Earth Bet March 2012 - present day

It was a rainy day. Heavy wind was moving tree crowns that formed the forest that started at the edge of Brockton Bay. Even though it was before three in the afternoon, the weather made it so that it was already getting dark. Suddenly, bright light illuminated a tree line. If someone were looking at the forest now, they would assume that lightning struck a tree.

When the light disappeared, A teenage girl was lying down on the ground in its place. She was no older than 16. Her long, dark, curly hair partially covered her blue uniform. As drops of rain landed on her unconscious figure, the girl started to wake up.

"Ugh, where am I? What happened?" she asked, clearly confused. I was fighting…. Campanella!!!" This clarity must have meant something to the girl as she sprouted out of the ground and started looking around, expecting to be attacked at any moment. Her hand swiftly reached her hip, where a far-eastern-looking sword was attached to the small belt. But there wasn't anyone around her.

"Where is everyone?" She was confused. The girl let go of the sword as she reached for a small pouch strapped to her thigh. She opened it and pulled a device. She opened it like an old flip phone and looked at the communication function.

"No signal," she said to herself. It wasn't a problem; a large portion of the continent still didn't have signal service. Fortunately for her and her friends, they had a unique mode of communication available to them. She clicked on a small icon of a digit 7 in the circle. The application turned on, and a text appeared on the screen:

Round of Seven

A small, chibi-blond man with a lute was dancing above the words on the screen. Soon, she would contact her friends. Another text appeared on the screen.

No Signal

"What?" She shouted, "It is impossible! There is no way; seashell should have no limitations." There should not be a place in Zemuria that it would not reach, even beyond it. It even worked in subdimensions. So why? What happened to her? No, she needed to calm down. She was in an unknown place with unknown dangers. Her survival training kicked in; Instructor Randy ensured they knew it by heart.

It was cold, and she was soaked to the skin. Her uniform was getting stuck to her body. She needed shelter and fire to dry, and she needed them fast. Looking around, she realized she was at the forest's edge. Through the bushes, she could see lights.

"Thank God, civilization," she said as she walked toward the lights. As soon as she cleared the foliage, the city appeared before her—a familiar sea of light. A second later, it clicked, and her eyes opened in disbelief.

"Brockton Bay? I… am back," said Taylor Hebert.

It took her half an hour to reach her old house. It was just a year ago that she was here last time, but it felt like a lifetime ago. And her father. What would she even say to him? Hi dad, long time no see. Where was I for a year? o… you know, have gone to school, fought a demonic dragon, stopped world war, defeated the thousand-year-old sentient curse, and… yeah, when she thought about it, the last year of her life was ridiculous.

But even when she pondered the ridiculousness of her life, she could not stop smiling. She knew she would never trade it for anything. She made real friends, healing something she was sure she could never have healed after Emma's betrayal. And this thought made her lose her smile. Her friends… would she be able to see them again? No, she could not think like that. They would find a way. After all, doing the impossible was part of our curriculum.

It was time; she reached for the front door knob and opened the door. Entering the house, she was welcomed by a familiar smell. Every building had its smell. Soldat hangar always smelled the various mechanical lubricants they used. Her and Musse's room smelled of tea. And Juna's home in Crossbell smelled of fresh bread mixed with a lovely scent of flowers.

"Hello, who's there?" Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voice of her father, who had just exited the living room to see who had entered. As soon as he saw her, he stopped, stunned. They looked at each other briefly until Taylor said awkwardly, "Hi, Dad. Long time no see."

They were sitting together on the sofa in the living room as, once again, silence fell between them. Neither of them knew how to start.

"Taylor, where have you been? You disappeared one day. I thought… I thought that… you." Her father's voice broke, and she saw tears in his eyes. She stood up and crouched before him, touching his trembling hands.

"I am sorry, Dad. I don't know how it all happened. I was trapped one day; it was awful, but I was still in school, and then one second later, I was not. Something happened, and I was… teleported, through the lack of a better term, very far away." Her father raised his head and looked at her eyes. "And you couldn't contact me?" He asked.

" It would be hard, Dad. I was teleported to a different dimension." She scratched her cheek with her forefinger in awkwardness.

