Lucian groaned, rolling to his back as he lay in the mud, opening his eyes and looking up at the dark sky.
There was a scent of smoke in the air, something was burning in the distant. Lucian could feel nothing but soreness all over his body; he was unaware of what led him to be on his back.
He winced, "W-What?" His voice was hoarse, "Where am I?"
Slowly sitting up, Lucian winced more in pain, feeling a sharp electricity all over his body.
He didn't know how he got here, he looked around and did not notice his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was being in his apartment, back in his homeworld, but Lucian did not know that the place he was in was not his homeworld.
His memory was hazy of what had happened in his room, all he remembered was a bright light and after that; nothing.
"What's this feeling?" Lucian said as he slowly got up to his feet
His soles were throbbing with pain, his brain was pulsating inside his skull, and his eyes were burning. Confusion filled his head, there was an odd feeling in his stomach and at the back of his head, almost as if he knew that something had gone wrong and he was the cause of it. But he couldn't put his finger on it, he was not sure of what had happened to him, he simply woke up in this place, unaware of what was going on.
He stumbled, "Oh..." he said
He then felt the stampeding hooves of horses and looked around to see several men, on horseback, burst through the bushes and into the muddy path that Lucian happened to be in. In the distance, Lucian noticed a pillar of smoke and flames, burning in the background of the treeline.
"You!" One of the horse riders exclaimed, "Have you seen a Traversed pass through here?"
Lucian frowned, "Tra-What?" He asked
The men wore what he recognized to be medieval garments, steel-plated armor over their leather clothing as they had steel longswords strapped to their sides. They all held torches in their hands as the group of horse riders circled around the young man.
"Wait a minute....." one of the riders said, "The Traversed was said to be 6'1, young, short black hair, and dark brown eyes.....That's you!"
Lucian clutched his midsection, "I don't know what you're talking about...."
"Seize him!" the man shouted, "Use Magicbane chains!"
Suddenly, three men dismounted their horses and charged at Lucian, launching chains that somehow wrapped themselves over the young man, tightly coiling around himself.
"W-What the..." Lucian said as the men held him in place with the chains, "What's going on?!"
"You're coming with us." the rider said, "Lady Lunaris will love to speak with you."
Lucian frowned, "What...." He said, "My strength feels like it's fading....."
"Take him to the camp." the rider said, "If what our superiors say is true, he's the source of the destruction of the Village."
"To think we have a Calamity on our hands."
************************************************************
Lucian was pushed down to his knees as he was wrapped in chains. They had taken him to a large camp in the middle of a field, at the side of a main-road, a few miles from where they had found and captured him. He was then dragged towards a large wooden building where he was told that their leader was going to pass judgment upon him.
Lucian merely frowned as he looked around the room, it looked like it was an old cabin, similar to his father's from back home. His entire head was spinning, everything was hazy and any sudden movement made him nauseous. But for some reason, the pain in his body was slowly leaving it, being replaced by what he could only call energy.
It all felt so weird to him; He wasn't sure what was going on, he kept asking the men for an explanation but they kept calling him a Traversed and told him to keep his mouth shut.
"Lady Lunaris." the rider who was the leader of the group said as he stood in front of Lucian, "He's here."
In front of them, sitting on a wooden desk, Lucian saw a beautiful woman reading a paper in her hands. She was curvaceous, her body covered by tight latex-looking clothing that outlined her alluring body. She had a single black steel-plate on her shoulder, engraved with regal patterns. Even her black outfit had a big of a regal design, something akin to noble clothing.
She had silver hair and purple eyes, both a beautiful trait that Lucian had not seen before in a woman. He was sure that she came out of a fairy tail, a dream. But what solidified this belief was the two black feather wings that sprouted from the woman's back, shifting above the desk slightly as the woman's eyes were focused on the paper.
"M-My Lady?" the man said
The woman lifted her finger, "Shhh." She said seriously, "This is an order given by the Arch-Magus. It's quite interesting. To think that he would rally his armies in response to Valkren's movements. I am fortunate that this incident is quite resolved."
"Y-Yes, My Lady." the rider said, "We caught the Traversed."
Lunaris looked over at Lucian, which caused the young man to widen his eyes in response, "Oh?" He said, "This one? He's the Traversed who destroyed the milling village? He looks so average.....Hm....."
She got off the desk and slowly walked up to him, placed her hand on his chin and raised his face up, carefully scanning Lucian.
"He's rather attractive, up close." She said with a serious look on her face, "His body is quite strong too, I bet he's rather muscular and I can tell he's tall even from his current position. Are you sure this is the one? I don't sense much magic power from him."
"Yes, My Lady. He fits the description perfectly." He said, "The Sensing Crystal confirmed, he has Soulway Energy in him."
"Ah." Lunaris straightened up, "Traversed, what is your name?"
"Traversed?" Lucian asked, "What's that?"
"What you are, boy." Lunaris said, "A Human that crossed over to a different world, to Infernis."
"Infernis?" Lucian said, "Wait.....this isn't Earth?"
"No." Lunaris said, "Earth is the world you Traversed come from, we know a bit about it. But you, you are Traversed, those pulled in to this world."
"I..." Lucian said as he looked down, "Okay.....can I go home now?"
"No." Lunaris said, "There is no home for you, now. You are stuck here. What is your name? Don't make me ask again."
"L-Lucian." Lucian responded
"Well, Lucian." Lunaris said as she walked over to the desk, "You are quite the unfortunate soul. Traversed typically inherit impressive magical abilities through the Soulway, but some are granted Calamities, unholy magical attributes that can shake the world if used a certain way. We called them Cursed around here. And you? You are Cursed."
"Cursed?" Lucian said, "H-How so?"
"You laid ruin to the milling village where you appeared via the Soulway." She said as she looked at him, "A terrifying power.....we are lucky it burnt out rather quickly and almost no casualties happened. You're going to owe me some coin, as recompense for rebuilding that village. You see, Lucian, you are now my property."
Lucian raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?" He said, "I'm a slave?"
"Not necessarily. You belong to my Sect now, in turn, you belong to me." Lunaris said, "I am Lady Lunaris, a Paladin Knight of the Darklight. A pleasure to meet you."
"H-Huh...?" Lucian said as he knelt there, confused, "How do I belong to you? I'm a human! I have rights!"
"I received orders from my Arch-Magus." She said as she picked the paper up and waved it around, "He told me to confine the Calamity and condition it to our cause. You see, aside from the fact that you're Cursed, you happened to be traversed into Inferis in a very interesting situation."
"The Unholy Crusades have started."