Terry woke up in his bedroom... the events of yesterday a distant memory for now. He stretched a bit getting up, Yawning, and shook his head of the lingering dreams in his head... weird creatures in another dimension acting all normal. Dinner with demons..
That was now far away, in some parallel reality. He was back in his normal world and normal reality- at least until he would be forced to do that trip again. Why would anyone even want to go to that other world anyway?
He could understand scientific pursuits... maybe just simple curiosity... but the lack of technology functioning in that world made it a little too dangerous for him. He rather liked having his phone and video games. Who in their right minds would give up technology and live with... monsters? He heard there were actual monsters there too, not just 'people monsters' but actual beasts, roaming the fields like animals do on Earth... without technology humans would just be a meal waiting to happen. That's why it was a bad idea to open a gate away from the other world's settlements.
It was time for Terry to go to school. He washed and dressed as per his normal schedule, brushing his teeth and getting out a T-shirt and jeans.
His mother was preparing breakfast, dressed promptly and nicely as ever. As a middle school teacher she was keen to look smart and presentable. She had a cheerful enthused personality too, enjoying providing answers to subjects like science and mathematics. Though as always her students wanted to know about the portals... and she wasn't able to understand any of the mechanics as much as she tried. It was an inadequacy she had to accept.
Terry grabbed some toast set on the table. “Morning mom.” he smiled rubbing the sleep from his eyes getting a few crumbs on him.
“Morning,” she smiled back looking up from a book that seemed to be trying to explain the portals in layman terms... but she still couldn't grasp it. “Hm... these gateways are certainly interesting. I just wish I knew how they worked.”
“Something about energy, exotic matter, extra dimensions, I dunno.” Terry shrugged. “Just magic?”
“Yes, maybe there is a magical component on the other side that makes it work too. I do hope magic does not become a curricular requirement. I have no idea where to even begin.” She laughed a little at the thought. Her? Teaching magic? There were people who were trying to understand it let alone teach it...
Terry shrugged as he ate a bit of toast. He didn't know either... if magic was 'magic'. What did that even mean? So... with a wave of ones hand, one could conjure up an energy ball or destroy the universe? How was he supposed to make any sense of that? He was 'okay' with understanding most science stuff, but applying magic made everything into nonsense. Reality suddenly became a plaything in the palm of ones hand... and it made no sense that such fundamentals could be altered at all. Could one 'magic' two plus two into five? If so, that made it nonsense... Magic... was utter nonsense. Terry quickly glanced at the time. “I best get going mom,” he realized getting up from the chair wiping his mouth.
“Okay Terry,” she nodded as she placed her book in her handbag. She glanced up remembering something. “Oh Terry, do you think you could try writing a letter to your cousin?” she asked hopefully.
To Margaret? He shifted his gaze slightly away. “I... dunno. Why are you so... insistent on us being friends?” Terry groaned. “She's just a kid! She doesn't understand our writing anyway there's no point.”
“Her father can read it to her, and I'm sure he will teach English to her eventually. As for why... well I want you to be friends... I mean- I can't see why that's a question but... you don't have a brother or sister and I always hoped your cousin could fill that role.”
'Role?'
“... well why do I even need that?” Terry asked. “I'm just fine with things as they are. You are all doing your own things and I'm doing mine.” He didn't need some 'little girl' to look after!
“Terry, it's a big world- 'twice' as big now, as it used to be when I was your age if not even bigger. Technology doesn't make the world smaller; It made it bigger... people can go to so many places, even this 'new world' now. We don't really know what the future holds for us in that.” Terry's mother sighed. “With your father in the other world, It is just you and me here and the rest of our family is somewhat scattered. I just want to make sure... that future events being unpredictable, you can be assured to have someone you can go to and get along with. Isn't it better to have friends then to take what life will throw at you alone?”