"Wait, different dimension, like Earth Aleph?" It looked like he had gotten himself back together, so Taylor stood up and once more sat down beside him.

"Yeah," she signed. "Once again, I don't know how it happened, but I know it happened as I triggered. By the way, I am a parahuman dad." here it was, she said it, one bombshell delivered a few dozen more to go. I am on the roll, she thought.

"Parahuman? How? I…" he didn't know how or couldn't articulate his thoughts.

"It is a long story, Dad. I was… trapped, confided… I lost consciousness and woke up in the middle of the desert.

Zemuria February 1206 - approx a year ago.

She was crying; why was it happening to her? What did she do to deserve it? She didn't want to open her eyes to see the inside of the locker. Instead, she buried her face in… a pillow? She immediately opened her eyes and looked around. She wasn't in the locker anymore; instead, she was inside a small tent, lying on some bedsheet material. It was confusing; rather curious where she was, she crawled out of the tent, only to get more confused. She was in a small oasis in the middle of a desert.

"Ah, good you woke up. I am glad you are okay, young Miss," a sudden voice to her right managed to get her out of her stupor. She looked towards a voice and saw an old Asian man standing near her, smiling at her warmly. It was a kind smile like a grandfather smiles at his granddaughter.

"I am sorry, Sir, but do you know where I am? I don't remember how I got here, wherever here is." She asked.

" You are in the Principality of Elsaim, in the eastern part of the continent, in the middle of the Shirin Desert. " He only made her more confused. None of those names meant anything to her.

"I don't know any of those names. Have you heard of the United States?"

The man thought momentarily and shook his head. "America, Europe, Africa, Asia?" She continued.

"Sorry, Miss. I never heard of those places. But you clearly are distressed. Come, let's sit and drink a cup of tea; it should calm your nerves, " he said, pointing towards a small encampment near the tent she had woken up in.

Soon, she was sitting on a small carpet with a very delicious tea. "Are you feeling better, young Miss?" Asked a man. "Kinda, and it is Taylor, Taylor Hebert. Mine name, that is." She said. Old Man once again smiled warmly at her. "Nice to meet you, Miss Hebert. My name is Yun Ka-fai."

After that, they talked. Taylor gradually realized that she was no longer on Earth Bet. If Mr. Ka-fai's words were true, she was on the continent of Zemuria. Though initially reluctant, Taylor explained her situation to her companion, who remained silent throughout her story.

"And now you don't know what to do?" He asked as she finished her tale.

"So you believe me, Sir?" He nodded at her question.

"Yes, young Taylor, truth is written in your own very being. Interesting, very interesting. I do not believe that your appearance here is mere coincidence." He said.

" Hue? What do you mean by that?!" She nearly shouted, but Mr Ka-fai did not react to her sudden outburst.

"I am not sure; I will need to think about it. Please use all my amenities, modest as they may be, but please do not leave a camp. This world is dangerous, and though monsters should not bother us in camp due to monter repelling lamp, outside of it, they will attack to kill." he stood up, slightly tilting his head towards her and leaving.

The way Mr. Ka-fai described them, Monsters sounded like mutated forms of animals. Still, they were apparently an integral part of the ecosystem that has existed for as long as humanity can remember. Truth be told, Taylor didn't know what to think about this. Were they like creations from Ellisburg? The very thought scared her.

She sighed and looked around. She was alone for the first time since…what happened in Winslow. Alone with her thoughts in the middle of the desert in a different world. "What should I do now?" she said to herself. Could she be able to return home? Would people search for her, or would no one care that she disappeared?

Maybe her father would, or he would once again become a wreck, unable to take any action. For some reason, she was getting increasingly angry, and then she felt it. It was faint, but something was moving in the sand some 100 yards into the desert. She realized that it was a small scorpion. Wait, how did she know that? She didn't see it. She simply knew. Fascinated by this new sensation, she quickly stood up and, without a second thought, moved towards a place where she felt it being.

The scorpion then started to move further into the desert. "Stop, don't go," Taylor said, not really expecting it to hear or even understand what she said. But the scorpion stopped its movement, as if it obeyed her wish as if she had control over it—she had power! With this thought, she quickened her step. Finally, she reached a place where her little friend waited for her.

