The Portal That Started It All

As we stepped through the door, I found myself greeted by a wave of thick miasma radiating from a portal so big it might as well have been as large as my apartment building.

"What… the hell…" I muttered with disbelief and shock being the only things running through my body.

The power of this portal was near unbelievable, and the closer I got to it, the more I felt it call out to me.

"This is the same portal we had been dropped in…" Albus muttered, staring up at the swirling mass of purple energy.

He dropped that bombshell of information like it was nothing, causing me to freeze as I began to process just what he had said.

"You better not be lying to me… because if you truly did find a portal to that realm, then… I'm gonna check it out," I muttered, but the man gently placed his hand in front of me, blocking me from going any further.

"Not only is getting in the same way, but also getting out. So, I want you to really consider if that is a good idea," He explained with cold eyes.

"Tch…"

I clicked my tongue before turning around, but just as I was about to walk back towards the elevator, I heard the portal groan ever so slightly.

"This is the only way to regain my full power. If I don't do this now, I won't be able to defend myself in this world,"

The portal groaned yet again, whipping out a solid piece of swirling purple mass that created sparks upon slapping across the ground.

"Seriously…? Whatever, do what you want. I can't hold you back anyway now that you know the password to get down here… but I must inform you of something about the portal. The inside is not the same as before. It's become modernized with buildings, towns, and even god-like beings. You can call it an almost entirely new world," Albus announced, the portal behind him shimmering like a glowing purple sun.

The swirling pattern and pieces of this mystical force groaned and turned as if wanting me to step through it quickly.

"So, are you sure? It will be foreign… it's not a jungle with angels…." He muttered, but upon seeing my eyes that were more focused on the portal behind him, he let out a long sigh and then slowly shook his head from side to side.

He walked to a desk not too far from the portal and picked up what seemed to be a mirror with a gray stone brick frame, similar to the portal in front of me.

"What is that?" I asked, my eyes finally roaming from the portal.

"Oh, and now you look at me…." The man rolled his eyes before chucking the mirror at me, just barely giving me enough time to catch it.

"Use that to return here,"

"I thought I had to use the original method to get back?" I lightly smirked at the man, who just rolled his eyes yet again.

"That was to scare you… of course, I came up with something to help you return. Help us or somebody else to return. But, one charge is filled up with aether, so you'll need to visit a fountain or something to upon using it once,"

"Do you have one?"

"Does it look like I have one?" He gave me a deadly serious expression, but it seemed my attempt at trying to joke around didn't really get through to him.

"Alright, I understand. No need to be so serious," I lightly chuckled, and upon taking another glance up at the gargantuan portal, I gulped down a drop of saliva.

"Let me ask you again… are you sure you want this? The angels are there… and he, of course, will be waiting upon feeling your presence,"

"That's good. I want to meet up with him again to potentially rewire our previous contract. It's a bit outdated, and if I had to be honest, I don't really need it as of now,"

"*sigh*... Geez, you're really something," He smiled before walking up to me and patting me on the back, gesturing for me to follow him. "I won't let you leave so fast without a parting gift of some sort… also, we should tell Silas and your little kitty,"

"He's gonna make me stay; I hope you know that,"

"I'm well aware," Albus smiled.

Soon, we reached the very top floor of the sky-scraping building, where I encountered Silas, who glared at Albus with an intense gaze.

Faye on the other hand, peaked out from behind him to take a look at me and noticed the mirror in my hand but didn't dare to speak up as the two men clashed with deadly and absolutely piercing auras.

The building around us began to rumble, and the windows began to shake, nearly shattering as the two stepped closer and closer to each other.

"You took her there, didn't you?"

"And guess what? She wants to return. So, what are you gonna do about it? Huh?" Albus smirked, and the opposing man's gaze sharpened in tandem with his eyebrows.

"For what reason?" Silas turned to me.

"Because it's a good chance to regain my original power. Plus, I'd argue it's safer than this hell hole of a world…."

"Nah, you're not going. The mirror isn't all-powerful. It can get stolen, shattered, broken, or sacrificed by a foreign being. The amount of magic power this thing holds is the equivalent of an atomic magi bomb. You can flatten an entire city with the power held in that thing… or somebody else can if it's placed in the wrong hands,"

"Of course, I'm gonna take care of it," I snarled back, and as his glare was directed towards me, I stared back, calmly with a bit of boldness to it.

"Tsk… then you're taking this tag along with you. I'm not feeding your cat for you… take her with you," Silas responded before picking up Faye by the back of her shirt and placing her in front of me.

She meekly smiled, knowing I would disapprove, especially with the glare now almost piercing through her.