A group of 8 people were waiting in this dark room. Like where I was before, the room has a neon-like floor. But the difference is there is a white door with strange writing on it.
Five people come from the earth, an Earthian. I recognize some of them.
The rest look like a group of cosplayers. They have fantasy-like clothes and some of them have strange accessories like horns and gills.
But wait a minute.
I thought little of this before, but Virya is not a human. So if that's the case, it's possible that those are not an accessory at all.
It means that they are not human.
How is it possible that a human can have a non-human doppelganger?
My head spins because of this detailed information.
There are so many questions I haven't asked, and if those questions were about to be answered, I'm afraid it would take too much time.
"We must hurry. I'll introduce everyone here and explain our situation quickly."
Ava gives an announcement. "My name is Avaire, and this is Krisan."
The Earthians ignored her. Probably the only thing they think about is "How do we get out of here".
After that, Virya introduced herself confidently.
"I am Virya, and my lovely twin here is Teresa. Say hi, Teresa!"
A woman in a black suit rolled her eyes. She has short, curly red hair, and she looks like a career woman who works in a powerful company. Teresa quietly mumbled, "Shut up."
Next, a short stature girl with two-tailed platinum blonde hair speaks in a flat tone.
"My name is Eva. Clara is mine."
She has long, pointy ears. She's an elf.
She pointed out a long-haired girl. I recognize her because she's a famous child model on Earth. Clara wears trendy clothes; as expected, she was "kidnapped" after finishing the photo session. After Eva points at her, Clara was angry and shouted.
"Hey! I am not just 'Clara'! My name is Clarissa Maya- mmmph!" before Clara could declare her ridiculously long name, Teresa quickly shut her mouth with her hand. Then Clara got Teresa's hand off her mouth and shout again.
"Ma-na-ger! Why do you always interrupt my important announcement?! I will tell my daddy that you annoy me again!"
Teresa's serious face didn't change even after seeing Clara's pout. She scolds Clara, "Your daddy? Try it if you can. He won't hear you. Don't forget these people kidnapped us to this unknown place. Do you think your connection applies here?"
Clara's face becomes redder and redder. Then a tear flows.
"YOU MEANIE! I HATE YOU!"
Clara cries and runs away from us.
"Teresa, she's just a child. Don't be too hard on her." Virya advises Teresa. Eva sighs and goes to calm Clara.
Teresa scoffs and falls into silence for a moment.
"Ahem." Ava interrupts. "Please continue."
The person who came next was someone I knew. The memory of him is deeply marked in my heart. I cannot forget him, because he is my childhood friend, Francis.
When I'm down, he's always there to comfort me. But he left to pursue his dream of knowledge.
His doppelganger has a pair of black horns on his forehead and some light green scales appear on his neck. His amber eyes feel so different than Francis's, I immediately thought that he's not human. The clothing that he wears shows his abs. His abs are not too bulky; it just compliments his slender body. Overall, his appearance is not too different from Francis's. They really look like twins more than anyone else here.
"Heya! I'm Eon and Francis is me! Ahahahahaha!"
They laugh in harmony. Francis has a playful personality, and I think that personality is also shown in Eon. In a normal situation, they will be the infamous trickster. I could imagine they go around and break everything, and then they will just laugh about it.
"Oh hey, Krisan!" Francis waves at me.
A gangster-looking boy came and stole the spotlight. He has black undercut hair and wears a worn-out school uniform that shows his tanned skin. I could see that he spends most of the time outside under the sunlight. Many tattoos are imprinted on his body, and his ears are pierced. He shows us an arrogant smile like he's at the top of the world.
"Oh? It's my turn already? Name is Lucas. Nice to meetcha-"
"How impudent. You must learn not to reproach the words of others. Has your father taught you manners?"
Lucas was interrupted by a man behind him and swears. Is it his doppelganger? But they look so different. The man was wearing a navy magician robe and held a grimoire in his right hand. His black, long hair has a bluish tone to it. He wears a pair of glasses, and a thin layer of fish scales is seen in his skin. This man looks so dignified; meanwhile, Lucas looks like a delinquent.
"Greetings, my name is Aquila. Now our introduction is finished, don't you think it is your turn already Kai?"
Aquila glanced at Kai.
"Man, this is embarrassing…."
Kai scratches his head.
"My name is Kairen. And this is, uh, my doppelganger…."
"...Remi…." The boy muttered.
