A pale, bearded figure stared back at Elliott from his bathroom mirror. Two bald entrances from the sides of his forehead were making themselves more and more apparent. Despite being on his 30's plenty of gray hair could be seen both on his head and in his face. Tired weary eyes looked over all his facial features on the mirror.

His visible stress... didn't come from having been involved in an unexplicable event of interdimensional transportation, nor from having been thrown into a situation where he still couldn't make head and tails of.

No, this is much much older. Stress and uncertainty have been his old friends for years. It may have started slowly, without many noticing, but his previous world had gone to hell, ever so gradually, chipping away at his sanity and health, one new flame and trident at a time.

On his porch, when he was watching the smoke and fire go up in the sky before being transported, part of him even longed for those flames. He wanted it to be over, the world should just implode into itself at once, he didn't want to rip his hair in anxiety anymore, counting the hours for a judgement day he never knew when - or if - would come.

He worried for his children. It didn't have to be perfect, but he wanted them to at least live in a halfway decent world. One where what they eat or drink doesn't contain any strange agents, purposefully mixed in for the sake of some obscure agenda. A world where they wouldn't have to live in constant fear of the next nuclear explosion, where its radioactive clouds are heading, what they're contaminating in the proccess. A world where they didn't have to watch for every little thing they say, for fearing offending the wrong people, people who would do everything in their power to punish their micro-transgression as rashly as they could.

A normal life. With normal struggles.

A life where they would suffer from having learn and adapt, from having to challenge their limits, from having to work and study just a little more than they were capable of in order to achieve something, of sleepless nights, of crying in their beds because they just can't seem to be good enough for their peers or themselves.

- Not one where no matter how much effort they put the results won't change. A life where all is controlled by forces beyond their reach and comprehession, where everything is decided for them, one of hollow choices, decisions, beliefs and battles, where they're given a cup of water and bread everyday and expected to go on their knees thanking their jailers, even though they know they could do better.

He wanted them a life where they could find love, find comfort from their everyday struggles through human warmth, with a partner that wouldn't be their ideal but would be what they needed. One they would laugh and fight with, perhaps far from even being their first or their last among many.

- Not one where their emotional weaknesses and fragilities are considered diseases to be treated. One where a syringe with a dose of the right kind of hormones or neurotransmitters is supposed to make everything right again.

A life that would slowly come to an end, worrying about the ailments of old age, of backpain, of their ever fading strenght and beauty. Of their failing minds that can't do what they could before, forgeting things they wanted to remember.

- Not one where they'd have to consider euthanasia because they can't afford the ever rising costs of a failing body and mind, because they were never allowed to find someone to take care of them, because of forces majeoure that consider them dead weight, that want them dead before they could even get so far.

He wanted them to be happy, and he wanted them to be sad. - Not deconstructed, analysized, hollowed and sealed with an institutionally approved smiley rainbow stick of happiness.

Alas, assuming this isn't some last delusion his brain conocted before being vaporized by hot radioactive winds, that life was over. What awaited him here, whatever it was, no matter how difficult, he hoped it would be at least normal.

He looked outside, through the small window in his bathroom. Wind rustled through the leaves, the sun still as strong as yesterday. He recalled the conversation he had with Thea.

This was an island, he didn't know how big since the Goat Lady wasn't familiar with his world's measure scales, but through trial and error he was more or less able to figure out this should be, very roughly, around 80 km2.

One could walk around the whole island in one afternoon, which by the way shouldn't be too different in duration from an afternoon in earth, or at least thats what he was able to guess so far. Unfortunately it seems there was enough difference to turn all the clocks in his house into glorified stopwatches.

Locals called this place "Tampan". It was located in an archipelago. And it looked like a panty.

The island looks like a panty.

Speaking of locals, the others here were like him - and also not like him - 'slippers'. Individuals who slipped from different worlds, worlds not his own. The reasons behind this 'slip' can vary and were never completely clear, she said something about here being a ultra-hot-spot leylane or some other mumbo-jumbo beyond his comprehession he didn't even pretended to understand.

Everyone was nice, according to Thea. Though she never clarified whether they were truly nice, or she made sure they were nice.

"Elliott! Miss Thea is here!"

And today she was going to show them around the village, if it could even be called that. According to her there were roughly around 100 people living here.

He stepped out of the bathroom to receive the guest. Today he made sure to wear the UV shirt he practically had never used, shorts, boots and a straw sun hat he had stashed away. By looks alone it seemed like he was going to a nice vacation, weren't for the fact he was about to see what his and his family entire future will be about.

In the living room he met his family, all wearing similar outfits, except for his daughter who choose a light blue sundress and sandals for some reason.

