The entire dorm gathered outside to see Cresta and I off while waiting for our ride. According to Professor Markel, this whole journey could take anywhere between a week to a month. The hardest thing for me to do was part with the family I made here, and it was likewise just as tough for the tenants as seen by Tamara's tears.

"Who's going to untangle my hair in the morning?" she wailed.

"Ahhhh! I'm sorry that I have to go!" Cresta hugged her.

Ange stared at her own hands and wanted to put a word in, probably because it would be an easy thing to do if she still had magic. Her punishment, however, was irreversible. She instead consoled Tamara the only way she knew how.

"There, there. I won't be as efficient as Cresta, but if you will be patient with me, I shall do it in her stead." She bent down to stroke the girl's head.

"You're not the only person who can take care of the place. I'll make sure the substitute doesn't look through your weather folder." Ines winked.

"Thank— HOW?!" That folder should have been full-proof. The title was its own security and deterrent system.

"I mean, seriously. The most suspicious thing to have on your computer was a folder about the weather," she teased.

As I lamented, Ange drew me into an embrace. She pressed my head to her chest, the very act sapped away my will to leave.

"Speaking of which," she began, lowering her voice and smiling. "Rest assured nothing will happen between me and your temporary replacement. I've arranged for Ines to satiate me in the meantime. Would you like us to… film it for you?"

I gulped.

"I, uh, let's just keep that to the bedroom? You two enjoy yourselves with my blessing though!" I said, hoping I wouldn't regret my answer later.

Ange let go after giving me a kiss on the cheek, encouraging me to return in good health. When I searched for Remmy to tell her goodbye, she had to poke me with a slimy tentacle. It was then I noticed the appendage extended all the way inside the dorm.

That damn gaming addict was no doubt still in her room, glued to the computer screen.

"You really couldn't be here to say goodbye?" I sighed.

"What are you saying… I'm right here, aren't I?" she said from a mouth on the tip of the tentacle.

There was a lewd joke here that I refused to make.

I asked instead, "Well, are ya winning?"

It didn't fly over Remmy's head. She even uttered a giggle.

"Yes. Yes, I am," she answered with the mouth forming a smile. "Make sure Cresta… doesn't get into any trouble."

"Psh. I'm the god of death on the battlefield, you know!" the assassin boasted.

A black sedan was the only vehicle that pulled up to the roundabout. Professor Markel shivered as he stepped out. He whispered something to the driver, then joined us at the porch.

"We're ready," I told him.

"Good. The substitute will arrive at noon." He nodded. "By the way, Ms. Varcaz, we have terminated your magic tracker since you're unable to use magic anymore. It's a waste of resources to keep it running."

"I see. Thank you for letting me know," she said.

There was something behind that exchange I didn't quite catch, and I doubted they would tell me if I asked.

As Cresta and I boarded the backseat of the vehicle and drove off, we waved behind us until they were out of sight.

We arrived at an airbase hanger with no other building in sight. No pillbox or security checkpoints like I expected. The car pulled up the closed hanger doors, and once I exited, gale force winds threatened to knock me off my feet.

"I expected a big ass military base, with soldiers running around, and bunkers and stuff! You guys really protecting a gate here?" I yelled over the winds.

Professor Markel tapped his feet twice on the ground and winked.

"All underground. Otherworld magic technology enables stealth monitoring and defensive systems all within a twenty-mile radius of here. Make no mistake, unauthorized trespassers will show up as a missing persons report on the news, and their case will be closed at some desk jockey's cabinet before it even opens."

My throat was suddenly very dry, and it wasn't due to the wind. Good to know that the government took their security measures seriously, even if it meant going about it in the most terrifying way.

The professor scanned his eye and fingerprint on a panel against the wall. My whole body shook as the massive hanger doors creaked and groaned as they opened. Perhaps a half a dozen scientists were inside, tapping away at computers in front of a massive, circular portal that reached the ceiling. The light-blue surface of the portal distorted everything behind it, too hazy to make out anything.

"Chew this." Professor Markel handed me a small pill.

"What's it do?" I asked.

"Reduces your chances of vomiting by 50%. You vomit for sure if you don't ingest it," he answered as a matter of factly.

I threw the pill into my mouth and chewed it into a fine powder. He took a gulp of a small water bottle and handed it to me to finish.

"Portal ready to enter, sir." A scientist nodded to the professor.

The three of us stepped up to the portal until it was only inches away from my nose. My heart was pounding faster than when I confronted Ange's would-be demon assassins.

Weyera was supposedly in shambles. So badly in fact, that the otherworld caretaker system was created to test the waters of giving netherfolks refuse on earth. Their world was doomed. The visions from Remmy's dream was proof of that.

