Chapter I: The World, Born Anew

DEFEAT.

As those very words flashed across the laptop screen, the silhouette sitting in the dark room threw themselves against the chair as if in exasperation. They couldn't make a sound – a loud sound, that is – unless if they wanted to wake up the rest of their family at the ungodly hour of three in the morning.

"I don't think I can keep this up," they breathed into the mic attached by the headphones they were wearing. "If I keep going, I'm going to lose my ranked points and fall down the gutter at this rate."

"Aw, cheer up, Lavi!" a voice responded with a light tone, and the silhouette covered their face with both hands in response. "Being in the diamond rank isn't so bad!" At this, the person named Lavi took their hands off their face and stared at the laptop screen as the game was brought back to the main menu.

"I toiled through blood, sweat, and tears to be able to gain at least a master rank at this godforsaken game, Vex," Lavi said. "I'm refusing to drop back down in ranks again this season!"

"And yet," Vex said cheerfully, "you're about to start up another game of competitive despite your complaining, am I right?"

Lavi froze as they realized that their mouse cursor was, indeed, hovering over the competitive mode of the game of Overwatch. "Jesus Christ, are you some kind of psychic?" They removed the cursor over the game mode and took their hands off the mouse and keyboard as Vex giggled from the other side. "That's it, I think I'm done for the night."

"I think you mean morning. It's three at your place, isn't it?"

"Maybe. Heh."

"Get some rest, you reckless child. Mama Vex will still be here when you wake up," their friend said, and Lavi rolled their eyes.

"Yep. I'm definitely leaving right now. Bye."

"My little baby Lavi – "

"BYE."

"Bye!"

And with that, Lavi closed the game and turned off their laptop. Leaning against the chair, they turned their head to look out at the window, the outside dark as it indeed was the middle of the night. "Maybe I can play a little bit of Skyrim to relax," they mused, and turned their gaze to their laptop. "…but I just turned off the damn thing. Whatever." Sighing, they got up from their chair and stretched whilst yawning. Reading will probably do me some good instead, they thought, and quickly grabbed a random book from the shelf before grabbing their phone and crashing on the bed, its springs squeaking as if in protest.

Curling up in their covers, they turned on the flashlight to their phone to examine what book they chose. As soon as their eyes met the cover, the words are you kidding me escaped their mouth before the thought was even filtered through their brain, and gave out a little laugh.

"The atlas of the world, of all things," they said under their breath as they flipped the book open. "Ah, whatever. It'll put me to sleep faster." They began to read, not realizing that it took only a few minutes until sleep finally took them.

"Why is ma cherie not waking up?"

"It's nearly eight at night. Why wouldn't she be awake already?"

"Maybe she's took an afternoon siesta, ve!"

"Feliciano-san, she shouldn't be taking a siesta if it's already this late, no?"

"Dudes, should we just wake her up ourselves? We can get answers faster that way!"

…the fuck? Lavi heard the voices, but it seemed as if the collection of people were speaking inside her room, and not in a dream that was possibly still going on. My phone is probably still on… She sighed aloud, and somehow the voices in her dream responded with hushed whispers and occasional slaps to what could be directed towards arms.

Wait.

She quickly sat up, her brown eyes suddenly wide open and her darker brown hair sticking up like a rat's nest, only to find a group of people crowded around her bed. Or rather, what seemed to be a group of men.

Everyone in the room froze. They all had "deer caught in the headlights" expressions on their faces; the entire spectacle would have been funny, if only the situation they were in wasn't as downright weird and awkward. They each looked as if they were in their early twenties, and wore distinct outfits that somehow oozed a military vibe, despite their seemingly young appearances and the apparent casualness of the outfits. One in particular wore a brown bomber jacket, and before Lavi could say anything he blurted out after a few long, silent moments, "Yo, you're awake!"

At this point, Lavi's shock had transcended into heights so far that it made her completely numb. She rubbed her eyes and muttered to herself, "No, no. I'm probably still dreaming." With that, she promptly pulled the covers over herself and laid back down on the bed, closing her eyes so tight it hurt.

Unfortunately, sleep didn't take her, as one of the men suddenly yelled in a British accent, "You can't just go back to sleep! You just woke up!" and promptly grabbed the covers and pulled them off. In response, Lavi shot up again and held a pillow tightly in her hand, as if she was going to viciously attack one of them (getting the blanket pulled off her was one of her biggest pet peeves).

"Alright, I'm definitely awake now! Who are you creeps and what do you want?!" The men flinched at her sudden outburst, and one of them – who, strangely, was holding a white flag of some sort – was spooked to the point of hiding behind another man, this time a tall one, with slicked-back blonde hair.

