A soft, almost harmonic breeze hit the group as they settled into the new dimension, completely alien to everything they had experienced before.
“What?” Anna thought.
Before them, a wide field of sunflowers stretched out under a beautiful sky, like a hot summer sky, while small hills rose in the distance.
“Don’t let your guard down.
Move,” Anna ordered.
After all, they couldn’t afford to relax in a dimension like this, especially since everything supposedly pointed to it being safe.
But if they knew one thing, it was that everything good usually turned bad once night fell.
“I don’t know why, but I feel calm in this dimension, like I could actually rest…” Zak commented.
Right after that, he ignored Anna and lay down on the ground, where for the first time his body relaxed among the sunflowers, even though the empty space where his arm should be, felt wrong.
He chose to ignore it so he could relax and not get interrupted by it.
The others, seeing that, hesitated for a moment.
But then Mike and Dave joined in to feel that same calm Zak had talked about.
Anna sighed, resigned, seeing that they didn’t seem to want to listen to her, even though she didn’t want to admit that she felt that same calm that made her happy and uneasy at the same time.
“I guess…
it’s fine,” she thought.
The group, lying in the field, was hit by the heat of the sun, which seemed to be embracing them after all the chaos they had to go through.
After all, Zak had managed to open for the first time a portal to a safe dimension, something that until now hadn’t happened quite right.
Finally, the group fell asleep…
*** A moment later, the first to get up was Zak, who now felt much better, although he didn’t understand why he hadn’t vomited blood or felt a sensation of pain upon arriving at this dimension, because every time he opened a portal it brought him horrible effects.
Even though the sky had already turned an orange tone, clearly announcing the sunset, Zak felt no fear at all, but fascination at seeing such a pure sunset.
In his world he would never have had the luxury of such a thing, because most descents happened at these hours, not to mention the strange effects it caused on climate change.
He turned his gaze to his sides, managing to see the guys sleeping, but Anna staring at him intently.
“What are you looking at?” Anna asked, defiant.
“Eh?” Zak was confused by Anna’s behavior, but he could notice how her voice lacked realism, as if she had said it just for fun, something strange especially given everything they were going through.
“Could it be some effect of the dimension?” he thought.
“Did I tell you that you were looking at me?” Anna replied, defiant again, although with a hint of amusement.
Clearly this girl was bored, although that doesn’t change the fact that her mind was probably suffering from all these trips.
But Zak sighed and decided to play along.
“Your breasts.” “Wait, why did I say that?” Zak questioned himself internally.
Zak was the type of person who, despite everything he had lived through and always walking around mentally down as if saying “kill me”, something he clearly didn’t want, tended to joke or blurt out less appropriate words at moments when he shouldn’t, earning himself the reputation of an idiot.
The response was short, but enough to cause Anna’s face to turn reddish with shame, like a tomato, and then get up abruptly.
Oh no…
*** Night had fallen, but the sunflowers illuminated the darkness with their beautiful phosphorescent petals, giving life to the beautiful night, while the moon rose in the sky.
It was comforting, in a style similar to something liminal, like those strange places people used to post on the internet without any context, just to leave with intrigue.
Mike and Dave sat up, letting out a yawn, satisfied as they observed the beautiful landscape before them.
“What a rest…,” Mike commented.
But right at that moment a sound similar to a stomach growl from Dave rang out.
“I’m hungry…” Dave added.
Mike shifted his gaze toward Zak sitting on the ground, observing the landscape, but with a large red mark all over his cheek, similar to a recent burn, while on the other side was Anna observing her sword closely, as if she were studying it, although without looking at Zak.
What had happened?
It didn’t matter.
Now the important thing was to move forward, and since they had fallen asleep, everything pointed to the others having been waiting for them to continue.
“Alright…
let’s go, guys,” Zak ordered.
The group advanced, still without a clear direction, because after all, what could they find in this dimension?
It would be good if they found some food or water, but that would be asking too much for a dimension with this kind of environment.
For some reason, Zak couldn’t stop rubbing his cheek, as if it hurt.
The group spent a good while walking straight through the area, but still finding nothing, only more and more sunflowers.
“Look!” he announced.
Everyone looked in the direction Zak had pointed, and it was that he had managed to find something.
As if it were fate, in the distance a large barn rose, something that excited and terrified them because who knew what they might find inside.
Immediately everyone went toward the barn with all the hope that there would be something good and not something bad; otherwise, they would have to run again.
Upon entering the barn they saw something that left them stunned.
They didn’t have anything bad in front of them, but neither anything normal, more so given how dimensions were.
Probably these same wouldn’t allow this kind of thing due to their hostility or history alien to theirs.
There were animals in each stall of the barn, from pigs, horses and chickens wandering everywhere, but what stood out most of all was a large cow in front of them, of a greenish color with brown spots that promised to devour them in one bite.
“Welcome, Travelers,” the cow commented.
Immediately, as soon as she spoke, the four turned pale, with eyes wide as saucers, while feeling a sense of calm despite the situation.
“Relax, Travelers, I know what you’ve been through, you’re exhausted, you can rest.” Once again the cow spoke.
Without a doubt this had abandoned all logic, though logic had already abandoned them since they began their interdimensional journey.
“Why is that cow talking?” Mike asked with a hint of unease.
“It’s not good to address people like that.
My name is Romina.” “Uh, a common name,” Zak thought, who for some reason, upon saying that, felt a shiver run down his spine.
“Common?
Ha, kids these days,” the cow replied.
Zak looked at her with disbelief, even more because the cow had shown she could read his mind.
Dave had simply already relaxed, but still without dropping his suspicious and alert expression in case it was necessary to run; he would be the first.
“Who are you and how do you know that about us?” Anna asked.
The great cow shifted her gaze toward the girl with antennae on her head.
“Anna.” The cow spoke using Anna’s name, something that left her stunned because she had never told her.
“Anna, you can be calm.
I know it’s strange, but you’ve already seen that I haven’t tried anything.
After all, this is one of the few stable dimensions that exists in the Allverse,” she replied.
“Allverse?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s why I’m asking you to rest.
This dimension was created for that after all, although almost no one ever gets here because it’s located in A1, a zone of dimensions far from the main ones…
It’s better to also be here,” the cow replied, a bit uncomfortable with the last part.
For some reason, Anna, no matter how much she wanted to distrust, felt a calm and sincerity from the cow that made her trust.
“You’re thirsty, I suppose?” the cow commented, pointing with her chin at a water tap on a wall.
Immediately everyone ran toward it to drink water desperately, pushing each other; after all, they hadn’t had anything for a long time.
The cow simply watched calmly and then settled down to rest.
*** After two days, the guys were taking advantage of the dimension to rest and recover all the energy they would need to keep going, and in the middle of it all, there they were outside the barn observing the beautiful night landscape.
Despite having been there a day, it had already become a habit to go out and see the night sky.
They knew this was their last night because after that they would have to keep moving.
“Hey, by the way Zak, how can you lift that heavy axe?
Doesn’t it weigh you down?” Mike questioned.
Zak sighed calmly before answering, while observing his missing arm: “Don’t you remember I mentioned that I practiced in my youth?
Well, not many years ago, soccer and baseball,” he replied.
“Oh, besides, does that mean…?” “Yes, I grab the axe by the neck.
Otherwise, if I did it by the handle like everyone does, I’d probably end up injuring my arm,” he added.
“Makes sense…” After that little conversation, they decided to go rest inside the barn along with the others, who were simply already recovering energy for the next day…