With Astrid more or less calmed down after everything that happened, she and Hazel walked back inside the coffee shop so they could come up with a solution regarding how they could get the Dark Elf back home.

  Sitting down on an intact stool bench, Astrid watched Hazel walk over to a wall and pick up a large landscape frame with a picture of a map along with various coffee mugs and coffee beans painted on the continents. According to the title of this picture, it was called the map of coffee.

  “Thank god this thing is still intact,” Hazel grunted while hefting the framed picture over to Astrid.

  Getting over to the bar counter, she then placed the landscape frame down, letting it face the dark elf, who was staring at it with a cocked brow.

  “And why are you showing me...this picture?” Astrid hesitantly asked.

  “This...” Hazel patted the frame with a sly smile. “Is a map of my world called Earth. Just ignore all the coffee stuff and focus on the map itself.”

  Astrid shifted her gaze back and forth between Hazel and the supposed map she was referring to with a suspicious and doubtful gaze. She then let out a heavy sigh while burying her face in her hands.

  “Let’s just get this over with...” The dark elf muttered while pulling her face out to stare at Hazel. “Alright, so why are you showing me this...map?”

  “I’m showing you this map to use as a base for my theory,” Hazel stated.

  “A theory?”

  “Pretty much. I could be wrong about it but it’s at least a start for us to try and understand how the Planetary Fusion works.”

  Astrid opened her mouth to say something, but immediately closed it, knowing that anything she said wouldn’t make a difference. So, she did the only thing that was currently rational to her; she left Hazel to continue.

  “Alright, explain...”

  A small grin appeared on Hazel’s face, displaying her enthusiasm. She then proceeded to explain her theory involving their worlds' integration and fusion.

  “Okay, so we know that our worlds were merged into this new planet for the System or whatever.”

  “Right...” Astrid nodded.

  “Well, my theory regarding the merging is that what if our planets were merged in the exact positions like on both maps. Of course, both worlds would have to have been in the exact position at the exact moment of the fusion due to the planetary rotations but considering that our two worlds were merged which should've been scientifically possible in its own right, I'm hoping for this to be right."

  Astrid stared at the map for a second, a hint of hope sparkling in her eyes before reality manifested and crushed those hopes without mercy, leaving her feeling completely demoralized.

  “Even if we follow along with your theory, there’s no way we can know for sure that it’s even true.”

  “Actually, we can. We can by trying to recognize famous landmarks from your world and seeing if they matched in the same area on both maps of Earth and your world.”

  The dark elf faltered, slowly understanding Hazel’s train of thought as she mulled over the concept behind her theory. She placed a finger on her chin and thought deeply about what the mage was telling her.

  “That theory of yours...might very well be something we could test out.”

  “So, you’re considering my idea?”

  “I am considering it, yes. But, we also can’t just fully rely on this theory alone.”

  “We’re not. We’re simply going to test the theory and see if we’re right and work our way from there. And with Nycteris, we could easily fly around and do that.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The dark elf turned toward the Nightwing bat, who was sitting next to his master as she explained all of this. He looked unamused by their conversation. Either that or he simply didn’t understand what they were talking about.

  Putting that aside, having Nycteris was certainly a blessing for Astrid. Back when he was first summoned, the Familiar flew both her and Hazel over to the City Island from the Tower Island, saving them a lot of time during their journey.

  With Nycteris, they could very well fly in the sky and scan the area for any famous landmarks to use as reference.

  “You said before that this place was Portland?” Astrid asked Hazel while turning her attention back to her.

  The witch nodded. “I did. We’re currently in Portland, Maine, which is located here.” She circled her finger around the upper right area of the US continent. “If my theory is correct and our worlds could’ve been merged like two maps placed on one another, do you know any famous location that is within this area?”

  The dark elf stood up and approached Hazel and the map. She then crouched down and intensely stared at the coffee map, scanning the geography of the witch’s world.

  “If this little theory of yours is correct...then I might be closer to my home than I originally thought.”

