Your Dimension Or Mine?

by Cynthia Kimball

  So, do you mind if I ask some questions?

  What is tree skiffing? What are Dipthan Kivees, Orenean Brevs, and what is a corg?

  I’m sorry to hear your younger brother died in another dimension, but I must admit I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. And not just the dimensions, but the age thing. Humans live somewhere around 70 years. You have lived 10x that much. I cannot even fathom the things you have seen in your 745 years. Makes my 28 seem like nothing.

  Oh, and my mother isn’t dead. She left us ten years ago. I thought it was to tour the globe like I thought my grandmother was doing. Uhh, nope. Turns out my mother skipped to another dimension to live with the man who fathered me and both of my sisters. All I know about him is his name is Vane. And my grandmother? She looks 33 and is actually several centuries old.

  And now she tells me, I won’t age because I have now jumped dimensions a few times. Not voluntarily, but I guess it doesn’t matter.

  Ever feel as though life is going faster than you planned?

  So, what dimension are you from?

  Arwen

  She reread her note and it sounded convoluted and strange, but then that was how she felt. Given Abigail and Mayir’s instructions, she knew she couldn’t tell him where she was just in case Orion was able to intercept her communication. It made it hard to build anything, even a friendship, when you could not tell the entire truth.

  Chapter Eleven - So Much Worse Than Doomed

  “What do you know?” Mayir asked as she stood in front of him in his stone room.

  She glared at him. She had now been on Zeta for two weeks, and as far as she could tell, she had learned nothing. “What do I know? You send me out into that dirt on a daily basis, telling me to make grass appear, and yet you don’t tell me how to do it. I’m left out there with no instructions for a week before you bring me back. Why don’t you just tell me how to do it?” she asked desperately. Staring at dirt day-in, day-out was beginning to make her feel loopy.

  Sighing, he shook his head. “Do you remember what I told you about how magic is accomplished?”

  Barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes, she nodded. Just five days ago, he reprimanded her for doing it. Made her feel about two feet tall. “Yes. First imagine. Then you feel it. Then you understand. Then you let it go. I get the first two parts, but I don’t understand what I am supposed to understand.”

  Placing his hands together with each of his fingertips meeting while the palms stayed as far away as possible, he surveyed her. “I see,” he said simply, standing up. With a wave of his hand a table appeared to her right and she turned and looked at it, half expecting food as that was what usually appeared when she was frustrated. Instead, the table had a plate and a glass, but nothing was in or on them.

  “We do not do magic, Arwen. Ever. It is the universe and the energy that abounds that does it. All we are is a conduit. Come.” He walked over to the table and she followed. “What are you hungry for?”

  It sounded like a simple enough question, though she had come to understand there were no simple questions from him. Every question had a deeper meaning.

  “I don’t know any of the names of the food I’ve eaten here.”

  “Doesn’t matter. What are you in the mood for? Don’t tell me. Imagine it. Close your eyes and see the food in your head.”

  Closing her eyes, a vision of a piece of molten chocolate cake came to mind. In the center was gooey fudge that seeped out of the sides of the cake, and on top were swirls of rum icing. Her tongue slid along her lower lip just thinking about it, the way the chocolate slid across her tongue, bringing out all the wonderful flavors, and how the icing would stick to her top lip. She could practically smell it.

  “Who can give you what you desire?”

  “It comes from a restaurant just a few mi-”

  He interrupted her. “No. Do not think logically, Arwen. Magic is the antithesis of logic. Who can give you what you desire?”

  Frowning, she concentrated on the memory of the cake as it slid down her throat. Who could give it to her? Mayir seemed to think magic could, and he was able to make all sorts of strange things appear out of nowhere. “You can,” she responded.

  “True, but I do not know what it is that is giving you that look of pure pleasure. Only you know. So, again I ask, who can give you what you desire?”

  She knew what he was asking, and yet she wasn’t sure she could do it. “I know you are trying to get me to say I can, but I don’t know if I can.”

  “All right. Go through the steps in your mind again. Let your desire fill you with each step.”

  Taking a deep breath, she nodded and imagined the cake sitting on that white plate all gooey and delicious. Her logical mind wanted to rush through it, but she refused and just sat there until the only thing in her mind was the cake. Then she went on to the next step. Her hand tingled as she could feel herself picking up a fork, dipping it into the deep chocolaty goodness, and putting it in her mouth. The texture, taste, and scent hit her and she moaned. Knowing she needed to go even though she wanted to stay right there in that step, she moved on to Understanding.

  What was she to understand? That she was able to do magic, though that still seemed far-fetched. That magic was not logical and as such, maybe it couldn’t be pinned down. Her head cocked to the side as she considered that. Her mind wanted to pin it down, to discover each step perfectly so that it could be done the same way each time. But what if that was the wrong way to go about it? What if instead of knowing, it was in the unknowing where magic began? What if instead of knowing the steps, all she had to know was the end result? A soft gasp left her lips at the possibilities.

  “Good. Now, let it go, Arwen. Let go of the need to control. Let go of the desire to accomplish. Let go of your version of reality. Accept the universe and energy will make what you have decided upon appear. Just let it go.”

