A young adult opened the door to his home without producing noise beyond his sighs after the end of another long day as an assistant rector at his local university.
He expected his pets to greet him, but soon he could see that Kira, his cat and Sasha, his puppy, were sound asleep with Sasha wrapping her paws around Kira. The young man sighed in amusement, before those two he had never seen a dog and cat get along so well.
'Not that I'm complaining, this way they don't cause unnecessary mess,' the young man thought to himself.
With almost automated movements, he hung his car keys and house keys on a hook next to the front entrance, went to the kitchen where he opened the refrigerator and took out a plastic container which he put in the microwave in order to heat up the food inside. Normally he would make dinner for himself, but he was too exhausted for that. Blame it on it being the end of the semester, he supposed.
Twenty-three-old, Mikael Dánae was living a decent life, doing what he liked, and if he continued on his current course, he would only prosper more and more in the future.
When he was younger he would have liked to study a career in science, specifically in Physics, but he was aware that the obstacles in his way would be too many, so he opted for something that mixed his other passions: literature and history, so he studied a career in history that after four years that passed in the blink of an eye earned him bachelor's degree as a historian.
Not satisfied, Mikael was currently pursuing a master degree in order to work as a teacher in one of the high schools in the area. The income he was receiving as an assistant rector was more than enough to support his lifestyle, but he wanted to go much further. Who knows, maybe someday he could work in a museum as prestigious as the one in New York, although that was going too far up the ladder.
'You don't lose anything by dreaming, heh'.
Today was Wednesday so his automated routine told him he would have to walk Sasha and Kira.
The fatigue was strong, but... maybe doing so would be beneficial, maybe it would help him release some stress.
With that line of thought fresh in his head, he decided what he should do and subtly woke his beloved pets which it was a surprise that they hadn't woken up to the smell of warm food emanating from the kitchen.
"It's okay kids. I bet you've had enough sleep, time to burn off some energy."
That said, Mikael proceeded to hook the leashes onto Sasha's collar and Kira's harness respectively. As a youngster he would have considered it odd to hear about people walking their cats, but he himself ended up learning this from a book he found in his old high school library.
Finished with the hitch, he grabbed his keys once more and as he left the house he locked the door, taking a deep breath in preparation for a relaxing walk to the park and back.
"Aaah, I love the fresh air, don't you guys?"
... ... ...
... ... ...
From the ground, drenched in red vitality, her misty fire-like eyes witnessed the stellar tapestry before her spread out.
He was there.
He had awakened from a thousand-year slumber, the world's last mockery of her being.
She was not going to wait any longer.
... ... ...
... ... ...
Mikael sighed wearily as he waited for Sasha to finish her needs. Kira had long since had enough, so the young man decided to put him in the pet backpack and carry him all the way back.
Aside from the blissful pet backpack, Mikael carried his briefcase with him, the contents of which were: his laptop, pens, pencils and markers, two notebooks, a folder with important papers from his work and two books, one was a copy of The Haunter of the Dark along with other Lovecraft stories, and the second was Asimov's Foundation.
He felt a little stupid to be lugging the books around, but in his defense, tiredness had kept him from thinking about leaving them on one of the shelves in his office.
"Mr. Mott was going to travel to Kosovo... Sigh, I wish he had chosen me as his assistant."
Realizing that Sasha was done, he checked the watch on his left wrist and decided it was time to hit the road back.
It was then that things got weird.
"What the... fuck?"
As soon as he turned around, Mikael felt like someone had moved the ground beneath him, causing him to fall toward the asphalt. Miraculously, he managed to avoid hitting his face by catching himself with his hands. Sasha cowered, not barking but whimpering and growling protectively around him.
On his back, Kira had woken up, fur standing on end, eyes dilated, ready for a fight.
"I don't understand..."
"It was in poor taste."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere.
"Our journey, the ultimate odyssey that would break the shell they call a world. A wretched man's journey to the heart, to the source of the cycle."
Squalid, warm arms encircled Mikael in an act of sincere love.
"To you, beloved consort, whom Od Laguna has harmed so much."
An indescribable force prevented him from speaking, from expressing awe and terror at what before him was happening.
"Open once more the stars."
... ... ...
... ... ...
Mikael's eyes shot open, and he immediately regretted it as the sunlight struck him.
'… W-what the hell is going on? It was night just a moment ago!'
"-Hey, pal… Hey, you!"
The young man jumped at the gruff voice, realizing it belonged to a burly, scarred man with… green hair?
The man had an angry expression, and Mikael didn't need to be a genius to figure out he was a merchant—the fruits and the table in front of him said it all. Following that line of thought, he concluded the man was upset because Mikael was scaring off potential customers.
