Athissa stared at the letter and read it a couple more times.
“But my mother is alive… but why is my name here?” She whispered.
Athissa couldn’t think of a possibility that she had a ‘dead’ mother.
“I mean, I know my mother isn’t that nice to me and favoured my other siblings, but if it’s true that I have a different birth mother… Then it explains why she’s mean to me,” she muttered, recalling her past relationship with the mother she grew up with.
“But wait.
This might just be a coincidence that we share the same name.”
Athissa was a bit in denial, but instead of overthinking it.
She decided to test the ring first.
“There’s no point in having an existential crisis right now when I don’t even understand what is happening!”
Athissa nodded seriously as she set up her priorities.
She looked at the endless white space and wondered how to make use of it, since it recognized her as its owner.
“First, I have a magic ring.”
She raised one finger.
“Second, I might ‘possibly’ have a dead biological mother.”
Another finger.
“Third, this letter warned me specifically, telling me not to trust men.”
Athissa paused.
She couldn’t help but chuckle.
“… Honestly, however you are, I already like you.”
The white space remained silent.
“So, how exactly does this work?”
As if responding to her question, another voice echoed inside her mind.
[ Spatial storage available.
]
Athissa nearly jumped.
“AH!”
She clutched her chest.
“Oh my god!
Can you please stop doing that?
I’ll die of a heart attack!”
[ Please place an object inside the spatial storage.
]
Athissa stared into the empty space with brows furrowed in confusion.
“…Place an object where?”
Silence.
“Wow, very helpful.”
Athissa frowned and folded her arms.
She stared around for a while and decided to stroll around.
The more she looked at the white void, the more she noticed something unusual.
Even though Athissa’s eyes nearly went blind from the brightness.
She noticed that some of the space was blurry, as if it was covering something.
“Huh?
What is this?” Athissa muttered as she moved closer to a spot where the light was slightly displaced.
She reached out to touch it when the voice rang again.
[ Locked: Wait for further notice.
]
Athissa’s eyes widened.
“So there are items inside!” She exclaimed with excitement.
“I can still access them in the future anyway.”
Athissa looked at the ring on her finger.
A smile formed on her lips as it gave her something to look forward to.
“Well, I think I get it now, but how can I enter or leave this place?
Don’t tell me I’m stuck here forever.”
[ To leave: wave; To enter: touch; To store: spatial storage ]
Athissa’s brow rose in understanding.
Then she waved her hand; immediately, she was sent back to her room as if nothing had happened.
“Whoa!
That’s so amazing!” Athissa exclaimed with excitement.
“I want to try again.”
Athissa touched the ring’s stone, and she instantly went back inside the space.
Then she waved and got sent outside.
“Okay, I think I already got that part.
Now, to store items.
The voice said… ugh, spatial storage.
What does that even mean?”
Athissa looked around, and her eyes landed on the chair.
She walked towards it and placed her hand on the wooden chair.
“Store.”
Nothing happened.
She frowned.
“Put away?”
Nothing.
“Disappear?”
Nothing.
“Go inside the magical space?”
Still nothing.
Athissa narrowed her eyes.
“That voice said spatial storage—”
Before Athissa could finish her words.
The chair disappeared.
Athissa froze, and her eyes widened.
“…Oh!”
Then she immediately touched her ring and teleported into the space.
There it was.
The chair.
“Oh my!” Athissa gasped.
She touched the chair to see if it was real.
“This chair is really here, but how can I take it out?”
Athissa rubbed her head.
“Umm, out?”
Nothing.
Then, an idea popped into her head.
“Spacial retrieve.”
Then the chair disappeared.
Athissa waved her hand as she went back into her room, and right there, the chair stood still.
She began to laugh wholeheartedly.
“Mary is never going to believe this!”
The moment she said that, Athissa stopped.
Her smile slowly disappeared.
She remembered the letter.
“Yeah, I should not reveal this magic.
It’s too dangerous.”
Athissa sat in her bed, staring into space.
She took a deep breath as she cleared her mind.
“It’s too overwhelming.”
Athissa played with the ring for a few seconds before she thought of trying the ring’s magic on her baggage.
She stood up and wrapped a blanket around her body.
Athissa slowly crept outside, making sure that she made no sound.
Then tiptoed until she reached the first floor.
The front desk looked at her with a questioning look.
“I need to check my trucks for something,” Athissa said, forcing a smile.
The front desk nodded and got back to biting her nails.
Athissa walked outside, and the cold wind hit her instantly.
She shivered but continued walking until she reached the private shed.
The shed was stacked with carts containing trucks and boxes from other customers.
“Okay, room five,” Athissa whispered while looking at the numbers above until she reached the room.
Athissa unlocked the door and went inside carefully.
She was about to light the candle nearby, but stopped herself.
“Ah, someone might see me here if there’s light,” Athissa whispered.
She rubbed her chin, wondering whether to put her trunks and boxes in her space or her items instead.
“Hmm, if I put my trunks… then they will notice that our baggage became less.
It might cause an issue, but it won’t be if the items were teleported instead.”
Athissa began opening her trunks and boxes.
She placed her hand on the items and said.
“Spatial storage.”
All the items in that trunk disappeared.
“…That was surprisingly easy.”
Athissa looked down at the empty space where her medical books had been.
Then she touched the ring as the familiar white light swallowed her vision.
The next moment, Athissa was standing inside the endless space.
Her books were lined up neatly on the side.
“This is good.
I should do this to all my things and money, especially my precious gold coins!”
Dear readers, it’s time to connect the dots.
Some of you already know.
Some of you have theories.
And some of you are confidently wrong.
I love all of you equally.