The ground felt like piles of broken glass, each and every shard digging into the youths skin, striking up an indescribable discomfort without ever drawing blood. The very air felt heavy and hot, the humidity making it hard to breath and thus further adding to the young teens own general irritation. Even the smell and sounds were quite disconcerting, some sort of putrid smell mixed in with the thick atmosphere before being paired with an annoying, monotonous sound that made one want to rip their ears off.

However, even with all of these factors, it wasn't any singular one of them nor combination of the sort that snapped Jakiel Frost into consciousness.

It was the distinct presence of danger, of something that could end his very life in the blink of an eye.

Even as he lay there on the cold hard ground, drifting in and out of reality, he could feel the tendrils of this entity reaching out to him, attempting to ensnare his very being. These virtual feelers wrapped themselves around his very soul, carefully grabbing and shaping the fabric of who he really was, casually manipulating it like a piece of silly putty. Nobody had to tell him what the tendrils were doing, he just instinctively knew what was happening, and the only possible way to fight them off was to snap himself back to reality, to push them back before they could permanently alter something that made Jakiel the man he was. 

Opening his eyes, the teenager woke up.

Almost instantly, the feelers vanished along with the presence he had felt. The discomfort from his own unknown surroundings persisted but the mysterious entity had all but disappeared.

Crunch. Crunch.

The sounds of footsteps and the sight of interesting looking footwear was among the first things that Jakiel became aware of when he first regained awareness, brilliant blue hues gazing at the world before him as he pried his face off the ground. Bits and pieces of rubble clung to his cheek and jawline as he hoisted himself into a sort of crouching position, matted white hair in all sorts of disarray. 

"Oh good, you're awake."

At first, Jakiel said nothing in response to the person who had just spoke to him, instead he just stayed where he was and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

When one goes to sleep in a certain area, especially one where its considered safe and with little to no danger whatsoever, obviously one would expect to reawaken in that exact same spot, in about the same condition they had first went to sleep with. Unless kidnapped, sleepwalking, or otherwise, logically speaking, everyone should regain consciousness in the exact same place they had initially passed out in. It wasn't too far fetched to say that any other such scenario would be disorienting to say the least, for one to find out that they had completely been transported to a place they had no recognition of, surrounded by people who possessed no qualities of those they were familiar with. The average person would probably immediately freak out and mentally break down bit by bit due to how ridiculous it all was.

For someone who had initially gone to sleep surrounded by an entire Kingdom who hailed him as a hero, Jakiel was definitely at a loss for words.

The young white haired teen SHOULD have been situated within the confines of his own room, sleeping comfortably next to his future wife. However, he was perhaps the farthest thing away from that.

The landscape had changed completely.

Gone was Jakiels large, neatly decorated room. Expanding every which way, dotted with strange looking plants and shrubbery, was a mostly barren landscape, rolls of dead grass rolling outwards as far as the eye could see. Puffs of thick purple smog glided across the rugged wasteland as if someone had painted some overly large clouds and set it loose upon the earth, drifting aimlessly far in the distance. The sky itself was grayish and smoky with a slightly violet tinge to it, making it look ugly and gross, an unappealing color that Jakiel had little to no interest in.

Then there were the people. 

Different shapes, sizes, races, ages. None of them seemed to have any sort similarities, at least one of the ones within Jakiels immediate vicinity. Heck none of them even seemed to know who everyone else even was judging by what the white haired youth was observing. Some of them had only just woken up just like he himself had, slowly picking themselves up off of the floor while others were cautiously glancing around, keeping their distance from others or trying to strike up some sort of conversation. 

From the look of things, everyone seemed to be in the exact same situation as Jakiel, unsure of where they were or who the surrounding people were.

And for some reason, that gave the young hero some newfound confidence as he rose to his feet, wiping the rocks off the side of his face.

"How're you feeling?" The person from before prompted once again. "A little disoriented I'm sure."

Letting out a breath, Jakiel steadied his own emotions as he took in his new arrival.

The one who has spoken to him was a tad unorthodox to say the least, or rather everything she was wearing wasn't akin to anything he himself had been used to or ever even seen. 

