"Israfil could over-power me if he wants to. And now you have his magic." Ven stated. "You just need to learn what he had already learned, and you can sweep me on the floor."
"That's really good to hear because I would really love to know how I would be able to defend myself properly." Ven entered the house, and I followed. It reeks of quite a foul odor due to the old tenants who used to live there. Even my friend was annoyed, and from the looks of it, it was definitely on his to-do list of chores. "I assume you're not living with your parents."
"No, my mom is already long dead, and my father is working for the Knights like Israfil's older brother. He has a lot of things in his head right now, so I wouldn't really try bothering him." He said in a matter-of-factly way. His tone was dull at the mention of his mother. But I just probably expected more. "We were able to get this house because two of the Knights were posing as my temporary parents. You'll meet them later on."
"And I assume these Knights are clad in battle armor." I stated flatly as I sat on one of the sofa chairs. Then Ventus started removing the rug and rolled it neatly. My eyes bulged when I saw what was underneath. It was a huge magic circle embedded with symbols I was not familiar with. It looked complicated, and it seemed that it was only drawn by some kind of chalk. "You're not going to offer me to Satan, are you?"
"No, and no." He replied quickly before grabbing my hand and dragging me along into the middle of the circle. I knew that he felt that resisted him for a second before I gave in. There was no way I was about to stand in the middle of that thing! "This is a transportation circle that we use. See those six gems that engraved with specific rune commands? It's the formula to momentarily converge two dimensions into this spot so we can both jump to the other side. And no, armors are heavy. Where I come from are Elemental Mages, and that means we focus on moving a lot. That's why we don't like wearing those."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said. My eyes were still fixed on the circle that was starting to glow. And when I looked at Ven, he was muttering a chant I don't understand. But I should have expected that, of course. "Now, this is just too much!"
"Shut up!" Ven hissed at me. And for once, I did. Because if I disrupted him, I might end up being teleported to the Himalayas. There's no going back from that! "E'ti mis y ciere. Ei'goh con ven'ien tum. Hai'eh dae'uhm ratii i'ones fa'si tigium mei y iubees col'laidi fasere'ite!"
And out of nowhere, there was a flash of blinding light. It dazed me as I fell on my back. My balance went perfectly fine into perfectly haywire. It was already half a minute, and I was still crawling on the floor. My insides went jelly, and I almost hurled them out. It seems Ven was right. Dimension traveling was a dozen times worse than riding an extreme roller coaster. There was still an awful ringing inside of my head, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. Plus, I could barely see. Everything just looked like a blur of colors.
"So, did you enjoy the ride?" Ventus asked. He was sitting right in front of me and was cross-legged. It looks like he didn't suffer at all from the side effects. There was a smug on his face, and if he only knew how to take a selfie, then he would've used this awful chance.
"Screw you, Trevor! Or Ven! Or whatever your name is!" I grumbled. While he seemed to be very delighted. "You could have warned me that it was supposed to be this bad!"
"I did, but you weren't really listening." He replied. "And that's not my fault. I gave you a warning beforehand. That's fair, and don't say otherwise."
It took another minute or two before my insides started to settle down. And finally, I was able to sit back up. Ventus was sitting there with his eyes closed, and from the looks of it, he was meditating. My nose twitched, and I wanted to take a photo of him. But when I checked my phone, something was wrong. It was not responding, and the screen remained shut no matter how many times I pressed the bottom. I tried to force restart it. But it was unhelpful.
"Trev." I called out to him. But he shrugged it off as if he was playing with me. It was something familiar. Probably something Jaden would do. "You're still not free from my wrath, you know."
But there was no response. I waved my hand over his face. Again, Ventus wasn't bothered by a bit of it. I also tried making funny and awful faces, although he would just have laughed it off if he suddenly opened his eyes.
"You know, you can really be a killjoy." I mumbled to him, not caring if he heard me or not. Then he started to stir, and his eyes shot open. They were suddenly glowing orbs of light before it slowly dimmed until his pupils can be seen. "Now that was beyond freaky."
"Sorry, I had to travel without leaving you here." He said. Of course, that didn't really give me a clue about what really happened. Ventus just sat there as if everything was normal. And believe me, his definition of normal was my own version of a Freaky Friday.
