Broken Bridges Between Realities (Private, XaYang)

The portal opened into the sickly green- the exact thing that Skylar knew that she didn't want.

With a curse, the female cast a glance over her shoulder, her short hair whipping in the sudden action she did. And, just as her luck had been for her thus far, it failed her again. The destruction that laid before her was hot on her heels, the man- no, the monster's wake of death almost biting at her heels. But Skylar didn't have a choice. It was either him, or the malformed portal gaping open before her. She chose the lesser of two potential deaths, turning forward and stepping through the portal.

The familiar feeling of her body melding and shifting through the space between worlds always chilled her, but her mark branded on her chest washed the feeling away. However, during these fateful moments, that too washed away as Light's protection could no longer extend to her as she was torn free from what she knew as her own reality. Her vision was the first thing that returned to her, however, she almost yelped in surprise when the unfamiliar light burned into her eyes. But why did that feel so odd- her eyes were well trained, able to handle anything and everything that the Realms had thrown at her in the past?

The colourful feathers flowed with her as she raised her hand to partially cover her eyes, squinting slightly as she tried to gain understandings of what surrounded her. All she knew was that nothing was as it should be. The familiar spires of Utopia were gone, broken down and thrown into what looked like buildings of their own design. Skylar's blood almost froze as she realized just what had happened. Turning around, she went to step back through the portal that she knew would return her home.

Only for it to slam shut in her face.

That was when her terror slammed home. She was in a realm of unknown, with no was to get back to what she previously knew. Sure- she was trained and taught with how to survive and such on other realms which weren't her own, but this, this was different. Pulling her top away from her chest and glancing down, her heart skipped a beat when she saw Light's mark from there had vanished. Her protection through the portals and through to other realms, gone in an instant. Of just stepping through the darn gateway between what she thought was going to be a realm of her own universe- not just something like this!

Taking a breath to calm herself as she let her shirt go, the former Traveler slowly shook her head. Okay, first things first, they were always taught to get a grip of their surroundings. Nodding silently to herself, she stepped forward- only for whatever she had stepped on to give way beneath her own feet. With a yelp of surprise, Skylar was sent tumbling and half slipping down the hill- only to crash right into some unfortunate passerby- her extravagant hairpin being thrown from her, but her feathers, thankfully, remained firmly fastened to her outfit.

After throwing herself back off from them, she stayed down on her knees, worry etched into her fine features as she looked down to the unusual creature.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

"Tch... It'll buff out." he'd say jokingly, rubbing the back of his head. His books were thrown over the ground, some pages torn. He often got lost in reading, since he had left his home, he often delved into the history of the worlds, and such, carried seven books for each world.

He would clear his throat, looking at the girl from the ground. "You are a new soul." he would say, "Usually people run into me AFTER a month of wandering, but you smell fresh." he would dust himself, rising by his own accord. "My name is Xa'Yang, but you can call me Xa. My kind are one of many races in this realm. You might want to take a seat and listen to what I have to say . . . "

He already knew what had to be done. His whole life was spent guiding new souls. This day would be no different. . . right?

Guilt coursed through her as she saw the scattered books around the poor lizard creature. Unlike most people, when it responded, Skylar wasn't too surprised as she silently listened to it, taking up the books which were either sitting awkwardly or damaged and moving them to be a little closer to him. She made a mental note to apologise later for damaging some of the pages- after all, it wasn't often that someone was so kind to a stranger who just rocked up and almost tore a few pages out of a book on accident. From her experiences, that normally just ended badly. Oh. She quickly snatched up the hairpin like thing, quickly tucking it back on behind her ear and firmly attaching the earring again. She'd need to take better care of what she had, after all, there was no way for her to get replacements now.

Skylar inwardly grumbled at herself. She should have done that when she still had the chance!

Slowly, the former Traveler sat back on her heels, her head tilted to the side as the creature demanded that she listened to what they had to say. Pursing her lips as her mind quickly put the information together, she hummed. The protection from Light herself was gone. That would mean she was no longer under her protection, therefore meaning she was in... Another reality? Slowly, Skylar shook her head.

