"Anthony." A voice rung out. It was a mysterious and soothing, yet jarring and intimidating voice. It was calling to Anthony—beckoning him to follow it. Then, a vibrant and beautiful scene appeared in Anthony's vision. It was of a majestic and deep forest that was filled with magical arrays of streaming lights and the beams of the sun shooting through the thick branches of the trees. There were amazing creatures and animals posing in the subtle glow of the sun.
"Come home," said the mysterious voice, "come back."
It was then that the relaxing and majestic scene changed, and turned to anguish. Abysmal darkness spread through the woods and the once peaceful animals fell to the ground. The sparks of light that were vibrant and colorful turned into dark shades of crimson red, drowning the world in blood.
---
"Anthony!" shouted a familiar voice.
Anthony's head jerked to attention and found himself getting yelled at by his chemistry and sciences teacher, Professor McClenan.
"Are you okay there, Anthony?" asked Professor McClenan, "Do you need to go to the nurse?"
"Ah, no thanks Professor McClenan, I'm fine," replied Anthony.
Anthony was always a very attentive and studious student, so he never really dozed off in class like that. Nothing was strange about today either, discounting the dream he just had. Anthony thought that it was quite odd for him to be sleeping in his favorite class, but didn't think much more about it.
"Good," said McClenan, "don't start sleeping in my class."
Eli, Anthony's best friend, tapped him on the shoulder and asked him what was wrong with him today in a joking manner. Being a little upset from getting yelled at, Anthony quickly shut him up and started paying attention again.
Professor McClenan walked to the front of the room and started writing on the chalkboard. It was then that Anthony noticed how quiet it was. There was no ambient noises materializing in the classroom, and the familiar noise of the air conditioner was also nowhere to be heard. Nobody was talking, not even the mischievous group of freshman in the back of the class. Out of this peculiar silence, an odd noise was becoming more and more apparent. It was originally very faint an subtle, but then it started getting louder and louder, eventually making everyone panic and cover their ears in pain.
"What's going on!?" said one of the quiet kids. His face was scrunched up and was complaining about how his head was pounding from the noise.
"I'm not sure, this noise hurts so much!" replied another student. The noises were getting louder and louder until it eventually paused for a second.
"Finally," gasped Eli in relief. He turned and looked at Anthony, "Hey, do you think it's over?"
Anthony was about to reply, but he was suddenly thrust into an intense stupor. Lights were flashing through his eyes, and it was as if he was paralyzed.
"Anthony?" Eli noticed his bizarre state and tried calling out to him, "Hey, are you alri—"
He was cut off before he could continue. The walls and floor, everything around them flashed a subtle purple color. They started shattering and disintegrating, and eventually all of the students and Professor McClenan were left in a dark void.
Professor McClenan gathered all of his students over to him, trying to keep everyone together.
"Professor McClenan, wh-what's going on!?" shouted a girl with a panicked voice. This was Marissa. She was very active in class and had many friends. She enjoyed helping others with homework and schoolwork and was always very optimistic, but it was understandable for someone who, even though is the definition of the word optimism, to be afraid in these circumstances.
"I'm not sure," replied McClenan, "Everyone! Stay close to me, it's going to be okay."
It was then that he realized that there was one student who was absent from their group.
"Anthony!" called out Professor McClenan, "get over here!"
While everybody else was panicking and calling out for help, Anthony was the only who was "calm".
He didn't budge and seemed to be staring into the void. As Professor McClenan shouted out to him, Eli also noticed Anthony who was unmoving. He also tried to get him to come over, but Anthony was as still as a statue.
Perhaps Anthony would have run over if he could, but unfortunately, he couldn't hear anything they were saying. Vibrant colors were flashing in Anthony's eyes, revolving around his pupils at a quick rate. They were forming different shapes, squares, triangles, circles, and more. That same voice from his dream earlier was ringing in his ears, begging him to give in, and come home.
"I'm here," Anthony muttered under his breath.
"Anthony! Stop messing around, g—" Professor McClenan tried shouting towards Anthony again, but was too late.
The space around his group started warping, creating a tunnel, or a pathway rather, that seemed infinite. It was dull and colorless and was sucking them through it.
Anthony finally came to his senses and saw them disappearing into the folding void and tried running to them, but it was no use. He couldn't move. It was as if there was some force compelling him to stay where he was. Then, the space around him started warping and changing, and he was brought into his own pathway. This one was very different from the one his group of classmates vanished into. It was brightly lit with the colors that flashed through his eyes, and was brimming with a myriad of magical essences and lights. He was brought into it like a mother receiving her newborn child, very gently. He lost consciousness, and drifted along, into the void.
