I woke up lying on the ground in a strange, yet similar place. The sky was blue. The grass was green. There were plants and animals around me. Yet all felt twisted and alien to me. The sky was more lighter and the grass a bit darker. The trees, looked similar from afar, but alien up close, kind of like a close devient of the original. Same with the animals.
I walked around the realm for anybody else other than me. I went far and wide, turning over every stone, looking behind ever bush, and only to find nobody else was there. I was confused. Why? Why was I left alone. I tried searching my fragile memory. I went deeper and deeper to only to find gaps of memory and return only with the realization that I was stranded alone on a godless planet, far away from home, unable to return.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The newly deployed RVER-15s roamed around the globe. Similar to the SE-24, carrying all the functions and abilities, however it was a bit larger, about 15%. It's camera was smaller and was positioned more at the top on another spherical ball. Under the camera is compartment box that is used to store 50KG of extra weight. On it's sides are 2 arms with 3 fingered claws to pick up anything. It also is given containers to place the samples collected. Once a day is coming to an end, the drones must deposit their findings to the mothership.
RVER-15 (#003) has been given the instruction to find and collect materials of the planet. With only 13 hours to ascend to the mothership, it searched multiple ideal locations to collect them. Luckily, it found one. A large done made out of anchor gray stone bricks that protected a cave of sorts. The entrance was under the arch detailing coins and jewels but also skulls and bones. Using sonar, the drone calculated that the cave was vast and long, perfect to find exclusive samples.
It heads into the dark cave. The drone uses night vision, seeing the gloomy grotesque creatures. Some were eyes with wings, some were made of bones of the innocent victims who were unlucky enough to encounter it. There was one in particular, one with lots of fur, it was somehow looking at the drone. It got closer and closer, sniffing the shell with it's black dog nose then retracted suddenly. Howling and screaming, it ran with the others. They seem to be scared. The ones with the legs ran, while the one with wings flew. The drone continues it search.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone was relaxing at the cafeteria, waiting for Melvin and John Hamilton to arrive. Anna Williams, Carl Johnson and William Grant were all engaging in a conversation with each other, while Robert Rockefeller and Mike Florence were both competing in a video game on their mobile phone.
The door to the cafeteria slide open. Both Melvin and John entered the room. Melvin took a seat on his chair. John brought everybody's attention to him. "With Day 0 coming to a conclusion, I would want you all to report your activities for today, and for Melvin, I want you to repeat the discoveries you have made by the end."
Anna went first. "I have recalibrated and setup all necessary systems and equipment and can begin experimenting with the samples that will be delivered to the ship." The rest said the "Same". It was usual for not much to happen on Day 0. John turned to Melvin. "Any discoveries Melvin?"
Melvin stayed silent. He appeared to be in a state of thought. John interrupted.
"Melvin?" he asked again, while touching his shoulders. This caught his attention.
"Yes?"
"What have you discovered?"
Melvin gave a sign. "A lot. It is actually better if I showed you all. No pausing."
The crew sit straight at his words. Melvin recommended the crew to turn their face to the monitor. DAVID starts to play the crystal clear footage of the multiple sentient life habiting on the face of the planet. The was an eerie silence as they watched, and was only broken when the footage ended, only leaving off one.
"What. The. FUCK." John said.
"Not even a day in and this planet has delivered more mysteries than the first 5 years of exploring Alpha Centauri. I mean... like.. humans! On another planet! Along with multiple humanoids that appear to come straight out of a fantasy!" William said.
"And those red-skinned, they look awfully a lot similar." said Robert.
"Maybe we are living in a simulation?" said Mike.
"What are the odds of this happening?" asked Anna.
"Technically, 100% Dr. Anna" Melvin responded,
The crew was in a state of shock. This was an unexpected discovery beyond their wildest dreams. They were struggling to construct sentences properly. Melvin gave them time to cool off. "Ladies and Gentlemen! I have one final footage I would like to show you. He plays the final footage.
There was a little native girl on the bottom of the waterfall. She reached out her hand and chanted words in their alien language. A magic circle appeared, then a ball of water came out of thin air. It was then shot into the pond. All of it was captured, in crystal clear footage. Melvin turn to face the others.
The jaws of the crew were wide open. An absolute silence has entered the room. They all looked at each other, contemplating what they have seen. Some thing, that might have been considered impossible, something that has been in the realm of fantasy and fiction for millennia, has just been overturned.
"This planet... has more than it seems." said John.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before the sun rises once more of the realm of Nalla. The voice of the mother wakes Shbell Ohmswart up from her deep slumber. An elven girl at the ripe age of 12. With hair that was looked and valued as silver, being as 2/3rds tall as a longbow, and gifted with her mother's green eyes. She dashed out of her room, down the stairs and sat on the chair facing the table where they would eat. The table was round, held together with 3 legs. The chair they sat on was more of a stool. On the table was a round wooden plate. Next to them was a spoon, a wooden knife and a fork. All of it it made out a wood called Hallina wood, a cedar brown hardwood that grows in a small section of the forest they live in.
