Chapter 47: Complete Destruction

Excerpts from Brief History of Xoth

Portals

Invented hundreds of years ago by a team of magical scholars, a Portal consists of two components. The first component is the Control Base. The second component is the Portal Ring which stands on a base with a ramp that leads into it.

The Control Base has a flat surface with up to fifty pointed clear crystals that stick out of its top. These crystals are known as Destination Crystals. Touching any of these crystals will display an image, above it, of its destination. Saying "Open" will activate the gate and connect it to the destination Portal.

To connect two gates, it requires them to exchange Address Crystals. Each Control Base has a compartment that holds fifty Address Crystals. This means that each Portal is capable of connecting to fifty other Portals. These Address Crystals also act as a security measure since it requires both sides of a Portal to have them plugged in.

The Portal Ring is ten meters in diameter and is often made of pure Mythril. The Mythril helps focus the magic of the ring to create connections between Portals. While Mythril isn't mandatory to be the material base of a Portal, it does allow for the connection to last longer and recharge faster than other magical metals like Blue Silver.

If made from pure Mythril, a Portal can remain open for half a day and take an hour to fully recharge from empty. In the event, that a Portal closes while something or someone is partially through the Portal, they will be pushed onto the side they are the majority on. There is no risk of amputation.

Excerpts from Thunder's Recommendations Report

->Prioritization of mass production of Portals

Reason: With the merger of worlds, our supplies lines and infrastructure is going to be catastrophically morphed. Portals provide an alternative to flight paths and shipping lanes and will help prevent supply shortages around the world.

The resources needed to create Portals is abundant enough, but for curent Xothican technology, it is difficult to mine the metal and to turn it into Portals. We have the technology to mine magical metals and to manufacture Portals.

VVVVVV

Tom sat in the kitchen as he waited for his girlfriends to change into their clothing for the interview in New York. He held a tablet in front of himself and read the report of the established moon base that the international community constructed. The base currently consists of three inflatable modules that were created through a joint-venture between NASA and private companies. These modules were originally meant for a future Moon mission but the Portals removed the need for a space craft.

The first module is the living quarters and lounge for the scientists who live on the moon. It contains beds, toilets, showers and even computers and televisions. The second module is a laboratory that would support research such as Moon soil study and agriculture. The third module, originally meant to be a garage and storage building, is the Portal room.

With the acquisition of the Portals, space agencies around the world immediately made claim to four of them. One Portal would be placed on Earth while one would be on the Moon, one would be attached to the ISS and the other would eventually be place on Mars. Each Portal room would be sealed and pressurized to protect against possible contaminants and exposure to the vacuum of space. The fear of pressure changes turned out to be unfounded as it was discovered that the Portals acted as a shield against the elements on the other side. Regardless, the safeguards will remain in place for the near future.

The Mars mission would be delayed until a few weeks after the Xothican interviews. In this time, new modules will be created and prepared for the Mars climate, and astronauts will be selected to become the first people to set foot on Mars.

While the science is a major reason for this space expansion, there was another more solemn reason. Even with recommendations followed, it is still expected that the merger is going to result in many deaths. Space colonization is the best hope to ensure that no matter what happens on Earth, Humanity will still go on. The process will take a while but the international community believes they can get the population of a small town on Mars before the merger happens. They will continue to expand the Moon's and Mars' population after the merger.

"We're all ready, Tom!" Reia called out in the house.

"Let's see," Tom replied back.

The four Xothicans walked out in their formal attire. Each of them wore form-fitting black pants, but their tops differed. Sylmae wore a cream-coloured poncho-sweater. Tala had on an orange shirt with a button-upped navy-blue business blazer. Reia wore a light-blue tunic top and Vivian had a sleeve-less brown blouse.

"You all look amazing," Tom said as he got up from his chair. "Just wow."

"Thank you," Tala said as she swayed in place.

"Did you all go over the questions?"

"And the schedule and mannerisms," Vivian finished. "We did our practice rehearsals to death." She walked over and held his hand. "We'll be fine." Vivian quickly jumped up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Alright, alright, you know how I worry."

"And we appreciate it, but it'll be fine," Reia assured him. "It's an hour long interview and we're done."

