Dan thought through his decisions, weighing the pros and cons of his choices. Ultimately, he decided to leave his life on earth behind for the new world the ebony necklace offered to bring him to.
"Take me to Dakür," Dan answered. "I'm intrigued by how you describe this place."
**Excellent choice! I'll help you get settled with your new life once we get there. Trust me, you'll love it there.**
"How are we gonna get there?"
**Just hold on tight and don't panic, this will get bumpy**
Dan felt the bathroom around him fall apart and everything around him disappeared into a void, the skunk boy began to scream as he felt gravity pull him into what felt like some sort of black hole pulling him in, before falling into a trance. Dan would then wake up in an unfamiliar bedroom, with the city's skyline out in the window. He was on a nice lush mattress, and the scent of lilac incense awoke him from his trance. He could see a closet full of clothes, tailored to fit his new body, what he had in his room back on earth had either an equivalent or something even more advanced than what he had before. There were a lot of gadgets on his desk, with video game posters on the walls. A holograph shows the time of day on his bed stand, Hour 6 of 24, with the name “Thorne” on it. He scratched his white hair and he once again heard the necklace.
**Welcome to Dakür! Make yourself feel at home.** Dan heard his necklace say gleefully
"Looks cool. Just one question, Who’s Thorne, and why am I in his room? Anyways, I forgot to tell you, thanks for bringing me here and making me a… Mephitid, still getting used to the names you have for animals here.”
**No need to thank me, Master, I’m just doing my job. As for the individual that is Thorne, he’s actually you. I picked the name out for you because you never gave me your name before we got here. I'll be here to help you along the way as you make your way through Dakürian society.**
"My name is, well I guess was Dan, but in all due respects, Thorne sounds like a much cooler name. I’d figure naming customs would be different here, different world and all. What about what's going on back on Earth? does my family know what happened?"
**Don't worry about that Master, I've taken care of that for you as well. I created a changeling of you that will take your spot on earth, resembling your old human form.**
Dan put on some clothes, a long-sleeved, silky shirt, and green trousers that had a hole cut out for his massive tail. He then rushed downstairs where he’d see an older Mephitid, which he guessed was a member of his family, with a similar look but taller than Dan.
“Thorne, are you okay?” He asks
Dan felt confused, why was he asking him this question?
“Of course, I am,” he answers awkwardly.
“You took a fall in the bathroom last night.” the skunk replied. “You were knocked out for a while and got your spray all over the place and Mom and Dad made me put anti-odor in there.” He opens a package of bread rolls and offers one to Dan. Dan looked over and saw a poster board, showing him, and 2 other skunks, named Dorian and Ashley. Dan would assume this was the former in the room with him.
An existential crisis hit Dan. Did something happen to the real Thorne and now he was living his life for him?
He couldn't ask his necklace anything without him creeping out his new brother.
“I’m going to go grab something, I’ll be quick.” He tells Dorian, with a noticeable worry in his voice.
“Be quick, be sure not to wake Ash up,” Dorian responded
Dan rushed up to his room. “Am I living someone else’s life for them?” What happened to the real Thorne?”
He wanted answers from that Ebony Necklace as questions swirled in the teenager’s mind.
**Calm down, Master.** the necklace attempted to assure the Mephitid. **There was no Thorne before you came here. I altered reality, created a new family for you, and put you in a role here.**
“So what? Do people notice new people being created from thin air here?” Dan said, calming down, beginning to come to terms with the fact that Thorne the Skunk was actually him.
**They don’t.** The necklace confirms to the Mephitid. **They always believed you and your family existed, which they do. That is the magic of Dakür!**
At this point, Dan is just freaked out and angered to the point where he once again tries to take off the necklace, desperately hoping everything would go back to normal.
**Taking me off isn't going to bring you back to earth here, nor does it make you a human again.**
“So now what, I’m stuck in some unfamiliar world, in an unfamiliar body, and I have no way out?” Dan pouted.
**For the time being, yes, but eventually you can return to earth once the cooldown period is finished, which is about the length of a lunar cycle in your world, what you would call a month.**
“So what happens if I end up taking you off then?”
**Nothing, you just won’t have my help in getting you acclimated to life here,** The necklace clarified.
"I'll take your benefit of the doubt then." said Dan, now Thorne, sheepishly. He packed his bag and ran back downstairs, finishing the bread roll from earlier.
“Alright Dorian, I’m ready to head out,” Thorne told his older brother.
Their parents came out of the room,
“Stay safe boys, see you soon” Their mother wished them as they headed out of the door.