It was this day that many people yelled. It wasn't a yell of anger or even fright; it was a yell of pure joy at having our secret wishes come true. What I'm talking about was on the news all day yesterday, and it seems like today the same trend will appear. An island that seems to have appeared out of nowhere is surrounded by storms and monsters. This appeared with military drone footage of the island and the monster that attacked them. It was a massive, vaguely human-shaped piece of earth with crystals for eyes and large arms with spikes of stone on the sides. Something that truly shouldn't exist, exists.

This means magic is real, at least... maybe, we don't really know yet. Today I'll be getting with a group of friends, hoping we can somehow get through and find out for ourselves what is really on the island. Supposedly the island is next to Central America, and it's even growing longer as if the ground is appearing from nowhere. It's larger than Australia, and it's spinning slowly, as it grows longer though it's seeming to stop spinning. It's a true wonder if this is because of magic or some other thing... Now, let's stop this internal monologue because I'm late for the meeting with my friends.

-At the meeting-

"Surrounding the "Continent of Monsters" is a bunch of different Military from the different countries in Submarines, Aircraft Carriers, and Battleships", My friend, Zeth, Said, reading off a bunch of articles at a time.

"Would it even be possible to sneak somewhere near the island with all of those forces?" Another friend of mine said but was quickly quieted by Zeth.

"Actually, many countries are drafting people to enter the continent when they find a way in."

"Wait, really, Zeth? We need to sign up for it then. They can probably find an entrance to the island any day now," I said, truly hoping to find out what this continent is like and if we can get on it in the first place.

Peregrina, another of our friends, brought up a very good point "Zeth, how do you know we'll be accepted? There are probably some people who are strong enough or skilled enough to survive on a completely wild place."

"Chances are we won't be accepted, but supposing we aren't, then I'm sure Hai can get us onto the continent somehow," Zeth said while looking at me.

"Wait, me? No, I doubt I can do that with such a heavily guarded place..."

"You can figure something out, I'm sure," Peregrina said, a bit too hopeful of my skills of sneaking around and past people.

"If he could sneak past the militia of all those different countries, then he's truly the master of sneaking around."

"Fine, but only if we fail to get accepted" As I said that Zeth handed us papers

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"What's this?" I said while starting to read them.

"They're the sign-up sheets for the drafting. Mine is already filled out. All that's left is you two."

"I see. Why couldn't you fill it out for us yourself?" Peregrina said, clearly showing her disdain for paperwork

"Because who knows if you're hiding something that I don't know about," Zeth said while shrugging, simply not wanting to fill the form out for us himself.

"Fine, I guess I can fill it out then..."

"Well, what else were we going to bring up?" I ask after filling out the papers

"Since we've filled out the information, all we have to do is send it in and wait to get accepted. Other than that, we can start planning how to sneak in just in case we fail."

-A week later-

A week after our meeting, I got a group call from Zeth and Peregrina after some very frantic text message from them both, so I answered.

"Ye-"

"Check your E-mail!!!!" They both said instantly while cutting me off.

I checked my E-mail right when they said that wondering what could be so important, and found an acceptance letter from the military saying I was accepted for the expedition.

"Wait, seriously!!" I yelled excitedly

"Yes!! Apparently, everyone who submitted a form was accepted as long as they were older than eighteen!!" Zeth said right after my yell.

"How do we get there?" I then asked

"We're supposed to be at the harbour in three days," Peregrina answered me

"What should we pack?" I then asked

"We'll be packing for a long camping trip. We're apparently trying to make a small colony to both learn what we have to defend for if we want to live on it and if there is other life on the continent. Specifically, we are to make this a new home, and if it's too dangerous, we move out." said Zeth

"Well, I'm going to get packing. Maybe I'll bring a knife."

-On the Expedition day-

It's finally the day, I'm with Zeth and Peregrina on the ship already, and the ship is travelling in a spot where the storm hasn't touched somehow. It's very eerie but really cool. I regretted thinking that it was safe when we finally reached the point where we could see the shore.

"Turn around!!" I heard from the from of the ship. I went up to the front to see why, and all that I could see was a round bulge was rising from the ocean slowly growing until it seemed to be the size of a small mountain. When it stopped growing, it seemed as if the water itself was being carved off into the shape of an enormous human with swirling vortexes for eyes. As I watched it form, I realised that I wasn't going to be surviving until morning. So I might as well die trying to reach that land even if it means I encounter something worse.

-Zeth's point of view-

I woke up to Hai whispering loudly to both Peregrina and me, telling us to wake up quickly and grab our bags.

"What? Hai, are you crazy? We're in the middle of the ocean," Peregrina said not so quietly after hearing His explanation.

"I'll trust you on this then. If we're going to die anyway, I want to see the island first."

"Zeth you too?! What happened to you? We should trust the ship."

"They haven't prepared for anything to go wrong. Even if they did, they most certainly didn't expect a water monster now," I said, answering Peregrina.

"I guess... I guess I don't have a choice then. I can't leave you two alone, knowing you might see magic."

When she said that, it was decided. We grabbed our bags as quickly as possible after taking out all the stuff that would weigh us down and isn't helpful and then jumped into the ocean.

Luckily we did as soon as we did because shortly after we jumped out, the ship froze and imploded in itself before getting pushed down by a floating slab of water. The impact luckily pushed us far enough to reach the island, and when we finally rested up a bit, we ran further in, hoping that the monster didn't notice us.