"I may not know a lot about this place, but, where I just came from, I was a hair away from dying. I think it's clear to say that I'm going to be a little confused as to what's happening around here. But, that being said, I have an idea, XaYang," She paused for a few moments. "But first, my name is Skylar. Or... a little more formally... I'm Skylar Agnar, Traveler of the realms and the final descendant to the house of Agnar." She formally introduced herself, giving a bow from her still seated position. "I am sorry for suddenly barging into this realm of existence and for damaging your books... But, I have a feeling that you may not know a lot about my home reality."

Skylar allowed a smile to form on her face as she moved to sit a bit more upright."Perhaps we could... I'm not sure, ask one another questions about each others realms? That way, I'm not boring you with just asking you questions and forcing you to answer, but I can also tell tales from my homelands- which I think you might find interesting." She was going out on a limb with this suggestion, but she'd seen some of the books the lizard creature had been reading so, hopefully... This suggestion wouldn't fall in a heap and burn in a lake of fire.

"Traveler of the realms." the words echoed in his mind. Something he was sure Kaseki would catch wind of soon. He could hear his footsteps in the back of his mind.

"Your method of travel must be portals then," he would say, "The easiest way to move long distances through time and space, but I'm sure you're going to learn one important thing . . . " He would smile as he would take a seat, crossing his legs, as if in complete bliss, mediation. "When you use a portal to transcend space, Pandora, this world, is the space between those gates you open."

He would lift a limp finger to point at one of the books, "I'm one of the oldest residents of this realm, at least in one way or so. These texts contain recorded history of other worlds that also transcended space and ended in this realm. To some, you will know this as the Underworld, or Purgatory."

He was careful his words. There was much to discuss.

As he mentioned the method of transport that she used, Skylar inclined her head to show that he was right before falling silent once more to listen. To show her own interest in his words, she partially leaned forward, criss-crossing her arms loosely in front of her, her index and thumb of her right hand reaching down to lean into her knee. As uncomfortable for her as it seemed, she was quite find with sitting cross-legged like this.

As he spoke of the worlds, Skylars interest peaked. She couldn't help herself as she spoke; "Normally, we call that place the In-between, the place between worlds in which you call Pandora. There, nothing can enter or leave unless they have Dark's power, or Light's blessing really. Well, that's my understanding, sometimes you can get incredibly unlucky and open a bad portal that leads there and gives you no way out. That's happened to people before, but there... if you get stuck there, it's much less vibrant in terms of colour compared to here. There it's... Monotone. Greys, whites and blacks, the only colour there being the people who are there and are stuck wandering an eternity until they eventually give up and kill themselves as time doesn't influence their bodies into decay... But that's from my reality." Skylar spoke almost with pride, a smile on her face.

"So this place isn't like my home, an underworld... We certainly didn't have that there, but we had the purgatory, which yea, that's our In-Between. Hmm, maybe our In-Between was limited, as they generally only threw people there when they were still on planets, which they could wander on fine lines to other places... It's difficult to explain, but perhaps Pandora is actually everything else but those lines from my reality?" That was when she realised that she began to ramble way to much and she laughed, before raising a hand to gently rub the back of her head, "Mind you... if you're the oldest resident here, please, don't take this the wrong way, but how is it that you're still alive? Or does life and death not hold the same vice grasp that it does over where I am from, where only Light and Dark themselves, the Greater gods of creation and destruction, could save them?"

Suddenly, the female chuckled. Oh boy, wasn't she on a role this day, just spouting off everything that she knew of her reality and, rather rudely, basically asked him how he wasn't dead yet. Realm, reality, whatever it was, Skylar didn't exactly get the finer details of it all. But, regardless of if she understood or not, this was her... home now...

"I feel like I have to make sure that you don't mind this, but, really, you can ask me anything which you would like regarding my home as I don't think you have much information regarding that plane of esistence... Besides, it's only fair seeming you're telling me about your own."

