(T)

All I could process at first was the pain from my splitting headache, then there was the chilling wind that made my hair whip around my face and tickle my nose. I opened my eyes a crack and saw only a clear blue sky. The sun was bright, a little too bright for my liking actually, I winced and squeezed my eyes tightly trying to block out the light that was making my head ache even worse.

"Lord Captain!" A man shouted. "This one is waking up!" I winced at the volume of the man's voice and tried to turn on my side.

I'd only ever felt like that once before in my life. The time I had a hangover after getting drunk at a new year's party at my older cousin's house. I was knee deep in shit after my mom found out. I had only just turned sixteen at the time, so I got a lecture about alcohol abuse for what felt like hours, but really she didn't need to tell me anything. The headache and the nausea had already convinced me never to touch a drink again in my life.

This is all beside the point though, I'm getting off track.

I hears the shuffling of feet and the clanking of metal for a few seconds. Then a man's firm yet mild voice, "Are you awake now?" He asked

I laid there for a moment, his voice was familiar. I had heard it somewhere before to be sure, but I couldn't put my finger on where. "Well?" He asked. I only manages to nod my head yes before he continued. "What is your name? Do you remember it?"

My name? How could I not remember it? "Talia." I said in a small voice.

"Talia." The man repeated. I knew that voice for sure, it was on the tip of my tongue. "And your friend?" Friend? I opened my eyes fully to discover I was laying on a wooden floor. From my spot on the floor I could see several pairs of boot clad feet. I was surrounded by them. I looked to the side and saw someone I knew for sure was familiar.

"Nicky!" I sat up, my headache all but forgotten. At the time Nicky had been my best friend for about eight years. We were almost inseparable, and when I looked at her that moment, laying there on the ground looking pained, I felt like my heart sank into my stomach. I crawled over to her and moved her to a sitting position so her head could rest on my shoulder. "Nicky wake up." My voice trembled a little. I could fee eyes on me but I was too worried to really care. I shook her gently a few times before she finally opened her eyes.

"What?" I let out a sigh of relief before asking if she was alright. "Yeah Kinda sore thought I guess." She yawed before she continued. "Why do you-"

The man cleared his throat and brought out attention back to him. I looked at him clearly for the first time and I felt like the world had stopped for a moment. For two reasons. The first reason was his helmet. The face of an awful demon looked straight at mine. The second reason; I remembered where I'd heard that man's voice.

(N)

I woke up to the sound of Talia's voice and the feeling of cold wind across my skin. I didn't know why she was so panicked at first, but then I looked around and saw several people dressed identically except for one man wearing black and red armor. He cleared his throat and asked me "Well? What is your name?"

"Er, Nicole?" I stuttered. Talia and I looked at the man with utter astonishment. I knew him, or rather knew of him. He didn't exist. Or at least, he wasn't supposed to.

"Why are you here?" He asked Talia and me sternly.

We looked at each other for a moment "I-I don't know..." I answered honestly.

Murmurs erupted among the men around us, "Amnesia perhaps?" said one man to another.

"No, they've got to be lying." one replied.

"Well they did fall on their heads when they passed through the crystal." Another man offered.

"Enough!" Shouted the man in dark armor. He turned to us and began to speak but was cut off by one of the others.

"Lord Captain!" He called, "Monsters at the fore!"

The armor clad man turned quickly drawing a dark sword from the sheath clipped to his side. "Stay back!" He warned us, and ran to join his men in battle.

I sat up and continued to stare at the man. He fought with ferocious intensity slashing and hacking away at the floating eye rest of the men fought as well some managing canons for range or fighting close range with blades of their own. It all looked so rehearsed. I figured they all practiced things like this every day, and honestly it was pretty intimidating too. It shouldn't have been possible though, I thought as hard as I could about what had happened earlier that day but nothing came to me. I heard a loud screeching sound followed by a thud and saw the last monster fall to the floor and begin to crumple away into dust and blow away with the wind.

The armored man wiped his sword with a bit of cloth and re-sheathed it before turning around. "Everyone alright?" Some men said yes, others simply nodded, and a small few collapsed clearly exhausted. He turned to us specifically, "And you? Are you alright." He pushed up the visor on his helmet and for the first time we were able to look him in the eye.

"You're-" I began.

"Cecil Harvey..." Talia and I were, without a better word, mind blown.

(AN)

Welp, that's my prologue. If you ask me that's a major improvement. I'll try to keep myself to a schedule this time around. I want to thank who ever may be reading this and ask that you tell me what you liked so I can continue to do it or tell me what I did wrong so I can improve in it. Thank you~