There is a thin line between imaginary and real. This thin line can be crossed very easily and has been many times in our past. It is constantly being cut by new technologies, and by other things. Humanity, with the power of sentience, is reaching further than they have ever imagined.
Some of the things that I will write are real, debatable methods among magicians, but real just the same. If you can decipher real from imaginary you may be one step closer to crossing that boundary yourself...

Still Yumi:

"What do you mean a different race? Aren't these people human?" I asked shocked.

"No, in fact, they are not." Professor Giis said. "They are a species that is known by the name Aricitic. Aricitics, as you know, are green dog like creatures with the ability to morph into anything that they have a sample from."

"What do you mean 'as I know'?" I asked shocked. "I haven't heard of Aricitics until now."

"What?" he asked apparently shocked. "But if you have met Gwydion... Oh, I get it, he wiped your memory. Now I see. That explains everything, the room, my having to lie about the room... It must be the 'living a normal life' thing again."

"What?" I asked bewildered by his randomness.

"Never mind, it isn't important. What we need to focus on right now is you, and your power. Gwydion, my... uh... 'brother', told me that you have a burning power that is just waiting to get out. You showed me some of it earlier, but he said that there is so much more. You even surprised him. Only a few people have done that in his many years..."

Suddenly I realized that as he spoke his physical features began to get younger. He was no longer the old man that he had once been, but was now an adult of about thirty six. His cloths had changed as well; rather than a white lab coat, he was wearing a long white robe. His hair had shortened a little and his beard was nearly gone.

"I have worked with many people of extraordinary power throughout my life, most of whom were Aricitic in origin, but I have worked with quite a few humans. All good things take time, Yumi; are you willing to take the time to learn?" he asked as a wind began to blow around us. "You can watch us a while before you make your decision. I brought along a few of my people because I had promised to train them before I was asked this favor, but I am still willing to work with you as well."

He then turned his focus to the other people, who, to my surprise, had changed and were no longer human in appearance. They were still humanoid, standing upright on two legs and holding out two arms, but they had become covered in green fur. Their ears hade moved up and folded back, and their noses and mouths had shifted down just a little. Really, they looked like a photo of a human had been lightly spliced with a photo of a dog, or more truthfully, a wolf.

As I watched them move around in their new forms I realized that this was still not their true form. They stumbled a little as they walked and didn't appear to fully know how to move all of their parts. They acted as though fingers were still new to them and I could see that they were use to having tails. It was strange, they had moved far more naturally as humans than they were now. I began to realize what Professor Giis was really teaching them, how to move in this body. Teaching them magic would most likely only come after they knew how to fully move. But, if he was to teach them how to move in the forms they were in, why had he not yet changed? He was still as human as I was.

"Professor Giis?" I asked as he paused in his instructions.

"Yes," he replied. "And, you can call me Gwyosis here. That is my nickname; where as my true name is Gwydion."

"Ok, Gwyosis, why are you still a human?" I asked.

"That is because I am no longer an Aricitic. I became fully human again many years ago and am no longer able to morph. I gave up my Aricitic form so that... well it is far to complicated for any of you to understand."

"Oh, well, then how can you teach them how to be something that you aren't?"

"That is because I was teaching Aricitics far before I actually became one myself. I was teaching them when even I was still learning magic myself. The humanoid form you see them in now is the easiest form for Aricitics to do human-like work, and because the beginning of magic is, for me at least, best taught when in human form, this makes it easiest. Also, if Aricitics are able to morph into a human form without human genetics then Aricitics will no longer have to rely on humans, and, for that at least, humans will be safe around them."

"Wait, safe? You mean..."

"Yes, normally it would be very dangerous for an Aricitic and a human to be in the same area, even the same world, universe, etc. but this is a special case. These fine young Aricitics are calm around humans, even though they do get nervous. (He paused and looked at the others.) They are still capable of being around you and not attack you. Besides they wouldn't do anything against me because I am..." he stopped.

"What? You're what?"

He kept his silence. I could tell that he didn't want to tell me something important. It was as though he were the god or ruler of them, or something like that. But that was silly, how could a human be a god or rule over something that was so dangerous against humans.

