"Would you like to try some samples of our…" My voice trailed off as most of the people passed by me as I try to hand out some samples for our family restaurant. I have been going around the city for part-time jobs and I should say…it's rather fun.
The other day, I saw George—my best friend, looking around the manga shop. 'I would've done the same, the sale was crazy.' I thought.
I scratched the bridge of my nose as I remembered an insignia on the inside of his sleeve…' Isn't that the space force logo?'. Maybe he's interested in joining, he's a senior now, after all, so he must be thinking about it.
"Hello, would you like to try some of our samp—" I froze in the spot as I felt my body shiver all over. I felt paralyzed.
"Young man, are you okay?" An old lady approached me, patting me on the shoulder.
With her touch, I felt my body twitch, and I replied albeit slowly and stuttered. "I-I-I a-am fine."
I felt something familiar. It was beating like a heartbeat, breathing like the wind. I know this; 'Magic?' I realized--it was when that mage guy destroyed my apartment.
It took me a lot of will to break free, and when I finally did, I was gasping for breath. My body went cold—from the tip of my fingers to my sternum, it was numb. It was then that I let go of the tray in my hands, strength was sapped away from me. I fell on the floor, clasping my stomach as my consciousness barely hung on.
'What's happening?' I thought. I knew that my family had a long line of anemic cases…but this is bad—I might actually die here.
I kept thinking—thinking of anything at this point. I don't know. Cats on an escalator. Keyboardless laptop, 'Oh wait, that's called a tablet…'.
Someone popped up in my head. Lux, the very girl I admire and love. She said that she—along with Beverly will go to Seung's residency in South Korea. 'I wish I could've tagged along.' I thought.
But then my head was suddenly filled with random and rather ominous images. A beast of leaves and moss, a giant pig-like human…elves, a ginormous tree…and a dark fortress made of what seemed like ethereal stone—it looked like it was made of stars. Around the eery fortress was an empty void— 'Space.' I thought. 'What is all this?' I asked no one in particular—nonetheless, I wanted answers.
The dark world was calling unto me. It was talking, trying to make a connection--I refused, or at least tried to. But it hang onto me; it meshed with my very being.
'Shit, I have gone insane,' I told myself, and there is some truth to it. 'Am I still passed out?' My voice sounded in my head, 'Oh right, I did pass out.'
Confusion. Mix up. What. Who. Where. How. I just couldn't make sense of what was happening, it was weirdly similar to being sleep-paralyzed. While I knew I was unconscious, I couldn't do anything about it…it-it was sort of like a nightmare, one that I would want to wake up from as soon as possible. And so, I did the only thing I could; I tried to move.
There weren't any responses initially, but little by little, I had it. It again started from the tip of my fingers. I can't open my eyes yet, but I can hear. A resounding ring, a scream with a pitch so high it felt like my eardrums were being pierced with tiny needles.
"Did he really—"
"I mean, there's no—"
"—No way!"
"I've never flown so fa—"
"His eyes are fluttering." A child's voice sounded, but the way he talked didn't match his voice.
"W-wha..?" I tried to talk, but even my jaw was weak—I couldn't close it too, so my mouth hung as I stared at two individuals. One was a kid, and the other was a grown man but young.
"You alright kid?" Asked the child, which was weird considering I'm older than him.
"Hell no." I couldn't help but be crass since I really wasn't fine. It hurts everywhere, my head was throbbing, and my vision is turning.
"Damn, I really didn't expect something like this…this is—wow." A somewhat familiar voice exclaimed, and he really did sound surprised.
'I've heard this voice somewhere.' I thought.
"Well…magic here is fundamentally different after all." Said the child, and I really couldn't help but be weirded out.
"Where am I? who…who are y-you?" Although weak and stuttering, I finally let out.
"Can't you see us?" Asked the older one, the familiar voice.
I replied, with a squint, "I can b-barely see…but I do recognize you…" I said in-between breaths.