"Are you sure we are in Altimeraea?" I asked. "It doesn't feel like it."
"Come on, let's go outside." Ventus replied. He said it quickly and giddily. As if he was about to jump up and down like a ten-year-old kid. "You'll see what you're looking for. And I wish you could see your own expression."
He was right. My mouth almost fell when we went outside. It was a whole new world out there. The buildings were high, and they were in the middle of huge fields, and the grass was neatly trimmed. I thought we were somewhere underground, but we were in some kind of terrace located on one side of the tower. It was probably as high as a twenty-story building, and the peak was pointing towards the sky. To put it simply, the towers looked like umbrellas that weren't in use.
And then I saw the sky. A tear escaped my eye as I saw the most incredible view I have ever seen. There were so many scattered stars. I could even see some meteors that were traveling around the vastness of space. Most of them were twinkling, and clusters of them formed like the shape of a galaxy. For some reason, it was as if I was seeing into deep space. Northern Lights can also be found at the far end of it. My eyes were just captivated as they danced gloriously in the atmosphere.
"What have you not brought me here sooner?" I asked a rhetorical question. Ven knew that he didn't need to answer. But I kept staring at the beautiful sky above. "The view is amazing! The guys back home would kill for this!"
"Bringing you here wasn't really part of the plan, Chance." He replied. "The plan that we had was a whole lot different. But things change because the guy we saw a while ago who tried to kill you was also moving. And no, we can't bring Tidians here. That would be dangerous."
"What's a Tidian?" I asked and frowned at him. He just looked at me innocently, as if he was observing my reaction. But I just shook my head. "Sounds like an insult."
"Not really." Ven assured me. Then he motioned me to follow him back inside the tower. The place was actually filled with objects of weird shapes. I was already having a hard time trying to figure them out. "It's what we call those who are not capable of using magic. And if you're still curious, it's dangerous because their body might not be able to handle the strong flow of avroi in this place."
"I see. But am I not a Tidian? I mean, if it wasn't for Israfil then I would have been classified as one. And what's an avroi?" It dawned on me that it wasn't really my magic. I only borrowed it from the other soul inside of me because I had no choice. "I can only use it instinctively as of now. But I don't really know how to use it on my own. That means I won't be a good ally for whatever is to come."
"No, you're not a Tidian." Ventus admonished. I just glared at him as if he was telling a lie. Honestly, I was waiting for him to tell me that it was a joke. Because as far as I knew, I am an average person. "I told you before that you're a special person. The reason why you became an effective vessel is that you have magic in your blood. You can tap Israfil's knowledge of how to use it, but it's actually your own power. And avroi is what we call the magical energy that we use to conjure magic and spells."
"Seriously?" I was oblivious to that fact for thirteen years now. But Ven stated it so forwardly that it took me a few seconds to realize it. But it wasn't really the time to deny because it was something I asked for back when I was a lot younger. "You mean that I am an actual mage? I find that disheartening, actually. For some reason, I do."
"You'll get used to it." Ventus guaranteed me. And the veins inside my arms loosened up when he said it. The way he was always calm was beneficial. "I won't be the one who will be teaching you because that's not the magic I focus on. There's another person that would be able to help you with that."
"And who would that be?" I wondered. Ventus just smiled at me, and I knew that he had the best intentions for me. No wonder why he was Israfil's best friend. "I'm sure you have some friends, but I am kind of excited to know what kind of person will he or she be?"
"He will also be the one explaining to you what really happened. And no, I won't be owing you any more of that. I believe that it's his job, to begin with. Besides, the plan to retrieve Israfil was his idea." He explained blatantly. "Speaking of which, he's already here. And he's just behind you."
Then I made a quick turn.
I gulped at the sight of the person. My fingers twitched in disarray, and my brows almost crossed themselves. Something boiled within me as I looked back at Ventus then back at the person waiting for us. A vein on my forehead would nearly have popped because I knew my blood pressure was steadily rising. Even my breathing went rigid and shallow.
Before me was the guy who knocked Jaden out, almost having his neck broken. It was none other than the man from the alley.