You know that feeling of anticipation and excitement when you go to a new city? Now imagine if that city was also on another planet, populated with beastfolk, and had the developmental aesthetics of the mid-late 1800s. The train terminal wasn't very packed because of it being late, but when we exited up to the outside crowds appeared. The buildings were tall, and the streets were lit by lamps as people walked by; compared to El Eman, this city was more developed and populated, if I closed my eyes I might actually mistake this city for Houston.

"I never thought cities could be so big." I looked around, amazed.

"Believe it or not, this is only the night crowd." Ra'sh patted me on the back. "I know a good hotel we can go that gives free breakfast. Just follow me."

Rana and I carried our bags while Ra'sh led the way. About twenty minutes from the train station by foot, we followed him up a steep hill that was surrounded by restaurants and small stores; eventually, we arrived a saloon called the 'Snoozing Guard' and went inside. All around us there were people drinking, eating, and playing cards along with other forms of gambling. Ra'sh walked up to an old man at a receptionist desk, most likely the innkeeper.

"Welcome to the Snoozing Guard, what can I do ya for?" The old man said, not looking up from his newspaper.

"How have you been, Geezer?" Ra'sh joked.

The receptionist looked up, excited. "Ra'sh? How long has it been you young punk? Just one, or are you expecting a 'friend' over?" He nudged.

"No friend, just business." Ra'sh waved at us to come over. "I'd like you guys to met Old Man Bill. He owns this place and runs it with his family; when I first became a mercenary, a lot of my jobs were at his request."

"Of course I always asked for you, I get hard labor done and you got a free room." They teased each other. "Are they your new party?"

"Only Cavadier and Tuca, we're known as 'Lost Fang'." He pointed to his teammates. "These two are Aiden and Rana, our new employers, and a couple on their honeymoon." He laughed.

Ra'sh's joke was heard by the hole saloon, causing everyone to laugh and whistle at the newlyweds. "How many rooms, Little Kitten?" Bill quipped. 

"Me and Cavadier will take a twin, Tuca gets a single, and our bosses will have double." Ra'sh got out his wallet. "First night's on me, my wedding gift to you."

"Thanks, Ra'sh." Me and Rana giggled.

After we got our room keys, Ra'sh went to the bar with Cavadier while Tuca ordered some food. Meanwhile, me and Rana went to our room. It was spacious with a double bed, a nightstand on each side, along with a window to look out and see the cityscape; Rana wanted to use the bath first, so I went downstairs to see if I could get some more info on the city from Old Man Bill sense he's a resident.

"Hello, Sir." I asked politely.

"When I hear 'Sir', I look around to see if my dad is home drunk, just call me Bill." Bill answered. "What can I do ya for?"

"Well, I just had some questions about the city, and if you might know where I can find something?"

"The red light district is-"

"No!" I stopped him. "I wanted to ask if you know where I can find the library?"

"Library?" He questioned me. "What are you lookin for there?"

"You see..." I needed to give a good cover. "I'm a scholar of sorts, I wanted to do research on a special topic while I was in the city. The topic of 'existence of different worlds', and if it was possible to reach them."

Bill scratched his mustache. "Is this for some scholarly report, or science fiction?" He laughed.

I laughed, weakly, with him. "Nevermind, I'll just-"

"Now hold on, Big Guy." He stopped me. "I may not be book smart, but I've been around and I've heard some interesting tales." He scratched his, deep in thought. "I don't know if this would help, but I used to read a book to my kids that had a story of a man who went to another world. Wait right here." He got up and left.

I waited at the desk for a while, my mind fidgeting at the idea that I might have found a lead on getting home. When Bill came back, he gave me a child's story book; it was old, with pages worn but still readable. I flipped through when I found the story of a Dogfolk who met a human and went to a different planet. In the story, Bowie the dog was walking through the forest when he found a human. Hostile, the two began to fight when a hole opened in the ground and they fell; when they came out, they were trapped in a land filled with humans who couldn't understand them. Working together, Bowie and the human found a way home and became the best of friends.

"... is this it?" I asked.

"It's a story for small kids, not an encyclopedia. However, every story in that book is said to be based on real life, so I'd say it's possible they found a way to reach another world." Bill sat down. "Hope it helps."

I looked at the book, my one clue so far at getting home. "When should I return this?"

"Think of it as my wedding gift." He laughed.

After talking with Old Man Bill, I went upstairs, thinking about the story. What thing to search for, any references to whoever wrote this story, or a dogfolk named Bowie. ... I must be going crazy now.

