“My bed! I missed you!” I squealed, leaping happily onto my big warm fluffy comforting bed of safety and happiness.

I flipped over and grinned up at a very much not grinning Nia. She was standing in the middle of my kinda messy room with her head in her hands. I think she was groaning. That’s okay though, she’ll get to hang out with her sister again, and like… try the foods she misses and catch up on TV shows she missed. Wow she has like the whole second Avengers arc to look forward to watching. Kinda jealous to be honest.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“I only had the one charge Syl. I’m stuck here. As much as I miss Earth… our Earth that is, I have responsibilities back on Andegral. Shit I have a girlfriend there too, and friends,” she sighed resignedly, staring at the device on her arm.

The gauntlet had tendrils of smoke wafting lazily out of the port where she’d stuck that power cube from Vulptrix. She sighed and reached in gingerly, plucking a smoking and warped cube from the socket. It looked well and truly fried, Nia was right. She was definitely not going anywhere using that thing.

“But you have a sister here! Also it’s not like you can’t contact them still, you can just log in to Pellan and try to talk to them that way,” I explained. She was totally gonna get back to her friends and girlfriend.

“Log… into Pellan?” she asked, her face a mask of confusion.

“Yeah! The game! That world we were all battling on. Well, it’s not a game really, but everyone thinks it is. I thought it was a game at first, and then bam! My goddess gave me this body and stuff. Why do you think I have pointy ears?” I explained again, still very excited over being home.

Nia stood there and blinked at me like I was crazy for a moment, then sank into a sitting position on the floor with another groan.

She held her head in her hands for a moment before she looked up at me, “Please can you explain this from the beginning?”

Oh yeah. I hadn’t actually been all that helpful had I? Maybe I should sprinkle a bit of the old context into all of this.

“Right yeah! So um, I don’t know why, or how actually, but when you put that headset there on, you can log in to the game called Pellan Rise. Only it’s not a game! No one except my friends and maybe a few other people know, but we’re connecting to a real world with real people and bodies and stuff. We level up and gain abilities and spells just like in a game too!” I told her. It was really kinda cool now that I thought about it. Except for the dead not-NPC people. That wasn’t cool.

“But… then how did you end up here? And why do you look the same? If you were on Pellan when we met, then why didn’t you just log out to get home?” she asked.

“Oh… yeah okay sorry I missed some things out. So when I first logged into Pellan I made this character,” I said pointing to myself, “And then I met a goddess. She said my mind and body were out of sync or something, but what she really meant was that I’m transgender. Born in a guy body when it should have been a girl one. She fixed that by transforming my real body to match the one I had made for the game. Now when I gain an ability in the game it carries over to this one too. When we met, my goddess kinda yanked me out of bed through a portal to help her. I don’t think she was thinking too much because wow did that not turn out very well.”

Nia made a grunt of understanding, then smiled the softest smile I’d seen yet coming from her, “So you’re trans too huh? Nice to meet you sister. I’ll be honest though, this is all pretty wild, and that’s coming from the girl who was literally isekai’d into another world. Like it’s just straight up convoluted if I’m honest. I guess the biggest question I have is just… why?”

It was my turn to be confused now, “Why?”

“Why. The world of Pellan, as you call it, was built by an ancient race of beings who are long dead. Killed by the same things we were fighting when we met. This race all but ruled the galaxy several thousands of years ago. They had multiple bustling city worlds, great stellar engines and entire worlds dedicated to food production. As near as we can tell, they were a true utopia,” she said sombrely.

“How do you know?” I asked, “That they were a true utopia I mean.”

“Because of a journal we found. One we were finally able to translate. The being who wrote it spoke of how they had forgotten the art of war. The author lamented how they had thought themselves true masters of the galaxy, how together as a society they worked on the level of gods, but they could not save themselves from this threat because they had not thought to prepare. By the time they had rediscovered the art of killing, it was too little too late,” she explained sadly.

I breathed for a moment, trying to grasp the gravity of a society as great as that falling, “Wow. That’s dark. They’re all dead? Killed by those creepy monsters?”

“As near as we can tell. The Order of the Orchid, the organisation I am a part of, has only been able to explore a small portion of what we are calling the Shale Cluster of worlds. A rather rural region of their empire,” she shrugged.

“Gosh,” I said softly, unable to think of a response.

We sat in silence for a moment, my room strangely peaceful until we heard movement in the house. It was then I realised I should check what time it was, as well as any messages I might have. I reached over to my bedside table to grab my phone, only to find it wasn’t there. Okay, that’s not good. Did someone steal it?

Nia and I exchanged looks, and she promptly stood and drew her pistol again, pointing it at my door. I rushed over and pulled her arm down, frowning up at her.

“Do you have to point that thing at every noise you hear?” I grouched.

“It could be more enemies. We’re not safe here,” she whispered.

“This is normal mundane… mostly mundane, Earth. It’s probably my parents! Please don’t shoot my parents. Don’t shoot anyone actually, unless… you know. Look, no shooty until you talky alright?” I whispered back.

