Young Writers Society

Elias is a Moody TM soldier boi in a future dystopian Earth. When the Big Bad happens, he is forced to travel to the realm of Beirania to secure the help of a secret guild of magicians.

Jerica is a Petulant TM teenager assassin who wants nothing more than to irritate her uncle and his head advisor. Helping Elias seems to be just the thing to do that.

Together they undertake a quest to help Elias find the help he needs while allowing Jerica to live in glorious rebellion.

Elias didn't know what he was getting himself into.

These past few days... months... years, really... he felt lost. He felt like he was always one small thread away from breaking, from losing himself, and losing days. Everything hurt to the point that he felt nothing, but he only knew that was making it worse. And he did care about that, at first. But now? ... What was the point? He already cut off the liabilities. Several times, actually. But maybe there was more. There shouldn't be, but maybe there was.

In all honestly, he was surprised he lasted this long. His time should've been up years ago, back when he was nearing their base. But something about her escape gave him hope, and it was pathetic. He had been living with hope this past decade, and the only thing it did was mock him.

So, Elias had no idea what he was getting into. This was a rare moment when his head was clear and he felt more like himself—whatever the hell that even meant anymore—but he knew it wouldn't last. The war was over, but he was still here. Still doing his job. The days were shorter, but they were never-ending, and he was practically invisible to the other soldiers as he walked past them. He was walking corridor to corridor, wondering if he should once again take the drugs to numb the day, but then stumbling and falling in the dark before finishing the thought.

And when he opened his eyes, he realized he wasn't in the corridor anymore.

Elias blinked, slowly standing up and looking around. He was... in a cave? It was hard to fully tell, but it was dark and musty. He rubbed his eyes, surely thinking this was a dream, or maybe he took the drugs, and he forgot, and this was a side-effect he wasn't aware of? Hallucinations?

But he rubbed his eyes, and nothing happened. He was still in the cave.

If this had happened during the war, or maybe during a time he wasn't himself, he would have been paranoid and sought out whoever did this. But now? He just didn't care.

But he cared enough to be wary and figure out why he was here. Where was he, who put him here, and why?

Hesitating, Elias slowly wandered out, letting his boots crush the ashy rocks beneath him. It was odd, really; this felt like a fairy tale dream, especially as the fog settled near the ground. It was eerily quiet.

Gardens sprawled out in front of him, and he suddenly stopped where he was at, staring wide-eyed at a person in the distance working in the garden.

His first thought should have been to run.

But somehow, it was: what the hell is she wearing?

Jerica was kneeling in front of the patch of potatoes working to hill each plant. The potatoes, she learned, were the biggest pain of any of the crops Aerik had planted. The others were a simple matter of pulling the weeds. But oh, no, the potatoes. The potatoes had to be just so or the plant would die before the potatoes were ready. So stupid.

But at least they're delicious.

She sat back on her heels as she brushed her hands off and tried to dig some of the dirt from under her fingernails. She cracked her back and looked up at the sky. It had to be nearing lunchtime soon. At least, her stomach said it was getting close.

A flicker of motion near Kaidren's cave caught her attention and she turned her head just in time to see a... man? She frowned, looking at him. What the fuck is he wearing?

"AERIK!" she shouted over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off the man. "One of your weird friends just showed up!"

"Who is it?" His voice was muffled -- he must be down with the mushrooms.

"I dunno!" She pushed herself to her feet and started towards the man standing at the end of the cave, locking eyes with him. "Who is it?"

Elias flinched at the woman's sudden shout, and his attention was snapped to the other voice in the distance. She called him 'his weird friend' and he had to replay it in his mind over and over again.

Who? Him?

Instinctively, he looked around and then at the girl, pointing at himself like he was asking that question.

He could have asked her that. Why did they bring him here? He'd also ask how, but he knew what they'd say, and he didn't care. He just wanted to know why, and get the reason over with so he could slink back into numbness and move on.

Elias just stared at the young woman approaching him, not moving at all, waiting for her to approach.

"I—" he began, but his voice was dry and his throat was scratchy, so he cleared his throat and dried again. "Why did you bring me here?"

