Chapter 1 - Resurfacing
'Shit! What the hell was that?'
Jolting awake from a troubling dream, Arthur brought his hand towards his head, massaging the bridge of his nose. The cold pavement below him, as well as a chill in the air, caused the boy to shiver, bringing his yet foggy mind to complete awareness. He pulled what he thought was a blanket over his shoulders, to warm himself up, but it didn't seem to do much- looking around himself, three stone walls surrounded him, with a fourth, open side, lined with steel bars and a locked door. That… Was not his bedroom. And, on second notice, that wasn't his blanket, either, but some thin cape or drape.
'Where… Am I…?'
With a troubled expression at his unknown circumstances, the youth would stand up, his vision quickly growing black- and causing him to almost fall over on the spot. Luckily, he'd fall towards the nearest wall instead, managing to hold up his body with the support from his arms. He felt weirdly weak, and the room, after standing up, seemed enormous. Well, not too big, but definitely bigger than he thought it would be- though, that was just his perspective. Managing to stand up fully, he'd look down at his feet.
'That's weird.'
He thought.
'Am I… Shorter than usual?'
That was the first thing that caught his eye, rather than the incredibly paler skin than he was used to, or the strands of white hair flowing down from the sides of his head. He had black hair, for starters- and it definitely wasn't long enough for him to see it without a mirror. He felt awkward, as if moving a body that wasn't his own, and that very well might have been the case. He ran a hand through his hair. It was too long, reaching about half of his back, and smoother than normal. His hand looked off, too: upon a closer look, there seemed to be what looked liked… carvings, spots in which the skin was almost separated, divided, at each joint. The three sections of each finger, the wrist, the elbow, the shoulder and the deltoid muscles, the midsection of his torso, his waist, his legs… Akin to a marionette with defined joints for more realistic movements.
The reality, that this wasn't his body, still hadn't set in. Or rather, he refused to acknowledge something so unrealistic could have possibly happened.
"Calm down, Arthur… Surely there's a feasible explanation… Surely I haven't…"
He didn't want to say it out loud, even if he was just murmuring to himself, to avoid sounding stupid- 'transmigrated'. A term he was familiar with thanks to novels and such he sometimes read, referring to an individual being transported in another world, one way or another. That, exactly that, was the situation in which the youth found himself, despite his refusal to acknowledge it. Not to mention, the body he was now inhabiting, was much younger than his own. Judging from his own height, and the lack of strength in his limbs, he couldn't have been older than eight, or nine years of age.
Rubbing his chin while walking circles inside the locked off room, he tried to brainstorm logical explanations for his situation. He was a man of science, a student- even if he enjoyed reading fantasy works every now and then, he absolutely refused to accept this as a reality. Deep in thought, he'd only stop moving once he spotted another figure, other than himself, sitting down in a corner of the room, seemingly sleeping. Looking at them, his flow of thought suddenly altered. He could put down trying to figure out what exactly happened to him, for now- rather, finding out where he was, would prove more useful. The place he was in, almost seemed like a jail cell- why would a child be imprisoned, he wondered? He had no idea of this body's identity, nor his circumstances, but surely, that sleeping figure would know something.
Walking up to them, an eye would open.
"So you're finally awake… You must be the other one, then."
Addressing Arthur, the figure would stand up- now recognized from the transmigrated youth as another male, he too had only a drape to warm himself up. In the dark room, Arthur could vaguely make out his features: short hair, of a white color he had never seen before, exception made for dyes, skin as pale as his own, and scarlet red eyes glimmering in the darkness. From what he could see, the other boy didn't have any markings on his flesh.
"How much do you remember?"
The yet unnamed boy asked a question, slowly getting up while walking towards the other. Looking Arthur up and down, he had an air of familiarity to him, on which Arthur could not quite put his finger on.
"Are you… I mean, were you brought here, too?"
Answering the question with another, the boy's eyes widened, before clicking his tongue. Looking away from Arthur, he'd place a hand on his forehead, muttering something to himself, before once again turning around. A troubled, or annoyed, look was on his face.