  Shivering, which surprised her, she forced herself to relax while mentally telling herself it was the end result that matters. How it gets there is not my job.

  A low chuckle rumbled in front of her. “Open your eyes, Arwen.”

  Blinking, she looked at him. He wore a smug expression, and when she raised an eyebrow, he nodded toward the plate. Her knees buckled as she turned her head, and what she saw sitting on that beautiful white plate was exactly what she had imagined. Even the fudge was dribbling out of a small hole on the side. “Wow.”

  “Eat. Ruminate. After you eat, go check your messages and then go to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day.” Without another word, he disappeared, or to be more exact she and the food disappeared and reappeared in her room.

  The cake was everything she remembered and imagined, and she took her time eating it and licking the plate clean. Thankfully, the glass kept filling with water because she was thirsty. She hoped he would send her back to the dirt the next day. She was ready to make the grass grow.

  As soon as there wasn’t even a scrap left on the plate, she turned to her laptop. It had now been a week since she wrote Terrian. Would he have responded? Or blown her off? She was sure there would be responses from Orion, but she had already decided to delete them without looking.

  There were, in fact, seven messages from AttractivelyAgile. One even had a paperclip. As her chest tightened and her ankle sizzled, she quickly deleted them all. She was happy she was learning, because she really needed to be able to fight off his control. Freaky, red-eyed, demon weirdo.

  The last message was from Terrian and with a little hope and excitement, she opened it.

  Arwen,

  First off, let me say I was pleased to receive your message. If I might ask, how did you join the Interdimensional Dating Service if you were unaware of different dimensions? I have turned the matter over to one of our security people to see if IDS has done something they shouldn’t. For it is against their charter to advertise in dimensions that are not advanced.

  It must have been a shock to learn about the polari
ty of time and space. It took me three centuries to finally understand it, and I grew up with it.

  Which dimension is your mother in? I was pleased she is still alive, especially as now you can get into contact with her much easier.

  As for the animals I mentioned, yes, you must have wondered if I was some deranged vrill trying to mess with you. I am unsure how to explain them as I do not know what animals in your dimension look like. I have attached a couple of images of two of my favorite corgs, so you can see what Dipthan Kivees are. There are several different breeds of corgs. Dips, as we call them, are just one.

  As for tree skiffing, we have a motorized board we use to jump along the tops of the trees. It is exceptionally exciting to do it on top of a mountain, to feel all that fresh air while knowing if you slip it is a long way down. Considering how my brother’s wives feel about it, I can assume you are grimacing right now. I assure you, it is fun.

  I would love to hear more about Earth and what you enjoy doing when you are not in the library. Do you have a job? Travel? What are your favorite foods?

  As I mentioned before, I am usually too busy to do something fun, but one of the things I do enjoy is riding. I have attached an image of Abriethon, my mount. I got him fifty-seven years ago. He has a good twelve to fifteen left in him. Once a week, I take him out of our hamlet and ride. It is very freeing. Do you have a similar animal there?

  Well, I will leave you be for now. Thank you so much for writing and explaining what was going on. I appreciate your honesty.

  Until your next letter,

  Terrian

  Grinning like a stupid little girl with her first crush, Ari read the message three times before responding. Bringing up the attached photos, she relaxed. Corgs were dogs. His kind of looked like a Doberman pinscher/poodle cross. Abriethon looked similar to a horse, well a caricature of a horse anyway, with his large haunches and thin legs.

  As she replied, she told him as much as she felt she could, which wasn’t much, about her current situation. She did fill him in on what was wonderful about Tucson, Arizona, from the dust storms and the monsoons to the cactus, the mountains, and the wonderful dry heat. By the end of her message, she had described all about her best friend’s warty pig obsession, her love of running in the park, and about her sisters and her nieces and nephews. In the end, she left him with the truth.

  It is great to converse with someone who understands about the dimensions. There is still so much for me to learn and I feel like I am running out of time. I am only allowed on the internet every once in a while as someone found me on IDS, and he is not a good individual. I hope, once this is all over, I can get to know you more.

  To happier days,

  Arwen

  The next four days were brutal. Mayir did not send her out to make grass. “You have learned that lesson. Now you must use what you have learned to defend yourself.” The term defend was confusing until he had one of the sullen-faced guards come in. Her first thought was she would need to learn to defend herself physically and she was doomed. But as the guard turned to look at her, she felt a great whoosh of energy hit her chest, and she fell backward, stopping an inch from the floor.

  She had to learn to defend herself against magic. So much worse than doomed.

  Every day, she was attacked magically with no way to defend herself. Tossed around the room like a rubber ball, the only good thing was that Mayir did not allow her to be harmed. When magic would thrust her into a wall, she would stop an inch or two from it.

  So although she had no concussions at least, her entire body ached from the force of the magic used against her.

  “Defend yourself,” one of his goons said walking up to her at the end of the fifth day. She was exhausted, angry, and just wanted them all to go away. Since the chocolate cake incident, she had magicked all her food and had become quite adept at it. Her clothing, however still wasn’t up to par. Ignoring that, she quickly went through the steps.

