1 Prologue - What Came Before

The sounds of the city could be heard, echoing in the night as a young man lay bed-ridden in the hospital, tired and alone once again. Laying back in his bed, the sound of girls screaming could still be heard as he clutches his legs in silence, with his expression remaining dim.

Quietly pondering to himself, he raises his right hand, reaching forward to grab his water.

He could still feel strain throughout his entire body trying to think what went wrong. Clutching his legs, his expression darkened as it felt like a million knives were being stabbed into his body.

His thoughts were interrupted as steps echoed from the hallway, as another young man came walking in.

"I see your finally awake..." A suave-looking young man, wearing a casual white shirt, black jacket, and dark jeans walked in. His face was almost similar to the patient, minus the latters growing stubble.

They were twins, no doubt about that.

Scratching his head a bit with an embarrassed look, the guy in bed answered "I'll be fine, the doctor said I should be out by tomorrow."

Stretching his arms as it was probably the only thing that hurt the least, he looked on to the other hospital beds to find them all empty. His spot was the only one lit up, whilst others' light was turned off.

"I can't believe they'd let me out so early though, but it must just be a massive influx of patients." Moving his arms from his side, he leaned to the side to grab a cup of water. Sipping it, he winced at the taste as his younger brother continued.

"Those weird occurences... It's been driving people out of town." Briefly looking away for a second, the other man could tell there was something wrong. He didn't seem to care that much though, looking to hand over what was in his hands.

"Your file-" The younger man handed him the papers, "-if you want to have a look at it..."

Leaving the older of the two to stare at his file. His expression turned to a frown when he realised that they had gotten his patient number completely wrong.

Klein Towha

Age: 22

P-5837

Ha... They got it wrong, it's supposed to be 583- Aaah! Klein felt a sudden jolt of pain in his legs caused his brother to jump in shock, rushing to his side as he felt his bottom half strain. After a few seconds of brief adjustments to his cast, Neil sighed as he worringly moved his chair beside the bed.

"God dammit... This is why I hate trucks...!" It stung like hell as he gesturing to his recovering legs. Neil looked at the condition of his brothers legs, remembering the story Klein told him when he first arrived at the hospital.

He had never guessed such an unlikely situation would happen to anyone, moreover his brother. One early morning, his older brother was strolling to the shopping mart near their apartment. He was often the first to wake, and to make breakfast for both himself and Neil.

A walking talking contradiction, one he was thankful for as stressful as he was.

Klein noticed a girl seemingly fixated on what was ahead of her, waltzing past a nearby crossing. She was unaware of a white truck that was just driving around the corner at high speeds, as he realised things could get ugly.

Picking up to unimaginable speeds, he screamed for the her to move as she turned to the oncoming truck in fear. He felt his blood boil when the girl froze up, refusing to move as Klein tackled her out of the way.

The girl got lucky, but Klein wasn't so fortunate.

As the girl turned to thank the stranger, she was horrified to find her saviour sprawled out on the road, unmoving and bleeding out. The truck didn't stop as it kept its acceleration and turned another corner, leaving the girl to call an ambulance, as Klein fell into unconsciousness.

"Pretty unfortunate, had the girl paid attention I wouldn't be here faced with hospital bills..." Neil said, as rain suddenly poured down bringing a peaceful ambiance set the cool mood between the two.

Klein glanced outside at the sudden rain, smirking as he turned back to Neil.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'll be sure to owe back." Klein said, passing back his file to Neil as his brother sighed.

"You always say that." Neil placed it next to him on a nearby table, as both were now left with an awkward silence. Klein took a moment to look outside, taking in the rain as the sounds began to calm his nerves.

At least he could take some time to relax.

"Shit... Well, how're mum and dad?" Neil smiled happily, glad that his brother asked about their family for once. Unlike Klein, he'd actually kept in contact with them.

"I'm not actually supposed to tell you this, but... They're whipping something out soon, you're gonna love it..."

Whip something out huh? Klein laughed half-heartedly at the joke in his head. His forehead began to itch, seemingly a bit put off by the strands that kept touching his forehead.

He made a mental note to cut his hair short later, they looked almost sharp enough to poke his eyes out.

"The thought is appreciated, but they really don't need to do that." Klein didn't want them to needlessly spend stuff for him, the hospital bills was bad enough.

But to his younger brother it made him more than happy, seeing his brother Klein like this. It really was a breath of fresh air since the accident happened, and things were starting to look up.

Klein yawned, leaning back onto his chair as he could feel his eyes droop.

"Ah man, and to think I've got a lot to deal with back at work... I'm so fired..." Klein stopped as Neil put his hand on his brother's lap.