"Elliottete, you're going to hurt your feet in those, and that dress is gonna get stuck in branches."

"B-But, Miss Thea seems c-completely fine like that..." - she said, turning to the guest in the room.

Thats because she is a goddess, her form a... mind's interpretation, or something? Now that he thought about it, he never explained much of her to the others.

"It'll be ok Mr. Elliott" - their Goat girl guest said, probably guessing what he was thinking - "I've already opened up a path from the village all the way here while i was coming, i hope you're ok with that."

Opened up a path... as in, cutting branches or something?

"You'll see."

Going outside he definitely did 'see'. A trail where 5 people side by side could walk together had been opened in the forest by his front yard.

No, opened wasn't a good word for this. Obliterated was more like it, as if an elephant with rotating excavator buckets attached to his body had passed through.

"It was a bit of a messy job, but everything should work itself out over time, hahaha!" - Thea said, her face a mix of bashful and proud.

How.... is what everyone's face said, except for Elliottim who seemed impressed by her work.

They proceeded through the path, sun shining down on them. Elliotte made sure to bring water bottles for everyone so they would be properly hydrated, filled from a clay filter they had with them. Elliott was thankful for having such a considerate and resourseful wife.

Along the way, Thea kept speaking with his partner and Elliottim, who looks to have taken a liking to her. It was mostly them asking about things, like what kind of food they had here, what people usually did, if there were other kids, what kind of facilities they had...

Elliott honestly wanted to pay attention since it was related to their future, but his mind just kept wandering off to their surroundings. The wind was strong, but only pleasantly so, there was the subtle smell of the sea in the air, salt accumulated in the lenses of his glasses making his field of view slightly blurry. He decided to just leave the information gathering to his wife, she was probably better at it than him anyway.

All things considered Elliott actually felt quite relaxed. He was probably going to need to find a job here, he also needed to procure sources for food, see how advanced medicine was around these parts, if they had magic or something akin to it here, if that magic could help with their everyday lives in case it existed. It was so novel, to have such normal worries filling his mind, thoughts about food, work, health, rather than what part of town riots were going to sprout next.

It had been a 30 minute walk before they got to the village. Close, but wouldn't be close enough to make going around comfortable, he'd have to do something about this.

"Here it is! Welcome to our humble village. We never named it so we just call it Tampan village."

It was... very humble indeed. Rather than village it just looked like a small gathering.

There were a handful of houses in all shapes and forms, mostly made out of wood, straw and earth... is that a big round hole on the ground? Some fields could be seem too, in fact they took up most of the area in village.

You could see some "people" walking around.

"Is that a... bear?"

What looked like a bear, wearing some sort of checkered shirt and shorts, walking up straight on two legs, seemed to have noticed them and was coming.

"Oh! Urso! Glad you're coming to receive them!"

"....BEEEEEAAAAR"

...

"BEEEEEAAAAAAAARRR?"

"He's greeting you guys, say hello!"

"Hello..?"

"H-Hello"

"Hello Mr..... Urso"

Elliott and Elliottony were still unable to utter a single word, and just kept staring, trying to figure out what was before them.

"Hey, Elliott, Elliottony! Greet Mr. Urso properly!" - said Elliotte - "I can't bear to watch you two just stand there without saying anything."

""Hello, Mr. Urso""

"BEEEEEEEEEEEAAAR......."

"Dont worry Urso" - said Thea - "They're still getting their bearings."

Elliott didn't know if they were talking like that on purpose, but he was starting to find it unbearable.

Mr. Urso went on his way after greeting them, to do whatever sentient bears did with their time. Meanwhile Thea urged the family to continue with the tour.

"Those are our fields, we plant all sorts of stuff here. Ah... but we also go out in the sea to fish so this isn't our only source of food."

The plantations looked a bit different from the vast sprawling fields he was used to seeing on the countryside. Those were smaller, separated into many different areas, usually a few trees between them. They looked rough in his opinion.

"As you know we have all sorts of beings living here, and many have specific needs when it comes to food."

Among the fields Elliott spots a figure... moving around with disgustingly fast movements.

"That one is Bug. He is a handyman of sorts. He's strong, fast and efficient. Probably our most overpowered resident, apart from me of course."

Bug looked just as his name suggested. An insectoid that was a mix of an ant and a mantis, sporting a brown exoskeleton with green hues. As he got closer to the five, one could see he was actually quite short, probably at slightly below Elliott's chest.

He couldn't help noticing that both his wife and daughter were stiffer than usual.

