Months before that rather alluring yet intimidating event occurred, I was just a normal student doing my best in life. There was nothing special about me, I wasn't particularly popular, nor was I a loner. I wasn't smart but I also wasn't dumb. I was decently attractive but not enough to make me stand out, my dark black locks contrasted by sea green eyes with a face that screamed neither masculine or feminine but simply just a nice mix of both. I was fit, being a part of track and field required as much, but I wasn't ripped. I was a completely normal student, I had a group of friends, crushes, and enemies but overall, I was happy and content with my life. And this friday was just like any friday in my life, my classes had been normal, the pop quiz in my four period had almost ruined my mood but luckily I passed, and I was walking towards the lockerroom to get ready for my after school track and field practice.
"Yo Caesar!" A masculine voice broke through the relative silence around me. I turned towards the voice that called my name, recognizing the face of the man who spoke. A smile broke out on my face, the man who spoke was my best friend, and a fellow athlete, Gordon.
"Yo!" I responded, raising a hand in greeting. He walked forward with a smirk on his face and we grabbed hands before pulling into a hug with our hands locked between us, a bro hug.
"Man am I dreading today's practice, I'm still sore from Wednesday." He complained to me. It wasn't a real complaint, as if he really didn't want to go he could have just skipped, but still I chuckled.
"Hey, if you skip you won't be able to see Jasmine." I wiggled my eyebrows towards him as I teased him. Jasmine was the girl on the track and field club that Gordon was crushing on hard. And every chance I got I would tease him about it because she was way out of his league. Jasmine was a beauty, even I, who wasn't crushing on her, had to admit she was gorgeous. She had long blonde hair and hazel eyes that glinted with innocence and curiosity when she spoke, but changed to focus and commitment as she began running the track. Her proportions weren't anything to scoff at either, as her commitment towards track and field left her with a well developed bottom side and a decently sized topside that bounced slightly as she ran.
I couldn't blame Gordon for crushing on her, many other guys did as well, but for some reason I never did. I was able to admire her beauty, and picture what may be under her clothes, but I never felt anything akin to love, only appreciation. In fact, the last time I remember having a crush was in middle school. For some reason, I haven't had feelings for any girls since then.
Gordon himself wasn't bad looking, his brown hair and brown eyes nicely complimented his masculine face, but he wasn't anywhere near the beauty that Jasmine exuded, and I was the first to let him know this. After all, what are best friends for if not insults. He threw a light punch at my shoulder at my teasing.
"Go fuck yourself." He said with a smile and light chuckle. We continued to talk as we dressed for the practice, when something started to glow below me. Gordon and I both looked downwards in confusion as the light grew brighter and brighter.
"... The fuck?" Gordon muttered in confusion. I was the same, after all directly below me was a complicated circle with many lines that was still growing in both size and illumination. We both quickly began to shield our eyes, and heard a scream from the girl's locker room before the white light overtook us and everything went quiet.
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When I finally was able to open my eyes, my surroundings had changed significantly. Instead of the sweaty, drab interior of the men's locker room, it was a pristine white hall adorned by what seemed to be marble pillars and stained glass of figures that I didn't recognize. The ceiling was covered in paintings of a scene that I had never seen before. A woman with sparkling white wings spread food and teachings onto the land below her, and the people worshiped her for it. That's what the painting depicted, but I couldn't think of a religion based around a female deity.
I realized I was lying down, which was weird as I had been standing just before the light swallowed me, but I suppose it's not the weirdest part about this scenario, considering that I was in an entirely different place. I sat up and looked around, following the pillars from the ceiling down to the floor as they continued to shine in splendor. It really was a church, there was no doubt in my mind about that. A statue of the woman with wings depicted on the ceiling stood at the end of the hall, with an altar for offerings at her feet. There were even prayer mats and benches neatly aligned in rows, although they all stood empty right now.
I slowly began to sit up, continuing to take in my surroundings as I did so. As I did, I realized I was not alone in the room. There were nine other people around me, two guys and the rest girls, also looking around just as confused as me. I quickly checked to see if I knew any of them, and realized that I knew everyone around me. They were all students in my school, one of them was even Jasmine, the girl I was just talking to Gordon about, but there was no Gordon to be seen.
However there were not just those nine students in this hall, there were figures clad in holy robes watching us from below the statue. A few thoughts crossed my mind when I saw those clergymen, but the most prevalent one was simply, What is going on?
My confusion about my new surroundings was wearing off, but I still couldn't understand the circumstances. Had my surroundings been dark and dreary I might have thought I'd been kidnapped, but the pure white building and smiling clergy around me made me feel like that wasn't the case. So instead of panicking, I simply stood up and asked.
