I want to go home…
No actually I want to be home already…
It is very hot outside, so even the way home would be bothersome.
I understand, that the cities artificial weather is set to summer, so that flora and fauna won't loose their natural clock or something like that, but do they really have to make it this hot outside? At least the building is nice and chilly.
It's the last day of school and because of the rebirth-day, classes ended even earlier than usual. And still I'm sitting here and have to wait…
Rebirth-day, huh? I click my tongue.
I still can't get my head around it. A special day, that repeats every one thousand years. The day when the planet gets reset by exactly those one thousand years…
I can't understand how that works.
I know that magic exists in this world, but this is too much. And yet, everyone talks as if it's completely normal. Of course there is no one alive, who witnessed the last rebirth-day, but we got quite a lot information about it.
Maybe my line of thought is out of place because I lived in another world? Who knows…
I have to see it myself, so that I can believe it, I guess… Only a few more days.
The city is busy with preparations for that mysterious day.
And I'm just sitting here, waiting for the unknown.
A sigh escapes me.
My eyes wander around until I find a clock. In about half an hour Lumina will be here to get me.
That is actually not the reason why I'm waiting, even though I was told to do so, after the weird man approached me the other day.
No, the reason I'm waiting is, that I got called to the schools secretary office.
Apparently the headmaster wants to talk to me. That's what the nice secretary told me before she left.
…
For some reason I feel, as if I was forgotten. Due to my grandfather I am quite sensible to my surroundings, so the feeling of being in a mostly empty school is possibly correct.
At least it's just mostly empty and not entirely. Some steps outside the office are telling me, that I am indeed not alone.
Finally.
Ah, no!
The steps are way to heavy for our old headmaster.
I turn towards the door, at the same moment as it gets opened.
A tall man in a black suit stands there. I know him!
I instinctively reach for the holster at my leg.
Tch!
Of course I'm not allowed to bring a weapon to school… It's empty.
Flight it is then.
The window? I shift my weight, so I could start a sprint immediately and jump out of the open window. Sure, it's the second floor, but I should be fine if it's just that much.
But there was no chance to run.
The tall man just nods at me respectfully and then takes a step back, to let someone else enter the room first.
A young woman, who I never saw before but that looks awfully familiar.
Her very long, golden hair is very similar to that of my mother and the bright blue eyes are something I have seen quite often. Every time I look into a mirror to be precise.
She smiles a bright smile that seems to be free of any emotions.
"It is nice to finally meet you, Rell. We never met before, but I am your sister."
I knew it.
So that's the person my grandfather wants me to stay as far away from as possible. I somehow get why.
She may say it, like we have a connection, but her eyes make it clear, that she does not care about something like a family. If the eyes are a window for the soul, then this person just doesn't have a soul. Her gaze is simply cold – free from any form of emotion.
Is that even a human standing in front of me?
I don't know anything about her, apart from the fact, that she got chosen by the gods, to lead humanity after the rebirth. I have to stay calm, keep my thoughts collected and with a bit of luck, there is a chance, that I get some of the information, that my grandfather usually hides.
"It is nice indeed.", I try to match her smile, "With this heart-warming reunion, should I still address you as Solah, or can I say big si-"
"Manners, boy!" The tall man shouted, but because my sister calmly lifts a hand, he becomes silent again.
She looks at me for a moment, but there is still no real expression. "I personally don't care, but because of the proper etiquette, I would ask you to use the given title."
I nod. Right now I'm quite sure, that there is really no human left in that empty shell.
She opens her mouth once more.
"Let me ask you for your name."
Huh? Didn't you just call me by it?
The "R" was already out of my mouth, but I stopped myself from talking. Does this thing know? As a chosen one she should be in contact with a god, so is it possible? I become Irritated. "Marco."
The emotionless smile vanishes and her face turns into a mask. "I see, thank you for being honest. You pass."
I pass? For what?
Something is strange and the urgent feeling to get away returns.
The woman closes her eyes for a moment and when she opens them, they are as golden as her hair. At the same time a ring of light – a halo – appears above her head. Within a moment, the cold mask is broken, as she looks at me with a gentle smile.
All hairs on my body stand up and even though there is a voice in my mind that screams at me to run away, my muscles won't move at all. The moment she opened her golden eyes, a sickening pressure floods the room.
Is this how drowning feels?
