Vythanar

Ezra and Aria materialized in a dark city alleyway not long after entering the portal back on Earth. Almost no sun shone through the gap between buildings, leaving a bleak and grim atmosphere in the alleyway between them. As soon as he fully materialized, Ezra covered his nose with his shirt, caught off guard by the potent stench.

"Ugh! What is that smell?" He exclaimed, hunching over. Aria soon smelled it as well.

"Yeah, what? That's nasty." She agreed. The two of them examined their surroundings some more before Ezra spoke up.

"So, what now? Where are we, anyway?" He asked, assuming Aria knew (she had no idea). Aria, bewildered by the question, shrugged as an answer.

"I don't know." She responded simply, much to Ezra's dismay.

"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you literally live in this world?" He fired back. Aria did a fake scoff at his response, then answered.

"How do you expect me to know where we are in this dark and cramped alleyway? The best I can say is that we're in a city." She said.

"Duh, we're in a city. That's kind of obvious from the buildings on either side of us." Ezra responded in a snarky tone.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Know It All. Why don't you just guide us since you just know everything, huh?" She said, crossing her arms and turning away, her ears perking up high and stiff.

"Oh, come on. I didn't mean it like that. All I'm saying is that it's kind of obvious we're in a city."

"You're right. I guess I shouldn't have stated that as an observation."

"It's seriously no big deal, Aria. I was just messing around. I - uh... I'm sorry if I hurt you." Ezra responded, his tone abruptly changing to that of a somber feeling, his eyes looking away almost uncomfortably. He seemed truly sorry, a big mood change from his snarky self that he was only seconds ago.

"You didn't hurt me. Are you okay? You went pale out of nowhere." Aria pointed out.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something. Anyway, let's get out of this nasty alley. It smells like shit." He replied.

"Yeah." Aria responded. The two proceeded to walk out of the alleyway, and were met with a sight like none other: an absolutely huge cityscape as far as the eye could see.

"Holy hell." Ezra said, dumbfounded by what his eyes were picking up. I guess I know now that this is a fantasy world. It's like all the fiction back on earth. I wonder if there's magic here. I wonder if I can - nevermind. This is a fresh start. 

"Oh, so we're in New Dlymidea. Cool! This is a good place to be." Aria stated, smiling.

"New Dlymidea? Is that this city?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah. You're quick to pick up on things, Ezra." Eh, no. That was just obvious, you dumb fox. "We're in this the Dlymidean Empire. This is the capital, New Dlymidea." Aria replied.

"They suck at naming cities then." Ezra blurted out.

"Would it kill you to be normal for one second? Why do you always have to make these dumb comments? It hurts my ears." Aria said.

"Oh, sorry for hurting your pretty little fox ears. Also, what do you mean by always? Why are you acting like you've known me for more than a few minutes?" Ezra shot back.

"Calm down. Just remember I can ditch you and leave by myself at any time. You have no idea how this world works, so if I leave you, you're screwed." Aria said smugly.

"Fine. I was just trying to lighten the mood. You know, with the comments and stuff. It's kind of awkward being in a brand new world with someone I've never met. I was just trying to make the atmosphere more... comfortable, I guess. Sorry, I won't do it again." Ezra said, once again retreating to that pale faced, defensive state he had shown before, leaving Aria wondering what the reason is for it.

"I don't mind. I was just curious. Besides, it's kind of funny." Aria responded.

"Oh? I knew I was funny." Ezra said.

"Nuh uh, I said kind of. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Whatever. I am and you don't want to admit it. Anyway, what are we doing? Like, what's our goal here?" Ezra said, surveying the cityscape before him. 

"Let's see... I brought you here because that tear in space-time took me to your dimension. You were the one that wanted to come here. Can I at least know why?" Aria questioned.

"My situation back on earth was kind of crappy. Not like in a physical way, but more mentally, you know? I don't really want to go into detail because I'd end up yapping for hours, but you get the jist of it. I guess I just wanted a fresh start." Ezra explained, laughing it off at the end. "It's no big deal, really. Let's just get going. We've got this giant magical city in front of us, and we're just standing here! Let's go!" Ezra exclaimed, a smile growing on his face.

"Maybe it's exciting for you, but remember that I've lived in this world my whole life. New Dlymidea isn't all cool to me. I've been here countless times. Although, I don't want to ruin your vibe, so yeah, let's go." She said, smiling at Ezra and nodding.

