1 New Beginnings

Part 1

'What was I doing? Where was I now? How did I get here? Why did I have such a heavy feeling in my chest?' So many questions were running through my head. But I needed to focus. First, where was I? The ground felt moist and soft beneath my hands and under my back. I took in a slow, deep breath. Doing this made me realize how uncomfortable I was. My back was sore, and my tailbone hurt. Now I adjusted how I inhaled. The air was unbelievably fresh. It would never smell or feel like this where I lived. Seriously, where am I? A brisk breeze brought the smell of damp leaves and grass upon me, as well as a brustle of vaguely distant trees. Something grazed my face, and instinctively I opened my eyes. I had been avoiding this as to not alert my presence to anything possibly dangerous around me.

From where I was laying down I could see myself in some sort of grain. Assessing my situation as safe I slowly brought myself to a crouch, and from there, to a stand, the entire time stretching what muscles I could. The view that had struck me had me taken aback. I was in the middle of a field of golden wheat, on top of a hill. The range I found myself in was surrounded by trees on three sides, and on the fourth, there was a gorgeous glistening blue lake, with a mountain range in the distance. That answered where I was. Sort of.

Taking in the view amplified this feeling in my chest. I took a deep breath to try and make it subside, but it stayed firm. Just holding in a breath once or twice usually worked for my anxiety, so I tried to use the method my friend told me. I closed my eyes and focused entirely on my breathing. I visualized how the air moved into my lungs and moved around my body until I exhaled. But instead of going away completely, the feeling moved out and around me. There was a sudden pressure in the pit of my stomach, and the wind suddenly picked up. I was so entranced by this feeling that it took the smell of rot to open my eyes again. I had just now noticed that the top of some of the grain was actually dead, or at least the very least close to dying.

Back at attention, I weighed my options and ended up pushing forwards away from the lake. Now, upon closer inspection, I noticed that a castle stood there. I had no clue where I was, but for whatever reason, I didn't trust it. I decided to go in the exact opposite direction. I had no clue if there even was civilization in that direction, but I really just didn't trust the castle. I quickly made my way into the ominous forest.

Part 2

Falling. Very fast, I was falling. 'Why?' I hadn't done anything wrong. I was on the inside of the cliff, away from the edge. I had my sister watching my back. I even had the walking stick I had picked up moments prior. So what went wrong? But it doesn't matter anymore. There's nothing I can do. In my last moments, I tried to look at the positive. The falling felt cool, with that feeling of weightlessness and the rush of air past my face. I held a deep breath, prepared for the eventual landing. And the wind stopped. I was still falling, right? Or was this death? That's what it must be. I opened my eyes prepared to face my maker, but now I wasn't sure what I looked at. Everything around me stood at a halt, seeming to be frozen in place.

After a few moments of astoundment, I dared to look around. I estimated that I must have still been a hundred feet from the direction I was falling before. Despite thinking I was dead, this still freaked me out a bit. With a quick "AH!", I fell into the cliff. "Oof," I said as I hit the cliff face. Or was it the ground? I sat up straight from where I was. My hat was in my face, so I just took it off. Looking forward, I saw a shear wall that seemed to go up and on forever. Looking to the side there was sky. A brilliant, neverending azure scape. I quickly checked my bag and found a compass, a water bottle, and an emergency lighter. I accidentally dropped the lighter, but it didn't fall to my feet. It fell forwards at the wall. 'What the hell?'

Naturally, I went to the wall to investigate. As I got closer to it, I started to notice its details. Near the bottom, it was mostly rocks at an incline away from me. A little higher up was grass, and even higher was an expansive forest. Despite my confusion on the logistics of grass and trees on a wall, I continued to it. I found the lighter instantly, but when I went to grab it, my hand scraped against the wall.

Suddenly, down changed. Or, I should say what direction down was changed. There was an intense rush of blood to my head as my feet fell off of what I previously thought was the ground. To try and save myself, I braced my hands against what now seemed to be the ground. I hit the ground arms first, scraping them against the rocks as I slid down. "Ouch." I sarcastically exclaimed to no one but myself.

That's when out of nowhere an arrowhead hit the cliff right above my head.

A high pitched "Eep!" fell out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Identify yourself, stranger." said an unknown voice from the trees.

"Charlie Davis, a high school student from Florence. You won't kill me will you?" I said, slightly trembling with fear.

"Any suspicious movements and I will, Charlie. State your business."

"I was hiking with my family when I fell off the cliffside. " I pointed with a thumb to the top of the cliff.

"What, couldn't you use your high born powers to get back up?" he said condescendingly as he stepped out from the trees. He was slightly taller than me, with dark hair and tanned skin. Country boy was the first thing that came to mind when I saw him.

