Chapter 1 – Experimenting with the Unknown
They say curiosity killed the cat, but alchemy is filled with nothing but curious cats who try to learn more about the world we live in. Joanna’s parents love experimenting with the many things they can find in the world and are well-known alchemists. Today, her parents are leaving for a few hours to present their latest findings to the Church. They remind Joanna not to mess with their tools and she promises them that she won’t with a reassuring smile. After their carriage leaves, Joanna immediately goes to the labs to snoop around. She finds their book open to a certain page with certain symbols that appear to be demonic alongside alchemy symbols. A lot of what’s on the page is out on the tables with the marks that show what they are. The picture in the page looks like different worlds and the text in it suggests that putting together these chemicals and saying what’s in the book will lead you to these worlds.
Since Joanna’s parents have never created anything dangerous, she decides to do what it says in the book to see what they’re talking about. Once she completes the formula and says the ritual, she is sucked into the mixture. Her body changes as she falls through a twister-like hole starting with her skin turning completely white. Her torso, arms, and legs are separated in half and her dress changes into a shorter version of itself. A purple choker appears on her neck to match her new dress. A blue diamond takes the place of her right eye though she can still see through it. Her left eye is pink with a lighter pink iris.
Once the transformation is complete, she is hurled into space and the hole behind her closes. She is above what appears to be an earth with the moon and other planets close by. Joanna floats in space with no clue what happened and what to do. A young girl who’s her age flies to her. She has black hair, a purple gem in her right eye, and a purple left eye with a black clover iris. She wears a short purple dress with black straps on the side and a purple choker to match it all.
She introduces herself, “Hello. My name is Adah. I’m here to introduce you to our wonderful universe.”
“Do you introduce everyone in this universe?”
“I do. I love doing it since I get to relive the grand experience of living in this dimension over and over again.”
“Do people usually appear here specifically?”
“Nope. They appear in their own galaxy.”
“Their own galaxy?”
“That’s right. You own all of the planets around you.”
“What? Why?”
“Because that’s how this place works. Isn’t this amazing?”
“I guess, but I’m not sure if I’m qualified for this role.”
“You don’t have to be. Just try it out. If you don’t like it, then you can live under a ruler if you wish.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s go down to your capital planet. You how you're floating in space? Do the same when we enter the planet so that you don’t plummet down there at high speeds. You can’t die in this dimension, but you can still feel pain.”
“Hold on a second,” Joanna says while getting used to floating, “Ok, I think I can do it.”
“Good. Let’s go then, Queen Joanna.”
The title gave Joanna a strange feeling of power. A power that she doesn’t know what to do with. Joanna and Adah fly down to Joanna’s capital planet and see the natural beauty of it. It looks like an earth untouched by humanity and death with luscious forests and flourishing life.
“What do you want to call your kingdom, queen?”
“I’ll call it…Shalom.”
“That’s an interesting name. Now, say hello to your people.”
Artificial people rise from the dust of the ground. They all kneel and bow down to Joanna.
“These subjects of yours all have personalities ready to love and serve you, but you can always change the way they act and look whenever you want. You can also not only change the way your planets act and look, but you can also change your Heaven and Hell here.”
“My Heaven and Hell?”
“Yes, the Heaven and Hell in your galaxy are different than the Heavens and Hells controlled by the other rulers. You can send people to your Heaven and Hell, but you can’t send people to other Heavens and Hells. The same goes for the other rulers as well.”
“This is all a bit too much to throw on me, don’t you think Adah?”
“It takes a bit of time for everyone to get used to. It was incredibly exciting for me my first time. I spent months in my galaxy tweaking and adjusting it to my heart’s content.”
“Who taught you?”
“Nobody. I asked some of the most powerful rulers here to give me the power to be a greeter for everyone here and they agreed. We came up with a spell that gave me the sense to know when new people entered this dimension.”
“The rulers didn’t ask you to do anything else like point people to their kingdoms or suggest to people that they should join with them?”
“Not at all. This is a dimension of freedom, unlike the one you escaped from.”
“I thought there was plenty of freedom back at home.”
“Do you? Our lives were dictated by other people. We couldn’t live a life that we could control.”
“I honestly don’t care about that as long as I have my life in the hands of someone who knows better than I do.”
“Then maybe you should live under a ruler. There are many great and benevolent ones.”
“I think I’ll tinker with my own kingdom here first before I try that. I want to see what I can do.”
“Good luck. Oh, and I love the look you were given. Your modest personality matches it. I love the pink highlights at the tips of your hair.”
Joanna looks at her reflection in a nearby stream.
“Oh, I was naturally born with these highlights though my parents tried to give me more. They were more rebellious than me.”
“You must’ve had fun parents then. Why did you run away?”
“I didn’t. I just messed around with some of the alchemy chemicals and things they had.”
“You really did have fun parents then. Well, it’s time for me to leave. If you have any more questions or a friend, then come to the kingdom of Camelot. You can see other nearby kingdoms with your Ruler Eyes.”
“Thanks for the help. It was nice meeting you.”
“Same to you. Bye!”
