A Prologue

"Hey. Get up," I remember my sister saying, tired, and then leaving me to rise and shine. She would be around 18 and at Basic, right? I reached over and grabbed my phone to check the time. It was barely five in the morning. I put it back and turned up the volume on my mp3 player, which was playing soft lullabies, and retreated under the covers. For some time, I listened as the songs passed over one another, until the first alarm on my alarm clock went off. I walked over to it, half asleep, and turned it off.

I sat back onto the bed going over the events happening that day.

Morning stuff, school, something else, and…

Nothing really. I leaned back and closed my eyes, wishing I could fall into a wormhole to another dimension where I could always do something. Even the idea of going to Ivalice or Kanto was better than staying here, whether or not it was safer or more stable here.

My sister's memory barged into the room, as usual when I don't leave my room quickly and excited. "Get up, sleepy head," she muttered before leaving again. I switched into school clothes and grabbed my school bag and killed the second alarm as I left.

The day passed without incident, event, or change. Teachers instructing and students writing away and my soul writhing on in an undead boy, lurching on from class to class, each giving a hope spot for change, only finding a train to shoot it down.

Finally, gym class arrived. Time to build up a body that was decaying at the roots. Switching into my gym clothes, I entered the gym ready for the day to be over, and thought of the only thing I need to cheer my out of this melancholy: Heleaven, a Halloween town that I thought of one day in English for an assignment on the setting of a story.

I put my stuff in a corner of the gym by the bleachers, when from nowhere someone came up behind me and covered my eyes, painfully gripping the sides of my head tightly and held me there. Loosening their grip, a woman's voice spoke the following words:

"I have been watching you throughout the day. From this view, to think that you have near infinite potential one has got to be insane. From your point of view, however, one must be away from kinetic noise to reach such. I've arranged an event for you to get out of this rut. Inside this envelope is the details of the event, if you wish to."

"Whom am I agreeing with?" I asked. They said nothing, but released me and vanished an instant later. I quickly opened my eyes and looked around. Nothing had changed. Likely story. I sat down, glancing at my bag that had the envelope.

Fishing it out, I began to read it. This was either the biggest train wreck or the Hammer staff of God.

"Make sure you bring the game tomorrow!" Courtney, my new friend reminded me, her soft brown eyes and hair disappearing behind the door.

"Yeah, yeah," I said as the door closed. I turned and walked down the street towards my place. The event the person set up was a date with a girl from my school going to see a movie. At first neither of us really wanted to go, since this was our first time meeting each other, and then… we saw a movie and ate out for dinner on my expense, then we walked home together. At some point in there we agreed on the friendship and somehow got onto a topic on videogames, and she became interested in playing one of the games I had.

If I needed to do anything now it was to thank the masquerade person.

"Hurry," the person's voice said, disembodied.

I jumped and spun around, but saw no one there. Rather than standing there to contemplate whether or not to trust the woman like I usually would, I began my trek home in a good mood.

I reached my house around eleven without incident, and snuck into my house through the back door and quickly but quietly entered my room.

Vrrm. My cell phone beeped to indicate a new message. "You have an hour to get over here," the message read.

"Right," I said silently. I switched out of my overbearing coat and bland school clothes and into a more comfortable outfit: a black shirt with a blue Repeat All symbol on the back, a pair of black denim jeans and a vest.

I grabbed the smaller of my two messenger bags, the bigger in less than workable condition from school, and packed a change of clothes, some hygiene items, and a Last Luck rune from a D&D set that seemed to help me at the last moment when I needed it, but served as a loadstone any other time.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, finding it surprisingly light, I opened my door when my phone buzzed again. "Sword," it commanded.

"Fine," I muttered. I ducked into my room again and picked up my wooden practice sword, swung it once, and stashed it partially in my bag. "Anything else you want?" I asked my phone as I finally left.

It wasn't until two-thirds of the way that I started to notice how cold it was at night. I checked the time, and found it was about eleven-thirty at night. The timer on my phone had dropped to less than twenty minutes left, which was hopefully plenty of time.

I shivered slightly as the cold early September air stole away my body's heat.

Chuu!

I jumped as someone sneezed behind me, when they haven't been making any sounds at all. Instinctively I grabbed my sword and spun around, stopping in a mock defensive stance. I saw a girl about my age with really, really long silver hair wearing a black sorcerer's robe with blue stripes on the sleeves. Her eyes were dark red, deeper than bloodshot red. Otherwise, she had a scar that ran down her face diagonally that caused both sides to look different shades of pale.

"Oh, hey," I greeted. "Were you the one from earlier? I have to thank you very much. I feel truly better now."

"Eh?" she gasped, startled. "Ah… umm…" She muttered awkwardly before hiding in her hood. Standing straighter, she looked back at me with a look that was different than a minute ago. "I have come to set you on a different course. If you wish to stay and rot in this place, be my guest, but I have come on orders from my superiors to send you on a path that will strengthen you." Even though the sneeze and awkward moment was a slip up or a different person/personality altogether, she was serious now.

"Where's the signup sheet?" I joked. It felt like I was about to sign my soul to the devil, and probably was, to leave this world on the condition that I might not come back, but I was going to work hard with his gift until I didn't need it. If I got one.

The girl smiled. "I only have a simple request: tell me your name," she said lightly.

"Do you want my full name or just the first one?" I asked.

"Your full name would be nice."

"Volker Saxon," I said. "May I know yours?"

"You'll know both of ours soon enough," She said, quickly raising her arm and, before I could reach my sword again, cast a power sleep spell over me. I attempted to resist, but failed, and I fell to the ground falling asleep listening to her laugh like a higurashi.

Oh, I forgot to ask her about the scar, I thought before I drifted.