…
Kai's eyes opened, the pain he was feeling from the wound had subsided.
Before passing out there was the strong feeling of desperation, but all of that had evaporated from him as soon as he had opened his eyes.
He turned to look around and absorb his current situation.
He was stood in nothingness.
A strange calm had washed over him. For as far as he could see it was just... A plane of nothingness.
He saw no end in sight. Kai looked down at himself, his hands, his clothes, and reached up to feel his hair.
It was his actual body.
Kai's hands dropped back down to his sides. He knew this was a dream. It was strange though, he had never been aware that he was dreaming before now. He never even remembered his dreams when he woke up.
"Hello?" His voice spoke out into the endless nothingness. He was stood on nothing, could see nothing, and felt nothing apart from the sense of relaxation.
Then suddenly, the strange sense of peace was broken.
A booming voice seemed to come from all around.
"Ah, Mortal! About time... I have been waiting to see you again!" The voice had a weird pressure to it, like it belonged to something with incredible power and authority.
He felt suddenly very fearful upon hearing the loud voice.
"I will come to you now." The unknown person said suddenly.
"W-wait! Who are you!?" Kai felt intense pressure gathering in front of him.
"Who am I? I am a supreme being!" The pressure subsided without warning. In front of him, a human form materialised.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes.
The person in front of him…?
It was the old lady!
The very same woman who had warned him not to enter the abandoned house.
"Hello, little boy." She greeted him, crossing her arms with a cocky smile.
"Huh…!? Why are you here?"
She stepped closer to him. "I am simply here to explain your situation! Why so scared of this… 'old hag,' hmm?"
She...knew he had thought that?
"I-…what are you!?" He yelled and his voice cracked.
"I already told you. A Supreme being! A God! A Diety! Now, listen to me. I will explain your situation as best as I can, and hope a puny human like you can understand what I'm trying to convey. Okay?"
Kai snapped out of his frozen state and nodded vigorously.
"Good. So first of all, you are here to effectively save this world."
His jaw dropped. Him?
No way, he must've just fallen through those stairs in the abandoned house and hit his head…and somehow come up with a weird and elaborate dream…
Something told him that all of this was very much real, and he really did come to another world.
"Uh!? Why would you choose me-"
"Shush! Im still speaking."
He nodded again, awkwardly.
"You weren't chosen specifically, in fact, we just needed any soul to fill the Elf's body. That's why I had to take up this human form."
She indicated to her wrinkled face.
"I had to persuade you and those other humans to go to the house. That is where the portal we created was located, and we needed a soul as fast as possible."
She paused to check that Kai was focused, before continuing.
"To get one of you into the portal, I had to make sure that you mortals didn't wuss out about going inside the house, and I made things up like 'gold' which made those losers go running off without a second thought…and I just had to remind YOU about random crap like being a functional member of society. It was a lot was a lot easier than I thought to persuade you mortals, so I guess humans really are narrow minded."
Kai looked at the floor.
"Anyway, we needed a soul without magic to fill that Elf Girls body. So please just keep the body alive and out of trouble for a while - and then your job is done." The God finished.
"Wait wait wait," She was explaining things too fast.
"A soul to fill the body?"
The God sighed, before nodding.
"I'll try explain it simply. A soul is someones..uh..personality, life force, what makes it function, memories…and all of that."
Kai titled his head. "Wait but I thought that was what a brain does-?"
The Diety glared at him. "No. Tsk, you humans think you have everything figured out..."
Kai was confused but decided not to think too deeply about it.
"Ah, but why did you need to take a soul from my world!"
"All these questions.. We had to, because all the creatures in this world have magic, even the humans, so their soul is protected and we can't take it!"
When Kai didn't reply, she continued.
"Think of a soul like this…the core of the soul is the life force, memories…and all the stuff I listed before. Now, in a magic world like this the core of the soul is surrounded by a persons magic force. The core cannot be touched as the magic shell around it is protecting it."
"Oh..and why can't it be touched?"
"It's a strange phenomenon and even we Gods don't understand it, but if anyone breaks the magic shell around the core - the one that broke it dies instantly. There is usually no exceptions…" She trailed off.
"Except one. A God managed to somehow get through the Elf girls body that YOUR soul is now in… and the God broke her actual soul and it scattered."
She let out a breath, as she had spoken too fast. The God gathered herself and continued.
"The actual soul CAN be broken but not destroyed, so a scattered soul can eventually find its way back to the original body. In other universes and worlds without magic, it only takes about a month for a broken soul to return to the body…but we don't know how long it takes in a world with magic as a soul in a magic world has never been broken…"
…She frowned and looked back up at Kai.