I prepared myself for the worst and took a deep breath. Cresta grabbed my hand. Her touch reassured me, and I was reminded of our first time meeting. How she snuck into my room, protected me from thugs, and smiled so genuinely from eating a greasy burger. She is, was, and would always be my first netherfolk friend.

This journey wasn't just about me. It was for her, too.

Hand in hand, we stepped through the portal together.

The transportation to the other world was surprisingly seamless. We came out the other side as soon as our feet crossed the threshold.

"Hip— urk…" Everything I ate this morning came back up. "Damn it…"

"50/50," the professor simply responded.

A bright, blue sky cleared of any clouds hung above me. Men in army fatigues of green and brown camo marched past us in formation. Humvees and APCs kicked up dirt as they drove by. To my right were rows of single-story, rectangular barracks, and a much larger three-story administrative building was to my left.

Now this was a military base.

"I'm getting hit with a wave of nostalgia." Cresta whistled sharply.

"Yo! Is that Cresta?"

"It is her!"

A couple of soldiers ran up to us and each gave Cresta a raucous welcome. She clicked her heels together and straightened her back, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey, guys! I'm working at Rocket Burger now!" she told them.

"No, shit?" One guy chuckled.

"We give her one burger, and this happens." Another shrugged and laughed.

Cresta spoke to them with such familiarity that I almost forgot she had fought alongside them not long ago.

"So you're her caretaker back home, huh?" a grizzled soldier that reminded me of Joseph asked. He stuck a hand out to me. "She's saved our lives more times than we can count. You make sure she's living it up on Earth."

"I will— owow!" I shook his hand but didn't expect the weightlifter-level squeeze.

"Let's not keep High-King Tarcosa waiting," the professor shouted as he entered a carriage pulled by two beasts with the head of an eagle and body of a lion.

A driver sat on an elevated seat, holding the reins to the massive creatures. He had long, pointed ears and pristine porcelain skin. As I walked up to the carriage, one of the beasts squawked at me.

"Geeeeeeez. This is going to take some time getting used to." I quickly hopped into the carriage to avoid getting my whole limb bitten off.

"Hang onto the grips on the side of the carriage," the professor warned.

"Why— oh, crap!"

My body was yanked forward, but Cresta was thankfully sitting adjacent to push me back into the seat. To my surprise, the carriage came to an immediate stop and Professor Markel threw the door open to exit.

A magnificent courtyard of landscaped trees and bushes in the shape of mythical creatures painted a battlefield captured in time. An opaque walkway revealed something like water flowing beneath our feet. Nothing was more incredible than the castle, with towers floating detached from the main building, dragonriders flying overhead and perched on ramparts, and crystals embedded into the side of the stone block walls.

Professor Markel tapped his watch impatiently.

"He's late. Wait here," he said, then tinkered with the watch and vanished from sight entirely.

"What the fuck?! Was he always able to do that?" I asked absolutely no one around me.

The carriage and stagecoach were gone. Cresta had also disappeared. I was alone in the courtyard watching the leaves blow off trees from gentle winds.

"Might you be lost?" someone asked.

I whipped around to see an elven boy in blue and gold clothings that befit a noble. He was half my size, but looked me up and down as if to inspect my worth.

"Kind of. Everyone just sort of left me! What about you, kid? Aren't your parents worried?" I asked him, then immediately regretted my informal speech as the possibility of him being King Tarcosa's grandchild crossed my mind.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly worry them. Lucky for you, I live here. I can show you the way on one condition," he said.

I somehow found myself giving the kid a ride on my shoulders, but it was a small price to pay. As he directed me towards the castle's large archway entrance, I figured I could ask him some questions that had been bugging me.

"This is Weyera, right? I thought it was like hell on earth or something, but the world looks fine?" I asked.

"It is. We're actually in the largest terra-dome hundreds of feet in the sky," he said.

"I— what…?"

Without warning, he cupped his hands above his head as if to catch rain. What happened instead was when his hands parted, the blue sky tore open to violent storms and black clouds spewing fire. The rip closed as his hands did, returning the scene to an illusory and peaceful calm.

The only thing I could think of was, Who the hell is this kid?

That wasn't ordinary magic, was it?

"Akira! What are you doing?" Professor Markel came racing up to me from inside the castle's brightly lit interior.

"TARCOSA!" Cresta screamed, barreling towards us at nascar speeds.

A barrier formed between us, and Cresta slammed face first into it. The magic wall faded away as she dropped to the ground.

"Owie… We haven't seen each other in ages and that's how you greet me?" she asked, rubbing her swollen cheek and pouting.

Too many things were happening at once for my puny human brain to follow.

"Did Cresta just say Tarcosa?" I timidly asked, turning to the professor for answers.

"That's right," he began. "The man on your shoulders is none other than the Mage Lord, High-King Tarcosa of the Granieda Empire."

I glanced up to meet the kid's eyes, and he flashed a goofy smile down at me.

"EEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH?!"