Cross-Dimensional Answers Prologue-Ch 2 (Last Legacy)
A/N: HOLY HELL IT IS FINALLY HAPPENING. I really do apologize for waiting over a year to finally post this. I don't really want to go into it, but it is finally happening. Anyways below are the proper credits and I hope you enjoy it.
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Warnings: Swearing, Potentail poor grammar
Creators: Dev (creator and writer), Ciel (sprites, cgs, illustrations), Hika (bgs, illustrations, gfx), Lulu (writer), and Grace (writer)
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When I wake, a coughing fit rises within me. My lungs burn from the lack of air during the split second of paranormal emptiness. As my breathing becomes more steady, I am met with a cool breeze of earth and rain that flows through my partially undone ponytail. Despite the circumstances, my first thought is:
I move from the ground, feeling the cobblestone-tile ground beneath my hands and knees, its smooth, but uneven texture set beneath me. I open my eyes to see endless firefly lights moving around me, the circles shining brightly. The whispered sound in my ears fades when another breeze blows past.
After letting my eyes adjust, I look around hoping to figure out what the hell happened. In front of me, I see a wide staircase leading up to a large, arched window. Crumpled stone walls surround me, exposing the open room to the forces of nature. I look past the walls into the…night sky?
Wait? What the hell? How is it already nighttime?
Still baffled by the sudden jump in time, I look upwards towards the sky to see clouds moving across the purple atmosphere, red-hued moonlight shining bright. As I glance around, I notice iron-chained chandeliers hanging from the parts of the room that still have a ceiling with faint light glowing from the lit candles.
Before I can take anything else in from the scene, a voice whispers close to me. It’s low and hoarse as if stricken by emotions of various kinds.
“Five years I’ve dreamt of this day…When at last we would be reunited”
Whilst still on the ground, I look to see someone standing above me, looking straight at me. His wavy, dark brown hair blows against his tan skin, giving a clear view of his gray eyes, brimmed with tears. The stranger wears a dark brown, unbuttoned vest over what seems to be a white, peasant blouse paired with light brown trousers. A black, long, velvety overcoat, adorned with gold accents, is draped over his shoulder and a book is strapped by a belt to his thigh.
He looks slightly familiar. I think to myself, though confused about who this stranger is.
“Yet it seems neither fate nor the stars can keep us apart.” He continues, his breathing labored.
The mysterious stranger approaches me, kneeling, taking my hands into his and interlocking them. My eyes widen slightly, thoughts of confusion still prominent in my mind.
“I never stopped looking for you, I never gave up,” he says as he presses a soft kiss to my knuckles.
My eyes widen even more as my face starts to warm, knowing very well that it is as red as a lowering sunset. Instead of the soft wind and his gentle murmurs, all I hear is my heartbeat, pulsing at a faster rate than before.
What in the depths of hell is going on?????!!!!!!!!!
“Oh! How I missed you!” he says with his lips quirking into a slanted grin, pulling me into a tight embrace.
“What–Oh!” I exclaimed at the sudden action.
I can feel his body shaking as I hear slight, silent sobs coming from the strange man. To comfort him, I pat his back lightly, but awkwardly, out of both confusion
and slight concern. In normal circumstances, I would’ve thrown this him off of me, but I can’t help but note the tone of great loss in his voice, leading my heart to pull just a little under the weight of the few words he has said to me. Though he is still sobbing, I decided now is the best time to intervene.
“Um, I think there has been a mistake,” I say genuinely whilst also feeling him stiffen up as the words leave my mouth, “My name is Megan. I think I may have been teleported here with this staff thingy to wherever this is–honestly, I don’t know, just uuuuhhhhhh….who are you?”
His face moves quickly, positioning himself in front of me. His slate gray eyes, rimmed with tears, widen, snapping to meet mine, and his brow jumps in shock at my statement.
“You-you're not Rime?” he asks, horror and desperation clear in his voice.
