"Man, I've got that summative assessment in science tomorrow...not looking forward to it..."
"Oh right, you’re in Ms. Hely's right, she's always got crap like that on Mondays."
"Have you seen Nina and Micky? They look like such a pissed off couple-Ha ha!"
A group of juvenile boys, in their fourth year of high school, walked down a neighborhood, bathed in orange sunlight. One was on a bicycle and wore a pair of tight blue jeans and a black leather jacket.
"Shepard sure loves his goddamn bike."
The four boys chuckled lightheartedly.
"Come on, who doesn't have a bike?"
"Who rode their bike down the fucking school halls during their freshman year ey?"
The group let out another chuckle.
"This bike is basically my baby; I work on her when every I've got the chance."
Yep. It was the life. fucking around as teen, not giving a crap about the future, it was a blast. It was 199X, the Comie bastards just breathed their last and America was the powerhouse of the world. I was going to enter the workforce as a mechanic, and I had a girl I wanted to take to prom...it all changed that day.
"Yeah yeah, anyways hear anythi-"
Coordination Complete.
"Huh?"
And just like that, my life, was stolen from me.
...
As my vision faded out of black, and I returned to consciousness, a pleasant breeze of air flowed into my nose.
"Huh?"
Surrounding me is nothing but trees. They look like the typical oaks I'd see in the south but...there's nothing but trees. No buildings, no roads, and no people.
"W-where the hell am I!?"
How did I suddenly go from riding my bike, to passed out on a bed of grass in the middle of nowhere in a literal blink of an eye? This is fucked. I think I might've have been knocked out; maybe some stray football or insane bird crashed into me, then my boys might've played a little joke on my ass. Yeah, I could so see Danny doing that. I'm going to deck him when I see him. But here's the problem: This forest doesn't look like anything at all around my neighborhood. It's also the afternoon on a pretty sunny and hot day; It was just about to turn dark on a cold fall day a second ago...
Maybe it's a hallucination. That's it. Man, this breeze and sunlight feel reaaaal real though.
...Damn it.
"Hello! Anybody there?" I call out as loud as I can and wait a second. Nothing. Yeah, I’m not gonna make my throat go coarse for something stupid like this, guess I'll have to pick a direction and start walking.
"Grrr-! Damn it!"
This is BS. Hopefully, I find something, fucking anything is better than this situation right now. For all I know, I was abducted, and sedation drugs might really be getting to me. But judging that I'm actually angry and not just in bliss, I don't think that's a possibility.
A few minutes of walking later and it feels like I've been walking forever! I look up to the sky, but the sun hasn't moved an inch. This is why I should've stolen Danny's watch today. Just as I'm about to curse out again, I hear a deep rumble. Startled, I look for the source of the noise. It was a little way to my left, but as I closed in on it...
It's a massive hole. Maybe 'hole' isn't the best word. It looks like a black beehive that broke through the earth upward. The earth is fractured for about a half a mile in diameter, with black catacombs of what looks like really dark rocks. It hasn't risen out of the earth enough to actually break the height of the forest floor, so it was hard to see. There's some streams of rising smoke or vapor in some areas. But judging how the dirt and rocks that've been pushed away don't have any grass on them, this seems to be a few days old; so then what the hell was that noise?
Well, I may be failing all of my classes, but I'm not an idiot. Putting two and two together, I think this formation was caused by some pretty violent tectonic plate action. That rumble I heard, was probably a small fault, just a little earthquake. I've never heard of tectonic plates doing this though, I've never seen a natural disaster or formation like this.
Another rumble.
But this time, it doesn't sound like a quake. It sounds like it's above ground and almost like an animal growling. Shit. Don't tell me there's a fucking bear or mountain lion next to me. Another sound. That was a roar. A static and muffled high pitch roar from some creature. Where the fuck is it then?!
I slowly back away, not wanting to, oh you know, kill myself.