"It will also be the first time that we're separated," Tom reminded. "You know... Since you're all already dressed... How about after the interview I'll take you all out for dinner in New York?"

"Really?" Sylmae exclaimed.

"The interview won't play for a day or two, so with me using the disguise ability, we can just be another face in the crowd. What do you all think?"

"It's a great idea!" Reia said as she hugged him.

"Great, I'll be sure to set something up." Tom's head jerked as he remembered something important. "Before we go. There's one thing we need to go over."

VVVVVV

The beige room for the interview had four chairs set up about a little over a couple meters away from one chair. A camera crew was set up in front of the chairs with several UN agents standing near them. A brown-haired woman in her late forties sat in the chair and waited somewhat anxiously for the Xothican women. Heather Fischer was surprised to learn that she was chosen to give the very first interview with non-Humans. The door to the room opened up and the four Xothicans walked in.

Heather stood up and extended her hand. "I'm Heather Fischer. It is an honour to meet you all."

Aurora grabbed her hand and shook. "Likewise."

Heather shook the hands of the other three before she sat down in her chair.

"Please sit down," Heather offered while she gestured towards the chairs.

The four sat down and made themselves comfortable despite their nervousness.

"Before we roll the cameras, I just want to quickly go over how this interview will go."

"Sounds good," Terra said.

"This will not be a live interview. Any mistakes, flubs or accidental leaks will be edited out in the final video. I will be asking you questions and you'll all be provided all the time you need to answer them. There is no pressure here."

"Thank you for your concern," Tempest said.

"If you are all ready, we can begin." Heather nodded to the cameras. A small red light turned on on all three. She looked into the center camera and said, "I'm Heather Fischer and I'm here to talk the Xothican heroes known as Aurora, Terra, Pyre and Tempest about current events and what the future holds for both Earth and Xoth. Thank you all for coming."

"We're happy to be here, Miss Fischer," Tempest said with a warm smile.

"It's safe to say that in the short time since you all arrived in our world, you all had a major impact on our world at just about every level. Despite not being from our world or even part of our species, you still fought selflessly to protect Humanity. You're all incredible."

The woman's compliments caused the four girls to blush in embarrassment.

"Th-Thank you," Pyre got out.

"Despite everything you have done for our world, very few outside of the UN know who you all really are as people. While you cannot give out your true names, can you tell us what kind of people you all were before you came to our world?"

"Well, I was a war orphan in Spire," Tempest said. "I was at the Spire orphanage until I was eight before they sent me to the Skysign orphanage."

"Why were you transferred?"

Tempest shifted in her chair. She was uncomfortable with the question. "On Xoth, having two differently coloured eyes like mine is considered a bad omen. Especially for elves. The Spire orphanage got rid of me so they could get more children adopted as they believed I was responsible for the decrease in adoptions."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be." Tempest quickly cheered up. "It was the best thing to happen to me. It was there I met Aurora and Pyre. While together we didn't get adopted, we still stayed together. We eventually finished our education and left the orphanage when we turned sixteen and got jobs. My profession was a store clerk at an adventurer's and hunter's shop."

"I was born in Skysign and grew up in the orphanage before I left and became a librarian," Pyre said. "Occasionally I take the free classes at Skysign Magic University to learn more about magic. I can't afford to go otherwise."

"Is it really expensive?" Heather asked.

"Usually only nobles could go to the university. About once or twice a month, the University offers a free class to attract possible unknown magical talents. It was interesting to learn from experts, but being able to take only a class or two a month isn't enough to get into the applications of magic instead of theory."

"Aurora?" Heather shifted towards her.

"Well, like Pyre, I was also born in Skysign and was raised in its orphanage," Aurora replied. "After leaving, I took up an apprenticeship at a smithy where I created weapons, armour and gear. Recently, before I came here, I joined the Adventurer's Guild. I was always fascinated by the Adventurer's lifestyle and wanted to experience it."

Heather turned to Terra who leaned forward in anticipation.

"Well, like them, I too was an orphan but I was in the Bolaweth Kingdom."

"All orphans," Heather muttered. "Was that common in your world?"

