Chapter Nineteen: The Eighth Realm

March 14th, 2027

Katia felt herself tumbling down a set of long stairs, putting her arms over her head for protection. She took her arms out from over her head, and was blinded by bright light. She tried to get up, but her left leg gave out, a large gash from shrapnel near her hamstring area. Though she could hardly see she felt people helping her up, voices were shouting from a distance but she couldn’t tell what they were saying. As she put her arms over the shoulders of those helping her she could feel the armour being stripped from her body. This was relieving, as it had been crumpled tightly on her, how they were removing it she didn’t know. Katia heard one of the voices clearly now, “Here, so she is’t blinded,” it said, and she felt a blindfold go over her eyes, blotting out the extremely bright light. The voice she heard was kind, so Katia decided to try and communicate with them. “Wh-where are you taking me?” Katia asked, letting them lead her. “Don’t worry,” the voice responded, “we are taking you to a safe place, you will feel better there.” After a few minutes of blind navigation she felt the temperature change as she walked into a room, and they stopped her. They began removing black undercover of the armour, taking all clothing she had left, and slightly nudging her forward. She felt the guiding hand leave her back, and she heard them walk outside, the door behind her closing like a stone rolled over an entrance.

Katia took a step forward with her good leg, arms outstretched, and felt her foot submerge into ankle deep water. The water was warm, so she pieced together that they had taken her somewhere to bathe. She took another step forward, but her left leg gave out again, and she was now on her hands and knees, feeling her way forward through the water. As she moved forward her right arm sunk down not touching the floor even when her face met the water. Katia silently debated with herself whether to go on and possibly risk never making it back, or stay here, waiting for someone to find her again. She decided to go, but felt around near the drop area and found a wall. She used it to guide her as her legs dropped down, the water up to her waist now, the light still too bright to take off the blindfold. She felt the wall meet with another, like a corner of a swimming pool, she also felt her leg touch something made of stone. She felt more of it, and realized it was attached to the wall, she took another risk and sat on it. While sitting there the water only reached her neck, leaving her completely fine, letting her rest. Katia let out a deep breath, still unable to see, but the water was warm and relaxing. It soothed her body and her mind, she let her head tilt back, almost drifting to sleep.



Then she heard a voice, “Your feet were able to touch the bottom of the pool the whole time you know.” Katia’s head jutted back upright and she screamed, which then echoed around the room. She covered her mouth as the man’s voice chuckled slightly, but it was a joyous friendly laugh, “it is ok my child, you are not the first to react that way.” Katia covered herself while trying to locate where the voice was coming from, “There is no need for you to hide yourself, I am blind anyhow,” he said. She looked toward the source of his voice, “But that makes no sense, how can you see me, and be blind as well?” The man chuckled to himself again, “I do not see you or your body, as I am blind and cannot see anything, I see your essence, as everything and everyone else’s.” Katia looked in his direction still confused, but began to relax again and lowered her arms, yet was still unsure. “So what do I look like to you?” she asked, and waited for a response, “I see much like you do now, everything seems to be made of light, yet what you are seeing is the essence of what is around you. You haven’t been around magic for a very long time, so the light is much more intense for you.” Katia thought on this, “So everyone here sees like you do?” “No,” he replied simply, “you and the others are still able to see that which is around you properly, I have just lost my mortal sight. The reason you see the essence of that which is around you is due to the fact you are not used to it. Your body is recognizing itself with magic once again.” Katia shifted toward his voice, slightly seeing a shape of a man in the light, “You act like I’ve been around magic before, why? As far as I know magic is something in fairy tales, it doesn’t exist.” The old man shifted where he sat, “Katia, you have been around magic more than you would know, you have even used magic without knowing it.”