But regardless of me backing away a few feet, a blur flashes out of one of the black-beehive catacombs. It landed a few meters in front of me. Its skin was a sickly, hairless, white, it was quadrupedal; and it had a bundle of thick tentacle rising a few feet off it's back which were also a disgusting white. It doesn't have eyes, just a nose. It's gotta be like, 10 feet long? Yep. Aliens. Aliens have fucking invaded. Fuck. It let out another roar, this time completely unmuffled. It was so loud and high pitch I almost had to cover my ears. Then it started slowly pacing straight toward me, like a predator.
Think. How am I gonna live. That thing jumped the height of a 2-story building, I ain't running any time soon.
...Behind me is a rock, a nice sturdy boulder laying against a tree. Can I pull a switcha-roo and hope it kills itself on a rock if I dodge? Well, don't have any time to think it over, it is closing in and its tentacle things on its back are slowly perking up towards the sky.
...Well. Running's not really my style but...-!
It lunges toward me, like a cat’s pounce, only with claws and tentacles. I jump to the left as best I can and clam my eyes shut, hoping for the best.
Thunk.
...I'm alive? I mean- I'm alive! Aha! Suck it, alien! The alien is face first into that rock. Just as I'm about to cheer in victory...
It stands back up shakily and shakes its head vigorously. Fuck.
It turns toward me, visibility more pissed off. Well, I think this is a wrap. Damn it.
"Hold it right there! Beast!" Oh. My savior has arrived. I look behind me hoping it's not an alien and... it’s not an alien. It's a woman with sharp blue eyes and long hair which seem to be a very dark brown.
...She's wearing a white toga. What the hell? Does she think she's a Greek or Roman?
"μπάσταρδος!" Oh. Well I just happen to consider myself a linguist. Not a nerd, a linguist; But what she said sounded pretty Greek.
...Then, why the hell do I know she just said 'Bastard'? Whatever, I'll temporarily ignore the fact that Greek words have come out of her mouth but what I'm hearing is slightly accented English. Maybe she's a confused tourist. I'd be confused too.
The creature growls and locks its vision on to the toga-wearing tourist. It breaks into a run, straight for her. It's going to run right past me! Sorry bub, but if you’re not paying any attention to me, I feel pretty confident I won't miss. I rev up a punch with my right hand. As the alien passes me, I let er' loose.
It sounded like an explosion went off. As my leather gloved fist connected with the speeding alien, it's hide waved from my punch. The creature’s momentum died, and it was sent shooting into the ground. Another mini explosion accompanied its crash to the forest floor.
"Jesus Christ!" I clench and unclench my fist as I stare in shock at what my punch did to the thing. On one hand, the logical part of my brain is freaking out, 'I thought that punch would've done nothing!' it says. On the other hand, the part of my mind that stupidly tried to punch a fucking alien is like 'Yeah, as expected'.
What. The. Fuck. I know I'm strong, like, some wimp would probably break a bone if I punched 'em. I did use my right hand, from which I always wear my older brother's brass knuckle under its glove to be cool in front of the boys. But I don't think a brass knuckle is that powerful, I mean, I've never used it before, but I'm not dumb enough to think that it turns you into to Superman. Although, the thing's not dead...It's rises and jumps away, roars at me for a last time, and slips into one of the catacombs of the beehive thing in a blur.
"Hey."
I give a wave over to the person that basically saved me while slowly walking over.
"Uh. γεια?" She furrows her brow but doesn't shy away. Yep. That was the Greek word for greeting...How come I can understand it without even trying to translate? I wonder if hallucinating gives you prodigal language powers.
"Yeah uh hey, do you know where we are Ms. Greek Lady?" The girl recoils a little and looks clearly offended. All I did was call her Greek Lady.
"!...How dare you call me that, I am no Greek pig, I am Spartan!"
....Ok then. Not a fan I see. Well, I'm not a stranger to ancient Greece; the Spartans did consider themselves invaders of Greece. (Even though they were basically Greek.) But this girl is trying way to hard, I'm sorry to say, but you're not an ancient Spartan. Though, she is pretty ripped...like, as much as I am.
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"Yeah that's great, do you know where we are, like are we around the Mississippi or what?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know this place or any 'Missus ipi' you speak of; I was just with my mother when I ended up in this forest. Are you perhaps Persian? I heard they wear odd clothes."
