The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 21

Leo made a good attempt at explaining, but Hailey didn't understand most of it. He used a lot of terms that she didn't know about and every time he did, he had to stop and explain the meaning before continuing the story. It was soon a hectic bramble of different storylines all mixing together.

"So..." Hailey started, uncertainly. Leo had encouraged her to tell him what she had picked up from his story. "God was mad at Adam and Eve for eating the Devil's Apple and banished them from his Paradise. But one dimension away wasn't far enough so he made three more to be in between."

Leo didn't exactly nod but neither did he shake his head so what Hailey had said must've been close enough to the truth. She took it as encouragement to continue.

"And then all this stuff developed in these three dimensions. The Second Dimension is basically one big library with all the archives of everything. Then the Third Dimension is filled with all the good magical stuff that doesn't fit in the human world. And the Fourth Dimension is all the bad magical stuff." Hailey knew it wasn't as simple as she made it out to be, but this was all she could bear for now, especially since the next part ― that explained her part in it all ― was much more complicated.

"You have summarized it quite... crudely, but you have got the main idea," Leo answered. He was clearly relieved that Hailey finally understood some of the things he had told her even if it wasn't completely accurate. "And what did you pick up about the Soul Order and the Connected Souls?"

"The Soul Order maintains the balance between the Dimensions and enforces all sorts of laws in order to do that. There are Teams that are trained for missions in other Dimensions than the home Dimension of the Soul Order, which is the Third Dimension. And you are the leader of the Team that was assigned to get me. And you need me because I'm a Connected Soul and you need to Link a set of five Connected Souls from all five Dimensions every so often..." Hailey still didn't understand what they were going to do with her or what it meant to be a Connected Soul, but it had to do something with keeping the balance. Apparently.

"Right," Leo simply answered. "There is of course much more but this is quite a promising start. We will continue to inform you throughout the length of your stay. For now, I hope you understand why your assistance is essential."

Hailey did understand, at least enough, but she couldn't forgive them ― or rather, Ash ― for lying to her and kidnapping her. Leo was looking at her expectedly, waiting for an answer.

"Sure." It wasn't very enthusiastic, although Leo seemed satisfied enough. She was still thinking about all the things that he had told her as well. There was one thing that bothered her, "You said you guys weren't human?"

"Correct. We are Soul Hunters, and we have special abilities that humans do not have. We all have basic physical strengths that are heightened as compared to humans, but everyone has a specialty as well. There are Fighters, Runners, Planners, Locators, Thinkers, and Healers. In addition to this some Soul Hunters are Leaders as well. The extent of these abilities can differ between individuals." Leo looked at Hailey intently after finishing. He did that every time he finished part of his story, waiting for Hailey to react in some form. She nodded this time.

To think that Soul Hunters and humans were different species still didn't quite seem right in Hailey's mind, but maybe now that Ash wasn't pretending to be human anymore, she would come to understand later on. All she hoped was that the pretending was done now.

"Miss Fell," he began but she gave him a stern look, she had told him before to call her by her first name. His voice became softer; it was the friendly tone from when she had first heard him, waking her up. "Hailey. While you were not specifically chosen to be the Connected Soul, we have studied you for the past months and we are certain you have the strength to comprehend the truth of the world."

"You think I do?" Hailey was surprised that Leo suddenly became so emotional whereas before he had been so objective.

"We think you do. Do you think so as well?" This was a very serious question. There was no smile on his face anymore and his voice became lower, harsher. He gave Hailey a thoughtful look that made it hard for her to answer quickly for fear of giving the wrong answer.

"As long as I keep telling myself this is a very weird dream, I think I'll be fine," she said with a weak chuckle. It was the first smile she'd given him throughout his explanation. She hoped a joke would at least lighten the mood even if it didn't really answer Leo's question. After a beat, he laughed, and his face relaxed again. Hailey let out a small sigh, one that she hoped Leo didn't notice.

"Now," Leo said, clapping his hands together. "It is time for you to formally meet the team."