She snorted a laugh and put her pistol away, “No shooty… yeah I guess I can do that lol.”

“Did you just say lol?” I giggled.

Surprisingly, Nia actually blushed and looked embarrassed, “Yes. I did… shut up. I was a huge gamer back before everything. It’s a normal thing to say in the Order now thanks to me. We have no DMs to type it in and… Shush. Your parents are coming, get ready to explain things.”

I couldn’t help but giggle, she was being surprisingly cute for a tough as nails Knight lady. I noticed she shifted to the side where she would be out of sight of the door when it opened. I hoped mum didn’t freak out when she saw her.

I didn’t have much more time to prepare after that. I heard voices and footsteps coming down the hall, I didn’t have much time. There was a knock at the door, and then it opened to reveal my mum and Dana of all people. Mum stared at me sternly, but I couldn’t help myself and rushed forward, throwing myself into her arms.

Her breath left her in a woosh as I hit her, and she gasped out, “Hello young lady. Just because you hug me doesn’t mean you’re getting off scot free. I’m going to be making sure you get out of bed from now on.”

“I missed you mum!” I replied, and I really meant it. The last day had been all kinds of stressful. Or was it hours? I couldn’t tell.

“You missed me? What are you talking about? What happened this time?” she asked, catching on that something was different.

“Oh no. Where did you end up this time?” Dana asked, echoing my mum.

“Ah… I believe we ended up in another dimension,” coughed Nia from nearby.

Dana gave a squeak of surprise and jumped sideways, and my mother instinctively clutched me tighter against her body and turned to look. Standing on my desk was a three foot tall space dragon fox thing. She had feathers made of starscape and eyes that looked like galaxies. Her tail was huge and bushy like a fox or squirrel tail, and she had large fluffy ears. She looked like a mix between a central american feathered dragon and a fox.

“What… who…” sputtered my mum.

Dana wasn’t so baffled, she squealed, “Oh my god it’s the kick-ass dragon! What? How is it here and like three feet tall? Syl what the fuck, how are you always getting into situations like this?”

“I’m a shit magnet,” I replied, shrugging in my mum’s embrace.

“Yes… I like the sound of being called a kick-ass dragon,” Nia preened.

“Another dimension?” Mum asked in a voice that sounded a little faint.

“I think Syl is probably a bit hungry, and I could do with some food too. How about we go get some food and we can talk this out?” Nia suggested, hopping down onto the ground.

It was very odd to be having a conversation with something that was so much shorter than me. Well actually gosh, I guess that’s how tall people felt about me. That’s a thought.

“I am pretty hungry,” I nodded.

“Right, okay. I’ll feed my daughter and her new tiny dragon friend. Totally normal afternoon,” my mum said, shaking her head and letting me go.

“Don’t forget my normal friend too!” I replied.

“Oh if it’s not too much… I mean I can go home. I was just worried because Syl didn’t show up to class and wasn’t responding to her messages so…” Dana said, shuffling her feet.

I frowned, then turned back to my bedside table, “Actually yeah my phone is missing.”

“You left it on the dining table dear.” Mum said.

“Oh,” I said sheepishly, following Mum as she left the room.

When we arrived in the living room, Mum moved to the kitchen and started rustling through the cupboards for something to feed us, eventually settling on making some sandwiches and tea. Meanwhile, I explained the whole dimensional sightseeing tour from my own perspective. Dana listened with rapt attention, and I think Mum tried her best to suspend her disbelief. She looked worried by the end of it though.

“I’m not sure I like this goddess of yours plucking you out of thin air like that. She should have to ask me first, and nothing dangerous. I am your mother after all,” she frowned.

I nodded, “I’ll ask her not to do that. I would have actually died if anything had gone wrong.”

Dana looked to be about to speak when we heard a gasp from behind us. Nia was holding my Mum’s tablet with her little dragon fingers and I swear she was crying.

“It’s a tablet!” she squeaked.

“Yeah it is…” I replied, a little confused.

She looked up at me with tearfilled eyes, “I haven’t seen one in so long! Oh my god…”

“You’re crying over a tablet?” Dana asked in disbelief.

“Technology! The internet! Video games!” the little feathered dragon squealed happily.

I was grinning now as I realised what she was trying to say. She had missed her old comforts apparently.

“What was your favourite food? Back before?” I asked.

“Chocolate,” she breathed, staring at me hopefully.

Mum laughed and turned to one of our cupboards, pulling out the stash she kept for herself she said, “Here take it. I’ll buy some more later. If what my daughter said is true, you used to be both human and from around here?”

Nia flapped over and took the chocolate with a grateful nod, “Yes, I was a student at Vic like ten or so years ago. The whole lecture hall was sucked through a portal in the roof and we ended up scattered across this crazy planet.”

“I still find all of this hard to believe. It’s so outlandish, like a TV show or something,” Mum said with a bewildered shake of her head.

“Trust me, it’s a lot more wild than you’d think. Terrifying to boot. I hope to whatever deities are around, that the war out there doesn’t find Earth, because even with ten years of research this planet would be fucked,” she said as she started eating the chocolate. It was kinda funny how scary her words were contrasted with the tiny dragon eating chocolate on the kitchen island.