"Don't worry about that, for now just focus on your recovery this time." Klein winced at the comment, noting the venom laced with that comment. He still remembered the time he twisted his ankle, and proceeded to train for the next 2 days before heading to the hospital.

Man, was that really a bad move on his part.

"I know… I guess you better head back, preparations probably isn't ready yet, is it?" grinning, he leaned back to his hospital bed before yawning. The irked face only confirmed it, as Neil got up and took something out from his bag. Throwing the biscuts at Klein who caught it, Neil finished packing up his stuff.

"Well your not wrong... Hey- don't even think about going for a walk! The nurses told me you tried to walk around, but you do realise it's only going to make things worse for you, right?"

Klein acted aloof, a smirk slowly edging by the ends of his lips only contradicting his lie, "I have no idea what you're talking about, I've just been here wasting my days away- and frankly I think I'm starting to enjoy it~"

"Whatever, just take care not to make the bill even larger by staying here..."

Neil walked out of the room, his footsteps' getting quieter with every step. Klein was left to himself once again. As the rain continued the drop, Klein could only ponder as he'd soon have to return to his old life. Well, at leasy they were setting up some sort of welcome back party...

A few days after his eventual return home, Klein was walking through Yuoshi late at night, going to one of the convenience stores to get some milk. Nearing the center of town, he wondered how things had been so strange in his town.

Hours after his first night home, they checked the news to find a bad storm coming in the coming weeks from across the globe. Though Klein wasn't too worried, it was sure to die out once they arrived.

He was lost in his thoughts, not noticing as he turned the corner and bumped into another person. Coins and cash fell out of the man's hands, falling to the floor as he huriedly picked them up.

"S-Sorry, I-... " Tumbling to the floor, Klein looked up to apologise only to see a suavely dressed man. His skin paled in comparision to his own, visible as he fixed his shirt before looking down on the brother. Approaching Klein, he bent down to help Klein up, even though his tight black pants caused a bit of a struggle to keep in position.

Getting up, Klein was surprised by something else. The man squinted at his silence, with Klein staring right at the scar that was plastered around the man's left eye.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

"Oh shit- Sorry, I was just curious about your face and...yeah..." The man picked up his keys before sighing, already noticing the tired & downcast expression.

"Don't worry about it man, thanks for the help." A small simle of pity came onto his face, fixing himself before turning away from Klein. He didn't seem too bothered, especially after the brother helped him fix his stuff.

"Well see you 'round, that's a nice hoodie by the way. Love the Greforia."

"Oh- uh... Thanks man..." With a wave from them both, Klein continued his stroll to the convenience store before he saw something laying on the concrete in front of him. Reaching down to pick it up, observing as the brown beads falling down each side.

He realised that it must've fallen off the man who left.

Wrapping the necklace around his wrist, he tried running around the street corner to call out to him.

"Wait! You forgot your... Beads..."

What the... What he found was an empty street, the lights suddenly turned off as he couldn't see that far ahead. It was an immediate turn-off for the brother, noting in his head to take it to the police station later.

"Not gonna touch that... N- Agh!"

A flash near his hands caught him by surprise, closing his eyes instinctively before looking down at what caused it.

"What the hell? This things got LED lights or something... Gotta get this checked out later..." Slapping the beads for a few seconds, the purple glow soon turned off. Klein shrugged it off as weird tastes from the man in the suit, as he continued to the center.

Finally reaching the small monument at the center of town, he noticed a strange light emanating from the library. Abnormal noises and green sparks that immediately caught his attention, as he looked on from the sidewalk.

Weird noises coming from the library, who would've guessed... Klein was about to run towards the library when he felt a hand grip his shoulder pulling him back. Klein didn't even bother to to look, quickly gripping the entire arm and reeled his arm back when-

"This late for milk?!" It was Neil again, and Klein was sighing internally as Neil began to berate him for coming out this late for something like this.

"How'd you know?" Klein said sarcastically, causing his brother to show the empty carton of milk from his free hand. Throwing it into the nearby bin, he pulled out a phone to show a picture to his older brother. It was the front door of their apartment, fully open with no key or look to keep it shut.

"Right... Sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry, be better." Neil glanced over to where Klein was headed, as he realised something was going on in the library. Both brothers were staring at the library at this point, as the lights inside began to flicker even more.

The situation was a bit unnerving for the both of them, especially since no one was around.

"I'm heading to the library to investigate, you coming or not?"

"That's stupid, we should go- H-HEY!" Klein didn't let his brother finish, already ignoring him as he snuck off to the entrance.

His brother was a buffoon when it came to his curiosity, always throwing them into the stupidest of situations. However, he wasn't going to leave Klein to his own devices.

Neil cursed beside him as Klein checked the time, the library still being open.