Terry shrugged again. His mother was being a bit over dramatic...The march of technology made the world bigger by making it safer... there was nothing to be concerned. What was she even talking about? He didn't feel like he 'needed' anyone of course. He was independent and secure in his studies that he was sure he could get most jobs. Still... even if his cousin was a demon- maybe he didn't really want to see her upset or his mother or his uncle. “I... guess. I'll write her a letter,” he conceded.
“Thanks Terry.” She smiled brightly at that to him and embraced in a hug.
“Ah Mom-” He whined but his mother held him quite firmly.
Afterwards, Terry slid on his jacket and opened the front door waving goodbye. It would be a short walked to school and he could even meet his friends.
Terry didn't live far from his Elmtree High School. His town had a fairly small population of about two hundred or so- growing rapidly due to the proximity of the bridge to the other world. The town was a little far from the coast then he would have liked though. There were a few people from the other world looking at the buildings and cars with fascination in their eyes... acting like tourists of course- which technically fit them to a tea.
He wasn't sure exactly what the rules were, on the aliens coming to Earth... though it seemed the more 'human' one looked, the less of a problem they tended to have with beuroracy. It wasn't too unusual to find cat-folk beings or perhaps an elf (though he only ever saw one once) around his town. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't think it was prejudice as much as it was caution... something he could understand. He didn't want the really freaky ones around... but animal ears and tails.. sure he could handle that.
There was a little joke, that 'severe' animal types simply didn't have the thumbs to fill out a form- a rather dark thought that made him chuckle slightly inwardly. A funny joke but probably an offensive one to suggest.
Terry didn't have too many friends exactly... he was quite content to do 'his own thing'... perhaps it gave him an aura of curiosity to others but he never noticed if it did or not. One person was always trying to hang around him though. He didn't mind it but... he sure knew how to annoy him.
“Hey!” Martin waved excitedly.“How was it You got to tell me!”
Terry knew Martin would be excited to hear anything he could about that other place. He was a somewhat diminutive rather 'nerdy' looking guy with glasses. Short blonde greasy hair, and a slight frame. He wore jeans and a shirt, and tennis styled trainer shoes. He had on a backpack with a few stickers from anime and manga characters. He was slightly shorter then Terry looking up to him by a few inches. He was fresh faced and innocent... a kid that refused to grow up.
“Well? What races did you see? Lobster people?”
“Uh- no.” Terry wasn't sure how to answer his questions. His friend had quite the idealised view of this other place. Maybe he should tell him it wasn't 'all that'. “It's... just like it is here man, just.. you know. But weirder. Animal people that sort of thing. Cats.. dogs.. wolves... birds..”
“Come on, you must have had a look around. What was the school like? Did they have a school there?” Martin wanted to hear as much as possible.
Terry sighed and tried to give him a bit more. “Well- I saw the building briefly in the wagon. The walls were made of stone instead of brick..um.. there were more windows. It looked kinda like a castle. Half it had dorms I think. I dunno we only went past the school briefly. Oh, there was a snake person crossing the street.”
“Snake... wow... what was she wearing? Was she like- covering her tail all up?”
“Uh... I don't remember.” Weird detail to try and remember... “I mean I think she didn't mind? It was just her tail.” He didn't bother paying that much attention to it at the time.
“I wish I could go there man. You are so lucky!” Martin brimmed with excitement. “Just imagining a castle here... what could they be doing. Could someone be where I'm standing right now? What if- what if someone's sleeping in my bed and I don't even know!”
“Heh... creepy thought, but since its another dimension it shouldn't matter. Why can't you go yourself anyway?” It was open to anyone... except for- “You don't have a criminal record, do you?”
Martin looked aghast at that suggestion. “No! It's... It's just... my parents wont let me go. They're worried I'll 'lose myself' there or something. I dunno. They said I get too lost in my video games that I can't handle a place that actually looks like a video game.”
“Heh...” Terry had to laugh a bit at that. If only it was like a video game... then maybe it might make some sense. “It's not a video game world. It's pretty much the same as here... It just has animal people there and magic.”
“Did you take any pictures?” Martin asked quickly.