"Beverly's brother—brothers." He revealed, and it clicked on me. That's why I felt irked when I heard it, he almost killed after all.
'But...Brothers? I thought he only had one.' I thought I remember Beverly saying that there were just two of them…well, I don't care either way. This headache is killing me.
"Then help me up," I said as I was struggling to even lift a finger. "What'd you come here for this time?" I asked as they held me up to my feet.
As I finally regained my sight, I was surprised to see that we weren't where I was when I passed out. We are on a rooftop, and the bright moon shines draped over me, tinting me and my surroundings silvery blue. 'How long was I passed out?' Usually, the sun would still be up at 7pm during summer...
"You," Said the kid--rather haughtily which annoyed me quite a bit, "We literally had to fly hundreds of miles to here." He rolled his eyes. He rolled his eyes at me.
"Well, you did not need to," I said, not budging from the blatant hostility from the kid. "--Wait, you what?" I suddenly asked.
"We flew—hundreds of miles to save your ass." Said the kid again, "You might've died if it weren't for me, kiddo."
"What?" I asked, now not holding my annoyance back. "First off, who do you think you're calling a 'kiddo'? I'm older than you"—he raised his brows at that remark— "and to save me from what? Monsters? Go home, you snobby twat."
He popped a vein on his forehead…lots of it, and from what I can tell, they were glowing a hue of gold. "This...this shitface…" He mumbled as he looked at Kolin, "Can I kill—"
"Stop it. I don't know if your new body is affecting how you think, but you need to cool down a little bit." Beverly's brother—'Kolin' I thought—calmed the angry brat.
"…and he obviously doesn't have any idea what happened." He added.
I frowned, "Well, what exactly happened, might I ask?" One second I was literally paralyzed and dying, and the next thing I know, two annoying main characters appeared before me.
"Sigh...you're well aware that I am a ma—different from…people." He said hesitantly, almost as if he was choosing his words carefully.
"I saw you fly." I simply said, not acknowledging that he's a mage or shaman-your-mom, or whatever.
"Well, that's enough. How can I say this…you're going through something…it's uh—basically you're becoming a mage now—well actually you just did, 2 hours ago." This dude isn't really good at talking huh? Why does he keep stuttering like English isn't his first lang--oh right...it isn't. Probably.
"Sorry, what?" I raised my brow, "Me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you saying that you came from another world; I didn't, and whatever bullshit this is, you have to stop it 'cause I ain't stupid." I said, walking towards the roof door until I noticed black scorched marks and missing chunks of concrete walls and floorings… that's when I realized…we weren't on a rooftop…
"We're not on a rooftop," I said, not believing my eyes. "What the…what actually happened?" I turned towards them.
"We have been telling you, and your stubborn ass is not listening! We took you into one of my buildings, laid you on a bed, and even tucked you in. Good thing the second-highest floor is always left vacant because you blew the fuck out of it—incinerated it, in fact." The kid said.
"Your building? Last I checked, this is my hotel." Said, Kolin, raising a brow in amusement.
"You get the idea," Replied the child, still arrogantly glaring at me, 'The hell is wrong with this kid?'
I couldn't help but think about what he said, if I really turned out to be like him…that's freaky. "How would I know that—" Before I could finish my question, he cut me off.
"Look, kid. We don't care. Do whatever you want, believe whatever you want, but for god sake, I know—we know you can feel it yourself. You have that—what do you call that…proprioshitcon or something. Feel it yourself. You would've died if it weren't for us…we did this for your friends—my sister and her friend, so stop acting like a damn fool." He said with a scowl as he clicked his tongue, and then they flew away, vanishing as they lift off of the ground.
"What?" I couldn't help but say. This left me not just speechless but with an empty mind. 'Is this really happening?' I thought as I looked around. Pieces of furniture were strewn about around me—feathers, wood, missing chunks of walls, and an elevator.
I pressed the elevator button and was surprised that it still worked, "I guess I'll go home for the day."