"Can I learn how to use magic? Like, that's the main selling point of this world. In place of the internet, you guys have magic." Ezra asked.

"Internet? What's that?" Aria questioned. Figured she wouldn't know. I mean, if she doesn't know what a phone is, she won't know what the internet is. Pretty simple.

"Nothing. Something from my world, I'll try to explain it later. It's pretty damn complicated." Ezra said.

"I'll be waiting for an explanation." Aria responded. The duo then began to traverse the streets of New Dlymidea together, the infrastructure captivating to say the least, at least to Ezra. The enormous castle of the Dlymidean royal family stood tall and proud smack in the middle of the city. To the right of it, there was an enormous region of what seemed like pure scaffolding, at least to Ezra's eye from where he was. The duo was in the Shibolia Marketplace, one of the more crowded and popular areas in the capital city.

"Aria. What's all that scaffolding next to the castle?" Ezra questioned.

"Construction. An extension to the castle. It's been planned for a while, and I think they're just now getting started on building it." Aria answered.

"Wait, what about the church that caused the dimensional tear or whatever? Where did they go?"

"Good question… I don't know. I'd like to find out though. I say we get you accustomed to this world before trying to look for them, though. Also, we're just two people, and you don't even know how to use magic yet. We'd be powerless against them."

"You want to go against them?"

"Yeah. They took me from my family a year ago and pampered me to be the "grand ambassador" or some shit. They aren't even a church, that's just a guise so they can do some generic evil bullshit. I don't really know, I was never really on their side in the first place. Never listened to their plans."

"That does sound awfully generic… well, whatever." Ezra said. The duo continued to walk down the streets, talking and laughing with each other as they took in the sights. For Ezra, it was his first time ever experiencing something like this. For Aria, she had seen it before, but it had been a while since she was in New Dlymidea specifically, so it was more nostalgic than anything. Eventually, they came across a newspaper stand, which Aria walked up to.

"Let's grab a newspaper. We - what…?" Aria said, cutting herself off halfway through.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked, walking up next to her and peering down at the newspapers himself.

"I - there's no way…" Aria muttered to herself, snatching a newspaper quickly and flipping through it in a nervous manner. Ezra glanced at the newspaper himself, growing increasingly worried at Aria's behavior. He couldn't notice anything strange with it.

"What's wrong?!" Ezra asked again, this time more nervously.

"We're in 0-827?!" What the… no, no, there's no way!" Aria said, panicking even more and looking at every newspaper.

"Aria! Tell me what's wrong!" Ezra shouted, his voice stern and almost commanding. Aria jumped at the sudden change in tone, and looked back at Ezra with a single tear in her eye.

"I - I'm sorry, Ezra… this is just… I can't believe it… it says we're in 0-827. It's been 10 years since the Grand Sacrifice. While I was in your world… 10 years passed." Aria explained, her eyes tearing up even more on the last sentence. She sniffled uncontrollably, on the verge of full blown sobbing.

"I - how is that even possible?! You were in my world for like, a minute!" Ezra said, trying to deny the circumstances. But he couldn't. It had happened, and that was that.

"I - I don't k - know…" Aria said in a defeated tone, her tears multiplying.

"Aria, I - I'm so sorry." Ezra said in a quiet voice, not knowing what to do in the situation.

"I - it's o - okay…" She said, nearly hyperventilating while she began to sob quietly. Ezra, in the heat of the moment, threw away all of his doubts or extra thoughts and pulled Aria into a deep hug, holding her tightly and resting his right hand on the back of her head, holding it into his shoulder.

"Let it all out… I've got you." He said quietly, making sure she spoke into her ear so she could hear him. He didn't care about the people all around them on the street. He didn't care about the stares he could feel on him and Aria. All he cared about was making her feel comfortable. At that moment, Aria broke down into an uncontrollable sob, her tears soaking into Ezra's shirt as she gasped and exhaled heavily. 

This continued for a prolonged amount of time. Ezra held Aria close the entire duration, encouraging her to cry all she needed so she could feel better. And she did. Tears upon tears flowed into Ezra's shoulder.