“Dude, Cameras don't work there.” Reminded Terry. “Well- not the normal ones. I think basic pinhole cameras still work. My mom managed to digitise a copy here... um...” He took out a 'family photo' of one of his trips and showed it to Martin. It was not an easy thing to set up.. and pinhole cameras required everyone to stand still for about ten minutes so.. it was a pain.
The young teen looked amazed at the family resemblance. “Wow... you really are related to demons..” he looked in awe at the picture of the demon's mother and daughter in a standing pose, looking like a photo from the 19th century. It was in black and white but everyone could see the horns and tail...
“Just by my uncles marriage,” Terry sighed. “It's not like we're blood relatives or anything like that.” He shuddered a bit. It was still a little disturbing.
“You know I would love to know how magic actually works. I'm going to learn it someday.” Martin nodded.
Terry sighed. “You sound just like my cousin. You know humans can't do magic.” Many people have tried and nobody could figure it out. Magic 'avoided' humans... it was probably best to avoid it too- and anything to do with it.
“I think if I can eventually understand magic,” Martin thought. “Come on they are saying even if electronics don't work, we can still bring steam-based stuff there. Imagine that! We could give that technology to a whole entire world. It'll be all steampunk like. A big train running through our world and their world! They tried that small scale one and it worked right?”
“Yeah... maybe.” He wasn't sure what that made him uneasy. There was as lot of talk to try this but... how would that world change from such high technology? Even given that magic prevented a lot of things there were ways 'around' the issues.
Martin smiled as he picked something from his bag. “Hey... let me show you this. I got it on E-bay.” He rubbed his hands as he picked up...
“...a mana bead?” Terry asked looking at.
“Yeah!” Martin took out the small energy bead. Terry noticed that it didn't glow, unlike the one he saw with his cousin. On earth it was just a useless small crystal... but they sold for crazy amounts of money on the internet, especially the biggest ones. They were not illegal to possess... given nobody had worked out a way to make the magic work on Earth. This one was the smallest and fairly common as they passed hands to those curious about magic. Martin held the bead in his hand. “If I believe enough it will work... come on- fly! Earth! Wind! Invisibility! Lightning Bolt!” He struck a few dramatic poses, throwing the bead in the air... but nothing happened.
Terry shook his head. “Dude, its not going to work. The laws of physics here just don't let it happen. How much did you spend on that piece of junk?”
“... a lot. I- I thought if I keep it close to me it will.. you know attune itself.”
“'Attune?' That's not even a thing!” Terry groaned.
“It is in the books I've read so I thought it couldn't hurt. Have you ever seen magic?”
Terry recalled yesterday, that one time in his cousin's room. “Sure.. I saw it once, just to spark some lights though.” It wasn't a lot...
“Oh do it with this! Please? Please! I'd do anything to see just a little real magic.”
Terry looked at the crystal and sighed. “Well give it here then...” He clasped it in his hand and held it outward. What was that word again? “Vol.. Volvi.. volvari... Volly-vol.. uh.. Volv-var-ia.” Nothing happened. “Sorry, like I said it just doesn't work here.”
“Aw.. well.. Thanks for trying anyway. I hope I can do a little magic.. someday.”
Terry wasn't sure what to say to that. It was clearly a waste of time and energy. “Why do you want to learn magic anyway? It's far too... primitive compared to human technology.”
“Well... I have a few reasons,” The young teen grinned. How could he explain the wonders of such a force? It changed the laws of physics themselves! The impossible became possible... that meant anything could happen. To see that... to see that beautiful chaos of reality... “Maybe I'd use it to have x-ray vision.” A slight gleam in his eye.
“Heh... I can think of a few uses you would have for that.” Terry smirked slighly. “You want to be a magician or a super hero?”
“Maybe Both! If magic can turn you into a hero, why not have a few perks with it too though?” Martin said matter of factly.
“Heh sure...” Terry returned the bead to him... hoping that he might get that little bit of magic he desired.