The next morning, after having eggs and toast for breakfast, me and Rana left Lost Fang at the Snoozing Guard and headed for city hall. It was in one of the older sections of town, and build out of marble with columns outside the front entrance. We arrived early, so the wait to see a receptionist was pretty fast.

"How can I help you today?" The receptionist, a hairy guy with a pig snout, asked us.

"Hello, me and my husband are here to fill out a marriage registration and have my husband file for citizenship." Rana explained. "A few days ago, my husband received this from an A-Rank Mercenary named Ocellus who advised us to give someone working at the reception desk this message."

Rana handed him the paper, and after the clerk read the message he shivered a little and put in his pocket. "Of course, this will only be a moment." He hurried to a room in the back.

For a few minutes, me and Rana waited until the receptionist returned holding a stack of papers. "We appreciate your patience, and allow me to welcome you to Amalia, Mr..."

"Aiden, Aiden Ortega." I answered.

"Wonderful, now if you and your wife could fill out this forms first, they are your marriage registration paperwork. Just sign at the X's and initial at the O's."

Me and Rana both initialed throughout the stack of forms, then gave our signatures at the end followed by our thumbprints; Rana decided to take my last name. After that, the clerk pulled out a certificate that was signed by an officiate, and after we signed our names again, the clerk poured hot wax inside a circle on the paper and pressed a wax seal.

"Congratulations, you are officially recognized as husband and wife in the eyes of the law." The clerk clapped.

Rana hugged me tight and smiled. "You have no idea how happy we are!"

I smiled with her. "I agree." I got married to her by a mixture of accident and stupidity, but I can honestly say that I don't regret it. I actually think I can see my self being happy married to her.

"Now, onto the matter of your citizenship." The clerk pulled out an id sized piece of glass. "We just need you to prick your finger and press it on the glass, and your citizen card will be official."

That was unusual to me, but I knew it must be related to magic. The clerk handed me a sanitized pin needle; I pricked my finger and pressed my bloody finger on the smoothed piece of glass. A second later, the glass glowed and glass turned into a plastic like id card; I picked it up and it had my picture on it along with my eye and hair color, height and weight, date of birth, and race, human. Worried, I dropped the card and the clerk picked it up.

He looked concerned at first, but handed the card back. "As a government official, all records of its citizens is confidential unless in the event of investigation to a serious crime."

Rana hold my hand as I grabbed my card. "Thank you, have a pleasant day." I said goodbye as me and Rana left.

Walking out of the city hall, Rana hugged me as she looked at our marriage certificate. "It's official now to everyone that we're married now." She let go. "I know this might sound odd, given how it led to this, but... could we kiss to celebrate." She asked, nervously. "I just always hoped I would kiss my husband on our special day."

I felt awkward about it, but I saw no harm. "Sure." We leaned in close, and kissed to verify our union. "I need to go see the Mercenary Guild, then I might head to the library for a while to see if I can find anything related to the story I told you about."

She was blushing. "Good idea, I have to go speak with my friend about our living arrangements. Here's the address of where you can find our new home for the moment."

We said goodbye for now, and separately went to handle our own work. Rana went to set up a base and organize our plan; I went to secure funds and do some research.

Getting directions to the Mercenary Guild, I walked through the streets until I reached another building made of brick that had a sign with the Mercenary Guild symbol on it. I walked through the front doors, and found a large warehouse size room with people at tables eating and drinking, there was several bulletin boards with papers on them. The place was filled with people wearing armor or robes, many dressed regularly for the times. I walked up to a long line to the large reception; I was wondering why it was so crowded when I saw a clerk waving towards me.

The older man looked like his desk was open but had no line. I walked over and spoke to him.

"Hello, I would like to register at this guild and collect I reward I have waiting for me." I gave a short explanation.

"No problem, Sir." He took out a form. "Please fill out this form with your name, citizen number, and we can begin."

I read it once, and signed my name and citizen number on my new id card.

"Great, now please place your hand on this crystal." The dog head man pulled out a crystal ball.

"Crystal?" I wasn't told about this. "What is it for?"

"This will verify if you are a criminal. If it glows read, you've committed a serious crime; yellow, all good; and blue means you are of noble birth."

Cautious, I placed my hand on the ball and it glowed a faint yellow. "Is everything alright?"

He stared at the crystal for a while. "This is odd, you're not a criminal, but this light is too faint for an adult. You didn't die and come back to life, did you?" He laughed.

Nervous, I laughed with him. "Is that it?"

"Not yet, we just need to fill out another form listing your magic affinities, combat capabilities, and any other educational or skillsets you possess." he gave me another form.

"Very well." I began to fill out another form. On the form I listed literacy, spearmanship, unarmed combat, my magic affinities.

