Chapter Two

‘I’m sorry for everything… But was it really so much to ask for you to love me?’ Thought Addison as she edged toward the side of the bridge. “Sarah…” She whispered with the tears she had held in for years spilled down her cheeks and flowed freely for the first time since she was a little girl. She stepped off the edge. The world around her turned in a blur. Everything was quieted by the wind in her ears, and all was peaceful. But the fall came to a stop much sooner than expected when her head hit a hard surface as it all turned black.

Ësmae woke up in a different place than she’d woken up yesterday morning. She panicked for a second before realizing she was safe. ‘Oh, that’s right, I left… That place…’ She crawled out of bed and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. “Fuck. No eggs.” She went out to the coop where she kept her chickens. There was originally only one and it was meant to be an emotional support chicken. She now had twenty-seven. She walked outside and immediately saw a flash of bright white light and a ‘CRACK’! She hesitated before unfurling wings and taking off into the clear blue sky.

  She flew for almost six hours before reaching the place she had seen the flash of light. She landed and almost yelled when she saw the body. Once getting over her initial shock, however, she (very awkwardly) half-ran, half-flew to where it was, and immediately stopped once in a series of equally awkward jerky movements. ‘There’s a Tear! That must have been what the flash of light was. Did this person come through it? That’s incredible, but… I wonder which world they came from.’ Ësmae thought to herself. Little did she know that when this person woke up, her life would change forever.

‘Oww, my head… What happened? I-I can’t remember… D-did I do it? Did I really jump? I-I can’t tell if I’m awake or asleep… Or if I-I’m… Dead… Wait awake? What do you

She woke up. Looking up sleepily, she asked; “Sarah?...” 

Ësmae looked up from the eggs and bacon she was cooking on the stove. 

“Hm?” 

“WAIT! Where the fuck am I??” 

“Jesus, chill” 

“W-wha-who who are you?” 

“Someone completely unimportant, but just FYI, I didn’t kidnap you, so calm your tits” 

“I didn’t SAY-... You know what, nevermind. This is pointless.” Addison stammered as she sat back down on the makeshift bed mostly comprised of blankets and several comforters. ‘Mood swing much’ Ësmae muttered under her breath, but Addison noticed. She didn’t say anything. 

“Wait.” 

“Huh?” Ësmae looked back at her over her shoulder. 

“How can I see without my glasses? You didn’t put in contacts or something while I was asleep, did you?” She stopped to take a breath, “Where ARE my glasses??” After a pause she added quietly, “... And what’s your name?” 

“Ësmae.” Addison jumped “W-what?” 

“My name.”, Ësmae said as she turned around, “It’s Ësmae.” 

‘H-how do you even spell that? And why is that my first thought???’ She thought, in her head this time. “Do you have an elastic?” 

“Yeah here” Ësmae called as she tossed one to her. 

“How did I get here? I’m still not even one-hundred percent certain I’m not DEAD.” 

“That’s something I’d like to know too. You came through a Tear. Which world did you come from?” Answered Ësmae. 

“W-world?” 

“Oh. Then you’re from earth.” 

“Wait, you mean I’m on another planet??” 

“Uh, no. Different  dimension, not planet.” Ësmae stated, as if it were obvious. 

Addison just sat there. “You’re messing with me, right.”. 

She sighed, “Y’know, I really wish I was. The interdimensional politics just get so tiring, and if you thought Earth’s problems were bad, try the Lower Worlds’s, and those Elitist Blights.” “How is this even possible.” Addison said, monotonically. Just then, as she was staring blankly at Ësmae, she noticed a set of horns, and long ears ending in points fade into view on her head. Her exposed shoulders seemingly sprouted feathers, and a long, serpentine tail hung from her back. Addison jumped back, “W-w-wh-what???” She stammered. “Ah,” Ësmae said, slightly self-consciously, “The glamour wore off, didn’t it?”

“Am- am I high?”, Addison asked quizzically, “Did I ever really jump?” 

“Wait, what?” 

“Nothing, nothin’” She quickly defended herself, and realized she had never used the elastic Ësmae had given her, and quickly put her unruly and fluffy hair up into a ponytail. “Can you explain to me exactly what the FUCK is happening here?” 

“Well, you know the theory of dark matter? How empty space in the universe is really full of some kind of invisible matter?” 

“Well, yeah…” 

“That theory’s wrong. In reality, There are really separate dimensions  which are the ‘dark matter’ that fills the empty spaces.” She paused to take a breath, “And there are six dimensions, worlds, whatever you wanna call them, in total. If you want to think of them as being stacked on top of one another, which most people believe they are, although there’s no evidence to prove it, the first one is SkyHome, or, as some of you humans call it,” ‘I don’t think I like being referred to as ‘Human’’ Addison thought here. “Heaven.” Ësmae finished. “Isn’t that a religious thing though?” Addison inquired, “‘Cause I’m atheist.” 

“Well, you humans made it religious. It was originally just a name for the place.”  Ësmae replied. ‘There goes the Human-ing again’ She thought again. 

“The second one,” Ësmae started again. “Is here, the Shine. It’s more like Earth, except we’re all Mergelings. Half-Human, Half-SomeKindOfAnimal. ” 

“That… makes sense. What kind of animal would you be, then?” 

“A dragon, obviously.” She stated proudly and puffed up her chest. “...But I don’t know what kind.” She added, deflating. 

“If you’re a dragon, why the feathers?” Addison asked. 

“No idea…” Ësmae sighed 

“... Can- can you fly??” Addison asked excitedly. 

“Uh-yes?”  Ësmae replied, flustered. 

Addison cringed. “Oh, sorry, is that weird to ask?”

“No! It’s just… It’s weird for someone to think that me being a dragon is, well… Interesting. Or cool.”

“Those mean the same thing.”

“Oh, shut it!”

Ësmae looked over. “...Do you wanna try?” Addison’s eyes light up.

“WOOOOOO!!!” Ësmae looks over her scaled shoulder. 

“I take it you’re enjoying this?” She says with a smirk.

“This is amazing! I can’t believe you get to do this everyday!” Addison laughs out.

“Well… I don’t really.” Ësmae says sadly, “There are laws in place for those with the ability to fly. It was just lucky you showed up on a Sunday. I’m only allowed to fly off my property on weekends.”

“Laws suck! Still cool you can fly though.”

“I’ve never had to take public transportation once in my life!” She yells a bit too enthusiastically.

“Bragg-

And

We’re

Falling