“There’s no way you’re from three thousand-ish years ago,” they say. “That’s not possible. Time travel isn’t real. It’s not physically possible.”

“Yeah, well, I was firmly in that boat until I was time traveled out of that boat. Twice. Poor Aurora can’t even control when she does it.”

“This has gotta be some pretty advanced technology for three thousand years ago,” they say, inspecting Aurora. “Not advanced now, but I didn’t think they even had Roombas back then.”

“Had what?”

“Case in point. I’m Sola, by the way. My pronouns are they/them. I go scavenging during the day for parts and stuff. It’s not easy, and there’s less and less to scavenge, but that’s life.”

“I’m Holly, and this is Tes. She can’t speak, so she uses sign language.”

“We must know two different sign languages then, because I had no clue what you were saying. Wait, can you hear me?”

I nod. This is humiliating.

“Okay, good. That would’ve been embarrassing. Okay, maybe I should take you two straight to the elders. Maybe they’ll know how to help you.”

Sola grabs a torch—a literal wooden torch—and sets it ablaze with a lighter in their pocket.

“Wait,” Holly says, “where’s all the future tech? Like a flashlight?”

“The galvaknights know when we use electricity,” they explain. “They can detect the energy. They can detect heat energy too, but not as well. For some reason, their sensors aren’t as attuned.”

“So, they’re like sharks with blood?”

“What’s a shark?”

“It’s a big dangerous fish that swims in the ocean back on Earth. They can smell blood in the water for like a mile.”

“Then I guess they’re exactly like a shark.”

They lead us through Omega Centauri, which is a vast, winding, man-made cave system. Houses pop up every now and then, built into the walls, ceiling, and floor. We don’t pass many people. Out of sixty houses, there are maybe forty inhabitants.

I don’t want to think about what that means.

“Here we are,” they say, “the elders’ house. More than likely, you’ll be welcomed into our community. After all, we need the people.”

They open the door, which looks like it’s made of heavy obsidian, and we walk in. A group of five older men and women sit in some chairs, clearly having a heated discussion over something.

“Excuse me,” Sola says, “but I have brought some guests to see you, elders.”

They turn to face us, stopping their discussion entirely.

“Well,” one of them says, “who are they?”

“Hi, um, elders. I’m Holly, and this is Tes. This is a funny story and you’re not gonna believe it, but we’re from Earth three thousand years ago.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Holly was right—they weren’t gonna believe it.

“Time travel isn’t possible,” one says, once she finishes relaying our story.

“That’s what I tried telling them,” Sola mutters.

“Scientists had that figured out by the year 2500. It would require an impossible warping of time-space mechanics, and a technology that would break all known laws of physics.”

“I have a theory,” the one on the far left says. “Perhaps they were placed in a cryo-chamber a long time ago, and they believe they’ve traveled across time and space using this rabbit, when in reality they’ve been asleep for three thousand years.”

“What’s a cryo-chamber?” Holly asks, voicing my sentiment.

“Never mind,” the elder says, slouching back in his chair.

“What if they came from another universe?” a third elder suggests. “One where time travel is possible?”

The five of them look at each other for a moment before huddling into a group and whispering.

Could we really be in a different universe? Why? How? What?

“Holly and Tes,” one says, breaking the group apart. “Just like you, we are confused by your presence. However, it is possible you have come from a different universe altogether, and traveled between time, space, and realities. We cannot possibly comprehend the implications of this yet, but for now, we will have our best and brightest people dissect this newfound situation.

“In the meantime, we would like to formally invite you to join us in Omega Centauri. Please let Sola show you to your new house.”

“Actually, before we do that, is there anything you can do for Tes’ wrist? And can we maybe get a pen and some paper?”

“What’s wrong with her wrist?”

“It’s broken.”

“Oh, you need bone juice,” Sola says.

“Bone juice? That might be the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Yeah, bone juice. It’s made of some calcium polymer that’s injected at the site and grafts to your bones. Fixes them up right quick.”

“Yeah, I didn’t catch any of what you just said. I’m still hung up on bone juice. It’s an awful phrase.”

“If you don’t like it, don’t say it.”

“That’s the problem. I can’t stop saying bone juice. It’s horrifying.”

“Then don’t call it bone juice. Call it calcium polymer. Anyway, let’s go get some.”

We’re sent to their “primitive” med bay, which far surpasses any I’ve ever seen, even without using electricity. There, the doctor, who I suspect is not an actual doctor, injects me with the bone juice using a syringe.

It hurts a lot, and has a deep burning sensation, but after the initial pain, it feels as good as it had previously.

“It will be a little tender,” the doctor says, “but you should see improvement within the next day or so.”

“See, that wasn’t all bad,” Sola says. “Now let’s go find you some pen and paper. There might be some in storage.”

The storage room is hardly a room at all. It’s more like an offshoot from the main area. Still, Sola hunts through some filing cabinets for a notebook, and finds a couple pens in a shelf drawer.

“Anything else?”

“Don’t think so,” Holly says.

“Then I suppose it’s time to take you to your house. I would rest up while you can. You both seem a little tired.”

“I’d say you have no idea, but seeing as this is what your life has been for who knows how long, you probably do have a good idea.”

At long last, we make it to our last stop of the day: the house we’ve been gifted. It’s a little strange that we’re going to be living in the same house, seeing as we barely socialized in class a couple days ago, but I’m just glad I’m finally going to have a bed. I cannot wait to sleep.

“We’ve stocked you with some water and food,” Sola says, “but it’s only a couple days’ worth. After that, when you’re ready, you’ll be added to one of our scavenging teams or the farming team. Normally, our technology team is also an option, but seeing as you have absolutely no experience with any of our technology, I imagine that’s not going to be on the table.”

“Well, thanks,” Holly says. “Any idea where the bedrooms are?”

“Bedrooms? There’s only one.”

Sola opens the door to the bedroom. There’s only one bed, and it looks about full-sized. Not even a king or queen.

“Wait, this has got to be some sort of mistake,” Holly laughs nervously.

“You mean to tell me you two aren’t a couple?”

Holly and I look at each other.

“No, we aren’t,” Holly says, as I shake my head vigorously.

“Could’ve fooled me. Or literally anybody else here. So just friends with benefits then, or?”

“I have no idea what that means. We are… Classmates. Haunted airship buddies. Acquaintances at best.”

“Okay, well, acquaintances at best, I guess you’ll have to fight over who gets the bed.”