"Correct me if I'm wrong. Your name, you're Arthur Luria?"
"Do you know me…? Yes, that's, that's me. I'm… Surprised you can recognize me."
Once again mumbling something to himself with an irritated tone at Arthur's response, the boy stopped to think for a few moments, before nodding to himself, taking a deep breath, and speaking again.
"Ok. Listen, my name is Ayn, an Aerhius. And you are too, now. No- just let me talk."
Seeing Arthur about to open his mouth, probably to ask what an Aerhius was, Ayn shut him off immediately, not wanting to be interrupted. He disliked being interrupted too, so that was fair, he thought.
"It might seem weird, or like a dream, but this… Isn't your home. World. Your home world. Where you came from. You're in another world. Got it? That's the gist of it."
Arthur sighed. Even if he had no reason to trust that guy he had just met, he felt like he was speaking the truth. And if he was, that meant the reality he wanted to hope was false, turned out to be true. As unreal as it sounded, he was summoned to another world. Still, he was taking it weirdly well, for the situation he had been cast into. Transmigrated into another world, possibly becoming forever unable to go back to his home, and yet, he seemed annoyed at worst, rather than despairing or wracking his head on how to go back. He was a rational man, or at least believed himself to be. If arriving in this other world was outside of his control, then going back would be as well, he deducted. Which meant, wasting time mourning about his past life would be just that, a waste of time.
Well, it's not like he could stop himself from being scared at the implications of transmigration. All he could do for now, was think of other things. For example, figuring out who exactly Ayn was, and what being an Aerhius meant.
"So… You know who I am."
"Yup."
"And that I'm not from this world."
"That too."
"Who exactly are you?"
"Well, long story short…"
Ayn stopped himself from speaking, rubbing his chin for a few seconds and squinting his eyes, as if thinking of a way to answer that. He knew something that Arthur didn't, and he couldn't let him know just yet. It was far, far too early.
"I'm your… Brother? Kind of? Well, that body's, anyways. I'm… Bad at explanations. Especially when that level of magic is involved… Well, Aurora will explain, once she comes get us. For now, just know there's a reason you've been brought here."
That 'explanation' only confused him more- he really was bad at explaining. 'Kind of' his brother? Magic was involved? Magic was real in that world? There was some reason he transmigrated, and someone named Aurora knew what it was- those were the most important parts, he guessed.
"You could give me more to work with, here…-"
"Wait, shut up. Sit down and be quiet."
Interrupting Arthur once again, weren't only Ayn's words, but the sound of heavy footsteps walking down a corridor he couldn't see, unless he squeezed his head through the bars. Well, even then, there wasn't any light. Following the other's instructions, he'd sit down in a corner, covering himself with the mantle, whispering to him.
"So? What now?"
"Well, I forgot to mention… We kinda… Are getting sold right now. Human trafficking and such. It's fine though, Aurora should be here… Hopefully, before we get traded too many times!"
Considering the gravity of the words he had just spoken, Ayn was uncomfortably optimistic about his trust on that person named Aurora. On the other hand, Arthur was starting to feel something similar to despair. He was fine with accepting having transmigrated and ending up in a body different from his, he was fine with accepting the existence of magic, despite only having heard of it, he was fine with trusting some guy he only had just met's word about his situation- but being sold? Would he be killed? Or used as a worker? Putting his hands on his hair, Ayn was confused about the panicked expression he was making. Arthur didn't know who Aurora was, nor did he have any reason to put his trust in this mysterious figure. In his mind, he could already envision his dark, grim, certain future, of being worked to death as a servant, or being made into a fighter for fun, like gladiators in ancient times, or even worse things which he didn't even dare imagine. He had to get out of there on his own, somehow.
Meanwhile, a rugged man, wearing a dark colored uniform, had arrived in front of their cell, unlocking the heavy door. The weight caused the steel to scratch the stone pavement, with an unbearable sound.