After a while, she finally lifted her face off of his shoulder, looking up at him with a tear stained face and and very small smile, still bundled up in his arms. He was blushing a fair amount, but he didn't care. All he cared about was her. She was also blushing a fair amount, but she didn't care. All she cared about was him, and his comforting actions. Ezra's blush grew even more when she leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, pulling back afterwards and smiling even more at him.

"Y - you're such an idiot, kissing me like that when we've only just met." Ezra said, chuckling through his words as Aria began to giggle a little bit as well.

"Think of it as a thank you for helping me." She replied, leaning back into his embrace. Ezra accepted her wholeheartedly and squeezed her tighter. "It's just a bit overwhelming. That's all… 10 years is a long while when you really think about it. I've got a lot to catch up on." 

"Well, I've got a lot to learn about this world as well. Why not do it together, huh?" Ezra proposed, gently scratching Aria's big fox ears as he spoke.

"Mmmhh… that feels so good, Ezra… don't stop." She said breathlessly. "Yeah, let's do it together. I can teach you magic as well."

"Really?! Let's go!" Ezra exclaimed happily, causing Aria to giggle once again.

"Yeah, let's go, you goofball." She agreed, playfully hitting his arm as they began to walk together again, Ezra releasing her from his embrace.

Ezra's black t-shirt he wore heated him up immensely under the hot midday sun. He could only assume it was summertime in this world with the heat there was. Aria had also grabbed a newspaper before they began walking again, and she was skimming through it as they walked together. Eventually, something caught her eye, and she showed Ezra hastily.

"Ezra, look! "10 year anniversary of the fall of the Grand Forestian Church!" They dissolved right after the Grand Sacrifice! Whew, let's go… we don't have to worry about them anymore." Aria said, feeling very relieved. "I was worried they'd be like, tracking me down, but I'm safe."

"I guess the question is still why the dimensional tear led to my dimension. I don't think it was random, because you said the church was trying to open a portal to the realm of the gods." Ezra explained.

"Good point. Maybe your world IS the realm of the gods?" Aria asked. "Holy crap, are you a god?!" She asked in a mock surprised tone.

"Oh, shut up. I'm as normal and basic as any other person from my world. The last thing I'd ever be is a god." Ezra fired back. "Actually, maybe like, a billion years ago or something, some ancient gods form my world that no one knows about created yours or something. I don't know, I'm just theory crafting."

"Alright… well, we'll find a way to find out eventually. For now, let's just get you accustomed to this world, alright?" Aria replied, giving Ezra a warm smile. The two continued to walk together as Aria explained aspects of Vythanar to Ezra.

"My family!" Aria suddenly blurted out of nowhere, catching Ezra off guard. "I need to know if they're okay!"

"It has been 10 years…" Ezra added on.

"Ezzy, would you be okay with going back to my home village to check up on my family?" Aria asked.

"Never call me that again." He immediately replied.

"Hehe, sorry."

"But yeah, that's okay. It'll give me an opportunity to get accustomed to travel in this world as well."

"It's a 3 month long trip from here in New Dlymidea. That's okay?"

"That's a long while… but ok. You'll teach me magic and stuff along the way, right?"

"Yep, for sure. We just need a carriage, food, horses, and all that stuff. After that, we should be good to leave."

"Sounds good to me. Let's start tomorrow. I still need time to integrate myself into this world, yknow?"

"Mhm! I'll get us an inn for tonight, and then we'll get all ready tomorrow!"

"Sounds good. Lead the way, Aria."

And with those words, they set off. Aria found an inn, and Ezra tagged along with her as they explored the city a little bit more before settling down in the inn Aria had booked.

It seems like Aria's kind of taken a liking to me. Good, good! That's what I wanted! I think I made the right move hugging her back there. She's really friendly with me. Is it possible that she… likes me? No, no, you idiot! You just met today! But she's been so nice and kind, and - no! That's just common courtesy! God, I'm overthinking again… I just - this is overwhelming. This whole thing is. I just need some time to settle into Vythanar, that's all. After that, I'll be fine. Yeah, I'll be all good.

That night, as the two began to sleep, Ezra moved and twirled around in his own bed as Aria slept soundly in hers. Finally, after managing to settle himself down, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes in an attempt to go to sleep.

A few minutes passed with no success.

And Ezra began to cry.

He didn't know why, and he didn't know how to stop it. He didn't want to wake Aria, so he kept it as quiet as he could.

And he cried even more.