Many Lives Ch. 02 The Hub World

The portal closed behind Jess as she walked through it, closing her completely into a swirling, shimmering waterfall, a glistening vortex which corkscrewed far into the distance, ending at a singular point at the end of the vortex.

Jess, taking several cautious steps forward, began making her way to the end of the portal. Reaching out one arm, she ran her fingers across the surface of the portal wall, and realized that it was made of water, her fingertips breaking the surface, dipping into the cool liquid and dragging them through the water as she continued forward.

Jess had known many portals in her life; through books, manga, anime, or games, but none of them were quite what this portal was. Most were trippy or jarring, made up of many moving parts, disturbing imagery, or even just a bad design due to lazy writers. But there wasn't an ounce of laziness or flaw with this portal. It was beautiful and entrancing, a sense of majesty instilled in her more and more as she walked through it.

When Jess broke through the other side of the portal, she saw nothing but a bright flash of white, closing her eyes, and opening them again to find herself standing atop a hill in a new land.

The first thing Jess noticed was the sudden sensation of weight on her shoulders, as if something had appeared onto her body. Looking down at herself, Jess found that she was again wearing the same dark jeans and red anime t-shirt that she had been wearing when she and Dani went out to the grocery store, her black high top sneakers fitted as snuggly on her feet as she had always remembered them as being. Being back inside her old clothes brought a sense of sadness to her heart, a small part of her self reaching out to her old, comfortable life. Then, remembering why she was here in the first place, Jess let that thought go and looked ahead of and around herself, taking in her surroundings.

Grass fields stretched out all around her,hills and valleys climbing up and dipping down like waves in an ocean, creating a half-ring around a vast expanse of flatlands which ran for miles, tapering off into a wide beach in the distance, breaking off into an ocean that stretched around this island, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

Jess stood atop her small hill, her mouth fallen open in pure awe of this beautiful island. She couldn't believe the absolute beauty of this place, only wishing there was more color and life to be seen as well. Suddenly, all around her, popping up on every hill bordering the flatlands in the center, clusters of colorful flowers bloomed brightly, their colorful petals vibrant and bright in the early morning light. Flowers colored in purples, blues, and whites. Of reds, and yellows, and oranges, greens. All these beautiful dotting the hills all around her. Then, trees began to appear around these flowers, tall pine and oak trees, spruce and birch and dogwood. As well as elm trees, magnolia trees, apple trees, peach trees, and cherry trees; their trunks growing from the ground and expanding upwards, branches stretching outwards, leaves growing bright and fresh from their ends.

Jess, still unable to say a word, began to make her way down the hill she stood upon, looking out across the land at this sudden birth of vegetation. To her emense surprise, a stone path appeared below her sneaker-clad foot, the stone hard and unblemished, more and more pebbles popping up on the road surface as Jess continued walking forward. She climbed down into valleys and up hills, making her way past clusters of flowers and beneath the shaded branches of tree branches towards the center flatlands, her stone path loyally following underfoot the entire way. As she walked, she spotted a hopping blot of white between the trees next to her and realized to her utter delight that they were rabbits hopping around. Healthy, pure white rabbits hopping around merrily as if they didn't know or didn't care much that they had been manifested into existence only mere moments ago. Then, off in the distance, she saw a pair of deer walking carelessly and freely through one of the fields of flowers, stopping from time to time to lower their graceful necks to sniff at the flowers before continuing onward. She still hadn't fully processed the sheer magic of it all, unable, despite herself, to fully believe that it was truly happening, despite the sudden sound of bird song within the trees. Fat birds perched in the tree's limbs, others flying around in the air, circling the island contently.

Descending the last hill, Jess stepped into the flatlands, watching as her stone path began expanding out in front of her, growing out more and more until it had covered the entire epicenter of the island, turning the flatlands into a proper stone foundation. Jess remembered something then that Lastine had told her when explaining this place to her.

'After I send you away from this place, you will find yourself in a sort of Hub World, built from the ground up by your own imagination.'

