocent stare, unsure of what he had said that was wrong. After he smoothed his chin in thought for a little while, he lightly clapped his two hands together.
"Ah yes, of course. In your world, that sounds incredibly odd. I read your kind can't procreate to such numbers, although neither can my people hahaha. Each and every fellow beneath our great Helvetios Clan is considered his child. He adopts all who wish to follow his way."
Shoba observed his strange words, trying to not lose himself in the dream like appearance of this stranger.
" Oh and where I come from doesn't concern the fleeting thoughts of mortals like yourself.
Why I am here, however, opens the door to an interesting conversation.
Where shall I begin?
Ah! Of course, the mana storm seven days ago..."
'Mana storm... .' Shoba repeated to himself anxiously.
Po inspected the youth carefully before continuing, nodding slightly, seemingly impressed by Shoba's swift change from his earlier agitated demeanor.
"It's quite complex to explain the mana storm without delving into the fabric of dimensional roads, the shape of the galactic map, and the intricacies of interdimensional time rifts as a whole
Simply put, the arrival of the mana storms devastation upon your world, had also brought forth the appearance of time rifts."
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
'Time rifts? like...corridors leading into the past? Is that...what those portals are?'
"My job is to monitor these rifts and devise countermeasures to prevent such devastations from continuing.
Unfortunately, your world, what do you call it... Earth-VXZ77 I believe, lies outside the Federal Coalitions United maps.
Had this disaster not occurred, my species would have no reason to be here."
Shoba's heart pounded in his chest violently, his face slick with cold sweat could only hopelessly stare in a wordless trance. Logically, what he was being told sounded more like a fantasy tale or a poorly written conspiracy, but after the week he'd endured, he couldn't deny anything anymore. A small fire of hope ignited in his broken heart as he wondered and dreamed of the possibilities.
"These time rifts... where do they lead? And... can I bring someone back...?" He swallowed his nerves before continuing.
"Can I find someone who was taken by one?"
Po's eyes momentarily widened with a strange glittering luster glowing within them.
"Oh-ho so you've lived through the mana storm…perhaps my coordinates were correct this time around. Du-la…initiate sequence reversal – 7 days 6 hours 47 minutes and hmmm... 0.32 seconds ago should be enough."
The metallic ball emitted a shrill noise, signaling its understanding of the command.
Its delicate wings fluttered wildly as a red light emerged on its front, projecting a translucent beam that scanned across the darkened living room. Shoba slightly tensed up as the red beams passed through his body, experiencing what seemed like a high-speed laser scanning the entirety of the entire room.
Moments later crimson shapes began to form around him, creating life size laser models of his house. He watched in odd fascination as the beams passed through him, noting his position at the edge of the mahogany table that dominated the dining area.
Shoba traced the contours of the table, observing his walls, windows, ornaments, and all the broken items shimmering into existence under a crimson static energy. It was both masterful and terrifying to watch up close. What also bore into his heart, was the true sense of unfathomable possibilities existing out in this wider world.
Soon his eyes would widen in horror, seeing the red laser forming two life-sized human figures, rendered in red static, appearing around the created replica of his dining table
'Mom?...D-dad?'
He closed his eyes, whispering to himself,
"It's not real... it's not real."
Upon reopening his heavy eyelids, he saw the scene transforming once more. The red lights had reconstructed the events of seven days prior.
While there were no audible voices, only static crackling against the frigid air, the scene unfolded silently but more so performed with complete accuracy down to the finest detail. Shoba found himself standing next to the blue-skinned visitor, both watching the red lines and expertly conducted energy particles replaying the day that haunted his mind.
The crimson models, though lacking the actual definition of his parents, captured their mannerisms to their minute detail. Shoba's mind briefly wandered to the possibilities of such advanced technology. His brows furrowed as he stole a prolonged look at the unwelcome visitor, reminded of the ongoing obscurities unraveling in his once peaceful world.
'This is...incredible. But who...who actually is he?' He questioned himself wearingly. Strange sharp eared fellows with blueish skin appearing out of the thing air always sounded like the worst sort of plan anyone should be involving themselves with.
Until the beginning of this week, Shoba had lived a peacefully mundane life, filled with achievements, family, and friends. Now, his world no longer made sense, and he sensed that something far bigger was at play.
Feeling Shoba's intense gaze, Po turned his head slightly.
"Mana Constellations . Only high-grade tools like this one can harness particles in this way. Oh, and surprisingly, your world is filled with countless particles. It's quite bizarre, considering I read that a mana vein couldn't exist in this realm. Hmm…how strange this place is true"
Shoba mulled over the word 'mana' in his thoughts. If his understanding of the fictional substance held any truth, then this energy was the natural source of power that wizards or magicians used to produce incredible attacks.
His voice emerged involuntarily, crackling with curiosity.