"Ouch, cherie, that hurt!" Another man flipped his chin-length blonde hair and gave her a wink with his blue eyes, his French accent thick. "I mean, really. We're not exactly creeps if we found you sleeping in a place that isn't exactly yours, now isn't it?" Blinking multiple times, Lavi took that opportunity to look around at her surroundings.

Indeed, the place she was in wasn't her room, but instead seemed to be an incredibly fancy hotel room. The walls were white and showed off various paintings. Glass sliding doors were hidden behind thin, elaborately decorated curtains and revealed a patio beyond them. A large, black television took up a corner of the room and was so thin that Lavi swore that she could break it in half by simply poking it. A wardrobe stood at the wall opposite of the television, and far back near the entrance of the room was a tiny, but still complete, kitchen. Looking down, even the blanket that she thought was hers turned out to be a part of the room as well. The only items that were hers were her phone and, strangely, the atlas she didn't realize was hugging. After looking around, Lavi found her mouth to be wide open in shock, and she quickly closed it with a clack.

A man to the far left stepped forward. He had his dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore a red shirt with sleeves so long that it went past his hands. "Now," he began in a Chinese accent, "who are you and how did you get into Feliciano's room?"

"W-Who?" Lavi stuttered, all forms of anger gone now that she realized that she definitely wasn't in the safety of her own room. The man gestured to the one holding the white flag, whose head nodded vigorously.

"He said you showed up in his room when we all went back up to our rooms after dinner," he continued. "Did you break into his room? Speak quickly, or else we'll call the police." At this, Lavi quickly jumped forward on the bed, pocketing her phone and atlas still in her hands.

"Wait, just hear me out! I swear to you, I didn't break into anybody's room," she began. "Heck, I have no idea how I got here in the first place. I slept super late in my room after playing some games with a friend of mine and now I woke up here with you guys. I don't even know where I am right now!" The man with the slicked-back hair stepped towards Lavi, eyes narrowing.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked gruffly in a German accent. "You don't intend to cause harm to anyone here, do you not? Because if you do, it will be the last intention you have." Lavi flinched at the threat, and shook her head as fast as she could.

"God, no. No. Can I emphasize 'no' even further? I'm not trying to hurt anyone or get away with anything. I seriously don't know how I got here!" The German man huffed and stepped back, and the guy with the bomber jacket spoke up before anyone else pressed Lavi even further with more questions.

"Hey, what's that you're holding in your arms?" he asked her, and she blinked and looked down at the book.

"Oh. It's my atlas," she answered, and set the book down in her lap. "I read sometimes, when I need help going to sleep." As soon as she mentioned atlas, everyone in the room exchanged glances – some wary, some surprised.

"An atlas, of all things?" another dark-haired man murmured. He was shorter than the others, and wore a white uniform with gold buttons. He rested his equally dark eyes on Lavi – not with suspicion, but with an expression of neutrality. "If you don't mind, may I see this atlas of yours?" The girl hesitantly nodded, and handed her book to him. As he perused the pages, the tallest of the group turned to Lavi whilst smiling.

"So, you do not know how you got here, da?" he asked in a thick Russian accent, and she nodded hesitantly. "Okay, I believe you." Lavi gave him a double-take, and the others, besides the man reading the atlas, did the same.

"What?" they all chorused. The Russian man nodded gleefully.

"Do you not remember the way she acted when she woke up?" he asked them. "It really looked like she thought it was her own room at first, da?" At the mention of this, the others began to think.

"I guess," the British man acquiesced. "You thought the blanket I took from you was also yours to begin with." Lavi nodded at this notion, and internally sighed with relief as the masks of suspicion from the others were slowly let down, save for the German man.

"You mentioned friends during your explanation," he said. "Are they able to vouch for you that you were indeed playing with them late into the night?" Lavi nodded confidently.

"I can call her, but I need to know where I am to make sure she's still awake," she told him. "She lives in an entirely different time zone from me, that's why." She checked the time on her phone, and with a start, she realized that it was already eight at night. Considering how she slept at three in the morning, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she slept for so long.

"Well, we're in London right now," the British man offered. "Is your friend anywhere near this time?" Lavi turned her stare from the phone to him, unsure if she heard him correctly.

"I'm sorry, we're where?"

"London. Is that so weird?" Sitting up straight, Lavi nodded indignantly.

"Yes, that is really weird, because, if my accent didn't give you any hints yet, I don't live here," she stressed. "I live all the way in California, in the United States!" Everyone shared glances with each other, with some even pointedly staring at the one with the bomber jacket. The German man sighed after moments of silence.

"How about you call your friend now, so we can clear this up quickly and we can send you on your way home?" he asked. Nodding again, Lavi turned back to her phone. She quickly dialed Vex's number, thanking the gods above about the incredibly convenient fact that her friend also lived in London. After placing the call, she put her phone up to her ear –

– to hear nothing but static.