Yeah, say it all you want, my leather jacket is ten times sweeter than a dam toga. I shrug.
"Sorry, I'm no Persian and you're not a Spartan. I'm from the U-nited-sta-tes."
I stress the U.S because I don't think she can comprehend too well. She must be special needs or something if she's thinking like an ancient Greek.
"I told you, Persian, I am from Sparta, my mother is a Spartan Heiress, don't make me repeat myself."
She spoke in a dignified and strong voice.
"Okay, okay, you're a 'Spartan'," I do air quotes with my fingers, "But do you know what that alien was?"
I'm just going to have to go along with her delusion, for now. I'll just call her Spartan in quotes.
She shakes her head. She opened her mouth to speak but another rumble cut her off. This time, a few more of the rumbles followed suit...shit.
"Time to run!"
I grab hold of the 'Spartan's' wrist and start running in the opposite direction of the Beehive from Hell.
"Hey-!?'
Don't worry, it's not the bees that are going to sting you, its monstrosities incarnate! The rumbles are turning into screeches. Within a quarter of a minute, I hear loud and staccato thumping, behind me.
There's more than one...and they're chasing me. Well, a lot of my body is telling me to go and stupidly fight, I mean, I don't like running, and what happened the last time I punch one of those things was like hand grenade going off; So, part of me is uber-confident. But I'm not stupid enough to think that's going to happening again, for all I know it could be a fluke.
After all this, I'm pretty sure I'm not hallucinating. I don't wanna die.
I glance behind me and what greats me is a horde of those things. They're not like the first one either, they all have their own little difference's, some have patches of fur, others have bits of ripped up and falling of hide...Am I in Chernobyl? I mean that Commie disaster did happen pretty recently but...Whatever! Stop thinking and keep running! I'm pretty amazed how the delusional lady can keep up with me, it's not that I'm super-fast or anything, but we've been running for a couple minutes at the same pace. She does look pretty buff, so I guess it's a given though. Thank god we got a head start on them too, they really caught up quick!
This is life now: Running. Just as I think that I hear another loud sound. Please don't be anymore, please don't be anymore.
It's not a rumble, it’s like laser, or a battleship's cannons. Behind me, a beam of undulating blue slams into the dozen or so creatures, detonating with a cloud of blue mist and blue sparks. The hell? I stop and turn, letting go of the toga-wearing women's wrist. The majority of the aliens seemed to have vaporized, the ones further away from the epicenter of the beam are now tossing and turning, burning alive in a blanket of blue flames. Their loud screeching slowly fades away and they stop moving. The flames abnormally disappear within a few seconds.
From the scene in front of me, my jaw drops. A putrid smell floods into it.
...Is this some secret weapon the U.S military has to combat Comies and aliens? We'll that's fortunate; because right now, they’re at the top of my 'unfavorable' list. A genuine wave of relief overcomes me. I'm saved, again. I look over to where the beam came from, expecting to some, future-looking plane or something. But what comes flying over the tree line, is a formation of a dozen people.
They're flying. They're fucking flying. No apparatus, just floating. What.
The dozen or so people touch down lightly in front of us. In the lead are a robbed girl and adult on the brink of seniority. Behind them are about 10 knight looking guys, they're clad in so much armor I can't see a hint of humanity from them. Their armor isn't average steel like most knights look, it' got a golden color to it. Maybe it is gold they're wearing...I sense a get-rich-quick scheme brewing here.
"You know, that Reysarke spell of yours is pretty terrifying yes?"
The old man says, straightening his back.
"It's a spell you should know by now Mr. I only know the second tier of Rey."
The youth quickly quips back. Her gaze sets on me, with her brow furrowed.
You know, I don't think I'm in the U.S anymore. Just a guess. Flying knights and wizards, this is just some lucid dream, right? They're also not speaking English, what I'm hearing is English, but their mouths aren't moving to make English sounds. What comes out of their mouth is like a mix of French and German. No words are exact, but the conjugations and pronunciation is. I'm not a nerd. I'm a linguist.
