Today was the day….  the annual Anime and video convention. this is the year that they finally reveal the latest game to the Astral chronicles. I entered the convention is my latest cosplay as an Astarian knight armor, which took way too many sleepless nights to complete and trust me this cosplay took years to perfect. As I walk into the convention hall I see a poster from the first Astarian chronicles game. it showed a necromance by the name of Magistrate Cronus. The next character on the poster was a Pantherian by the name of Stella Bronzkey. She was what the game calls a gunner, even though the gun was as big as a cannon in comparison. With the ears and tail of a cat, not to mention she was very agile as a cat too. 

I must have been staring at the poster for a while, since when I looked around the once full room was now completely empty. Strange thing was that I don't remember there being a weird looking staff laying in the middle of the room… and glowing?! I have always been a curious person but this curiosity is something that will change the course of my life for the better. i touched the weird glowing staff and that's when it happened. A bright flash of light emitted from the crystal orb atop the staff and in the blink of an eye, the room I was in and everything that was around me suddenly faded and disappeared. At that moment I was floating through a vast dark void with floating dimly glowing orbs. I would be fascinated by all this if I wasn't also extremely terrified by where I was going to end up. Just as i was wondering where i was going to end up, gravity happened to choose that time to kick in and drag me to the bottom of the dimly lit void. As I fell to god knows where and when i say gravity was there i mean i was falling like i had just jumped from a large building. It was terrifying and looking back on that experience i probablly would have screamed if not for what happened next.

With a loud thud I landed on what appeared to be a hard stone floor in what looked to be some sort of creepy castle type thing. I sat up and rubbed my backside, which was sore from the landing, and took a good look around but stopped when my eyes fell upon a young man, he looked to be around my age and I'm eighteen years old. He was laying on his side on the cold stone floor… and he didn't seem to be conscious but was breathing. I knew he was breathing cause I had rushed over to him and checked myself.

                              [Whoa…] my eyes widened as I saw how handsome he was, [why is a handsome individual doing in this creepy ass place?]

i thought this but as i saw what he was wearing… black, every article of clothes he wore was black, [go figure, he's either goth or emo… maybe both.]

  his eyes fluttered open then begins to well up with tears. he is staring straight at me and he cups my cheek with his hand, "Ten years… ten long years I've dreamt of this day… at last fate has brought you back to me my beloved."

his breathing becomes labored with emotion as he pulls me into a tight embrace, "I never gave up hope that you would come back…"

I could hear my heart racing in my ear as i help him up. Yet the weirdness continues as he grabs my hand, brings it to his lip and places the most gentle kiss I've ever seen and had the privilege to experience.

I blushed slightly and say, "Umm, i think you were expecting someone else cause I've never met you before… I believe this is some sort of mistake? My name is Gwen…"

His sparkling grayish-green eyes grow wide as a blush appears on his cheeks and then he lets out a heavy sigh, "You- you're not Lilliana… oh thousand-hells how could i screw up this bad?"

I didn't know if i should comfort him or worry more about how to get home… this was an unusual experience to say the least. Can't really say that I've been transported through time and space to some weird gothic castle dungeon before.

The young man ran his hand through his chocolate brown shoulder length hair then bowed at the waist with an almost practiced flourish, "My name is Zackary James Cronus, pleasure to meet you.. even in these squalid conditions."

Wait, his last name is Cronus? Like Magistrate Cronus? I wonder…. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Magistrate Cronus… are you?"

Zackary looked at me with narrowed eyes as he looked away with… that's Cronus's signature salty glare, I would recognize that look anywhere. He sighed heavily as he led me to the window. He touched a brick, which began to glow, then looked at me.

                      "I know not where you came from but alisa should be the best bet to help us in this god forsaken times… oh, by the way, you might want to take this thing that came with you."

dangling from one of his fingers was my backpack that I always used for conventions… what really surprised me that it made the journey through a weird looking void. i grabbed my backpack and at that moment the door that was somewhere there in the creepy castle room, gave a huge boom and the door was broken into splinters…

                      "I'd hurry if i were you…"  said as he hurriedly started to shove me through some sort of shining portal like thing, "my summoning most likely attracted some unwanted attention."

