One rainy evening, the old Ywein Bar had an unusual visitor: a tall man who covered his face with a hood, clothed in black with bandages wrapped around his palms and forearms. Tied to his waist on either side were two daggers, both sheathed, but ready to be drawn out at any moment.
The folks in the bar were rightfully alarmed. Ywein Bar lied at the very edge of Targaros and rarely had any visitors aside from the local neighbourhood, if at all; certainly not people who knew how to wield a dagger. It was a lively place for the old folks to hang out and chat, yet now everyone was either quiet or had lowered their voice, wondering what the silhouette would do next.
'Is there an empty seat?'
His voice was rather rough, sounding so tired that one wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't slept a few weeks.
'Uh, yes,' someone replied. He was young, probably in his twenties, seated alone in a table of four, so he quickly got up and took an empty seat with someone else, handing the whole table to him. The stranger walked over with slow, heavy steps. 'Thanks,' he said, sitting down. 'Just give me something to eat. Anything's fine. And some wine too if you have it.'
'Sure,' said the old shop-owner, not flinching at all. In fact, he was the only one in the entire bar who was completely indifferent to the visitor, acting like he usually did. He put down the empty glass he was wiping and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he brought a steak and a glass of red wine.
The stranger took a bite. The room fell silent, except for the high-pitched sound of wiping glass that came from the counter, where the old shop owner stood with his eyes closed, wiping a glass with a towel, before putting it neatly on the shelf behind him.
The man continued to eat the steak, showing no signs of aggression, much to the relief of everyone present. They too got back to their meals and chats, sensing no harm from the strange visitor, though still keeping their voice low, sometimes down to a whisper.
Yet he could still hear their words; his ears were as sharp as a wild beast on a hunt.
'A soldier maybe? A guard?'
'Look at his attire, and the way he hides his face, he must be a criminal on the loose.'
'Ya sure? He's been pretty chill so far.'
'You can never be sure, who knows when he'll snap!'
'Ya can jus' leave then. Nobody's holding ya hostage!'
'And what if he finds that rude? Do you want me dead?'
Though most of their talk was about him, and rather negative at that, he wasn't much interested in it. He couldn't care less of what people thought of him, and it was doubtful if he would even cross paths with any one of them in the future. What he wanted to know was something else. He stayed there for a while longer, hoping that someone would talk about what he wanted to know, but after around an hour of waiting, he simply got up and left.
'I wonder who he was,' said the young man who gave him his seat.
'If fate allows it, I'm sure we'll meet him again,' said the old bartender, arranging the plates on the shelf.
The bar usually closed at around nine, but for some reason the old man kept it open, even when the clock ticked twelve, and it had been over an hour since the last person left. He patiently waited, sitting quietly at the counter, wiping a glass with a white towel.
The door opened, and a familiar silhouette walked in once more, only this time there was no rain or wet steps accompanying him.
'Welcome,' said the old man, not a bit surprised.
'This is a strange place,' said the man.
'It sure is. How's my daughter been?'
'She's doing fine. Right now, she's in Vara.'
'That's good to hear.'
The man took a seat next to the counter, right in front of the old man. He took off his hood, revealing his pale skin, his deep, sapphire eyes, and his hair as white as snow, messy, with strands that reached his eye.
'I'm tired,' he said.
'That much is apparent. Stay here for the night. I'll make you something.'
The old man turned around, walking towards the kitchen, and he was about to leave the room when the man asked,
'Do they not know?'
The bartender paused for a moment. 'You're sharp,' he said.
'There's no way anyone aware of it wouldn't have noticed.'
'They were, once,' he said, 'but they seem to have lost their memories after the incident.'
'And you're the only one who hasn't?'
'It seems so.'
The man gave a disappointing sigh. No wonder nobody brought it up in the evening, he thought. They simply didn't know.
After a while, the bartender brought him a bowl of hot soup. It smelled delicious, and to someone who had been starving for who knows how many days, and probably would have fainted if he didn't have the steak that evening, it was no less than heaven.
He knew the old man was a good cook, and though anywhere else, a steak would almost certainly be more delicious than soup, it was different here. It wasn't to say that the steak was any less delicious, rather it was probably the best steak he had eaten, ever, but the old man's soup had always been something special, and this time was no different.
He drank it slowly, savouring each sip, letting the flavours melt in his tongue sending him into a blissful trance. After he finished, he put the bowl down, plenty satisfied and ready to start discussing the main topic.
'When will they arrive?'
His eyes narrowed.
'They should have by now.'
'Yet, they haven't.'
'How sure are you of that?'
'If they had, I would have sensed it.'
The old man paused for a while, as if pondering over something. His brows twitched.
'What if, just what if, they didn't come through the World Between Worlds?'
'That is impossible,' he said, quickly disregarding the theory. 'There is no way for them to come other than the World Between Worlds.'
It was only natural. The man was quite familiar with the workings of the world. There were several ways to enter and leave a realm, but from what he knew, there wasn't a clear passage between Ar Veil and the universe where he was. As such, the only way for them to come was through the World Between Worlds.
'What if someone made a direct path between that universe and Ar Veil?'
The man thought for a moment, considering what the old bartender just said, before drawing the same conclusion.
'It's impossible,' he said bluntly. It wasn't that a direct path wasn't possible, but rather that someone would be able to make one in secrecy. The resources and time that it would require, more so if it was done in secrecy, would make such a task nearly impossible. Of course, there was the off chance that someone did manage to do it, but it was so miniscule that it wasn't even worth considering.
Still, would they?
If there was someone who could do it, it would either be the Qing-Huan Alliance, or the Order.
No. They wouldn't bother.
'Do you have a free room?'
'Sure,' said the bartender. 'It's about time I close the bar.'
~~~~
'Are you sure about this?' asked a female voice.
'Yes.'
A bright, silver light illuminated the otherwise dark bedroom. The source of the light was a portal, elliptical in shape, slightly taller than a regular human, and wide enough to fit two people. Before it, stood two silhouettes, a boy and a girl who were about the same age.
She warned him again.
'If you wish to turn back, now is the time.'
'I've made up my mind.'
She sighed.
He wouldn't turn back now. Rather, he couldn't. Liu Zhe had nowhere else to turn to. He could only move forward. He clenched his fists. It was clear he was nervous, still uncertain about his choice. But he couldn't stay uncertain forever. Who knows when a chance like this would present itself again, if it even would.
The two of them stepped into the portal.
The world changed, turning into an incomprehensible mess of colours, before reshaping itself into a completely different space. Before he knew it, Zhe was standing on a platform. Above him was a sky full of stars, probably the most beautiful sky he had ever seen.
He seemed to be in a courtyard, but on closer inspection, Zhe noticed that the platform was very strange. It was a circular disc, with strange engravings near the circumference, all connected to a single circle engraved in the centre, under his feet, by long, straight lines, which sometimes branched into other straight lines, and every turn was a sharp ninety degrees.
The engravings were glowing a bright blue hue, before they went dim, and Qing Li walked down the platform.
'What are you waiting for?' she asked Zhe.
'Oh, sorry.'
He got off the platform as well, after which the blue hue dimmed, until it completely stopped.
'This will be annoying,' she muttered.
'Annoying?'
'Nevermind.'
She paused for a moment, before turning around, and with her hands stretched on either side, she said,
'Welcome to the Qing-Huan Alliance.'
~~~~
[System Time: 12.02.3446, at 00:42 hours, Qing Li and Liu Zhe arrive in Ar Veil.]