This just gave Katia more questions, “How do you know my name?” The man looked back at her, “I know more about you than just your name Miss Managan, I know quite a lot about what has happened to you on your journey. We have no need to go into further detail about what I know, but to answer your biggest question; what is happening and why. Now, the man you know as Sergeant Foles, had once been in your position. He was in a beaten state when we first saw him, as we saw you. This happened twenty years ago, during those years I began to lose my sight. At coming to this place, Foles grew stronger, and connected with all around him. But the strongest connection he had was with me, and Foles became my eyes.” Katia scowled behind the blindfold, “So that’s why I’m here, so that you can use me?” The man held up a finger, “Absolutely not, but you had never let me finish. Foles and I had been given a mission. A mission to find you and bring you back here. Foles has completed that mission, but unfortunately died in the process.” Katia looked down, slightly feeling it was her fault, remembering the last thing he’d ever said to her: “You are more important than you think…” “Foles’ last words,” the man said, practically reading her mind, “they were true. He died for a worthy cause. A cause which you must fulfill.” Katia’s vision was slightly adapting the longer she talked with this man, and she saw a slight shadow stand up. “It is much more important than stopping Abdallah from destroying major cities all over the world. You are in fact saving the entire earth from destruction.” Katia opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as he continued, “Now as this might be seen as an extremely difficult task, you are making it out harder than it truly is. Though defeating him is your main task, you must first learn more about your true self.”

Katia waited a few seconds before deciding what to say, “Earlier you said I had been around and used magic before, how?” The man chuckled a bit, “You are surrounded by magic as we speak, and I not only by the essence that makes up everything. At this very moment you lay in a pool of restoration. If you don’t believe me, think back to the cut on your thigh, it’s no longer there.” Katia reached for the spot the wound should’ve been, but there was nothing, not even a scar of resemblance. “And when you were hit by over thousands of volts of electric energy,” he continued, “your body absorbed the power. The burn on your neck, for instance, was slowly healed every time you placed your hand upon it. Even the gloves you suspected had given you the power to defend yourself, only harnessed the power you already had. Need I give any more examples?” he asked, yet Katia stayed silent. “As I stated before, you have no idea the power you possess. No one knows why you are this way, blessed by the gods perhaps, we may never know… But, there has been a prophecy, that a champion sent by the gods will appear in a time of desperation. That time is now.” Katia almost laughed, “So you’re saying that I am ‘the chosen one’ or some other cheesy thing like that?” She let out a disgruntled attempt at a laugh, which turned into more of a sarcastic sigh, “No one would choose me for anything, why would they? I’m just a dumb fuckup that got pulled into this whole mess.” There was a long silence, “Perhaps,” the man said, in a low peaceful tone, “that is the reason you were chosen. To prove that no one is useless. That even those who find themselves less than the dust on the ground, can shape the worlds to come, maybe even save them.”

Katia looked up, and it seemed that she could see as though there was no light or blindfold at all. She saw into the pale blind eyes of the man, and behind them, seemed to be a glint of hope and happiness. A hope that not all was lost, but that everything was in that moment, found. Katia could tell he saw her as well, and not just through her essence. “Sweet child,” he whispered, “I know the pain you have endured, the failures and heartache. The sense of no hope, and loss, that there is nothing left to hold onto.” Katia felt his hand cup her face as they sat there, as it seemed they were linked for those short seconds. She closed her eyes, and felt warm tears fall onto her face, as she came back in the room with the bath. She felt them fade into the blindfold, and realized that they had gone to some spiritual place, a bridge between them. The light behind the blindfold returned, Katia also returned to the spot she had been before. She heaved a shaky sigh, “Ok, I think I’m ready to… to do whatever it is I need to do. It’s just that… everything is so crazy and confusing. I have no idea what’s happening and I feel completely unprepared…” The man walked over and held out his hand, Katia took it. At this point she was able to see basic shapes and outlines, “We will help you regain sight, as well as prepare for going back to the sixth realm.”

Katia lay in the bed she had been escorted to, unable to sleep due to the light behind her blindfold. They’d given her some new clothes and other things she’d need, even her own room wherever this place was. Even if she wasn’t being half blinded, Katia wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, her head wouldn’t let her. Being told the sake of the entire world was in her hands, as well as everything happening so fast wasn’t helping either. To think that life could never be the same again, and that was if she did everything right, if she even survived. She wanted to pull her hair out because of that damn word; if, it was all she could think about. She wished it was all just a bad dream, that she’d fall asleep and wake up everything back to normal… It felt like it’d been years since anything had been normal, and that wasn’t even half of it, everything was just going to get harder. What if she wasn’t prepared for any of it? What if she didn’t have enough time? What if she failed? What if- Katia took a breath and realized how fast her heart was pounding against her chest. Sleep wasn’t an option, it never really had been either, but with all that was going on it was the last thing on her mind. But what could she even do, sitting there blind as a bat without any knowledge of her surroundings. Katia sat up, putting her head in her hands, what was there left for her to do?