That's what Lastine had said to her when explaining this Hub World. The flowers, the trees, the animals, and the stone path... was this what Lastine meant when she said 'built from the ground up by your own imagination'? Meaning... she could literally craft and mold this place within the limits of her own mind? Jess was dumbfounded, realizing the sheer potential in a place like this.

As a sort of test, Jess envisioned a large, three tier water fountain in the center of the stone foundation, surrounded by wooden benches, potted plants set at either end of each bench. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was there, bright blue water spraying out from the top and cascading down, filling each of the tiers, forcing the next and the next to fill until all three were full of water. The stone of the fountain was a bright white, depictions of flowers, animals, and fae creatures chiseled into the rim of each tier's bowl. A centaur stood depicted, the bow held in his powerful looking hands frozen in a drawn position, its feathered arrow ready to fly. Another depiction showed a small group of naked woman standing together, their breasts round and smooth, their nipples perked. Their stone hair fell luscious and curling, their pointed ears peaking out on either side of their heads.

Jess stepped out onto the stone foundation and the gray stone below her feet became a lighter color, clearly marking itself out from the rest of the stone, black lines curling and weaving itself intricately throughout this new pathway. She continued towards the fountain, the pathway following her just as before, spreading out to cover the perimeter of this fountain center point, marking a clear town square, lampposts growing out of the ground at the four points of the town square, soft warm yellow light pouring out of the glass casing atop the lampposts.

Smiling widely to herself, unable to help herself, Jess spun around in a circle, giggling madly as she looked around at her new world. It was all truly hers to do with as she saw fit, her imagination standing as her only limit.

"This place is definitely going to need some serious work," Jess said aloud to herself, placing her hands on her hips as she decided what was next.

The sun was just beginning to set when Jess finished, standing next to her fountain as she looked around herself at everything she'd built. She was very pleased with the work she had put in, feeling pride swell in her heart at this little world she had built for herself. Pondering which of the four paths she should choose leading away from the fountain, she decided to head east, her feet bringing her forward, step after step after step as she marveled at everything as she walked past it.

To her left stood a park, lush green grass spotted here and there by clusters of trees and flowers, birds and insects buzzing and flying around, stone benches and tables set up here and there, a small lake dug into the center of the park, its deep, almost fluorescent water reflecting the sun set, deep shades of gold, orange, and brown streaking across the water's surface, brightly colored fish swimming around below the rays of light.

To her right lining the entire length of the street, stood shop after shop after shop. A bakery, an ice cream parlor, a clothing store, a barber, a perfume shop, a few cafes, and several restaurants. Each shop held something in the window which ran across the front of the building; cupcakes and bread, a large statue of a vanilla ice cream cone, a barber's chair, mannequins dressed in a wool coat or sporting a pair of black shorts and a pink top, the sleeves cut off. All the while, different scents wafting out of each of the restaurants and cafes, these sweet and savory aromas filling the wide street between.

On the left corner at the opposite end of the street from Jess, stood a moderate two-story home, its walls made of white and navy painted wood, its roof lined with burgundy shingles, a red brick chimney sticking straight out from the right side out of the roof, smoke billowing out from its top. Eleven more houses stood next to this first one, spanning all the way down that street until it turned another corner, connected to another street which stretched to the left and to the right, the left street leading back to town square. But that wasn't all.

Two banks, ten apothecaries, roughly fifty houses, four game halls, a city hall, forty shops, a massive band hall, a Thieves Guild, a Mage's Guild, a Merchant's Guild, three school buildings, two universities, seven other parks, three markets, seven taverns, two mead halls, five brothels, six inns, a lavish art museum, four bath houses, and almost a hundred stone statues scattered on every street. This was the world that Jess had created for herself, all of it purely from her own mind. Birds flew above the new towering city, squirrels made homes for themselves in the trees which grew tall into the sky, rats scuttled through alleyways as well as in the vast system of sewer tunnels that lay beneath Jess's city. Dogs barked as they ran over the streets and through the yards, playing with each other as they lived happily in this new world. Cats meowed and purred as they trotted through the streets and parks, some of them hunting, others playing or fighting, while some simply lay in hidden spots of shade, their sleepy eyes half-open as they stretched themselves out peacefully, not a care in the world.

