Prologue

//It's rather short but another one will be posted in a few hours. Hope you enjoy.

This will be the only short chapter of the entire series.

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There were many things that Calven Knox knew nothing about, as was the way of things in life, seeing as it was impossible for one to truly know everything. The massive hunks of moving metal known as cars, the boxes with doors on them that could heat up your food or keep them cold, machines that could wash your clothes and dishes for you. Throughout his journey in life, Calven had encountered a vast assortment of the weird and bizarre, including waking up in the body of a young high schooler who had recently passed away. To say that the young man had been around the block and then some was an understatement, having traversed time and space on numerous occasions.

It was probably for this reason that the dark-haired young man didn't feel too panicked or stressed when he woke up in a new environment that wasn't his own bedroom.

Having gone to sleep after a whole day of studying, fighting off idiots with no common sense, reading Manga, watching anime, and indulging in various desserts, Calven hadn't anticipated a drastic change in scenery when he first closed his eyes. As everyone did, he expected to wake up and resume his life as he had been living it, in the same bed he had dozed off in. Now, sitting in the middle of a grassy field with no remnants of his home or even his own city, the youth didn't really know how to react.

Gently, Calven skimmed his hand over the tufts of green vegetation beneath him, examining it with all of his senses. The smell of wet grass, the feel of its strands as his palm glided over the ground, the way each blade interacted with him and even the light breeze that washed over his entire being.

"Guess I'm not dreaming," Calven concluded, slapping his hand on his legs to remove the dirt and water. "Shame."

Rising to his feet, the young man dusted off the seat of his pants as he looked around, fully taking in the world around him, taking note of a number of things.

For starters, he was in some kind of cylinder, a cave of some sorts.

Every which way from the spot Calven woke up from, hills of green could be seen spreading outwards, an assortment of vegetation and rocky terrain that extended some five or so kilometers in each direction before hitting a wall. The stone wall ran upwards before halting high above, joining with a ceiling made of pure glowing crystals, crystals that Calven had first mistaken for an actual sky. In the center of the enormous cylinder, not too far from where the youth was standing, was an enormous Yggdrassil sized tree, its enormous roots snaking its way through the scenery. From the spot he had awoken, the young man could see a small settlement built around those same roots, a thrown together town that paled in comparison to the city he had made his home.

"Quite the cavern," Calven commented thoughtfully, hand wrapping around the sheathed katana latched to his jeans. "Reminds me of back home. Back in Arandale."

Dark red, almost purple hues eyed the area for a few moments, brows furrowed in concentration as the youth decided what he wanted to do and how he wanted to proceed. He wasn't in any particular hurry to figure things out, but he also wasn't a fan of being left in the dark, preferring instead to have all of the necessary information needed for proper survival.

(("Guess I'll just head to the Giant tree,")) Calven readjusted his hoodie and tightened his katana. (("With any luck, it'll have some people dwelling in it."))

"What's Arandale?" A familiar voice asked, capturing the attention of the black haired youth.

Calven shifted his gaze behind him, where a young girl around 15 to 16 was approaching, head of white hair standing out like a sore thumb, especially given the area they happened to be in.

The newcomer was around 152cm, much shorter than Calvens slightly larger 165cm, and possessed snow colored hair tied up and braided into two buns on either side of her head. She had bright pink eyes, smooth, slightly pale skin, pink cross shaped earrings, and a small pink ribbon tied into one of the hair buns. The young woman wore a stark white qipao dress that extended to her upper thighs, leaving the rest of her leg exposed, another intricate pink ribbon secured to the dresses hem. In summary, she was quite the looker, it was something that even Calven would freely admit, holding an unearthly charm that very few could replicate.

"Oh, Alusi," Calven said in surprise, clearly taken aback. "You're here too!"

"Where even is here?" The girl questioned, making her way forward to stand at Calvens side. "Where the heck are we?"

"Am I supposed to know the answer to that?" Calven rebuttaled, his hues shifting over his friend, eventually landing on her bare feet. "Also, where're your shoes?"

"I don't sleep with shoes on. It's a better question to ask why YOU have shoes on." Alusi gestured towards the youths black and white sneakers. "Did you sleep in them? Matter of fact, did you sleep in the same clothes you wore yesterday?"

"I was tired."

"Right."

"I'm assuming those are your pajamas then?" Calven questioned, gesturing to her white qipao dress.

"You'd be correct."

"It's cute."

Alusi didn't say anything for a moment, pink eyes staring towards the town at the base of the tree. Unlike Calven, she was most likely still trying to digest what had happened to her, to accept the fact that, for whatever reason, they were no longer home. It was quite normal to panic and cower at sudden changes, especially ones as big as the ones they were facing. If anything, Alusi was actually handling it far better than Calven had expected her to.

"Thanks," She finally said.

"So, if the two of us were brought here, do you think Kagu wound up here as well." Alusi changed the subject entirely, shifting back to the matter at hand.

"It's possible," Calven mused, lightly touching his chin. "The only correlation for the two of us being here despite being in our own homes was our friendship and the festival we went to. Kagu shares those qualities so it's highly likely he followed the same route, unless there's some other factors we're overlooking."

"It's near impossible for it to be random coincidence."

"Indeed," Calven agreed. "We woke up here, near the same time, in the exact same place. It's reasonable that the idiot appeared here as well."

"Then where would-"

BOOM!!!

Before Alusi could fully voice her question, an explosion of noise erupted from the direction the two individuals had just been staring at, the two fixed to the base of the Yggdrasil tree. Clouds of crimson flames could be seen as more blasts closely followed the first one, smoke curling into the air as surrounding structures caught fire.

"Well, I guess we got our answer." Calven muttered as he immediately started running towards the newly developed commotion. "Where there's chaos-"

"There's the pyromaniac," Alusi finished as she too broke into a run. "What fun."