"I don't really come here that often, only to issue some manga and return it."

"That's the point of a library, Klein." Klein ignored his correction as he sweatdropped at his own stupidity. Neil frowned as Klein moved forward, not wanting to show it in front of hs younger brother.

As Neil stood beside Klein, the two gave each other a nod before walking in. Moving inside, the lights begin to flicker on and off as people inside beginning to feel uneasy.

A youthful voice reciting words from the corner of the fiction section could be heard, as people were already beginning to leave.

Of course its fiction... Neil was about to call out when Klein hushed him, signalling him to follow as they made their way to the source that blew books out of their shelves.

"What the hell...?"

"Klein step back..."

To their shock the culprit was a young boy, with short black hair and a pale expression on his face. His clothes confirming a senior from Yuoshi High, who was struggling to say some weird pronunciations.

Reciting words from a ragged book he held, his face turned to fear, stuttering as a vortex suddenely appeared in the corner of the room.

It began to grow even more ferocious, as the lights around them blew up, the power going out all at once. The librarian rushed out of his office, directing people out before noticing what the brothers saw.

The librarian came rushing into the scene in shock.

"What're you doing?!"

"I-"

He couldn't even start before the vortex began slowly opening, the sheer force pulling the four in.

Voices began echoing from the other side, sending chills down their spines as they grew louder. Everyone gripped whatever they could find for support, as they felt themselves getting sucked in.

Why do I hear voices from the vortex?! thought, trying to look inside the vortex as everyone was slowly moving away. The situation got worse as the pull grew stronger, the boy was slowly losing his grip on the shelves as he held on for dear life.

The boy began to cry, mumbling to himself about something unheard of from the brother's.

I have to stop the damn thing before the boy lets go... Klein thought as he looked to Neil, who was somewhat confused as to what was transpiring.

Looking towards the boy he noticed a book that was unmoving in front of him, glowing purple and unfazed by the currents that were pushing them to the portal.

Bingo.

Klein rushed towards the book on the floor getting sucked in, with Neil trying to reach out to stop him, failing to do so as Klein slid his body near the book. He managed to grab it, an opportunity has arrived.

Without warning, Klein began ripping the pages of the book, as the boy shrieked in horror at what he was doing.

"NO NO NO STOP!"

"Why?! Were trying to stop the porta-"

Neil looked to the side and saw the boy, genuinely shocked at what Klein was doing. The librarian showed no signs of helping, as he was struggling to hold onto one of the shelves.

It was there that he thought of an idea, and with one hand, began chucking things into the portal hoping it would stop functioning from the other side.

The view on the inside could only be described as extremely sketchy, Neil could faintly see symbols on a supposed grey floor, glowing as figures dressed in robes could be seen on the inside.

"What the... Lookin' like some satanic shit!"

"Just keep ripping the pages Klein!"

With their sudden actions to try and stop the portals functioning, the voices on the inside began to distort. The scenery from within distorted with a bubble-like view, before changing in front of their very eyes.

"Woah..."

It changed to a bright blue sky, with clouds drifting by as the sun was seemingly above his view of the portal. Klein ripped the last page to shreds as the portal began to destabilise, changing in size from a multitude of minuscule to ginormous.

"Woah woah woah woah, Neil I'm getting pulled in and I don't have anything to graaaaab!"

Klein was getting pulled into the vortex-portal as he struggled to crawl away, but to no avail.

It grew to unimaginable heights, almost triple the size of the bookshelves they were holding onto. The high school kid couldn't hold on any longer, as he lost grip from his pinky as he went tumbling towards the portal.

Normaly this is where your usual Isekai story would begin, but destiny didn't count on two things.

One was that Klein was closest to the portal, destroying the source so that no one would ever use it ever again. Two, Neil was a selflessely stupid person.

Neil knew his brother wasn't going to escape, so he let go of the shelf and sprinted towards his brother and the student.

"I'VE GOT YOU!-"

Klein pushed himself back up as he felt the portal pull his body back. This was the decisive moment, as Klein shoulder pushed the boy away so that it could delay him.

Oh my god... AAAH- Buying some time for his brother, he fell through the portal first as scream of terror could be heard from inside. Of course, that would be the normal reaction for someone who falls into things head-first.

The portal was shrinking, as the two were about to collide at the entry-point.

NO..

YOU...

D O N ' T . . . ! ! !

But Neil used all of his remaining strength to dropkick him away, delaying just enough time for the portal to close without him. A big wave of energy combusted as soon as it closed, sending everyone inside crashing against the bookshelves.

Only a few minutes later, police & private investigators came in to look at the scene. One man in particular found remains of the book, its pages ripped to shreds as the man read what looked to be ancient texts on one of the burnt pages.

"Summoning...?"