I shake my head back and forth. After his realization sets in, he leans away from me, his face reddened in embarrassment. He buries his face in his hands, staying in that position for a while with his shoulders trembling with each breath he takes.
At this point, I do not know what to do except sit there, resting on my knees, and stare at him in unrelenting confusion and worry, though, for some reason, not for myself.
….Should I say something?
As I open my mouth, about to attempt to comfort him, he groans, lifts his head out of his hands, and starts whipping the tears from his face.
“Bloody hells,” he croaks.
“I’m fine,” he responds, “Now, what manner of void fiend are you then? Lich? Revenant? Behold with surplus eyes?”
Manner of void fiend? What is he talking about?
My forehead scrunches in confusion as I try to offer up an answer to his strange question.
“I’m a barista…if that’s what you’re asking.”
As soon as I answer, a flash of frustration passes his face. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he softly mutters to himself under his breath, his head slightly bent down.
After about a minute, he looks back up at me. He’s no longer crying but I can tell he’s just…tired. “It seems I’ve made a grave mistake,” he states, “Very well. Allow me to introduce myself.”
He shifts a bit further from me and stands. Before he continues, he offers his hand to me to help me stand up. I thank him as I grab it and get to my feet, though my legs wobble the tiniest bit when I initially stand. As I look back at him, he tucks the hand he offered to me behind his back, and bows deeply with a dramatic, noticeably practiced, flourish.
“My name is Fleix Iskandar Escellun. House unaffiliated. Necromancer,” he declared as he finished his bow.
My eyes widen at the mention of his last name. “Escellun? Like Magister Escell?!” I ask in bewilderment.
I can tell that my acknowledgment of his last name soured his mood slightly. His face darkens, and as soon as it does. I can see it. That salty glare that Felix is giving me is just like Escell’s!
He looks off to the side and grumbles at me. “Tch, he hasn’t been called ‘Magister’ since before i was born.”
“Wait, is he your father?”
He stays silent for a moment, looking me up in down. He’s clearly sizing me up.
“Yes, he is,” a hint of disdain in his voice, but then he looks back at me questionally. “How do you even know that name, barista?” he asks, “You are very clearly not from Astraea.”
My heart stops for a split second once the name of the magical land falls from his lips. I had to have imagined he said that.
“Astraea?” I softly ask him, because there is no way I am currently in the land I have spent countless hours in on a computer screen.
No way…If I am in Astraea, then that means that I have somehow been transported to the world of Last Legacy.
I honestly do not know how to react. I should be ecstatically jumping in the air, at least that would be the reaction of any superfan, but I’m not. Instead, my hands are clammy and my breath starts to falter. My heart is beating faster and everything around me starts to become slightly muffled.
I cannot be in a different world. I just can’t. This is some sick joke…or maybe I’m just dead?
I gather up my courage and ask, “Is this the afterlife? Am I dead? Why does heaven, or wherever I am, look like a video game?”
Felix looks back at me in slight shock and amusement in response to my question. “Is this cesspool truly how you imagined heaven? Mildew, rubble, me–utterly humiliated,” he humors but his lips turn into a smirk saying, “Although, I suppose I should be flattered you discerned anything divine about me.”
His voice is laced with complete sarcasm, except I catch him shyly lowering his eyes.
Still confused with this whole situation, I ask, “So are you saying this is more like limbo or hell?”
He turns slightly to the side, gets out his glasses, opens a strange book, and starts reading it. There is no way this book is new. Its frayed, maroon cloth cover is embossed with strange markings and a skull at the center. It’s worn with sand-colored pages that look like they’d crumble with one touch. It’s definitely not something you would find at your average book store.
“Please. If this were a hell there’d be a great deal more fire and at least twice as many rats,” he answers.
“Now, I must have mixed up my tals and pals when inscribing the spell circle…” he trails off muttering under his breath whilst flipping through the musty, old tome.
“So to be sure, I’m not dead?” I ask, not knowing what else to say.