  “Seriously?!” Hazel eagerly raised her voice. “Where?!”

  Astrid brought her finger over to the map, pointing at a rough estimate of her home’s potential location.

  “Your home is in Canada?” Hazel questioned, staring at Canada on the map.

  “Is that what you call this piece of land on your world?”

  “Yeah. Also, I can’t believe that your home is so close to Maine.”

  “This is just a rough estimate, mind you,” The dark elf reminded Hazel. “There’s also the fact that even if your theory is correct, I doubt my home is exactly in that area. What with the world’s merging and also moving around to adjust to the integration.”

  “Oh, like a continental drift-type situation,” Hazel concluded, snapping her finger.

  Astrid leaned her head to the side curiously. “A continental drift?”

  “Oh, so back a long time ago, it was theorized that all the continents on my world used to be one big piece of land called Pangea until they experienced a continental drift that separated them into their current positions. With both worlds combining, the continents of both worlds might have moved around and adjusted around to create our current world. If not this, then we could be in a bit of a pickle since if our worlds weren't in the exact same position during the merging, your forest could be in China for all we know since our planets rotates and moves around the sun. Which is why this little idea of mine is only a theory at the moment."

  “Does your world always resort to making these theories?”

  Hazel shrugged her shoulders. “It was thanks to us making and testing those theories that we made so much progress in the world. Putting that aside, since our worlds did merge, that meant our newly combined planet is likely a lot bigger compared to both worlds separate. So, with the bigger planet, that could also mean that the land on both worlds also expanded to fill in the extra space provided to a certain extent.” She rubbed the back of her head nervously. “But again, this is still all just a theory and I could very well be wrong.”

  “Well...that’s why we test these theories out, right?” Astrid said with a small grin. “To see if they’re correct?”

  Seeing the dark elf’s expression, Hazel couldn’t help but crack a smile as well, thankful that her partner no longer hated her.

  Now that they possessed a semblance of a plan compared to before, it was time to finally leave the coffee shop so they could explore and see what Hazel’s hometown had become in her absence.

  With that in mind, Hazel walked over to Nycteris to inform him of their next move.

  “Hey, Nycteris, we’re going to be leaving...Nycteris?” Before she could finish explaining their situation, the witch noticed something was off with her familiar.

  The Nightwing was lying on the floor, looking exhausted. No, exhausted wasn’t the right term to describe his condition. He looked drained like all of the energy left his body without warning.

  Worried, Hazel moved closer to her familiar to see what was wrong.

  “Hey, Nycteris, are you alright?”

  Nycteris sluggishly turned to stare at Hazel. His crimson eyes drooped like he couldn’t stay focused while his body swayed from some kind of vertigo.

  “No...” The Nightwing uttered with a low screech. “Tired...”

  Hazel was confused by his statement. “Tired? Did the Dungeon transfer take a lot out of you or something?”

  Nycteris didn’t seem all that exhausted when they first arrived in the newly merged world. It was only around when the Orcs appeared that Hazel noticed that something was off about him. But what exactly was it?

  The Nightwing then pointed over at the wall of windows, as if showing Hazel something. The witch stared outside for a moment, still confused at what her familiar was attempting to tell her. It was only when she spotted beams of light from the sun that she soon figured out what was wrong with him.

  “The sun...” Hazel muttered, finally putting the pieces together. “You’re tired because it’s daytime.”

  Since Nycteris was a type of vampire variant, it should’ve been obvious to her that he would also possess some of the glaring weaknesses of one. Like vampires being weak in the sun.

  And that was when Hazel realized the other issue regarding her familiar’s current predicament. Since he obviously couldn’t go outside in the sun...that meant they couldn’t rely on him until it was nighttime.

  This meant they were just met with their next hurdle after finally overcoming the first one involving Astrid’s situation.

  Hazel stared out the window, finally aware of their current predicament. “Ah, crap...”

  Despite finally coming home, she could tell that nothing was going to get any easier from now on. And that only depressed the witch deeply. She just couldn’t catch a break, could she?