The door led to the inside of an elevator. It was dark inside; all the walls were black, the only light provided was the colourful buttons near the door. Eli clicked the green one and the elevator moved abruptly. They were going down, she realised by the familiar feeling of weightlessness. Eli grabbed her arm to keep her steady. “Let go of me!” Alana shouted over the loudness of the elevator. Suddenly, the lift became quiet and the elevator walls were no longer black. “We just left the tunnel.” Eli laughed. “Welcome to Fate City!”

“Wow.” She yanked her arm back from Eli’s grip and fell to the floor, her blonde hair showering over her. She crawled over to the wall opposite Eli, with open in awe. The whole elevator was made out of glass, she realised, although one side was attached to the side of a building. Beyond the elevator walls was the most beautiful city she had ever seen. They were high up in the elevator; no people could be distinguished from the pavement. It was nighttime and the lights from the mixture of futuristic and old buildings danced across the bottom of the elevator. In the centre of the city, which was directly under her, was a river, flowing rapidly as the lights of the buildings reflected of its clear surface.

“Fate City is one of the dark portals. No sun ever reaches here.” Eli explained casually. Alana pulled her face away from the glass to look up at Eli.

“How does your house have sun and Fate City doesn’t? Isn’t your house in Fate City?”

“The house’s portal is in Fate City. The house itself is somewhere else entirely.”

“That must make postal services hard…” Alana wondered quietly as she turned to face the city just as the elevator jolted to the side. With a loud bang, her face was slammed into the wall. Eli unsuccessfully restrained his laugh.

“You didn’t want my help…”

“Shut up!” Alana yelled as she kicked him in the shin, for the second time. The elevator jerked in different directions a few more times and Alana refused to attempt to look out the glass, in case she hit her face once more. The elevator jerked a final time and stopped moving.

With a limp, Eli stepped out of the lift without a word.

Alana followed behind quickly as Eli’s legs, although he was limping, were still longer than hers. Alana glanced swiftly behind her. The elevator was already heading back up the building, which Alana noticed, was as tall as a skyscraper, although it had giant clock faces on each side of it. “That’s your house!?” She said incredulously, her eyes taking in every detail.

“It’s the clock tower.” Eli corrected. “The portal to our house is there, not the house itself. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“As many times until you’ve stopped getting annoyed…” Alana teased as she looked at everything around her. They were walking next to the river, which was thrashing loudly. There were many signs in different languages, including English and Korean, which warned people about coming into contact with the water, which made Alana think that among its flawless beauty was a sinister element. The river was surrounded by streetlights, shops and concrete footpaths, which Alana’s shoes clacked on as she followed behind Eli. There were no cars; she became aware of, even though this was the capital city and it was as large as Melbourne, which was where Alana had lived in Australia. In the distance, she could hear the faint sound of music and people cheering, partygoers, she assumed. “I still can’t believe this place exists.” Eli sighed and sped up, he was holding his crystal. “Why do you have that crystal?” She asked carefully. She had so many questions that it took all her control to keep her asking Eli all of them at once.

“You’re my Fate Partner.” They crossed the road, Alana instinctively checked for cars, even though there were none. Eli waited for Alana to cut in, but she was listening intently, waiting for him to go on. “The people of Noir can request for a Fate Partner, a human from Earth, to help them with something. I requested for a partner, and fate brought you to me. Fate Partners are chosen at random. The person from Noir receives a crystal when their request for a Fate Partner is approved. This crystal is what keeps you here; if it was to break, you would return to Earth, but your memories would remain here.”

“I’d forget everything?” Alana was worried. No one had the right to take her memories.

“It is the price for returning back to Earth. The people of Noir cannot enter your world, so when an Earthling enters Noir, they upset the balance. The crystals keep that balance in order.”

“If people from Noir can’t enter my world, how did I see you?” Alana asked suspiciously. This whole concept was hard for her to grasp, let alone accept.

“You were already halfway through the Main Portal. The Main Portal is what separates our worlds. Only few people know where it is. It is a concept only few understand.”

“You’d think they’d have a pamphlet for us Earthlings to read, if this is a regular occurrence…” Alana said sarcastically.

“We’re almost at the town hall, it’s that building right there.” Eli pointed to an old building which fitted the stereotype of a town hall perfectly, an old building with large concrete steps leading past statues of famous people, to the many front doors. “It’s the only building here which doesn’t have a portal. What you see is what you get.”

“I don’t think I’m ever going to believe this is real.” Alana pointed out in disbelief. “Why do I have to get registered?”

 “We need to get you registered so the Leader’s guards don’t kill you. It’s a safety precaution to keep Noir safe. Humans can be dangerous.”

“We’re not dangerous!” Alana stopped walking and crossed her arms.

Eli limped past her. “My shin says otherwise…” Alana hadn’t realised how hard she had kicked him, but refused to apologise. Eli turned around, “Keep walking, we’re almost there.”