"That is not your reality. That is our reality." he would speak, answering her words. "We weren't always happy people. It was once a land only for the dead and the dying. It was only by chance that a great change came over us, pieces of other mortal realms entered our world, and the living was mixed with the dead. This happened two eons after the guardian of this realm changed. Hades had given the world to Kaseki, and such, pieces of Kaseki's past came to enter this world, bit by bit."

He would smile at her words about his age. Surely there was much to discuss. "Time exists, only if you permit it so. To a mortal, you will age just as you did before, to a spirit, to a resident of this realm, you are suspended in time. It is by this nature you will age as you choose, or as the Guardian deems is your fate. Anubis was long before me. Yama was who I was birthed under. She saw me fit to secure the border of this world, and thus my people were born. Hades saw we were discontent with immortality, but needed us as we needed him. he granted us our age, and rebirth. I will age and die like any mortal, but I will rise again, my soul taking up a new form, and giving me a new life." Xa'Yang would laugh, "Your concept of gods will change, I will assure you that. One day you will find yourself eating in a restaurant with Jay and Hades sitting in the booth just next to you. It will forever change your perspective on this land, as well as your home."

He would listen to her suggestion to ask about her home, but Xa'Yang had no real interest in any other realm than Pandora. But even so, it was rude to ignore her proposed request.

"I am not one to ask questions for my benefit. I would much rather discover and uncover the truth by chance and event." He would smile at her, "it was how I learned of the Slayers of Fiore, the Samurai of The Manji, The Shinigami of Kai and the Trainers of Kanto. I asked nothing more than what I was told. And such, I can speak of their history, purely from truths."

He was not a wise lizard. He was not a smart one.

He was simply, an old one.

Skylar slowly nodded, listening almost in silence to what XaYang was talking about. He was rather interesting, it was just... Well, she was a bit lost, in more ways than one. She's already assumed that she wasn't going to be able to get home at all, due to the sudden way that the portal had closed behind her. However, what she said about her place, XaYang did seem a little less interested in questioning. So, he only liked talking about his Pandora, and that wouldn't bother him? Or was it something else?

Shaking her head, she smiled at him. "I think I may understand what you mean, I think... So the living or dying and the formerly dead come here? But I was neither dead nor dying, why was I to come through the realm to exist here? Or was it more... that they could sense impending death and they warped the portal themselves to have me be here? Or did the portal kill me and that's how I ended up here." Skylar asked eagerly, death not really holding a firm rod of fear in her as her eyes almost sparked with the chance to have this world explained to her. She had lost nothing much back at home, but really, this was what she was trained to do. Gather information and report it all back.

But this time, there was no going back. Everything she learned... Skylar was allowed to keep and not be forced to share it with anyone else.

"Seeing life and death like that seems rather... odd... to me. But, where I came from, I wasn't really able to age, feel pain, or anything like that. That sort of thing was kinda put on standstill due to what my abilities did for me- but I can surely tell you that they aren't really working like they use to anymore... Is that something that this place does as well- sorta messes with what you can do?"

"You have not died. You have the scent of a mortal, not a deceased. When you see the old man, that's when you know you have truly died in this world." He sighed, remembering all of the rare occurrences in his world. There was so much to discuss, and each day it got just a few sentences longer. And each sentence, made it that much more difficult.

"Here, there is entities called Starfalls. Think of them as Genies from the sky. They grant wishes. A descendant of the mortal Guardian Kaseki found one and made a wish, and his wish brought pieces of the land of the living here. That is why mortals exist here now. It has been years, eons since that time. We live in peace, for the most part. "

He took a moment to think about her powers, just like anyone else. What category did the realm place her in? Was it magica? Chakra? Energy? Chi? There was so many catalysts to this "magic" and "Abilities" surely there was a single answer. Then he understood.

"Kaseki made this world a realm of redemption and second chances. Your soul has to decide if you want to attain the power you once held, or if you will reach for something much different. Here, as of right now, you are powerless. You must find peace and power within yourself to gain it back. Some get their powers sooner than others. If you were most powerful in your own home, it will take longer to be the same here. Power is quite different. But you will understand."