Her mother was Shre Ohmswart, a blonde haired beauty with green eyes with a bit of bust to her chest. She usually go out with her Kanori friend with her green tunic and blue pants, while carrying her bow bestowed to her by her, now dead, great grandfather. Meanwhile Shbell's father, Shlend Ohmswart, was a muscular, silver haired icon with aqua blue eyes. Well known in his kind for being stronger than steel, and attracts envy to keep the world going around. There were high expectations for Shbell.
She sat at the table while her mother distributed the cooked food on her plate. The menu today was Kirana, a dish with a big blue vegetable of the side of the plate while all sorts of other greens covered the rest of the plate. The family all held hands together, and started to say a prayer before indulging the meal on the table.
Once they had finished, they all prepared themselves to go to the great temple tree of the Kanori. Shbell was given a green gown as her outfit to attend the ritual. She cried asking why they has to attend.
"As you know dear, today is the final day where some of our Kanori friends are nearing their time on this realm, so they have to sacrifice themselves in order for goddess Hmarlia to bring forth new Kanori to help us preserve nature. Since you are becoming a big girl, it is your duty to learn the sacred ritual."
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Shbell gave a stubborn face as her mother prepared her hair. Shre gave out a smile. She came close to Shbell's ear to wisper. "If you act your best, you might get a new Kanori friend." Her eyes shined and glittered over the news.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another batch of animal and plant life has been melted with the colorless fluoroantimonic acid. They have been busy building a database documenting the plant and animal life, along with it's quirks, present in it, and there were a lot. So far shows that human body can survive on the planet with the plant-based food present in it, and there were a lot. Some were sweet, some were sour, some were spicy, and some were somehow salty. However what intrigued the scientists, were the animals.
They all had a form reality bending properties that enhanced their abilities. For example, there was a silver white wolf-like creature with 2 goat horns, and a powder white mane. It's senses and strength outcompete a normal wolf, not through biological superiority, but by utilizing a mystical power. Even stranger was that this peculiar one, starts to turn into dust when it dies.
"You have any hypothesis or hypotheses?" Asked Carl.
"One. The mysterious element is helping to channel out energy to break the laws of reality itself. I know Dr. Robert is currently researching the element, however, we seriously need a better research facility if we want to conduct meaningful tests and experiments."
"Well, this expedition was supposed to document the planet on a surface level. To learn things like dangerous creatures, plants, or even primitive sentient creatures. However no one expected that the planet was filled with mythological wizards and witches."
"We would have to eventually go back and report our findings. I am sure that the discovery of magic is more than enough of a reason for us to set up a research station."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the great giant tree of the forest, had a room with the large Kanori Flower. Being as tall as an elf, it has a large closed chartreuse bud, with it's mocha brown twig surrounding it in a coil and firmly held to the ground with it's roots. Windows caved into the walls, pouring sunlight into it, feeding it and strengthening it.
The large wooden door opens, and income the elderly Kanori. They all surround the flower, smiling, before they close their eyes. Their skins starts turning into a ash gray, cracks began to appear. They slowly all broke down, leaving the corpses behind. The remains then glow green, spheres of green ball of light starts to replace the remains. They all rise and power the Kanori flower.
The coil of twig starts to unravel as the flower bloomed, revealing a macaroon yellow carpel with its chartreuse green petals. There then was a light of emerald green, it slowly turned into a figure. It was tall and wore a tunic, it's face feminine and it's ears pointy. With a soothing voice, it echoed "Bring forth the seeds."
Then, a small female elf, who was about 4 feet tall with silver hair and a pear of green eyes wearing a green gown brought forth, in her hand, a small seed for her small Kanori. The spirit however, looked above Shbell. Shbell became more nervous. The spirit looked down, and smiled at Shbell. She reached out her hand and casted a spell. The seed started to luminate. Shbell put the seed down. A small head appeared, it then grew larger, forming a body, arms and legs until it reached Shbell's height. She smiled at Shbell, so she smiled back. They were now able to leave.
After they left, Shre and Shled Ohmswart with their Kanori arrived. However, before the others could enter, the spirit asked to close the door, to speak to them in private. An unprecedented event. The people started to whisper and gossip.
"Leader of the elven tribe, do you know of the outsider presence within this very room."
The elves and the Kanori were stupefied. They immediately bowed down.
"Kelleni Hetania. I apologize for my incompetence, where is this outsider so I shall expel out of this sacred chamber!" Shled said.
The spirit casted a spell, engulfing the room with her magical light.... yet nothing showed up. She fired another spell, but still, it refused to appear. Leaving nothing except the stench of it's presence for anyone to know of it's existence. The elves and the Kanori was shaken. What was so much more powerful than a high spirit, that it could counter it magnificent magic?