"So... you’re my summon then..."
She sighs. The man with brown, receding hair next to her perks up.
"So then I did get a women hero, just my luck yes?"
What the hell are they talking about. I can't guess but the teen in front of me is doing a really bad job of trying to size me up. Yeah, sorry you're not going to scare me anytime soon with those weird ass hair and eye colors.
"Listen, I don't know who any of you are, and I really don't care. Can someone just point me in the direction of the nearest embassy please? I need to get back to my country."
I make defiant stand. That should give me some answers, I hope.
"Hmph. You both no longer have a country. Your life now belongs to us, and by extension, Andestine."
The girl said as she looked away scornfully. Who does she think she is? I was almost eaten by abominations and she thinks she owns me just because she pulled a laser out of her ass. Sorry, but I'm not up for sale.
"Me, a Spartan, being 'owned', I am no Helot, child!"
She's certainly young, but I don't think the age gap between them is big enough to warrant the tourist referring to the wizard girl as a 'child'.
The 'Spartan' strides in front of me and grabs the dull haired girl by the neck, tightly. The girl let out a shriek as air escaped her throat and she dropped her staff, gripping the 'Spartans' hands. Jesus, that tourist is really choking her out. Plus respect. You know, I oddly feel a kinship with the 'Spartan', we ran away together and she was the first person I saw in this forest; the thought of taking the old man out to help her flits across my mind, but after seeing that beam of death, I'm not gonna challenge that. No way.
"H-hold it! Guards!"
The old man is visibly surprised, and he recoils. One of the knights behind him walks up and lays their massive gauntlets on the tourist's shoulders, trying to pull her away. But...he can't. This massive, gold clad knight who's about a foot taller than me can't overpower a woman as tall and buff as I am. I'm sure this golden knight, who's about a head taller than me, is stronger than me. Does that mean this 'Spartan' is stronger than me? Oof, my pride as a guy just took a hit.
Seeing his comrade's struggle, another knight runs over and helps. The two over them pull away the 'Spartan', and hold her. The wizard girl starts coughing and falls to the ground. The old man kneels down and lays a hand on her back.
"Heal: First Tier."
!?
He just spoke English! That's a far cry from not understanding them at all on a conscious level. That was a spell he cast, and blue aura is radiating from his hand. Yep. It's settled. I don't think I'm on Earth. It's probably some alternate world or some bullshit. But if it is an alternate world, then why was the Incantation for that spell in English? His mouth moved correctly too, so it's not just me. Whatever, I'll save the thought of this for later.
"T-thank you Clarke..."
So his name is Clarke. That's dam generic for an alternate world with magic and creatures like Mr. Alien. Next to us is still the 'Spartan', struggling and actually giving the two knights a run for their money; she's not making their job easy. The wizard girl looks up at the 'Spartan', she looks a little pissed. She raises her staff. It's starts glowing greenish. The wizard girl inhales.
"Friede sei mit dir."
More magic. And the incantation sounded German, like spot on, modern German. Too bad I don't speak it. Wait. Hold on. If the spell she spoke wasn't translated, but the words she spoke in that mystery language were translated for me...this is pretty inconsistent. I think I can conclude that whatever is translating for me must also be in the same family as magic, because it doesn't conflict or act on itr; that's why it I didn't know what that German was. Odd.
The spell that the girl cast doesn't send or form anything, instead, the 'Spartan' goes limp in the knight's hands. That's a pretty powerful spell, it knocked her out. It did take a straight minute for her to powerup her wonder rod or whatever. I hope they don't knock me out. I'm chill, okay? But from that girl's whole 'I own you now' schtick, it sounds like I'm about to become a slave. Fuck.
Clarke sighed.
"I trust that you will be more civil than my summon, yes?"
Oh. I think I'm starting to get the picture. This is a world with magic, so I was summoned to be someone's bitch. Amazing. Aha! Maybe that's why I'm now a universal translator, it'd be dumb to summon something but then have it not understand a single word. I'm guessing this translation also applies outward; as how they could understand me.
"Uh, yeah. No problem. I come from a modern world."
