In the Southeast corner of the planet Extrentia lies Aetherius, a vast and diverse nation. Right in its center stands a mountain so boisterous, it is believed to be unclimbable. Its rigid and jagged slopes twisted unnaturally as did all of the mountains surrounding Aetherius. Its almost as if the world itself was hiding its presence. No mere mortal could ever reach its peak.
This is Mount Vex.
At its peak were eight figures seated around a rectangular table discussing the state of this country. The man in the middle seat sits forward and says in a stern but commanding tone.
"It seems that creatures from the Dark Half have appeared in Solfera; it should be noted that this is the 14th attack across Extrentia."
A brash voice bursts into laughter and shouts
"That's just perfect weren't we planning to go to war with Solfera any day now I say we invade Solfera before things get boring."
A female voice sharply interrupts
"Are you a fool or just a dog?"
The brash voiced man stays silent and the woman continues.
"This only means we are next in line to be attacked therefore we will have to uncover and take control of The Dark Half so he can truly rule this world."
The man in the middle seat sits forward once again and rubs his chin as he says
"Correct."
His gaze shifted toward the figure sitting across from him which sat an old man in a black cloak slouched over in his chair.
"Romus it is imperative that your little project be accelerated, after all it seems to be the key to the Dark Half."
The man Romus rose, his presence making the others uneasy.
"As you wish… my liege".
BLANG
An enormous clock echoes through Mount Vex, its sound unnatural and uneasy.
BLANG
Before the sound could fade all eight cloaked figures vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The world was blue, so beautiful. Not the blue of the sky, nor the sea but something deeper, much deeper.
Something's wrong, I think to myself, Luz stood alone in the center of a massive colosseum. The ground beneath him sparkled like glass, reflecting a sky that did not exist. He looked down at his hands
They felt.... Distant
"Not again!!!"
His voiced echoed as if the world itself was repeating his words
The world began to crack.
Then it began
Cheers, then screams faint at first eventually becoming louder and louder. Luz turned his head and this cerulean blue world and began to crack, through them he began to see a crimson red glow. Blood splattered around him emerging from each crack. Suddenly all around him men appeared swinging swords, spears, and axes against one another. He ran as fast as he could, bodies dropping beside him left and right until the screams were no more. Luz turned around all he saw was sand, blood, and one figure standing in the middle of the arena.
Luz squinted his eyes he could see
Not clearly
Not fully,
But enough
"White hair!?"-
Right in the center Luz would spot a white haired figure, a dark trail wrapped around him like smoke, and a sword held tightly in his left hand.
Luz's chest tightened
"Why do you seem so familiar?"
The figure didn't move but Luz felt an overwhelming sense of fear and danger.
The world shattered.
CRACK
Luz fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luz opened his eyes.
He blinked.
His bedroom was quiet, rather ordinary.
The sun crept through his curtains, cutting through the still faint glow of the dream he just had.
His heart was still racing.
"Another dream..." he whispered.
He got ready for school, each movement felt mindless, due to the lingering feeling left by the dream.
Something big was coming.
At Aetherius Academy, Principal John waited, his expression sharp as a knife.
"Luz Volo," he said in a cold voice.
Luz blinked. "Uh… yeah?"
"You are hereby expelled."
"…Eh?" Luz laughed nervously. "Expelled…? For what?!"
The principal calmly replied, "For your little stunt during yesterday's match. It has become clear to me that your... situation requires a different path."
Luz's smile slowly faded, and sadness filled his face.
"You will be sent to the small town of Canazoi to attend the Brickell School of Unimaginative—"
He coughed.
"—I mean, the Brickell School of the Non-Magic. Effective immediately."
Luz stared at him blankly.
"…You definitely meant the first one."
"I did not."
"Did too."
And without another word, the principal quickly swept past Luz. Under his breath you could hear him saying something about hopeless students as if his poor student weren't standing right there..
Luz's knees gave out and he dropped to the floor.
"No way no way... non-magic?! That's not even a school, that's a prison-"
A boy appeared beside him.
White hair.
Captivating Gold-tinged eyes
Rey.
"REY—!"
Luz launched himself onto him, holding him tight, crying and yelling like a child.
"I'm getting expelled!! It's over! These beautiful halls, all my amazing friends, all these memories—GOOOONE FOREVER—AHHHHHH—!"
Rey looking as disappointed as ever
"I am your only friend," Rey said flatly. "And to be honest these halls are an awful shade of pink, and everyone here despises you for being magicless. I am quite sure you'll be happier anywhere else"
Luz slowly stopped crying.
"…I mean…"
He paused.
"…when you put it like that."
A bright, doofy smile spread across his face, a sparkle gleamed in his eye.
"You're right!"
Rey softly sighed and looked deeply into Luz's soft blue eyes and said
"We'll meet again."
Luz blinked. "Huh?"
"No matter what world you go to," Rey said, his voice calm, we will meet again."
Something about the way he said it made Luz's chest tighten.
"…I'll be ready."
They clasped each other's hands briefly, then turned away.
A powerful bond indeed…
…but fragile it was.
Luz walked toward his new school…
Rey toward something far heavier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, while Luz laid peacefully in this unfamiliar town, Rey would wound up elsewhere.
His dream was soaked in a crimson, blood-stained tint.
A gladiator arena.
The air smelled of steel and death.
Rey stood alone.
But the truth was written in the blood pooling at his feet
A warning.
You are connected.
Across time.
Across worlds.