The Adventures of the Dianaté:
Clouded Glass. Plot Many many years ago...there were legends of a group of talented people. These people (called Dianatés) were the “mirror travelers”. It was said that they had the ability to travel through a whole other dimension through a Porte (or portal). These Portes were said to be located...through mirrors. Parents would tell their children stories of these Dianaté...they would tell them that they could travel in and out of the two dimensions as they pleased. The children would ask...
“Is it true, momma? Can I travel through mirrors too?”
And their parents would give them some answer saying how it wasn’t true...
But it was true...and it still is to this very day....
Now a days...the Dianatés (or as they are more commonly called “mirror travelers”) live their lives in a normal way. They travel in and out of the two dimensions (Anatole and Protos) through the bridge called Akronia. However, they can not remain in one dimension for too long. Otherwise...they are stuck there forever and will grow to their true age. Whether they get younger...or whether they get so old that they crumble away to dust...
You see...time passes differently between Protos and Anatole. Anatole has the time that you and I both know...24 hours in a day...365 days in a year. And after 735,465 since 1 A.D. we have reached the year 2015. There are hovercars and jetpacks but only for those who are wealthy. The internet is faster and there has been one pig to live through teleportation. (Of course..it gained an extra limb on its back in the process.) The normal people (or lîosas) live their normal lives....however, there is a group of people in Anatole that is constantly trying to discover the “mirror travelers” for who they really are. The threat in Anatole is not nearly as great as that is Protos...
In Protos..time moves slower. It’s like...it doesn’t move at all. As time creeps on, you’re not sure if you’ve been there for a day or a month. It is about 1461 in Protos. (The time of the Renaissance.) No running water, no electricity....and the threat to the Dianatés is greater due to the legends currently being told about them. One must be careful about who you come in contact with...if you are suspected to be a Dianaté then it is suggested that you relocate. Quickly.
And connecting the two dimensions is a bridge of sorts. Akronia. This land is what gives the Dianaté their power and energy to pass through the Porte to either dimension. There is nothing here...it is simply white like snow. The temperature is...simply normal. Not to cold and not too warm. There is no breeze...but the air always seems fresh. And some Dianaté have learned to do something great. They have learned to “fabricate”. The basic idea of fabricating is figuring out how to focus on a specific item and moments later, it appears in front of you. However, this ability is only known by a small number of Dianaté. And it is only able to be done in Akronia. This being said...some of the Dianaté have taken it upon themselves to spend most of their time in Akronia with the things that have been fabricated. And if the person who fabricated the items leaves Akronia the items will disappear..as though they never existed. So..since there are not many who have the ability and the things fabricated disappear as one leaves it is unlikely to find a Dianaté living in Akronia. Most spend their time in the dimensions...trying to hide away from the Society of people that is trying to identify them and destroy them. This Society has been named the Misosan Society (The members are called Misos.)
Because time passes so different between the two dimensions, bad things can happen to a Dianaté that is forever trapped in simply one dimension. For instance...
If someone has been in Protos for seven years they'd most likely be around sixty years of age in Anatole. This aging doesn't occur until one is trapped in the opposite dimension forever. That is why you MUST visit Akronia at least once every two months. Otherwise...you're trapped and the aging or de-aging process will begin.
Prologue
September 29
"Hello...my name is Penelope Simithe. And I'm writing this journal so you will all one day no my story. Now before you write this off as simply a young girl's diary ranting about boys and makeup, let be explain. I am a Dianaté. Don't know what this is, huh? Not many do. I suppose you'll have to keep reading then, won't you? Let's start from the beginning...in the year 1461."
Chapter 1
April 14
"My life started out generally normal. I was the daughter of a middle class family living in a small town in England. I wore the frilly, girly dresses. I worked with my mother at home while my father tried to work in a fruit stand in the market. Everything was going perfectly well for a sixteen year old girl in the 1400s. That is, until I stumbled across the Mirror.."
......."Penelope! Can you please take the garments down to the creek to be soaked and hung to dry?" Mrs. Simithe called from the kitchen.
"Yes, mother," Penelope said, following her orders without a word of protest. 'Oh how detest these chores. They're so dull! This town is almost as exciting as horse manure..' she thought as we carried the hand-woven basket of garments.
The water in the creek was cold, as always. Penelope finished soaking the clothes, her own attire now drenched. It looked as though she had simply rolled around in the water like a hog in the mud.
She groaned to herself, mumbling her displeasure, as she hung the clothes on a line strung between two trees. After she had finished, she grabbed the basket and started back to her home.
As she past a few trees, she paused as something caught her eye. It was a cylinder shape with an odd, reflective surface. She had heard of objects like this before. They were sheets of polished metal used so one could check and/or enhance their appearance. However, she had never actually seen one. Penelope stared at her reflection in amazement. Her eyes were a striking shade of blue and her hair was brown, curling into ringlets. The ensues of it barely brushed the top of her shoulder blades.
'Is that really what I look like?' she though.
Penelope reached out, gently brushing her hand against the metal. The object glowed an eerie blue light.
Penelope almost jumped out of her pale skin in fear, however, her hand remained on the object. The metal suddenly took a striking resemblance to water. It rippled like a pond whose surface had been broken by a pebble or rock.
Penelope could feel a force pulling at her and she shut her eyes tightly. She felt as though she was floating.
'What's happening?' she thought in a frantic tone. Penelope let out a squeal as she felt a falling sensation tingle against her skin. She felt her body his the ground and it gave off a dull thud. She kept her eyes shut tightly due to how terrified she was. It was then that she realized, she could no longer hear the creek's currents...
Chapter 2
April 14 (later that day)
"Akronia turned out to be one of my favorite places. It was a great place to sit alone. Always quite, never too warm or too cold. It was simply...perfect. Although, I still don't think I've learned everything I can about Akronia just yet..."
......Penelope lifted her head, softly rubbing the back of her neck. Her body ached from the fall. "Ow..." she muttered. Penelope opened her eyes and was slightly blinded by the bright white. Every where...it was just pure white. Nothing else. She looked around. 'I don't even have a shadow..' she thought in astonishment. Penelope slowly rose to her feet, spinning around frantically as she looked for someone. Something. Anything! Nothing...
"Hello??" she called, her voice cracking a bit out of fright. No answer came to her call.
"Hello?!" she called, louder this time. Still no answer. Penelope tried to swallow her fear, but it didn't work. She them heard muffled voices. It sounded as if they were talking through tissues that had been stuffed into their mouths. Then, faintly, she heard her name.
"Penelope?"
It was barely a whisper and very difficult to hear. Penelope tried to follow the muffled voice. It was then that she saw it. The creek, the forest, the basket of clothes, and her mother searching around for her. "Mother!" she called. She put her hand on the portal-like area. The picture rippled and once again, everything started to spin. She landed with another thud.
"Penelope?!" her mother exclaimed. To her, it seemed as if her daughter had appeared out of thin air.
Penelope rubbed her eyes as she focused on the light. A cool breeze rushed past her and the sounds of the forest rang through her ears.
'I'm back...' she thought. She looked up at her mother with a smile before she collapsed back to the ground, still thoroughly confused as to what had just happened.