"I know it's confusing, but bare with me. We needed a soul to replace the Elfs soul while it's broken peaces find its way back to the body. Otherwise, the body would die as it cannot move or function without one…not to mention her body was in critical condition."
He stood there, his mind overloaded with information that he had to process.
"We NEED the Elf girls conciseness because-"
Suddenly the God disappeared from right infront of him, and he also began to feel dizzy.
Dammit what was happening!
He felt like the whole place was shaking, and he raised his hands to see that they were…becoming transparent.
He was becoming conscious once again.
…
Kai heard voices as his eyes opened slightly, catching sight of a few blurry outlines staring down at him.
He was layed in a strangely comfortable place.
"Curse Darius! How dare he allow his creations to do this to the cheifs daughter…"
"That Deity has taken it too far this time. All of them have."
The gathered people muttered amongst themselves.
"Silence, her eyes are twitching. She might be waking up! Scout.. are you alright, can you hear me?" A comforting yet urgent voice spoke above the others.
He sat up slowly, openening his eyes fully and looking at the croud groggily.
Kai was sat upon a bed made of logs and wood. There was a sheet of fabric over him and the pillow was soft and fluffy. The entire room was also made up of wood. Even the walls. Plants hung from the roof and climbed up parts of the furniture, and there was a window shaped hole at one side of the room.
"How do you feel?" The calming voice from before spoke. It was a woman who was stood next to the bed. She also had long pointed ears.
She was an Elf too!
The Elf had green eyes filled with wisdom, and had golden garments hanging from around her neck. Her clothes were loose fitting, and it was green dress with large sleeves.
She had long hair that was tyed up in a large ponytail, and the hair was blonde with silver streaks running throughout it.
The elfs face showed slight signs of age, yet she gave off an air of superiority and confidence.
"Well?" She peered down at him.
He smiled uncomfortably, overwhelmed and still processing the Information from his dream.
He didn't doubt that it was real, as there was no other explanation for why he would randomly turn up in this world.
On top of that, there were many people crowded in such a small room.
He felt his ears to check…yep. He was in the Elf girls body again.
"Scout. Now that you're up, you should come report what you have found to the Cheif. Your brothers are currently there too."
She quickly snatched the covers away from Kai.
"Your all healed now, and have had a few hours of rest. I don't want to hear excuses."
Who even was this woman? Why was she acting like this with him?
The woman seemed to be waiting for him to move, and when he didn't she readhed forwards and grabbed his arm.
"Fine then. Lean on me if you still don't feel well enought to walk…honestly. So useless."
He quickly got forced to stand up and practically got dragged across the floor.
"Get out, all of you!" The woman yelled.
The others who had been taking up most of the room quickly scattered. They all were elves too…
Was this an Elf village? The lady had mentioned something about a cheif…
A smaller elf was patiently holding open the door for them both. The little elf had its head dipped slightly in respect, as they approached the exit.
"Right! Walk by yourself now." The woman released his arm and he almost stumbled forwards.
He was expecting a sharp pain but…nothing. He felt his stomach, and pressed onto it. Nothing again.
"We gave you a healing potion. Be thankful, we don't have many left in stock now that our only magic caster is dead."
He had no idea what was going on, but he mumbled a half-hearted thankyou.
He walked through the door, glancing at the little elf as he went.
He didn't know what he had expected the village to look like, but…it wasn't this!
He was stood upon a wooden platform with a shack, located high above the forest floor! He didnt know how high in the air he was, but he felt sick with nerves.
His arm got grabbed once again by the older elf, and he got lead across the platform.
"Woah…"
A rope brige hung from the platform, leading into a little town of shacks and walkways that were built upon the trees.
It looked quite busy.
"Scout, I appreciate you aren't in the best state because you got attacked, but please be faster. I know im being harsh, but we really have no time to spare. So be a good daughter and pick up the pace!"
Daughter…? Was this the Elf girl's MOTHER?
He rushed after his 'mother' and onto the bridge, which swayed when he stepped onto it.
Kai didn't trust it. It felt like the rope or the wood was going to snap at any second…
He wobbled across it hastily, panting as he got to the other side.
"Don't be dramatic Scout." The Woman sounded exasperated.
He followed her deeper into the strange elvern village. It seemed to be extremely lively both up in the treetop town and on the forest floor…
He watched the little elf figures below walking around on the forest floor…earning another shout from his new Elf 'mother.'
They walked side by side on the platforms, and the other Elves seemed to be keeping themselves both respectful and friendly, politely greeting them both.
They crossed a few more bridges before comming to a halt outside of a larger wooden shack.
"We are here." She mumbled, opening two large doors.
…
All eyes were layed upon Kai as he stepped into the wooden building.