"I don't mean to upset you, but I don't know what you mean by 'high born' or powers. I'm just a middle-class high school student, and last I checked magic wasn't real."

"Is your family really that poor? Oh god, who have they left in charge of this country."

"I'm telling you I have no clue what's going on," I said in a pleading voice.

After a moment he said "Fine. I'll take you to meet the village head, and he'll sort this out." in an annoyed voice. He started walking off back into the forest at a speed slightly faster than walking.

"Thank you, mister," I said, then jogged to catch up with him.

"Hey, tell your folks that now isn't a time to be messing around hiking."

"Well, I don't really see why it wouldn't be." I looked back in the direction of the cliff as I said that.

"Didn't know news moved that slowly, especially to people like you." he used his chin to point at me.

"And I didn't know the locals were this rude."

"There's that noble snark I was waiting for," he said in a condescending tone.

"A noble in modern America? Jesus, what is this, an isekai? Am I in some sort of other world?" I looked around as if There were people in the trees, and I was trying to find them.

"Hell if I know."

"Thank you so much for your riveting commentary, really," I said sarcastically, despite my unease.

"Shut it, damn highblood."

"That kind of comment is why I'm fighting back Frank."

"My name isn't Frank, highblood."

"And I'm not a highblood, Frank."

"Hmph." he retorted back.

"But regardless of petty feuds, what's going on that makes this a bad time?" I pushed the conversation back to where I wanted it.

"If I must tell you, It's the coronation of the new king."

"Old one die of disease, or assassination?"

"Haha, a king dying from either of those would be hilarious!" he said in an over the top voice.

"Why's that?" I asked seriously.

He looked at me like I was joking at first, but then when he saw that I wasn't, his face got serious.

"That's because of the king's amount of magic."

"Oh god, this is another world. I didn't know that I could feel two totally opposite feelings at once!" that got the guy who wasn't named Frank to give me a complicated look. I took one last look at the mountain behind me, finally realizing how far I had truly gotten.

Part 3

I've been here for a month now. The village is safe, but the way I took here isn't. I was in the forest for 6 whole days. The beasts that chased me were… too big. The only way I survived it was this power that I got when I came here. But I don't want to use this power. It's… unholy. I never attacked them directly, I just used it to evade, but… they died. When it just comes back to mind I have to hold back a shiver. The village has been nice, though. They gave me a spot and helped me build a house.

Moving on, this morning I got a feeling. It felt like an itch at the back of my brain, and it stayed for a couple of minutes. The direction I felt like it was coming from was the same direction that Ted went, so that had me concerned, but he was good with a bow. Probably no reason to worry about him.

"Heya there Abe!" happily called one of the villagers.

"Good day to you." I formally responded.

"Whatcha up to today?"

"The usual."

I continued on my walk to the village library. There aren't very many books, and I can still hardly read this world's language, but there was so much I still needed to know.

After what I guess to be about a half-hour, I heard a commotion outside. I bookmarked the child's book I was reading and went to check what it was. When I got to the epicenter of the noise, which was in the center of the village, something caught my eye. There was a teen a few years younger than me with an odd combination of curly and spiky black hair and meanish eyes. I hadn't seen him before, but he was talking to the village head. But the part that surprised me the most was his modern clothes, and the shirt I could read.

"Hey, who is this kid?" I asked Ted, almost failing to hide my interest.

"Says his name is Charlie, and I'm pretty sure he keeps lying about not being a noble's son. Doesn't stop talking, let me tell you," he told me in an exasperated tone.

"Did he tell you where he's from?"

"Keeps talking about a 'Florence', but I reckon he's from the other side of the mountains."

I gave Ted a surprised look.

"What's wrong, wolf eat your dog?" he asked in a slightly mocking tone.

"Nothing, just a bit surprised by your answer is all."

"Where'd you find the kid, and what made you think to bring him back?"

"I was just goin to my usual spots when the forest goes quiet. Got a feeling in my gut to check out the mountain, and I see him looking like he got into some sort of fight."

"Maybe he fell?" I said hopefully.

"From what though? He was pretty near the top of the rock pile."

"Think positively, my forest minded friend."

"Whatever man, I'm going back out. Talk to you later."

I simply waved goodbye as I thought of what to introduce myself with.

I ended up waiting for about 5 minutes for the village head to stop talking to him. The kid's eyes made him look overwhelmed, but everything else about him looked perfectly composed. 'I'll probably have to be careful around him', I thought to myself. As the group mostly dissipated at once, I approached slowly and introduced myself with "They really do move in herds, huh?" His reaction was pure shock.