Wait. This brings up a good question. The 'Spartan' has a pretty high chance of being from my world; She spoke Greek, she was wearing a toga, and she was talking about helots and me being a Persian.
Oh. My mind clicks. The possibility of her being an actual ancient Spartan is presented in my mind. It starts feeling really possible. Ah! So much crap to think about, I'm not a thinker, I'm a fighter. I'd like to also consider myself a lover, but I don't think anyone who isn't my friend at school would agree. I'll save all the commonsense defying crap for me to unpack later.
"A modern one huh? Then you must be as courteous as me then."
The wizard girl stands while adjusting her hair.
"Uh, that's great but, who are you?"
The girl was shocked for a second, her face turning red.
"I am Arciel Fevili Arcielvitzi!" She lifted her hand with a flare, probably thinking she looked super cool. Dork.
"..."
She stood there in a stupid pose for a minute in silence with a proud smile.
"Uh, so?"
She broke her pose immediately and stared at me.
"I'm a Great Noble okay!"
I contemplated whether or not to just say 'So?' again, but I don't want to piss her off. It's evident she's a bit of brat. I hate rich kids. They just mooch off the money and fame of their parents and are completely spoiled. When I have kids, I'm not going to give them anything, that'll teach them to be grateful.
Clarke let out a chuckle.
"So you really did act exactly as I thought..."
Ignoring the jeering old man, the girl keeps on staring at me, like she's trying to scare me again. Sorry kiddo, it ain't gonna work.
"Hmph. We'll explain to you later, but right now we need to get out of this danger zone, didn't you see the big black hole? That was a monster breach. We need to leave before they mount up a hunting party. It's a shame we don't have enough manpower to take it out right now..."
She shrugged and looked away, realizing that she's not going to get any reaction from me 'cause her stare ain't affecting me.
Ok. So those aliens were monsters. They looked more like mutants then fantasy creatures. I've never heard of any 'Monster Breaches' too.
"Well, I suppose," She gently lifted off the air. She's fucking flying again. "Now's a time better than ever to fly for the first time." She smiled deviously and pointed her staff at me.
"Ailes de liberté."
That was French. I know liberté means freedom, but that's it. A grey aura surounds me for a split second. I feel lighter almost instantly. No. No. It can't be. You're shitting me. Don't tell me...
"W-woah!"
I gently float off the ground by about an inch. I'm flying! I'm fucking flying! Nothing but dopamine fills my brain. It's such an odd sensation. It's like there's no longer gravity, I feel like I'll just float away into the sky. So this might be how the Wright Brothers felt, though I think this is a much bigger step up.
Arciel smirked.
"To move, just focus really hard on what direction you wan-!?"
Up!
"Wah!"
Low and behold, I went soaring up, past the trees and beyond. Feeling the wind against my face felt great, it's a really refreshing feeling that I hope nobody inter-
"HEY! IDIOT! HEY! THE FLIGHT SPELL HAS AN ALTITUDE CAP! IT'LL CANCEL IF YOU-!?"
The yelling bellow me falls on deaf ears, because I, am the king of the wor-!? The spell's been canceled. I'm falling. All that joy that just coursed through my body's been replaced with terror.
"Sunavabitch!"
My curse is bit anticlimactic, because as soon as I pass the tree line, a grey aura surrounds me, and I'm weightless again. Uh. I'm alivvve! That's two near death events I've had today. I might go into an early cardiac arrest if I keep this up.
"Good grief."
Arciel says, face palming.
"Next time, don't jump the gun on someone who's explaining something, that's a good life lesson." Oh shush, brat. I guarantee you that this noble has been cooped up her whole life and has no clue what the world is like.
"Whatever you say, your highness."
I say while floating next to her, theatrically bowing.
"Hmph!" She turns her head but didn't really make anything of it. Wow. She's such a brat, that she didn't take me calling her highness as an insult, she just thought it was normal. Unreal.
Well, I feel oddly sorry for the spartan who got knocked out, she won't be able to experience flight. Yeah, I'm getting rid of the air quotes; I think this world is as crazy as I think it is.
***