World’s Halo

Flashes of light surrounded the trees of the forest like a pulsing heartbeat, calm and steady. In a small clearing in the middle of the forest gathered 20 odd people forming a circle. The 20 odd people were concentrated on the center of the circle where a young child's body floated a few feet off the ground.

The child seemed to be unconscious as she lay still. Her body covered in a light loose purple gown that covered her from head to toe. Jet black hair framed her face that still possessed some baby fat. Sticking out of her head by her temple were two small horns.

The faint blue glow of the circle began to flash faster and faster as the 20 odd people watched on. At the height of the light's zenith, the faint blue glow turned azure as it drowned out the young girl's body from view. When the light dimmed, the child's body floated slowly back to the ground as though nothing had happened.

A woman quickly rushed to the child's side from the encirclement and took her small body into her arms. Checking her condition, the woman breathed out in relief as there seemed to be no adverse affects from the ceremony. Turning to face the others, she nodded gently at a handsome man who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Seeing her response, he turned towards the others before announcing, "Let's return."

Opening her eyes, Qing-er was met with light blue satin curtains covering the canopy of the bed. Dazed, she looked around the room. Ancient looking furnishings greeted her sight. Hoisting herself up, she noticed the bed was more than double her size. Her small frame scrunched up as she processed the sight before her, looking like a tiny, confused animal.

Qing-er didn't know what was going on. All she remembered was that she had had a car accident. She and her sister were driving when they collided into a drunk driver who ran a red light. How did she end up in this place that looked like an ancient movie set? Where was her sister?

Qing-er tumbled off the bed. When she stood, her line of sight appeared much shorter than before. Not being in the right state of mind to notice this little detail, she headed towards the door. Once outside, what greeted her was an open courtyard.

"Ahh!!"

Shocked by the sudden yell, Qing-er looked in the direction of the voice. A charming girl who looked 15 or 16 years old had exited from one of the rooms on the right side of the courtyard.

Qing-er watched as the teenager briskly walked toward her with an elated expression. "You woke up," grasping Qing-Er's hand, she squeezed them gently. "How do you feel?"

Qing-er absentmindedly shook her head. She didn't know what was currently going on or why she was here. The person in front of her seemed to know her but she was positive she didn't know this teenager who looked a few years younger than her.

"What's wrong? Are you tired after your ceremony?" The teenage girl looked her up and down. After looking enough, she pulled her along, "Come on. Mother and father will want to know you've woken up."

Dragging her along, the teenage girl spotted her parents lounging in the side hall of the main courtyard. Seeing them, her expression brightened, "Father, mother, YunYun's woken up."

Qing-er gazed at these supposed parents of hers and immediately looked strangely at the teenager pulling her along, wondering if she had a screw loose. These two people in front of her appeared way too young to be her parents. They looked to be in their mid to late 20's at most. And they were way too good looking. The father was handsome and the mother a stunning beauty. She bet if they were models they'd be on the international level.

"YunYun come here." The gorgeous woman beckoned her with an outstretched hand.

Qing-er being completely lost to what was going on, followed the gorgeous lady's, who seemed as gentle as jade, words and trotted over, putting her hand on top of the other. The woman smiled, gently taking Qing-er's arm into her hands and pulling up her sleeves.

"What are you doing?" Alarmed, Qing-er asked. Just as her question fell, she was shocked at the soft and tender voice that came out of her mouth.

"There seems to be no problem." The woman smiled. "The awakening was a success."

Qing-er was confused and looked down at her arms. What greeted her sight was quite stunning. Her arms were much smaller than before. Although everything seemed to be bigger to her ever since she woke up. However, that wasn't the problem right now. The problem was that her little arms had scales coming out of them. They were small, shiny, azure scales that appeared in groups of one or two down her whole arm.

Shocked, she touched one of the scales and found it was cool to the touch. Her eyes widened even more as she tried to pull one off, only for it to hurt like she was pulling her skin along with it.

"Silly girl," the woman chuckled seeing her actions. "You'll hurt yourself if you keep pulling."

She grabbed those misbehaving hands of Qing-er's and brought her sleeves back down.

"Yun-er, it'll be time for you to start cultivating soon." The handsome man spoke up. Patting her head, he smiled. "Don't complain when you find out how tough it is."