"The last war with Hastur and his army ended a little over eighteen years ago," Terra explained. "It was really bloody and resulted in many deaths. Many dead parents. Orphans are extremely common, sadly."

"What did you do after you left the orphanage?"

"Well, I joined the Bolaweth Kingdom army when I came of age. I remained with the army for about a year before I left and joined the Adventurer's Guild."

"Why did you leave the army?"

Terra scratched her left arm. "I had some disagreements with a Captain. I realized that the army wasn't a good fit for me so I left and joined the Guild." Terra, realizing she should reaffirm her stance with the UNDF, quickly followed up with, "I do really appreciate my work with the UNDF to be sure. Very fulfilling."

"How did you meet the others here?"

"Well, as an adventurer I travelled a lot. Those travels eventually took me to Skysign where I first met Tempest in her shop. I soon met the others and we became close friends. In fact, the three of us went searching for Aurora together when she went missing. During that search, a magical phenomenon teleported us to your world. It was then we literally ran into Thunder."

Terra chuckled when she recalled the memory. Heather, on the other hand, had a solemn look come across her face upon mention of Thunder.

"Speaking of Thunder, I would like to address, as Humans would say, the elephant in the room," Heather said. "Your relationship with Thunder."

The Xothican women sat a little taller upon hearing the next topic.

"News broke a little over a couple weeks ago when photos were leaked of each of you and Thunder in compromising circumstances. Even before the release of these photos, there were rumours about abuse that you all faced while living with him. Could you explain the actual situation between the four of you and Thunder?"

Each of the four looked annoyed when they were reminded of the terrible rumours that sprouted up of Thunder.

"Gladly," Tempest replied. "Yes. We are all romantically involved with Thunder and each other in a polyamorous relationship. As for those rumours about abuses, completely false."

"Thunder is the most gentle, kind and selfless person we have ever known," Aurora added. "It breaks my heart to hear these rumours about him."

"I especially don't appreciate those trying to tell us how we should feel about him," Terra said. "Thunder is a great friend, a fantastic fighter, and an incredible boyfriend. I can't ask anything more of him."

"You all hold an extremely high opinion of him," Heather said.

"He took us in and trusted us immediately when we came to this world with nothing but the clothes on our backs," Pyre said. "He sheltered us, taught us, fed us, and even did everything he could to make us stronger. Mere words cannot begin to express our gratitude and love for him."

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"Thank you for your candid responses. Onto other topics..."

VVVVVV

A large man sat in front of his monitor with a creepy grin on his face. His room was dark with only his monitor as a light source. The light revealed the sloth life-style of the man as his desk was covered in fast food and candy wrappers. Two empty energy drink cans sat next to one that was half-full. The man was obese with the sides of his body spilling over his arm rests. His hygiene suggested the man took showers on occasion.

The man was on a Xothican fan site that was dedicated to discussion about Aurora, Terra, Pyre, Tempest, and everything related to Xoth. The site was the largest Xothican website in the world and hosted news articles about the Xothicans' adventures, chat rooms, forums, Xothican facts, and photo and fan art galleries.

The solitary man was engaged in a chatroom that was discussing the upcoming interview with the Xothican girls. He operated under the handle "SmoothCriminal".

PyreisBestGirl: so hyped over the interview11!!

SmoothCriminal: Im recording it!

Merger4L1fe: wat about Thunder?

XothFan4572: what about him?

Merger4L1fe: he has an interveiw next week.

SmoothCriminal: **** that guy.

XothFan9562: ya **** that guy

RedRum: u guys are just jealous that he has the girls all to himself

SmoothCriminal: those photos say otherwise. ****ing UN isn't doing enough to protect them.

JoJo: already signed the petition to free them!

JoJo: www[dot]freethexothicans[dot]com

JoJo: already has a million sigs

gumpypig: petitions dont do ****

gumpypig: i'm joing the protest in New York

bic: speaking of things that don't do ****

gumpypig: what's wrong with a protest?

skeletonbro: Nothing. Nothing at all. That protest two weeks ago was sooooooooooo successful.

gumpypig: we raised attention!

skeletonbro: And caused tens of thousands in property damage and sent many counter-protesters and bystanders to the hospital.

gumpypig: they were supporting a rapist!

skeletonbro: you don't know that! we only got a few photos that could have been taken out of context.

gumpypig: your a ****ing piece of **** for supporting Thunder after all the leaks of photos and information of the Xothicans' living conditions

skeletonbro: I'm remaining neutral on current events until we get more facts. All those sources for the leaks are unsubstantiated.

gumpypig: **** YOU

SmoothCriminal: skeletonbro is right about one thing. protests won't work and neither will petititons.