My consciousness begins to dim.
"Breathing, boy."
The tall man's voice sounds forced and at the edge of my fading consciousness, I notice that he himself is helplessly leaning against the doorframe so he wont collapse.
If breathing was that easy, then I would do it, you idiot. I feel like that time when I didn't dodge my grandfathers kick fast enough in training. All the air was pressed out of my lungs and my completely numb body was collapsing back then. At that time he just called me weak, while everything went black.
"Ha!" A single laugh escaped me, when I thought about this and immediately my body started to greedily suck in air out of reflex.
The dimming world became bright and colourful again, even though nothing had changed. With fresh air in my lungs, the pressure lost slightly in intensity. It's still nauseating, but not unbearable anymore.
I start to breathe heavy. Better this than collapsing.
The woman's eyes got wide for a moment and an amused chuckle escaped her lips. "You show promise, traveller of worlds – no, Rell – so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Quariel and I found my calling in helping you poor, fragile humans."
What the…?!
I know that name. Everyone knows it!
Even a small child has already heard it dozens of time from fairytales and lullabies.
Cold sweat is running down my back.
Quariel, the goddess of water and harvest, who protects mankind since the dawn of humanity.
"This is… hard to believe." Completely giving up the idea of sounding casual, I clench my teeth and push out the words.
She grins. "You don't need to believe me, but your body already recognizes it, right? I am just here because there was the small hint of promise in you, thus I invite you to the feast of champions."
I am dumbfounded for a moment.
Another name that I had heard in stories before. The so called feast is actually a gathering, that happens twice every millennium. Once shortly before the rebirth-day, to prepare for the change and once a few years afterwards, to set mankind's new course. According to the fairytales, it is hosted by the holy gods, to ensure our survival.
Of course this could be a trap, but everyone who creates such a nauseating pressure just by existing, shouldn't have the need to lie. Whatever they want, it would always be easy to accomplish with force.
I force myself to a single nod.
She smiles.
Huh?
The pressure is gone from one moment to the next and with it her halo just vanished, too. There are no golden eyes and instead it's the emotionless blue, that looks down on me once more.
Wait… the office is gone too.
I look around in bewilderment. I've never seen this place before.
We are definitely not in the school. This place wouldn't fit there. There is a pillar behind me, so I take a step back. With my back secured, I observe the situation.
Currently I am in a giant, bright and very luxury looking hall. Confirming my surroundings, the word "ballroom" seems to be more fitting. The ground and some supporting pillars are made out of white marble with golden accents. There are no windows and instead the walls are systematically covered with golden and silver coloured curtains.
And there is a lot of people. Roughly estimated I would say around 300, but the place is vast enough to easily hold double the number. I let my gaze wander once more.
Some are at the long tables near the walls, that are loaded with different kinds of food and some others leaning on walls or pillars to observe the room like I do, but most of them are gathered in small groups around the standing-tables that are spread all around the hall.
There are also about two dozen, small creatures in butler- and maid-uniforms, walking around with plates full of drinks and snacks. They are all somewhat humanoid, but with different core features. I know that the mostly green ones are goblins. I heard that some countries employ them for minor labour. The ones who look like anthropomorphic cats are probably Nayka, who I thought where extinct and I actually have no idea who or what the purple ones are.
"I have duties to attend to.", my sister had walked up to me, while I was looking around. "If you want to follow me, you are welcome, but think before speaking. You are free to go around by yourself, but hostility, no matter in what form, is prohibited. The event will last for three days and two nights, when you are tired, talk to the staff."
I look at her in confusion, as she just walks away after the brief explanation. The tall man gives me a wry smile, just mutters "Welcome to the feast of champions." and follows her.
Should I follow them? No, not now. I feel perplexed. As if someone just slapped me without an explanation.
What am I supposed to do here?!
Sure, this event is an opportunity to exchange information and plan for the unknown future, but I am just a kid. Why am I invited and then left alone, as if I now should know what to do?
Haa~!
I shake my head for a moment.
Okay, keep calm.
My body is well trained and will even get stronger as I grow, I can use magic as much, as I need and I sadly confirmed, that there is no level or skill in this world, so what I should now get as much as possible is information. The situation is weird and unexpected, but I will use it and seize every opportunity that presents itself. I wasn't called the unbeatable boss for no reason; planning ahead is most of the game.
I look around once more.