Mikael didn't want to bother him, but the merchant seemed to be the only person around not looking at him like some venomous creature or a lunatic. He would have to play the thousand-question game with this merchant.
"Are you talking to me?"
"I don't see any other lost-looking young men wandering aimlessly. If you didn't look like a noble, I'd have called the Guards."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well, you were wandering around, mumbling nonsense and scaring off customers."
"..."
The weight of the situation sank Mikael's stomach.
His eyes scanned the other stalls, the pedestrians, their clothing, the streets, the architecture. Everything looked so… ancient. It was like mixing a Victorian setting with modernism and medieval times. And as if things weren't bad and weird enough, the carriages drawn by giant lizards, individuals with animal traits, and guards in gallant armor confirmed a truth that made him want to scream in frustration—if he didn't have to maintain appearances.
He was in a fantasy world.
Mikael wasn't so naive as to deny this resembled 'Isekai' stories, though his mind also liked to bring up A Princess of Mars.
"I'm screwed."
He had so many questions, but no answers would come unless he first ensured his own safety. With that in mind, he forced himself to cool his head and emotions, determined to first secure a place to stay for the night.
Taking a deep breath, he was about to speak when something new happened.
"Puppy!"
"WOOF!"
"Huh?"
A little girl with mint-green hair and cerulean eyes had appeared beside Sasha, instantly gaining the puppy's affection. Mikael was sure that if not for the leash, Sasha would already be chasing after the girl to play. Again, it didn't take Einstein to figure out the child's identity.
Come on, green hair and blue eyes?
"…Your daughter?"
"…Yes," the merchant grumbled reluctantly. Both men sighed in resignation. "No matter, it's getting late anyway."
Mikael realized the sun that had blinded him earlier was now starting to set on the horizon. A new idea popped into his head.
"Do you need help packing up your goods, Mr…?"
"What?" The green-haired merchant eyed the young man suspiciously. "And it's Kadomon Risch."
"Mr. Risch, then," Mikael could see that he didn't like being called that, but at least he let it slide. "You see, I'm in a… very complicated situation."
"Oh, it is?" Kadomon replied skeptically.
"Yes. I'm far from home, stranded here for reasons I don't understand and likely won't for a while. So I, Mikael Dánae, humbly ask for your help so I don't end up in a rat's nest or as food for them."
There was a key in his words, and it was enough to replace Kadomon's gruffness with a hint of empathy and understanding.
"Well, kid, your manners are something. You'd better be useful and not cause trouble," Kadomon said as he began to pack his goods. Mikael nodded quickly.
The little green-haired girl, seemingly unaware of the conversation, continued petting Sasha. Mikael couldn't help but smile at the scene, realizing something.
Kadomon raised an eyebrow when Mikael took off the transparent backpack he had been carrying and looked puzzled as the young man pulled out a cat and handed it to his daughter.
"Little lady, since Sasha seems to like you, could you also take care of this grumpy guy?" the young man asked, holding the sleepy gray cat in his arms.
The girl's eyes lit up before she glanced at her father, uncertain. Kadomon gave her a nod, and she excitedly but carefully took the gray-furred cat into her arms.
"Thank you, Onii-san!"
'Onii-san?' Mikael's eyebrow twitched a few times.
Not wanting to dwell on that, he turned to Kadomon and began helping according to his instructions.
"You know, kid? Normally, I'd refuse help, my wife usually helps me pack everything… but today she stayed home."
"What are their names?" Mikael nodded toward the girl.
"My wife's Raksha, she's Plum."
"Ah hah."
They continued packing in silence.
Once again, it was Kadomon who spoke first, just as Mikael had hoped.
"So, what kind of help do belive to need?"
Mikael suppressed a smile.
"I guess I should start with the basics… Where am I?"
Kadomon gave him a confused look, and Mikael feared he had made a mistake.
To his relief, that confusion soon turned into… pity?
"You mean to tell me you don't even know where you are?"
"As I said, I'm in a very complicated situation."
Kadomon nodded.
"Now I see it's pretty bad… Well, kid, welcome to Lugunica. We're in the capital."
That confirmed everything—he was in a damned isekai.
Sure, there were a few kingdoms on Earth in the 21st century, but they didn't quite fit the "fantasy kingdom" stereotype.
A plan was starting to form in Mikael's mind, and for that, he would need the limited yet invaluable resources in his briefcase.
Mikael had asked the most basic questions.
Who were the royal family of Lugunica? What other influential figures were there? How different was the kingdom's written language from his own? Where could he find a merchant who sold books?
Oh, and what about magic? Mikael had almost forgotten that detail, and he was both frustrated and grateful when Kadomon explained what could be considered "common knowledge."
