It had been three days, yet Skyward Industries had managed to repair an ancient relic that was damaged in a pitched battle with a giant automaton to as good, if not better, condition than the portal had been in before.

  Aenora gave Kelse a nod. The Skyward Industries engineers—including the ex-Vroskan Imperials—all turned with tired but excited expressions. They were about to see days of hard work come to a head, whatever happened next. "Look after Xin-xia while I'm away. I have no idea how long it will take. The original Allemandian data for this sort of traversal is corrupted, lost, or uses concepts that, even with my years of learning, I have no idea how to interpret. Ideally, I'll be back with Ondun at my side."

  Crusher and McCoy gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up. The ex-Imperials gave her one of their salutes, pulling their right forearm behind their backs while tapping their breast above their hearts with their left. Suzumi gave them a dark look—completely understandable, given what the salute had meant during the occupation of Xin-xia—but Aenora took the gesture for what it was intended to be. She gave them a nod and a smile. "Please, do not trouble Lady Suzumi while I am away, you three."

  She then turned and gave Suzumi a very rare hug. The Draconian Shinobi accepted it, even though the sudden gesture slightly marred her perfect, jet-black hair. Even so, she pulled away after just a half second. "If we don't come out shortly, do not send any person after us. Let Kelse send a drone through."

  Suzumi sighed. "Why not start with that? That would be safer and leave a champion of two realms here to help keep things more or less stable."

  Aenora nodded. The thought was rational and one she'd dismissed days before. "I worry for Ondun. I wish to see the anima currents on the other side and see what relationship, if any, they have with the odd currents here in Xin-xia. Also, the fact that Ondun hasn't already returned makes me think he's either completely stumped, has stumbled onto some evil conspiracy threatening the other side, or is challenging people to random tests of strength."

  Kelse tapped his chin. "Actually, there's a fourth option." The two women turned to him. "He could be doing all of the above."

  Aenora sighed. "That, right there, is the reason I'd best be off now."

  She stepped forward, hesitating in front of the pulsing silver and blue light of the active portal. Her magic sight gave her no information on the other side. She took in a breath of air and stepped through...then stopped in a much cooler, darker forest. For a moment she stopped and simply regarded the much more active flows of the anima about her. If Xin-xia's currents were like viscous oils that crawled between things like a thick sludge, then this was akin to having dived into a clear, flowing spring.

  This reverie lasted only a short moment, though, as a number of living people—mostly humans, but with unusual monsters—rounded on her.

  “Xiānshēng! Chuánsòng mén qǐdòngle, láile yīgè nǚrén… tā kàn qǐlái yǒudiǎn xiàng māo?”

  All of a sudden, Aenora wished she'd been blessed by the All-Mother with a Wayfarer's Brand. Having Ondun's ability to listen past mere language would be well worth trading her remaining sight for in this situation.

  "Forgive me, good people." The scholar made sure to keep her voice calm, steady, and light. She gave them a brief curtsy. "My name is Aenora. I seek a man named Ondun." As soon as she said the name, there was a jolt of recognition through the uniformed men and women. One, woman with a long scar on one side of her face, stepped forward. She spoke much more sedately in the unusual tonal language, slowly reached to her belt, and pulled off what looked like a capsule. She pressed a button, and Aenora saw a brilliant flash of anima, and then what looked like the effect she saw when someone materialized an item from a dimensional carrying space. The difference, however, was that an inanimate item wasn't produced—it was yet another strange monster, a seven-tailed fox.

  Aenora looked around, studying the varied, decidedly non-natural forms about her. While physically seeing them was impossible for her, she got a sense that each one had an extreme affinity for one or two types of anima, except the colors just didn't make sense. There was one that was Fire-aligned for sure, two Water-wielders of some description, and a Dark monster that was clearly securing the camp's periphery.

  Then Aenora heard the voice in her mind.

  Fascinating...never have I seen such a sight through a human's eyes. Though...you aren't exactly human, are you?

  Aenora nodded. "Indeed. I am Felinian. My friend Ondun is what's known as a Draconian. Unlike him, my people's origins are lost to time. This drives me to seek knowledge. I came here, though, because I seek my friend. Where is he?"

  The people around her turned to each other and began speaking...and this time she could understand them.