She was around his height, about 175cm with thick black hair that fell to the middle of her back, a neat braid falling clear down the center of it. Her shirt was made of pure white cotton, a untarnished color without any sort of designs, something Jakiel was actually familiar with, other than the fact that the shirt lacked any shoulder coverage. Hanging over the shirt was a rather unique turquoise fabric that covered her rather ample chest region, a color and fabric that matched well with the pants she was wearing. Pants fastened tightly with a black belt that dangled down her waist along with black socks and questionable footwear, she actually looked quite nice despite the oddity of the outfit. It was just the unfamiliarity that thew Jakiel for a loop as he finally answered the girls question.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I should be fine. Though I think disoriented would be the understatement of the decade." Jakiel lowered his guard slightly, allowing the woman to fully approach him.

Up close she looked even nicer, her dark skin contrasting well with the brightness of her clothing. The sweet scent of vanilla and oakwood drifted up the youths nose as she drifted on by despite her keeping a respectable distance. The white haired youth wasn't prone to drooling over women, especially given the situation, but she seemed so alluring. In his own kingdom, she would probably have been a top of the line beauties, coveted by men all around.

If anything though, it made him that much alert and aware of each and everything going on around him. 

The dark skinned female laughed softly, a chime of melodic bells that caressed the youths eardrums. "Yeah, I guess you'd be right. I guess I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little. You could call it coping."

"An interesting way of coping," Jakiel remarked, his eyes flicking around the area, watching the remainder of those close pry themselves off the dirty ground. Gravel stuck to their face and the dirt rubbed into the clothing leaving streaks, hair completely disheveled just like his own. "Though I can't really say I blame you. It doesn't really seem like I'm the only one who has no idea what's going on."

"You don't know either huh?" The unknown female said, sounding rather disappointed. "I figured you wouldn't but I had some hopes."

The girl walked past Jakiel once again, hands crossed just underneath her bust, a concerned look on her face, eyes to the floor. She looked lost in thought, her light purple hues narrowed and shifting every which way as she wandered within the white haired youth immediate proximity. Occasionally she would even bump into some other lost souls, others who looked just as confused but much less cautious then Jakiel himself. Some of them didn't even seem to mind the collision, instead being very curious and tuned into both the females and the youths interactions.

"What's your name?" Jakiel inquired after watching her wander around the perimeter. "I'm Jakiel."

"Demeter," She responded, glancing up from the ground. "Sorry if I got quiet, I'm just trying to understand everything. I've been awake longer than everyone else so I've had more time to gauge things."

"Okay." Some alarms went off in Jakiels head but he pushed them to the side. "Spill."

Demeter exhaled as she walked back towards the youth, her hands dropping back to her side, eyes zeroed in on Jakiels light blue orbs. 

"For starters, we seem to be in a barren wasteland, which is probably the most obvious one." Demeter gestured around, looking left and right. "From this perspective, we were all planted here around the same time frame, everyone waking up within the same general period, around the last hour or so. I went around asking some people general questions as they woke up, such as who they were, their clothing choice, where they were from, so on and so forth. The difference in answers was so vast that I'd be here forever trying to explain them. There's only one similarity that everyone here seems to share."

"And what would that be?"

Demeter and Jakiel turned at nearly the exact same time to eye the newcomer, a young man with fluffy smoky gray hair. He was quite eye-catching with a black garment over a turquoise zip up with an overly large hood. Just beneath the jacket, a white collared button up could be seen as well as extending slightly past the bottom of the zip up to where the end where pointing out. Complete with black pants and a unique choice of footwear similar to Demeter's, the youth was dressed just as strangely as the female.

But perhaps the strangest thing was the wrapped up longsword attached to the youths back, something that Jakiel noticed almost immediately.

"And you would be...."

The young man gave a small bow towards Demeter, the lightest blue hues flicking from the girl over to Jakiel. "My name is Nereus, but most people where I'm from call me Mizsenshi. You can refer to me as either or. My apologies for the abrupt entry."

