The door makes a loud rumble as it closes behind the pair. Mia examines the door, trying to find a way to open it. She motions to Lucell that it's no good. Then Lucell decides to try brute force to open the door so he enlarges his arm and attacks the door with all his might. The door is completely unfazed and a magic circle begins to glow red on the door. Seeing this Mia and Lucell attempt to swim away from the door, but they are caught in the light emitting from the door and are transported to another place.
"Where are we?" Mia asked while she looked around at her surroundings. They were no longer under the ocean, stone ruins surrounded them as they were in an open field under a blue sky. "One minute we were under the ocean and the next we were here. That magic circle must have been a teleport spell of some sort."
"Yes, though this kind of magic is unique and we have not seen it before." Tolvash and Aquir responded. "Amazing that there would still be magics unknown to us elementals. Simply astonishing."
Lucell took in his surroundings, trying to assess their situation. "Miss Mia, I do not believe we are on the same planet anymore." Lucell said as he looked up into the blue sky. In the sky there was a sight that neither of them had ever seen before, rings. Where ever they were the planet had massive rings surrounding it that were visible from the ground. "How could this even be possible?" He asked himself under his breath.
"What was that place under the ocean Aquir?" Mia asked to try and get some answers.
"Honestly I haven't a clue." Aquir responded. "I did not spend much time exploring the bottom of the ocean, was pretty boring. Though this is quite exciting."
Mia sighed in disappointment. "I guess we should explore and try to find a way back to our world." She said. Together they left the stone ruins and began walking across the fields. After a while of walking Mia decided to break the silence. "It would probably be faster to fly." Mia told Lucell. With that she concentrated but she was unable to lift herself with her magic. "Hey Tolvash, what gives?" She asked.
"Different planet, different rules I guess." Tolvash said. "I am giving you my power as I always do, it just doesn't appear to be having any effect at the moment."
Lucell also tried to shape shift and grow his wings on his back. He was however unable to grow his wings. "I am sorry Miss Mia, it appears that I am unable to fly as well. Something seems to be blocking us from using magic here. I suppose we should consider ourselves fortunate that we can breathe the air."
"Looks like we are walking then." Mia replied. "Looks like a path this way, we should follow it and find out where it leads." As they walked Mia made conversation to try and lighten the mood. "So do you think the Goddess made this world as well?" She asked Lucell.
"I believe she must have." Lucell responded. "She has created countless worlds, this is probably just one of her previous works."
"If I remember right, destruction killed all of her previous worlds." Mia replied. "If that is the case I doubt we will find anyone alive."
Finally after walking for what felt like hours Mia and Lucell finally reach a small town. To their surprise the town is actually populated. They can see traders lining the streets and kids playing. The sounds of a bustling town surrounded them as they entered. "This is quite odd." Lucell told Mia. "Be on your guard we do not know what might happen and we do not have any magic to defend ourselves." As the townspeople saw the pair the entire town they all fell silent and stared.
It did not take long for Mia and Lucell to notice that they were now the center of attention. "Hello, my name is Mia." She said with a bow. "Does anyone know anything about the ruins alongside that path by chance?"
An old man hobbled his way over to them. "Is that where you came from?" The old man asked. "We were wondering why your garments were so strange." He reaches out and grabs Mia's hands. "Tell me dear what is the ancestral lands like now?"
"Wait what?" Mia asked. "So you are from our world?"
"Yes." He smiled. "So what's it like now?"
"Well it's on the brink of annihilation." Mia answered. "The elemental of destruction is close to wiping out all life."
"I see." The old man paused. "So not much has changed from the legends then."
"Legends?" Lucell asked. "What sort of legends are you talking about?"
"Many generations have passed since that time." The old man answered. "But we all came here to escape the war that was raging. According to the legends mankind was fighting for dominance over all the other races, but there were a group of them that did not wish to fight. They only wanted to coexist with the other races and create prosperity together. Together they banded with groups from the other races and tried to live in peace away from the war. Until one day war found them. They were surrounded in their temple with no hope of escape. That is until a divine being appeared before them and opened the door to this world. As they left the world behind the divine being caused the island to sink deep beneath the waves burying the temple and barring any army from following us through. Those people were our ancestors and set out to settle this world. We still live at peace with the other races, but this world has its own challenges."
Mia and Lucell listened intently and took it all in. "So who was the divine being?" Mia asked. "Are they anything like the Goddess?"
"The divine one disappeared shortly after sending us here. I do not know their story only that they had immense power that rivaled that of the creator." The old man answered.
"You said this world had its own challenges." Lucell stated. "What did you mean by that?"
"This world is cursed." The old man stopped. "Unholy monsters roam the landscape at night. The dead walk and there are giant man-like wolf creatures that if they bite you, you become one as well. There are also creatures that drain someone completely of their fluids and three days later their body disappears as well."
"That does sound horrific." Lucell replied. "How have you managed to survive for so long in such a harsh environment?"
"Never underestimate what all the races can accomplish if they work together." The old man smiled. "Now we should head inside the night is nearly upon us. You two can stay at the inn, I will pay for you. In the morning I will answer all the questions you have to the best of my ability, but for now we must prepare for the night."
"Thank you for your kindness." Mia said with a bow. "If you need any help please let us know so we may assist you."
"I may take you up on that later." The old man replied. "For now however, please go seek shelter." With that Lucell and Mia headed into their room and prepared to rest for the night.
It was a small cramped room with a single small bed. "Looks like we sleeping close tonight Lucy." Mia smiled. This was going to be the first time they had shared a bed since Mia's new experiences and she was excited to be so close to Lucell again. As they laid there Mia pressed herself tightly up against Lucell's chest. They quickly drifted off to sleep, only to be awoken a few hours later by sounds of screams and battle coming from outside of the inn.