| PARAM AND THE ELVISH KINGDOMS |
Yu: So we were in the space between Earth and the other side, right? Then if we’d gone in the right direction, would we have ended up in your home, Ein?
Ein: Of course. Beyond the Void lies our soil—the lands of Param.
Aliya: Apparently my mom and uncle used to live in some place called the Wind Kingdom.
Ein: Vibhram’ladri. It was ruled by my original, Queen Liricamaja. There were the Earth, Fire, and Water Kingdoms as well, each governed by sovereigns descended from the old blood of Yakshia, of which there are four holy lines.
Yu: “Were”?
Ein: The ones you call the archmages laid waste to them.
| ANOMALY NOMENCLATURE |
Yu: I’ve been wondering about that “Yakshia” word. I heard it a lot from Professor Chloe, and from Ein too.
Ijuin: Yeah, same. What’s it mean? Is it a race?
Ein: Exactly. In our tongue, the term “Yakshia” functionally serves the same purpose as your “elf” does. Likewise, what you call “demons,” we would normally call “rakshasa.” We simply adapted our nomenclature for the sake of ease of communication on Earth.
Aliya: ...I think that was Nadal’s idea, wasn’t it?
Ijuin: Was it?!
Aliya: Pretty sure. He went nuts for movies and games after coming here, and he noticed that the elves in RPGs and fantasy and stuff resembled his people surprisingly closely.
Yu: So they saw the coincidence and ran with it?
Aliya: To quote my uncle, “It is highly unlikely that this is mere happenstance. Rather, it would stand to reason that both of our worlds, Earth and Param, were once connected closely enough that we could intermingle, share knowledge, and blend cultures.”
Ein: He theorized that the human perception of elves was based on stories of our people, passed down through the ages.
Ijuin: So you applied the same idea to the Anomalies and made it nice and accessible for us Earthlings. Huh.