The Truth About The Many Worlds Of Printed Pages

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Siena didn't like the six people, all very distinct looking and way older than her and James, seated in front of them, separated by the long table.

They were intimidating, she thought, leaning into her ginger companion the moment he pulled his chair closer to hers.

She relaxed a little when the old, friendly lady, Alicia, spoke to her about her grandma, making her remember that she had loved this Society. That made Siena feel a little better, but it didn't last long.

The very important Bibliophiles gathered at the table started with their serious talk, an endless chatter about Siena and James being different, special, just like her grandma and his dad had been. And after that, they begun to discuss their nonsensical theories, sending words like quantum mechanics, collapsing waves, self-contained universes, subatomic physics, possible parallel worlds, indexical actuality, alternate realities and what not, flying through the air and reverberating off the white walls and the weird, shiny instruments filling every flat surface of the large room, confusing her.

The only very few things which Siena knew about this subject she had learned from the novels she had read. However, the moment she asked if they were talking about the multiverse, as that was the most common theory used by fiction writers, she realised that James knew much more about it than she did.

She listened to his explanation offered to her in words much simpler to comprehend than those used by the others present, admiring him in a way. How could he wrap his mind around something like this... When Alicia took it from him, explaining the rest to both of them, Siena had so many doubts and an infinity of questions, but there was one much more insistent than the others. Apparently, for James as well.

"How?" they asked simultaneously, making the old woman nod and smile happily. She knew she had them where she wanted them.

"George, please," Christopher said, looking at his secretary who stood up immediately and walked to one of the tables pushed to the wall, then came back immediately carrying a small, wooden jewel case.

"We have these for our Travellers," Christopher said to Siena and James, opening the case and taking out a large silver locket set with a single red stone and a matching ring, placing them both on the table.

James, unable to resist his curiosity, stood up and walked to the table, and Siena, not wanting to be left alone in the middle of the room, followed him shyly.

"Are they some sort of a... device?" James asked, observing the two jewels closely, his inventor's mind trying to guess how the ornaments worked.

"They certainly are," the old, white-haired, Einsteinesque man replied. "The ring will take you both into the fictional worlds and back; the locket will help you move forward and backwards within the plot. You wear the ring, young man, the lady wears the locket. They only work together, so you mustn't lose each other." He looked between Siena and James significantly as he added, "None of you can do this alone. Go on, don't worry, you may touch them. They won't transport you anywhere right now. They need a drop of your mixed blood each to function. But we will only add that at the last moment, once you are ready to go."

The old man chuckled at seeing their puzzled expressions, then everybody watched in silence as James lifted the ring carefully off the table and put it on his finger.

"Come on, Siena, you too. Try it on, get used to it. You can take them home with you tonight," Christopher urged.

As she did not move, James smiled at her encouragingly, then picked the red and silver locket up carefully. After he shot her a questioning 'May I?' look, to which Siena agreed with a simple nod and an unsure smile, he secured it around her neck.