Chapter 2

First Contact

"King. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Eda asked bewildered.

"I hope not. Could we both be hallucinating the same thing?" King responded, keeping his eyes glued to the sight before him.

Hovering several miles above the forest they were in, they stared mystified at the massive titan standing before them. Unlike the titan they were from, this one was standing upright, though it was just as motionless. The giant titan was covered in greens, miles and miles of large grasslands and forests across its body. Looking back down at the forest they came from, they could see that the entire thing was situated at the back of the great titan's neck. Further down the titan's body, an enormous sword was embedded deep into the titan's gut. Said sword was wielded by the other unbelievable sight before them.

Across the horizon, almost completely obstructed by clouds, they could barely make out the distinct outline of a second titan several hundred miles away. Even from such a massive distance away, it was just as large and intimidating as the first one. Multiple glowing red eyes pierced brightly through the thick clouds, sending shivers down Eda's spine. Was that thing still alive?

"We need to get back to the girls. Now!" As fast as her palisman could take her, Eda and King took off back towards the forest floor.

Before she had even returned to the portal door, Eda could feel that something bad had already happened. The feeling itself wasn't even surprising. Of course Luz would somehow find a way to get herself into trouble in the 10 or so minutes that Eda was gone. That didn't make her any less concerned when she returned to the door with Luz and Boots no where in sight. Sharing a worried look with King, the two took off to the skies again hoping to spot the teenagers somewhere close. Eda's concern was nearing a full-on panic when she spotted Boots, alone, her face buried in her hands, kneeling next to a steep cliff.

"Oh no." Landing next to her Eda nervously asked, "Boots… what happened?"

Eda felt her heart drop as Amity faced her, twin streams of tears falling freely from her bloodshot eyes.

"Luz… she… these things showed up and started chasing us." Amity gestured weakly to the reptilian monster that Eda just noticed laying motionless not far from them. "They cornered us here. Luz tricked one of them to fall off the ledge, but the other one went after her and then she… she…" Amity could only gesture towards the ledge before breaking down in a pained wail.

"Wha- no. You're lying!" King exclaimed, but the pained tears roaming down his face betrayed his true thoughts. His breathing started to quicken at a rapid pace, nearly hyperventilating at the news.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Boots kept repeating through pained breaths as King's cries steadily grew louder.

Eda's blood ran cold. Her arms shook at she kept her eyes trained at the cliffs edge, as if she could just will Luz to raise back up from below. Owlbert exited his staff form to rest on her shoulder, her trusty familiar attempting to calm her down, but none of his attempts did anything to help Eda out of her shock.

This couldn't be happening. Her Luz couldn't be gone so suddenly like this. She was suppose to be home today, back with her real mother. How's she ever going to explain this to her mom? She couldn't believe this. She wouldn't believe this. Not without some form of proof first. Looking back down at the distressed kids before her, she knew that it was up to her to keep hope alive.

"Boots…" Eda crouched down before the young girl, only to see her curl further into her own misery.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't fast enough. I couldn't do anything."

"Amity!" Eda gently pulled her hands down, forcing her to look up at the older woman. "Don't give up yet. Luz has survived crazier stuff before. We're going to find her and bring her home. I'm going to fly down the river and search for her. You go grab Ghost and come join me. King, you go with her. When you're back we'll split up and look everywhere we can until we find her. Understood?"

Both kids nodded, and Eda could see the slightest bit of hope returning to them.

"Good." Eda helped the girl back to her feet before lifting King up and placing him in Amity's arms. "Now hurry up then. I'll be at the mouth of the river. Meet me there as soon as you can."

"Okay." Amity gave a determined nod as King wiped the last of his tears. Together they took off back towards the portal door. Eda grabbed hold of Owlbert as he returned into his staff form. She took only a moment's pause to wipe her eyes of a few stray tears before she flew off to the river below.

'Luz. Please be okay.'

Floating. That was the first sensation that Luz felt as her consciousness slowly returned to her. She had no idea how long she was out, but she presumed that it couldn't have been long if she was still floating in the river. Though it was odd that she didn't feel wet or cold.

Next, the ringing in her ears finally subsided, though she felt concerned that she couldn't hear any sounds from her surroundings. Just how badly was she hurt? It must have been bad considering the height she fell from, though strangely she was not in any pain.

Finally, her vision came back to her as heavy eyes finally opened up, slowly at first, but then completely wide-eyed when she saw just where she was.

Space. Luz found herself adrift in the middle of a vast empty void, hundreds of bright stars scattered in the distance being the only things to break up the blackness of space. Her only light source came from the shining sun in the distance, though it was much farther away than it would've been back on Earth or the Boiling Isles. Not too far away, she noticed several small asteroids floating near her as well. Instinctively, Luz took in a deep breath, and she was relieved that she still had air to breathe.

