A Schism Between Worlds

Silence fell upon Kisol Bay, creating an uneasy aura around everyone within. The Grand Sacrifice had officially been put into action, and there was no stopping it once it was started. Every branch of the Arlandian Government had prepared for seventy-eight years, all for this moment. This was the culmination of endless hours of research and planning. Right here in Kisol Bay, history was about to be made in the world of Vythanar.

"Oh, holy gods, hear our cries! We present to you a pool of vessels, all for your use! We are at your disposal! With your eternal grace, grant us everlasting peace and life in your domain!" The man's voice cried out, easily audible to anyone within a vast range.

No more words were spoken afterwards.

The sand of Kisol Bay softly drifted with the light breeze, being the only noise in an otherwise silent area.

Silent, excluding the cries of the victims, of course. But the victims weren't considered people to the common folk and church leaders. They weren't even considered living beings. Just offerings, nothing more and nothing less.

As their voices rang out and broke the silence, their cries falling on deaf ears, a rumble emanated from the ground, causing everyone's footing to slightly shift, some falling over.

The head priest, the one who had cried out to the gods, dropped his staff on the floor in awe as he began to see a crack in the fabric of space-time out in the ocean, far away from shore but big enough to be visible.

Absolutely massive.

Light shot up from the surface of the water, and the crack quickly spread into the sky. This was believed to be the gods' answer, a portal opening to their domain. But alas, it was something much, much different.

As the crack infiltrated the sky, it grew tremendously in size, and all that could be seen through it was an empty void. Despite the unwelcoming appearance of the believed to be portal, the next step of the Grand Sacrifice began with the priest's voice ringing out once again.

"Bring forth the Holy Ambassador!" His voice boomed. Suddenly, chatter could be heard behind him, bouncing off the rocky hills behind the sandy front of the bay. An extravagantly dressed woman with pink hair, perky fox ears on her head, and nine white tails appeared from behind the priest, her colorful robes and jewelry shining in the evening sun. She made her way to the shoreline of the beach, and stood in silence as she watched everything unfold.

Suddenly, the crack began to barrel towards the shore at ludicrous speeds, catching everybody off guard, except for the ambassador. She simply stood tall, watching the impending doom approach. The priest himself quickly screeched in fear, dropping his staff and running as fast as he could towards the rock hills at the back of the beach. He had thought that he angered the gods with the sacrifice somehow, and now they were coming to exact revenge on everyone.

As the cracks grew dangerously close, the ambassador slowly began to step into the water, moving closer to them as if she was still dead set on entering the portal and fulfilling her role as ambassador to the gods, or whatever was on the other side of the portal. Her eyes closed in what almost seemed like ecstasy, like she was happy to be in that position in that moment. As the cracks enveloped her, she smiled lightly and disappeared from view.

The priest and the others who had taken part in the ritual all had began running away a while ago, but their efforts led to no avail. No one could escape as the transdimensional schism engulfed the entirety of Kisol Bay.

The ambassador, having entered the portal first, was the first one to materialize in the alternate world. She suddenly opened her eyes and found herself in a bedroom, it seemed like. A bed was in front of her, and across the room from it on the left was what looked like a large metal box and a flat screen of plastic on top of a desk. But it was none of this that caught her attention first, it was the boy sitting on the bed in front of her, his immediate alarmed voice sending her into major confusion.

"Who the hell are you?! Where did you come from?!" He asked in a frantic tone.

"This is the realm of the gods?" the ambassador asked softly and calmly. She didn't seemed spooked or freaked out at all, just mildly confused.

"Realm of the gods? Who are you?!" He asked again, his voice raising with every word.

"Aria Lycross. The church sent me forth as an ambassador for the gods." She responded.

"What?! Wait, wait. Give me your story from the beginning. I'm just as confused as you are, especially with how you just teleported into my room. And, on top of that, you've got fox ears and nine tails! Kitsunes don't exist, at least not in real life. Am I dreaming?"

"I can assure you that this isn't a dream. I was chosen to be an ambassador for the gods by the Great Forestian Church, and when they summoned the portal to the domain of the gods, I went in. This is where I ended up."

"What? Wait, where are you from? What world?" The boy asked curiously, maybe having found a lead.

"Vythanar."

"You... no way. You're from a different world."

"Of course I am, silly." She responds. "I came here through a transdimensional portal. How could I not be?"

"I'm still here flabbergasted by the fact that there ARE other worlds in the first place! You already knew this back in your world?!"

"We believed there was a realm of the gods, but not this. Y'know, I never even believed any of that god nonsense the church was always spouting. The only reason they chose me for ambassador is because their creepy head priest thought I was pretty or something."

"I guess... take that as a compliment then?"

"Ew. I would from most people, but not him. From him, it's weird. He's this gross old man."

"Yeah, I take back what I said." The boy remarked, causing the ambassador to giggle a bit. "So, I guess being from another world explains the fox ears and the nine tails then. I take it that's normal where you're from? What was it, Vythanar?"

"Yep. You see people like this everywhere. I think it's funny that I'm so exotic to you. Is your world only humans or something?"

"Bingo."

"Wait, seriously? I was joking! That sounds so boring!"

"It's not boring if you've lived here your whole life and that's what you're used to."

"I guess. But I'm still curious. The church wanted to open a portal to the realm of the gods, and it came to this random dimension we didn't even know existed. I mean, we didn't even think any other dimensions except for ours and the gods' existed!"

"Same here. But this incident just proved us both wrong."

"Yeah. So, I'd like to, y'know, get back home. Any idea how?"

"Man, I'm just some regular high school boy. Does it look like I'd know how to open transdimensional portals?"

"On second thought, that was a stupid question. My fault."

After the ambassador's apology, the boy broke the silence by finally asking for names after talking for so long without them.

"What's your name?"

"I already told you this, dummy. Aria Lycross."

"Sorry. It's hard to focus on names when there's a literal alien in my room."

"Hey, don't call me an alien! It sounds inhumane."

"But you literally aren't a human. You're a fox."

"Half fox, half human! Get it right, you bland 100% human."

"Oh, so we're discriminating by species now. Gotcha."

Aria's eyes widened when she heard this. Even if he was joking, she didn't want to anger the first person she met in the alternate world.

"No, no, not at all! I was just joking!" She said, alarmed.

"I was too."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Awkward silence filled the room afterwards, before the boy spoke up once more.

"Can you maybe take me back to your world?" He asked politely.

"Seriously?! Why?" She asked.

"I'll explain it all later. Just, please?"

"Can I at least have a bit of the reason now? I don't want to rip someone from their world."

Suddenly, the boy got an idea.

"Do you know what a smartphone is?" He asked.

"Smart-what now? Never heard of it." She responded, illuminating a lightbulb in the boy's head. She's probably from a fantasy world where there's no technology. Which usually, at least in fiction here on earth, means - magic.

"Does your world have magic?" He asked.

"Yeah. Yours doesn't?"

"Nope."

"Only humans and no magic. This world sounds like it sucks."

"Yeah, it kind of does. So can I come with you?"

"Sure, whatever. You better tell me the rest of your reasons later though."

"Gotcha. Let's just go."

Aria sighed.

"The portal is still open, surprisingly. If it weren't, we would be stuck here. Now, just enter it with me."

The two stepped forward into the void in front of them. Aria quickly turned around before fully entering, looking back at the boy.

"What's your name? You know mine, but you never told me yours."

"Ezra."

"Ezra what?"

"Ezra Aloda."

And they both entered the portal.