1 Prologue (1/2)

Jack slowly opened his bright red eyes, staring up at the bright blue sky above him. Blinking a few times, Jack struggled to form a coherent thought. His head was throbbing and his vision kept going out of focus, but most of all, he felt like he was going to throw the hell up.

Closing his eyes, Jack tried his best to focus his mind and think things through. Despite not being able to form a complete thought or idea, he could already tell something wasn't right and it had nothing to do with his splitting headache. He needed to concentrate and try to figure things out as best he could.

Slowly but surely, Jack's headache slowly faded away and his thoughts regained its coherency. With his now clear senses, Jack figured out the numerous things wrong with his current situation and it brought a number of questions that he was simply unable to answer.

Jack was currently lying on a cold hard ground, a feeling of cement beneath him that was definitely uncomfortable. This feeling was wrong as Jack clealry remembered going to sleep in his own bed last night. The sight of the blue sky when he had opened his eyes was also incorrect as once again he was sure that he had gone asleep in his own bed last night.

"I know for sure I'm not dreaming," Jack said as he opened his eyes, looking up towards the sky once again. "I know the difference between a dream and reality. This is something else entirely."

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Jack ran a hand through his fluffy white hair as he took a glance at his current surroundings. It was basically common sense to look around before doing anything else as one had to make sure there wasn't any danger nearby.

A dirty dead end alleyway that looked like it hadn't been used or cleaned in decades. That was the best way Jack could describe the place he was in and that was putting it mildly. Mold and weeds grew out of the walls next to him and a mix of glass and various trash was scattered throughout the ground in front and in back of him. The place was so filthy that even the spot he had been laying on had had a later of dirt on it and was now stuck to his sleeveless white t-shirt. The place also reaked pretty badly but that didn't reply bother him as much as his now dirty shirt.

"Where the hell is this?" Jack placed one hand on the ground and pushed himself onto his feet. "How the hell did I get here? I know I went to sleep in my bed last night after studying up for my Geometry test I have on Monday. I'm so damned confused."

Jack wasn't prone to panicking when it came to unexpected situations. In fact, Jack usually had an optimistic personality, preferring to crack jokes and fool around. In this partocular situaiton however he was rather perplexed and more than a bit curious. He had no idea where he was and he was now dirty due to the ground being a filthier then a trash can. His usual smile was replaced by one of disgust as the sight and smell of death was starting to get to him.

"Okay, let me get the hell out of here before I do anything else." Jack buried his nose and mouth with the crook of his elbow as he walked towards the entrance of the alley. "If I stay here, I'll probably pass out from the pure stench. Man this sh*t stinks!!! I've taken literal shits that smelt better then this."

Making his way out of the alley, Jack began walking through the maze of lanes and alleys as he looked for a place where he coild find people. He figured that the moment he found people, he could ask where he was and get a general idea of how far from home he was. Instead of freaking out like most people would, Jack liked to handle everything on a logical level and solve it rationally. Panicking never got anyone anywhere so one had to learn to keep calm no matter what.

After a few minutes of travelling through the lanes, Jack finally came upon the place where people were abundant. It was some sort of shopping district or some similar thing as numerous people carried bags and objects that Jack assumed they had recently bought.

Regardless of what it was however, Jack was happy either way as he had finally found what he was looking for. Now all he had to do was ask around and figure out where he was. He was sure that if he asked politely then he could probably get directions back to his home. Being polite and showing respect usually worked in getting others to talk even if they were reluctant to.

Jack stepped out and joined the flow of the crowd, blending in with the rest of the people. Before asking questions, he wanted to have a look around in order to sate his curiosity. Though he knew that getting home should take priority, he felt an overwhelming urge to go exploring.

Of course even though that was his original plan, things didn't exactly turn out that way. A few minutes after he had started walking along with the crowd, a group of teenagers around his age stepped in front of him, cutting him off and stopping him. They even went as far as spreading out when he apologized and tried to walk around them.

"Can I help you guys or are you just intentionally trying to be pricks??" Jack didn't even bother trying to be polite as he felt that the person in the lead had too smug of a face for someone the same age as him. "I got things to do so please move."

The female in the lead of the group looked at him with a sneer that made Jack wanna slap the hell out of her. "A mere commoner dares to act all high and mighty to not only one but a five nobles? The thought is almost laughable. I'll overlook it though if you get on your knees and apologize!!"

"Apologize for what? Calling you pricks? I ain't apologizing for jack squat!!" Jack shook head and glared at the female in the lead. "Your the one whose blocked my path. However, I honestly don't even need to go that way so jokes on you."

Jack turned around, intending to walk away from them when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his danger signals kicked in. Without even thinking about it, he dove to the side of the street and into a couple of people, knocking them off their feet. Jack hurriedly recovered and stood back up, his gaze snapping over to look at where he had been standing.

Instead of a bricked pathway like he had been walking on, the ground was one huge crater and in the center of it sat a puddle of water. The surrounding brick was soaking wet as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over it. This was only a small part of the strangeness however as Jack turned his attention to the group of teenagers.

At first, Jack wasn't sure what he was looking at, but after staring at the glowing books hovering in midair, he finally began to doubt his sanity. Each and every person in the group had a book floating in front of them, each with a different color and unique design.