Chapter I: The Light Shineth
The space above the shining planet crumpled.
The Warp
Out of the crumpled space, something hurtled. It cannot be determined what was hurtled, as it is covered in blazing flames that put nearby dust and rocks out of the way. Like a miniature asteroid that seeks to destroy everything in its path.
The direction of the blazing ball of fire was downward. Down to that shining planet.
A planet ripe for the devourment of the Immaterium.
And the blazing ball goes on and on...and on.
Until it entered the atmosphere.
The crumpled space was, by some immaterial means, closed. And as the purplish tear close, you can hear a dark laughter from the cold, dead space... or perhaps not from the space itself. As if some insidious plan had been accomplished. As if it was satisfied with itself.
Oh, how could those who laughed expected those things to happen?
=][=
Universal Calendar, 30th Millenium
Planet ?
Countryside of Midgar Kingdom
Kagenou Estate
"Hmmmmmmmm... This doesn't seem like it," muttered the six-year-old boy. The boy was gripping his wooden sword. Getting a feel for it.
The boy, unlike his peers who are the same age as him, seemed too aware or too overtly mature.
Currently, he was on a green, lush field in the dark of the night, away from his family's manor. Practicing his own way of using the sword.
"Hah. Getting used to this small stature needs some time." The boy spoke a bit whiningly but not dejectedly.
'Even still, I can do this, unlike before coming here.' The boy thought with a childish grin on his face.
He extended out his hand with open palms, focusing on it.
A purple fire appeared.
Flames from the Immaterium
"Magic truly is fascinating! The possibilities that it can offer me! Perhaps I can help the protagonist with this! Though I'm a mob character... The young man with dark black hair, while manipulating his purple flame, said this enthusiastically.
The boy shook his head and said, "Nevertheless, being a mob character wasn't a problem! With this…" The dark-haired boy looked at his hand with glazed eyes while manipulating the flames properly.
He slowly closed his hands around the dissipating purple flames while saying,
"I. Need. More. Powe—" He stopped. He looked at the sky.
An orange star was closing in.
It's coming down to the lush fields where the boy was standing. The orange star, as it descends down on the earth like some myth out of the ancient mythologies, becomes apparent.
Some sort of rock, or whatever material it is, covered in blazing fire is coming down on the lush field, making a small dot in the space of the night.
And then it crashed on the field, burying itself in its rich, lush land, a few yards away from the dark-haired boy.
The dark-haired boy looked at the crashed material, a few feet away from him, with astonishment and a glint in his eyes.
"Is this the main event?" He excitedly said this as he rushed to the site of the crash.
=][=
Dark and cold
The pod shook violently as it hurtled through space, its metal casing straining against the pressure of reentry. Inside, the—
Human, Transhuman, Demigod, EXPERIMENT!
—being lay suspended in a state of artificial slumber, his mind and body dormant as he traveled through the void.
Suddenly, there was a deafening crash as the pod slammed into something solid. The metal casing crumpled and shattered, and the stasis field flickered and failed.
The human was thrown violently from his pod, tumbling end over end through the air.
For a moment, he was disoriented and confused by the sudden rush of sensations flooding his senses.
He clutched his head. No words came out of his mouth. A clean slate. No "data within" as his creator—
Father
—would have said.
But then, as he regained his bearings, he looked around at the world that lay before him. It was a lush, green land, filled with towering trees and rugged mountains stretching towards the horizon. The air was thick with the scent of plant life, and he could hear the distant cries of strange creatures in the distance.
He looked back at his destroyed pod and at the words carved into the metallic cover of the pod.
"XVII."
It is written.
=][=
The boy ran with wild abandon, his feet pounding the lush land as he raced towards his destination. His heart pounded with excitement, and his breath came in quick, ragged gasps.
"It is here! The main event is here! The start of the adventure! The rise of the hero and his hordes of women—wait what? Nevermind." The dark-haired boy ponderously said it out loud while running towards his destination.
And then, after a few moments, the dark-haired boy reached his destination.
He saw the charred land and the dying embers of many materials. He saw the pod and, of course, the little boy crawling out of that pod.
'Jackpot.' The boy said in his thoughts:
'Wait, hold on, is he the protagonist? Why did he come out of space? Doesn't that genre belong to science fiction? This is an Isekai fantasy, right? Also, why is he bald? He reminds me too much of my father...Nevermind. I should introduce myself first," the dark-haired boy thought.
"Ummm… Hello to you, Hero-san—" He stopped.
The boy looked at him so fast that before he finished his sentence, the bald boy looked at him already, and he was GLOWING.
Literally.
He is glittering gold.
The dark-haired boy was gobsmacked.
'The hell?'
=][=
"Ummm… Hello to you, Hero-san—"
The transhuman being looked at the boy so fast that the dark-haired boy was disoriented for a moment.
"Why are you glowing?" The dark-haired boy stated it out loud.
"…." He did not reply. It is not that he does not want to reply. He just can't. He does not know where he is except that he is currently standing on a green field.
"…okay… That's fine too. My name is Cid Kagenou. Can you tell me your name?" he asked.
"…..N-n-name?" The bald boy asked as if it were a foreign concept or a new word he just knew.
"Huh? Yes, of course. Your name, the one your father gave to you?" He innocently asked rhetorically.
"I don't have those." The bald boy stuttered. He just knows the language. But this god-forged transhuman mind is already adapting and learning at lightspeed, gathering data from the boy's language.
Language... of the Terran subgroup... of the European subcontinent?
The information seemingly rushed immediately to the head of the glowing golden being.
He clutched his head once more.
"H-hey! Gold-san, are you okay?" The dark-haired—no—Cid Kagenou said worryingly.
"G-gah!" The glowing boy roared.
The grass beneath their heels trembled.
A golden light illuminated the field.
"H-hey! Get a hold of yourself! You are the main protagonist, aren't you?" Cid dropped his wooden practice sword and protected himself with his slime.
The boy stopped roaring. The illumination stopped. The gold disappeared.
Thud.
The boy who glowed now lay unconscious on the grass.
=][=
"What the hell was that?" Cid asked hell was that?" Cid asked himself, looking at the now unconscious boy.
'Is it the main character's skill? What can we call it, Golden Roar? Nah, that's just copying from the Last Fantasy franchise.' The boy thought in his head.
"Anyway, it looks like I found the protagonist. So, there is that." Cid walked to the unconscious body.
He looked at the pod.
"XVII?" Cid asked out loud. His eyes widen imperceptibly.
"Roman Numerals? What the hell is it doing here?" Cid incredulously asked himself
"Also, the material of this pod... This metal is absolutely hard!" What element is this?" The incredulousness continues, and more mysteries mount.
"Anyway, let's carry the protagonist to a safe place." Or else the story will be ruined, heroines won't be saved, and all that stuff."
Cid tried to carry the unconscious child. But he has forgotten one thing.
'Why is he so goddamn heavy!?" And is his body made of goddamn steel!?" And so the aspiring protector from the shadow muttered in strained breaths as he carried the unconscious boy to the safe zone.
And so, the light met the shadow.
The hero and the dark knight collide.
=][=
The die has been cast.
Beneath the rich and vibrant Kingdom of Midgar, something lurks.
Those who hated the blood of the heroes.
The heathens and the dishonorable.
The Cult of Diabolos moves once more.