Perfect. Just perfect.

It's summertime and already I'm missing out on all the fun things I could do with all my friends. Instead of going to the movies, busting moves at the skatepark, or even lounging around at home all day, I'm forced to spend my entire summer with my crazy, brain-dead Uncle Thomas in the middle of Nowheresville. All the fun I could possibly have is now gone, all because my parents had to take a trip overseas for some sort of business thingy, I don't know. But here I was, standing at the doors of my crazy uncle with nothing but my bags and my sanity. I sighed as I rang the doorbell. As the door opened, I was greeted with an overly happy Uncle Thomas.

"Roy, my boy! So glad to see you!"

"Suuuuuure. And I'm glad to see you too." I thought to myself as I let myself into his house. I enter the parlor, which was decked with a couple of things here and there, followed with a bunch of paintings and a couple of rugs. It's not exactly the most coolest thing I laid my eyes on. Then again, what more was I expecting from a house belonging to my idiot uncle? He tells me to rest in the parlor while he gets my room ready, which I do. I let down my bags and sigh, wishing my parents didn't have to attend to such a crummy business thingy. Why did that thing have to be oversees anyway? Just when things weren't as worse as they already were, a cat popped out of nowhere and started clawing at my bags!

"Hey! Get your claws off my bag, furball!" I yelled as I got up and ran after the cat.

I managed to shoo it away from my bags. They were partly scratched, but I'm sure the contents were unharmed. Just as the cat ran off into some other room, I heard Uncle Thomas calling me up. My room was ready.

Several hours after unpacking, I headed back down and into the kitchen for dinner. Waiting for me on my plate was just some lousy fish.

"Oh boy, today just got even BETTER."

"Sure is a nice dinner, isn't it Roy?" my uncle said with great enthusiasm as I barely even touch this slop. "...And the best part is that I have a ton of them, so we won't ever go hungry in this house!" After hearing that, I lost my appetite entirely and left the kitchen. "...Remember to brush your teeth before you go to bed!" he adds in with as much enthusiasm as before. "One more thing..." and this was the part where he really got me...

"Do not enter the basement. Do not even think about entering the basement."

...But seeing that there was nothing else left to do in this pile of trash, I decided to investigate the basement at midnight anyway.

I opened the door leading to the basement. I was really surprised by the ominous green hue that overtook the entire room, but that wasn't what caught my attention. There were bottles of strange liquid boiling with weird hues. A chalkboard with complicated equations sat at the back of the room. Papers were scattered everywhere, even in places that seemed inappropriate for them, like the ceiling. This was a complete shocker for me; I knew my uncle was crazy, but I didn't think he was an actual scientist! I scanned the entire room, completely amazed in all these weird things that my uncle had all along. Why didn't he tell me about all this? In the end, all my thoughts were focused onto one last thing I saw: a big red button.

I know how these things happen: a guy presses a button and causes some sort of apocalypse he wish he never created. There's nothing happening in this empty town, so I might as well make SOMETHING happen. I pressed the red button, which instantly resulted in a bright flash.

I was temporarily blinded, but managed to regain my sight. Before long, I found myself someplace dark. It was an alleyway, complete with graffiti here and there. I looked up at the sky and sure enough, it was nighttime. Despite it being nighttime though, the air was warm. This wasn't supposed to be part of the summer winds, it was really WAY too warm. Just then, I heard footsteps. I found myself panicking, not because I wasn't in my uncle's basement anymore (I honestly could care less about that), but because I know this scenario all too well; by the time someone finds me, I'll probably be killed. I tried my best to hide, but I was cornered. The only thing offering me protection was a trash can. I guess it was better than death, so I took my chances.

Within the confines of the trash can, I managed to get a glimpse of the figure heading towards my direction. It was a little girl. No, it was a girl my height. Wait, no. This was no girl. At least, not human. She had pointy ears and fangs, while carrying what appeared to be a gun. I probably should've been panicking right now, but there's something about that girl and this place that makes me feel at ease. All that ease, however, completely escaped me when she opened up the trash bin and found me.

"Whao, squee!?" she said as she stepped back in shock.

Well, I've been found by a girl and judging by her looks, she probably wants to shoot me right now. I try avoiding this by pretending not to notice her. That did not make things any better, as she now has the gun right at my chest.

"Squeeme qeueo meei!?" she yelled at me with a look more intent on shooting me.

Well I ran out of cards to play, so I guess I've only got one thing to do...

"Who, me?" I asked her casually, finally "noticing" her.

Her glare suddenly shifted into a more friendly look. She gave me a punch on my shoulder and responded with a "Woomy!" I was curious. Why didn't she shoot me? Was it something I said, or was it something else? I decided to try something.

"Hoomy."

"Woomy!"

"Hoomy."

"Woomy!"

Well whatever the heck 'Hoomy' means, it seems to have calmed her down at least. After spouting some more gibberish at me, she finally grabbed my hand. I guess she needs to show me something? I decided to follow.

We were finally outside the alleyways and into a really bright town. Lights were everywhere in different shades and colors, and loud music played in the air. I appeared to be in the center of some sort of intersection, but oddly enough there were no cars. The only thing filling the streets were people who looked identical to that girl. Speaking of the girl, with the lights all around I was able to get a much clearer view of her. She was kinda tan and her gun wasn't actually a real gun. Her white-green hair looked like tentacles, and there seemed to be something black surrounding their eyes. Not only that, but she donned a crimson hoodie complete with black shorts and shoes. She got a good look at me too, but it didn't look like she had a pleasant view...

Of course, nobody in this town would. I don't have pointy ears, or fangs, or even that weird black thingy around their eyes. She eyed me carefully for another moment, and then spoke.

"Squeemie weem wee?" she spouted at me with more gibberish I can't understand.

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" I asked her.

She then looked as if she just realized something. She then started pointing at herself.

"Lyra. Ly~ra!"

Lyra? Is that her name? That's a pretty snazzy name, but why is a girl like her named Lyra of all things? More importantly, how did I jump to that conclusion? Judging by her weird appearance, I was expecting some weirder name like 'Nagisa' or something along the lines, but I guess to each of their own.

"Lyra?" I asked as I pointed to her. She nodded and smiled at me as if to say 'yes'. She then pointed at me. I guess she's now asking for my name.

"Roy. Ro~y!"