Young Writers Society

James continued to stare at them, but this time in unbelief less because of what they said but because it was clear they actually meant it. As for him, he was still wrapping his head around the possibility. It wasn’t that it was too lofty of an idea, it just seemed so improbable.

Then again, much of his life had been improbable.

“Forgive me if I’m still a little unsure,” James said slowly. “But if you are in fact, from another world, then… where is it in relation to here?”

He paused.

“Do you… know what this world is called?”

"This world is called Nye," Viktor said. They had overheard it by accident. It seemed like Tiberius was assuming that they had intentionally ended up here. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. "We don't know how close it is to Teyvat. Ending up here was an accident, and we don't usually travel to other worlds."

“How do you end up on another world by accident?” James asked.

If such a thing were possible, that opened up a whole world of terrifying accidents that he would likely think about instead lf sleeping in the near-future.

Evie sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"We were exploring some old ruins," she admitted. She was sure some of this wasn't going to make sense to someone not from Teyvat, but it didn't hurt to at least try explaining it. "The ruins in our world usually have guards, and I salvage them for parts. Viktor almost always comes along with me, and Felix has been doing it ever since he started living with us. We were all near an old set of runes. They just looked like carvings on the wall, but there was a bright flash of light when one of us bumped into them."

She still wasn't entirely sure who had touched them first, but she had her suspicions that it might have been Viktor. If not him, it was definitely Felix.

"The next thing we knew, we were in Nye," she finished.

There were several things they explained that only gave James more questions than answers. He’d start with one thing at a time.

“Okay…” he said slowly. “What exactly are runes?”

Evie thought for a moment.

"They're like..." She did a wavy motion with her hands, which, she realized a second later, really wasn't all that helpful. "...old writing from forgotten civilizations? Teyvat is filled with them. There's some that we can read, but this wasn't really one of them. They sometimes have little tricks to them."

She frowned.

"Not like this," she clarified.

“Tricks… like magic?” James asked, reaching for something familiar.

That was one way of describing it.

Evie nodded.

"They can also be more mechanical," she clarified. She felt Viktor's eyes on her as she spoke; she was the one who was the more well-versed one on mechanics out of the two of them. "Sometimes they can reveal hidden entrances, or give a reward if you solve the puzzle they're a part of. It's hard to explain them without seeing them in person."

"So it's like... a puzzle, or a riddle, and if you solve it it triggers something," James said, trying to repeat it back to them to make sure he understood correctly.

"That's exactly it," Evie confirmed. "They can be difficult to find and solve, but the rewards are always good. And, if they're not, the ruin guards guarding them are great for parts."

"But in this case, the reward was... getting magically transported to a different world?" James asked.

Evie sighed.

"Yeah," she said, "that's one way of putting it. Even though we didn't really do any puzzle-solving this time."

Viktor had been paying attention to the conversation, but suddenly became distracted when Felix darted over a patch of flowers and studied them intently. He didn't like changing his form to look like plants much, but he was still fascinated by them. Viktor rushed over and stood next to the crouching Felix.

James's eyes flicked to Felix and Viktor, confused at the sudden distraction when the subject they were discussing seemed important to not ignore.

Then again, from his limited understanding of their explanation, Felix was essentially... a sentient flower? Was that why he was looking at flowers?

James sighed, shaking his head.

"Okay, so... you're from Teyvat," James muttered, too tired to fight it anymore, though still reluctant in his acceptance. "Wherever that is. What's that mean for you three?"

Viktor watched Felix for another moment before turning back to Tiberius. Felix was just studying the flowers; he didn’t have to worry about him getting into trouble right now.

“That means we don’t know everything about this world,” Viktor replied.

“It also means that we’re struggling to not use magic,” Evie added. “We don’t call it that in Teyvat, but it’s…weird for us not to use it. There’s stories of people being separated from the sources of other magic in different regions. If you lose your magic, you lose yourself.”

That wasn’t exactly how it worked, but it was a good explanation for someone who hadn’t ever encountered visions or the archons.

James wanted to ask why any of this was his problem, but he knew they were about to make it his problem.

“And… you’re telling me all of this because…?”