The Hidden World

The doctor, who later introduced herself as Medina, made Yuki stay in her clinic for one day. During that time, she did tests on him that recorded his mana and various health signs. But according to her, she still wasn’t able to find any information about his species and age despite her extensive examinations. 

 

And now Yuki was standing in a train station waiting for the arrival of the shuttle that will take him to Junction. In his hand he held small flat crystal that served as a ticket. He was given this by Medina as well as some pocket change when he was told that he could leave and given directions to the station. 

 

While he waited, Yuki mulled over a couple of puzzling questions. How did he get here to Ethros? Why couldn’t an elf, the species that Medina said she was, that was skilled in magic determine his basic information? And why hasn’t Akira been messaging him?

 

Yuki prodded the mental connection between him and Akira. He wanted to see if Akira would react.

 

‘Akira~’ he said in his mind. ‘Akiiiiraaaa~.’

 

[Hrmmm,] she replied, groaning.

 

‘Akira,’ Yuki repeated louder.

 

[Nya~...] she said, still sleepy.

 

‘Akira!’ Yuki yelled this time.

 

[What! What happened!] Akira said, wide awake. [Huh. Yuki? Yuki!]

 

‘You’re awake now,’ Yuki replied. He could feel a fierce warmth coming from the bond between them. ‘Why were you asleep in the first place?’

 

[Because of you,] she complained, yawning. [Do you know how much energy I had to use to get you out of there.]

 

‘Wait wait wait. You brought me here?’ Yuki asked slowly.

 

[Mhmm, I brought you home. Do you not recognize where you are…] she started to say before trailing off as she realized where Yuki was. Or rather where he wasn’t. [Wait, why aren’t you in your room? In Aether? Where are you?]

 

‘That’s what I want to ask you,’ Yuki replied. ‘Where did you take me?’

 

[Well I did make the spell really vague,] she said to herself. [Um, well I wanted to take you home. And apparently the spell worked and took you home.]

 

‘So you’re telling me that Ethros is my home world?’ Yuki asked, wanting confirmation.

 

[Yes?]

 

‘So I’m not human.’

 

[Probably?]

 

‘Okay.’

 

The train then pulled up to the station, a silver machine that resembled a bullet train. It made almost no noise as it arrived at the station.

 

‘Looks like it's magnetic or something of that nature, there aren’t any wheels,’ Yuki thought absentmindedly to himself. ‘And if I’m not human what am I?’

 

[I don’t know, Yuki. I just wanted to get you away from danger. But it seems like I took us to another world,] Akira remarked. [That’s probably why almost all of my mana was used.]

 

‘Oh, by the way. I saw you when I was knocked unconscious,’ Yuki said as he put his ticket into a machine, ignoring the curious look that operator was giving him.

 

[What do you mean?] Akira asked.

 

‘I saw you, I don’t really understand it either. I think I also felt your feelings for a bit as well,’ Yuki thought, sitting in a random seat near at window. ‘You have a lot of warmth and fuzziness when you look at me.’

 

[Uh, warmth and fuzziness, umm. Warmth and fuzziness?] Akira replied slowly. [What do you mean… Oh gods. Please ignore whatever you saw.]

 

‘Why? What was it?’ Yuki asked.

 

[Ju-just ignore whatever you felt from me okay?] she half yelled.

 

‘Okay,’ Yuki answered plainly and changed subjects. ‘Another thing that I don't understand was that glass box that had a small fractures all around it. I know it’s a part of me, but I’m not sure which part.’

 

[Yeah, yeah. A glass box, let’s talk about the glass box,] Akira hurriedly said. [Wait, what glass box?]

 

During the trip to the capital, Yuki explained the events of the past two days. He told Akira about the things he saw when he was unconscious such as the box and his parents. He also talked about what happened to him when he was in the clinic with Medina and the information that she had given him about the world he had just arrived in.

 

After his explanation, Yuki sat there on the train as he watched the scenery blur past him. The train was going much too fast for him to see any actual objects outside of the windows. Akira had told him that she was going to go back to sleep and analyze what happened in the dark nothingness later and had gone quiet.

 

Soon an announcement went around the train’s radio system. The sound quality of the announcement was amazing, sounding as if the person was with Yuki in the cabin. He stood up and went to the door to exit the cabin to find himself underground. Outside, he first noticed the large translucent screen in front of him. It was hovering vertically showing a large sign that welcomed them to Junction. It was similar to the ones in Aether but somehow seemed of better quality. The colors were crisp and the images seemed as if the were real. But walking behind the screen revealed a completely different message that bid travelers farewell.

 

‘Magic and technology mixed together,’ Yuki remarked. Then he looked up.

 

He had noticed that the underground area was evenly lit up. Looking around he noticed floating crystals that illuminated the place. They were spaced out evenly and emitted a soft glow that filled the area.

 

‘This place is quite beautiful,’ Yuki thought. He turned toward the stairwell flooded with light that lead to the world outside. As he walked up the stairs, he noticed that the material used to make the walls and the stairs he was on were odd. He originally thought that they were metal because of the grey color. But they did not make the same sound of metal. Instead it sounded like concrete.

 

‘There’s so much to learn here,’ Yuki thought, his interest starting to get piqued. Then he walked out of the station and into the bright morning light, the sun blinding him. When the light cleared, greeted Yuki was a city that surpassed anything that the human world could offer.

 

Before Yuki was a metropolis that true to its name Junction. It was a combination of both magic and technology. Of nature and civilization. Towering buildings of what seemed like metal and glass rose up from the ground yet they were not densely packed. Each of these buildings had artistic designs unlike those of Earth. These buildings twisted and curved, some with relatively short with domed roofs and others towers that split into two parts that weaved together.

 

Between these towers were areas of lush grass and trees. Some even had ponds and streams that all lead into one river that went to a place that Yuki wouldn’t know. Directly in front of Yuki was a wide, shiny black street that went below him and as far as he could see in front of him. Further down, Yuki could see the street rising into the air and split into multiple directions. These new paths twisting around the various buildings and alternating from the air and the ground.

 

From somewhere beneath him, vehicles that could almost be described as cars shot out. They traveled at various speeds, some like racecars others like antiques. But somehow they never collided. These vehicles were like the train that Yuki had arrived on and seemed be suspended on an invisible cushion of sorts.

 

But what surprised Yuki the most was the beings that lived here. Elves could be seen walking down the street, holding food and chatting. Others were sitting under trees, summoning fireballs or shooting streams of water at each other. To Yuki’s right, he could see a pair of short people that could only be dwarves. And to Yuki’s left, he could spy a pair of furry ears that popped out of the head of one person.

 

Yuki walked down the street, observing all of this with intense eyes. Hidden behind all of the technology Yuki saw the magic. More mana screens could be seen advertising products and giving people information. Those luminescent crystals in the underground were everywhere, floating at set intervals between each other.

 

The site of this beautiful metropolis shook Yuki deeply. As he stared at the scene before him, something leaked out of him and began to well up within his chest. It was a feeling that he had never felt in years.

 

He walked, turning his head in circles, his mind filled with wonder. His body shaking with awe and his eyes sparkling with excitement.

 

This was world that no human could see. A world that he would have never known about. A world that was secret to the Earth.

 

‘Welcome to hidden world, Yuki,’ he thought to himself with a slight grin.