  "Huh, she really knows Ondun."

  "You think she's going to challenge a Yeziblade to a knife fight?"

  "No, she looks saner than that."

  "I think she's pretty."

  The rest of the camp looked at that man, then back to her. She shrugged. "As pickup phrases go, I've heard worse." She tapped her chin. "It seems you Ondun. He is here, in this land, then?"

  A man pulled a rectangular device from his pack. "Indeed, he's currently challenging a City Leader to a monster battle!" He looked down at it as a tiny bird's attack was deflected by a psychic barrier. "All things considered, he's not doing too badly, either."

  Aenora couldn't see the device, and the telepathic monster picked up on this. This woman seems to have an injury to the eyes...but she's seeing energy, somehow. I've never seen anything like it.

  The scholar had to ask. "I've never seen a monster that conversed with telepathy instead of blindly attacking. Perhaps when my friend challenged that 'Yeziblade,' he was merely unfamiliar with your world. It seems..." She looked around the clearing and confirmed that all the Mons were paying close attention, "...that monsters here are somewhat different than those where I hail from."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  A flash of a curious purple power blazed into Aenora's vision. The flash subsided, revealing a human woman in a strange dress, with another of the odd rectangular devices held in one hand. "Greetings. My name is Alice. I am the Guardian of this land. My people here reported your arrival through the relic." She paused. "While a visitor from some other land is welcome, we wish you'd sent word through."

  Aenora examined the woman more closely. While seeing mundane details was beyond her, one thing caught the Felinian scholar's attention: at her hips were six incredibly brilliant anima sources. More of these unusual monsters, Aenora surmised. Clearly, the people of this land have a relationship with the monsters that is not one of bloodshed or terror.

  Aloud she said, "I worry for a friend who was displaced. He is known to you. His name is Ondun. He was seeking either a remedy or understanding of a plight that afflicts our friends and colleagues."

  She nodded. "Their souls were summoned from their bodies. He told us. He was quite desperate, you know." She tapped her lip. "Also, your name came up. He thinks quite highly of you."

  She nodded, doing her best impression of the young adventurer's stoic nod. "He is a valued comrade who saved me from a desperate fate. I would like to return the favor and bring him home."

  Alice paused for a moment. "Then, Aenora of Arcanis, please come with me." She extended a hand. "There's some place we have to visit."

  Aenora accepted the proffered hand and joined it to the feminine figure of a smaller monster. My Queen, fascinating though your mind is, hers is like a vast library. Such knowledge lives within her beauteous skull and of an entire other world. Entirely unlike their wounded hero, she is.

  Aenora regarded the monster for a moment before she was swallowed in a flash of purple...then smelled the more humid air and the flows of a grand lake.

  "This is Lake Yongqi. There's an older, longer name, though - the Lake of Courage. Long ago a hero came to our land, and sealed a great evil. That evil was an ancestor of mine, who manipulated a Legendary Mon to nearly end the world."

  Aenora's eyes went wide behind the veil. "Then, this place holds more significance than just the anima that flows about this place."

  Alice hummed. "'Anima', again. Ondun has told us a little of this powerful force. It's tied to the powers that Mons wield. If you're sensing it, then it's likely Lord Yonghaixi is about."

  Aenora's eyes narrowed as she cast about. That sounded a great deal like the titles the thralls of Astrals gave to their ephemeral masters. For some reason, just after Aenora thought that, she heard a raucous giggling in the back of her mind that she couldn't locate. Alice, on the other hand, knew precisely what it meant. She called out, "Lord Yonghaizi, we're here to talk. This is Aenora, a woman from the world Ondun is from. You warned him about a dark force seeking to tip this world into elemental Darkness."

  Time perceptibly slowed. A small, round, vaguely humanoid figure walked around from beside her, as if it had been there this whole time.

  Hmm. Indeed. Unlike the wounded hero, her heart is resolute. She stares death in the face even as we speak. His might at arms may be great, but I judge her courage to be greater.

  Aenora was taken aback at this. She never considered herself a brave person, much less more brave than Ondun, the man who faced Astral after Astral with nought but a stoic nod and honest steel. The tiny monster—the impossibly powerful monster—sighed.

