I shook my head. “Not really. I mean, it wasn’t that bad.
“We had a habit of wandering off and not telling anyone where we were going,” Tristan explained. “It’s why we were given cellphones at the age of five.”
Sofia lit up, remembering something. “Oh dear. I remember the time you both made it all the way to Sun Beach!”
“And when we found them sleeping outside our treehouse,” Derek added. “They were eight and nine, respectively, wearing their shorts and explorer hats.”
“Those cute little binoculars.” Sofia giggled.
More than once, my brother and I had gotten ourselves lost in The Shade, for it was a giant place for children like us. It had once felt like the entire world to me. We’d never been unsafe or in any kind of danger, though. The people had always found us and brought us back home, to a trembling mother and a white-faced father. After a while, our parents had adjusted, learning not to panic anymore when they didn’t see us around the house.
“Mom had made a list of people to call in case they couldn’t find us,” I said.
Tristan smiled. “She had … what, two hundred names in there?”
I nodded proudly. “One time, she went through all of them before she found us.”
“You were devils. Absolute devils,” Nethissis replied, a grin stretching her lips. “I like you now, more than ever.”
“I’ll be honest. It’s their thirst for adventure that really sealed the deal for me regarding this mission,” Derek said, looking at us. “I know you’ll take it as a great challenge, given your expertise.”
“You’re both anthropologists, right?” Amal asked. “You study history, cultures, in general. Different civilizations.”
“Yes. Though to be honest we learned more from our travels than we did from our studies,” Tristan said.
“Being here is an honor,” I added, smiling at Derek and Sofia. “We’re both grateful to you. Extending this invitation was like making a wild dream come true. I’ve always wondered what else we’d find in the Earthly Dimension. I guess we’re getting our answers, soon enough.”
“I know your heritage plays a part in this as well,” Derek replied, sadness briefly shadowing his blue eyes. “Anna and Kyle were amazing people. I know she would’ve wanted to become a vampire as well, so she could enjoy you both for as long as she could.”
“Not to mention your cousins, your parents and uncles,” Sofia added. “They left a wonderful family behind.”
I sighed deeply, having wished for the same more than once while growing up. “I guess, in a way, we’re honoring them like this.”
“They’d be proud of you,” Derek replied.
All Tristan and I had to do was rise to the occasion. The challenge had been laid out before us. We were headed toward an unknown civilization, who had something we badly wanted. Like Derek had said, it put all of our skills into play, including diplomacy and resourcefulness. We just needed to gear up and give it our best.
Tristan
The voyage was extraordinary. The trips Esme and I had taken into the Supernatural Dimension and the In-Between had mostly been done through the portals or the interplanetary travel spell, so this was our first time literally out in space.
My blood rushed frantically as I soaked in every minute of the ride, trying to remember as much as I could from what I was seeing. I felt tiny. Like a minuscule blip in the universe.
The Earthly Dimension was truly astonishing, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the view through the windshield. Thousands of planets and stars lingered against the blackness. Comets and asteroids wandered across the empty space. I remembered photos I’d seen from interplanetary travels through the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension. I’d been dazed by the swirling streams of pink and orange stardust, the spectacular purple asteroid fields, the amber and yellow and bright orange planets that circled massive, reddish stars…
By comparison, the Earthly Dimension was less dazzling and sparkling, but it was gorgeous in its brutal simplicity. From where we were, it all looked suspended in the void of time and space—perfectly polished marbles with white streaks, revealing a multitude of muted greens and blues as they turned; twinkling stars that grew into blazing white suns as we approached them; asteroid clusters that were dark gray and lumpy, weird and dangerous and extraordinary at the same time.
No, this was truly a sight to behold.
These were planets hurled through space at ridiculous speeds, wandering comets with fiery green tails, stars imploding and collapsing in on themselves… black holes powering entire galaxies! The universe here was wild and untamed, subject to violence, clashes, and explosions the likes of which many people wouldn’t even see in their lifetimes.
Compared to the ethereal colors of Eritopia, for example, our Milky Way was savage. Like a lioness prowling in the darkness, roaring and slashing at everything within its reach. I was floored and speechless, having completely tuned out of the conversation. I didn’t even hear my sister calling out to me.
“Tristan. Tristan!”
Finally, I reacted, my head snapping back to her. “Yes. Sorry. This is all just… mesmerizing.”
“I know. You’re entranced.” She giggled. “We’re getting close.”
“Close to where?”
My mind was a hilarious blank. I’d basically forgotten where we were going. It made her laugh. “Trexus-2, nimrod. Look over there!”
She pointed at a solar system not far from our position. It had a big sun, perhaps larger than our own. Fifteen planets spun around it, small marbles in soft shades of gray, blue, and orange. It didn’t take long to identify the three we knew were inhabited.
The strange haze that had prevented us from getting more detailed views of the three Trexus planets was more visible, as well. It only spanned around them, without affecting the others in the system.
“That mist thing is weird,” I said. “What is that, exactly?”
“We were never able to figure it out from afar,” Derek replied. “Hopefully we’ll understand it better once we get there. It’s like a shapeless filter of sorts, blurring our telescope imagery.”
By now, our necks were stretching as we leaned closer to Derek and Sofia so we could get a better view. It looked so quiet. So peaceful. Filled with secrets waiting to be discovered. Threads to be pulled. Curtains to be drawn. My limbs tingled with excitement. If there was one thing my sister and I would never tire of, it was this feeling, right here—the thrill of discovery, the bewilderment, the thousands of questions that filled my head, beckoning me to answer each and every one of them, making sure I’d leave no stone unturned.
Esme and I looked at each other for a brief moment. As if reading each other’s minds, we both smiled. It wasn’t a grin. It was a hopeful, timid curve of the lips. It was a thought that we dared not put into words, for it might crumble and vanish before we could make it into a reality.
“That’s Trexus-1, closer to the sun,” Derek said, drawing our attention.
The three Trexus planets were right next to each other, easily within reach if there were methods of space flight readily available for their people. The one we’d called 1 was reddish in color, and it was the smallest. “It’s mostly deserts and rocks, isn’t it?” I asked, remembering some of the data we’d skimmed through from the telescopic observations. The haze wasn’t as obstructive from this distance, as opposed to what we’d seen through the telescopes.