“You brought yourself through that portal to, uh... what’s it called? Soil? Dirt?” She thought for a moment. Those weren’t the right names for the ground. The realm was called. “... urn... EARTH! You’re from earth... right?”

He stared at her for a second.

“Well?”

“Uh, yeah... is this... not... Earth?”

Jerica frowned at him. He was even weirder than she’d initially thought. Even though his clothes were still the strangest part of him. He was wearing a super tight black undershirt and some... green... she wasn’t sure what was going on with his trousers.

“Who are you?” She demanded. “And what in the world are you wearing?”

Now, Elias was confused. He felt the deep childish part of him wanting to combine a laugh and scoff and maybe joke that he was from Mars instead, but instead he just stared at her not fully understanding. Why was she acting like a literal alien?

He sighed, not caring that he was letting her see how tired and exhausted he was. "Elias," he said plainly, although he was sure she knew that already. She was just testing him. Or something.

"And clothes," he said with a smidge of sarcasm. "But should I... be in costume? Like you?"

This felt like a laughable situation, but he was tired and losing patience. Why call him here for an unknown training session only to be mocked in this way? What was the end goal here?

“Costume?” She scoffed, a prick of indignation rising up in her. “I’m not the one being weird here, Elias. I actually know how I got here. You just seem...” Dumb. “Lost.”

Jerica took a step back, out of arms reach if he decided to lunge at her, and looked back towards the top of the stairs. Aerik still wasn’t there, yet. She sighed impatiently and looked back at Elias.

“Do you really not know how you got here?” She asked skeptically. I wonder if this is some test from the Guild Master? She pulled up her sleeve a bit and looked at her wrist, but she couldn’t see the emblem. Guess not... She looked back at the man. “Did you, like, get knocked in the head? Or something? I don’t understand how you can come through a portal without meaning to. And I don’t trust you, for the record.”

Elias slightly narrowed his eyes at her, not knowing how to feel about this. It was... odd, to say the least. All the simulations and trainings had been extremely serious. This felt like a joke of some sort, but the seven years he had been here, there had been exactly zero jokes.

"I don't know, why don't you..."

He sighed, shaking his head and trying again. He shouldn't talk back to higher officials, even though she was clearly a kid. Maybe this was a trick? What was she talking about, a portal? Did they really exist? Wasn't that just a thing of fiction?

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked again, voice more pressing this time. "Let's just get it over with."

“Who, exactly, is it that you think I am?” She looked at him skeptically.

Get what over with?

A sudden thought filled her with rage as soon as it crossed her mind. “Did Biryn send you here? I swear to the gods!”

She wasn’t sure what she swore, but it wasn’t going to be pretty. How dare he? How dare he think he could send people for her to deal with? Here? Of all places! She set her jaw, angrier than she’d been since her capture, months ago at this point.

“You can go just go... away? I don’t know — or care — where you go. But you are not my problem.”

Elias didn't think it would be possible to be any more confused. He stared at the girl, not understanding what she was saying at all. Who was Biryn? And gods? Plural? Gods? Was she religious?

Elias had heard of prudish traditional societies existing. Was this where he was transported to? For some reason?

"What's your name?" he asked calmly with a step back and his hands out in front of her, hoping she'd calm down. "Maybe you're not who's supposed to meet me. I don't know. What's your name?"

Maybe he'd recognize it?

She blinked at him. Maybe Biryn hadn’t sent him, after all. The man just seemed... confused. Certainly not scared enough if he had been sent to her. And he didn’t seem bright enough to be playing her.

“Jerica Ainsley.” She watched him for a reaction, but he didn’t so much as flinch. She frowned. “Do you not know who I am?”

He hesitated and took a deep breath before answering hesitantly. “Am I... supposed to?”

She stared at him a moment longer. At this point, she assumed everyone knew her by name if not by how she looked. If he wasn’t scared of her instantly... “Well, that’s refreshing.”

Jerica glanced back over her shoulder and saw Aerik appear at the top of the stairs. Thank the gods. She looked back at Elias. “Well, Aerik is almost here. So I guess you can sort out whatever business the two of you have.”

Jerica and Aerik. These were two names and faces that Elias didn't recognize.

