“I’m going to throw up.” I shout as I felt like the contents in my stomach were about to be emptied as I jerked awake.

  “You already did. All over the platform. It was…. Thoroughly unappealing.” Avis mutters from the corner of the room. He is now kicked back with his legs up and in more of a state of undress. Meaning, he’s in a tank top and shorts, rather than his adventurer looking garb from before.

  I hold my breath for a moment unsure whether I was about to be sick or not, but nothing came up. It must have just been a reflex from before I passed out.

  “Where am I?” I ask.

  “Safe, beyond that does it matter?” Avis shoots me a side eye.

  “I mean, yeah kinda. Kidnapping is a crime…. I think. It’s not like I casually walked in this random building on my own.”

  “If you would prefer, I can take you back to Maia to be killed because I’m completely fine with that random guy I just rescued from certain doom.” Avis smirks, it’s kind of sexy. No it’s not, he’s a jerk. It’s not sexy. He’s a jerk, don’t forget it.

  “Ignore my brother, he’s a dick.” A voice echoes from the other side of the door as it slowly opens.

  I immediately recognize that voice from before; it’s the person who killed all those people back in Maia.

  A woman with dirty blonde hair, a diamond shaped face, and the same gorgeous blue eyes as Avis walks through the door carrying a tray with a sandwich and a change of clothes. I slide back on the bed as far as I can. I pull the blankets towards me, terrified of what this woman might do.

  “Maybe show some respect to the person who saved you rather than cowering in the corner like a scared pet.” Avis spat at me. This time it wasn’t sarcastic, it was venomous. His gaze shifted towards me, and it was murderous. I could feel the disdain oozing off of him.

  “Ignore him, you have every right to be scared. What I did back there—“ She pauses, and takes a deep breath. Her eyes and face fall and her mouth shifts downwards in a frown.

  “I hurt a lot of people, I did. I’m not proud of it, but I would do anything to protect my brother.”

  “Dee, you have nothing to apologize for. All those fools deserve to rot in whatever hell they are in.” Avis turns towards me, “And you, you little rat nosed twig of a man need to thank my sister for saving your sorry ass even though she didn’t have to.”

  I’m not sure but what he said pisses me off. I didn’t ask for this. It’s not like I decided I wanted to fall into another world and immediately be sentenced to death.

  Granted, I wasn’t exactly happy in my current life, but this isn’t any better. Hell, I would say it is leaps and bounds worse than the alternative. So for this annoying, yet attractive, man to get in my face and say I should be more grateful for his sister massacring a bunch of people to save me, the gall of this man. I jump out of the bed, ready to defend myself and my honor.

  “You listen here—“ I stop when I feel a breeze blow through.

  This is not going like I planned. I thought I would jump up and tell this guy off, but instead, something worse has happened. I’m naked.

  Not like oh I’m in my underwear kind of naked, but like I came into the world like this naked. Baring it all for the world to see naked. Ready to do the helicopter naked. I’ve been naked in front of others before, but this, this is just shameful.

  I immediately jump back into the bed, pull the covers over my crotch and just pray that another hole would open up and take me.

  “Oh get over yourself. No one is worried about your naked body, don’t be such a prude.” Avis rolls his eyes and sits back down.

  “Where are my clothes.” I squeak. Why was I so embarrassed. Oh right, that guy over there is why.

  “We threw them away.” The woman says softly as she places the tray on the edge of the bed for me and smiles softly.

  “They were covered in blood, and guts, and viscera. You know all the fun stuff you get when you blow someone up.”

  “Avis stop it.” The woman spat at him. It’s clear that the murderous gaze is a family trait because Avis is on the receiving end of it right now. She turns back towards me.

  “But, the dick is telling the truth. They were covered in that…. Stuff. So we opted to throw them away, but we did keep this for you.” She places the card down on the tray. “I’m Dardania by the way.”

  “Honestly, I thought that was just a myth until my brother showed it to me. I’m glad to know it’s real, gives me some hope.” Dardania smiles, turns on her heel, and walks out the room.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “It’s just a card…” I say, confused. Avis chortled.

  “Of course you would think that. Idiot.” Avis stands up and follows after his sister.

  Ooh this guy grates at my nerves. Like, who does he think he is? I mean, sure he saved my life but still, who does he think he is? Hello sir, I’m not from this world!

  I jump out of bed and chase after the siblings. I push through the doors and into a small quaint room with simply a small stove and a table with two chairs and a door on the other side. No one is here but the door is still open so I continue that way and head outside.

  Avis and Dardania sit on boulders in front of a small fire pit. Dardania has a book in her lap, with her legs crossed, and she silently thumbs through the pages. Avis turns towards me, and smirks.

  “What? What could I possibly have done now?” I ask, frustrated. Avis’s eyes slowly lower down and… oh crap. I forgot.

  “Don’t worry about it, you’re fine.” Dardania doesn’t look up from her book and motions to a third empty boulder. I awkwardly walk over to it and have a seat. Ooh it’s warm.

