In a meadow, a small cottage had been blown apart as if it was filled to the brim with explosives, leaving only a nightstand, a man that was made out of the void itself holding his head in his hands on top of a bed, and a full body mirror. Taking a deep breath in Marcus tried to calm himself, "Not again...", He had been in this godforsaken place for well over 250 years, trying his hardest to make his way out of where ever he found himself in. All he had found out was that first; he wasn't alone in this situation, other people had been brought along with him as well. Second, there seemed to be floors where ever he was, each floor having a different theme from the last, the highest he had explored was 6 floors up, or at least that was the furthest he could go. With each floor he went up it felt like his body would become weaker and the air thinner, even though the inhabitants of the floors above seemed to be fine. Though he couldn't explore too far, the people that he had found, ended up in the same situation, a blinding white light followed by them waking up in a different place in a different body.

The floor directly above him was an ancient ruin, about the size of Rhode Island, and the only 'living' people there were the Eda family. They had originally come from Japan, but after what they called 'The Flash' they found themselves as 100-foot-tall mechanical golems. Each one represents a different warrior with a unique weapon, Eda Chimon, the father and husband, looked like a knight in heavy armor wielding a large shield that was almost impossible to get through. Eda Shizuka, the wife and mother, had the appearance of a huntress, wielding a gigantic bow that shoots arrows made of light. Finally, Chimon's and Shizuka's daughter, Eda Suzu, took the form of a classical-looking female wizard, complete with a large staff that had been useless for a while, until Marcus moved up about 3 levels and found the Ice elf empire, Onfebel.

While the 2 levels after the ruins were mostly complex hallways filled to the brim with traps, Onfebel was what Marcus would consider a winter wonderland that was home to even more people that had been brought in from 'The Flash'. What was even more noteworthy, however, was the fact that other residents of the Empire had seemingly always been there. The Onfebel citizens that weren't from 'The Flash' treated him with a fair amount of respect and allowed him to wander the capital mostly uninhibited as long as he didn't cause trouble. This allowed him to learn quite a few things, like the fact that magic seemed to exist, and multiple languages like the elvish, dwarven, and deep speech. While he was learning about the Empire's languages, he figured out that almost every person spoke the same language. He had first expected this after encountering the Eda family, but after a few short hours of being inside Onfebel, was when his suspicion was confirmed. However this didn't affect the written language so after looking through the Capital, he had learned that almost every language had been automatically translated They had also been kind enough to teach him magic, of course after almost blowing up part of the capital while trying to create a simple mote of fire to light a candle, they had asked him to practice any new magic he learned far away from the capital.

Of course, this was a problem for a long time, due to him having an almost limitless amount of magical energy and having little to no control over the output. But it wasn't all bad, Marcus managed to make a few friends that he could talk with, and he had even guided into the deeper levels to meet the Eda family, as they were too large to move through the entrance and exits of their floor. They had come together to make a support group of sorts, helping one another with adjusting to their new lives and just having someone to talk with. One of the members of their group, Charlotte, hails from France, and though Marcus had butt heads with her in the past they got married around 10 years ago. She was one of the reasons Marcus hasn't gone completely insane yet, she was one of the few reasons he had even bothered to learn how to control his power, leading him to learn even more about magics and other forms of self-control.

As Marcus held his head he could hear the sound of heels crunching against the burnt and broken wood that was once his home, he didn't even need to look up to see who it was, "Another nightmare?" Charlotte's smooth voice rang out from the silence, looking up to meet her empathetic gaze he could only wonder how the blue skin, white hair beauty could put up with him.

Nodding his head he waved his hand, forming a complex magic circle in mere moments, and as it faded his destroyed home began repairing itself at an incredible rate, he let out a sigh as he said "At least I didn't destroy the bed, right?" With a small smile, Charlotte shook her head as she walked over to Marcus and sat down next to him, leaning against his shoulder as they both watched the house begin to put itself together. After it was complete, Marcus leaned down to nudge the top of Charlotte's head as he asked in a quiet voice, "Is Halfar still riding your ass about finding a replacement? It's terrible that we have to walk three floors just to see each other."

Perking up a little bit with a slightly larger smile Charlotte spoke, "Actually that's what I came here to talk about." Standing up and waving her opening her arms, "I have officially finished training my replacement and have finally been permitted to leave!" As Charlotte finished speaking she waved her right hand creating a magic symbol, on the floor next to the nightstand, and from it rose a large dark blue Wardrobe and case of luggage.

Staring with all 9 of his eyes, Marcus was at a loss for words, so instead of trying to form a proper sentence, he stood up and hugged her, twirling around in each other's arms laughing. Eventually, Marcus's brain was able to process a rather important question, "Wait, what about food? I don't need anything but don't the ice elves need to eat the Ice Dragon fruit to keep themselves cool in warmer locations?"

With a smug smile, Charlotte snapped her fingers, causing her smallest luggage bag to pop open, showing a book and 3 sapphire fruits. "After serving as the royal account for the last 100 years, Halfar thought these would be a suitable parting gift." Although he could tell that the sapphire fruits were Ice Dragon fruits, he had never seen the book next to them before. Picking up the book, he couldn't believe what he was reading.

"Ice Dragon Fruit cultivation? Isn't this, like, a state secret? " After reading the title of the book he looked at Charlotte with a questioning gaze. The book he was holding was worth more than its weight in gold.