"Um, hello?" I asked with a slightly confused but friendly tone. The clergymen turned towards me as I spoke, and I got a better view on them. There were around a dozen, most of which had white and gold robes, with an even mix of men and women. However there were two who stood out among the dozen, a man and a woman, both of which wore different outfits from the rest. Their outfits were mostly gold, adorned with black in order to make the gold pop out better. The man spoke first, addressing my greeting.
"Hello, brave hero." His voice was deep and husky, but with a soft undertone. For some reason it made me feel at ease. I smiled and began to walk closer to him. I didn't quite understand the 'hero' part, but it was clear that that was addressed to me.
"Um, can I ask why I'm here? And how, because just a second ago I was in a locker room getting ready for track so I'm a bit lost." I asked the most important thing I could think of. He nodded slightly and his eyes shone with excitement and curiosity. The woman next to him also nodded towards me. Her smile was enrapturing, her glistening white teeth contrasted against her perfect pink lips. Her purple eyes shone with intelligence and kindness, and her purple hair draped around her shoulders. She was beautiful, and I found myself looking at her more than the man next to her.
"Of course, I'm sure the situation is very confusing for all of you, I will explain so how about you all gather around me for a moment." He motioned towards the other students who had stood up while we were talking and were looking around in wonder and confusion. The students quickly moved forwards, eager to hear the explanation behind the sudden shift in scenery.
"Good, now I am Cardinal James, and beside me is Cardinal Hera." He gestured towards the beauty that I had been admiring next to him. "We are humble priests of the Holy Goddess, as are those behind me." The people in gold and white all bowed at his mention. "Now as for how you are here, it is simple and complex at the same time. You are here thanks to the call of the Holy Goddess. She called you here in our time of need in order to become the force that saves our planet from disaster." His words confused and scared me, but I tried to keep a cool head.
"So this isn't earth?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around the situation. The Cardinal shook his head, his expression slightly pitying, slightly understanding.
"No, this planet is called Urabatos, it is several dimensions away from your 'Earth' according to the Holy Goddess." I closed my eyes in thought. So if this isn't earth, does that mean we've been sent to another world? Isn't this straight out of an anime?
"U-um, can we return to Earth?" A quiet, stuttering, feminine voice broke my thought process. I turned to look at the speaker, and instantly recognized who it was. Her name was Aliya and she was a gorgeous woman. With sandy blonde hair and big hazel eyes to match with a perfectly shaped nose and mouth, she was a girl I constantly ogled in any class we shared. Not to mention the two mountains that threatened to burst through her shirt at any moment.
"Unfortunately, no." The one who spoke this time was the woman, Hera, her voice was beautiful like the whistling of wind chimes, and just as calming. "The Holy Goddess was only able to bring you here because of the circumstances, but she used up all of her power for a while to do so. It will be a while before she can send you back. I'm sorry." She finished with a bow of apology towards Aliya. Aliya quickly shook her hands in front of her in fluster and told Hera that it wasn't her fault.
"Wait." Something confused me by the way they've been talking. "Um, can you guys communicate with the Goddess?" The way they spoke made it seem like they had a direct line to the Goddess that they could speak through at any time.
"Holy Goddess." Cardinal James corrected. "Don't forget the Holy, okay?" His eyes held a strange amount of force as he spoke, enough for me to apologize quickly under his pressured gaze. "And you are correct, the Holy Goddess is not a deity that is unreachable, She has a manifestation on Urabatos. Her manifestation is currently sleeping because of the exhaustion from summoning you ten, but you will be able to speak with Her soon."
"Wait wait wait," A masculine voice called out from the back. I recognized the voice, and didn't even need to turn to see who it was. Cameron, the biggest bully on campus. He was a football player, well, one of the football team's benchwarmers, and because of this he acted like he was better than everyone else. The only time he didn't was when there was a hot girl he wanted to impress, a real casanova. "Y'all really believe this crap? I mean it's obvious we're on some prank show." He smirked in confidence. The other students murmured in agreement, it did make the most sense, after all transporting to another world didn't seem plausible. But for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling that Cardinal James was telling the truth.
"The Holy Goddess figured that some of you would be skeptical. Allow me to prove it to you." Cardinal James raised his hand to chest height with his palm facing upwards as he spoke. "Holy Light." An orb of pure light appeared above his palm, floating in the air. It slowly rose higher and higher, before he suddenly thrust his hand down. "Light Bomb."