Eda had always had a calm behavior facing abnormal situations. She had been known to easily take action under pressure. She usually had a cool approach to danger, and of course, experiments that went horribly wrong like the last one.

Though there seemed to be a limit of things her brain could handle at once.

Eda playing it cool didn’t necessarily mean she was not stressed. In fact, the emotions often built up inside until she unknowingly reached a point of breaking, like a ticking bomb.

So, after everything she had been through, when she witnessed something unbelievable like orange-purple sparks forming around the energetic girl in front of her, the fail-safe system of her mind got activated: she fainted.

It didn’t make any sense. Anything about this place made sense. She missed the familiarity of her home, terribly.

She often felt safe to know that things had their way of working. There was a system, a mechanism, a function, or a rule to everything and exploring this was Eda’s passion. She loved to dive into those secrets even though she may never find an exact answer. But what she had faced was against everything she thought she knew. This scared her even more than the life-threatening explosion in the lab.

But it also mesmerized her. She wanted to run away screaming but also found herself drawn to it. If it hadn’t been for her mind shutting down, she would have reached those bubbles of plasma, touched them, felt them, examined them… Wondering about what else this place was yet to show her. 

Before, she had thought that she somehow went back in time, but now, wasn’t even sure she was on Earth anymore. Things were becoming more like a fantasy than sci-fi. Half-heartedly, she switched an impossible theory with another. Was this a parallel version of the world having different physical laws? Or another planet from another universe even? 

More importantly, how would she go back?

She opened her eyes to the dark, again. In the same place and position she was before, which gave her the chilling feeling of déjà vu. She tiptoed outside the house, sat on the exact spot from last night, looking up at the moonless sky once more. 

The same beautiful scenery she watched until sleep before, yet it gave her goosebumps this time. How had she not noticed? The north star, Polaris, was nowhere to be seen. So were any constellations she knew.

Everything was too much, too big and too distant. Eda was just like an ant trying to find her way after a gust of wind swept her away to the unknown. She was lost and she was alone. More than she had ever been. She desperately needed someone, her friends, her family. 

The weather was not cold but Eda was, on the inside. She pulled her knees closer, hugged them tightly and rested her chin on them. Stared into space, deep in thoughts.

“Ah, you’re outside again.”

Eda jumped out of her skin when she heard a man speaking. She remembered the voice. Looking towards the source, she caught a vogue glimpse of someone slightly familiar, the young man from before. Rehan appeared to carry something under one arm as he approached her. 

“Mom will bath you first thing in the morning if you keep doing this.”

There was a slightly mocking tone in his words, though Eda was not familiar enough with the language to be certain. She could not distinguish his facial expressions for it was too dark, she did not know anything about this person let alone his intentions. Still, Eda grabbed the hand that was offered to her. 

It was actually consoling having someone there, doesn’t matter if she could talk to him or the other way around. The presence of another person simply warmed her up.

After pulling her carefully, Rehan spread out the blanket he was holding on the ground. He sat there yawing and patted his right for Eda to sit alongside him. 

Good thing, these people seemed to care about cleaning more than her last roommate back in the dorm. What Eda had noticed was that they also took out their shoes inside the house, just like Eda’s hometown. This grew a tiny sense of familiarity inside her along with increased homesickness. 

“Thank you,” whispered Eda out of nowhere, she just needed to say that regardless. Despite the night, Rehan’s eyes shined for a moment, making her remember their brownish color. 

“Seeing you watching the stars like that makes me wonder,” he turned his gaze upwards, “did you perhaps fall from there?”

Eda looked up again as well. “I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

“Was my lunatic sister actually right? Nope, I better not tell her about this.”

“I miss the moon. Don’t you guys have any natural satellites here?”

“Seriously though, how did you dye it to that color?” He raised his hand hesitantly, then stopped.

“Your sister’s powers, do you have those as well?” Eda was curious whether everyone had it the same. Or was it more like an elemental power system from Avatar, her favorite animated series as a child?

“How old are you, by the way? You seem around my age.”

He cursed? Probably not, but his last word sounded just like a horrible swear from Turkish. Eda can’t help but laugh. “This is ridiculous, what are we even talking about?”

Rehan joined. “Finally, you laughed.”