XothFan9562: What do you suggestion?

SmoothCriminal: I know who Thunder is and where he lives.

RedRum: BULL****

JoJo: tell us who he is already!!! He must pay!

gumpypig: TELL US!!!

XothFan9562: Be hero!

SmoothCriminal: I used to be in MIT before I dropped out to mine cryptocoin. I can hack the military systems. I'm taking care of him today. Watch the news. I'm bombing where he lives. He'll pay for harming the girls.

bic: above translates to "I'm just going to masturbate and cry myself to sleep while thinking I'm a big man."

The fat hermit backed away from his keyboard in a panic. He didn't type the last two entries. Someone had hacked him. What terrified him more was that whoever hacked him knew he used to attend MIT. Before he could attempt to type in the chatroom, his browser closed and several programs started up on his computer.

[Connecting To USAF Mainframe...]

[Connection Successful]

[Opening Avenger Drone Fleet Command]

"No, no, no!" the man cried out as he attempted to counter the hacking on his computer.

[Target Coordinates Entered]

"No!"

[Activating Fleet]

The man pushed himself out of his chair and reached for the power cord of his computer and tore it out of the wall. His monitor went dark, but the command went through.

"Shit! Oh god, oh shit!"

VVVVVV

Tom sat in front of his TV and played a video game that was an open-world survival game that featured a space explorer that crashed on an alien planet. With current events, Tom had little time for his video games. He had a bowl of chips and dip with a can of root beer. Tom hoped that he would be able to upgrade his character's base several times before the time he had to go pick up his girlfriends from their interview.

"EVERETT!" a voice roared from a room in his house.

Tom jumped to his feet from the sudden call of his name. He listened again for the voice.

"EVERETT!"

Tom ran towards the direction of the voice. He found that it originated from his kitchen. Tom found that his kitchen's island counter-top had turned on. A figure cloaked in darkness was displayed on it.

"THOMAS EVERETT!" the man yelled.

"Who the hell is this?" Tom demanded.

"The same man who warned you about Darma's infiltration of the Russian nuclear launch facility. Listen to me. You don't have much time. You have been compromised. A fleet of Avenger drones are on their way to destroy you and your home."

"What? How?"

"Very powerful people don't want you around any longer. Your friends are also in danger. You have less than five minutes before the drones get within attack range. Grab what is precious to you and leave. I will meet you in person at this location and at this time." A GPS coordinate and time appeared below his video. "Until then, do not let anyone but your Xothican friends know that you are still alive. And leave the phone, that the President gave you, behind! He can track you with it!"

Knowing that this man was responsible for saving the world from nuclear devastation, Tom believed he could give the man many benefits of doubt. Tom read the GPS location and time that appeared below the video of the man. At the same time, he took the phone out of his Inventory.

"Okay, I have it memorized," Tom said as he tossed his phone on the counter.

"Good, now get out of there! And save your friends! The future of both our worlds depend on them!"

The video feed ended. Tom felt his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He quickly thought of what is precious to go save. Amber the Xothican plant was already transplanted into the soil of the deserted island he found in the Pacific. He planted her there in order to stop the UN from confiscating it like most of his other items from Xoth. Amber had grown large since he had first planted her in a pot. After being planted in the island ground, the plant further grew to the point where it was as tall as Tom.

For precious items, only two came to Tom's mind. A picture and his computer. He teleported into his parent's old room. In the untouched room, there was a bedside table where a picture frame stood. Tom ran over and picked up the picture frame. The picture was the last picture he took with his parents. Tom was in the center and his mother was to his right and father to his left. The three of them smiled in the picture with large toothy smiles.

With a couple minutes left on the clock, Tom teleported to his room and grabbed his PC tower as it contained all of his notes and research. He then teleported to several kilometers away, so he could confirm the attack.