Blinking rapidly, she put down her phone and tried to call again, but the static still persisted. Vex didn't answer at the other end of the line. "Why isn't this working?" she grumbled after multiple tries. The man with the bomber jacket handed her his own phone, a sympathetic look in his blue eyes.

"Try again with my phone," he offered, and Lavi accepted it with the grace of a bear. She nearly dropped the phone in her nervousness, and dialed Vex's number again, trying not to tremble under the German man's intense gaze.

And yet, nothing.

The room was quiet now, as all gazes turned to Lavi, even the one who was holding her atlas. "I – " she began, and broke off as she tried a different number, this time her mother's. If she was in London right now, it was surely twelve in the afternoon back home.

Static answered the call.

"Okay, this isn't funny." Lavi began to furiously type in her father's number, but there was still static. The calm she initially had was replaced with panic, and this time, she really did begin to tremble. "What the hell is going on?! Not even my parents are answering me!"

During her fervor, the German turned to the man named Feliciano, and despite her exclamations, Lavi heard him mutter in the lowest voice possible: Call the police.

With the stress of finding herself in an entirely different part of the world and her friend and parents not answering her calls, Lavi began to cry. She wasn't one to always cry to begin with, but with the extreme surreality of the situation she was thrown in and that there was no one around her that she knew could offer help, she couldn't help but do just that. At this, Feliciano, who had pulled out his phone to call the police, hesitated and gave a worried look at his friend. Unexpectedly, the one with the bomber jacket stepped forward to Lavi and sat down next to her, his expression still sympathetic.

"Hey," he said gently, "if your friend's not answering, is there anyone around that can help?" Lavi tried to wipe away her tears, embarrassed. Even though Vex won't answer her phone, she still lived in London. Maybe she can find her house and settle there for a while, just to end the downright weirdness of the night.

"Vex," she told him. "I mean, Evelyn. Evelyn Griffith. She lives here, in this city." The blue-eyed man next to her looked up at his friends, and then back at her.

"Do you know exactly where she lives?" he asked. Lavi nodded.

"I have her address in my phone." Not that she needed it. The two were close enough to even send each other letters at one point despite this day and age, so much that it became some sort of "tradition" between the two of them.

"Then let's go there, yeah?" He stood up and held out a helping hand to her, smiling encouragingly. "She should be able to get you out of this mess." Mustering a smile of her own, Lavi took his hand and stood up. Turning to his friends, the man jabbed a thumb towards himself.

"Guess I'm taking her to her friend's house. Anyone else willing to go?" he asked them. The rest looked at each other, and the German looked steadily at his friend.

"I will be going with you." He gave an icy glance towards Lavi, who flinched and looked at her feet. "I need to make sure this one here isn't leading us in circles, and isn't trying to do anything that will jeopardize us in any way."

"I'm going too, ve!" Feliciano added. The man with Lavi's atlas also nodded.

"I guess this means that I will be going as well," he said, mostly to himself.

"I want to know what happens next," the Russian said happily.

"Everyone might as well come along for the ride, then, if most of us are going," the British man said, sighing. To Lavi, he continued, "What is your friend's address? I know London like the back of my hand."

"11B Wilson Road, in Camberwell," she recited. The man nodded in confirmation, his green eyes sparkling, as if he had the upper hand in something.

"Camberwell," he echoed. "Not that far from here. It should be fifteen minutes, at the most." He walked forward and gave a smug look to the blue-eyed man next to Lavi. "Well, Alfred? I guess I'm the one driving." He walked out of the room, and the man named Alfred rolled his eyes.

"What's he being smug for?" he grumbled, and followed his friend out of the room. One by one, the rest followed suit, with the dark-haired man quickly giving back Lavi's atlas, until Lavi and the German man were the only ones in the room left. She nervously gave him a glance, and quickly looked away when she realized that he was staring at her. She was about to follow the others until he suddenly began to speak.

"If you are genuine, then I am sincerely sorry," he said in a low voice. "You must understand that I am trying to protect the others. But, if you really are lying to us and you were in Feliciano's room for any harmful reason," he stepped forward, his icy blue eyes turning menacing, "then you will surely regret it."

Leaving the threat hanging in the air, he left the room. Lavi stared after him, terrified out of her mind. She didn't know what to think, and could only fervently hope that Vex was home. If she wasn't, then if she considered the man's words, she might end up in a scarier place than this.

Praying to any god above that the rest of the night would be set right, she followed the others, and closed the door on her way out.

If anyone reading this actually lives in the same address as Vex, please don't freak out. I only used Google Maps for this. ^^;

Anyways, this has been the first fanfiction I have written in a long, long time. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I wrote it. In regards to updates, I might not be able to update until the end of the week at the very least, depending on what I'm doing in school - it is finals month, after all.

Thank you for reading! I hope to see you in the next chapter. :)

P.S. This story is also updated under my AO3 profile, chxra.