He shifted glanced between her and him, not knowing what he was supposed to do. There had never been a situation where he walking in some place and they didn't expect him. This didn't even feel real. Was he dreaming..?

A suddenly terrifying thought crossed his mind. Where the hell was he?

Elias turned to Jerica with a serious face while waiting for Aerik to approach.

"If we're not on Earth," he said slowly, "then where are we?"

Jerica stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what his game was. People couldn't come through portals and not know they were doing so... could they? She almost felt bad for him. He seemed so bewildered.

"Uh... Nykeria, I guess?" Jerica shrugged.

"Your world..." he said slowly, as if he was still trying to grasp the fact that he wasn't on his planet anymore. "Is Ny... Nykeria?"

"No, this country is Nykeria," Jerica said. "The realm is called Beirania."

Everyone knows that. This was perplexing. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to this strange man. It was as if she was speaking to a toddler, trying to explain the world. But he wasn't a toddler. He was a fully grown man who still didn't know anything about anything.

"Hello?" Aerik said as he approached. "Who are you?"

"Said his name's Elias," Jerica answered, looking at Aerik. He looked perplexed, too. At least it's not just me. She looked back at Elias, who looked even more bewildered than before. Well, not just us. "He's from Earth and is pretending he doesn't know what Beirania is or how he got here."

"I see..." Aerik answered slowly, considering Elias for a long moment. "Well, my name is Aerik, which I assume you already know from Jerica's shouting." He gave her a sideward glance before looking back at Elias. "And I don't know who you are or how you managed to get yourself here, but how about we head inside and try to talk this out?"

Elias didn't think it was possible to get more answers to his questions and only become more confused. The country of Nykeria? A realm of Beirania? But they knew he was from Earth? Because of... a portal?

It seemed like the answer was right in front of him, but he wanted to laugh without mirth because it was ridiculous and insane. Of course, he didn't do that, and instead stayed there stoically, the gears in his mind slowly turning.

Somehow, magically being transported to a 'new realm' didn't seem so... bad?

It entertained his mind.

Elias took another deep breath, trying to process everything all at once.

"Sure," he said quietly at Aerik. "I thought you could tell me why I'm here, or how I got here, but..." he trailed off, glancing back behind him at the cave. "I guess I'm here now, and that's that."

"I'm sure we can figure everything out," Aerik said, clearly trying to be encouraging with his tone. He turned and started towards the stairs, still talking."And life is always better after a warm cup of tea, no matter what. Or coffee, if you'd prefer. I have both. You can decide while the kettle is heating if you don't already have strong opinions one way or the other."

"He's not going to stop," Jerica muttered, gesturing after Aerik. "Come on."

She took three steps forward then hesitated, looking back at him expectantly. She'd walk with him if that made him more comfortable, but she certainly wasn't going to let him behind her back.

Elias hesitated another moment and then awkwardly strode forward. Jerica stepped to the side to give him some space and then strode after Aerik. He'd actually gone silent now that he made his point of getting them to follow him towards the house.

"Do you really not know what portals are?" Jerica asked, looking at him curiously.

He looked at her for a long moment then shook his head.

Jerica bit her lip, still walking next to him. There's no harm in explaining how they work, if he already came through one, right? She flexed her hand, wishing she knew more about how the guild was supposed to work. If only she could figure out how to tell for sure that he was telling the truth.

Still... She was pretty good at telling when people were lying, regardless of being able to tell it through the R'hyk. And he didn't seem to be lying. She started down the stairs before he did, talking over her shoulder to explain it to him.

"That's okay," she said. "I didn't know until a few weeks ago. Apparently, there's, like, a lot of realms. And portals take you between them. The one in Kaidren's den connects us with Earth, there are others that take you to other places..."

She got to the bottom of the stairs and turned back to look at Elias. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"This explanation is not making you feel better." Jerica took a deep breath and then sighed. "Okay, so, I've never been to your Earth-place-thing and quite honestly I have no desire to go. But, portals on this end of things tend to be well-hidden in places so people don't randomly stumble upon them. So. If you're here... I guess you're supposed to be here?"

Jerica grabbed the door from where Aerik had just walked inside and held it open for Elias to walk in as Aerik wandered into the kitchen to put on a kettle.