So the living pass through here as well, they were just unfortunate enough to end up here. Or, maybe, fortunate enough to do so to escape whatever life lay out behind them. Skylar tilted her head a little to the side, there were basically Genies here as well? They were something like a myth to her, something that didn't exist in her own place. Sky glanced over at the trees around them. So much of this seemed familiar, but also, so foreign. They had the trees similar to Vester in size, but the business of Utopia in its core. She didn't understand the current levels of technology that seemed to be available as the lights came from the pillar-like objects around her.

There was so much to learn! So much to remember- and, surprisingly, Skylar wasn't scared. More... Accepting of her fate than others would be. They were drilled that they may never return home, and that, that was her fate. But what would sulking to but make her miserable? A laugh left her upon being told that she were powerless. "Well, that's just grand- I was... Somewhat powerful back then." Back then... she was that strong less than twenty minutes ago... Without hesitation, Skylar suddenly grinned broadly, "I use to be able to shift back into a form of something like a bird- these clothes.." She raised her feathered arms, smiling fondly, "These are basic representations of what the colours of it use to be as this actually half molded with the avian form."

A sigh left her. She'd need to earn that back.

Then she paused. "Wait. I never use to feel pain or anything like that. Broken bones never bothered me. I doubt I can achieve that again. My hits were like Fire himself slapping someone in the face- he was a rather angry god of Destruction, incredibly hot headed... So I'll have to earn all that again?" She asked rather innocently, before she almost hit herself on the forehead. Oh, right! "By the way, could you tell me about the powerful beings you mentioned earlier? They sound... interesting?"

"You will only regain, what you reach to achieve." he would say to her, "The more you understand of this world, the more you will understand your composition in this realm. Some train day and night, some reach out to help the commonfolk, others attain power by meditation. You must understand what is, and isn't true. Many things are the same, but you must learn their true name."

He paused to recall the deities of death and the afterlife. He knew of them all. He knew the pantheons up and down. But he only needed to recall one plain.

"There are four main deities you will come to understand. Yama, the goddess of rebirth. Anubis, The God of burial. Hades the halfgod of realm of the dead. Sobek the god of the afterlife and Kaseki, the Mortal Guardian of Pandora." he almost laughed at the titles. He knew each of them personally. To hear Kaseki's name against the others was almost comical, but at te same time, saddening. He was the only ruler who ever lived among the residents. The only who tried to better general life . . .

"I'm sure that in your journeys you will come across one of them sooner or later. To the former rules, this is their vacation away from duties, to Hades and Kaseki, this is their home."

"Then I'll regain everything I once had. One way or another, I will... You have my word, little XaYang." Skylar all but beamed at the comment- she'd be cursed if she let something like that stop her from even trying to obtain what she use to have. Maybe, just maybe, she could find something here to look after- something more special than the man she watched over and protected back on her world.

"Wait, so some of them actively walk among the mortal people and attempt to engage with them?" She asked, mildly worried for a few moments. Her experiences with such powerful beings had been anything but pleasant. Memories of carnage, of death caused by the three destruction individuals tore through her mind. Suddenly, Skylar stood, walking purposefully over to an object- a flower. A rather unusual flower. Of course, she didn't really touch it as she squatted to look at it better. However, one thing was certain.

It was going to take her a long time to let go of those memories and get a grip on this new realm.

"Beings like that are respected- if not feared, really, from where I am from. Sure, some actively helped, but others, no. No they didn't." Skylar tried to explain where her sudden nerves came from, "Sure, they respected life and whatnot- but... When they became angry, it was more than terrifying." She looked over her shoulder, back to the lizard, wondering just how such a creature knew so much. But then again, if he had been here for a while, then he probably knew more than he let on. "You don't have to, but would you mind showing me around these places around here? It's... Rather odd, I must admit. I've never seen anything like this before."

With that last statement, Skylar used her hands to gesture to everything around her.