"Actually, you have excellent timing," Demeter remarked, making a gun gesture with one of her hands. "You'll make a perfect example."

"An example?"

Nereus and Jakiel looked thoroughly confused, the females words having thrown them completely from the loop. Demeter seemed to realize this and quickly moved to clarify what she meant.

"I want you to tell us what the biggest accomplishment you made where you're from," Demeter said hastily, trying to get the duo back on track. "Give us whatever you're willing to share."

Nereus seemed hesitant first, anyone could see that. However, as the seconds past, Jakiel could see a subtle shift in his demeanor along with a softening expression. Whether he realized the need for information trumped the need for privacy or he just decided to not care didn't really matter as he shrugged his shoulders and told them as much as he could regarding himself and his own origin.

The story went that in his own country, city, world, whatever, existed beings who could manipulate the very essence of some particular forms of matter, though Nereus just told them to refer to it as magic since he wasn't privy to details. These bits of matter came in many different forms such as fire, water, ink, earth, neon (whatever the heck that was), smoke and so on. Each being could only control one type of matter and weren't really able to pick what one they happened to end up with. These beings were known as Biomes, a name Nereus supposedly made up himself, and though they had no choice or say in the manifestation of these abilities, they were ostracized and villainized by modern society, painted as monsters that needed to be put down. Thus the majority of the world essentially put a hit list on those that contracted these abilities and arrested or executed them with extreme prejudice.

Nereus and a ragtag group of other Biomes went on, in summary, to save the world and change things to where everyone could live together without any sort of discrimination, even to where Biomes where held up in high regards. Due to his heroic acts and his valiant efforts, the smoky haired youth was known throughout his world and toted as the Samurai Of Water, Mizsenshi, also known as the Biome Of Water. 

"Okay, so in other words, you were a hero?" Jakiel summarized. "How come I've never heard of you before today?"

"We're getting to that part," Demeter cut in before Nereus could answer, eyes fully on the white haired youth. "Next you should share your story Jak."

Letting out a sigh, Jakiel ignored the nickname that had just been bestowed upon him as well as his now pending questions and delved into his own story. One filled with nonstop war and bloodshed.

In the place where Jakiel was from there existed being known as WarLords, people of great power who controlled armies and rules over various sections of land. These entities, no matter how large the land nor how many resources they claimed, always wanted more, desired more. Thus the world was filled with constant war on all sides, some slaughtering for their own gain while others moved to protect what the loved from invaders. Every WarLord had their own reasoning for pushing force and moving into the danger of the battlefield, be they noble or completely savage. Jakiel never wanted to be a WarLord nor did he ever want to be involved in anything related to battle. Sure he possessed an intelligent mind and an expertise in battle granted by good genetics but it wasn't what he truly sought. His only desire was to find peace and to live his life comfortably within his own kingdom. 

Unfortunately that wasn't the case as his own home was betrayed and burned to the ground, his family murdered brutally before his very eyes with him forced to watch it all.

With no place to call home after escaping from enslavement, he enlisted to fight for the nearest WarLord, one of the weakest in the land and made his way up from there. Shortly after joining, the Warlord died in battle and he took up the mantle in tune with the masters dying wish. In summary, he moved his way up, conquered, made allies and made peace with the rest of the world through sheer willpower, character, and strength of arms.

He was regarded as the Heroic WarLord Jakiel Frost, the man who was the embodiment of loyalty and honesty.

"So you were also a hero then," Nerves muttered, the gears in his brain now doing somersaults, eyes furrowed. "Then you must come from another world or something because I've never heard of you either."

"The thing everyone has in common is that they're all heroes," Demeter finally spouted and the two pondered their own stories. "In every situation, everyone has come up with their own version of how they saved or brought peace to their own world."

"Then what about you-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A scream of terror rang throughout the afternoon air, capturing the attention of all who heard it, the heads of the trio whipping towards the sound. A female scream rang through the air once again, a lot more unintelligible then the first but far more passionate. 

Without waiting for any sort of questions, the three of them glanced at each other quickly before bolting in the direction of the holler.