Now he tells me that we are most likely in trouble, and plausibly we are not even supposed to be here. These were the thoughts in my head as I fell through the void of some weird portal-like thing… and landed with a thump on a desk full of papers. The fall was not as graceful or as soft as I would have hoped it would be. Now that I think about it, I wasn't alone in that room as was painfully obvious as a sword was soon pointed at my throat. I tensed my body in fear as I looked up at the person who was pointing a sword tip at my throat.

She was beautiful with bright red hair that was tied back partly with a ribbon that matched her outfit and brilliant green eyes that had an unmistakable feline trait to them. 

                              "Who are you?" she asked with suspicion in her tone of voice, "I have got to admit, I would never have guessed that an assassin would use a portal in such an obvious manner."

ok, this is not good, she thinks i'm here to kill her and i really just did appear magically and unannounced but i don't even know her from anywhere. This was a very strange predicament I have found myself in. I knew I had to say something to clear up this misunderstanding otherwise I'd find myself six feet under the ground.

                            "ummm- do you know a person by the name of Zackary Cronus?" it seemed to me that the name rang a bell in her memory as she heaved a heavy sigh and sheathed her sword.

Her face showed that this was not Zackary's first botched spell job and she seemed to be pretty sick of cleaning up after him. When she looks back at me she smiles gently as she offers me her hand.

                        "Many apologies, my name is Alison Bronskey and I'm a knight in the moonstone order of the city of Portmire. What might your name be?"

my face reddened at the switch from wanting to kill me to wanting to be friends, "My name is Gwen… I hope you don't mind me asking, how do you know Zackary?"

 Whatever I I was expecting, a stress filled sigh was not one of them as Alison walked over to a chair and plopped down like an angsty teenage girl, "This is so typical of Zackary! Leaving me to clean up his screw ups and to not be anywhere in sight to give an explanation as to why!"

I have to be honest when I tell you… I had no clue what was going on here. first i had a weapon pointed at my throat the next im having a casual conversation with a person from another world. this was a crazy day to say the least… and i was suppose to just show up to a convention and visit my favorite anime booth to buy more plushies for my bed. I never expected to be transported to the world of a video game series while going to a convention for said game.

Suddenly a loud knock sounded and my head swivels toward the door. Alison got up and answered the door to be faced with Zackary standing there with a look of annoyance on his face. Suddenly a loud knock sounded at the door. Alison got up with a heavy sigh as she walked over and opened the door. Standing on the other side of the door was… Zackary?! how did he get here so fast i thought but then i realized he must have taken a portal.

Alison was all but too ready to yell at him for his mistakes, "YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE MAN CHILD!"

Zackary flinched at her scolding, "I have no idea why you're yelling I only transported a lovely woman, albeit she is from another universe than ours, she poses no threat to the order of our world…"

                       "THAT IS BESIDES THE POINT!" Alison shouted then sighed in exasperation

Zackary sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, "if it's any constellation, i'm extremely sorry for disturbing your work."

Alison just sighed once more before she sat back down in the armchair, "Just do us all a favor and explain what in the seven hells you did to transport a woman across time and space to our realm?"

             Zackary scratched his cheek deep in thought as he stared at the ground, then muttered half to himself but loud enough that we could hear, "well for starters this all began with a drunken game of poker with Sage at 'The Runny Eye."

               Alison does what is called a facepalm as her hand runs down her face in an exasperated motion, as she then groans out in frustration, "I should have known when you said the words poker and sage… that this was going to be a long explanation. Also did you say this took place at the runny eye? good heavens zackary you know you can barely hold your liquor. what in the thousand hells possessed you to do such a thing?!"            

Zackary winces at her scolding, "To be completely fair I had no idea that I was going to lose this bad…"

i sat back and watched there exchange before i say, "Sooo, how exactly am i getting to my world now? It seems that that spell took quite a good chunk of your energy reservse, you are most likly in no condition to cast another huge spell like that." 

           Both Alison and Zackary give me a curriouse look then Alison said with a heavy sigh, "Well whether or not he can transport you back the fact still remains that you are a guest in our world and should at least have some decent protection against the horrors of our world."

  they both trade glances and say nearly at the same time, "Sage!"