//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Waking up in another world // Story: Destiny's Call: The tales of a foreigner in a familiar land // by Zenith Starwalker //------------------------------// The first thing I saw the moment I opened my eyes was a rather clear image of a bluish-purple crystalline ceiling. Now the ceiling itself wasn’t the first thing that confused me, rather the fact that I COULD see it clearly to begin with. For those of you who don’t know, I had to wear glasses to compensate for my poor vision. The second thing that confused me was the fact that I woke up fully clothed in my breaking paradigms t-shirt and lucky brand jeans. Since I typically tend to sleep in just my undergarments, this situation kinda befuddled me (yes I sleep in the buff, don’t judge me!!). Spotting a dresser with a mirror on it, I hopped out of the rather comfy bed I was situated on and walked closer to see my reflection. What I saw only added more to my growing sense of confusion and slight apprehension, staring back at me were the crimson eyes of a teenage boy who looked just like me (probably because he was). My first thought was ‘Oh God, I hope I haven’t turned into one of those queer sparkly vampire types’ The other thing I noticed was that I had fairly well-toned muscles leading from my arms into what I suspected was my chest and abdomen. It looked like a cross between a body builder and a runner’s build. Now don’t get me wrong, I always ate relatively healthy and exercised modestly but I never lifted enough in the gym to get anywhere near this kind of muscle mass. I mentally shrugged it off since I tend not to question blessings, strange as they are. ‘So this is what Peter Parker felt like his first day as Spider-man’ I amusingly thought. I saw something rather familiar lying next to the dresser, so I stooped down to pick it up. Turns out it was the Swiss army backpack that I would have gone to College with today had I not woken up wherever the hell I was right now. Deciding that now was a good time to take inventory I unzipped the bag to find its contents containing my laptop, IPod touch, some of my clothes, what looked like a red wooden baton, and a myriad of other useful things. The most attention grabbing of these items was a pack of what looked like smoke grenades and flashbangs. “Sweet” I remarked to myself, satisfied knowing I could make a quick escape Batman style if I ever needed to. There was also a card in one of the zippers with an inscription on it which I proceeded to pick up. As I looked at it, I decided to read it aloud to myself. “May these provisions aid you in your travels, for what you accomplish here will go down in history's annals” ‘What?’ I confusedly thought. As if on cue, I heard the only door in the room squeak open and what looked like a woman in her mid-thirties slowly enter the room. Upon noticing me she spoke in a gentle voice. “Oh my, you’re finally awake” “Indeed I am” I responded neutrally. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “Given the circumstances, pretty good I guess” I answered modestly. I used the ensuing and slightly awkward silence that followed to get a better look at my ‘host’. She had brownish-blond hair tied up in a curly coiffure that reminded me of the ancient Greeks with light blue eyes and was wearing an off white dress. She was of average height at around 5 feet and 5 inches. She also had tattoos of what looked like a ray of light shining through an orb of glass on the back of both her hands. The time it took me to make these superficial observations had been no longer than a couple of seconds and the woman could clearly see that I was not going to be the one carrying the conversation so she decided to speak up. “My name is Crystal Clear, may I know your name?” she asked of me. Thinking quickly about the alias I would use in case I ever found myself in such a bizarre situation I replied. “Zenith” “Zenith? That’s an unusual name for a Valkyrian” she remarked. “Valkyrian?” I asked with no small amount of puzzlement in my voice. “Oh my, your arrival must have left you more discombobulated than I thought” She said with some worry in her tone as she furrowed her brow in thought. “Yeah… I been meaning to ask, how did I get here exactly?” I said while pointing a finger to the ground. “Perhaps we should have this discussion someplace with seats and a nice cup of tea” she proposed. “Okay, got anything minty?” I politely requested. “Let’s go down to the kitchen and find out shall we?” She responded with a small smile. I motioned for her to lead the way and followed her down the crystalline hallway to the equally crystalline stairs which we promptly descended. As we ventured toward Crystal Clear’s kitchen, my mind was a torrent of thoughts. Many of them less than positive, scenario after scenario ran its course through my addled brain. Pertinent questions were asked in rapid succession, and answers were sparse at best. I shook my head to clear most of them and focused on keeping a cool and level mind. I always believed fear to be an emotion of unwanted burden, why be afraid when you can be cautiously optimistic instead? As we reached the bottom of the stairs to an opening leading to what looked like the kitchen, Crystal Clear motioned for me to have a seat at a small dining table to which I obliged before making off to brew tea for the both of us. I took that moment to take in my surrounding a little bit more; it looked a lot like your average kitchen, barring the crystalline nature that seemed to comprise the entire structure of the house. I noticed Crystal Clear returning with two steaming cups of what was probably tea in her hands. “I couldn’t find anything with mint leaf extraction in it” she spoke in a slightly regretful voice, “So I made us both, Pearl Grey tea instead” She said appeasingly. ‘Pearl Grey? Never heard it called that before.’ I thought whimsically. “That’s quite alright, I’ve never been too picky when it came to my choice of tea” I replied in a contented tone. While we both sipped at our tea, I decided to ask the question that weighed on my mind the most. “So can you explain to me the circumstances of my being here?” I inquired. She thought for a moment before explaining. “Yours is a most confusing ingress into our kingdom. I was strolling along the edges of our kingdom’s temperature acclimatization boundary when I witnessed the oddest phenomena, the surrounding light dimmed as if eclipsed before I saw a bright flash and heard a noise like a muted thunderclap. Curiosity surpassed my fear and I went to investigate, that was when I found you lying on the grass asleep with your belongings next to you. My first thought was that you were a stellar mage and you botched up a teleportation spell, no offense of course! So imagine my surprise after I brought you to my home and I discovered that you were Valkyrian instead.” I took that moment to politely interrupt; “You called me that before, what is a Valkyrian?” “You don’t know? Valkyrians are the inhabitants of Arcania that have the gift of flight.” “Wouldn’t that require wings though?” I dubiously spoke, mentally filing away the name Arcania. She motioned at me to look behind at my back, to which I obliged, what I saw made my eyes widen a little in disbelief. A pair of what looked like red semi opaque ethereal wings sprouted from my shoulder blades. ‘How did I not notice that earlier!?’ In all honesty they reminded me of Lilith’s Siren wings from Borderlands 2, except the feather shapes and overall structure were more pronounced. ‘So that’s what the odd sensation on my back was!’ The only words that came out of my mouth were, “Huh, well that’s certainly new…” Crystal looked at me in confusion before speaking “Were you not a Valkyrian before?” I shook my head and replied, “No… in fact I’m not even a native inhabitant of this Arcania you mentioned” “Then from which land do you hail?” She inquired of me. “America” I truthfully answered. “America? I’ve never heard of such a kingdom” she remarked with confusion. “It’s not a kingdom of any sort, it’s a Constitutional Republic with three branches of federal government with a division between federal and state government responsibilities” A year of advanced placement government in high school with a particularly finicky teacher had my lecture mode kicking in slightly. “That sounds rather complicated” Crystal said with obfuscated look in her eyes. “It is, and it’s even more complicated in practice” I said earnestly, “Though democracy does have its virtues” I wore a slight smirk on my face. “I’ve never really thought about it” spoke Crystal, “Our Royal family has always lead us well enough that we never paid the idea of ruling ourselves any thought” “Well anyways, that’s where I come from” I said, ‘I think I’m starting to figure out where I am’ “And did your people not have Valkyrians?” She asked. “Can’t say we did, we travelled through the skies via airplane” I answered with a shrug. “Airplane? Is that some form of airship?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. “What? Like a dirigible?” I asked to which she nodded to me. “Well no, think of a large metallic bird with jets attached to the wings that provide thrust” I inelegantly depicted. “That sounds fascinating!” She spoke with an awed tone in her voice. “I suppose it is, it’s certainly convenient for traveling long distances in a short amount of time” Describing it me realize how much I took the idea of commercial aviation for granted. “Your home must be a wonderful place indeed to have such innovations” she spoke, lauding the modern amenities of my home. “I guess, I paid it about as much thought as you’ve paid into democracy” I said with a dry tone in my voice. “I can hardly believe I’ve never heard of such a land before” she spoke with slight skepticism, “Although I never studied maps enough to consider myself an expert on the lands beyond our own” she admitted abashedly. At this point we had finished our tea which Crystal then collected and put away in the sink. She then walked back to the table and looked at me before speaking in a curious tone “So what do you think you’ll do now Zenith?” “I’ve yet to reach a definitive conclusion on that matter” I answered while rolling my shoulders and standing up. “Do you think you could accompany me while I go out into the market to acquire groceries?” she asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. I gave it a millisecond of thought, why not? I’ve got nothing else demanding my attention at the moment. “I would be delighted to be your escort milady” I spoke in an exaggerated Shakespearean tone as I bowed with a flourish. She giggled and played along. “I would be honored my good sir” she replied and curtsied. As we exited Crystal’s home out onto the streets, I spied an all too familiar Citadel gleaming in the distance which only served to confirm the nagging suspicion I had in the back of my mind. ‘Eeyup, this looks like the human version of the Equestrian Crystal Empire’ I observed to myself. “Zenith! Are you coming?” Crystal exclaimed in the distance, probably wondering why I was falling behind. “Yeah let’s get going!” I spoke as I rushed to catch up to her, my running shoes pounding against the solid indigo avenue. I had to admit that I was rather excited; I’ve always wanted to see what this place would be like in person! ‘What extraordinary things await me in this new land I wonder?’