Eleven years, fourteen days, nine hours, twenty-four minutes and three seconds after the portal closed, while Sadde's running through the woods (because she can't handle opening doors, right now, she needs a break, she'll go crazy if she keeps at it), she spots a shiny thing. She almost, almost ignores it. Nothing's interesting anymore. It's just a shiny thing. But a sense of duty to her past self, who would have investigated, makes her run towards it to see what it is.

It's a key. It's on the ground, half-hidden by grass, and there's a tree right over there that would have obscured her view had she been running a foot to the right. It's alsoa very small key, as if sized for a child to hold, and it has a certain shine to it that's not quite like any other keys she's seen during her vampire life.

And once she picks it up, she becomes certain it's a magic key. It doesn't actually do anything, it doesn't explode or shoot fireworks or glow, there's no mysterious voice saying that she has found the Artifact of Doom or anything like that. She just—knows.

When she straightens up, she notices how she knows it. There seems to be a certain sense produced by the key, a feeling of sorts, that shifts and moves about as the key is moved through the air. She waves it around a bit, and reaches two conclusions: one, most spots in the air don't feel like anything; two, what a spot in the air feels like depends on the spot itself, and if she waves the key around a given spot multiple times she feels the same thing each time.

And for the first time in over a decade she feels genuine hope.

It's a key. It opens doors. That's what keys do. And the last time she encountered door-related magic? Well.

She runs to the nearest town. It's one that knows about vampires, so she doesn't have to pretend. She finds a door where the key seems like it would fit, and tries to open it. That doesn't work. She tries it a few more times on a few more doors before concluding it does not in fact open every door or turns a door into a Milliways door.

But she also notices that the "feeling" the key has is absent from all locks she tries it on. She tests it on a few more locks and becomes increasingly sure of a certain nagging suspicion. So she runs some more, and when she's far enough away from civilisation she grows wings, and she flies and flies and flies and she reaches the Chihuahuan desert—the exact spot where the portal used to be—and she moves the key to a spot that feels like something and—

—pushes it—

—into the air, as if there was a lock there, and that works, and she twists the key and there's the shimmering outline of a door right there and she exhales a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding (since she found the key, actually), and she opens the door—

The door opens to a sandy beach. She can't see the ocean from this angle but the sound and the smell are unmistakable. The sand is the kind of white that sparkles like a rainbow and there are giant crystals between nearby palm trees.

Sadde closes the door, then opens it again; same world. The door remains there after she removes the key, but disappears if she "locks" it again. Unlocking it in the exact same spot continues leading to the same world. A few more tests confirm that the "feeling" she gets from different places corresponds to different worlds. There are some things they have in common, but she can't yet tell what if anything they represent.

She goes where she's staying, and packs clothes and other necessities into a backpack, then returns to that same spot and reopens the first door.

She walks through it.

Yup, this is a beach with crystals, she dan see a few coconut crabs at the distance. On a nearby island there are a few huts made out of wood.

This is probably not Earth. This is probably not Galatea. But it could be Elsewhere or Elan or somewhere else and she has to find out—

(is the sky weird?)

—she swims.

The sky looks like a normal sky with a sun hidden behind the clouds.

If she pays attention she will hear the sounds of at least a handful of people talking in what sounds like Spanish.

...another Earth, then? She did have the opportunity to eventually learn the language at some point. What are they talking about?

Domestic stuff about taking care of their homes; apparently their husbands return from a boating trip tonight or some such.

Huh. Can she see the boats anywhere?

Yup. They're that way away from this shore, it's a sail boat and looks rather like something out of a pirate movie minus the black flag. There is a crystal on the tip of the bowstrip.

Huh.

She swims to the shore, out of view of the village, undresses, dries off, then grabs a new set of clothes from her (waterproof) backpack and puts them on, leaving the salt-water wet ones to dry. She walks to the village, switching to normal human speed when she's close enough to be visible.

Is she wearing standard 2010's fashion? That might be the reason why the women are so surprised seeing her. Or maybe they don't get a lot of visitors. There are about six women; one of them approaches cautiously and say; "Hello?" in an inquisitive tone.

"Hello," she replies in the same language, neutrally. "What's your name?"

"Ana Luzia." says the woman. "Yours? How did you arrive here?"

"I am called Sadde," she introduces. "I'm from another world—probably a different version of this world—and I arrived here via a magical artefact."

Blink. "Oh, that is... wonderful," she says unsteadily. "Do you need anything?"

"I'd like to understand your magic, and find out whether your world is related to one of the worlds I know, and maybe help you with my own magic."

Ana Luzia nods, mostly out of politeness. "Oh, what does your magic do?"

"I have personal magic that makes me stronger, faster, smarter, immortal, and able to change my biology and generate anything living." She demonstrates this by growing an apple from her hand and offering it to Ana Luzia.

Ana Luzia takes the apple and completely fails to even consider eating until one of the other women takes it and bites down to have a taste. "For how long? How much did you have to lift to get that?" Ana Luzia asks.

"I am pretty certain our magic works differently. I am not sure what you mean by 'lift.'"

"Ah..." Ana Luzia says.

"Lift the crystals," says the apple-eater.

"Yeah, you lift a magic crystal and wish on it." Ana Luzia amends. "How does your magic work?"

"I was born with one part of it, and the other involves a horribly painful turning process and a lot of other drawbacks. What kinds of wish can you make?"

"Can you share any of that?" Asks the apple eater.

"A lot," Ana Luzia answers, "but you need a crystal that is big enough to do it. You can ask for luck, for healing, for gold or objects, you can ask for protection or to bless crops, for good weather, for healthy children, for things that do magic... Nothing is permanent but some things can last a lot if you keep them away from water."

"You can't touch or see into someone's soul or ask questions," says a third woman, sounding like she is reciting something."

"I could turn you into a creature like me, but it would feel like Hell and I do not have the means of controlling a newborn."