Keys To The Gate 24 Family

When Joanna came home, Mom, Dad and brother were all waiting for her. Tristan scowled. "So late, it's already dinner time."

Joanna apologized. "Sorry, I had some work." She could obviously not tell her family the real reason. She has been trying to investigate the incident that scarred her brother, but the deeper she digs the more confused and disbelieving she gets.

Even at dinner she couldn't be cheery, when she thought of what she had learnt. Luckily, she had a friend who was willing to help her out, who knew much more about these things than she did.

After dinner, Tristan asked Joanna to come with him for a walk. They walked past the quiet backyards and went to the play ground which was empty at night.

"Sis, what's going on? Ever since the accident, you've been aloof and distant from the rest of the family. Acting strange, as if you are carrying some kind of burden. What happened?"

Joanna was stunned at how upfront her brother was being at the moment. Was this really the brother she had seen become silent and distant in the aftermath of the accident? The one who kept having nightmares every night? He felt... different.

"I... have a lot on my mind." Joanna finally muttered.

"Well, tell me then." Tristan smiled.

"You won't believe me, no one would. It's so ridiculous." Joanna sighed.

"Try me. I've seen crazier things than you can probably imagine." Tristan laughed.

"Ha..." Joanna sighed. "I have been investigating the incident of the explosion in the shopping district."

"Okay, and?" Tristan asked.

"Well..." Joanna struggled how to speak. "I don't know how to explain without sounding like a conspiracy theorist gone crazy."

Tristan laughed. "Tell me sis, I'll believe you, no matter what it is."

Joanna closed her eyes. "After the incident, you kept having the same nightmare. You had even described it to me. I looked into the investigation by the police and found that there was no investigation at all. They just claimed it was a gas leak, closed down the entire district for a day and the next day everything was back to normal.

Other than you, no one in the impact zone survived. The nature of the explosion also suggested that your store was the epicenter, but the government claimed it was a restaurant three blocks away, which made no sense. While the evidence pointed to your dreams being true.

So I went around investigating and eventually I discussed it with my friend at university. We are dorm mates. She told me that her uncle worked for the government and that she had some idea what might have happened. But what she told me was unbelieveable." Joanna gulped in a breath.

"Unbelieveable? Or do you mean Paranormal?" Tristan asked with a smile.

"You... you know?" Joanna asked, shocked, but at the same time a relief washed over her, as if she finally got validation that she was not crazy.

"Well what I know might be different from what you know. Go on." Tristan said.

"Well, she said that the ordinary world is simply a facade and that underneath it there is a totally different world of paranormal which is very dangerous. Most probably, the woman you saw was one of those paranormal people." Joanna said.

"Is that it or did you learn more?" Tristan asked.

"Well, I didn't believe her when she said that. But she took me to a mountain, saying that it was haunted and you can feel the presence of ghosts there. I didn't believe her and she herself didn't see anything there either when we went. But I saw it, a ghost. It was a man who looked severely injured, but his entire body was pale white and he was translucent. He was also floating.

Since that day my mind has been heavy. I've felt sleepless and I feel a heavy burden on me. You are not shocked or surprised?" Joanna asked.

"No. I'm not. What happened after that?"

"When I told my friend that I could see the ghost, she took me to her uncle who was surprised to learn that I could see a ghost. He asked me if I really want to enter the hidden world, he would let me become a member of the government. I've been working for the government ever since, I complete missions and earn points. I am using that to train in magic. I have learnt a few simple spell formulas and I am hoping to level up soon so I can get a higher clearance to information and find out the source of the incident."

Tristan nodded. "So you joined the government's Strategic Defense Department? How much are you aware about the nature of the hidden world or the organizations?"

"Oh.. you even know about the Strategic Defense Department. Hidden World, I don't know a whole lot. I only know about the Government, I don't know if there are any organizations. I have mostly been doing investigation quests helping detect ghosts... err... spirits." Joanna said.

Tristan nodded. "Well, let me tell you a little bit about the nature of the hidden world. Calling it paranormal is actually a misnomer. You can think of Earth as actually being a confluence of different fantasy worlds."

Joanna was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Tristan smiled. "You can think of it like this. There are many planets like earth in the universe and some are connected to each other through some kind of defect in s.p.a.ce, similar to a wormhole. Earth is a planet that connects to a large number of such planets like the intersection of several highways. Thus I say that Earth is a confluence of different worlds. The hidden world involves characters from all these worlds fighting a war for supremacy and growth of power."
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Joanna was shocked. "So it was like this... How did you find out?"

Tristan laughed. "Well, I have my ways. And about organizations, the government isn't the only one. In fact, the Strategic Defense Division might have administrative control, but they are a power only restricted to this country. There are five other major guilds. Martial Alliance, War Conference, Mage Tower, Alchemist's Cauldron and finally the Vast Expanse."