Now, there was only one thing left—finding a place to stay for the night.
'Maybe he knows how to get to the capital's slums without getting sliced into sashimi on the way.'
Kadomon glanced at him as they continued loading the last crates into the merchant's cart. The sky was darkening, and with it, the capital was enveloped in a twilight atmosphere. Mikael was still processing all the information about Lugunica, but the reality of his situation was sinking in more and more.
"Tell me something, kid," Kadomon said as he adjusted the last strap on the cart. "What are you going to do now?"
Mikael frowned.
That was an excellent question.
He couldn't just wander the streets aimlessly, and while Kadomon had given him valuable information, he would need much more if he wanted to adapt to this new world.
"I don't know," Mikael admitted honestly. "First, I suppose I'll need a place to stay, and after that, some stability. I don't plan to sit around waiting for a miracle. I was hoping you would tell me how to get to the slums, I doubt someone give a damn about a poor bastard like me occupying a abandoned house."
Kadomon nodded as if expecting that answer.
"Well, kid. I'm no scholar or anything, but it looks like you're in a shitty situation. For tonight, I can offer you a place at my house. It's not a palace, but at least you won't have to sleep under the stars with rats nibbling at your fingers. And tomorrow, you can see about finding some temporary work."
Mikael couldn't believe his luck. Although Kadomon had been gruff at first, it seemed the merchant had a softer heart than he let on.
"Really? That would be… incredible," Mikael replied, feeling a wave of relief for the first time all day.
Kadomon snorted with a hint of mockery in his voice.
"Don't get too excited. My wife has the final say. If she doesn't like you, you'll be back on the streets in less than an hour!"
Mikael laughed nervously, understanding the semi-threatening tone.
Still, a part of him trusted that he could win over the Risch family. After all, if he had learned anything, it was that relationships were the key in any society.
As they walked back, with Plum playing happily with Sasha and Kira in her arms, Mikael couldn't help but think about the enormity of what lay ahead in this world. His only real advantage, aside from Kadomon's temporary help, was the books in his briefcase and his knowledge of history and literature.
Maybe, just maybe, he could use that to his advantage.
When they reached Kadomon's house, a modest yet cozy structure in the suburbs of the capital, Mikael took a deep breath.
This was just the first step in what promised to be a long, hard adventure. But at least, tonight, he would sleep under a roof.
Raksha, Kadomon's wife, turned out to be a tall woman with purple hair, even more gruff than Kadomon at the sight of a stranger, her gaze sharp enough to pierce. However, after Plum showed her the cat Mikael had entrusted to her, the tension dissipated, and Raksha simply sighed.
"Fine, he can stay for tonight," Raksha said, and with that, Mikael knew he had secured at least a small reprieve.
He settled into a small, slightly shabby room, one the Risch family used for storage, with a mattress and a thin blanket on the floor.
Before sleeping, Mikael pulled out one of his books—The Art of War—and reflected on the irony of reading a book about strategy in a world he barely understood. He wasn't a soldier, but he was no fool either. He would need every advantage he could find.
With that thought, Mikael drifted into an uneasy sleep.
... ... ...
... ... ...
A deep void stretched beyond sight, where darkness was not the end, but the beginning of the primordial.
The air was heavy, laden with an echo that resonated as if the cosmos itself were exhaling. Something moved in the shadows, but it was not tangible; it was sensations, fragments of memories that had never been lived.
Above, a star pulsed with a dying glow: the star that guards secrets. Its light was unnatural, something that should never have been seen by human eyes.
There was something else, a figure barely discernible on the nebulous horizon.
She, mother of serpents.
Death would not come, only eternity, the perpetual observation of the return.
She held something, something that could not be seen, but that weighed on the mind of anyone who tried to conceive it.
The infinite.
The lost souls.
Od Laguna.
The countercurrent that governed fate. A flow of life and death, of beginning and end, that never allowed release.
A serpent hissed, and an eye that should never have opened, opened.
One that saw beyond the tangible.
It pierced worlds, dimensions, timelines that intertwined. Its vision was that of those who had seen the truth.
The broken cycle.
And then, laughter.
Laughter that did not belong to this world, or any other.
The laughter of a witch marked by sin.
She was there, hating from the shadows.
A whisper came from somewhere. It had no origin, it simply was; "It always returns."
It continued, and time, which seemed static, was just an illusion.
The pact, the sealed promise, and the price no one wanted to pay. But someone had to. Someone, someday, would break the cycle. Or so it was believed.
A heartbeat was heard.
A heartbeat that did not belong to a living being, but to the world itself.
The serpents hissed again.
Three-headed crows flew from the volcanoes.
The stars—Eyes—blinked, and reality crumbled into its eternal return.