"Thank you." The clerk accepted the form. "Now just wait a moment while I go talk to my superiors about your reward."

Waiting for him to return, I looked around and saw banners reading 'Dungeon Subjugation', reminding me of what Ra'sh told me that day on the train. The largest banner in the guild had a stack of tear away paper like a calendar; according to the banner, the subjugation mission begins in 2 weeks.

A minute later, the clerk came back sweating and gasping for air. "Sorry for the wait, may I see your ID once more?" I handed my citizenship card and the clerk put it in a metallic plate and he gave it back to me. "The back should now have your mercenary information, we can now transfer your reward to your account. Before that, I must inform you that because you did not complete the mission as a registered mercenary, the reward will reduce by %6, an additional %4 will be reduced for taxes, and as a Rank-E mercenary, you will need to pay a monthly fee of 50 mik."

USD conversions, that is about 48 dollars. "That sounds fair." I had no idea.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. "With the sell of materials, bonus for urgency, bonus from the Rank-A's, but minus dismantling and pay for the other adventurers. You reward is to be transferred in the sum of 20 small gold coins."

Doing the conversion, that came to almost a million dollars. "Is that correct?" I asked, worried it must be a mistake.

"I fortune, yes. However, a dragon is a rare find in this work, and you were given a large bonus. The amount has been transferred, just use your card at any guild registered establishment and you can transfer currency back and forth by touching cards. Would you like to remove an amount now?"

"Ah... 2,000 mik for now."

After I got things settled at the Mercenary guild, I left for library the innkeeper suggested, eventually reaching another old building in grand design. The inside was packed with books and several people, I walked up to the librarian as my first source of answers. She was slightly older, and had cat ears and paw-like hands.

"Excuse me, I have a question on a certain subject." I began. "I would like search on Bowie the dog and anything related to travel to other worlds."

She looked at me funny. "Sir, please leave jokes out of here."

"I'm being serious, do you know anything about where I could look for information?" I asked, almost begging.

She thought seriously. "I don't know anything, but there is an expert on the theory of trans-dimensional travel who does lectures at the university, if you ask the Dean of the Magiktech Department, he might know where to find him."

Grateful, I grabbed there hands and shucked them enthusiastically. "Thank you."

Sprinting, I got directions and ran towards the university. Heading straight for the Magiktech department, I looked for the Dean and found an old sheep beastfolk with a thick, curly afro sitting at a desk in his office with the door open.

"Excuse me, may I have a word?" I asked politely.

He looked up from his papers. "Of course, are you a student?"

"No, I have a question about an expert at this university on trans-dimensional travel theory. Who is it, and where can they be found?"

"You're looking for Louis Moulin?" The Dean asked. "I'm afraid he doesn't have an office here, but if you want to meet him, he frequents a pub called the Mousehole a short walk from here."

The Dean wrote me some directions that led me to the pub, it was sunset so the place was already filled with people. The Dean also wrote me some of his features, such as long, brown hair and a goatee; I looked around, eventually finding someone matching the description sitting alone in a booth. He had the hair and facial hear, and he was wearing a robe similar to Cavadier but more embroidered.

"Hello?" I asked the man drinking a pint of ale. "Are you Louis Moulin?"

He looked my way disinterested before chugging the rest of his drink. "I don't do interviews, so find a new subject for your report, kid." The man, roughly mid-late 30s, spoke. I couldn't tell what kind of beastfolk he was as he had no visible animal features and his skin was slightly olive.

"Report? Oh, I'm not a student at the university." I sat down. "I'm here-"

"I said I wasn't talking, now, with all due respect, leave me the fuck alone." He said as a waitress brought him another ale and a glass of whiskey.

"Why are you drinking so much?" I asked, not thinking.

"See, asking a question sets me up to answer, even when I said I don't want to talk. Leave, now."

He was irritated, but I was stubborn. "Sir, I would like to discuss your work on the theory of trans-dimensional travel."

"Wrong." He said, more angry. "It was... get leave, please." He held his forehead, tired.

"Sir." I stood firm. "What you tell me could make the difference between seeing my people again."

He was silent for a moment. "Trying to sympathized, one human to another?"

"How did you know I was human?" This confused me with his insight.

He looked around, the motioned for me to listen closure. "The secret, is assume someone is human, than let it confirm it themselves." He laughed. "Still, why they hell would my life's work have to do with you?" He began drinking.

I let it out I was human, might as say everything, what do I have to lose. "I'm from another world called Earth, brought here by a 'God'."