“I hope so too,” I nodded.

Mum frowned, but otherwise didn’t reply. I think she was at her limit of crazy things. I mean, she was having a conversation with a small fluffy talking dragon so she had to be wearing a little thin. We sat in silence for a while before a question occurred to me.

“Dana, why are you here? I don’t mean that in a mean way but like…” I asked, trying to figure out why my friend was here.

“Oh! I noticed you weren’t at school and came over afterwards to see if you were alright. I met your mum outside and we came in together,” she explained.

“Ohh, and I guess school called you mum?” I said turning to her.

“Correct. You’re starting to make a habit of this Sylanna and it should stop. School before magical battles on another world alright?” she said, chastising me even as she struggled to keep a straight face.

“Yeah Mum I know. It’s all super crazy and like… it’s only been a week or two since I even became Syl. I wish life would slow down a bit honestly,” I sighed.

“Hopefully it will dear,” she said, coming around the island and pulling me into a quick hug.

I liked having my parents paying attention to me. It was nice.

“I guess I’ll go home now that I know you’re okay. Will I see you in Pellan soon?” Dana said to me.

“Uh, probably! How is um… how is Karen by the way?” I asked as she headed towards the door.

In the corner of my eye I saw Nia stop eating her chocolate and look up. She was all attention now. She hopped down and followed us into the hallway. We hadn’t told anyone who Nia was, just that she had once been from our Earth, but not that she was Karen’s sister. Nia was silent, but her ears were pricked forward and twitching. Her tail was flicking around like an irritated cat too. I wasn’t sure if I should squeal about how cute she was or be very worried.

“She was really worried about you too. You should text her. Probably get ready to be pounced on in Pellan too. I’ll let her know you’re okay now though,” she said as I escorted her to the door.

“Thanks! Talk soon!” I smiled.

“You too,” she grinned, then left out the front door.

I watched her go for a little bit before I realised Nia was standing next to me, still in her little dragon form. She was staring out the door, her eyes roaming over everything like she was drinking water for the first time.

“Wanna go out and see?” I asked encouragingly.

“Yeah,” she breathed, hopping out onto the front porch.

She stared with wonder sparkling in her eyes at the generic suburban Wellington street. Thoroughly normal houses sat in rows going down the street, with gardens that were being cared for with varying degrees of skill. It was all so mundane for me, but I could see that Nia felt different.

Quietly, Nia turned and looked up at me, “You know what really sucks about being pulled to another world like Andegral? What you don’t think you’d miss when you think about the hypothetical situation? You miss the safety of this world. The first world at least, such as they have labelled themselves. I never realised how significant it is to grow up in an environment where you fully and completely expect to die of old age. Well for most people at least. My life expectancy was a hell of a lot lower,” She said the last line bitterly, then shook her head and continued.

“You’re not worried about bombardment from high altitude airships in New Zealand. You’re not worried about non-human raiders charging out of the grey wastes on their skimmers to burn your settlement to the ground and kill every living thing within it. You’re not worried about fighting a war against an enemy that knows no emotion, save for whatever drives them inexorably towards the destruction of your world. You’re not worried about fighting this war while to your rear other ignorant empires covet the power you hold.”

“Is that what you have to deal with?” I asked.

“That’s the world of Andegral and beyond. It’s a harsh galaxy out there and we’re only holding on by a thread. I don’t know how long the Order can hold back the tide. It might be a year, it might be a hundred years. All I know is that one day we’ll fall and Andegral will fall soon after that,” she said sadly, almost resignedly.

“Maybe,” I said slowly.

“Maybe? Pretty sure it’s not maybe,” she frowned, sounding a little pissed off.

“I have this hunch… about Pellan and why those builders of yours constructed it. Some things that Feslia has said. The way the game system is set up, things like that. I think you might want to get a headset of your own and look into it,” I told her cryptically.

She blinked up at me for a moment, then smiled a little dragon smile, “Yeah maybe I should do that.”

“I can ask my parents if you can stay with us for a bit,” I offered, “You can get a headset and make a character and stuff.”

“I think I’ll find my own way for now. I want to have a look at how the world has changed. I want to experience it now that I don’t have to deal with my old illness. Thanks for the offer though kid,” she smiled, holding up a little hand to shake mine.

“O-oh… where will you go? You need a house to live and stuff. Shelter and power and internet right?” I said, very confused as to what her plan might be.

“I’m a master mage in a world of people without magic,” she told me, then when I raised an eyebrow she amended, “Mostly without magic. I’ll be like a dragon among a flock of sheep.”

I laughed, “Do you really eat sheep?”

“I cook them in the fires of the void first,” she winked, then jumped up into the air.

Circling above she called, “See you soon Syl! Don’t make me come pull you out of any trouble while I’m getting settled!”

“I can’t promise that!” I called back.

Her laugh trailed down as she flew off, and I turned back to the house. I had a girlfriend to catch up with and a friend to transform! Oh and school work, although that didn’t seem so important anymore. Don’t let mum know I said that.