"You are real, " she said, looking at a small scorpion the size of of her palm. Now, she needed to check a few things. Through her link, she ordered the scorpion to move to the left, and it did. Then, she ordered it to move in a circle, and once again, it obeyed. Now clearly overjoyed, she reached out with her hand and ordered the scorpion to walk on it.

The moment the arachnid entered her palm, she brought her hand towards her face. "Hi, little guy. It looks like you are quite friendly." She was pretty giddy. Could anyone blame her? She had powers! It was the first good news she heard today! She looked at her new pet, gently massaging his back with her pinky.

Then she felt it again—another presence. It was moving fast towards her, but something was wrong. She could feel it, but when she tried to tell it to stop, it did not do so. Then she could feel that her little friend was afraid. This woke her from the euphoria she was feeling. Now, she started getting anxious. She looked around, realizing that she had left an encampment behind, most importantly, the lamp.

With this acknowledgment, her anxiety started to change into a dred. The feeling was getting closer and closer, and then she could not only feel it but also see it. It was a giant scorpion as big as a small horse. In panic, she tried to turn and run towards a camp, but she slipped on the sand and fell on her back.

The monster was near her; once again, she tried to order it to stop, but it was like her power could not get a "grip" on it. Like it was not fully material for her power. It was hopeless; she would die here. Never able to see her father, in her last moment, she felt regret. Regret that she did not try harder to open up to him about what she thought of him earlier, but most importantly, that she didn't tell him that she loved him.

"Second Form: Arcane Gale." Mr. Kai-Fi appeared near the monster, and a second later, a giant whirlwind appeared. The released force created a small sandstorm, forcing Taylor to cover her eyes. After a few seconds, everything stopped, and she could look towards the monster again. But it was gone like it was never there, to begin with. Instead, there stood Mr. Kai-Fi, with an eastern-looking sword attached to his belt on his hip. He had a concerned look on his face.

"Are you unharmed, Miss Taylor? I told you not to move away from a camp," he told her calmly, but she could not stop to feel like she deserved for him to be angry at her. For some reason, him being calm and still so grandfatherly was worse than if he would simply yell at her.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Kai-Fi, I was so focused and single-minded about getting my powers…" so much she wanted to justify somehow her own foolishness that she said it before she could stop herself.

"Powers… what do you mean by that?" he asked. Taylor knew that she had said too much, but after a moment, she decided that he deserved to know. As such, she described the concept of parahumans and their powers so prevalent on Earth Bet.

"And though you could control a normal scorpion, you could not command a monster." He said.

"Yes, I don't know why. If not for you, I would be dead. Thank you for saving me, but how did you make this whirlwind? Do you have powers of your own?

" Hehe," he chuckled. "Not the way you describe yours. What you have seen was a technique of eight leaves, one blade school. School of swordsmanship that I had created. It is something anyone can learn if they dedicate themselves to the way of the sword." Taylor was in awe. Could anyone learn to do it?

Initially, she thought that with her powers, she could become a hero even in this world. She would fight these monsters and help people while looking for a way to return to her own world. But apparently, she could not control them, so the whole idea went out the window. But now… a different idea runs through her mind.

"Then please, Sir, teach me how to fight like you," she said, bowing her head like she had seen some Asian people do. If her sudden plea surprised him, Mr Kai-fi did not show it. Instead, it look like he was considering it.

"To tell the truth, young Taylor. I decided that my last pupil would be my last. And to leave the continued existence of our school in my disciples' hands so they can train the next generation."

"Please, Sir…" she interrupted, but he silenced her with a simple raise of his hand.

"Yet with your story, something is different. I still believe that your arrival is no mere coincidence. There is a design in it. I feel there is also a connection between you and my last apprentice. There is a similar eura of fate hanging above both of you." He stopped for a second and looked straight into her eyes as if he was searching for an answer in her own soul.

"Very well, I shall teach you. Taylor Herbert, as of this moment, you are a disciple of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship. And as your road to mastery, you shall follow the path of the seventh form, the Void. The nothingness that contains all. We shall begin immediately."