The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet

Chapter 30: Planet Earth

“Are we nearly there yet?” Commented Mella, as we exited the space tunnel and arrived in Earth's solar system.

I got up off the bed, walked over to Mella to unbuckle her and once I did, I lightly karate chopped her on the head.

“Owo...” She frowned, unassumed at my action.

“Sister… that was rude.”

“And being a smartass isn’t?” I smiled, “You know we are here.” I sighed, picked her up and brought her to the bed to see the window. “And did that all the time when we caught the train, still haven’t grown up I see.”

Mella just puffed out her checks, then poked her tongue in a vain display of ferocity. 

Tyell got up to follow while Mum stayed sitting, wanting to get a few more minutes of sleep.

I placed Mella down and Tyell sat next to us, the ship moved to one of the space docks outside of Earth’s orbit. Giving the three of us a clear view of Earth.

From the spaceship, we could see the blue marble growing ever larger in our view as we got closer.

“So that’s Earth?” Mella dragged herself closer to the window. I placed my arm on her shoulder so she wouldn't fall.

“It’s very blue?” Mumbled Tyell.

His reaction might seem weird to Earthling but to someone who grew up on Metous or even Esteless the 4th, it would be a standard reaction for someone who didn’t pay too much attention to geography or planetoid history.

When being taught in school and maps commonly used, the images of Metous used were usually just side with the continent on it. The one continent. 

Metous landmass was converged into one continent also labelled Metous, but was referred to as Metous Prime when needed to differentiate them. The landmass of the continent was about 75% of Earth’s total above-water landmass. 

“Wow, how many continents does Earth have?” Asked Mella, pointing at the three different clearly disconnected landmasses she could see.

“Four,” I replied. 

“I imagine travelling between them would be annoying, extra distance and all that.”

“Well fun fact, there used to be more, but after the dungeonisation of the planet everything got moved around. So it looks pretty different from what it was two thousand years ago.”

I tapped the window, pointing at the planet. “Nations that were built on smaller land masses were smashed together with large ones. Some of the largest ones split and smashed into different ones. All these actions created the four ones remaining today.”

“Wait when did this happen?” Mella asked, actually confused this time.

“She’s talking about the ReedZero Event, The Shift, or whatever it's called.” Said Tyell, wanting to sound smart, but quickly realising he doesn’t have enough knowledge on the topic even though what he said was correct. “Anyway, you should’ve learned it in class.” 

While this important event in human history was taught in class, it was usually pushed aside for the founding of Metous and the conquering of the Metous’ Dungeon core. 

Crack

I heard a loud crack, “Oh wow that was loud.” Said Tella. She decided to stand up and crack her neck which resulted in a noise that was louder than what she even expected. 

“Well, while you three are having fun talking about history. Maybe you should first make sure these two–” she pointed at Tyell and Mella–“Know where we are landing?”

“That’s fair.” I planned the trip with Mum so I knew everything, Tyell and Mella should also know this information but one was too depressed to listen and just focused on Mella’s reaction while Mella recently has been forgetting things easily.

I asked Espr if it was a side effect of the treatment, but they just said ‘Maybe’ and didn’t clarify. 

“We are landing at Newcastle, well after a quick stop at the space dock.”

“Newcastle?” Mella put her finger while holding her phone to her lip and tilted her head to act confused. “Did they rebuild or something?”

“It’s just a name…” I sighed, knowing full well that Mella was messing with me but knowing that didn’t mean I could do anything but keep rolling with the punches. Not being able to move without aid and being stuck on a limited-size vessel–no matter how big it was–had started to tire Mella out. 

“Okay, besides that, is Newcastle very different from Acrostar?” Mella asked, wanting a comparison.

“Eh, a bit. The facilities are mostly the same, but some of the buildings were built to reminisce design of the past.” I pulled out my phone's historic photos of different civilizations dating to the 20th and 21st centuries. “Earth has had a lot of civilisation dating back over three thousand years, some either further beyond that. Each with its own unique culture and everything. I think there were over 150 countries before The Shift happened.”

“Wow, that's amazing.” Mella moved up in a bounce but nearly fell off the bed if it wasn’t for my hand holding on to her.

As I explained to her different languages were used and different traditions were celebrated and clothing worn, her eyes brightened. This was a very weird but fun concept to learn about for Mella.