"Where am I? Did I die? And why is that always my first assumption!"

"Hmmm?"

Luz was taken aback by the new voice that echoed throughout the cosmos. "Hello? Mysterious voice? Is that you?" She asked, remembering the voice that spoke to her during her time in the in-between realm. Is that voice talking to her again?

"You… are not supposed to be here. Your arrival was not foretold." Whoever this voice was, it definitely wasn't the same one that had talked to Luz before. It sounded much more like a regular person's voice, albeit quite monotone, unlike the menacing sounding voice from the in-between realm.

She tried looking around her surroundings for the source of the voice, but despite her best effort she could not figure out where it was coming from. The echoes of the voice made it seem like it was coming from all directions.

"Oh. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to get home, and I somehow ended up in a forest, and then I fell down a cliff, and now I'm here. Where is 'here' anyway?"

There was a moment's delay before the voice responded. "That is not important at the moment. Regardless, your very existence here has already disrupted the chain of events that were already destined to transpire. The law of causality that was carefully planned out by a higher power, has already been broken."

Geez. That sounded like a lot of blame to be putting on someone who just stepped through a door and fell off a cliff? Also, a higher power? Does he mean, like, God? Luz wasn't the most religious person ever, though she figures that if demons are real, then anything is possible at this point.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Is… is that bad?"

"Hmmm… I suppose that remains to be seen."

A blinding white light suddenly burst from the distance to Luz's left. Looking to its source, she could vaguely make out the outline of a man standing at its center. His white hair and pants were quickly lost into the bright light behind him, leaving only his dark skin, blue jacket, and bright red crystal on his chest as the only details that Luz could make out.

"I look forward to see how these new events play out." As soon as the echoes of his voice faded, the white light exploded out, quickly overtaking everything around her. Shielding her eyes, Luz could feel the warm glow of the light engulf her until her consciousness faded once again.

The next time Luz woke up, she felt about how she expected to feel when she woke the first time. Pain. Aching muscles screamed throughout her whole body, and an immense headache was stopping her from focusing on anything else. It took several minutes before the pain died down enough to get a good look at where she currently was.

Luz found herself in a small, nearly all-white room that looked very much like a hospital room. Looking down, she saw that she was covered in bandages and currently laying on a comfy bed. Thank goodness. It seemed like someone was able to save her. Now the question was who? Was it Eda? Are Amity and King nearby too?

A large window was directly to her left that she was able to look out of even from her bed. She was clearly on a very high floor in some building or skyscraper. A large sea stretched out far below her window, and scattered throughout the sea there appeared to be several islands that were just floating in midair.

So 100% she was in another world then. Though she probably already figured that when the elemental dinosaurs started popping up.

She tried to move again, hoping to get up out of bed and get some answers, but all attempts just lead to new waves of agony getting sent throughout her body.

"Please, try not to move so much. You're in no condition to get up."

In her pain, Luz didn't even notice the new person who'd entered the room until he had spoken up. He wore white long flowing robes and held in his hands a data pad of some sort. He had short, straight silver hair but for the most part he had the appearance of a regular human. No spiky elf ears like in the Boiling Isles. Except for one big difference: the large pair of wings connected to the back of the man's head that trailed down all the way to his lower back.

Luz would be more excited about meeting a new type of fantasy race if she wasn't hurt all over.

"Hello miss. I'm Doctor Saelin. You're in a hospital in the city of Alcamoth. Can you tell me your name?"

Luz's throat felt sore at first and it took a few moments to adjust before finally answering.

"I… I'm, Luz… Luz Noceda."

"Well Luz, you took quite the fall back there. Am I right to assume you fell from the cliff overlooking the Great Makna Falls?"

Luz nodded at his question. She didn't actually know if that was true or not, having no knowledge of any landmarks here, but she thought it best not to get into that right now.

"I thought so. It would have been a massive drop for you to be so injured even with that Fall Defense Gem on you." Saelin gestured to the side table to Luz's right which held both her phone and the green gemstone she'd picked up from that wasp-dragonfly earlier. She figured that her glyphs weren't able to make it out unscathed. A Fall Defense Gem? So some sort of magic charm that protects you from falling? Well, to an extent as her injuries prove.

Luz wondered if there were magic charms like that in the Boiling Isles. It'd certainly be helpful with how often she finds herself falling down from places. Definitely something she needs to ask Eda when she next sees her. Speaking of which…

"Where are my friends? Did they save me? Are they here?" Luz asked.

"Hmm?" Saelin shook his head. "Sorry, you were found floating down the river by two guardsmen that were out on patrol. They say you were alone at the time. It seems like your communication device is still functional, though I've admittedly never seen one like that before. Would you be able to contact them with it."