The spirit looked upon the elves. "The ritual shall proceed as normal."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A heavy breathing Mirabelle firmly knocked on the Grandmaster's door. "Come in". Mirabelle slowly entered, closing the door behind. "Ah Mirabelle, come have a seat". She sat down, she was still breathing heavily. The headmaster asked her for a cup of Maretae, Mirabelle happily accepts.
The grandmaster slowly poured the mint green maretae into the frost white ceramic cup from his tureen. Mirabelle gently grabbed the handle of the cup with 2 of her fingers. She started to sip her sorrows away. The tense room starts to be filled with a smoothing tranquility. Her breathing slows becomes more normal.
"Now dear princess, has there been any new developments to the visions?"
She placed the cup down on the table.
"Yes grandmaster. A frit one at that!"
"Was it the reason why you asked me for my strongest maretae?"
She nodded in agreement. The grandmaster sat a bit straighter and took a deep breath. "Tell me. What did you see?"
...
There was great gray smog that breezed through the air, the environment hard to breathe, and that nearly blocked the sight of the towers. Great ugly towers made of glass, stone and steel, that kissed the sky. There were metal beasts without legs that were either moving or stationary around these towers. Mirabelle's obstructed view couldn't fully grasp the details of it all. The wind starts to howl.
Then she was there, at the center of it all. Everyone was a black silhouette, with eyes being of wither brown, blue or green. Some were skinny, some were fat, but all were miserable. There were some that shouted in the street, speaking a language that she could not understand. The ones who listen had started to glow a powder white. Then, behind Mirabelle, was a round portal. She backed away from it.
Out came, a red-skinned, muscular demon with it's 2 horns came out, with a blood-lust in it's eyes. He grabbed one of them, and killed it with ease, then another, and another. The silhouettes all turned red in anger. They sent one black silhouette, and a fight broke out. The demon starts screaming in pain and fear. The silhouette broke his bones with noisy cracks, cut his arm like butter, broke his horns with ease, and punched his face until it split out blood, leaving his face deformed, nearly killing him. The demon with all it's dwindling energy got up, and ran into the portal.
Among the crowd, a phase starts to be delivered in a whisper. It was at first all alien, but slowly it became more and more familiar. "Terra is mad.". An eye then appears and flies straight into the portal. The black silhouette was to follow, but it closed before it could enter. There was a silence at first, the silhouettes start to turn pitch black again, then they started whispering again. "We will remember." The wind starts to howl.
...
Mirabelle drank from her cup once again, calming her down. The grandmaster wiped his sweat off his forehead. "Thank you miss Mirabelle. You may go now." Mirabelle stood up and left the room. The grandmaster was in deep thought. He gets up, and goes to find answers again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An elderly woman was sitting on the bench of the church in her village with her 7 year old granddaughter, waiting for the priest. The room was devoid of life, the white paint of the walls fallen, exposing the bricks that hold everything together. The marble statue of the goddess Nalla and Nallicia covered in green and black, with cobwebs as a dress or sorts. The stained glass of an angel shattered long ago.
The door opens, and the old priest enters the long forgotten halls of the abandoned church. With his black cloak with holes, and an old torn book, he made his way to the front, and on the podium, which looked to break any minute. The priest looked around, seeing that only his friend and her granddaughter was only there, he skipped the first part, and straight to the ritual.
Hellena went up to the priest. He put his hand on her soft aquamarine hair, and started the prayers. A magic circle appeared on the priest's hand, and the statue of Nallica started glowing. Out came, a blonde beauty with large bright wings, a golden glowing halo, wearing a silver tunic appeared in front of the girl with her eyes closed. She looked down, and revealed her sparkling golden eyes. The priest stepped aside.
The angel looked around the church, fuming at it's insufferable condition. She turned to the priest with disappointment with in her eyes and placed on her face. The priest looked down to the broken tiles on the floor.
"Priest of the church, my I question why the church looks so rumpty and depressed. A church, must always, be maintained at a proper fashion."
"Kalla Enugami, I haven't been able to accumulate the necessary funds to keep up with the rising costs and decreasing donations to properly maintain the church."
The angel was not pleased with his answer. Suddenly, she detected something. She looked around, but there was nothing. It was invisible, only locating with the stench of it's presence. She held her hands together. A light starts to come out her and engulf the room and slowly faded away. She looked at the miasma, but there was nothing else there.
"Kalla Enugami, is there something the matter?" asked the priest.
There was a long pause from the angel, who was done and now was in a state of thinking.
"I have changed my mind, for I have decided to test the child of her abilities."
The priest gave a sign of relief. The angel descended down to the ground, reached out her hand and touch her forehead with an index finger. A light emitted from the tip of her fingers, then as soon as it came, it fades. She pulls her arm back from the girl's forehead and smiled.
"This child, although a late bloomer, is gifted. She could have a wonderful career as a mage if she were to travel to the city."
The elderly woman smiled.
'Something is wrong, I need to ask her.' The angel thought to herself.