He looks up from the pages, his gray eyes looking straight into mine. I just can’t stop thinking about the similarities between him and his father. I can’t help to feel a tad bit intimidated by the glare.
He responds to my question, saying, “Sleep, and death, and the void all share their similarities, but you are very much alive.”
“How poetic,” I respond as I look around my surroundings, still baffled at the jump in time.
He smirks at my retort, “Take it from someone who has died once or twice before.”
My head turns suddenly in his direction out of shock, my eyes widening.
My reaction makes him chuckle, but he returns back to his book reading what looks to be incomprehensible scribbles. I take this moment to try to calm myself down.
Okay Megan. Remember those breathing techniques Sarah recommended. Breathe in for five seconds, out for five more. In for five, out for five. In…and out…In…and out…
After a few more rounds, my heart calms, and my breathing evens out.
I may still be in a world full of wizards and mercenaries, but at least I am now calm…for now. Now, to find a way back to the convention center.
“So Felix, if you brought me here, does that mean you can send me home as well?”
“Oh I can definitely send you back”
I release a sigh of relief, and a smile overcomes my lips.
“Wonderful! Now how-” I start, but he cuts me off.
My face drops with disappointment.
“Probably? What do you mean probably? I can’t stay here!” I respond, my voice slowly climbing with anger.
“Well first I need the Astrolabe–” he responds but cuts himself off quickly, “er, that ‘staff-thingy’ you mentioned earlier.
“That’s it? That’s all you need?” I ask, hopefulness laced in between my words, “Then you can return me home?”
“Perhaps. Now, where is it?” he questions, looking around for the Astrolabe.
I shoot Felix an unknowing look.
“Oh well…um... “ I start, “When I went to pick it up it started glowing, but disappeared right after I touched it…so it may be somewhere around here.”
The color drains from his face at my response. Despite his face seeming still, his eyes fill with anger. He opens his mouth to speak, as if he's about to rip me a new one, but catches himself before speaking.
“Ah. Well…that complicates things,” he states as he pinches the bridge of his nose.
“What do you mean, ‘complicates things?” I werrily ask. The wind blows my partially undone ponytail, causing a chill to run down my spine, uneasiness filling my stomach.
Felix whips his head around, facing the door.
“I’ll explain after we’ve shed those pesky guards,” he responds hastily.
“What guar–” I start, but a loud bang interrupts me, causing me to jump.
I look over at the nearby chestnut-hued door as it buckles violently. The only thing holding it together is a few rusty, wobbling bolts.
“Damn it all. My summoning may have drawn some unwanted attention–Oh and did I mention we may be trespassing?”
I shoot him a glare, “Maybe you could’ve brought that up earlier!”
Felix merely looks at me and takes a deep breath, before making an arc gracefully in the air with his right hand. Seemingly, out of nothing, a black oval appears in midair. Though ripples emerge from the inky black center, there is a faint, but unclear, image that lies within.
“Hie thee through the portal,” he quickly remarks, making a shooing motion toward the obsidian entrance.
I stare back at him incredulously, “You want me to get into that? Where does it even go?”
Suddenly, the rickety door splinters and bows as it continuously keeps getting bashed in. One of the rusty bolts springs free, following onto the stone floor. I am fully aware my options are very small at the moment, but I don’t know how much I can trust this man.
“Somewhere safe,” he responds, “Or rather, to someone safe. Now, I’d appreciate it if you hurried. Holding this open is harder than it looks.”
Though every bone in my body is saying to run, there’s something in his voice that seems trusting and if I don’t listen, I may be in more trouble than I can handle.
As I take a step forward, Felix holds a hand out. My black backpack dangles from his hand by its strap. My heart lifts a bit at the sight.
Felix can see my apprehension when he states, “Fear not, barista. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
The guards had persevered in their efforts to break down the door, seeing seconds after Felix’s statement, a group of armored individuals bust into the room with a loud crash. There was no hesitation as I hurled my body into the dark portal, plunging into the unknown darkness.
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Cannot wait to start the next part....Anisa my darling.
