Astro clapped his hands before letting the first group through with some instructions. “Remember, observe how they look, speak and behave. Use glamour to fit in and keep us updated. Locate a school and places to live if you find the time. Ten of you will be attending school, and ten will be working. I’m sure they must have educational centers since they’re so highly intelligent, but if they don’t, you’ll all work.” We nodded, having heard this a million times before already. “There’s no magic,” Astro quickly added. “So, no public displays of magic. Use it only sparingly and do it without them noticing.”
The first group was let through, and three long minutes passed before the rulers’ slates dinged with messages alerting them that they had travelled through safely.
I stepped up to the portal, holding Nix’s hand in mine, squeezing it as we stepped through the blue smoke and travelled to the new world.
I couldn’t see anything at first, only smell this new wonderful world. Their trees were like ours but where our world now lacked the luster of colors, theirs was wonderfully vibrant. Blue skies, green trees, birds flying above us—that was what greeted us onthe other side. It seemed like a copy of our world, which would make it easier to adapt if we needed to relocate in the future. I dutifully sent my dad a message on my slate, telling him we were all fine. Our slates were made of a combination of magic and technology. Their design was fitted around our wrists, and we could transform them into a bigger piece if we needed a computer to work on, always having our own personal one with us.
“This is amazing,” Nix said softly behind me. I gave him a side hug, grateful that we could share this moment together. Charlotta was yet to come through, so we all waited until the rest arrived safely. I looked around and I had to guess we were in a forest, trees everywhere and no loud noises. It could take us a while to reach civilization, not that I minded. Every minute spent here felt like I could breathe easier, like I already belonged. I’d never felt this way before. Looking at Nix he seemed to share my fondness for this new world, grinning broadly as his gaze moved around. I could talk to him about it later, when we were back home, but for now I just wanted both of us to enjoy the moment.
Once everyone was through, Nolen, our portal leader, stepped forward. “We’ll travel in pairs of two. Make sure you’re always connected through your slates. We meet back here tonight. I’ll just call the rulers to show them this world before we head out.” We nodded silently as he called Trise, and projected the rulers in the air above his slate, showing us all a clear view of all five of them. My dad was the only one who sought anyone out, me, then after seeing I was alive and well, he looked around, taking in the trees and the vivid colors.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous,” Henriette gushed. She seemed almost enthralled as her gaze travelled around the area where we stood.
“It is. The air is fresh, and we find ourselves in some kind of forest,” Nolen replied dutifully. “We’ll pair off now and contactyou when we’re ready to return home.” His mention of home made me realize I didn’t want to leave, not already. I knew I would be back again tomorrow, but just thinking about leaving again so soon seemed wrong, somehow.
“Have fun, and be safe!” Trise told us before they ended the call.
Nolen clapped his hands excitedly, no longer the serious leader. “Let’s go explore!”
An hour later, we finally reached the end of the forest, using our glamour to become invisible as we approached a road. The others had gone in different directions, all of us spread out. I had Nix as my partner and since we were so in tune with one another we’d both turned invisible at the same time.
“Look,” Nix said, likely pointing to the building with a restaurant sign out front. There was a parking space for cars, almost identical to our world. I couldn’t see Nix, only hear and touch him, so I grabbed his wrist as we made our way over to the restaurant. On closer inspection it looked like a diner and honestly, so far this world was a copy of ours. The restaurant door slammed open and a woman carrying a child came through balancing her food and the child. We froze mid step as we looked her over. She was identical to us; the only difference was her bright colored clothes. We didn’t wear anything bright orpatterned where we came from, but her blue dress with flowers was really pretty.
It was a relief that they were human like us. We’d figured as much, our worlds being so similar, but it was still a relief.
As she passed, we neared the windows. Peeking in, we saw everyone looking human inside as well. We exhaled in relief. This would make our job here much easier. Two men exited from the same door the woman had, one wearing a black leather jacket and denim pants. I already knew what I wanted to wear. Letting my glamour do its thing I copied his clothes as my own, excited to see how I looked in a mirror. We were still invisible so I couldn’t even show off to Nix.
“Let’s head around the building and become visible there,” Nix whispered and tugged me behind him. As soon as we were hidden from sight, we became visible.
“Nooo,” I whined. “I was supposed to be the biker daddy!” Looking down at Nix’s leather clad body, I was instantly jealous. I hadn’t thought about adding leather pants too, instead mimicking the guy from before perfectly.
Nix grinned and made sunglasses appear too along with a few facial piercings that the other guy had too. I rolled my eyes but was once again filled with envy.Why hadn’t I thought of that?
“Should we go inside?” Nix asked as we stopped in front of the door.
“I don’t actually know,” I replied in a low voice, since we still didn’t know how they spoke. There was a risk that we would stand out. “Maybe continue down the road to those buildings?” I pointed further down the road where bigger buildings could be spotted in the distance. It looked like a thirty-minute walk downhill from where we were, but we needed to search for a place of education and that wouldn’t be this far out.
“Good idea. We can walk on the side of the road,” Nix took my hand in his as we walked together, slowly getting closer to what appeared to be a town.
Chapter Two
Juno
When we entered the town, we quickly sought out a café, desperate to find people talking so we could learn their language. Inside we found a group of five young humans, sipping on coffees and chatting. We sat down next to their table and with our magic we picked up their language, learning it in its entirety.
“I can’t believe your professor said that to you!” One of the women said with a shocked expression.
“Cheer up,” a man said. “It’s not like you can’t just write another article. You’ve got two weeks until it’s due.” He gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. They were clearly mates. The sight made Nix and me grin at one another, pleased mates were a thing here too. Well, it kind of had to be to create more humans, but finding your mate was what everyone dreamed about. Finally feeling attraction towards another being, getting to experience that kind of love and want. I couldn’t wait until I met mine.
I shared a look with Nix and together we rose and went to their table, awkwardly trying to find the courage to speak in their language. I cleared my throat and tried to appear welcoming and confident as I smiled at the group of people.
“Hi, I’m sorry, but I just overheard you speaking about a professor. We’re new in town and are looking to get an education here. Where’s the education center you attend?” Something about education center sounded off in their language and from the way they tilted their heads showed they thought so, too.
“You mean school?” One of the men said, not unkindly, but clearly confused.
“Yes, sorry. We’re not from here,” I answered honestly, hoping they, like us, had a big world where people talked differently depending on where they lived.
One of the girls brightened into a big smile. “We attend the local college here, but you can’t just show up and get accepted.” She didn’t seem to scold us, more amused by us than anything. Another woman rolled her eyes at her friend but it seemed to be an inside joke we weren’t privy to.
