- Prologue -

  Literary class had begun and Jerry, like usual, sat next to the window, not minding the teacher’s ramblings and looked through the windows empty-minded. He watched the blue sky that was partly hidden behind a tall building that was also other classrooms. His eyes averted to the tree in the center of the grass court and watched the leaves swaying peacefully in the weak breeze of spring. The sun was at its peak and shined its light through the glass illuminating the classroom and the some students inside, eagerly taking notes coming from the teacher’s mouth. A tall old men in his fifties, reciting a passage from a book whose title was drowned in Jerry’s memories. He had a checkered buttoned shirt and black pants, fitting of a teacher’s attire. The man was also slightly bald ; on the sides of his head was short gray hair leaving an empty space at the top.

  Jerry broke away from his trance when the teacher’s voice resounded clearly in his head.

  « Jerry ! Would you be nice enough to tell us about your day? » the bald teacher asked in an ironic tone.

  The class laughed in unison, some even applauded. The teacher quickly told the students to calm down and shush. Jerry did not answer and looked embarrassed. And so the class continued. The teacher not wanting his student to be distracted from his class asked Jerry to explain the passage that he had just read.

  « Well… From what you have just read, I suspect the author has some sort of sympathy for the savages because not only do they live in harmony with nature but they also have the same disdain as the author towards the corrupted and greedy ambitions of the men that have put their feet upon their lands. »

  A small bit of laughter came from the class. The professor shushed them and looked at a smug-face teenager sitting at the bottom right and said :

  « Andrey, I incline that you would see me later when class is over »

  He continued :

  « That was excellent Jerry ! But you forgot that not only the author was sympathetic with the tribe chieftain, he also agreed on the point given. You should remember that the author himself was a religious man and that the chieftain’s speech contained some elements that corresponded with some doctrines from his religion. »

  Just when Jerry thought it was over because he did not listen to any the ramblings, the bald man continued :

  « And from what he said, which is some form of auto-criticism, the author is learning that nothing is natural and that everything is based on tradition and the ways they interact with each other. »

  Just when he thought it was not going to end, the bell rang and his classmates had already packed everything and left their chairs in a quick pace leaving their teacher hanging on his last words of the session. On the contrary, Jerry took his time to put his books inside his worn-out bag and was the last to get out.

  He was walking down the corridor to the next class when he was suddenly pulled against his will by the collar and was sent flying backwards towards the ground. With his glasses fallen out from the sudden pull, he couldn’t see clearly and only saw in front of him as he was sitting on his bottom, four faint silhouettes standing almost three meters away from where he fell down. They were faint but he already knew exactly who they were. One approached him and his face was clearer now as the blurred men was getting closer : a wide shoulders and tall teenager, almost double the size of Jerry. He would usually be seen as a very handsome men if not for the grimace he was making, contorting his face in an almost comic way.

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  « Intelligent thing y’said in there, worm. How about y’share me some of those knowledge, right guys ? » He asked, looking back at the three man.

  The three teenagers nodded and said almost the exact same thing as their supposed leader.

  « Well ?  Did some cat got ya tongue ? »

  Jerry got back on his feet and punched the men in the gut but because he was still feeling dizzy from the earlier event, he couldn’t muster any strength to give out a strong punch and even if he did, he wouldn’t even scratch the iron wall that was the teenager’s abdominal muscles. Within seconds, he was hit back straight across the face and went flying towards some closets on his right, making a loud metallic sound upon impact. Some passing students just stood there shocked and some just ignored and walked away with quick steps from the scene played in front of their eyes. And no one dared to intervene as Jerry suffered the kicks and the punches to his stomach and groin by four mens much stronger than he was. Soon enough, a teacher, the old literature one, made the intervention and just when he was about to bring Jerry to the infirmary and the four others to the principals office, a voice spoke up from the mass of students gathering around to see what the commotion was about.

  « Mister Ly, I saw what happened. It was Jerry that started the fight, he punched Andrey in the guts so it was in an act of defense. »

  The voice belonged to a black haired girl. It was the class president ; a slim but healthy looking girl that bore an unprecedented attractiveness mainly due to her voluptuous body that was further emphasized by her school’s uniform. She had cold black eyes that reflected the clear image of the pitiful that Jerry had found himself in. There was no warmth, no empathy, no anger, no violence, no sympathy, in those pair of eye sockets.

  « Oh ! Is that right miss Dara ? Is an act of self-defense means that you have to beat a classmate even when he is down ? Is that in your definition miss Dara ? How about you also see me in the principals office ? »

  Dara was not fazed and followed the four teenagers to the end of the corridor, turning right before disappearing in sight. She looked at Jerry one last time before drawing a sinister smile on her immaculate face.

  Mister Ly was about to help the young men up when he saw him walking down the opposite corridor like nothing had happened. He followed the youth and called out :

  « Hey ! Jerry ! Get to the infirmary, I’ll have a talk with you later. » He said before walking down to the principals office.

  Jerry did not go to the infirmary. Instead, he went to the rooftop and lied down on his back as he felt against his school’s uniform the hardiness and roughness of the white ground underneath him but he did not mind and put his hand around his head. He looked at the sky and reached out for it with his hand, he did not try to grasp it instead he felt like he was touching it, feeling it against the palm of his hands. It was soft and gentle ; it cleared his mind of everything he went through merely ten minutes ago and it erased the pain on his guts and the bruise on his arms. He felt a slight breeze blowing against his cheeks, taking away the tingling pain of the punch he received. And than he closed his eyes and breathed in the air through his nose, filling his lungs to the brim, and blew it out through his mouth. He learned it from when he was younger and it was always effective after a rough day, especially after a day like this. All of a sudden, a blinding light struck his pupils, he was not blinded by the light but he swore that he was seeing through his pupils as if it was almost transparent. He thought that it was funny how he was seeing through his pupils and started smiling. He stood up, with his eyes still closed and looked around searching for the source of the light. But strangely, wherever he was looking at had the same brightness. He suddenly felt a shock to the head that forcefully opened his eyes. He turned around and saw Andrey with his four minions.

  « Oy ! Worm ! Where the fuck are we ? » He asked, clearly annoyed and agitated.

  Jerry took a long and weary sigh. He shook his head and looked around. To his most utter surprise, all he saw was white space from one end of the horizon to another that seemed to stretch forever without limit. Than he caught sight of some students that he recognized and the school staffs in the distance including the principal that was being helped getting off his bottom by his secretary. Everyone seemed to be aghast not knowing of the situation they found themselves in. And out of nowhere, a gentle and sweet voice started ringing in all of their minds : « Welcome heroes ! I welcome you to our world ! »