"Are… are you a... wizard?" He asked gently uncertain, and a little embarrassed once he noticed the weird look Po wore in response.
Po turned his head towards the boy, his soft purple face momentarily displaying a flicker of emotion before returning to its usual cold glare.
"A wizard? What do you know about wizards, mortal? Hmph." Po snorted.
"I am someone whose title transcends such a common classification. You see this?" He gestured towards the alluring silver staff in his hand, its ruby, diamond-shaped jewel glittering like crystallized blood.
"These three silver stars here. Only those chosen by the deity corps receive this." Then, with a brazen motion, he firmly knocked the staff three times against the ground. Shoba took a cautious step back as the surrounding red models grew volatile, he saw the appearance of those whirring portals take shape in the form of an amber color.
He was once again witnessing the final moments of a lone figure being pulled into a portal.
The room was engulfed in seconds, followed by another silent, human-like model entering the lifeless scene of sadness. Shoba's heart tightened, and he clenched a fistful of his damp clothes, his eyes brimming with a mix of fury and helplessness rewatching the scene of his Mom being taken again under his watch.
"My Mom… my family. They were pulled into those things," he said coldly, pointing towards the shimmering oval particles devouring the crimson world.
"Where are they?"
Po furrowed his brows, feeling an unexpected unease for half a second from the boy's glare.
"The portals took them? Hmm… well, that is quite an interesting problem. You see, ahem, due to no fault of my own nor my superiors, you better note this sound and not try and sue us in the end. Where was I, oh right, a very important relic, which is of no concern to your world, has been stolen." He explained Shoba wasn't buying the sketchy explanation, but he believed Po strangely, whilst also recognizing his omission of said truth.
Well, I guess I can say this, a certain something was guarded by an all-powerful protector. Picture a world trapped in a glass, and there was one strange fellow protecting said glass, but then someone killed the strange fellow, and broke the glass anyway. That's the best way I can think of explaining it to a mortal."
Sura could only pull a slightly wry and half-annoyed expression.
'Glass? And strange men? What is he babbling on about.'
"Concerning this protector, unfortunately, he was murdered recently, causing an unnatural stir in the life-giving cosmos."
Po directed his even gaze toward the amber particles floating in Shoba's dark room.
"The whole point of this... protector! is to ensure the flow of time between the sea of realms remains stable, for obvious reasons."
"So...the worlds don't fall or collide?" Shoba said daringly, his words emerging almost unconsciously at this point after focusing intently. For some strange reason, these things were slowly making some sense to him. Shoba had already tuned his intriguing mind to take in everything. Regardless of how confusing or disbelieving it all was, to know more about the disaster, he had already deduced he had to adopt a new approach to how he viewed everything.
Almost like a baby learning how to talk again.
Po, genuinely surprised by this insight, nodded in agreement before continuing.
"Sigh , you can imagine the traffic it's caused for my department. There are over 52 portal rifts connected to countless places, and these places are far beyond what you mortals perceive as stars.
We're already stretched thin trying to safeguard the inter-dimensional stellars. And now that fool done and got himself taken. Tsk! he the great Fisherman, the great being who guards those rivers was taken out. Ergh, but at least my journey is almost over.
Hey, did you ever see a different kind of portal? How should I put it, a sort of... prettier portal, perhaps?"
Shoba thought long and hard about that, his eyes suddenly flashed wide remembering exactly what the purple fellow could be asking.
"Ah? I-i... my sister, she walked into a brighter one. It wasn't like the others..." Shoba's voice trailed off into a hiccup, his teeth grinding against each other whilst he tried not to remember Ringo walking away with that angelic figure.
Po glanced down at the boy's clenched fists, noticing droplets of blood trickling onto the carpet from how hard he was clenching.
Po felt an urge to say something but stopped short, his eyes became alive as he pondered Shoba's words.
"Oh, so there was one living in this realm... I see."
"Wait, what do you mean by 'there was one'?" Shoba demanded, with his tone growing more insistent unconsciously.
Po, perceiving the boy's escalating agitation, chose to overlook the rudeness.
"Unlike the one your... 'parents' fell into," he explained calmly, still attuned to Shoba's rising emotions.
"Fell into? They. Were. Taken," Shoba enunciated each word with growing intensity. His bloodshot eyes narrowed, resembling a provoked beast glaring at the composed, blue-skinned figure before him.
"Easy now little cub, they were, unfortunately, claimed by what we term 'wild Rifts. ' The sheer force of these rifts indicates the unstable nature of the realm at the other end of their current.
In contrast, the more aesthetically pleasing portals, which we call 'Controlled Portals, ' are intentionally created to facilitate communication with other worlds.
And for operating such portals, one requires one of these at least – the Qaxholu ."
He gestured towards the lustrous staff in his hand. He twirled it between his fingers playfully, before finally settling the butt of the staff against the firm ground
"Say hello to my buddy, Red Wheeler."