The school-day went mostly normal after all that.
Leaning on his chair, sat at his desk, Terry felt a little strange. The voice of the teacher seemed to flitter away and... there was a bit of a weird headache in his head.. specifically on two areas around his temples. He guessed it was sleeping too much or maybe not enough sleep... but whatever it was it was annoying more then it was painful.
He didn't feel ill but... something just didn't feel right. He glanced up from his work when he saw something even stranger. Looking about there was a strange aura around his fellow classmates. He stared at it in confusion. What was wrong with his eyes? What was this weird glow... the glow seemed rather bright around Martin, specifically around his backpack. A weird energy...
He blinked and the auras changed. Now there were strange lines between people. He looked at it like an odd intricate web. Not everyone had a thread of energy... there was one girl in the corner without one... which seem to draw his attention the most. He never noticed her until now.
“Terry?” A voice called out.
He blinked once more, the strange images vanishing. “Uh- yes?”
“Can you answer the question?” The teacher asked with a sigh. “Please pay more attention..”
Terry shook his head out of that odd experience. What the heck was that? Was he dreaming? Was he going mad? It all seemed so real...
He quickly got on with his writing and reading... glancing once more at the girl- who seemed to give him a confused look back before shuffling to her own book.
There were no other odd... sights after that. Terry was home once more and back to his normal routine. His headache had gone thankfully. His mother wouldn't be home until late today due to some parent teacher meetings. The teenager had spent about an hour on his assignment and watched some TV... but there was still that nagging feeling of 'something'.. off. Oh- right. He forgot to write that stupid letter.
He could just type it up on a computer but for some reason, ink generated from a machine faded away quite quickly in that world... How magic knew the difference between computer generated ink and normal ink (even using the same ink), he had no idea. So he brought out a pen and started to think hard on what to write to the little demon girl.
“Dear Cousin Margaret,
Thank you for inviting me to your house. Please come by-”
No wait. That would be a bad thing to say! Inviting demons was like the worst thing one could write! He crumpled the paper and started again.
“Thank you for inviting me to your house. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully one day you can visit us here when its allowed.” He sighed a bit in thought... maybe it was a bit of a cop out but... what else could he do? Inviting a demon was just bad luck... even if it was just a 'cute girl' one. He wrote some other things about his day... his homework assignment and drew a rough picture of a plane. It was something the young demon was fascinated the most with... she wanted to ride on one some day.
He wrote her name and placed it in an envelope when something.. strange happened. Her name seemed to glow in a strange flash of light... and the whole letter vanished.
“What the-” He blinked. It was like the letter spontaneously combusted! He placed his hand where it was... the air still warm.
In her room, Margaret was leafing through some possible games she could play with her human cousin, the next time he might visit. He could tell he was bored of this place... bored of her. Was human technology really that entertaining? More then Chess? Books? Though... he seem to like the mana bead... perhaps there was a game they could play that involved magic, even if he couldn't use any magic himself?
Her tail twitched slightly sensing the familiar presence of a magical aura. She could feel it by the tingle of her tail up her spine. Turning, she saw a soft red haze on her beside, slowly manifesting into a letter... with a 'To Margaret' signed on it. The letter glowed briefly as the effect disapated. That was weird... the only people who sent her letters like that was her grandmother and grandfather.. or maybe her great grandmother.
“I hope its nothing serious-” She gasped. “It- it's from Terry!” How- how did he even do that! She ran to her parents in awe. “Mom! Dad! I got a letter from Terry look!” She smiled happily. “He sent it to me!”
“Oh come now,” her father said. “That's not possi...ble?” He stopped as he looked at the letter. Clearly it was written by him... was the letter important enough that somehow the magic 'allowed' it? He had heard that such things could happen in very rare instances... but checking the letter it was just an ordinary normal message. He looked to his wife. “Uh- do you have any idea how he did that?”
“Hm...” she gave a careful thought. “Well he is family is he not?... Perhaps something has changed...”