Mr. Moulin chocked on his drink, then looked at me in shock. "Don't insult me, Kid." We stared at each other, both dead serious. "Fuck, either your telling the truth or crazy." He took another sip. "You're still wrong, it wasn't a theory, it was an application of trans-dimensional travel."

I stared, baffled. "You actually traveled to another world as well?"

"No, I studied the history and myths of travel, but every lecture I gave got me kicked out and labeled as a 'quack'." He looked at me seriously. "I wasted 10 years of my life, trying to prove that it was true, but despite how much evidence I found and collaborations I did, nobody would believe me."

His story was sad, an optimistic scholar now a cynical drunk. "Please, is there anything you can tell me on how I can return to my planet?"

He played with his drink for a minute, then pulled something out from his bag and handed it to me, it was a leather journal. "This is my notes on my study. From what I can tell, holes between worlds can be formed when a specific process is followed."

I read his journal for the process. "You wrote that you need sufficient mana and the location of where you want to go."

"Historically, travel was influenced by gods but there are records of artificial portals being made, but the knowledge of how to has been lost for years. If there was one that still existed, it would be too old to properly function."

"If that's true, what makes your work an application instead of a theory?" I was skeptical, but respectful.

"Simple... I found another human who came to us from your world."

"What!?" I nearly caused a scene. "You really met another? Where can I find him? How can we open a portal?"

"Slow down, I met him a few years back. He was deeply knowledgeable of how portals work, we even managed to build a prototype but... it collapsed." He admitted, reluctantly. "We used the right materials, the write inscriptions, and ran it at the right time, but it still didn't work. From what I could tell, the mana couldn't transfer well across the gate, causing to much power to be placed in certain areas and not enough in others."

"How was the mana circulated, did you touch the gate and transfer it?"

"That would be too dangerous, we fastened numerous crystals on the gate but nothing, it was as if the crystals were working against each other."

I listened to his problem, and some how it reminded me of something. "What about circuit?" I looked at the diagram of a stone gate in his journal.

"A what?" He asked me.

"I'm an electrical engineering student, in that discipline we call paths which energy flows, circuits." I began making notes and adjustments to his diagram. "If one sufficiently powerful source of mana released the energy along a conductive path across the gate, it would insure it could get energy with out overloading, at least in theory."

Louis put down his drink and read my notes, his eyes dilating. "Of course, it was so simple yet so unorthodox, I never considered it." He looked at me, ecstatic. "With just minor alterations to the gate, and enough wire to conduct mana, it could be possible."

"Really?" I was hopeful.

"Yes, it might be possible." He smile faded. "However, despite knowing where the prototype is, my colleague is the only one who knows the runes to activate it, and the only material that conduct enough mana to work the machine is mithril, a very rare metal only found in the Paganish Realm."

That last fact might be a problem. "What about your old colleague, where is he?"

"Unfortunately, in the Paganish Realm as well, in an area called the Nevermist along with our prototype."

"How is that a problem?"

"Not many people ever enter or leave the Paganish, and very few people have ever left the Nevermist. He should be alive and safe, but I'm not sure if we can find him again."

"We, huh?" I was giggling. "I take it you want to join me and my team? You'll be paid of course."

He laughed, staring at his drink. "10 years of study, all about to reach a conclusion. Besides, I doubt anyone on your team knows the Paganish well enough to find him."

I offered my hand. "Salary is 1 gold coin a year, deal?"

He chugged his drink. "1 gold and 2 silvers."

I shook his hand. "Deal."

Me and Louis agreed to met later to talk about our plans and for him to met everyone else, right now it was getting late and I still needed to find my way to the residence Rana's friend got us. Heading to one of the more affluent areas of the city, I arrived at a brownstone house with the lights on that had the address Rana gave me.

I knocked on the door, and soon Rana opened it for me.

"Welcome home!" She greeted. "I was getting worried, did everything turn out well?"

Rana led me inside to the already furnished residence, as we ate dinner I told her about my day and how I found Louis. Excited, we celebrated with a glass of Ichth tribe wine before getting ready for bed. After I finished bathing, I got in bed and read more of Louis' journal while Rana had her bath.

She changed into the same sleepwear from our first night together and got under the covers. "I can't wait to meet Louis and his friend, I hope you boys can get back home."

"Thanks... if I'm being honest, some part of me is going to miss this place." I was open. "After everything I've done, all the people I've met, saying goodbye would be harder than when I first came here."

"Don't be sad, just because you go home doesn't mean you'll never see us again." Rana got closure to comfort me. "I hope you do comeback sometime, even if our marriage is bizarre, I still value you as a friend." She hugged me.

Touched, I hugged her back, and as our eyes met, we found ourselves kissing, then turning off the lamp.