The insectoid creature suddenly halted his body and limbs, and looked into their direction. The pair of antennae on his head made a subtle motion downwards, before getting back into position. After this he immediatly went back to his disturbingly fast movements, forgeting their presence.

"His kind communicates mainly through smells so don't mind his silence too much." - Thea said - "Right now he is tending to the crops, he may be fast but all of his movements are precise and delicate. Moving on..."

After that they went to the town, there Elliott noticed more creatures walking around.

A giant blob of jelly, looked like a slime from those fantasy animes, moving around without a care in the world. A dog-sized, dog-shaped wooden puppet with an arm sprouting from its back. A bundle of hair Elliott thought was a haystack before it started moving... that IS a resident isn't it?

Some looked at them with mild interest, others didn't seem to care much. By the looks of it, the appearance of newcomers wasn't an uncommon occurence here.

"We have more residents spreadt through the island, some prefer living close to the sea, others in higher altitudes. We even have someone here who rather loves the underground...." - she looked towards the hole Elliott noticed earlier - "So?"

So.....? Is that it?

"What are we supposed to do here? Is there any work, money, or..."

"We'll figure something out" - the goddess said with a shrug - "Most residents made use of some knowledge or ability particular to their original world or species to make a living around here."

As for money, Thea continued...

"Its a pretty small community as you can see, so money is more or less unnecessary. However, there are residents in other islands around the archipellago, and we all do trade with each other regularly."

"Isn't there any kind of currency? At all?"

"There is one... sort of."

Thea pulled out from god-knows-where five things that looked like clams, then proceeded to throw one to each one of the family members.

"We call these things kaks."

Elliott looked at the clam-like object in his hand. It was brown and the size of his palm, as thick as his finger, though it got thinner closer to the borders.

"Try opening them."

They all did as she said, and unlike the clams he knew about, it was much easier to open this one.

Inside there was some sort of white, viscous thing that looked like a tongue.

"Now eat that white part."

They all were a bit reluctant, but decided to do as she said since it wasn't so different from the clams they knew about.

"This is...."

"So yummy!"

"Is there more!?"

All reactions were positive. The taste was very subtle but pleasant, despite its appearance the texture felt very good in the mouth.

"No matter where they came from, species or form, even creatures that live off nothing but sun light, they all enjoy this. Those kaks are the perfect snack." - Thea waved her finger while explaining - "They can be eaten as is or prepared in a multitude of ways, they fit pretty much in any cousine our residents brought from their home lands. In fact, i analysed them myself and found what i would call 'celestial' properties present, if you know what i mean. They also won't go bad for years as long as they aren't opened. However....."

She turned to look at them, making a serious face.

"They have no nutritional value whatsoever."

Truly the perfect snack.

"In fact, you can starve to death without realizing if you eat nothing but these."

That statement sounded more than a mere logical deduction to Elliott.

"Due to its nature, this is a highly sought after luxury item, but its also completely non-essential. So residents from this and other islands took to use this as a sort of money. When they don't know what to exchange something for, they'll accept kaks most of the time."

"I suppose this is hard to obtain?"

"Indeed" - she sighed - "You can find them in low volumes close to shore, but to get them in larger quantities you need to travel deeper, farther away from the archipelago. Those waters are... dangerous"

Now that she mentioned it, Elliott did remember her implying the existence of dangerous monsters by the sea.

"We had someone here who would frequently dive in those waters, specifically to collect kaks" - The goat lady turned her face to a place where a small rock was placed, a strange pole on its top. - "Isn't that right Ahab?"

"Is that a... grave?" - Little Elliottete asked what everyone else was thinking.

Right, many people gather in this place from other dimensions, but that doesn't mean they stay here forever. Death was still an ever looming presence no matter the world it seems.

"What? No, thats Ahab. I'm really sorry about what happened to you man, i swear i'm still working on your arm."

"Huh?" - Looking closely, the 'strange pole' was in fact a really tall hat, made out of wood and straws.

'...'

"I know right? They do look like decent people."

I she talking to the rock....?

"Hm? Oh, his kind speaks through telepathy. Lost his limb to a strange monster we had never seem before in one of his dives."

Elliott turned to the rock... Ahab once again.

'...'

"No Ahab, just forget about it. I already told you seeking revenge against a sea creature is a meaningless journey. It was an accident, it happens."

She said he lost his arm.... no matter what, he just looked like a rock with a silly hat.

'...'

"Ugh, fine you old fool! If you wanna kill yourself so be it! Elliott, everyone, lets go."

"Ok..." - and everyone followed after her.

