Young Writers Society

Minra considered their answers. So there were alternate realities of Earth. Who knew? She supposed it was no crazier than getting trapped in a dreamworld.

"Probably not. My Earth is nearly a millennium past the age of swords and suits of metal armor."

She refrained from asking any more questions. Carter didn't seem interested in anything but reaching their destination as quickly as possible, a sentiment she understood. If all went well, she would never have to concern herself with magic or alternate dimensions again anyways.

She caught Vanya looking at her and the blue-haired girl turned back to their path. Minra could tell that neither she nor Carter was very impressed by her. She conceded to herself that she was rather harmless-looking. She'd never fought in a battle like those two clearly had, and though she had a solid build and was strong for her size, she didn't have a fighter's agility or hard-won experience.

What she'd fought and overcome in her youth hadn't left many visible marks, and a decade of being a mother and living a relatively peaceful life had erased those remaining. She'd lost her edge.

Minra brushed those thoughts away and kept walking. Too late to change that now.

Hm. That probably meant that to Minra, he seemed like something from a time long past. Not that it mattered, but he did find it useful to know at least, indirectly, what she thought of him.

"Well, let's hope you return there soon, then," was the only thing he had to offer as commentary. "And the same for the rest of us and our respective homes."

Second nodded in agreement.

He looked over at Minra.

"The Earth I was on is like that, too," he said. He lifted a hand up to fiddle absentmindedly with his necklace as they walked. There was still the skip to his step - it was hard for him to fix something like that, even when he knew it gave off a more carefree vibe that he was supposed to have in a situation like this. "My own world is different - we still have swords and armor."

"I wouldn't be using a sword on my homeworld," Vanya said, idly keeping up the conversation, "I'd probably be studying for finals if I didn't have more important calls to answer."

She never really thought about how much she missed her dorm room. How long had she been seventeen? How long would she remain seventeen?

As a chill crept up her spine, she forced that train of thought away. This was just another mission. Just another mission with the added bonus of too much silence for her mind to fill. She never thought she'd actually miss Kivvien's endless rambling, but here she was. Desperate for distraction.

Second tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion - he had heard Charlotte mention those, once, but he wasn't entirely sure what a final was. He stiffened a little as he thought over it more. Charlotte hadn't seemed to like finals. Whatever it was, it had to be something bad.

He shook the thought away.

He could ask Charlotte about them when he got back. Finals weren't going to harm them here, and there were other parts of the conversation he could focus on instead.

"I don't use a sword, either," he said. "Lorcan and Hero both do, but it just never really...clicked."

He gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck as they walked.

"Lorcan and Hero.. Friends of yours?" Minra asked.

The trees were less dense now, and became fewer and farther apart the more they walked. She hoped it was a sign that they were nearing the gate, but there was nothing in sight yet.

He nodded.

"They're my best friends," he said. They had been his only friends for a long time, but Charlotte could now be considered part of the group. He liked that thought - having three friends instead of two sounded like something good. "Lorcan saved me when I was little, and we met Hero a few years ago."

Minra nodded. Each of them likely had worried family members and friends back wherever they came from.

She thought of her own daughter, Luce. The girl was resourceful and smart for a ten year-old, but had no other family to rely on in the case that Minra didn't come back.

The thought stirred up a feeling of dread and panic in the pit of her stomach, and she did her best to push it down. Just focus on getting out of here, she chided herself.

And at that thought, the four of them finally left the forest and entered a valley ringed by black cliffs.

The path sloped downwards, winding down a shifting hill of ash to the valley floor. There were no glowing flowers here to light the way, but the expanse seemed suspended in a kind of dim twilight that allowed them to see the vague shapes of distant mountains beyond the bubble of lamplight.

Not far from where they stood was a bone-white arch, a kind of doorway to nowhere.

The first gate.

Second felt a pit grow in his stomach, but he pushed the worry away so he could focus on the situation.

"We should probably keep our current formation when we go towards the gate," he suggested. "Minra and I are still unarmed, and I'm not sure how useful I can be without any kind of magic."

Carter slowed in his pace, but kept going. “An excellent suggestion, Second. I was going to say the same. And I am more than willing to lead the way with my sword.”

Of course, the latter half of the statement was only a partial truth, but he didn’t say it like one. He’d grown accustomed to assuming fake, unearned confidence for the sake of calming those who followed him for the entirety of his life, and a bony archyway wasn’t going to shake him.

He did, however, note that Second had magic, but apparently couldn’t use it. It wasn’t important to discuss at present, but he noted it in the back of his mind.

He glanced back once, for Vala.

“Are you confident holding down the back?”

As the others arranged themselves to enter the gate, Minra took a step closer and saw that it was in fact made of hundreds of tiny bones entwined together to form the graceful arch.

She grimaced. Whoever or whatever had designed this place had a weird taste in decor. The glowing flowers were nice, but they could've left out the spider-monsters. And the bones. And the weird trees. She would've gone for more subtlety. Now it was just getting cheesy.

Nervousness suddenly made everything seem funny, and her mouth quirked into a kind of smile.

She turned back to her companions and took her place in the middle of the formation. They glanced at eachother, and then started forward, as somber as a funeral procession. Carter was the first to step through, sword in hand. Minra blinked and he'd simply disappeared from sight.

She was next.

It felt like an invisible veil was draped across the gateway. As she pushed through it, she felt a sensation like thousands of fluttering moth wings brushing against her skin, cold and soft as velvet.

Then there was only darkness.