"Yeah, I guess they do." he simply replied a few moments later with moist eyes.

"How are you doing?"

"Well, as a positive, magic is gonna be cool, at least."

I cringed at the word magic, but I hid it the best I could. "Too bad no one here is trained with it then."

"He wasn't lying? Dang it man, I was excited." He slapped his knee in an over the top fashion.

"Ahaha ha, I bet you were." I chuckled.

"Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Charlie." he reached out to shake my hand.

"You too, Charles." When I shook his hand, it made all the nerves in my hand go cold. I can tell something similar happened to him because I felt him shiver too.

He quickly pulled his hand back and said "And you said there weren't any mages, jeez."

"You need training to be a mage, and I can't even read yet," I said while trying to shake the feeling off.

"So we speak the same language as them, but we can't read?"

"So it would seem."

"Didn't expect to get stuck with that niche troupe, but so be it," he said almost to himself.

"What was that?" I asked as I hadn't completely understood it.

"It's nothing, just an inside joke."

"If you say so. By the way, do you want to stay at my place?" I said and halfway turned the direction to my recently built house. "It'll probably be more comfortable for you than the head's house."

"I would appreciate it very much, thank you," he said, finally letting down his shoulders with a sigh.

"No problem," I reassure him as I start walking towards my house. "It's this way."

"Jeez, slow down. I've been walking like all day," he exclaimed in a tired voice and ran after me.

Part 4

I didn't sleep the best last night. I had a lot on my mind, but the tiredness got to me eventually. I wouldn't say I had a dream per se, but it was something. I could sense the things around me, like they were pulling ever so gently on my brain so they could be noticed.

But I digress.

Figuring that there were no refrigerators in this fantasy world, I went out looking for some feeding hall or the such. I would have gone to Abe, but he wasn't home when I woke up.

It was already a few hours into daylight when I woke up, so most people were out working. The exception being children, of course. Looks like no kids over 6 though. Must be school time for them, I thought. Soon after I noted that the education here was decent, the old village head came up to me.

"Good day, isn't it sir?" he asked as politely as he could.

"Sure is. But really, no need to call me sir, you're older than me and more important in a political sense."

"I'm sure that's not true, milord."

"First of all, milord is no better than sir. Second of all, why would a noble's son get stuck in a village instead of just getting home themselves? Nothing I have done points to me being one." I tried to reason with him.

"But then what about your clothes sire?"

"What noble have you seen wearing a shirt with words of a yet known language on it? And just call me Charlie, seriously."

"I am just a humble village head, Lord Charles. I only know of the Lord of this land himself, I know nothing of his sons."

"No lord, and it's not Charles, just Charlie. And do I look like the lord, because I doubt it." I said accidentally letting some of my annoyance seep into my voice."

"No, I suppose you don't. But that complicates things, you know." his tone suddenly turned serious.

"I'm guessing there's some political reason that would be less headache-inducing if I was a noble, so do tell. I'm curious now." I stated in a mischievously curious tone.

"Abe showed up a month ago, coming out of that demon's forest by himself looking traumatized. I could tell that he was a Traveler for the same reasons you've provided for yourself. Travelers are valuable because of their strong magics and knowledge, so I wanted to keep him here for protection. But with you also traveling here so closely after Abe… it just doesn't happen."

"Seems like someone broke the rules, huh? What are you going to do about it now?"

"I am going to prepare an envoy for the capital. Bad luck having more than one Traveler."

"That's a bit insensitive, isn't it? You're going to make me cry."

"Get that smug look off of your face, I'm doing it now."

My only response was to mischievously chuckle. The head shook his head and walked off. To be honest, I wasn't really mad about the lie. These seemed like good people, and having any leverage anywhere is great, so it really didn't get under my skin.

I turned around to look for some source of literature, and Abe was directly behind me.

"Boo." He said in a monotone voice when he saw my little jump. "Scared you, didn't I?"

"Glad to see generic bad humor transcends time and space," I said shaking my head.

"Aw, you're gonna hurt my feelings," said Abe in a pouty voice.

"Nope, too late, I already made that joke today."

"Darn, really? I've been saving that one since before I came here."

"Somehow, I feel like that's a Lie. But that does remind me of about a moment ago, did you know we should have been sent to the capital immediately after arrival?"

"I was not told that, but in hindsight, it makes sense," he said with a hand on his chin, and a thoughtful face. "Get anything else important out of him? For instance a name?"

"Well, the major thing I got was that what we're called is Travelers and that more than one is bad luck. And if you're asking me if I found out his name, no."