Adah and Joanna wave goodbye to each other as Adah flies away from the planet. Joanna then gets to work in making her kingdom. She keeps her people the way they are and gives them all nice medium sized houses to live in. With her powers, she erects several cities with large walls to protect them. In her cities, she builds necessary places for it such as restaurants, schools, churches, and a central place for her government to keep everything in check for her, so she can keep tabs on everything. Farms towns are made to give her people a source of food. Smaller towns are made as well to keep the planet varied. Many different kinds of forest areas are made as well including a forest of roses and flowers. Humongous waterfalls and flowing rivers are put into the world along with an ocean that takes up thirty percent of the planet. After only a handful of minutes, Joanna has completed her civilization on her planet. She then moves on to edit her other four planets and name them. Some are military bases and weapon manufactures in case she gets attacked while the others are like her own planet. Horse carriages fly in between the planets so that the planets can trade and so that people can move from one planet to the other.
With everything complete, Joanna tries to live among her people. Every artificial being acts in accordance with their assigned personalities. Wondering if they can stray from it, Joanna jokes around with one of them who is supposed to be serious all the time.
“My queen,” it says, “To what do I owe this honor?”
“Tell me, why do they have gates around cemeteries?” Joanna asks.
“Why?”
“Because people are dying to get in.”
Some people around her that have a sense of humor laugh, but this one doesn’t.
“I get it. Your jokes do well to entertain your citizens.”
“I got another one. Do you hear about the new restaurant I made? It’s called Karma. There isn’t anything on the menu because you get what you deserve.”
Again, the same people laugh but this one doesn’t again.
“Where did you learn all of your jokes?”
“I made them up.”
“I expect nothing less from my queen.”
“But wait! Here’s another one. How does Moses make coffee? He brews.”
People burst out laughing beside this one. So no matter what, these artificial people can’t stray from their personality at all. Joanna tries to live among them as if they were real people. She tells them to treat her like a normal person and they obey. Throughout the day, she can’t help but feel off while hanging out with this fake people. It doesn’t feel natural. Sure, she can edit their personalities off and on, so they act more human, but that isn’t something she wants to do.
Joanna figures she has to do something with her time as she appears to be stuck here for good. Fortunately for her, a carriage that has a royal design to it knocks at the gates of her galaxy. Joanna didn’t know her galaxy had a gate and plays with her new powers until she figures out that she can will the gate open like how she willed everything else into existence. The royal carriage goes to Shalom and to the small house where Joanna lives. A queen steps out of the carriage and Joanna’s artificial people bow to her. Joanna steps out of her house to meet her. The queen is about Joanna’s age though her exotic red dress makes her promiscuous and older. She has a triangle golden gem in her right eye with a normal white eye with a golden diamond shaped iris. This queen also has bangles on her arms and legs and a red and gold choker on her neck. Her blond hair is curled and hangs over her shoulder. Everything about her says she is a real queen compared to Joanna.
“I’ve seen that there’s a new galaxy in the universe. What is the name of your kingdom?”
“Shalom.”
“My kingdom is called Hydrangea. My name is Sarai.”
“My name is Joanna. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same to you. Have you thought about spreading your influence to other galaxies and allying yourself with others? Some kingdoms aren’t as nice as yours.”
“I think I’m good where I’m at. What benefits would I have if I allied myself with you?”
“You will receive my aid if you change your mind. I have control over one of the biggest armies in the universe and I have several other kingdoms allied under me.”
“Why are you asking for my aid?”
“Because we’re up against another powerful alliance of kingdoms called The Anarchy. They aren’t as kind as we are. They will block the entrance to your galaxy, so you stay trapped with no way to escape. I can even show you what they’re doing. Here, let me touch your head.”
“Uh…ok.”
Both Joanna and Sarai’s minds come together as Sarai uses her ruler’s vision to see The Anarchy attacking and enslaving other kingdoms. The two also see battles take place in space with opposing forces clashing their armies together. Sarai then ends the vision and lets go of Joanna’s head.
With this in mind, Joanna decides, “I guess I should help you out since I have nothing better to do.”
“That’s great to hear. I’ve seen that you already made your own army, but do you know how to defend yourself?”
“Barely.”
“Here’s a trick Adah might’ve not told you. You can will your arms and legs into weapons.”
Sarai changes her two hands into axes.
“Now you try it.”
Joanna wills her arm into a weapon and it becomes a katana.
“We don’t just have this as our only defense mechanism. We also have a unique magical power that each one of us possesses. For example, I can create ice spears.”
Sarai demonstrates this by conjuring an ice spear with her will. She throws it at a nearby tree and the spear goes right through it. It then grows spikes all around its surface before shattering.
“Let’s see what you can do. Just will your magical ability that resides in your soul.”
Joanna does as Sarai says while holding out her hand. Flames begin to dance around Joanna’s fingertips as the building in front of Joanna suddenly combusts into flames. Joanna’s servants quickly move to quench the fire as the building collapses onto itself.
“That’s an amazing ability you have Joanna. I’m honestly jealous of you.”
“Don’t be. I think your special ability is great as well.”
“But not as great as instantaneous combustion!”
“I guess not.”
“Usually people are jealous of my ability, but yours is something completely different. You might be what we need in ending this war.”
“I guess we should get started then. My first day here and I’m already fighting in a war.”
“Hey, it could be worse, but at least you’re fighting on the right side.”
Joanna smiles and nods as she leaves to wage war with Sarai. Joanna’s army readies itself for battle while increasing production of weapons and supplies. While leaving her capital planet, Joanna feels an odd sense that she might be doing something wrong. She ignores it for now as she doesn’t know what else to do in this crazy dimension.
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