001

I stood still, there was a change in the air, something was amiss. In the middle of the seminar hall, a translucent cube popped into existence and rapidly grew in size, bypassing physical limitations until it had everyone inside it's confine, even the one who stood at the farthest edge, me.

Then, the air felt heavy, and it got heavier by the second, the air  became distorted and my vision swirled until a critical point reached, another sound came, not too dissmilar to the sounds a bubble make when bursting.

pop

The next moment when I opened my eyes, I was flying in a prismatic beam of light, motes of colourful dots passed me, us, as I took in the sheer number of people just flying, some of them were bewildered and tried to move, to no avail. Some were curious and simply observed.

I couldn't help but notice that I stood at the very perimeter of the metaphysical beam, I should have been more worried, but when there was simply nothing that I can do, so I let it be.

And woe be upon me, it was the thing that made my beginning of a trip to another world, terribly unlucky.

As we passed thousands upon thousands of the dots, the beam slowly, but surely, shrunk.

I could see at the end of the journey, a sphere, by all accounts, it seemed habitable with a healthy amount of blue and greens on it's surface, but my mind was more enraptured with the possibility that the perimeter of the beam was closing in on me before I reached the end of this strange journey.

There was a instinctual feeling in my guts, that told me if I were to be outside the beam, something bad would happen.

Just as the beam reached the atmosphere, so did the perimeter passed me, and I diverged from the beam, into somewhere deep.

In that strange state, I was incorporeal, yet, that did not made me less scared as I passed layers upon layers of ground, swivelling here and there in seemingly random directions, before finally,

I reached a pitch black door, and bypassed through it without difficulty.

It was here, my journey only began.

. . . .

In another place, the beam carrying otherwordly guests split into smaller parts of itself, each heading towards different directions with varying numbers of people.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

. . . .

A group of five college freshmen arrived on their knees at a castle, surrounded by multiple people garbed in long robes, each of their hands were raised in the air. Blue energy flowing from their palms. As the five safely landed, the flow stopped, and their heads turned to gaze at the floor.

A much more regal looking man, with a crown on his head and a crimson fluffy cape on his shoulders spread his arms and welcomed his guests of honor :

"%@$#^&$!"

The five men looked at each other, then nodded, before one of them looked directly at the caped man and shaking his head while pointing to his ears.

The other four whispered close to each other,

"Huh, what do you know, transportation to another world can happen"

"Yes, but not without it's risk, I wonder how Vince is doing right now"

"And it happened right on the day of faculty introduction too, it seemed to be too coincidental"

"Hush, the more the merrier, though some may realize that they now can no longer see their family and friends again"

Due to their usual proximity, this group of five was in the same beam, much to their relief. They were comfortable with their own close knitted friends than going with a stranger. They don’t usually hang out with people outside their circle, too much ‘synchronizing’ they often said.

The crowned man, nodded in realization, and called for something from the robed people. One went to him and handed five rings, which he then gave to the leader of the five.

After wearing it, finally could he understand what the crowned man was saying. The leader gave the rings to the other four, with a subtle nod.

"Ah, is that better? Apologies, the excitement of seeing [Heroes] in the flesh had made me overlook certain procedures. Anyway,"

Once again, the crowned man spread his arms wide, a jolly smile plastered on his face

"Welcome [Heroes] to my kingdom, Scadia! I am King Belmand the Fifth, although I apologize for the rather sudden invitation to our world, the gods have demanded so, we are only complying to their wills"

Still smiling, he called several people,

"Now, we shall not keep you waiting confused as headless chickens, I will provide you a brief course spanning on several days of this world, what you are expected to do, and other important information, including whether you can return to your original world or not" The king ended with a wink.

Five maids, by the looks of it with their frills and monochromatic colour palettes, came from the sides escorted the guests.

As they were walking from their summoning place, the freshmen whispered,

"Stick close, let me do the talking, if anyone asks, just stare, if they force, call for me and act dumb"

They all nodded. The prospect of the entire situation seemed too good to be true, and they were too jaded by the truths of the world to fall so easily. Even if it seemed harmless.

. . . .

Similar situations played out wherever the beams of light landed. Some wept for the prospect of being worlds away from their loved ones were too daunting, while others embraced too readily for their debut as [Heroes], jumping headfirst at the opportunity to gain fame and glory, as well as the benefits that came along with it.

Most of them felt it was suspicious, and they held it inside their hearts of hearts, and banded together.

Except Vince,

Because when he came to, he was alone, in the dark, with the air so heavy it might as well as be water. Not the first time he was doing something by himself, but exploring dark caves with shimmering blue mushrooms was definitely not on his list when he went to college.