'What the F-!'
I felt paralyzed throughout my body simply from the shock and information going to my brain.
Badump. Badump. Badump. Badump.
I could only hear my heartbeat.
Moments before I was a mangled corpse and drifting through nothingness to now being surrounded by things that shouldn't be able to exist.
'How the hell am I alive? Where the hell am I? Who and what are these things?'
I gulped once while feeling the beads of sweat going down my back. How should someone even react when they find themselves in this situation?
After a few initial thoughts I started to notice another thing which seemed out of place.
'What the hell is going on with my body, why am I so small?!'
I started looking down, just to see that I seemed to have shortened drastically. On top of that, it seemed that my arms were also shorter and younger than usual.
I proceeded to touch my face for a moment also just to realize that it was different from usual.
"Oy, your father is finally presenting you, say something. Or at the very least don't stand there all stiff."
The man with the horns stepped in front of me and looked into my eyes.
He wore an outfit that I would call a traditional Japanese outfit. A kimono with orange and dark blue patterns on it and a small overcoat that was a yellow mixed with orange and red tints.
Most of them were hidden, however one could also see tattoos on the man's body starting at his neck and covering every other visible part besides his face.
However the most remarkable thing about him seemed to be how he used a katana as his walking aid.
Bump
Startled, I took a few steps back just to bump against something. But it was neither hard or soft, cold or hard. It simply was there.
'Huh?'
As a reaction, I looked upwards to see what was hindering me, just to see a hollow face staring at me.
Nonetheless, the face wasn't entirely hollow because the being seemingly behind me looked as if they were made out of a galaxy itself...
Chills came all over my body, as if telling me to look away. But the deeper one looked, the deeper I seemed to fall in its trance.
"Don't be afraid child, greet them."
The thing put its hand onto my head.
As dread filled me, I instantly looked away from the man, sweat drops still falling down my back.
That bei~ no, my father, at least so it seemed, was not someone one should try to fool or to embarrass.
I felt his hand pushing me lightly forward and my body without even being told to, moved a few steps forward.
'Let's think about everything later, I have to get out of this situation.'
As I looked ahead, I tried to recall the information that was in my head, but the harder I tried the more I found nothing.
As such, I simply kept staring at the three beings in front of me while bowing forward.
I glanced at the being that was like a pitch-black cartoon character. I realized that it had awkward neon-blue spots all over its body and they seemed to somehow secret smoke. It had its head turned 90°, but its face was still plastered with the same smile from before.
It looked in the direction of 'Father'.
"So will he become the next one?"
I tilted my head to the question.
What the hell did they mean with that?
"That's not important! What's important is the courage and fighting spirit!"
The lion-like man suddenly interrupted and pushed the thing back.
While the group was starting to talk, I started to look a bit around my surroundings.
I stood in some sort of circular hall, made out of white and black marble.
In the middle stood a giant circular table which had its middle removed, and which had 12 chairs around it.
'If this were to be found in Lichtburg, it would be a monumental discovery...'
Everywhere were intricate carvings, mysterious looking circles and more.
It was breathtaking.
One could call it hypnotizing in a way.
Snap!
As I started to get lost in the wonders of the hall, I suddenly heard a loud snap and found myself by fathers side.
'H...How?'
I didn't even feel a touch.
It was a momentary thing where I didn't even see that I had been moved.
Only the thought of something like that being possible made me shudder.
The air around 'him' felt icy cold but also warm at the same time. It was as if everything contradicted itself in his surroundings.
"I think this is enough for Wendel, as this is his first day here."
Father clapped his hand and the doors at one end of the room opened, and a handful of hooded people all with the same height came in.
Without even a moment's notice, I stood between 2 of them.
Both proceeded to take one of my hands and started going down the corridor. Tagging me along in a way, while I only could heed 'Fathers' words.
My body somehow couldn't disobey him, the more I tried to, the harder it became to move on my own free will. Nearly as if the body remembered something I didn't know of.
"Tomorrow is a wonderful day, son..... Be ready."
Before I could even respond, the door closed again behind us. Leaving me in the hands of the hooded figures.
But to me this seemed to be better than to be left in that room.
At least for now...
The corridor in which we were walking was designed similarly to the colossal circular giant hall.
After a while we reached a door, which seemed to be guarded by 2 hooded people themselves, but they wore black robes instead of white ones like the other.
Another difference was that they had spears in their hands.
Overall, these hooded people seemed awkward, as even when I tried, I couldn't make out any facial features. Nearly as if they also had no face, like 'Father'.
They then let go of my hands and signaled me to go in the room in front of me.
Reluctant, I stepped inside the room, only to hear the door shut instantly when I was fully inside.
Silence
Not a sound could be heard inside the room. Not a clock ticking, no insect buzzing around, not even air circulating.
Hollow would be the best way to explain the atmosphere.
'Okay Ely.....So you are somehow alive and in the body of a boy...'
It was still hard to accept what had happened and in what situation I found myself.
Especially when thinking about the beings that I met just moments earlier. It was as if I were in one of these mediocre fantasy stories that I read when I was a teenager.
'And this seems to be my room.'
Looking around it was fairly simple but lavish at the same time. It had a bed, a desk with a chair as well as an area that seemed similar to a small reading corner. The right wall also seemed to be covered entirely by a bookshelf.
However, contrary to normal rooms, on each of the walls, there were several circles with intricate glyphs on them as well as different colors. It seemed in a way similar to a beamer projection just that there was no beamer
"Somewhat dull for a child's room..."
I walked over to the desk and sat myself down and saw some paper lying on it as well as quill and feathers. Seemingly being the current way to write but luckily not something all too hard to use.
On the desk itself, there was also a small mirror. It had small golden flower patterns on its frame, making it look quite nice.
I then remembered that I still didn't really know what I looked like, so I took the mirror and held it in front of my face.
If one had to describe my face, one could say, it was rather special. White glistening hair, greyish colored skin as well as golden eyes. Seemingly, not only was the color of them awkward but they also seemed to be shining slightly.
The closer I looked into them, the more I was drawn to them and suddenly informations flooded my brain.
It felt like an eternity.
Blood
Light
Darkness.
Tears
Joy
Questions
Tons of memories came into my mind. I didn't even have the time to process them.
Nonetheless, the last thing I saw was the most surreal one.
Magic