  “What is this card?” I ask. Dardania slowly closes the book and sits it in her lap, her eyes aglow with wonder.

  “It’s…. Magical.” She smiles.

  “It’s part of the Major Arcana.” Avis sneers with a very duh attitude.

  “I know that much at least. But isn’t it just well, a card? Nothing more than a simple tarot card?”

  “According to legend, whomever possesses that card will hold enormous power. Supposedly, there was an ancient city called Tabathia. It was the largest and most grand city in the all the world, and the ruler was just as grand. So story goes he bestowed great power to those he dubbed the Major Arcana, each one possessing a unique ability and a title, yours being The Magician.” Dardania stares down at the book as she recites the story. There was a childlike wonder to her gaze. She immediately opens the book and begins thumbing through it again as though she forgot what she was doing.

  “It was always her favorite story. I personally thought it sounded like a bunch of rubbish, but what can you do?” Avis says as he leans back and looks up at the stars.

  Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Because in a world without magic, the Major Arcana are just pictures on a card meant to divine some kind of information, but I do find it interesting that both worlds have them. I wonder if I they are all the same in both? I’ll ponder on that at some other time when I don’t have more questions I want answered.

  “Why the story? Why was it your favorite?”

  Dardania slowly raises her head and briefly looks to Avis but doesn't say anything. She takes a deep breath, and lingers for a moment before she began.

  “It was a story about hope. Apparently Tabathia was a place where all were welcome. It didn’t matter where you were from, what you believed in, who you felt you were, or loved, you were welcome. A place where all could truly be happy. No wars. No conflict. No tyranny. The ruler was benevolent, rather than hoarding his power, he shared it with others so that they too in kind could lift up others. It sounded so much better than— than the current alternative which has caused a lot of pain, especially for Av—“

  Avis immediately shoots Dardania a look, she met his gaze and stopped talking immediately. I wonder what that is about, but based on the tension in the air I decide it’s best to not press it. Avis may be a jerk, but I’m not going to pry into their family more than they are willing to share. Avis takes a deep breath and turns towards me.

  “It’s just a bunch of nonsense. No place can exist like that, it’s just a dream, a fantasy, a wannabe place for people to run away too and hide from their lives.”

  “Gust.” Dardania whispers gently and a very isolated gust of wind blows, knocking Avis off his boulder and onto his head, his feet kick in the air as he tries to get back up. Dardania smiles softly, as do I.

  Ha take that attractive meat head. Ugh, why is he attractive?

  “Whether it’s real or not, it was a story of hope that something like that could exist. I thought it was just that, hope until I laid eyes upon that card.. Now, I think it might be true, at least somewhat.”

  Dardania jumps to her feet and stomps her foot down on the ground. Avis comically flips around and is now sitting on the boulder again. He eyes his sister, confused.

  “Let’s go on an adventure!” She shouts.

  “Um, to where exactly?”

  “Tabathia!”

  “Tabathia?

  “Yes, you heard me the first time Avis. Let’s go on an adventure to Tabathia.”

  “Dee, we’ve talked about this before. It’s not real. I know you want it to be, but it’s not.”

  “It could be! That card is proof that it could be! Besides what are we going to do? Wait around until they arrest us again and we both get executed? I don’t know if you figured it out just yet but I can’t revive the dead if I’m dead. I mean, I can’t do it in general, but I absolutely can’t do it if I’m dead too. So we have a to leave anyway.”

  “I know, but is chasing a fantasy the best use of our time.”

  “We have nothing better to do apart from not getting caught and killed.”

  As the two rattle back and forth arguing about their adventure or not adventure I slowly shift my gaze towards the night sky.

  “WOW.” I whisper to myself. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. The light pollution back home just ruins it. You look at this expansive sky and it’s hard to imagine that it exists. When I would look up at the sky before all I could ever see were maybe two or three dozen stars but this, this is magical.

  My eyes dart back and forth making note of all the constellations I recognize. Orion. Sagittarius. The Big Dipper. Pisces. Whenever I felt alone, or lost, I would look up to the night sky and it would make me feel small, but in a good way. That no matter how bad my problems were, they were just a tiny blip in existence. In reality, they were nothing but a drop in the bucket of my own life as well. So many things feel life shattering, but they aren’t. They may last for a several days, or even weeks, but that still is such a small portion of your existence. Staring up at the sky reminds you of that. There is so much out there that we can’t even imagine, so to just think my problems are even worth dwelling over.

  Oh Capricorn, you just know how to make me feel—

  Capricorn? Orion?

  What?

  I jump up, still staring at the sky. My heart begins to race, and it feels as though it’s about to explode in my ears.

  “What it is?” Dardania asks.

  “Pisces. Orion. Sagittarius. The Big Dipper. Capricorn. The Zodiac in general. All of these constellations are visible from Earth, in the exact same locations.”

  My panic continues to rise, it feels as though the world is spinning around me as I continue to stare up at the sky in disbelief.

  “We are on Earth.” I mutter.