Metous began its life as a very connected society due to already having the technology utilised meant that there weren't a lot of differences between one part of Metous to another. 

Some cities did have their own slang or celebration but you go anywhere and be fine and it still would feel like Metous.

“Besides the feel, Earth makes heavy use of contact lenses and glasses.”

“You mean AR?” Said Mella, holding her phone over her right eye.

I replied, “Yes, but more advanced than the one on our phones.”

“Okay, but what’s the point?”

“Well, it's a completely different planet.” Tyell entered the scene, wanting to look cool and help his cute younger sister! Which I appreciated because I wanted to quickly check if our ride from the spaceport at Newcastle would be ready. “So you know how Metous makes a lot of use of portable devices? Well, it is actually the leading giant in that field. Our phones can fit anywhere and be used for nearly anything required, we also have easy-to-use and safe public devices.”

“Yeah?”

“Earth works a bit differently, remember the feeling of playing a VR game with the status and all the apps you can open?”

“Again yeah.”

“For Earth, people can do that all the time.”

Mella reeled back in minor disgust, “I get a headache if I use that for more than 12 hours–” Mother quietly exclaimed, ‘You shouldn’t be using it for that long anyway–“…but they deal with that all day?”

“Basically yeah, I guess they either have grown used to it or the technology makes it more comfortable.” 

Bus times are correct, good. Even if we are slightly delayed we should make it. I thought about putting away my phone. 

I interrupted their little talk, “Well in a little over an hour we should be on Earth and in Newcastle. You excited Mella?”

“Yes!” She raised one arm into the air, “I want to see how different these cultures are in person!” Mella coughed and calmed herself down, “If we have the time of course.” 

Sometimes it felt like Mella was regressing back into a child, but I chose to see it as part just wanting to have fun and part a method to deal with everything that’s been going on inside her.

I sighed, “That sounds fun, and I will give you this.” I looked over at Mum, and she nodded. “We’ll try, but… I said ‘were’ for a reason.” I solemnly patted Mella’s hair. “After The Shift and the near complete dungeonisation of Earth… Most people were simply dead. Causing many traditions to be lost.”

Mella seemed sad, “So they were all lost forever?”

“Not completely, while a lot of people, and digital and physical records were lost, people still tried to rebuild the past. Not to the scale, these places are countries or even cities again, but some are rebuilt enough that their heritage can still be celebrated.”

“ …That’s good at least.” Mella looked down and mumbled.

“They made the best of what they could do with what they had.” I patted Mella’s hair. 

I couldn’t see Mella’s facial reaction but I felt her body shaking for a moment.

“Before we go, we should use the opportunity to eat.” Tyell stood and put the luggage in his storage.

“Exactly my son, don’t waste food, we’ve paid for this trip and we should make sure we get every cent worth of it.” Mother patted Tyell on the back with a proud laugh.

Everything after went smoothly, and as the scheduling went we arrived on time.

“This place is made of stone?” Said Mella, amazed at her surroundings.

We had just exited our bus and the surrounding area enamoured Mella. She could have seen this view earlier, but chose to not look outside the window to not ‘spoil herself’.

Our family left along a long wide stone road. The buildings on either side were made from red, purple, or blue bricks, while some were made from wood. These weren’t everyday materials and were made out of mana-infused material so it would last.

In the distance, you could see large buildings made of mana metals and the like but they are placed so it wouldn’t drown this area in darkness. 

“Come on you two, we got a hotel to visit.” I snapped my fingers to grab their attention. Newcastle was one of the first cities of the second generation to be built after humanity recovered and they wanted it to feel different to modern standards and bring back elements of old design. With mana materials being used and current technology added to ensure while it looked old, it was still completely comfortable and reliable.

“What Ceella said,” Mum reaffirmed my statement. “We can explore after that!” 

I sighed internally. I’m glad you guys are having fun but don’t make it too chaotic.

My prayers were left unanswered as the mother-daughter duo planned to spread the Stella name far throughout the city. 

“I think we should hurry…” Tyell whispered behind me. “I think if we take too long they are going to start asking me to unload their supplies here.”

I turned to watch the happy mother pushing Mella in her wheelchair, “I think you're right…”