"No I can't make calls with that. The actual communication part of it doesn't work." She said. It technically wasn't a lie. She just left out the reason for why it can't make calls. Of course, that will make finding Eda, King, and Amity significantly harder.

At least the good news is that the enchanted phone case Eda made for her seems to work. There's no way that a normal phone would have survived what it went through without it.

"Well, where are you from exactly? It's pretty rare to see a Homs around these parts. Are you here visiting?"

"Oh… um yes, I'm visiting. From… the forest?" Luz answered hesitantly. A Homs? Is that their word for human?

"There are Homs living in Makna Forest? I've never heard of such a settlement. Could you tell me where exactly?"

Luz didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if being honest about her being from another world would be a good idea. Everyone in the Boiling Isles seemed to at least be aware of the human realm before she first showed up, but would the same be true here? How would these people react to that information? She imagined how the general public would react to the existence of other worlds back on Earth and shuddered at the thought. This is what lead to her decision on what to do: just wing it.

"Oh, we live just outside the Makna Forest. Near the Makna Hills. Lil' Makna Village we call it… and…" Luz trailed off from seeing the unconvinced look on the doctor's face.

"… Luz, are you suffering from memory issues? Do you remember anything else about yourself?"

"What? Of course. I'm fine." Thinking her response over more Luz quickly added, "though, maybe I could use a refresher. Do you have a map I can look at?"

"Hmm, yes that might be helpful. Just give me a moment. I'll be right back," Saelin answered as he headed towards the door.

"Wait, doctor. One more question." She said before he could step out of the door. "Was there someone else in here earlier? Who was talking to me while I was out?"

The dumbfounded look that the doctor was giving her made her blush in embarrassment. The extra long pause before answering her didn't help either. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? I could order a head scan for you to be safe."

Luz had to resist the urge to facepalm at full force. "No. It's okay. Just forget what I said."

"Alright then. I'll go grab those maps for you then." Saelin said before finally walking out of the room.

Luz let out an annoyed groan directed at herself. She knew talking about that weird dream of hers would make her sound crazy. And why did she think she could ever lie her way out of explaining where she was from. She already sucks at lying normally. The doctor definitely finds her suspicious now. Right now she should just focus on studying those maps to find out more information about the area. Hopefully she could find a way to get some sort of messenger out to the forest to find Eda, King, and Amity. The sooner they find each other, the better.

Minutes later, the door opened up again, though instead of Saelin, a woman entered. She had the same bird like wings as Saelin and even had silver hair like his, though hers was much longer and tied into a bun. In her hand she held a data pad just like the doctor's and she was looking at it with worry.

"Doctor Saelin. I think you need to see this- aah!" She jumped back at seeing Luz wide awake, though she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, sorry. I didn't expect you to be awake. Was Doctor Saelin here?"

"You just missed him, but he'll be right back." Luz noticed the woman was avoiding eye contact while also fidgeting with her data pad. Why would she be so nervous about Luz? The doctor didn't act like that at all.

Before either could say anything else, Doctor Saelin entered the room again carrying several wide pieces of paper.

"Alright Luz. I went ahead and ordered that cranial scan anyway. Better safe than sorry I say. I've got a few maps of the surrounding areas as well as a full map of the- oh, Nurse Del'Enore? Is there something you needed from me?" Saelin asked as he set the maps next to Luz.

"Doctor, there's something here you need to see." Del'Enore gestured him to come to her as they both faced away from Luz.

Luz found that as the perfect opportunity to examine the maps in detail while they were busy. Looking at the first map though, she was confused to see the outline of what looked to be some armored warrior. The top of the page read Map of the Bionis. Several lines were drawn on the map, pointing to different parts of the warrior's body. Each line had a bit a text and a picture that seemed to depict different locations that apparently existed on the warrior's body. Could this be…

Luz's suspicions were confirmed as she looked at the lines pointing towards the top of the warrior's body, her eyes widened in shock. On the warrior's neck was a picture of the woods she was in earlier with the words 'Makna Forest' written out, and right on top of the warrior's head, the line showed a massive floating city with the words 'Alcamoth' next to it.

"I'M ON ANOTHER TITAN!?" Luz yelled. The other occupants in the room turned to her outburst, as she covered her mouth with her hands, realizing too late her mistake.

"I mean… what other titan? There's only one titan that I know of. The, um-" Luz quickly took another look at the map. "Bionis. Yup the one an only. Haha." She chuckled humorlessly.

Doctor Saelin walked up to her side and asked, "Luz. Where exactly are you from again?"

Luz looked at the data pad the doctor was holding up to her and her stomach dropped at the words displayed at the top.

Preliminary blood work analysis complete.

A/N: I spent probably way too long trying to think of names that sound "High Entia"-like. Do you think I succeeded. Would you find names like "Saelin" or "Del'Enore" out of place as random NPCs in Alcamoth?