Unexpected Awakening

Moments turned into minutes as we waited in our seats. Luna was getting restless as she was constantly shifting in her seat. I sat with my arms crossed and my leg over the other. I wasn't too worried about it, but I did understand where Luna was coming from. What was taking so long?

"What do you think is taking them so long?" Luna voiced my question.

"How should I know? I was never Awakened before," I responded. "Regardless, all we can do is wait."

"Right," Luna said softly. She looked down at her lap.

I felt a little bad for my tone, but I was also getting anxious. Since I didn't know the full process, I figured it wasn't worth it to complain. We sat in silence for a few more minutes before Ace emerged from the Awakening room.

"You guys won't believe what class I got!" He shouted at the top of their lungs. "I'm a hero! They made me do the test thing over and over, but I got the hero class each time!"

I clapped my hands and pretended to be surprised.

"What! That's amazing Ace," I gave him a fist bump.

"Y-yeah. That's incredible," Luna forced a smile but her eyes told a different story.

I could tell that she still remembered our conversation a month ago. My not-so-hypothetical question was slowly becoming a reality to her. Of course, Ace didn't notice since he was too self-absorbed. He hugged Luna and ran out to tell his father. It was a bittersweet moment as I knew what Luna's class would be.

Ding! Luna's character log updated!

I looked at Luna and she was praying! She was actually praying. Before I could encourage her, the priest stood on stage.

"Lady Lunafreya Crestiala, it is now your turn."

The priest was just as surprised as Luna was. His face was drenched in sweat. Luna slowly stood up and walked toward the priest. She was still muttering something under her breath as she walked towards the room. I sat back down and waited for my turn. I planned what I would say to avoid Luna from thinking I could predict the future. No matter how hard I thought, my slip-up put me in a very bad spot. I sighed as I gave up trying to formulate a plan. One step at a time.

This time, it was only about five minutes before Luna walked out of the room. She looked pale as if she saw a ghost. She slowly walked down the aisle and stopped when she was next to me.

"How did you know?" She softly spoke before she continued walking.

Her words pierced me. I knew that her dream may have been shattered since something that basically impossible, happened. To make matters worse, I mentioned Ace being a hero and her a saintess a month before the Awakening. Luna walked out of the chapel with her head lowered.

Ding! Luna's character log updated!

Before I could formulate a thought, I heard the priest's voice.

"Sir Smarus Dragonborne, you may now come up," The priest's voice was now shaky.

I nodded my head as I walked on stage. I followed the priest to a separate room. In the room, were two other priests that would serve as witnesses. They sat against the left wall. In the center of the room was a table with two chairs. On the table sat a misty blue crystal. The high priest sat on one side, and I was on the opposite side.

"Sir Dragonborne, you will use this needle to prick your thumb. Then spill a drop of blood on the crystal," The old man handed a clean needle to me.

It was clear that everyone in the room was nervous because of the previous two people that came in here. However, I was excited. I wanted to see what class I would get. Without a second though, I pricked my thumb and dropped blood on the crystal. When the blood made contact with the crystal, the ball glowed a golden color. It continued to grow brighter… wait it blinded my eyes!

When I was able to see again, I saw a familiar old man sipping tea at a low tea table. A young, beautiful lady sat next to him while drinking tea.

"If you're telling me that I died again, so help me," I was annoyed to see Jiji.

"Ho ho ho, no young Smarus, this is your Awakening. A bit unprecedented, but oh well," Jiji chuckled to himself.

"Yes, it's very unprecedented because of this idiot," The beautiful lady mumbled.

"And you are?" I looked at her,

"I'm the guardian of this world," Her angelic voice answered.

"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Smarus," I bowed my head out of respect.

The old man looked shocked as he saw our interaction.

"Why are you being nice to this old woman!?"

"Old woman!?" The guardian shot back.

"She's not the reason I died! You were being an idiot, old man!" I joined in on the bickering.

After the tension calmed down, Jiji poured me a cup of tea. Based on that alone, I knew we were gonna have a lengthy conversation. Only more so since another guardian was here. I sighed and accepted my tea.

"Smarus, do you know how different worlds work?" Jiji asked.

"Nope," I didn't even bother to try to come up with an answer.

"I see…" He took a long sip of his tea. He released a breath that showed that he enjoyed his tea.

"Are you gonna tell me?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Ho ho ho… sorry, I got distracted by the tea."

Both I and the other guardian sighed. I will call her Hana, for simplicity's sake, since she had flowers in her hair and smelled of nature itself.

"Moving on, every world has a guardian, yes? However, there are multiple variations of each world. You know why?"

"No, I don't," I didn't even hesitate to answer. 

"It is because of outlining variables. For example, you reincarnating into a world that is almost a photocopy of the game you played," The old man sipped his tea.

I thought about what he said. I felt like there was much more to this and he simply simplified the explanation for me.

"How many worlds are there then?" I looked up to ask the guardians.

"This is where I come in," Miss Hana chimed in. "There are an infinite amount of worlds and an infinite amount of variations of each world as a result of said unexpected variables. For example, the reason why that RPG existed in your world was because a hero from one of the variations of my world reincarnated in your variation of the Earth Guardian's world. Therefore, he made a game that was just based on his previous life. Though it is rare to remember past memories, each reincarnation typically causes another variation of a world to be created."

"So that means when Jiji brought me to your world, Miss Hana, a new variation of your world was created. Right?"

"He called me a flower! I mean.. Ahem… Yes, that is correct," She smiled at me. "However, since you are already drastically changing the future, this variation is deviating from the typical path that other variations took."

I had a bad feeling about this. Is this some sort of divine judgment or an execution? I wanted to defend myself, but at the same time, I was behaving in my own interest. 

"So what now?"

Jiji sipped his tea before answering.

"Well, once a world is set in motion, guardians have limited access to the world. So technically nothing, but for you, this is a warning. If the world spirals out of control or deviates too far, it would become a separate entity called a paradox. At that point, all and any guardians have rights to do with the world as they choose."

"Then why are telling me this?" I leaned forward in shock.

Both of the guardians sighed. It was clear that this was a sensitive topic. This was an entirely different realm, and I was sure I wasn't able to grasp every concept, but I still wanted to know.

"That's because we guardians are separated into three factions…"

"Good guardians, evil guardians, and neutral ones," Miss Hana continued. "A paradox happens maybe every few millennia. And now, because of the rising tensions in this realm, a paradox can cause an all-out war… We should refrain from telling him anymore, Earth Guardian," Miss Hana turned to Jiji.

"Indeed, we don't want to pop his head," Jiji nodded. "We won't tell you what to do, Smarus, but know that the world will try to balance itself. Please consider each and every decision."

They both looked worried. Even the old man narrowed his brow and sat with his arms crossed. I knew that they didn't want to push the responsibility onto me, but I still felt some weight.

"I'll be careful."

The tension of the room seemed to immediately dissipate. They both smiled at me.

"Now, about your class! Which one do you want?" Miss Hana clapped her hands together.

"Huh?" I was so shocked about the conversation, that I forgot about getting a class. That was the last thing I was worried about!