Jess looked around at her creation, her Hub, and just couldn't help but smile, though it was a tired smile now, sleep tugging at the back of her mind. She felt that sleepy feeling pull her towards the modest three story house she'd built specifically for her, but she resisted that pull. While she was very tired, there were two things on her mind, the first of those things being food. She was starving and had been for the last few hours, but she hadn't been able to pull herself away from creation long enough to get food, but it was time now.

Minutes later, turning past the art museum, its two sets of stairs and amber colored pillars inviting her to come in and look around at the pieces inside, Jess walked up to one of her mead halls, which she lovingly referred to now as the Heorot, though, she wasn't sure where the name came from. The Heorot was a long building, its wooden walls beaten and weathered, its black slanting roof marked with small patched holes, also looking very beaten and weathered. Even though it was a brand new building, Heorot looked as if it had stood for hundreds of years, its walls accustomed to the cries, laughs, and songs of men and woman throughout the ages. Jess walked the five steps to the double doors and pushed one of them wide open, stepping into Heorot, letting the door shut behind her.

Jess looked around the wide, magnificent room as she moved across the cobblestone floor. She sat at a long, wooden table stretching down the center of the entire room, moving her hands across the heavy, chipped, and cracked wood. The table was empty save four candles positioned down the table's center, their small ember flickering back and forth, the candel's wax melted enough to begin pooling around its base, but when Jess closed her eyes and reopened them, the table was full of food. Plates of chicken, lamb, pork ribs, steaks, goat legs,bowls of different kinds of soups, as well as an entire turkey positioned handsomely at the center of the table. Steam poured off the plates of food, their delicious aromas wafting and filling the mead hall, intoxicating Jess's nostrils, causing her stomach to rumble significantly. Jess was ready to eat, but there was still one thing missing that Jess desperately wanted. Spreading her hands over the table, Jess willed multiple goblets into existence, each one filled with some sort of wine, mead, ale, or beer. She didn't remember much from her past life, but sometimes memories did still trickle into her brain from time to time, one of those memories being that she'd never had a drop of alcohol before. Jess figured it was about time to change that.

Picking up the goblet in front of her, she looked down into its contents. It was colored golden brown and smelled faintly of honey.

This must be the mead, Jess thought to herself.

Shrugging, only a slight pinch of anxiety residing in the pit of her stomach, she put the goblet to her lips and took a long sip, tasting the honey and yeast immediately, a horrid bitter taste following shortly behind it. Despite the face Jess makes after taking this first sip, she takes another drink, this one even longer, almost being able to savor that bitter burn in the back of her throat before setting the goblet back on the table. She shook her head, not really feeling anything quite yet, though she wasn't entirely sure what she should feel, but she was going to keep trying until she did feel something.

Looking down the table now, Jess spotted a large chicken leg steaming on a nearby plate, its white bone stark against the dark brown skin. Jess reached for it and plucked it off the plate, the steam following the piece of chicken as she took it in both of her petite hands, this piece of chicken looking rather gargantuan in them. Biting into the chicken, Jess was delighted at the juiciness of the meat as she tore a nice chunk of meat out of it, chewing savagely, her stomach rumbling in thanks as she swallowed and tore off another bite. She set the piece of chicken back on its plate, pushing it aside and spotting another plate racked with ribs, the candlelight reflected in its shiny, greasy skin. She pulled this plate towards her and picked up one of the ribs, tearing a strip of its meat from it, chewing and swallowing it gratefully. This very well could be the best food she'd ever eaten, and she couldn't seem to stop, pulling another plate towards her topped with a thick slab of ham.