Charlotte simply nodded her head, smiling as she added, "Yup, as a way to keep my lips sealed about another secret."

Tilting his head, Marcus asked, "What's the secret?"

In response to Marcus's question, Charlotte's smug grin became even smugger, "If I told you it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" This earned her a deadpan stare from, Marcus as he continued to stare at her waiting for an answer. Sighing Charlotte rolled her eyes and relented, "Fine, I'll tell you. So around one year ago, mages across the capital had been reporting that their mana measuring devices had all been acting strange. This wasn't a huge deal, to begin with, but, when the devices with the depths of the castle's laboratories started to break from the concentration of mana, it became an issue."

Sitting back on the bed, Marcus crossed his arms asking, "So a usual amount of mana is what got you the book?"

Giving Marcus a pointed stare, she continued "If you listen you'll understand why. Now shush and let me continue. As I was saying due to the usually high mana they began to look for where the highest amount of mana was located, trying to see where it was being focused the most. This lead them to the spell research department, where, after a few days a portal had appeared. Now before you ask, no, it wasn't an invasion attempt or an act against the throne. As they weren't able to trace where the portal went, they decided to send someone to the other side. And what they found on the other side is what's considered a state secret." Walking over to her wardrobe, she opened it and grabbed a small box from the wardrobe, and unlocked the hatch, opening it to reveal the contents inside.

Upon seeing what was contained within the box, all of Marcus's eyes widened, staring in disbelief. "Is that-"

Nodding her head Charlotte finished his thought, "When the scout returned he brought back a few samples from the other side. One of which was a very moldy piece of wood with rusted metal on it. When they used reversal magic, it turned out to be a number two pencil. Of course, nobody knew what it was but one of the mages that were working on the project, Abdul, was one of 'The Flash' residents. After this discovery, he immediately told me, but due to Halfar's worry about a mass exodus he wanted us to keep it a secret."

Marcus slowly picked up the pencil, inspecting it with awe. Using his thumb he brushed the metal at the end of the pencil, feeling the cheap rubber almost made him tear up. Memories that he hadn't thought of in ages started to resurface, he couldn't help but ask, "Is it still there?"

Shaking her head, she added, "After the scout returned it only stood open for another five days before it disappeared, leaving just as fast as it appeared." Charlotte moved to sit next to Marcus, holding his hands while looking into his eyes, "All we have to do is wait until another portal appears. I know the chances are slim but I heard a rumor of portals opening on the higher floors, there not commonplace, but that doesn't mean we should give up hope. We can return home, all we have to do is be patient."

Looking back at Charlotte he once again failed to form any proper thought so instead, he just held her in his arms, sitting silently while trying to process everything she had told him all the while they both fell into a melancholic mood. After around a minute of silence, Marcus mumbled, "Do you want my help with settling in?"

Charlotte responded by leaning a little more on him, letting himself be pushed down by his beloved wife, Charlotte spoke, "After traveling three floors and talking about a way home, I think we should leave that for a different time." With a slightly seductive look in her eyes, Marcus knew how he would be spending the next few hours...

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With night finally descending upon the floor, Marcus was laying next to Charlotte, her beautiful light blue skin on full display, while he stared up at the ceiling of their home. While he was letting his mind wonder, he had seen something that he hadn't seen in more than 200 years, the mirror that had first shown him the way to the stairs, flashed with a white light before displaying a multicolored vortex within a meadow. Without taking his eyes off of the mirror Marcus lightly shook Charlotte, "Hun get up, you have to see this."

Releasing a groan, Charlotte muttered "You could at least let me rest for a little bit."

Rolling his eyes, Marcus continued to shake her "Charlotte get up, the mirror is showing a portal."

This was enough to get Charlotte to prop herself up with an annoyed look. "I know that the idea of going home is tempting but that doesn't mean... you should..." Charlotte let her words trailing off as she tried to process what she was seeing.

Jumping out of the bed and walking to over to his closest he pulled out a pair of dark brown pants and a tan tunic, only stopping to look at Charlotte, "Well what are you waiting for? Get dressed fast!" This immediately brought Charlotte out of her stupor, as she jumped out of the bed and dashed to her wardrobe, flinging it open to and grabbing the first dress she seen. Marcus being the first one to get ready ran over to the mirror, and as he did the mirror slowly started to pull away from the portal showing a birds eye view of its location, fortunately it wasn't that far away from their home, roughly 400 miles east from their home. After seeing the change Marcus moved over to Charlotte, helping her get dress as quick as they could while cursing Ice elf society for only having complex dressing style.

After getting ready they both leapt out the window landing deafly as they both began to sprint towards the portal. Thanks to there new bodies and the use of magic, the 400 miles was like a short 4 minute walk, slowing down to a stop just a few feet away from the portal. Marcus looked towards Charlotte, seeing the trepidation and excitement in her eyes, he grabbed her hand giving it a firm squeeze before asking, "Are you ready? If you aren't I won't blame you, we can always take some time to prepare ourselves better before this."

Shaking her head, she smiled and said, "I've waited two hundred years for a moment like this, I know it won't be the same home we were taken from, but its still our home."

Squeezing her hand once more, Marcus looked towards the portal, "Couldn't have said it better myself." With the last bit of hesitation leaving them both, they walked forward into the swirling vortex of colors.