She stood up, there wasn’t much she could do, but she had to try. If what the man had said was true, all she had done through magic was done subconsciously. All except what she had done with the help of technology. But what would happen if she tried on her own will? She stood there, staring at the wall, willing herself to see with all her might. She stopped, nothing had happened, she tried again… and again. She tried to use different tactics, she held her breath, outstretched her arms, tried to think of nothing but see what was in front of her, but none of it worked. She breathed heavily, sweat trickling down her neck, but after almost thirty minutes of no results she didn’t stop. No matter how hard she had to try, she wouldn’t stop until she got it. Katia held her ground, staring intently at the wall balling her fists, glaring in front of her full of frustration and confusion. She grit her teeth, seeing reality flickering before her eyes, and on the wall she saw a simple emblem in the shape of the sun. Katia didn’t dare stop putting in extreme effort, in fear that her vision would be lost, but her focus was interrupted by voices from outside. There were inaudible shouts coming from outside, she turned to the door, and everything shut off. Something was wrong, but what was it, Katia walked forward to try and find the door. But as she did this her knees buckled and she collapsed from fatigue.

Katia was slow to wake up, finding herself outside with voices all around her. “She doesn’t seem to be affected in any way,” one said, “What happened?” said another, “look, I think she’s coming around,” said someone looking down at her. “Now,” said the familiar voice of the old man, “give the girl some time.” he said. Katia rubbed her eyes, her blindfold was no longer there, but she seemed to be fine despite the fuss everyone was making. In fact she was somewhat able to see, apart from the fact it looked like everything had a translucent version of a fuzzy television screen in front of it. “Are you alright,” the man asked, “Huh, yeah, a little tired, but fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” He stroked at his beard, “Interesting, you seem unaffected considering the circumstances.” Katia looked around, even though she was half blind, being able to see at least five feet in front of her was nice. “What circumstances, what happened?” Asking this question seemed to bother some of the people even more, “Last night the room we gave you caught on fire,” the man said, “we have no idea what caused it, and when we sent someone to get you out you were on the ground unconscious. We don’t know what could’ve caused the fire, but because you were inside the hut during the event, maybe you would have a clue as to what had happened.” Katia frowned, “A fire? I don’t remember a fire, or remember it being hot or feeling any burns.” “What were you doing?” the man asked, “I wasn’t doing much,” she responded, “but I couldn’t, and can’t, see. So I tried to see. I was trying to use magic, but on purpose, to try and see through the light. It worked for a little, but then I heard the shouts, so I turned around. After that I don’t remember anything.” At this the old man looked up at the people, “Well, I think we can concur that there is no way to truly find out why this happened.” The people used this as their que to leave, and went back to what they had been doing before. Katia stood up and dusted off her clothes, which didn’t seem to be burnt at all, and looked at the man. He had long white hair, a long beard, and pale gray eyes. He seemed to be wearing some type of robe, it was long and black, with gold trim along the edges of the sleeves and along each side of the split down the middle. Under this was a plain gray tunic, he also had sandals on his feet. Katia also noted he had a staff with him, trying to take in as much she could as possible, which wasn’t much.