Jess sat quietly, eating her fill, downing big gulps of mead, ale, and wine inbetween each of her meals. She'd tried the beer, but found she didn't like it whatsoever, moving every other goblet to surround her except for the beer. By the time Jess had finished eating, four and a half of the goblets had been completely emptied, along with seven of the plates, and Jess was absolutely stuffed, her head positively reeling from the constant spins it was taking. Jess had gotten herself successfully drunk for the first time, and Jess positively loved the feeling. Her brain was scrambled, her words and thoughts were slurred, and Every single nerve in her body felt numb and tingly. Any time she would move, it felt as if her head weighed a hundred pounds, leaning heavily in that direction. Nevertheless though, Jess stood from the table, being as careful as she could as she moved herself away from the bench and to the front door, pulling it open and stumbling out into the night.

It took Jess a long time to get back to her new home, stumbling up and down the stone roads, the lights in the houses and shops a welcome sight to Jess's anxious, drunk brain. Finally, Jess stumbled up her front steps, practically falling against her front door,and gripping the knob with one clammy hand. Stumbling inside, her feet shuffling the red and gold carpet positioned just in front of her door, Jess looked at the staircase which led to the second floor where her room was. So, taking each step one at a time, Jess made her way up to the second floor, leaning against the wall for support as her head just kept swimming. She let out a loud giggle as she accidentally bumped into a small cabinet that sat in the hallway, small knickknacks set upon the top of the cabinet, books lining the shelves below. Jess giggled a little harder for several moments, leaning over hersel, her eyes bright, her lips plump and warm, her face as red as a cherry.

When Jess finally made it down the hall and into her bedroom, she was greeted with a beautiful canopy bed, with purple and black sheets and four dark oak wood posts which held up a deep purple canopy, sending the bed into deep shadows, the white pillow set against the headboard almost looking charcoal in the canopy's shadow. Jess kicked her sneakers off, and shrugged out of her jeans and panties, followed by her shirt, and finally her bra, leaving her in only her black socks. Stumbling to the bed, Jess fell into its sweet, comfortable, warm embrace, instantly feeling the pull of sleep at the back of her mind again. She was slowly starting to drift off, when a sudden daydream popped into her mind. She saw herself naked as she was now, laying on her back, her head tilted back as a moan escaped her, her legs spread wide open, a slender arm made of stone positioned between them, two of the fingers pushed deep inside her. This daydream came to her mind, but her brain pushed it away, the need for sleep more important. Jess was just beginning to finally drift off to sleep when she heard the heavy footfalls just outside her bedroom door.

Jess, knowing that no one else resided in this world with her sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as her gaze fell on the closed bedroom door. She could see candlelight shining through the crack at the bottom of her door, but she could also clearly see what looked like the shadow of a person, a rather large person, breaking up the streak of light as well. A slight sense of panic broke through the drunk fog in her mind, unsure what was happening. If there was an intruder, would her control over this world help to protect her? Surely it would, right?

Just as Jess was about to get out of bed and investigate, she saw the doorknob turn, and before she could even think of what to do, the door was pushed open, light from a nearby candle illuminating the intruder perfectly, and strangely enough, Jess recognized them. This was a large "person", though, she wasn't precisely a person; any other time of the day, she stood silent and non moving inside the main entry hall for the art museum as a statue. Jess had crafted this statue herself, along with the other many dozens that stood around her city.

She stood seven feet tall, her body wholly made of carefully and intricately carved stone, her breasts bare and plump, her stomach flat and muscled, as were her arms, thighs, and legs, finely toned muscle cording through her. Her hands were the size of Jess's face, though they still seemed delicate somehow, as did her feet, which were the size of saucer pans. The woman's hair was also entirely stone and was in a constant frozen tumble down her back, her pointed ears clearly visible, showing her Elven heritage. Finally, her face was as stone cold as the rest of her body, eyes as cold and hard as a shark's, a small perfectly chiseled nose frozen in a savage snarl, and luscious, full lips which looked as if they could speak the hardest truths as easily as speak the sweetest words. She was an intimidating prescribe to Jess, filling her with fear and... anticipation?