After that she showed them the facilities they had. A place that dealt with alchemical concoctions, overseen by a floating snake-dragon thing. A trading center gathering specialties from other islands. Some food deposits. That slime thing they saw earlier? It was capable of absorbing almost any waste, so he was in charge of cleaning.

Finally they stopped at a certain place to have lunch.

A fairy-like mini-girl appeared in front of them.

"W-W-W-elcome very m-m-um-mcuh.....uhg"

I turned towards Thea with a questioning look.

"She's a similar being to me in a sense. She'll have different appearances depending on whose eyes she's being seen through. She also has universal communication abilities like me. Though she is not a goddess."

"Ok but... she prepares the food? Can she even lift a ladle?"

"Don't underestimate her just because of her size Elliott."

"I-I-I'm strongs! I'm v-v-v-v-vvery rreliaberl......reliabel... r-rel-liable!"

The fairy-girl - her name was Abamonis - made them a few questions, with great effort, related to the kind of food they ate. It felt rather strange explaining 'what humans eat normally' but they somehow managed it.

When all explanations were finished, she made a relieved face before disappearing into some backroom, probably a kitchen. Then Thea called the five to sit on a nearby table - and table here means a bunch of tree stumps to eat and sit on.

They were told residents had different nutritional needs. However it seems most could eat from the same food, albeit in different proportions of different things. Then there were a few with completely irregular eating habits, Abamonis was probably worried the five humans were going to be part of those.

"Urso for example needs to eat a loooot of fish, which can be troublesome in terms of stock. It can also bring some stares, make people think things like 'doesn't this guy eat too much!? We want to eat lots of fish too!' or so.

"To not cause problems he fishes all his food himself. He'll often share some of his catches, he even manages to get some kak from time to time."

Elliott raised an eyebrown, noticing some of the inner workings of the place hidden between her words. He often heard small communities had unwritten rules, like a notion that one must help and share with the others, otherwise risk being shunned.

"Ms. Thea, can you explain to us properly how things..... function around here, what we are supposed to do? What we shouldn't do?" - he went on to ask.

She had told him they would 'figure something out', but clearly there was more at play here.

The Goat girl stared directly at him. He felt as if those retangular pupils could pass through any flesh and see straight to one's soul. She closed her eyes, as if trying to find the right words to say, even letting escape a 'hmmm' noise from her nostrils.

"Well... to be honest Elliott, if you want to hole up in that home of yours and fend for yourselves, no one will mind. In fact, we do have some residents here in the island that do just that. You're free to leave if you want too, there is life beyond here."

However.... she continued.

"Its obvious no one will feel like helping or assisting you with anything if you never even show your face you know. Thats why i decided to bring you all here today. Its always better to help each other isn't it?

"Shenlong for example, whom we visited earlier, can assist if you or any of your family ever gets sick. I imagine you'd have trouble dealing with that by yourself, right?"

"But will anyone help us just like that?" - Elliott probed further.

"They could if i ask them... but naturally that wouldn't cut it forever. You'd have to trade goods, favors, or..." - she dragged a bit, as if trying to find the best way to say the next line.

"...or make them really really want to help you."

Elliott digested the words, trying to understand what they meant exactly.

"F-F-Fooood is-is-is- ddoone!!"

A fairy carrying a ridiculously large tray came from the backrooms and placed it in the table. She carried it so easily one would think its made out of polystyrene.

No, scratch that, wasn't that a bit too fast? Even simple food usually takes at least 10 or 15 minutes to prepare. Is it frozen food? Do they even have refrigerators here?

I glanced towards Thea and she just gave a meaningful smile.

The food now in front of us was pretty simple. Looks like Fish stew with a bowl of vegetable on the side. Which makes things even stranger.

Elliott and his family all put some of the stew in ther respective wooden bowls. He himself didn't care much and just mixed some of the vegetables directly in the soup, while his wife prefered to eat them separately. None of the kids even glanced at the greens.

The fish stew was... good. He couldn't describe it any other way.

"How did you prepare this so quickly Miss Abamonis?" - Eliiotte asked.

The fairy stood - float? - in place for a bit before finally registering she was being addressed.

"Ah! T-T-T-That is...." - she turned towards Thea as if asking for help.

"This is actually from yesterday. But don't worry, we have ways to preserve it for this long without it going bad."

"How? Do you have freezers here?"

"Freezers? Well, we dig holes in the earth, thrown ice at it and close with a lid. Is that what you call it?"

"Where you get ice from?" - Elliott is the one who asked now.

"Hmmm" - she thought for a bit then shrugged - "We make it with magic, i guess."

Elliott thought she was hiding some trade secret of sorts for a moment, but then realized it truly might've been magic considering everything he saw so far, and she just thought explaining it to a un-magical being like him was too much of a bother.