Tom never saw the drones, but he did see the missiles streak towards his home. He watched as explosions went off where his house once stood. A tear ran down his cheek as so many memories were destroyed in an instance. Tom then teleported to his Pacific safehouse.

VVVVVV

"Aurora, Tempest, Pyre, Terra," Heather said as she readied for the end of the interview. "I would like to thank you all again for your time."

"It was our pleasure," Aurora said.

The cameras went off and the four Xothicans got up from their chair. After some brief chit-chat, they left the room towards where they expected to meet with Tom. Instead of seeing him, they saw a man in a black suit and red tie. He wore round-rim glasses and an ear bud for him to communicate with an unseen individual.

"Tempest, Aurora, Pyre, Terra," he greeted. "I'm afraid the UN has called an emergency meeting. Mister Everett"-he emphasized the name to let them know that he knows their identities-"sent me to pick you all up and to take you all to UN headquarters."

"Tom sent you?" Sylmae asked.

"Yes, ma'am. He instructed me to pick you four up. Tom's currently busy with the UN Secretary General and he didn't want you four to wait."

"Then I guess we shouldn't keep the UN waiting then," Vivian said while she shrugged.

"Please this way," the man in black said while gesturing down the empty hallway.

The four followed behind the man. He remained silent as they followed.

"Sir," Reia called out.

"Yes, Miss Zyer," he replied.

"We have been inside for a long while. What's the weather like outside?"

"It's a fairly mild afternoon," the man in black answered. "The sky is clear and the temperature is in the low teens."

They all stopped moving. The man in black made it several meters before he realized he wasn't being followed. He turned and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Without warning, Tala pointed at him and the man found himself frozen in place. Reia charged forward and grabbed him by the mouth to prevent him from calling for help. She slammed him against the wall.

"What happened to Tom?" Reia demanded.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled under her hand.

"You said Tom sent you," Vivian reminded. "You failed to use his pass-phrase. Who sent you and what happened to Tom?"

Before Reia, Vivian, Tala and Sylmae left for the interview, Tom had teleported them to one of their safehouses and explained several safety protocols he came up with since the events at the Russian nuclear facility.

Knowing that an unknown person knows who they were made him more paranoid, or cautious in this case. Tom provided them a pass-phrase to know if someone was sent by him or disguised as him after the interview. The pass-phrase was answering the question "what is the weather like outside?" is "Rain, snow, hail, and everything in between."

"I-I can't say," the man said.

"Then we take you in and try to change your mind," Sylmae said.

The man in black suddenly went into a seizure. It surprised Reia enough that she released him from her grip. Blood came out of the man's nose, mouth, eyes and ears. He let out a loud gasp before he collapsed to the ground into a motionless heap.

"What the fuck!" Vivian gasped.

Sylmae checked the man's pulse and found he had died. She then quickly checked his Status to see who he was, but was surprised by what she saw.

Status Name - Level - Experience -/- Class - Race - Alignment - Currency - - Title - Buffs - - Debuffs - - Health - Health Regeneration/min - Mana - Mana Regeneration/min - Stamina - Stamina Regeneration/min - Fame - Infamy - Strength - Intelligence - Wisdom - Perception - Endurance - Vitality - Agility - Luck - Unallocated Points - Resistances Physical - Disease/Toxin - Fire - Plant - Ice - Earth - Lightning - Water - Wind - Spirit - Light - Darkness - Skills - - - -

"He's dead," Sylmae muttered, "but somehow his Status was completely wiped out of all information."

"How's that possible?" Reia asked. "Even if he died, we should be able to see who he was."

"I've read about something like this before," Tala said. She quickly turned the man over and tore open the back of his blazer and shirt. On his back was a tattoo of thorns that ran from between his shoulder blades and down his spine.

"My goddess," Vivian gasped. "That's a slave brand."

"It explains why his Status was wiped," Tala said. "High-level slave magic is capable of wiping out Statuses of slaves when they die. Usually used for espionage."

"We need to leave right now before whoever this guy works for finds out he's out of commission," Sylmae suggested. "Tom said he set up a safehouse in a nearby abandoned building. We're to head there if something went wrong and wait for him."