The man gestured for her to come with him, and he spoke as they walked, “I know why the fire was started, the answer is quite simple actually.” Katia looked at her feet making sure she didn’t trip over anything, because she couldn’t see very far in front of her. “What did happen?” she asked, “When an atronach tries to use a new form, or any form for that matter, of magic there is some way the failing power must escape. This is because it cannot disappear into thin air, but must find an exit. In your case, it exited through heat or thermal energy. How much power you were using I do not know, but it was a large enough amount to ignite the hut you were inside at the time.” They reached a large rock, where the man sat down, and Katia sat next to him. “So what am I going to do?” The man stroked his beard, “There is not much you can do, and there is not much time either. I assume the best thing for you to do is train your mind, to learn how to use your power purposefully.” They sat in silence, “You said I don’t have much time? How much is that?” Katia asked. “We only have as long as it takes for Abdallah to realize anyone and everyone possesses the ability to use magic. If this happens then Earth has no hope.” Another silence, “You never had told me your name,” she said, “and you already know who I am…” The man looked at her, “My name is Arelious, it was the name that was given to me when I arrived here and the only name I have ever known… I was never given a name when I was born, so I was named after stumbling into this realm.” Katia tried to look out in front of her, but it wasn’t of much use, “So how did you find this place?” she asked. “I was guided here,” he said, “as many of the others here have been. It was the duty of the man who found me to bring me here, and it is my duty to bring others…” They sat there in yet another silence, until it was broken by the sigh of Arelious. “But enough talk about me and what I must do, we must now focus on you and your duties.” At that he stood up, and Katia followed.

Over the course of the next few days Katia trained herself to use magic on her own, her vision becoming stronger each day that past. During this training there wasn’t much else for her to do, so she talked to some of the others living there. Not many of them were able to talk to her, or some just didn’t want to, but one man in particular informed her about new things each day. “Back again are we?” said the familiar gruff voice as Katia walked up to him. He seemed to be some kind of blacksmith, though he never really made much, he said there wasn’t a reason for it yet. “You still haven’t told me your name,” she smiled slightly, “why?” He let out a bit of air that might’ve been a laugh, “Some things are unimportant or not worth mentioning, such as a simple thing like my name.” Katia frowned, “Well if it’s so simple then why is it such a big deal you won’t tell me?” The man looked up from his work and smiled, it was the first time she saw him smile, nonetheless the first time she really got a close look at his face. His long, rugged brown hair complimented his hazel eyes, and the stubble on his chin rose up into slight sideburns. “To mess with you,” he chuckled slightly as Katia sat on a rock near his smithing stand. Katia sighed, “No one here but you really talks to me, they always say they’re busy or something, but I know they’re just trying to make excuses. I mean like, I just got here,” she said, throwing a small pebble into a puddle next to her, “and everyone is just going to ignore me. I have no idea what’s happening, but no one really cares, why? Is it because I’m new here and they just don’t feel like talking to someone they don’t know? Is it because I was talking with Arelious so much, because I burnt a house down the first night I arrived?” The man looked down at her sceptically, “You ask too many questions,” he said blankly. Katia threw her hand up in the air, “Well I just got here and I have no idea what the hell is going on, I never have, I feel like I deserve to know something!” She stared back at the ground, “who knows, maybe I don’t…” He stood up and looked at her, “They’re afraid of you,” Katia looked up confused, “What?” “You asked why the people don’t talk to you. It’s ‘cause they’re scared, because they’ve been waiting all this time, and now you’re here. Oh yeah, I should mention, time here is different than it is on earth.” he said, setting down some broken armor, presumably what could’ve been Katia’s. “Everything here is three times faster than it is there, so three hours here is one on earth, and so on.” Katia was processing this in her head as he continued, “So getting to where you are now was three months on earth, for everyone waiting here it was three fourths of a year. They know who you are, and what your job is, now that it’s starting to all go down they don’t know what to do. And by the way, the name’s Giaus.”

Katia stepped outside of the small hut she had been given, it was early in the morning and still slightly dark out. It had been a few days since she’d arrived here, and she’d been training her magic since the fire incident. Katia hardly slept, but the cool air was calming. The dew was still on the grass, which then rubbed off onto her paws as she walked out into the field in front of the small village. It was at this moment Katia realized she could see fully again. Over in the distance she saw the sun rising behind an arch near what looked like a drop off. She started walking over, and noticed more behind the arch, what seemed to be floating rocks. Katia reached the arch and sat underneath it, which gave her a better view of the floating rocks. Katia saw they were actually floating islands, but at this point nothing surprised her, the sunrise behind them was beautiful anyway. As she sat there only one thought went through her head, that it was time. She didn’t know how ready she was, but it would have to be enough. She only had one shot, and there was no way she was messing it up now.