They kept on eating for a while, Elliotte and Thea talking about all sorts of banal things - Elliott never ceased being impressed by his wife's ability to come up with conversation topics.

Apparently this was a community restaurant, managed by Thea herself after witnessing Abamonis - or Little Aba as she called her - culinary prowess. Elliott didn't thought much of the dish, but she could work really fast with cooking tools from what Thea had said. More magic maybe?

Before this, residents more or less procured and prepared their own food, but with Thea's idea and a bit of advertising on her part, she convinced enough people to adopt this instead.

Residents would donate the food they produced or obtained to the restaurant. At their discretion of course, no one would blame them for wanting to hog some deliciously rare fish they managed to catch to themselves. In exchange Thea and other 'associates', like the fairy here, would take care of storage, prepare it to be eaten then distribute it among the residents who came here during meal times.

Seems people appreciated the idea of just giving up raw ingredients and having them turn into food, without having to do anything more.

While hearing those conversations, Elliott realized he was under some sort of misconception about the place. Normally he thought such ideas would never work, that people would either donate the bare minimum or come eat for free without doing anything. That would probably be true in a larger city or town. But this was, in the end, just a gathering of people. A cooperative society as they were normally called.

If some NEET or food hoarder started coming to eat everyday without contributing in any form, others would just caught on to it, go 'yer think you can just grab free lunch h'ere mate?', then tie him to a tree somewhere. Thea's own influence probably also played a role in making this whole scheme work.

Everyone had already finished eating, but Elliott's wife and Thea's vocal cords just wouldn't let up. Elliott excused himself from the table, leaving the kids to fend for themselves against the two loquacious ladies, and went for a walk. Making sure not to stray too far of course.

Outside he saw more people going on and about, though he was still reluctant to call them people.

Floating orbs, animal like things, unidentifiable creatures that wouldn't look out of place in a modern art museum. All just leading on their lives, probably worrying about things such as tomorrow's weather, how to fix some contraption in their homes, mending some broken relationship, or maybe trouble particular to their kind.

So normal.

He noticed a presence apporaching him from the side. It was none other than Thea.

"Elliott, there's one last thing i forgot about... you look somber, is everything ok?"

"...its nothing... just still settling in is all."

It wasn't much really. There was a bizarre conflict within his mind that made it feel like this was all just some fever dream. Everything happened so fast his brain just wasn't quite able to process things properly yet.

The horned girl stared at him with an indescribable countenance, her goat eyes fixed on his side-profile. He didn't dare look back, or rather he couldn't.

She acted lighthearted most of the time but every now and then he would notice these strange expressions on her, expressions he couldn't really explain and even quietly terrified him. During these moments, he felt as if before him truly lay an existence he cannot comprehend, stranger beyond even walking bears and telepathic rocks.

What kind of life she led? How long of a life she led? What does she know? What did she see?

Was she really a god?

As ridiculous as that sound, and even if he doubted that claim at times, he was never able to deny her directly to her face.

What would happen if he sounded his doubts to her? What would she do? What did he envision her doing? He simulated it many times in his head, and there was only ever one possible outcome.

She would laugh.

Not a scornful laugh, nor a mad one. The simple and pure laugh of an old man hearing a toddler fumbling through his first words. A laugh capable of reducing all of his struggles, distress, pain and existence to specks of dust, pebbles on a road connecting two coasts of a huge nation.

"...seems you really need my blessings kid."

Elliott snaped out of his thoughts, realizing he had been ignoring her.

"I already gave them to your wife and kids so you're the only one left." - she said, putting her pinky in her mouth for some reason.

He turned to her with a questioning look.

"Blessings? Does it give us good health or something?"

She didn't answer and just kept on licking her finger, sometimes bulging her cheeks with it.

Finally she pulled the pinky out with a pop, now covered with strangely thick saliva.

"No silly. Its to let you speak with and understand the others here."

"Oh..." - now that she mentioned it, there were plenty of residents communicating with each other without trouble. There's no way everyone just naturally learned how to communicate with so many different beings from them. - "And what were you sucking that finger for?"

"This is my blessing."

"Huh?"

"Here, let me bless you." - she ominously pointed her slimy little finger towards his ear.

"What!? No! Keep that away from- WHY ARE YOU HOLDING ME!?"

"Just let it happen Elliott."

He struggled, but ifelt as if her grip took out all the strenght on his body. He turned towards others, seeking for help, but no one seemed to mind, he even felt some were jeering.

"NO. NOOO! STOOOOP STOOOOOOOOP!"

On that day, Elliott had his ear thoroughly violated.