There are a few people that I know from the news. Some famous politicians, even the head of security from the Thyman-continent, a few well known faces from the Heroes Party and… I shift my gaze to a table about 7 meters to my left, where my sister is talking to some people, including the Hero; Anna Vrega.
Talking to her, or most likely just listening in on their conversation, would be quite interesting, so I take a step towards that table. But I stop immediately.
There is a young man with nicely tanned skin and pink dyed hair in their group, who directly stares at me for a moment. He then very slowly shakes his head.
I am confused once again.
Am I not welcome there or is it better for me to not join them at the moment? The young man's look gives me a queasy feeling and I just turn around to explore the other direction. I have three days, so there will be another chance.
…
The food is delicious and the music very relaxing. Without the serious conversations here and there, this would be quite enjoyable. Sadly there are not that many topics, that really pique my interest.
I am a bit surprised, that no one treats me like a child, when I get close or try to join their conversations. Everyone introduces themselves, even asks for my name and if I like, I get a brief summary of the topic, so that I could share my thoughts. It took some time until I noticed, but maybe it was too obvious.
This is the feast of champions.
No one is here without a good reason, so of course I will get taken serious, even if I am technically just a kid.
But to be honest, most of the discussions are on a larger scale that I could have any use for.
As an example, I had just left a heated discussion between a very old man, a very flamboyant looking guy and a tall, efficient seeming woman, who talked about cities that existed before the first rebirth-day and would be great bases at the beginning, because there should be a lot of processed resources after the world gets set back. Interesting indeed, but not for me.
I even tried to talk to the non human staff, who are actually even smaller than me, but as long as it's not about the meals, drinks or a rest, they will just smile and return to their work.
As I am not tired yet, I just leisurely walk around with some juice in my hand, listening, if I find a good topic and peeking towards a certain table every now and then, to see, if I get a chance to talk to Anna Vrega.
My feet brought me towards a small space in the big hall, that I actually avoided until now.
The space is fenced off with some soft looking, red cord and there is not much in it, just a few white pillows and a door leading who knows where.
There are actually quite a few doors and every now and then the little butlers and maids are leading people out or back in. Of course the pillows look very comfy, but there are some other nice places to sit down all around the festive hall, so there was no need to have this area fenced off.
When I was curious about it, about an hour ago and got too close to the cord, a black furred Butler-Nayka with big, yellow eyes very politely asked me to not cross the cord, so of course I didn't.
The area stayed empty for a while, but when I didn't look for some time and then checked it out again, there where people in it. The clothing they wear is quite odd for this world, because I know it from some games. It was real clothing in my old world actually, but I never saw the real thing, so games are my only reference here… but still, those are Kimono, right? Very luxurious looking ones on top of that.
When I asked someone about those clothes, I got told, that apparently people from the western island are wearing similar stuff. But still; this is too much for a coincidence.
Like with Anna's table, I was also looking to the fenced off area every now and then.
Only three people seem to be allowed there.
The first is a quite young man with neatly combed, bright white hair and a small beard in the same colour. Because of his red eyes I get reminded of an albino bunny for some reason.
The man leaves and enters the fenced off area quite often. He mostly walks around the hall, talks to people or orders the staff around. I assume that he is one of the hosts for this event.
The other two are the only children here next to me.
One is a very pretty girl with curly black hair and a face, that reminds me of a perfectly made doll. She too leaves the area every now and then, but not for long. It's also hard to keep track of her, so that I couldn't even try to talk to her.
The other one is… a boy?
I am not sure, but the kid is very skinny, looks a bit sick and tired and also has black hair. The kid sits on the pillows most of the time, but on the rare moment that he stands up, I noticed that he is even slightly smaller than the butlers and maids.
Right now the children are sitting on the pillows while playing cards. Of course I get closer, because any kind of game is welcome to me.
The girl seems very enthusiastic and reacts to every move with her cheery voice, while the small boy gives off the impression of someone who doesn't want to be here. He lifts his head and looks at me with his heterochromic eyes, one purple and the other in a could, ice blue colour.
I stop my approach, as those tired eyes glare at me.
I just wanted to play too, you know? No need to be so much on the defense…
The girl turns around, following her companions gaze and just waves at me. So am I now welcome to them or not?
With all these intellectuals and highly professional minds in a room, the two of them are hardest to understand for me.