  Imagine: She saw the goon as a fly and in her hand was a fly swatter.

  Feel: She felt the joy as her hand swung the swatter and squished him against the wall.

  Understand: She knew that the end result, squashed fly, was all that mattered, the rest was up to the universe.

  Let it go: Mentally, she let control go and thanked the universe for making the end result happen.

  And then she opened her eyes.

  His brown eyes stared into hers with an amused expression. Looking at her hand, she was embarrassed to see it holding a fly swatter and it was resting against the back of his head.

  “You thought you could hit me with that? What is it supposed to do?” he asked before bursting into laughter. Mayir’s laughter joined his and before long, several other goons walked in and burst out laughing as well.

  Embarrassed, she ran through the steps in her head and quickly appeared in her bedroom, sans laughing men. Since it wasn’t dinner time yet, and she had some time to kill because she wasn’t about to embarrass herself again, she turned on her laptop.

  “You may hide for the rest of the day. Tomorrow you will learn how to defend yourself.”

  Muttering under her breath about obnoxious know-it-alls, she turned a little pink when his rumbling laughter filled her head.

  She would seriously let Abigail have it the next time she saw her for sticking Ari with Mayir. It seemed to her he enjoyed torturing her over and over again before finally teaching her what she needed to know.

  Pulling up her email, she waited as seven messages downloaded, surprised when the screen blipped three times like it had back on earth.

  “Mayir?” she called.

  “Yes?”

  “My computer blipped like it did back on earth. Should I be worried?” Like about Orion finding me, she thought, staring at the IDS folder.

  “Even if he found you here, he couldn’t do anything about it. Delete his emails and move on to the one you want to read.” The amusement in his voice just made her more annoyed. How did he know she was looking forward to Terrian’s email? “And by the way, Arwen, Terrian of the Delania Dimension is a great catch. Females throughout the dimensions have been trying to catch him for centuries. Well done.”

  “Wait…but…” she spluttered, embarrassed. “I haven’t caught him. We’re just talking.”

  “Of course you are. Say yes to what he asks.”

  Shaking her head and electing to not say anything else—he would probably just tease her more—she quickly deleted Orion’s messages, once again hit with pain in her chest as she did so. Rubbing it, she opened Terrian’s message.

  Arwen,

  It sounds like you are under a tremendous amount of stress right now. Finding out you are not from your own planet, that other dimensions exist, and that someone from a different dimension is after you. That is a century worth of stress, or at least it sounds that way to me.

  Can you give me the name, or at least the username, of the individual who is after you? My security force is in contact with IDS and have complete freedom to jump to any dimension they want to, though not the realms, unfortunately. They are too dangerous for even our security forces to enter.

  I do wish to help you, if you would let me,

  Terrian

  As her ankle tingled and a nice warm feeling seemed to invade her, completely dissolving the tightness in her chest, Ari sat back. He sounded so wonderful, but then again, she hadn’t met him yet. “You know Terrian?” she asked.

  “I met him once and know his parents quite well.” His voice from directly behind her no longer startled her. She was too used to him popping up unexpectedly.

  “He is asking for Orion’s name. Says he wants to help. But Orion is from one of the realms, so I doubt it would make a difference.”

  “It would make a great difference,” he disagreed. “Arwen, what have you learned about magic so far?” Instead of commanding, for the first time he actually sounded interested in her answer. As such, she wasn’t as flippant as she would normally be.<
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  “It’s there and I can’t control the magic itself. Just the end result. And even that I can’t control against a more formidable opponent,” she sighed, thinking of the fly swatter incident as she turned in her chair to face him.

  “Do you know why you have been unable to fight my guards?”

  “Because they have been doing this longer than I have and are better at it.”

  Smiling, he shook his head. “Not really. The reason you have been unable to succeed is because you try and strike before protecting yourself.” Confused, she cocked her head. “Arwen, when you first entered my stronghold, what was your reaction to my guards?”

  Taking a deep breath, she thought back to that day. “I wondered why people who could fight with magic needed weapons.”

  He nodded. “Have you come to any conclusions?”

  Frowning, she thought about it. “Because their magic could blow everything up within a hundred miles?” At nights she had thought about it, imagining the damage two magical individuals could do to one another.

  “Well, they could do that, true, but the answer is so simple, you are overlooking it. Remember, Arwen, magic is simple. Why would magical beings need weapons?”

  Frowning, she imagined two of his guards doing battle. Each one’s magic would bounce off the other’s, neither one making headway. Slowly she sat up straight, looking him in the eye, “Because they can protect themselves against the other’s magic.”

  “Exactly! When someone has practiced magic for a long time, it takes less energy than it does now. Once they get to that point, they can protect themselves magically from any but the most powerful magical beings. Which is why Grear was amused when you tried to hit him. I have the feeling your magic was supposed to be more than that flimsy object. What was missing?”

  Grimacing, she explained.

  His eyes twinkled. “If he wasn’t protected, he would have been dead, because the power emitting from you was intense. I actually strengthened his protection a bit with mine to make sure you did not do something you would have regretted and not understood.”