How indeed... He is our emperor. He is the emperor of half of all Aricitics. But he is not our god. That is his... brother... I heard Averais's voice in my head. I am telepathic, just like you are, but my ability is far more trained than yours is. We are all born with this ability, and that is why I knew Japanese so fluently.

"Whoa, I just heard you speak in my head." I said. "How did you do that?"

As a telepathic race we are able to not only read thoughts and feelings from others but we are also able to transmit them as well. If I choose I can let you sense everything that I do. She told me. This is one of the things that make our race so powerful.

"But to fully understand one's abilities, one must first understand one's self and the other way around. That is why we have this taught in our 'schools' where we normally live. Which, by the way, is where we are right now. Don't go wondering off, Yumi, I don't want you to be attacked." Gwyosis said.

"Ok. I don't think I would anyway... You are my only way home, I won't be leaving you any time soon." I said.

I found a rock and sat down. I decided that I would watch the others learn. It might be fun, and I knew that it would be entertaining. The creatures, Aricitics, were standing watching Gwyosis. He was talking to them making gestures around a glowing ball. Suddenly the ball shifted and changed color. The ball flew forward just a little and stretched out forming a square. Now each of the Aricitics looked at their own hands and small green balls were formed. They manipulated the balls as Gwyosis had instructed.

I looked around me, finding myself a little board, and saw that we were in a small clearing within really thick woods. The trees looked a little different than the trees on earth, but I wasn't sure what it was. The sky also looked different somehow. I began wondering where we were. Gwyosis had said that this was where they normally lived, did that mean that this was the Aricitic 'home world'? Was this somewhere in our galaxy or even universe?

Well, that wasn't really that important, I wouldn't be here for long. While I waited I decided to practice what I was here to learn. Since the others were doing things that I didn't even really know I decided to do a little independent study. I focused on a small rock that was lying on the ground in front of me. I tried to remember back to what I had done earlier; I remembered that I had focused on the shoe and thought of it moving up. Slowly I told the rock to move up; nothing happened. I tired again, lift up. I though at the rock. Still nothing happened.

"Need some help?" Gwyosis asked.

I jumped and turned around. He was standing behind me watching my attempts at making the rock move. "Um, yeah." I said.

"Good, then we can begin."

He took a few steps back and placed out his hand. As I watched, somewhat confused, I saw a small light appear within his hand in a ball shape. The ball began to lengthen and I realized that more lights were coming off of it. The other lights made a small cloud around the first.

"This is energy. Every living and nonliving thing has energy but how much and what kind depends on what the energy comes from. There are a few ways to begin using this, at least for humans, the first of which I will teach you."

I nodded and got ready to do what he said, not exactly sure what this had to do with levitating things.

"To begin with close your eyes and see a dark outline of yourself. Right around your heart will be a ball very much like this. That is, depending on who you are talking to, referred to as your center. Your center holds most of your energy, what is almost always used in magic. To access that energy see a small trail of it flow out from it into your arm. Pull the energy down your arm and into your hand; once there try and manipulate it into a ball."

As I did what he said I felt a tingling move down my arm. The tingling sensation continued into my hand and then just above my fingers. I opened my eyes and saw a faint glow just above my palm.

"Good, you will either feel a tingling, a change in temperature or a change in pressure. I believe you are feeling a tingling. Also, most people wouldn't be able to actually see much yet, but because you are naturally gifted you can see your energy already. We will begin manipulating the energy later, but for now I need to get you back. Your friends are a little worried about you."

"They are?" I asked. "How long have I been here?"

"Two hours." He responded. "And while you can call me Gwyosis here, don't while we are in school..."

I suddenly found myself back on the school grounds standing behind the others. They appeared to be looking for me. I walked closer to them and tapped Ulrich on the shoulder. He jumped and turned around; when he saw me it looked as though a weight had been lifted.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Taking my first lesson." I replied.

Ulrich and the gang question Yumi and they make a very interesting discovery. Yumi suddenly remembers something. She then leads the rest of the gang to where the factory used to be where they find Sissi waiting for them. Yumi nearly gets Ulrich killed, or does she? More truth will be reveled in A Factory of Discoveries.