"Right!" the other three said together.

Tala covered all four of them with an Invisibility spell and they quickly left. The safehouse they were to go to was about a few blocks away. They travelled by roof top to avoid being seen by anyone. Within minutes of them leaving the studio building, police sirens rang from all over as they converged on the studio.

The four soon reached the safehouse. The building was condemned and was locked up tightly enough that no homeless person could get inside, but someone with their skills could. They got on the roof and went towards the roof access and went inside the building.

They went down one flight of stairs and ran down the hallway towards the room at the end. They rushed through the door and closed it behind them.

"Okay, we made it," Vivian said in a sigh of relief. "We can relax."

Their moment of peace was interrupted when Tom suddenly appeared in the room.

"Tom!" they all cried out and ran towards him.

Tom was tackled to the ground and he cried out, "Thank god, you're all okay!"

Tom planted kisses on each of them during their emotional reunion. The four returned the gestured back to him. This went on for several minutes before they allowed themselves to get back to their feet.

"I'm never calling you paranoid ever again!" Vivian said.

"Then someone tried to take you all," Tom said.

"He didn't use your pass-phrase," Tala said. "We tried to interrogate him, but he suddenly died."

"What?"

"Tom, he had a slave brand," Sylmae said. "It wiped his Status when he died. What the hell is going on?"

"The situation is even worse than what I expected," Tom said. "Someone powerful is after us. Girls, I don't know how to say this... Our home was destroyed."

"What?" Reia muttered. "How?"

"The guy who warned us about Darma at the nuclear facility called me again and warned me of a drone strike. He said that someone powerful wanted me dead and wanted you four for some purpose. I teleported to a nearby area to make sure what was said was true. It was. Our home is gone."

"Oh goddess..." Tala said.

"Shit," Vivian cursed. "We need to figure out what to do next. We're being hunted and we need to turn things around!"

"The guy who warned me wants to meet in person," Tom replied. "He provided the location where we are to go to within an hour."

"And the meeting location?" Sylmae asked.

"I looked up the location before I got here. He wants to meet at Stonehenge."

VVVVVV

The half moon hung high in the sky over the Stonehenge site. It was the only source of light in the area except for the distant lights of the nearby city of Salisbury to the south. The site was empty of any person until Tom and his companions teleported into the area. They all wore disguises to prevent the possibility of being discovered by any civilian.

"Okay, we're here, where is he?" Vivian immediately asked.

"We just got here," Sylmae reminded. "Be patient."

"I'm more concern over the possibility of a security guard showing up or something," Tom said.

"I made sure this place was empty for when we meet," an unknown voice said.

Everyone turned towards the source of the voice and saw someone walk out from behind one of the stone columns. The man was fairly tall; easily over two meters in height. He walked with confidence in his step out of the shadows to reveal himself. He was a Caucasian man with a slender face and long white hair. His most notable feature was the wide smile he wore on his face.

"I'm so glad I could finally meet you all after all this time," he said. "You can drop the disguises. No one will come by. It's just us."

They did as he said and dropped their disguises. They still wore their combat armour just in case of a confrontation.

"We want answers," Reia declared. "Who are you? Who attacked us? How did you know, well, everything?!"

"Well, Miss Zyer, that is exactly why I am here," he replied. "To give answers. My name is Tep and I work for the same people who wants Tom dead."

The reveal of information made the five uneasy at being in the man's presence.

"Why?" Tom asked. "Why do they want me dead? Why do they want my girlfriends?"

"The group that wants you dead. The merger of worlds. The Unknown titles the girls have. All your mysteries find their origin in one question that you haven't asked."

"And what question is that?"

"Why are the creatures of Xoth, creatures from Earth's mythology?"

Tom found himself speechless as he never really thought about it. Most of the creatures of Xoth were ones that could be found in Human mythology. Elves, dragons, drakes, leviathans and so on. It went far beyond coincidence that there were so many connections. He felt stupid that something so obvious never came to mind.

"And what's the answer?" Tom followed up.

Tep chuckled. "That is because..." His face changed as he talked. His brown eyes turned light green and his ears elongated into points. "...Our worlds have been connected for far longer than recent events."