---
Everything was dark and quiet. Anthony's mind awoke in the still atmosphere. He couldn't see or move anything and felt a little...different. He couldn't quite describe it, and was recalling the recent events that had happened to him in his dream, and in the classroom. His head was brimming with questions and was craving answers.
"What is happening…" Anthony was very confused.
He was a completely normal kid and had led an average life before he came here. He figured that he could still be dreaming, but was doubtful. Everything was so realistic and vivid, so much so that it could not have been a dream.
"Where am I right now," thought Anthony, "I can't see…I can't move…"
While Anthony was immersed in his deep contemplation the still darkness was disrupted by the sudden emergence of a small, radiating stone. As it drew closer, the light reached Anthony's body.
"What the...what is this!?" Anthony was shocked by the figure appearing in his view.
It was not his old body. What was illuminated by the light was the shape of what appeared to be a reptile. It was very muscular, and scales coated it. Claws and wings protruded out of his body that was hunched over in a ball. The stone was right in front of this strange figure, and the light that was reflecting off of it condensed and formed the shape of a human, Anthony's old body. This was his spiritual body, it represented his soul and his familiar form. The stone passed through the reptile and up to Anthony and merged into where his abdomen would be.
Anthony's body was met with excruciating and terrible pain. It felt as if he was being stabbed over and over again, as if his soul was being torn in half and then rebuilt, repeating itself over and over again. It was unbearable, and Anthony was screaming internally. This was the worst pain he had ever felt and almost drove him insane.
After what seems like hours had passed, the intense trauma had subsided. His tribulation was over. He felt a sense of fullness in his stomach and didn't even have time to comprehend what had just happened when chimes rung out in his head. A vibrant window appeared in his mind, baffling him.
[[Congratulations on the host's successful merging with the Gaia Stone. Initiating the birthing sequence in 5 minutes.
Feel free to ask the system any questions the host may have.]]
"What… What is this?" Anthony had a hard time understanding what was happening. He had used up almost all of his mental power trying to withstand the pain earlier. He saw the second part of the message and felt relieved, he had been nothing but confused the entire time, from his dream earlier to now. Anthony, by nature, is very curious, and so immediately started unloading his thoughts through gritted teeth.
"Alright, uh, where am I?" he asked.
[[Currently, the host is inside of an egg in the Birkwoods Forest.]]
"An egg?" Thought Anthony. It was only now that he realized the small, claustrophobic space he was in. Anthony had never heard of the Birkwoods Forest before, and so he asked the system again where the Birkwoods forest was.
[[The Birkwoods Forest is on the continent of Gaia, a world alien from the host's old planet.]]
This response only put many more questions into Anthony's head, but he decided to go back to his original questions and ask what had happened in the classroom. The system never answered him, and instead revealed a disappointing prompt.
[[System Authority is insufficient to access this information.]]
"Alright then…" thought Anthony. He was little confused about what it meant by the authority level and was frustrated at the same time. He decided to try again.
"Where are my classmates, then," he inquired, "what happened to them?"
[[The humans who were transferred along with the host are also on Gaia, but in the host's current state they would most likely not recognize the host.]]
Anthony thought back to the scene of the reptile-like figure that was illuminated by the Gaia stone. He wondered to himself if that form was him. Before Anthony could ask more questions, he was interrupted by the system once more.
[[Birthing sequence initiated, waking the host's body.]]
The blue glow surrounding Anthony's spiritual body was fused into the reptile's physical body, and so was his consciousness. He saw through the reptiles eyes, but as it was very dark he couldn't see anything yet. Then, he saw cracks of light spread across the walls around him, and a blindingly bright light flooded his vision.
When his eyes adapted to the light, he was met with a very odd sight. His vision was very strange. The way his new body's eyes worked was that he saw everything in patterns of light. The colors that he would normally see were replaced with currents of magical essence, and he could see it flowing through the air. In the broad sky was the sun, and enormous amounts of magical essence were being emitted from it, and made it hard to look directly at. Even though it was very different from what he was used to seeing as a human, it still felt quite normal to him. Another message flashed into his view.
[[The host has evolved from "Fetal Dragon Egg" to "Variant Dragon Hatchling".]]
Anthony noticed this and had some questions, but hesitated for a second as he was stunned by his surroundings.
"Just what have I gotten myself into?" he reflected.