"Dang it. No one's told me, and at this point, I'm too afraid to ask."

"So it's not just me then? That's a relief."

"What a cold comfort. But Traveler is the word for us, you say?"

"Yeah. Kinda feels like an author couldn't think of any original name to me, but I can't really say anything."

"I wish this was just a written story. Cruel one if it is."

"I can't comment considering I got here yesterday, but I will say that I doubt this a dark fantasy."

"You need to get your head out of the clouds dude. As unbelievable as this is, it is real."

"You're right," I said after a moment's thought. "But Re:**** is a dark fantasy, and that has brighter colors than normal, so I can't rule it out."

"Whatever, I'm not gonna push that anymore. Back on subject, what is the head gonna do about us then?��

"Said he's preparing an envoy for the capital. I don't know the specifics of it though."

"I'll try to stay down here. I have a new life, you know?"

"Fair enough. I'll probably at least check it out. Side note, is there any way to learn to read around here?"

"For a seemingly medieval-era world, surprisingly enough." he started walking off in a direction. "It's this way."

"Not to be mean, but I could have guessed that."

"Not to be mean my butt, that was brutal."

Before we could get very far, however, the Head stopped us.

"The envoy is ready, and I've decided to send one of you with."

"What's the rush?" I asked considering it was probably a bad time to send an envoy.

"It's planned to leave immediately, so which one of you is going?"

I looked at Abe and saw a hint of strife in his eyes.

"I'll go." I volunteered before Abe could say anything.

"Wagon's this way then." the head said before turning and walking away.

"Good luck with whatever you were doing, I guess. I'll see you later." I waved to Abe. His gaze back was sad and lonely. 'I'm going to help him,' I swore to myself. I turned around and jogged to catch up to the head.

"Come back soon, please,'' Abe said in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear.

Part 5

'I hope he gets back soon,' I thought. It had been about an hour since they left for the capital. I was cutting firewood to try and clear my mind. That's when Ted ran past me looking worried.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"Bandits. They're here," he said with a dead-serious tone.

I didn't say anything in response. I must have let my face go dark because Ted just kept running without responding. I proceeded slowly to the village gate. There was a group of men with cheap armor and swords bossing around the elderly, shoving them around. I couldn't hear what was being said, but it made me mad.

"Hey," I called out. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Heya pal. No need to worry about us, we're just asking them nicely for donations, ya see?" said a particularly slimy looking one with a grin on his face.

"Somehow, I feel like you're lying," I said as I started to focus on that dreaded power.

"No need to be suspicious about it. Why don't you come and see?" He finished the sentence with a lunge with a knife towards my jugular.

I used the wind to push myself out of the way, then responded with the hardest punch I could muster to the dome of his lungs. I didn't look at the damage as I continued to the next guy. I pushed myself forward with the gale, grabbing his arm and throwing him into someone behind him. Now in the middle, I pulled them all towards me as I jumped above their heads. On my way up I pushed the one in front of me into the one behind me by flipping over him.

"Y- You you, monster! I'll kill you damn it!" shouted one of the scrawnier bandits.

I had a little headache from using the power so much after so long, but I challenged him back anyway. He rushed me head-on, but this time when I dodged like I had before he was expecting it.

"Gah!" I shouted in pain as he managed to scrape my arm pretty bad. As an automatic reaction, I pushed him down with a strong gust of wind.

I had my eyes closed as I was catching my breath for a few reasons. But when I opened them, I saw exactly what I didn't want to. Every single one of the bandits was dead. And more than that, they were half-rotted. The scrawny one I had only thought I pushed down just now was… missing his head. His blood was everywhere, and I only saw his body. Too horrified to scream, I looked at myself. My arm was bleeding less than I thought it would, but… I was soaked in blood. His blood. I was so overwhelmed my brain hurt, and a feeling in my stomach was building.

I hobbled over to where the villagers were to check on them because I couldn't see them at first. I checked all the bodies to see if I had messed up big time. That's when I saw it. A pile of decay, free of weapons or armor.

"AAAHHHHHGGG!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The only face I saw was the heads.

"What did you do? Said a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned around and met Ted's eyes. They were horrified. Disgusted.

"I'm sorry," I said as I fell to my knees.

"You shouldn't be here. I know I shouldn't have talked to you when you came out of his forest." I looked up at him as he was on the last sentence. He was now crying as well as looking appalled by me. That's when I couldn't hold back the feeling anymore. The power exploded. The wind picked up around me, and the sky darkened. It was gaining speed, at this point being more of a tornado, and I heard a rumbling in the sudden clouds. But I didn't look, or even move. I couldn't do anything but cry for who knows how long.