Which was entirely true. She'd never seen such organised beauty before...

He would rise from his seat, only to reflect on the words of the guardians. "Hades and Kaseki are no more threatening than a slice of cheese. Their powers greatly surpass that of the other gods combined, but they are mortals themselves. They've been outcasted and keep to themselves and only come to meet mortals to share horrible puns. . . .horrible horrible puns . . . " He would shiver at the thought of listening to Kaseki's parental comedy for another several hours.

Then his mind went to the destruction of the titans. "Sure some deities are to be feared, but even gods can be struck down. With mortals and spirits united, we've stopped those that threaten our peace and livelyhood. Titans, beings more than mortals and less than gods have attacked from cities, while other titans seek to protect. Simple mortals have slain more than few with nothing more than crudely smithed weapons." He would smile at the thought of a tour. He would go to gather the books and pages that still remained. "There are seven kingdoms of this world, each with their own tales. Of which would would like to venture first? Fiore, the land of Mages and wizards. Kai, the land of night and spirits. Kanto, the land of trainers and monsters. The Forgotten Isles of the Pirates. Toonville, the land of art and creativity. Ninja Town, home to shinobi and jitsu. Or Urban City, the first city of Pandora, haven to mortals and spirits?"

Deities which were less scary than a slice of cheese? Now that was something that Skylar would love to meet and see with her own eyes. Sure, she was terrified of them- but that fear would fade with time, just as her memories of what she left behind. But something did make her rather interested in meeting Kaseki or Hades. Horrible puns? Now THAT was right up her alley- something which she could tell by XaYang's reaction to mentioning them that he wasn't too keen on. "Now that, that sounds like it's fun. I'd like to meet someone who could outdo me with puns."

XaYang seemed to be incredibly enthusiastic about the idea of the tour and, admittedly, Skylar almost lost all the names which he gave out to her. With a hum, she tilted her head to the side, considering the options.

"Well, how about Urban City? As that sounds like it's a place that I need to get use to if it's a safe haven, or haven at all, for mortals." She commented lightly, stretching out the tight muscles in her back. "Mind you, I'll admit... All of them sound really interesting to visit for exploration purposes... Actually, before we start, is there anything which I need to be aware of? For example, things to say and not say? I'd hate to start a new life on a bad introduction or say something insulting by accident or anything like that!"

"We can begin our journey now if you would like, unless you would like to spend the night at a local inn in the city. This is Mystia, a city owned by one of the first members of the Legion of Neutrals. Ruby Snow was her name, though she seems to come and go from this realm and none seem to know how." He shrugged as he gathered his texts. There was some research to do. And one book would help him alone. "Besides, I need to purchase a pack for these. Perhaps we can go to Republic City or Urban City, the capital of this kingdom. Both are the most promising, as Urban holds secrets but is often most . . . unpredictable, and Republic holds history, but residents tend to hold low views of anything that isn't a spirit, or human. . . . like a lizard. "

He would stand there, his gaze blank.

He always needed to go to that city. The citizens were harmless and did nothing beyond their looks. but the children, oh the children . . .oh how they loved pulling his tail ,. . .

Skylar hummed. So there were choices within the place she had suggested? Surely no city were truly going to be that large- they were larger than anything that she had ever known! Slowly considering, her mind seemed to decide as soon as XaYang had stopped speaking. People harassing him was something that she would not tolerate, even if she weren't her 'normal' self

"If you wouldn't mind... Could we stay a night of the local inn? I'd like to hear about this Ruby Snow person- as well as the group that she organised, if that's okay. And, for the sake of people not being cruel jerks to you, perhaps we can go by Urban City and pick up what you need there- if I understand what you're saying right... Because, in all honesty, I'll probably end up trying to fight whoever picks on you- after all, you're my guide. And no one messes with my guide, especially when I am lost and have no idea what's around me." She stated, quite certain with her words.

"Sure, hurting people is never a good idea, but still... Treating others just because they're different is utterly wrong. I dislike it greatly as I myself was treated the same thing due to my... old avian form."