He points out to a frail-looking boy, who sulks alone separated from others. His red hair looks messy with bangs covering his thick pair of glasses. He wears a high school uniform, similar to Lucas. I suppose they go to the same school. But upon a clear look, I can see his skin has some bruises on it. Was he bullied in school?
Afterward, Ava began to explain why she and her crew kidnapped us.
"First of all. I want to say that I'm very sorry for bring you here. We have no other choice." Ava bows her head. The apology didn't work, of course. There's no sane person that would accept an apology from someone who kidnapped you to this place. Plus, there are threats from monsters everywhere.
"It's…. Okay…. I guess."
Unexpectedly, Remi accepts it. If my assumption about him is correct, then this event means everything for him. A victim of bullying wants to run from reality, they are afraid of meeting people, they are afraid of being bullied. They don't want to trust people, afraid that the people they trust will betray. Worst cases are, bullying can make someone loses their hope, loses their purpose in life.
But here, although they bring us here without any consent, they didn't bring any harm to us. Instead, they protect us with all of their strength, like when I was attacked by Skia and Ava use all of her energy to saving me. And all of the fantasy-themed things here may be what Remi looking for. This is the only chance for Remi to escape from the hellish reality he lives on.
On the other hand, Teresa and Clara didn't seem to be happy. Especially Teresa. She blatantly shows contempt to Ava's crew. Although she sounds mean when scolds Clara, I know that she cares for her. It's not good to spread personal information openly to strangers.
Francis is indifferent to the current situation, and Lucas continuously argues with Aquila. They didn't seem to care much about anything.
But what about me?
Then Ava continues her explanation. "From what you already know, there's an existence called Skia."
She summons a blue cube in the air, and the cube shows us a holographic image of Skia. From the image, it can be seen that Skia's form is not always the same as what I encountered, but several forms also exist.
"Skia is a creature made from negative energy, who comes from negative emotion. Usually, they are docile, harmless, and mild, but recently they begin to rampage in our world."
A holographic video shows about Skia attacks a human. The scenery…. I have never seen that before.
"We have tried to subjugate them. We are the most powerful team in our world you see, but… we failed."
I notice a hint of sadness on Ava's face. Did something happen?
"Due to our failure, we can't continue. An irreversible mistake makes us... un-worthy…."
She hesitated to say that last word. A tear flows in her eyes.
"We have despaired to find a way to suppress them. Then, we have an idea."
Ava stops to wipe her tears, then goes on with more information.
"With time and space technology we have, we know about the existence of Paraeia and the 11 worlds a long time ago. Your world is parallel with our world. And in addition to our theory of souls, we conclude that the only one that can help us is you. Residents from the 3rd world."
The 3rd world. Earth.
A moment of silence occurs in this room. Simultaneously, everyone looked at her. It's hard to read everyone's face, but they have one in common. They are curious.
"Why choose us? We don't have any superpower." Teresa speaks first.
"Because you are us," Virya replied. "Inside of you, there's an enormous amount of potential derived from our power. With training, you will be stronger than us."
"What training?" Lucas asks her.
"The training will depend on whether you accept our guidance or not. A good effort will produce good results." Aquila answered his question.
"We will be more than happy to provide you with all training you need." Kairen implied.
"C-can we start now?" Remi asked in a small voice.
"Not yet. Actually, you can choose to remain here, or go back to your world. If you want to go back, we'll escort you back-" Ava stops. "Oh no. The Skias are here!"
"They have surrounded us, Ava!" When we were talking, Eon secretly fly away and scout the area.
"What should we do know? I'm afraid…." Clara sobs and hugs Teresa.
Ava summons her sword, Kairen prepares his fist, Virya took out her whip, Eon with his dagger, Eva summons her staff, and Aquila holds his grimoire. The six of them are ready to fight.
I and the other stands behind them.
Then a figure came from the darkness. He is a boy with pale skin and medium greyish hair. His heterochromia eyes look menacing. He wears a black suit with shadows creeping in it. Behind him, a horde of Skia appears.
"Oh? Look what we have here." He said in a childish voice. "The taboo breaker, Avaire Kyrstiva, and her exiled crew."
"Uranis." Ava was furious.
"Ahahahahaha! So you do remember me, dear?" Uranis snapped his finger. Then the Skias charge at us. A psychopathic smile appears on his face.
"Let's play a little bit, shall we?"