  Ah, I begin to see why he's the way he is. You feel different than him. His essence is more solid than yours. No...there's nothing blocking me from touching your essence, the way something protects him. The power that rests on him is like that of a blessing from Lord Olympus, yet it isn't. No, you feel less complete than him - or even Alice here! Yet, some of your power may exceed his. You are fascinating. My little brother might have a field day analyzing you.

  The scholar didn't know what to think of that. She wanted to ask, but everything was moving too slowly.

  Oh, right. I can't turn this effect off. It's all part of the seal on Lord Hellzeph. Don't worry, I've got your Ondun friend on the case. He's hunting down the would-be bringers of darkness. Ah, I see that's a familiar idea to you. Let me see...yep! Black robes, indirect tactics, that's definitely them. Yeah, they're trying to tip this world to Darkness. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Why?"

  Aenora wanted to agree. Her assent was clearly picked up by the psychic monster.

  Okay, so it's like this. Your world...seeing you makes it make so much sense, by the way—your world isn't complete. You're like...a broken fragment of something greater. You're here...but not all of you is here, if that makes sense. That's what the evil edgelords said. Their plan is to cause a little chaos back where you're from while also attuning this world to Darkness. Then they'll slam our world—by then a ball of darkness—into your world, superimposing the two on top of each other. That'll make your world more whole...or so they believe. Frankly, I think it'll just blow up, and my big sister agrees.

  Aenora thought over the revelation of the Dark Ones' plans. A world in animological turmoil, superimposed onto Arcanis, at first seemed wildly outlandish. Yet, something about it made sense.

  The First Age had ended in a world-covering typhoon—the Grand Cataclysm of Wind. Entire cities and nations were blown away, even as they fought a desperate war against each other. The survivors became much stronger magically for some reason, and no amount of theories had ever fully explained the "Empowering of the First Age."

  The Second Age had ended in a massive firestorm that ravaged cities, farms, forests, and everything else. Even so, the land had healed, and from the ashes, various kingdoms arose to rebuild. The mighty Adventurer's Guild, the multinational organization that Ondun claimed membership in before his recruitment by the Knowing Circle, was founded in that turbulent time.

  The Third Age had ended in a brutal earthquake that had laid mountains low, changed the coasts, and cast down the mighty Allemandian Empire, which had been fighting a war of conquest across a full half of Arcanis.

  The Fourth Age had ended in a massive tidal wave that had swept entire ecosystems—and kingdoms—away. The pirates who survived on the Bloody Mary had settled the rock that was now Roguescove, the most nautically inclined of the Alliance city-states.

  The Fifth Age had ended in the thunderstorm to end all thunderstorms. For unknown reasons, this Grand Cataclysm wasn't as devastating as previous cataclysms had been, but the people of the time hadn't appreciated that fact—the thunderstorm was said to have been the result of a ritual done by the Mage Kingdom Nox, near-universally derided as fools for creating the Dusk Mage discipline, who wielded negative-aligned anima magicks to...

  Aenora's sightless eyes slowly, slowly went wider.

  By Olympus, I think she gets it! That's right. As you review it, you see the pattern. Wind. Fire. Earth. Water. Lightning. Ice. There is a bit of a pattern there.

  Aenora's mind raced. The small round figure giggled.

  Well, I see my work is done here. While the brute's finding his way towards one answer, you may want to seek another...then find him before he picks a fight he shouldn't. Or...perhaps the fight will pick him?

  With a faint pop, the tiny, powerful monster disappeared, and time resumed its normal flow. Aenora just breathed for a second, her mind racing. Dammit, she thought to herself. Kelse was right. He has indeed managed to get on the trail of a remedy to our friends' ailment, uncovered a grand conspiracy, and is challenging people to random tests of strength.

  Out loud, Aenora spoke. "Ondun is finding his way towards one answer, and I may need to seek another. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with the Wayfarer's Brand as Ondun is, and so will struggle to navigate this world in a basic sense. I'll need help finding this 'other answer.' Lady Alice...how would a woman find one of those delightful telepathic monsters? Would such a being be willing to help a scholar out?"

  Alice grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." She extended a hand. "I'll help get you a first friend...and I think I know where you could get some guidance."